"They say that archaeological work by the Aether lineage over the past two years has inferred that before the Eternal Dynasty and the Chaos Era, before the point of severance known as the Great Cataclysm, there had once been an even richer, more glorious age across the entire world... And fossils of creatures once called dinosaurs have been unearthed from the rock strata beneath the present world.
"Humans of that same era were apparently still like apes, unable even to use weapons."
While Ling Shuo was still utterly baffled, Ji Jue changed the subject and asked, "Then why didn't such powerful creatures endure to the present day? Why did humans, who came later, become the rulers they are now?"
"Ah... uh..."
Ling Shuo made an uncultured sound and ventured, "Chosen Ones?"
"Chosen by heaven, huh? Perhaps compared to us, the humans of that era were the true Chosen Ones."
Ji Jue laughed. "According to the theory, the dinosaurs went extinct because drastic geological changes caused temperatures to fall. The mass extinction of plants led to the decline of herbivores... and eventually, those once-unrivaled overlords froze and starved to death."
Reality had never been reasonable. More often than not, the judgment of a new era arrived without warning, and the benefits it bestowed left no trace either.
For example, half a year ago, who would have believed that Great Lord White Deer would rule over wolf-eaters, or that the Wild Bazaar's revolution was about to begin?
In the Wilderness, the strong were respected. Yet truly powerful individuals capable of creating an entirely new age through their own strength—or even overturning the whole era—were exceedingly rare.
No matter how formidable the others were, even someone like the Hermit would probably have to assess the situation and seek out the crucial point before