Epic

On Dragon Soul Star, the Half-Dragonfolk Retainer buried more than eight hundred fallen clanspeople in the public cemetery, including Chi the Eighth, who had died during the first mock examination.

The priest, Xi the Eighth, led the clanspeople in a grand sacrificial ceremony. They prayed for the fallen and celebrated the warriors who had returned victorious.

The Heavenly Emperor's reward arrived as promised. Starlight Rain showered the clan's lands, falling upon the returning warriors and the clanspeople.

More than a hundred Half-Dragonfolk warriors had returned barely alive, grievously wounded. Bathed and healed by Starlight Rain, their injuries gradually mended, the poison that had seeped into their bodies was slowly purged, and their strength and fighting ability recovered.

These warriors who had survived a fight to the death were precious assets to the Half-Dragonfolk Retainer. Liang Ji naturally could not bear to let them die from their injuries and illness.

The many Half-Dragonfolk Retainers also enjoyed numerous benefits from Starlight Rain. Their bodies grew stronger, and their strength increased.

Most notably, among the more than ten thousand Zero Rank Half-Dragonfolk Retainers, over two thousand clanspeople successfully awakened their bloodlines and intellect during the rain, advancing to Rank One.

The number of Rank One clanspeople in the Half-Dragonfolk Retainer not only returned to its pre-examination level, but increased substantially, surpassing five thousand.

After the grand sacrificial ceremony, most of the clanspeople dispersed. Many gathered around the returning warriors, listening as they spoke of the outside world and their battles.

Gasps of astonishment rang out across the gathering from time to time.

The priest, Xi the Eighth, listened nearby for a while, but soon left with a heavy heart and returned to the Heavenly Emperor Temple.

A statue of the Heavenly Emperor stood in the Heavenly Emperor Temple. It depicted a half-dragon, half-human figure, somewhat like the Half-Dragonfolk, yet different in many ways. It looked more imposing and more perfect.

This image of the Heavenly Emperor had been left behind by the first priest, Xi. It was said that Xi had seen the Heavenly Emperor in a dream.

At that moment, the priest, Xi the Eighth, bowed before the Heavenly Emperor and prayed, yet his worries remained unresolved.

He was thinking of his close friend, Chi the Eighth. As a rule, the four leaders of the Half-Dragonfolk tribe got along well. While managing the tribe's affairs together, they often became friends.

This time, his friend Chi the Eighth had led the warriors of the tribe into battle, only to return in death! The priest, Xi the Eighth, was certainly proud of his friend, and believed that his friend's spirit would surely attain immortality in the Heavenly Emperor's realm.

But he also wanted his friend to live on in the memories of the clanspeople and their descendants!

The problem was, the Half-Dragonfolk Retainer had not yet mastered writing, so they could not record their history in books. Their entire history and all their legends were passed down by word of mouth.

Many tales of the heroes among their ancestors survived only two or three generations among the clanspeople. After thousands of years, many of them were forgotten.

Take the tribe's warrior leader from two generations earlier, Chi the Sixth. He had once led six hundred warriors into battle for the Heavenly Emperor and returned victorious, leaving behind many legendary tales like heroic epics.

But by now, those epics had been passed down only among a few, such as the priests, warrior leaders, and tribal leaders. Most clanspeople had already forgotten the heroes' stories.

The priest, Xi the Eighth, did not want the story of his friend Chi the Eighth to fade from the clanspeople's memories, as had the stories of their ancestors.

What was more, he believed these tales of their ancestors and heroes were part of the tribe's heritage, a precious treasure that should not be casually lost or forgotten.

As the tribe's priest, he had a responsibility and a duty to pass down this precious heritage and ensure it flourished.

"Almighty Heavenly Emperor, please show me the way..."

A dragon's roar!

As the priest, Xi the Eighth, prayed to the Heavenly Emperor and asked for guidance, he seemed to hear a dragon's roar from somewhere beyond the mortal world.

A streak of starlight descended from the heavens and entered the priest, Xi the Eighth's, head.

It was like a heavenly revelation, like an immortal imparting a teaching. Information and knowledge about runes appeared in the priest, Xi the Eighth's, mind.

"Runes! Writing!"

Only after a long while did the priest, Xi the Eighth, slowly come back to himself. His eyes shone brilliantly. He bowed fervently before the Heavenly Emperor and cried aloud:

"Thank you, almighty and merciful Heavenly Emperor, for this gift!"

"Your believer understands your will!"

The priest, Xi the Eighth, bowed fervently once more. Then he left the Heavenly Emperor Temple, found the tribal leader, King the Eighth, and conveyed the Heavenly Emperor's decree: they were to train Rune Masters in the tribe and spread and teach writing.

Runes were the language of heaven and earth, the traces of the laws and the Dao. The writing used by the Star Alliance had itself evolved from runes.

This time, when Liang Ji invested in the planet, the Rune Master inheritance among his Vassals included a complete rune system, as well as information about writing.

After the priest, Xi the Eighth, absorbed this Rune Master inheritance, he taught runes and writing to the tribe and trained its Rune Masters. At the same time, he began using this writing to record the epics and heroic tales that had been passed down orally through the generations.

"The world was once silent and dark. The Heavenly Emperor summoned the sun, moon, and stars, and so there was light, day and night, and the four seasons..."

"The Heavenly Emperor planted a seed. Fire, earth, water, and wind shaped the world, and life was born... The Heavenly Emperor gave us life..."

"...The Heavenly Emperor bestowed the first flame, bringing the fire of wisdom... The first wise one was born... He was the Heavenly Emperor's emissary, and the Heavenly Emperor gave him the name Xi!"

"...Under the leadership of Xi, the Heavenly Emperor's emissary, more and more clanspeople awakened their wisdom and formed a tribe... The Heavenly Emperor chose three from among them to help Xi govern the tribe, and bestowed names upon them: King, Farmer, and Chi!"

"...He bestowed seeds upon us and taught us to farm and hunt..."

"...The sixth-generation warrior leader, Chi the Sixth, followed the Heavenly Emperor's will and led the warriors into battle... The priest blessed them, and the clanspeople cheered them on... With the Heavenly Emperor's guidance and aid, they slew ugly Demonic Beasts with wings..."

"...The Heavenly Emperor opened the underworld... The living returned to enjoy their glory, while the dead would surely be immortal in the underworld..."

"...To reward the heroes who fought for the Heavenly Emperor, the Heavenly Emperor bestowed an inheritance... The clanspeople gained bodies of boundless strength and forms impervious to blades and spears... Poison, fire, and ice could not harm us..."

"...Under the Heavenly Emperor's guidance, we built a village..."

"...The eighth-generation warrior leader, Chi the Eighth, followed the Heavenly Emperor's will and led the warriors into battle... The priest blessed them, and the clanspeople cheered them on... They encountered powerful enemies... Their spears could tear through anything... With the Heavenly Emperor's protection and guidance, they completed their mission and returned... A thousand had set out; a hundred came back... They were the Heavenly Emperor's warriors, the heroes of the tribe... Their spirits would be immortal in the underworld..."

"...The Heavenly Emperor bestowed runes and writing upon us..."

After decades of work, the first epic of the Dragon Soul Tribe was born from the hands of the priest, Xi the Eighth!

Keep up the good work and climb to even greater heights!