Time flew by like a white colt passing through a crack, slipping away in the blink of an eye.
Several decades had already passed since the last great war. The younger generation had forgotten the flames of war, while only the older generation continued watching the Ant Race closely, secretly guarding against the Devouring Ants sweeping across the land once more and emerging from the Death Desert.
To defend against surprise attacks by the Ant Race from hidden corners underground, the Human King had specifically joined forces with the Myriad Races to create Adamant Armor, which could easily bore through mountains and shatter rock. Unfortunately, Adamant Armor could only operate near the surface and could not drill several thousand meters underground.
Their defenses were more than sufficient, but their offense was lacking. It was said that the Ant Queen had dug her main nest more than ten thousand meters deep!
The Ant Queen had not been resting all these years either. Yet shockingly, over several decades, she had not given birth to or produced a single Ant Tribe Hero! Even ordinary Soldier Ants could barely sustain their numbers, and there were far fewer Metal Ants as well.
This caused many Ant Tribe Heroes to begin muttering among themselves.
"Could it be that the Ant Queen's time is near? Her reproductive ability is gradually weakening. If that is the case, we should cultivate the next generation of Ant Queen early, to ensure the race does not perish." An Ant Tribe Hero secretly calculated.
The Ant Race shared their thoughts. When the Ant Queen learned of this, it was said that she flew into a rage and directly melted down and remade the hero who had spoken those words.
The other heroes were frightened into trembling, and none dared make wild guesses again. Yet no one knew what the crafty old Ant Queen was planning.
With calamity capable of striking at any moment, both the Human Race and the Devouring Ants were developing vigorously. The Human King's legacy had now reached its ninth generation, and this generation's Human King was devoted to developing technology and comprehending the changing laws of Heaven and Earth, All Things.
They had even begun producing simple firearms. These weapons were immensely powerful and could be used without supplying much energy, making them ideal tools for breaking through defenses.
Ninth Generation Human King Qi believed that as long as they thoroughly researched firearms and enhanced their power, they would completely exterminate the Devouring Ants this time!
Both sides maintained a fragile peace. Yet no one expected that this situation would trigger a world-shaking war between the two races over a minor matter!
That day, a Human Race expedition team ventured deep into the far north.
They had come to excavate Extreme Cold Profound Ice. This ice block could stabilize one's mind and was exceptionally effective in assisting cultivation. In the far north, the ice layer was tens of thousands of feet thick, containing all sorts of strange things.
"Legend says that some of the ice beneath our feet came from when Heaven and Earth First Opened!"
A young girl happily stomped on the ice beneath her feet. She was wrapped in five layers of animal hide, making her look bloated, but nothing could suppress her enthusiasm.
The captain smiled. "That rumor should be true. The elders studied fossils last time and discovered that their age was unimaginably ancient. They may truly be from the same era as the Divine Tree."
This desolate, frigid region contained countless secrets. At that moment, the girl's eyes suddenly lit up. She shook her bulky body and said, "Come look! This seems to be a Four-Leaf Clover that went extinct in the previous era."
The girl excitedly pointed at a little fellow on an icy cliff. It appeared to have been revealed when the ice collapsed and melted in recent years as temperatures rose. Only an expedition team this powerful could discover a Four-Leaf Clover fossil within the ice.
Then, as if she had seen something unbelievable, the girl trembled and said, "W-why does it look like someone stepped on the Four-Leaf Clover?"
The Four-Leaf Clover had gone extinct in the previous epoch. This creature could be traced back to the earliest terrestrial life forms, and it had ultimately been unable to escape the frozen cataclysm. How could someone have left a footprint on it countless ages ago?
The captain also sensed that something was wrong. He hurried over to inspect it closely. He stared for half an hour before finally sucking in a breath of cold air. He realized that this was a footprint left by an unimaginable existence—perhaps even a trace left by the Creation God!
