The higher Alpens climbed, the more biting the wind became.

Though blessed with a powerful physique and seemingly inexhaustible stamina, even Alpens found the ascent of the Mountain of Life’s Origin incredibly challenging.

His face was covered in frost, his breath condensing into thick white mist.

Below lay a thousand-foot drop. Though Alpens had survived all manner of injuries, he wasn’t certain he could survive falling and being reduced to paste. Even with his extraordinary body, he lacked such extreme confidence in his survival abilities.

Finally, he reached the summit.

As he emerged over the cliff’s edge, he at last beheld the legendary City of Life.

In that instant, he was struck speechless by its majesty.

The ancient, weathered aura emanating from its buildings and walls seemed to sweep one away in the river of time itself.

He had heard that the City of Fire Protection was modeled after this city, and previously thought the legendary City of Life couldn’t be that much grander.

But upon beholding the City of Life with his own eyes, Alpens realized the City of Fire Protection was but a pale shadow of its magnificence.

At the same time, he witnessed an even more shocking sight.

A terrifying serpentine monster wound its way through the city, coiling around the Tower of Heaven, crying out toward the sky.

Its voice was filled with desolate sorrow, echoing through the sea of clouds.

Alpens immediately knew what it was.

This was Sermos, the Snake Mother, who suffered divine punishment for killing the wise Winged People.

“The Mother of All Snakes!” he breathed in awe.

“Sermos…” he whispered, transfixed at the sight of this great serpent, for this was their ancestor, the Mother of All Snakes.

Just as in mythology, she remained forever trapped in this city, repeating the same actions day after day.

Alpens didn’t know if she acted this way out of madness, or if she was crying out to the Mother of Life above, begging for forgiveness.

He looked toward the sky, wondering.

“Could there truly be a deity watching from above those layers of clouds at this moment?”

“The Snake Mother begs for God’s forgiveness and mercy day after day.”

Suddenly, the giant serpent coiled around the tower seemed to notice something, turning its gaze toward Alpens’s position.

He quickly ducked behind a rock.

He felt a chaotic and maddened will wash over him as her gaze swept past, ready to kill any mortal who dared enter this city and offend the divine.

Alpens broke out in a cold sweat, knowing discovery meant certain death.

His supposedly powerful body meant nothing before such a being.

“It’s all… it’s all true,” he murmured.

“Everything in the myths and legends is real.”

But when the Snake Mother’s gaze moved away, he couldn’t help but peek out again.

This was a legendary city, said to contain the Temple of Life and numerous Miracle Tools excavated from Ruhe Beast Island, left behind when the snake people fled in panic.

Alpens wanted to enter and look around – even bringing back a single item would prove he had been here.

To the snake people, that would be the highest honor, proof of courage and strength, a hero’s testament.

Alpens slipped quietly through the open city gates. Though long abandoned, the city appeared remarkably clean.

In the middle of the grand avenue, he suddenly saw several statues.

They had all once been snake people.

Alpens felt a chill run down his spine, seeing his potential fate in these snake people.

Others had reached this place before, but none had ever left alive.

These before him were among them – they must have been powerful ability users who came to prove their strength and seek lost snake people artifacts.

They had worked together, using some clever method to climb the peak.

They had rushed joyfully into the city searching for the blessings left behind by God and the Snake Mother, but in the end were turned to stone by the serpent monster.

Alpens had heard such stories many times.

In these tales, the failures were usually objects of mockery – as a child, Alpens had laughed at these fools.

Now, he wondered if he too would become another stone testament to failure.

But thinking about it, those people had all been renowned warriors before setting out, departing with celebrations from their entire tribes and city-states.

No one knew of his journey here.

If death claimed him here, his fate would remain forever unknown.

Realizing this, Alpens felt an even stronger resolve to return alive.

Alpens carefully avoided the serpent monster’s gaze, constantly monitoring its movements.

Gradually, he reached what had once been a residential district of the snake people.

There, he found their ancestors’ storehouses.

Entering, he saw the stored meat had mostly dried to a dark color, at first glance resembling stones.

Some plant seeds had grown here, with several trees now standing inside the building.

Alpens walked to the very back and pushed open a stone door.

This was clearly where the precious items had been stored.

He saw many divine gifts, gold and silver items too exquisite to be of mortal make, with various artifacts hidden among them – it would test Alpens’s discerning eye.

One item immediately caught Alpens’s attention.

He saw the legendary Wings of Wind Control, an artifact of the Snake Mother.

A flying artifact that ranked among the most powerful tools ever created.

Alpens was overjoyed – bringing back such an item would surely prove he had reached the City of Life, and with such a powerful artifact, he would dare to face even monsters like the Wing Demons in battle.

