The Immortal Race

Cai Jiajia pressed herself against Lu Zhiyu's back on the bed, her hands tracing his streamlined muscles as if she were obsessed and reluctant to let go. Lu Zhiyu turned over, wrapped his arms around her, and the two pressed together, eyes locked.

Cai Jiajia's lips curled up: "Ever since I parted from you, I've often dreamed of you. Lu Zhiyu, you are the perfect lover of my ideals!"

Lu Zhiyu asked immediately: "Lover? What does that mean?"

Cai Jiajia giggled: "It means you aren't the type suitable for marriage or being a boyfriend. Whether it's me, that Li Wei of yours, or any woman you have in the future, they will all feel that you are unreliable!"

"..."

Lu Zhiyu suddenly remembered: "Right, didn't you say before that your ex-boyfriend came back to find you? What about now?"

Cai Jiajia extended her right hand, a ring adorning her slender finger: "That's right, I got back together with him. We got engaged just last week, and after the New Year, we plan to pick a date to get married!"

Lu Zhiyu's mouth fell open: "Then why are you still flirting with me!"

Cai Jiajia kissed him squarely on the lips: "Who told you to be so unforgettable? Whenever I think of you, I feel my whole body becoming restless!"

When he left Cai Jiajia's home, Lu Zhiyu felt thoroughly battered. After sitting at home for a while, he felt the house was empty, and suddenly, a sense of loneliness crept in.

It took a long time for Lu Zhiyu to remember that his business in Maria World was not yet finished. He stood up immediately and entered Maria World through the Dimensional Gate in the attic.

At this moment, it was early morning in Maria World. Lu Zhiyu arrived in the forests of Yala Continent and saw that beside the previously empty lake in the valley, a towering tree reaching into the sky had grown.

The tree was hundreds of meters tall, its massive canopy shielding the sky. Its thick branches radiated an aura of life, so wide they felt like spacious roads where one could run. On the canopy, fruit buds were blooming like flowers, layered and wrapping something within.

The entire valley, once as vast as a grassland, now featured a large forest surrounding the lake, guarding the Tree of Life.

Just then, one of the fruit buds matured and bloomed. Lu Zhiyu flickered, appearing directly on the branch. He walked along the several-meter-wide limb and parted the bud. Amidst layers of tender leaves, Lu Zhiyu finally saw an infant.

It was an infant with long, pointed ears and delicate features, its umbilical cord still connected to the stamen of the bud. Lu Zhiyu carefully cut it and picked the baby up. The infant immediately began to cry, its gem-like eyes staring at Lu Zhiyu.

"You are the first long-lived race born in Maria World. Your race shall be called the Elves!"

Lu Zhiyu carried the infant to the ground and tapped his staff against the air, causing space to ripple as he appeared on the surface.

The Ant-Men used their strong limbs to climb the trees as if walking on flat ground. Within a few days, one could see wooden houses being built beneath the forest of the Tree of Life.

As one Elf after another was born, dozens were born within a year, and it continued year after year. However, the Tree of Life that Lu Zhiyu created also had a lifespan; after a thousand years, this tree would reach its end, so the reproduction of the Elves would eventually have to rely on themselves.

However, long-lived races had their own flaws in reproduction. They had to reach full adulthood before they could conceive their next generation, and the birth of life was much more difficult compared to ordinary humans. Since they enjoyed the convenience of longevity, they had to bear this flaw, which wasn't really a flaw at all.

More than twenty Ant-Men were responsible for watching over the growth of these Elves. Lu Zhiyu also lived here for over half a year, mainly to observe whether there were any defects in the genes of these long-lived beings and if the life template was completely self-consistent. After all, his future longevity potion plan would eventually be used on himself.

Lu Zhiyu walked down from the treehouse along a rope ladder. Recently, he had been living in this largest wetland forest of Yala Continent, breathing the freshest air every day, feeling the wind carrying the scent of green grass and flowers, and listening to the birds and insects, which gave the place a pastoral, idyllic feel.

Lu Zhiyu turned and left, while the Ant-Men remained behind. They would stay here to watch over the growth of these Elves until the end of their lives; this was the task Lu Zhiyu had left for them.

Meanwhile, on the distant Alan Continent, even more drastic changes were taking place. Akhenaten, wielding the divine sword and divine power, led his soldiers to conquer the various tribes nearby. In his homeland, the Red River Plain, he established the first human city-state: the Golden City!

Akhenaten claimed that his royal power was divinely ordained and called himself the Golden King. He organized the first human dynasty, completely systematized human language and writing, led humanity into the agricultural age, and taught them how to farm fields and domesticate wild beasts.

Akhenaten divided humans into several classes. Those possessing divine power were called the Descendants of God; they were of noble blood, the ruling class, and high-ranking aristocrats. Other ordinary people were commoners, and below them were a large number of conquered people, who were the lowest-ranking slaves.

Akhenaten organized trade and established gold and silver as the currency for human commerce. Humanity had completely emerged from the ignorant tribal era; civilization and order had descended upon them. Although Akhenaten was not a good monarch—or perhaps one could say he was a brutal king—who divided humanity into layers while he himself, as a king with golden blood, enjoyed the offerings of all.

He drove a large number of slaves to build his palace, wore incredibly magnificent clothing, and even used gold to pave the floors of his palace. Yet, under his rule, humanity became unified and entered an era of rapid development. In a few decades, the human population grew rapidly, reaching hundreds of thousands.

In the thirteenth year of the Golden Dynasty, the conflict between the Beastmen Race and humans intensified. The first violent clash broke out between Saga City and the Golden City, with both sides deploying tens of thousands of troops, launching the first large-scale war between the two races.

Humans were far behind the Beastmen Race in terms of troop strength and weaponry, and the army was routed. In a moment of crisis, Akhenaten organized a cavalry unit, raided the Beastmen Race's royal tent, and killed the twelfth-generation Beast King—the Wolf King Costa!

The humans won a pyrrhic victory, but because of the death of the Wolf King Costa, greater chaos erupted among the Beastmen Race. Various tribes fought for the throne, leading to a new round of civil strife. The humans began to retreat to the south to recuperate, while Akhenaten, having suffered severe injuries in that battle, lost the courage to fight and instead spent his time building palaces and lingering in the lap of luxury!