Chronicle of the Great Wilderness (Part 2)

Thirty thousand years ago.

The ancestors of the Great Wilderness Humans kindled the Flame Seed of civilization and began to cast off ignorance and savagery.

They mastered the skills to make all kinds of tools and created the earliest writing.

They established villages and gathered together by clan.

The ancestors who had fought Wild Beasts and Demon Beasts for generations continued to grow stronger.

And in this process, the Demon Beast Bone Sigils of Demon Beasts inspired the wise among the Human Race.

Totem Runes were born as a result.

The Human Race gained Transcendent power—Totem Warriors and Totem Wizards!

Yet just as the Great Wilderness Humans truly began to grow powerful and prosperous, enormous changes swept across heaven and earth.

Mountains rose, forests swelled, and rivers expanded!

All living things, plants and animals alike, began to evolve with them.

Their bodies grew larger with every generation.

Adapting to the new world.

This also meant that the already savage Wild Beasts and Demon Beasts posed an ever greater threat to the ancestors.

Countless people died because of them.

But Heaven itself seemed to have forgotten the Human Race, never granting them the ability to evolve!

Thus, the Great Wilderness Humans faced an unprecedented predicament.

They stood in grave danger of extinction.

Under such circumstances, part of the Human Race chose to hide in the dark underground Abyss.

The underground Abyss was far safer than the surface of the Great Wilderness, because its special environment greatly restricted the evolution of living things.

Allowing the weak among them to rest and multiply.

This branch of the Human Race later came to be known as the Ancient Remnant People.

But many ancestors also chose to remain aboveground and fight for survival!

The Wizards among them included.

After paying countless sacrifices in blood, the Wizards developed new totems.

They successfully allowed the Human Race to evolve, so they would not be eliminated in the survival of the fittest.

The ancestors who multiplied generation after generation eventually became the Giants of today!

The Giant Race, powerful once more, built sturdy and magnificent cities and established kingdoms above the tribes.

Until this day.

Gao Jing turned the final page of Chronicle of the Great Wilderness.

His heart surged like rolling waves.

This ancient text was limited in length.

Although it fully recounted the Great Wilderness Humans' thirty-thousand-year history, it contained very few details.

So there was much he could not understand.

He had returned to the Great World for five days now.

Every day, Gao Jing had earnestly sought instruction from the old Wizard and studied Chronicle of the Great Wilderness all over again.

He had learned much more about the Great Wilderness.

Gao Jing truly could not imagine what kind of faith the Great Wilderness Humans of those days, before they had become Giants, had possessed to fight desperate battles against Wild Beasts and Demon Beasts several times, even more than ten times, stronger than themselves.

Wild Beasts were the collective name for all the wild animals of the Great Wilderness, including grazing cattle, sheep, and horses, as well as carnivorous tigers, leopards, and wolves.

The latter threatened the Human Race at every moment.

Yet compared with Demon Beasts, even the fiercest Wild Beasts were not worth mentioning.

Demon Beasts were beasts as well, but they possessed great intelligence and innate abilities.

These abilities were called "Divine Abilities."

Some Demon Beasts could breathe fire, some could summon wind and rain, some were indestructible, and some were invincible in slaughter.

In a sense, the Great Wilderness was a world ruled by Demon Beasts!

It was only that Demon Beasts generally did not stray far from their own territories, and many Demon Beasts were natural enemies that fought one another.

They could not form a unified whole.

Otherwise, the Great Wilderness Humans would have been exterminated by the Demon Beasts long ago.

Even so, the harm Demon Beasts inflicted upon the Human Race was incomparably grievous!

The book recorded Demon Beasts destroying entire cities, killing and devouring tens of thousands of people.

They were the greatest enemies of the Great Wilderness Humans.

The Chronicle of the Great Wilderness before Gao Jing was, in truth, also a history of the Great Wilderness Humans written in blood and tears.