But approaching it, Alpens realized the Wings of Wind Control were extremely large. Though he could easily carry them, the giant serpent outside would spot him immediately if he emerged with them.

Alpens immediately thought of using the Wings to soar into the sky and escape directly.

“No, no,” he muttered to himself.

“According to legend, the giant serpent monster’s eyes can turn anything to stone – the moment I take to the sky, I’ll become a living target.”

Though he desperately desired the Wings of Wind Control, Alpens remained mindful of his limitations.

He dared to take risks, but not foolishly throw his life away.

Walking through the storehouse, his attention suddenly turned to a corner.

He felt something drawing him closer, constantly urging him forward.

He could sense that this item’s power seemed identical to the strange power within himself, as if they shared the same origin.

He immediately went over and found an ancient, dark-colored armband.

This armband seemed out of place among the other items, as if someone had deliberately placed it here, or perhaps lost it.

“Is this an artifact too?” he wondered aloud.

Alpens picked up the armband and turned it over in his hands.

He tried putting it on his arm, and the moment he did, the armband instantly fused with his body, clasping tightly to his arm.

He tried to remove it with force but found it impossible.

When he tried harder, the armband suddenly erupted with waves of dark red energy.

At that moment, the giant serpent monster in the distance sensed someone had disturbed an item in the City of Life, and immediately became agitated with fury.

As the serpent monster moved, the entire city trembled slightly.

Alpens sensed the danger too, looking down to see the ground continuously shaking.

He shuddered and, with a quiet cry, rushed toward the exit.

“Run!”

Though the giant serpent monster had been far away, it reached Alpens’s district in an instant after detecting its target.

Alpens managed to dodge them by using the city’s buildings and alleyways for cover. Though the giant serpent monster could easily have killed him by crushing him beneath her massive serpentine body, she instead carefully wound around the buildings, keeping to the main central avenues.

It seemed she was unwilling to damage the city’s buildings just to kill Alpens.

Or perhaps she was merely driving Alpens outside.

Alpens finally burst out of the city, climbing onto the city wall.

On one side lay the city buildings, on the other, an endless cliff.

The cold wind howled as Alpens looked back to see the serpent monster releasing another petrification beam.

He leaped straight off the cliff, plummeting toward the mountain’s base as the petrification beam swept just over his back.

Alpens flailed his arms as he fell, unsure whether death or survival awaited him, but knowing he would rather die from the fall than be turned to stone, forever trapped in that desolate city.

After driving out this insect who dared enter the City of Life, the serpent monster activated another ability.

Her head extended over the city wall as she opened her massive jaws.

A powerful devouring force erupted from her mouth, seeming to lock down the entire space.

Including Alpens, who felt a force like a law of nature fixing him in place, leaving him no means of escape.

Alpens let out a roar, his body exploding with tremendous force. His muscles and frame visibly swelled, vital energy coursing through his solid muscles.

He seemed to be trying to break free of the bonds upon him.

But it had no effect.

Just as Alpens was about to fall into the serpent monster’s mouth and share the fate of all who had dared trespass in the City of Life, the armband he had taken activated.

A blood-colored power enveloped Alpens, carrying him away from the City of Life, vanishing from the spot.

The Snake Mother Sermos looked for a while, but unable to find any trace of Alpens, she departed.

She returned to coiling around the Temple of Life, occasionally patrolling the City of Life before returning to the Tower of Heaven to cry out to the sky—

Having escaped death, Alpens found himself in an unknown realm.

This was an underwater city, surrounded by endless darkness.

An eerie silence pervaded the city, broken only by what seemed to be the distant sound of flowing water or tides. The longer one listened to that sound, the darker and deeper it felt, until one sensed the presence of an endless black maw, waiting to swallow everything.

Alpens examined the city, studying its architecture.

The buildings were completely different from snake people architecture, filled with profound cultural, artistic, and aesthetic foundations that could only have been accumulated over generations.

This was definitely not a city the snake people could have built – it belonged to another ancient race, or perhaps to an omnipotent deity.

“Why can I see?”

“Light?”

“How can there be light underwater?”

Alpens turned around, looking up toward the source of light.

He saw a lighthouse.

A red glow pulsed from the lighthouse, and in that radiance, Alpens glimpsed what felt like the very color of life itself.

He suddenly felt an urge to throw himself into the lighthouse’s beam – it was the origin of his life, the source of his bloodline.

Merging with this place was his destined fate and highest glory.

As he stood in this daze, a voice reached his ears.

The call came from the depths of the underwater city, carried by the undulating waters.

The voice possessed an otherworldly lightness, carried by the waves to every corner of the underwater city.

“Come here.”

“Come… here.”

