Twilight of the Gods

The Antahe Caretaker said, "Yes, you're right..."

"The gods who were created were initially able to perform their respective duties and perfectly fulfill the missions bestowed upon them by the Supreme God. Driven by abundant curiosity and thirst for knowledge, five powerful deities created races other than humans: dragons, beasts, elements, undead, and demons. These five powerful deities took the names of those five newly created races for themselves, becoming the Dragon God, Beast God, God of Elements, Death God, and Demon God."

"The other deities did not possess the creative power of those five powerful deities, so they used humans as templates and made minor adjustments, creating countless Demi-human Races."

Hearing this, Bai Xiaowen said, "The Antahe People were among them too?"

"Yes. The one who created us Antahe People was the great God of the Sea, Neptune, who is also the faith of us Antahe People," the Antahe Caretaker said.

Bai Xiaowen pondered for a while.

He finally understood. The Six Great Races—Humanoid Race, Beast Race, Ancient Dragon Race, Elemental Race, Undead Race, and Demon Race—had come into being this way. They had all been created by the gods.

The key point was that the Humanoid Race included humans and many Demi-human Races. Humans were Living Beings created by the Supreme God, while the Demi-human Races were peoples modified by the gods using humans as templates.

For instance, some deity might have been dissatisfied with humanity's short lifespan and created a long-lived race with pointed ears: the Elves. That deity would then become the "God of Elves."

For another example, some deity might have been particularly fond of rocks or forging, so they transformed some humans into a stout, burly race skilled in forging: the Dwarves. Such a deity would naturally be the "God of Dwarves" or the "God of Forging."

Bai Xiaowen actually had reservations about the gods' actions in modifying the Demi-human Races.

Unlike the five powerful deities such as the Beast God, who could create life, these deities could only "modify" humans. Perhaps they had conducted repeated unethical human experiments, producing many aberrant monsters before finally figuring out how to create Demi-human Races such as Snake-Men, Elves, and Dwarves.

This showed just how little the deities cared about human lives.

"Antahe, what happened later?" Bai Xiaowen asked.

"Later, the gods delved too deeply into mortal society out of curiosity and suffered Spirit Contamination," the Antahe Caretaker used the term "Spirit Contamination." "It gave even the flawless gods all kinds of negative emotions: greed, jealousy, cruelty... Driven by these emotions, war erupted among the gods. This was the arrival of 'Twilight of the Gods' at the End of the Second Era."

"The result of Twilight of the Gods was the fall of the gods and the arrival of the age of mortals, marking the beginning of the Third Era. However, I know nothing of the Third Era. After all, the Antahe Kingdom was merely a remnant of the Second Era."

"Did the gods really fall?" Bai Xiaowen questioned. "But I've seen some deities'... Will Incarnations."

"The gods have lost the foundation that allowed them to remain on the Prime Material Plane, and their divine bodies have been destroyed. However, the gods' Spiritual Will is powerful enough to exist apart from their divine bodies, though they had no choice but to retreat into another dimensional plane. The Great Sages of Antahe called the dimensional plane into which the gods' Will Incarnations fled the 'Astral Realm.' Thus, it is entirely reasonable to say that the gods have fallen on the Prime Material Plane," the Antahe Caretaker said.

Bai Xiaowen thought for a moment.

He could not find any flaws in the Antahe Caretaker's explanation of the Astral Realm and the gods' Will Incarnations, so it was fairly credible. It also matched the circumstances of some deities Bai Xiaowen had encountered directly or indirectly.

However, Bai Xiaowen did not truly agree with Antahe's explanation for the Gods War. So-called "various negative emotions" might have set the gods against one another, but they were all gods with infinite lifespans. It was unlikely that they would fight to the death merely over petty rivalries.

Unless there had been interests that none of the gods could afford to ignore, driving them into a fierce war.

Moreover, once a war reached a certain stage and casualties became sufficiently severe, there would either be a victor or a compromise. It was unlikely for all the gods to fall and perish together, leaving not a single one behind.

Unfortunately, the Antahe Caretaker did not know the whole truth either, so he could not answer Bai Xiaowen's questions.

"Young human, during the Second Era, the Antahe Kingdom was merely a subordinate nation of the God of the Sea, Neptune. Its status was not high enough to learn every truth about the War of the Gods. I can only apologize for being unable to answer your questions."

Bai Xiaowen let out a breath. "I understand. Thank you for telling me so much." He was already quite satisfied to have learned all this.

The Antahe Caretaker said, "Young human, you possess something special. Perhaps you will be the key to allowing the Ancient Antahe Kingdom to see the light of day once more. Endless years have passed, yet you are the first Living Being to enter the Sleeping Ancient Kingdom, and you are also a human personally created by the Supreme God. This must be fate's arrangement."

"Sorry, but I don't know how I can help you," Bai Xiaowen said with a shake of his head. Perhaps after finding the so-called Central Hub in the Land of Origin, he would have that ability, but the odds were simply too low. He could only do his best and leave the rest to fate.

Bai Xiaowen would not make unrealistic promises like some reckless fool.

The Antahe Caretaker said, "I do not know how to awaken my people either. As a Spirit Body, I cannot leave this sleeping tomb. But you possess limitless possibilities."

After a pause, the Antahe Caretaker said, "The Antahe Kingdom will do everything in its power to support you, in the hope that one day it may receive your repayment."

Bai Xiaowen was not surprised. The Ancient Antahe Kingdom was now completely without hope, like someone drowning at the bottom of a lake who would grasp at even a bubble.

A faint hope was still better than no hope at all.

"If I gain that ability someday, I will repay the Antahe Kingdom," Bai Xiaowen said with a smile. "I wonder what kind of support the Antahe Kingdom can still provide me now?" He was somewhat tempted. The legacy of an Ancient Kingdom from the Age of Gods should be considerable, shouldn't it?

However, the Antahe Caretaker's words ruthlessly shattered Bai Xiaowen's fantasy.

"The War of the Gods reduced all the wealth accumulated by the Ancient Kingdom to nothing. So I can do nothing in terms of material wealth, but..." the Antahe Caretaker said, "what our Antahe Kingdom is most proud of is actually the Secret Art of Spiritual Power passed down for thousands of years."