Kangqiao dreamed.
He had a very, very long dream.
In the dream, he sometimes felt as though he had become human again, living an ordinary life on Earth, yet he also had strange and bizarre dreams.
And among those dreams, what Kangqiao found most interesting lately was seeing a civilization born because of his existence.
They were Dinosaur People, Dinosaur People who worshipped him as a god.
Because of that worship, they would occasionally offer him sacrifices and feed him.
Was this a dream?
No!
Kangqiao had awakened, but not completely.
It was a strange kind of vision, dreamlike and somewhat unreal.
As if caught between sleep and wakefulness, he could observe everything happening around him.
Naturally, he saw the Dinosaur People.
Kangqiao was delighted by the existence of the Dinosaur People.
After all, in this desolate world, he was finally no longer alone. The existence of intelligent beings naturally brought joy.
Although Kangqiao could not understand the Dinosaur People's language, he could tell that they were gradually growing stronger.
With every ritual, he could clearly distinguish the tremors from the ground and the rising and falling voices.
Therefore, Kangqiao naturally felt an inexplicable closeness toward this primitive civilization that was so close to him.
What was he?
He seemed to be a lizard?
But perhaps he was not?
Kangqiao had no way of knowing. He had yet to awaken, and there were no mirrors in his dreams, so he did not know what state he was in now.
But lizards should resemble dinosaurs in form, shouldn't they?
Perhaps that was why the Dinosaur People had first discovered him and come to worship him?
But no matter what, this was always a good beginning, wasn't it?
As long as he woke up, he would no longer be alone, and he could witness the development of a civilization.
What kind of novel experience was that, something he could never have had as a human?
Thus, Kangqiao had recently been wanting to wake up.
But it was like having a lucid dream as a human. He clearly wanted to wake up, yet it always seemed as if something was missing, and he simply could not awaken.
Kangqiao knew he had slept for a very, very long time, so long that he had nearly lost all sense of time. Yet he had no control over when he would awaken.
Still, Kangqiao was not anxious, because he could feel it: the time of his natural awakening was not far away.
Perhaps all he lacked was a single thought, a single opportunity.
So Kangqiao began to wait slowly.
This waiting was not dull. After all, he was dreaming, and he was sleeping.
Sleep was never a terrible experience for living creatures.
Instead, it constantly brought a sense of comfort from the body, unless one was having a nightmare.
Then, amid that state between dream and wakefulness, Kangqiao finally felt his will slowly return to his body. He was about to awaken!
"Something terrible has happened!"
"Those damned tribes of darkness and poison fog have joined forces with the tribes of the ocean!"
"They ambushed the great warriors of our tribe! The people of Lava and Earth have suffered grievous casualties!"
"Damn it, what should we do now? Those tribes have already come for us. They want to destroy us! We..."
Beneath the enormous mountain range lay countless massive caves carved around its slopes.
These caves rose and fell in succession, forming the Dinosaur People's current tribal settlement.
It looked as though the mountainside had been covered in countless dense honeycombs.
And below those honeycombs, upon the plain at the foot of the mountain range, the Dinosaur People and their blood kin had all gathered.
At that moment, many Dinosaur People were in utter panic. Even the Dinosaur Elder, who had always remained calm in the face of change, showed signs of alarm.
The setting sun slowly slipped beneath the horizon. Its twilight shone over the countless Dinosaur People, as though foreshadowing that they too would gradually sink into darkness like the evening sun.
The Dinosaur Elder had already heard the countless immense roars in the distance.
They were proof that their people and blood kin were engaged in a brutal battle with the foreign tribes.
"O God of Lava and Earth! Have You forsaken Your people?"
"What should we do?"
Countless Dinosaur People whispered anxiously among themselves, while countless others began to pray in panic.
Only the elder at the very center barely maintained his composure.
Suppressing the fear in his heart, the elder frowned and rebuked them.
"Calm yourselves."
"This is a trial bestowed upon us by the God of Lava and Earth. Only by overcoming it can we truly call ourselves descendants of the gods."
"The brave Lava Warriors will not die in vain. After death, they shall all enter the Divine Kingdom of the God of Lava and Earth."
"The warriors of Lava and Earth shall never fear war. This is also the only way for us to prove our devotion! Prepare yourselves for battle!"
The Dinosaur Elder's voice was powerful. Most of the Dinosaur People felt somewhat reassured, and some were even willing to make a last stand for their faith.
Yet some, though they fell silent, still revealed a trace of despair in their eyes.
Would the God of Lava and Earth truly protect them? After all, no one had ever truly seen the god awaken, much less help them.
Such a cruel trial... could they truly overcome it?
Seeing the reactions of his people, the elder's brow furrowed tightly. Then he spoke again in a steady voice.
"The God of Lava and Earth will never abandon His people, just as our race was favored by Father God in ancient times and granted wisdom and stronger bodies!"
As the elder's impassioned words fell, hope and expectation immediately appeared on every Dinosaur Person's face.
Yes, because every Dinosaur Person knew that their god, their Father God, truly existed and slept within the lava of the mountain range.
As long as the elder could awaken Father God, there was still a chance.
In this primitive society, amid this primitive faith, perhaps the only thing that could give all Dinosaur People courage was the existence of their god itself.
Watching the elder depart toward the mountain, the emotions of all the Dinosaur People gradually lifted.
Some gathered their courage and prepared to rush to the front lines to fight the foreign tribes, while others began building a simple defensive line with huge stones beneath the mountain range.
On the mountain, at the edge of the enormous volcanic crater.
"Great God of Lava and Earth, please have mercy upon Your people."
"Your people are being slaughtered by foreign tribes. We yearn for Your descent, for Your gaze, for Your favor. Please bring divine punishment down upon those tribes! Father God! Save Your people!"
The Dinosaur Elder knelt upon the ground and prayed loudly in a trembling voice, without pausing for even a moment.
He could already sense the immense sounds of battle approaching from below the mountain. The Dinosaur People were nearly unable to hold on!
They had only their final, final persistence left, and their only faith.
At the crater's edge, not only was the Dinosaur Elder praying, but many elderly Dinosaur People and children were praying as well.
Terror and despair filled their faces and eyes.
They could not help in battle. The only thing they could do now was hope to awaken the god who had slumbered since ancient times.
Though they knew it would be very, very difficult to awaken the god, perhaps even impossible, as long as there was the slightest remaining hope, they would continue like this.
Because faith was their final and only spiritual pillar!
The prayers were accompanied by terror and choked sobs.
The terror belonged to the elderly, while the sobs belonged to the children.
Below the mountain, increasingly more foreign tribes had emerged across the distant land.
They were the Snake-headed Serpent-tailed Tribe the Dinosaur People had previously intended to exterminate, along with the Fish-headed Ocean Tribe that the Serpent People had somehow joined forces with.
Among these humanoid foreign tribes were also their blood kin.
There were giant Serpent monsters, enormous octopuses, horrifying sea snakes, and massive Sea Monsters!
Endless monsters surged toward the Dinosaur People's settlement, while the Dinosaur People desperately held their ground and fought.
The battlefield stretched across nearly a hundred kilometers of land!
As though the world were ending, the prolonged battle brought endless thunderous roars and cries.
Before you continue