Observation and Conclusion

On this hemisphere of the Giant Tree, half the land was shrouded in mist.

From the planet's outer orbit, Kangqiao could barely see anything.

Yet on the half engulfed in fire, Kangqiao could clearly make out the hellish outline of the ever-burning ground!

There was no life, nor was there any movement that could possibly have been caused by living creatures.

Even upon the Giant Tree itself, Kangqiao had failed to find any trace of life.

At this point, Kangqiao's mind clearly could not keep up.

Logically speaking, how could such an enormous Giant Tree exist without any extraordinary species around it?

Yet in reality, there was simply no life here at all.

How strange! And what was this thing that resembled a protective shield?

Had this Giant Tree created it?

Kangqiao himself arrived at the location of the invisible barrier.

His massive body stood upon it. The invisible barrier did not even transmit a sound, yet ripples like those on water spread across its surface.

The ripples spread farther and farther, allowing Kangqiao to finally see the full scale of the barrier.

"It really covers the entire hemisphere! This power is truly absurd."

"Is it keeping out foreign creatures? Looking at it this way, it's hard to say this tree has no will of its own! But could it have made such a huge display merely to keep out outsiders?"

Kangqiao was somewhat baffled.

After all, in Kangqiao's view, this tree had already grown to such an outrageous size. If it could move its roots or something, who on this planet could possibly be its opponent?

But then, Kangqiao suddenly realized something.

Perhaps this tree truly could not move?

If that were the case, then using such an enormous barrier to protect itself would make perfect sense.

"Heh, interesting. It grew this huge, yet it can't move at all. It really is a tree."

"But if this thing could move, that would be even more unreasonable, wouldn't it? If a tree this big moved even once, the entire planet would probably be knocked out of orbit immediately."

Kangqiao stood atop the invisible barrier and even jumped twice. All right, this thing really was quite strong. If he wanted to break through it, it would probably be extremely difficult!

Kangqiao carefully examined the Giant Tree from different regions and directions, observing it from outer orbit.

But in the end, he could only see a portion of its upper half.

The clouds and mist surrounding the Giant Tree were simply too dense and thick.

However, one thing was certain: the branches and leaves around this Giant Tree covered at least one-fifth of half the planet.

It was truly astonishing. At the very least, Kangqiao could never have imagined in his previous life that a tree could grow this large.

"Forget it. Let's leave it at that for now! After I go back and let the Three Beasts know, I'll return here and study this place properly for a while!"

After the sun had shone directly upon the Giant Tree's hemisphere for a long time, Kangqiao finally gave up on further observation.

He intended both to reassure the Three Beasts and to have the Giant Moth try carrying him closer to the hemisphere where the Giant Tree stood from within the atmosphere, to see whether he could find a way into the Giant Tree's barrier from below the planet.

Besides that, Kangqiao also needed to try guiding in the souls of new Dinosaur People. He had quite a lot to do.

But Kangqiao was in no hurry. What he lacked least now was time.

The battlefield of the Four Races—the terrifying ocean abyss near the deep sea.

At this moment, the remaining Frog-Fish People had all retreated into the natural chasm of the ocean abyss.

This place was already more than five thousand meters below sea level.

As for the ocean abyss, merely looking at that enormous pitch-black ravine stretching across the entire seabed made the Four Races feel uneasy.

The ocean abyss was simply too vast, and it looked utterly terrifying.

Moreover, the water pressure here had clearly reached the limit that the Dinosaur People and Serpent People capable of entering the water could endure.

After all, they were not truly aquatic species. Descending five thousand meters beneath the sea consumed an utterly terrifying amount of stamina, not to mention that the increasing water pressure was leaving these land-dwelling species increasingly powerless.

"It seems we can only stop here." The Shark People priest stood at the edge of the ocean abyss, somewhat out of breath, and let out a long sigh.

"Yes. These Children of the Deep Sea are familiar with the ocean abyss. If we're ambushed in there, it will be difficult for us to get away."

"Indeed. Our two races are of the land. Reaching this far into the deep sea has already taken everything we have. For now, it is certainly impossible to completely wipe out the Children of the Deep Sea. Besides, our losses this time have already been heavy. Perhaps we'll need another thousand years or more to recover." The Serpent Priest sighed softly.

Seeing the Serpent Priest's sorrow, the Shark People priest immediately said solemnly, "Rest assured, you two. Since your tribes have helped us Children of the Near Sea so much, we will remember this favor."

"There's no need for that. Calling it a favor is too serious. Our Four Races are already like one body. As the populace of the Four Gods of Order, why distinguish between yours and ours?" Barton, the Dinosaur People priest, waved a hand and smiled tiredly.

"What Priest Barton says is indeed true. Still, the compensation owed to our three races for helping you Children of the Near Sea this time cannot be lacking." The old Serpent Priest was quite pragmatic.

"That can be discussed. The flesh and blood of those Children of the Deep Sea will be enough for the Blood Kin of your two races to eat for a long time. In addition, as compensation, we Children of the Near Sea will open some of the Near Sea fishing grounds to you according to our previous agreement."

"Those matters are secondary. We can discuss them after we return. I wonder how the God War between our Father God and the Lord of the Deep Sea is going now. It's still too early to discuss these things."

"Hehe, what is there to worry about? All Four Gods of us Order Populace descended here. No matter how strong the Lord of the Deep Sea is, can he fight four against one? Besides, with the mighty divine power displayed when the God of Lava appeared, could it be that you Children of Lava do not trust your Father God's abilities?" The Serpent Priest glanced at Barton and spoke dismissively.

"We Children of Lava naturally hold devout faith in Father God's majesty. Priest Nos need not remind us of that. It's simply that Father God's divine authority is Lava and Earth."

The Dinosaur People priest named Barton did not continue, but the Shark People and Serpent People priests both understood. A trace of gravity appeared on their faces as well.

Yes, this was the sea.

The Lord of the Deep Sea's divine body was already incomparably enormous, and one could easily imagine how abundant his divine power was.

Although the God of Lava's divine body was not small either, in the minds of the three races, he was indeed a god of the land. Land and deep sea inherently restrained one another, so their concerns were not without reason.

At that thought, the three leading priests exchanged glances.

"It seems we truly must withdraw our forces at once, just in case." The Shark People priest said gravely.

"Yes."

"I agree as well."

"Good! Withdraw the troops! Also, we must contact the Children of Wind on the surface immediately and have them quickly send people to investigate the progress of the God War."

"That is what we should have done from the start."

"..."

This war among the five races had already lasted nearly fifteen sunrises and sunsets. It had gone on for quite some time.

The war among the populace of the gods had temporarily come to an end, but no one knew the outcome of the God War taking place somewhere far away.

Ultimately, victory and defeat in this era still depended on the outcome of the gods' battle.

After all, the power of gods was nearly impossible for mortals to counter.

What use was there in killing as many followers of the other god as possible? So long as that god won the God War and intended to slaughter mortals like them, would it not be easy?

Therefore, the Four Races immediately stopped while they were ahead and promptly sent people to investigate the progress and outcome of the God War.