A New Era, A New Situation

"Elder, what should we do now? Why did Father God suddenly leave? Is this another trial from Father God for us?"

In the empty city, several elderly Dinosaur People gathered around the Dinosaur Elder, their voices tinged with unease and confusion as they asked.

The Dinosaur Elder had clearly just snapped back to his senses as well. He furrowed his brow in thought, not answering immediately.

Instead, he considered the countermeasures ahead.

He had more or less grasped the general situation of the Four Gods.

Aside from the God of Snakes, who had been thoroughly beaten by their own Father God, the other two gods seemed to be on their side.

This was evident from how, right after their Father God left, the God of Snakes had immediately tried to tear up the divine pact and attack him and his kin.

But in the end, thanks to the warnings from the God of Water and the God of Sky, the God of Snakes had retreated.

The God of Snakes, and even the Serpent People themselves, were a latent threat to the Dinosaur People.

Even if they were temporarily allied now, in the Dinosaur Elder's eyes, this was entirely because their Father God's greatness had forced the Serpent People to submit for the time being.

Thus, the Dinosaur Elder saw the Serpent People as a threat, an unstable factor.

For this reason, after all Four Gods had departed, the Dinosaur Elder planned to demand the harshest war reparations from the Serpent People.

Though the Four Races were now allied, the old scores had to be settled—one thing at a time, and that was the best justification.

Without divine interference, the Serpent People would have no choice but to agree. That was the decision the Dinosaur Elder had already made.

At the same time, because the God of Water and the God of Sky were both close to their Father God, and considering how those two gods had just defended their kin, the Dinosaur Elder intended to set aside all past grudges with those two races.

He would draw close to the Shark People and the Mosquito People, while squeezing the Serpent People's living space.

Though it wouldn't come to war or annihilation, his people must suppress the Serpent People as much as possible, ensuring they could never threaten their race.

Thinking through all this, the Dinosaur Elder once again praised his Father God.

Leaving the Serpent People and the God of Snakes behind was clearly another trial their Father God had set for His children.

Their Father God was telling His people through this:

Always stay vigilant against external dangers, and never let the alliance of the Four Gods lull you into complacency.

As Children of Lava, as warriors of Lava, they must forever maintain the image of the bravest children.

Only then could they truly be considered the people of the God of Lava and Earth.

The Dinosaur Elder had never doubted his Father God's wisdom.

This was clear from the solid "Great City" their Father God had created.

In the Dinosaur Elder's view, this great city was the most precious gift their Father God had left for His children.

Because with this city's existence, they could establish the most direct and intimate ties with the other races in the years to come.

This realization had also come to the Dinosaur Elder after he saw that the God of Water and the God of Sky had each left some of their people here.

Thus, this sacred city, created by their Father God, must be protected by the Dinosaur People.

With this in mind, the Dinosaur Elder planned to station most of his people here and, using the two strange "caves" their Father God had left as a model, quickly settle all his kin in this city.

So, after convincing himself he had understood all of Father God's intentions, the Dinosaur Elder immediately explained everything to his people.

Then, amid the fervent praises of Father God from the crowd, the Dinosaur Elder announced several matters:

First, invite a Mosquito Person to act as a language interpreter, to call out to the Serpent People and demand war reparations for this conflict.

Second, assign a portion of the people to learn the languages of the other three races—this was crucial for future communication.

Third, keep some people stationed at the Great Volcano, but sixty percent of them must come to live in the Holy City gifted by Father God.

Fourth, seek out the place where Father God slumbers, by exploring underground—this was a task every generation of Dinosaur People must undertake.

That gods loved to sleep was no secret among the races.

Father God's sudden departure was most likely to find a place to slumber.

Though this was a trial for His children, it was only natural for them to seek out their Father God's resting place.

Thus, after setting these broad directions, all the Dinosaur People set to work.

And just as the Dinosaur People had established their general path forward, the other three races—the Shark People, the Mosquito People, and the Serpent People—had each also discussed and settled on their own rough development plans.

Time flowed like water, and years passed like a shuttle.

While Kangqiao slumbered deep within the underground lava, time outside seemed to race forward.

Perhaps a thousand years, perhaps ten thousand.

In those merciless years, many elders passed away, but the new generations inherited their ancestors' will and developed onward, generation after generation.

Visibly, within the once-empty Holy City, it was now filled with towering stone houses.

The entire Holy City had been divided into four districts.

The four races—East, West, South, and North—each occupied one district.

The humanoids who had once lived underground or in the trees had all moved into the city's houses.

The Four Races had fully transitioned from the era of primitive tribes to the era of city-states.

In this era, after generations of friendly integration among the Four Races, a common language was invented.

At the same time, under the wisdom of the Mosquito People, writing also began to take shape.

The birth of language and writing rapidly brought prosperity to the Four Races, while also making the Holy City the undisputed cultural center of the continent.

Here, the permanent population of the Four Races had already exceeded four hundred thousand.

The city naturally couldn't accommodate so many people, but around the massive city walls, the Four Races built low, somewhat crude residential districts.

Although the Four Races had entered the age of city-states, it was still only the early stage.

None among them had yet established a new system, nor had they divided people into ranks.

If there was any class distinction, it was only two classes.

The Sacrificial Order, the close attendants of the gods, responsible for combat command and holding the highest status and authority among the races.

The warriors, needless to say, in this era, regardless of gender, all members of every race were born warriors once they came of age.

Thus, the current Four Races still followed the ancient tribal system, merely appearing in daily life to have entered a slightly more civilized city-state era.

Despite having a great city, a central hub for trade, they still hadn't invented currency.

Here, the Four Races only shared information and bartered, so food remained the hardest currency of the age.

Moreover, because this was the Divine Covenant Land designated by the gods of the Four Races, under the influence of faith, they naturally believed that living here made them more likely to receive the gods' favor.

Thus, while the Holy City was a center of trade and culture, it was also more like a 'safe zone.'

This was because it gathered the strongest warriors of the Four Races, and with the joint protection of all four, it also became a better nursery.

The wind of time swept across the world. Though the Four Races grew ever stronger, external threats emerged endlessly.

In this supernatural world, you never knew when or where another powerful race and its newly awakened god would suddenly appear.

Just like now, the Four Races had encountered another somewhat troublesome enemy on this land.

A kind of Giant Worm that lived underground, lacking intelligence but breeding extremely quickly, and from time to time ambushing and devouring life on the surface.

Aside from these Giant Worms, the Four Races had also discovered several gods without any vassal races.

That was a silver lining in the misfortune.

But overseas, in recent years, the God of Water had also run into trouble.

The domain of the deep sea had begun to encroach heavily upon the domain of the near sea. Both being gods of water, the subjects of the one called the Lord of the Deep Sea were launching massive attacks on the territory of the Shark People under the Lord of the Near Sea.

The long-standing stalemate between the four seas had been broken. To deal with the Lord of the Deep Sea, the God of Snakes and the God of Wind had been called in to aid the God of Water, whose form was that of a Water Lizard.

Yet even so, the current situation remained grim.

PS: Thanks to fellow reader Ji Xiyue for the 1500 Qidian coin tip, and also to fellow reader 20220504005515081 for the 500 Qidian coin tip. Thank you.