Beast and Man

The Beastmen Race had already entered the Bronze Age and the era of city-states, while humanity remained in a period of ignorance and barbarism. Conflicts and annexations between the various Beastmen Race tribes grew increasingly intense, and the collision and fusion of their cultures constantly sparked the flames of civilization. The first Beast King of Saga City had been of the Rat Race, but by the fourth generation, the throne had passed to the Tiger Race.

Successive generations followed, including the Dog Race and the Minotaurs, and the current Beast King was the twelfth, Costa of the Wolf Race. Elsewhere, the prototypes of several other city-states began to emerge as tribes transitioned toward a city-state system. The fusion and annexation among the Beastmen Race had already begun!

This caused Lu Zhiyu some concern. The Beastmen Race were developing too quickly, while humanity remained in a primitive state, having only just begun to civilize. Their language was still in its infancy, and they were still at the stage of slash-and-burn agriculture. Lu Zhiyu feared that in the end, humanity would be wiped out by the Beastmen Race—obliterated by the law of the jungle—before they could ever truly develop.

Lu Zhiyu had spent such a great cost and so much time developing the new human genetic template, only for it to vanish before it had even begun. This did not align with Lu Zhiyu's expectations. Lu Zhiyu wanted to artificially accelerate the development of humanity; at the very least, he needed to ensure that both sides were evenly matched.

Currently, the human population had reached one hundred thousand, but because communication between them was infrequent and they were content with mediocrity due to the abundance of the southern Alan Continent, Lu Zhiyu had to solve the problem from two directions: first, external threats, and second, internal integration and unification.

The external threat had already manifested the moment the Beastmen Race of the north and south made contact with humanity; friction between the two was constantly escalating. As for internal unification, Lu Zhiyu decided to select a King of Men!

Near the central plains, an area known to humans as the Red River Plain, located between the Heavenly Mountain Range and the Red River, lay vast forests and fertile land. Wild beasts roamed freely across the earth, and the woods were laden with all manner of fruits and food; it was a paradise for humanity.

Round, yurt-like thatched huts stood at the foot of the mountains. A group of primitive humans, clad in animal skins and carrying their hunt, were returning from afar. The leader of the tribe was, in fact, a human who had broken through the limits of the human body and awakened the genetic inheritance Lu Zhiyu had set.

However, at this moment, paradise had turned into hell. A Beastman army, having charged out from the Heavenly Mountain Range, swept through the human tribe stationed here. Although the leader had awakened the innate ability granted by his genetic inheritance, it was merely an adrenaline-boosting skill.

The attacking Beastman army belonged to the Wolfman tribe, the most powerful among the current Beastmen Race. The ferocious Wolfmen rode upon wolf-beasts, shouting in the Sophoc Language of the Beastmen Race—a language that had first emerged among the Rat Race and, after hundreds of years of refinement, had finally become a highly sophisticated tongue.

"Kill them all! This fertile plain should belong to us, not these animals!"

"Slaughter these uncivilized swine!"

The war was brutal. Relying on a stone axe and the heightened strength and reaction speed granted by his adrenaline boost, the tribal leader hacked one Beastman after another to the ground. But how could infantry stand against cavalry? Furthermore, one side wielded stone and wooden spears, while the other carried bronze swords and long spears. After being charged by the wolf cavalry several times, the entire tribe was decimated.

These vicious Beastmen Race did not even spare the women and children. The war between the races was exceptionally cruel and bloody. In the end, only the tribal leader remained, exhausted, dying under the spears of the wolf cavalry.

As he lay dying, the tribal leader shouted in the nascent, garbled language of humanity: "You wretches, the Heavenly Gods will visit their wrath upon you!"

Having completed their mission, the wolf cavalry cleared the battlefield and departed. Before leaving, they threw torches, turning the entire tribe into a sea of flames, then rode off on their wolf-beasts, laughing with extreme arrogance.

At this moment, a figure appeared outside the tribe. He wore a grey linen cloak, a short tunic and trousers, and boots. In his hand, he held a silver staff etched with mysterious three-dimensional patterns, and his face was covered by a white mask bearing a red sun emblem.

This was Lu Zhiyu. He had been searching for a target from within the Space Castle and had not expected to witness this scene. Once he locked onto this location, he had already felt the tragedy while watching from the Universe Scroll, but the reality was even more harrowing. The sight of the corpses and the stench of roasting flesh made Lu Zhiyu feel nauseous.

Yet, Lu Zhiyu found that beyond this, he felt little else. Was it a lack of identification? Or some other reason? Lu Zhiyu walked toward the central hut, which was now a roaring inferno of black smoke.

Lu Zhiyu extended his staff, and the space of the Dimensional Gate opened, instantly linking to a distant river. A massive volume of river water poured through the Dimensional Gate, completely extinguishing the flames.

The staff was crafted by Lu Zhiyu, with the guidance array for the Dimensional Gate inscribed upon it. This allowed Lu Zhiyu to activate the Dimensional Gate instantly by injecting his mental power, without the need for slow, manual inscription, enabling near-instantaneous casting.

Within the entire crystal wall system, Lu Zhiyu could open a Dimensional Gate anywhere he pleased for free travel. This was the only spell belonging to mental power that Lu Zhiyu had mastered so far; other abilities like mind-reading or modifying genetic templates were actually innate talents of mental power, brought about by information conduction.

Even at this stage, Lu Zhiyu's exploration of mental power remained superficial. He could not comprehend what kind of existence it truly was, nor what the soul was. Although his daily meditation had never ceased and his mental power grew stronger by the day, he could not fathom anything else; he was completely without a goal or direction. As for the Dimensional Gate, it remained too profound for Lu Zhiyu to understand; the principles involved were entirely beyond his grasp, and he was fortunate enough to simply be able to mimic the process.

As the water extinguished the flames, violent coughing could be heard from within the thatched hut. Lu Zhiyu pushed aside the charred, collapsed remains of the hut and stepped inside. There, in a cellar, he saw a human youth crawling out. The two stared at each other in silence.

"Urumo, Moshika?" (Who are you?)

Although Lu Zhiyu had collected the Sophoc Language and script of the Beastmen Race, he was not well-versed in the nascent, unsystematic language of humanity. However, it did not matter; under the perception of Lu Zhiyu's mental power, he could fully grasp the boy's meaning. Even his hostility and fear were laid bare before Lu Zhiyu's eyes.

"The Gods sent me to find you, Akhenaten, future King of Men!"

Lu Zhiyu extended his hand toward Akhenaten, his mental power radiating guiding information to ensure Akhenaten understood his intent, while also evoking a sense of interest and closeness.

Akhenaten scrambled up from the ground, feeling as though the mysterious person before him was bathed in the radiance of the sun, his entire being seemingly emitting a divine white light.

"Sent by the Gods? Are you a messenger of the Heavenly Gods? Akhenaten offers you his highest respects. Have you come to punish those evil Beastmen Race?"