Every line on every page seemed soaked in mottled blood.

As though one could see the bones of countless forebears!

Gao Jing was not a member of the Great Wilderness Humans.

But his experiences when he had first entered the Great World made it impossible for him not to feel a measure of shared sorrow.

Gao Jing could not help letting out a long breath.

When he looked up, he saw the old Wizard sitting at the wooden table, puffing away at his pipe with a "tap, tap."

The tobacco was something Gao Jing had brought from the Main World.

The old Wizard liked it very much and cherished it dearly.

The aged Giant met Gao Jing's gaze, wisdom glimmering in his eyes.

His gaze seemed capable of piercing through Gao Jing's soul!

Gao Jing steeled himself, bowed to the other man, and said, "Wizard Chief, thank you for your guidance these past days."

"No need to be polite."

The old Wizard set down his pipe and said meaningfully, "Is there something else you wish to tell me?"

"Yes!"

Without hesitation, Gao Jing said, "C-can I become a Totem Wizard?"

Becoming a Wizard was the most important and crucial goal of his visit to the Great World.

Totem Warriors and Totem Wizards were the core strength of the Great Wilderness Humans, beings who possessed Transcendent abilities.

Gao Jing wanted to become a Totem Wizard not merely because Wizards possessed the strongest abilities.

Wizards also had the longest lifespans!

For instance, the old Wizard sitting before him had protected the Mountain Tribe for more than a century!

And Shan Yan was clearly not the strongest Totem Wizard.

Gao Jing yearned to become powerful, but he also hoped to live a long life.

He stared at the old Wizard as though awaiting judgment from fate, never having felt so anxious!

After all, Gao Jing was one of the Abyss Remnants, not a Great Wilderness Giant.

He did not know whether he possessed such qualifications.

The old Wizard was his only hope!

Shan Yan fell into thought at Gao Jing's question.

After a moment, the old Wizard said, "Abyss Remnants can also become Totem Wizards."

"We share the same origin and bloodline. We both belong to the Human Race."

"But..."

Before Gao Jing could show his excitement, the old Wizard wagged a finger at him.

Telling him not to celebrate too soon. "But you must possess the aptitude to become a Wizard—or rather, the bloodline!"

Gao Jing could not help asking, "What is a Wizard's aptitude?"

The old Wizard smiled faintly.

He raised his withered right hand, pressed his index and ring fingers together, and in an instant traced an arcane rune through the air.

"This is fire."

Flames appeared out of thin air, like a fiery dragon dancing through the sky, their scorching aura spreading in all directions.

But they lasted only a few breaths.

The old Wizard traced another symbol. "This is wind."

A fresh breeze arose from the void!

"This is water."

"This is earth."

"This is spirit!"

In less than half a minute, the old Wizard had traced five different Totem Runes.

"Fire, wind, water, earth, and spirit are the Five Great Bloodline Essences."

He explained, "If you wish to become a Wizard, you must possess the Source Essence of 'spirit.' And if you also possess any one of fire, wind, water, or earth, that would be best."

"If you lack the Source Essence of 'spirit' and possess only one of the four Source Essences—fire, wind, water, or earth—"

"You can still become a Totem Warrior."

"But if you possess none of the Five Great Bloodline Essences, then..."

The old Wizard did not finish the rest, but Gao Jing fully understood what he meant.

Gao Jing asked impatiently, "Wizard Chief, then how can I know whether I have any Source Essence?"

"I can test you."

The old Wizard took a rune tablet from his waist pouch and placed it before Gao Jing.

The rune tablet was nearly a meter long and half a meter wide, its dark brown surface engraved with intricate rune patterns.

At the center of the tablet was a round indentation the size of a fist.

"Drip a drop of blood onto it."

The old Wizard gestured. "You will see the result soon enough."

Looking at the rune tablet before him, Gao Jing had never felt so nervous!

His future fate would very likely be decided by this!