“Come… come… come…”

Alpens knew this being calling to him was the one who had saved him.

Regardless of their intentions, he had neither the right nor power to resist. He immediately resolved to head deeper into the city.

Along the way, he saw many unfamiliar buildings and strange creations.

He saw another kind of writing, recording the secrets and history of an ancient civilization.

Finally, he arrived at the Temple of Truth.

As he climbed the steps one by one, the palace filled him with a profound sense of sanctity – not the divine sanctity of gods, but the sacred atmosphere born from generations of unwavering belief and the principles that countless people had held dear.

Though Alpens couldn’t read the characters carved with the words “Temple of Truth,” he suddenly understood its purpose – this was a place that stored vast knowledge, that held the beliefs and faith of countless people.

At least, it once had.

Alpens entered the temple, and a figure appeared before him.

It was a woman seated upon a throne of flesh and blood, who spoke the moment Alpens stepped into the Temple of Truth.

“The Snake Mother Sermos guards the City of Life, forbidding any life except the Mother of Life’s servants from entering.”

“Her reason has been eroded by power, her mind’s clarity confused by bloodline madness.”

“Even though you are her descendant, she would not hesitate to turn you to stone, yet you still dared to enter.”

The woman’s gaze fell upon Alpens: “You enjoy taking risks.”

“But this also proves you are a person of great courage.”

The Blood Progenitor praised Alpens’s courage, finding nothing wrong with one person’s solitary bravery.

Failure made it reckless, success made it courage.

And Alpens clearly possessed the qualities for success – he had within him an unstoppable force, the kind of force necessary for a civilization to advance.

Timidity would not bring what a civilization desired, nor was it a quality suited for one who would forge the future.

Alpens also carefully observed the being upon the throne of flesh.

She was a woman wearing magnificent robes, with blood-red hair and dark green eyes.

Most striking were her legs, her pure white feet resting on the base of the flesh throne, drawing one’s gaze irresistibly.

The moment Alpens looked upon her, he couldn’t help but call out the name from his dream.

“Ruler of the Blood Kingdom of the Deep Sea, the Scarlet Witch, Great Blood Progenitor, Queen of the Most Ancient Race.”

The Blood Progenitor smiled at him: “You remember me.”

Alpens nodded: “Are you a deity?”

Blood Progenitor: “Indeed I am no mortal – I have walked the path of myth, but I still stand apart from true divinity.”

“Or rather…”

“You might call beings like us demigods.”

Alpens: “Myth?”

“How is it different from divinity?”

Blood Progenitor: “The Mother of Life is true divinity.”

“She is the Creator, and also the origin of my power and bloodline, possessing power I cannot fathom or comprehend.”

“I am Her servant, possessing an incomplete portion of divine power.”

Alpens drew a deep breath: “You are a servant of the Mother of Life?”

“Are you like the Snake Mother, also created by the Creator?”

The woman on the throne of flesh laughed softly, shifting her position as she gazed at Alpens with a slight shake of her head.

Alpens saw the scepter in her hand. When she raised it, a powerful force exploded outward through the deep beneath the waves.

The blood within Alpens’s body surged and burned.

His eyes turned crimson as countless shadows materialized behind the woman, along with endless cities stretching across the earth to the horizon.

All those countless figures cried out to the woman, acknowledging her as the ruler of their race.

Queen of the Most Ancient Race.

Her voice resonated from the throne of flesh, making the waters ripple: “Alpens.”

“I am different from your Snake Mother. I come from millions of years past, awakening in this era alongside the Creator.”

“Before you were born upon this earth, we ruled the skies, land, and seas, governing this mortal realm on behalf of the Creator.”

“You possess our power within you, formed by a contract between us.”

“This is why you can see me and why you have come to this place.”

The Blood Progenitor had not yet recovered her ancient memories, still believing the Mother of Life to be the Creator.

Alpens couldn’t fully grasp the difference between demigods and gods, but to him and all snake people, there was no distinction – both were divine beings.

He gazed up at the Blood Progenitor, his heart filled with awe.

A deity stood before him – a true, living god.

This was a being from millions of years past, an immortal spirit possessing divine power.

He had no doubts – from the moment he saw her, he knew she was divine.

She had her own kingdom in the deep sea, emanating such overwhelming power and presence, possessing the perfect form of divinity.

What being in this world, other than a deity, could achieve such things?

Even someone as proud and brave as Alpens bowed his head before divinity.

“Great Deity!”

“Why did you appear in that dream?”

“Were you trying to guide me?”

The Blood Progenitor told him: “You needed help, which is why you recalled that ancient memory.”

“As for guidance…”

“When you came here, when you climbed that mountain – hadn’t you already decided?”