The captain immediately ordered everyone to excavate carefully. After several hours, they fully unearthed the Four-Leaf Clover fossil. To avoid accidentally damaging it, they even dug out half a meter of ice around it as well.
After examining it closely, everyone realized it had not been an illusion. There truly was a footprint on the Four-Leaf Clover!
The patterns of the footprint were profound and mysterious. At a glance, it was clearly imbued with extremely advanced technology.
"B-boss, could this really have been stepped on by the venerable Creation God?" The girl excitedly pointed at the Four-Leaf Clover fossil, her little face flushed bright red.
It was simply impossible to imagine what creature could have survived the cataclysm before the epoch. Even the Divine Tree had been forced to undergo nirvana to evade it! Yet someone had actually been able to walk upon the Frozen Planet.
If any creature truly could survive the Epochal Cataclysm, then it could only be the deity who had created this world!
The girl excitedly reached out to touch the fossil again. This was a suspected footprint of the Creation God! She was actually able to pay homage from so close.
Smack!
To her surprise, the captain waved his hand and knocked hers aside. "This is a sacred relic. How can you touch it so casually? What if you damage it?" The captain glared at her.
Faced with a sacred relic possibly left behind by the Creation God, the captain did not dare neglect it. He could not even bother with their original mission and immediately called for the team members to pack up and return!
The expedition had taken fifteen days to get there, but only five days to return! They traveled day and night, even abandoning some resources they had already excavated in order to get back sooner.
The elders had wondered why the expedition team returned so early. But after discovering that they had unearthed a sacred relic, even the Human King was shaken and rushed back from a construction workshop ten thousand miles away.
After several elders studied it, Human King Qi personally examined it as well. Comparing the Spear of Destiny with the patterns of the footprint, he finally became certain that this was indeed a trace left behind by the Creation God.
"This was left a million years ago, when the ice and snow cataclysm descended, freezing the earth and withering all things, and the Creation God's true body arrived upon the land!" Human King Qi reached his conclusion.
He solemnly enshrined the fossil as a sacred relic of the Human Race and classified all information concerning it as the highest secret. This had been left behind by the Creation God!
Anything involving the Creation God was no small matter. If the footprint fossil contained even a trace of the world's truth, they could completely eliminate the Devouring Ants and resolve this grave threat!
Unfortunately, no wall could keep out every breeze. What's more, the expedition team that had returned earlier had loose lips. After all, they had only suspected that it was likely the Creation God's footprint and had not been able to confirm it.
"Hey, hey, have you heard? They say the Human Race excavated a sacred relic left by the Creation God in the far north?"
"What? Something left by the Creation God?" Sky Tiger King widened his tiger eyes. "It's actually true? What did the Creation God leave behind?"
"I heard it was a divine artifact comparable to the Spear of Destiny."
"No, no, I heard it was a fossil covered in profound runes, just like the lost Tablet of Truth. It records the mysteries of Heaven and Earth and is the number one Cultivation Method in the world. Any creature that comprehends it will become the Lord of the World."
"That's not right either. I heard from a Human Race elder that it was an invincible magical beast shaped like a Four-Leaf Clover. They say its Combat Power is far beyond that of a Dragon!"
The rumors grew ever more outrageous and swept across the entire world. But one thing was certain: the Human Race had indeed obtained a sacred relic left behind by the Creation God.
"Your Majesty, this is bad! Leaders of the Myriad Races have come together to seek an audience. They say they want to pay homage to the Creation God's sacred relic. Our soldiers cannot stop them at all!"
Human King Qi shook his head in frustration. He had wanted his own race to study it slowly—how had news of the sacred relic leaked to the whole world?
With the Devouring Ants as their great enemy, he could not let the Myriad Races lose heart.
"Fine, fine. Let the kings of the Myriad Races enter!"
With a wave of his hand, the Human King decided that he could not offend the hearts of the Myriad Races for the sake of a sacred relic.