Alpens looked at the deity, still confused.

“But I truly don’t understand?”

The Blood Progenitor asked in return: “Then why did you climb the Mountain of Life’s Origin? Why have you come to this place?”

“Was it all merely because of a dream?”

The Blood Progenitor told Alpens to remember what he truly wanted.

“At least…”

“Deep in your heart, you already know what you desire.”

Alpens fell into deep thought, seeming to understand something.

After a long while, he bowed to the Blood Progenitor.

“Thank you for your guidance, and thank you for saving me.”

The Blood Progenitor smiled at the contemplative Alpens, then shifted the conversation to another level.

“The object you carry was left for you by me.”

“You did well, not taking things that don’t belong to you. The Wings of Wind Control were given to the Snake Mother by God – you had no right to take them.”

“Remember this.”

“This world contains many things beyond your imagination. What you call power and strength is like a grain of sand in the soil, and beyond the land lies the ocean, and above the great sea stretches the infinite starry sky.”

“Alpens!”

“To exist in this world, one must first have reverence.”

The Blood Progenitor raised her hand, preparing to send Alpens away.

As he was leaving, Alpens asked her: “You said the Wings of Wind Control belong to the Snake Mother – does that mean she isn’t truly dead?”

“Can she live again?”

To the snake people, Snake Mother Sermos had died when divine punishment transformed her into a monster – they didn’t consider that terrifying giant serpent to be their ancestor.

The Blood Progenitor, who could also be called the Scarlet Witch, told him: “Divine punishment will one day end. Though the Mother of Life disciplined the Snake Mother, she will eventually awaken.”

Alpens: “What must be done to bring the Snake Mother back to life?”

Blood Progenitor: “Perhaps she must undergo another trial, perhaps she must overcome her sin of jealousy, or perhaps it requires something else entirely.”

The red-haired woman on the throne of flesh gazed up at the waters above: “Everything… depends on how the Ruler of Life arranges it.”

Alpens wanted to ask more, but a pool of blood on the ground swallowed him—

Alpens stood up.

He found himself not in the deep sea at all, but lying in a cave.

His amazement grew.

In an instant, she had not only pulled him into the ocean depths but just as quickly returned him to land.

This miraculous power was beyond Alpens’s imagination, surpassing all mortal limits.

He didn’t know that he hadn’t actually entered that underwater city – at least, the time for his return there had not yet come.

Everything that had just happened was only his consciousness being drawn into her realm, allowing him to see that blood kingdom beneath the sea.

Alpens stood up and looked around.

He saw vibrant murals in the cave, paintings that must have been there for three or four hundred years or even longer, yet remained perfectly preserved.

“The Paintings of Pence’s Cave.”

Alpens immediately recognized this place and guessed his location.

He walked toward the cave entrance.

Pushing aside the plants covering the entrance, he saw the jungle and city ruins beyond.

He confirmed he was at the foot of the Mountain of Life’s Origin, at the city built by Pence, descendant of the Snake Mother.

Alpens’s own name came from this being, who symbolized courage and strength to the snake people.

Alpens walked through the ruins, feeling the ancient atmosphere of this place.

He could imagine a noble male snake person leading his people to carve out territory from the wilderness, building their own city and achieving glory – deeds the snake people still remembered, still singing of his glory and magnificence.

Alpens climbed to the highest point of the city, surveying everything below.

His chest swelled with pride as he couldn’t help but shout toward the distance.

“Pence!”

“I will surpass you!”

Alpens’s roar made his blood boil, and at that moment he activated the gift from the Blood Progenitor.

The armband emanated light, transforming into a set of scale armor that covered Alpens, with a blood-red cape flowing behind him in the wind.

The power continued to spread, forming a shield in his left hand and a spear in his right.

He held the spear horizontally, and powerful pressure descended upon the ruins.

Insects and beasts in the jungle fled in panic, not daring to look back.

This was power originating from life itself, manifesting when blood energy and physical prowess reached certain limits.

【Life Artifact: Proof of Blood Kinship】

【Sequence Number 14】

【Ability 1: When the armor is bathed in blood on the battlefield, it can convert it to blood energy to continuously heal your wounds and increase your strength. When battle spirit reaches its peak and you bathe in the blood of a true powerful being, you can use part of the Blood Progenitor’s power to become an apostle.】

【Ability 2: The shield possesses the power of transformation. It can gain special effects and forms by devouring other objects or life forms.】

【Ability 3: The spear carries the blood curse. Wounds it tears open cannot heal, and pain and scars will accompany your enemies until death finally releases them.】

This was an artifact of Life Ability, signifying that Alpens had become divinely blessed.

However, his deity was a servant of the Mother of Life, the being known as the Blood Progenitor.