Dream Continent.

The continent stretched endlessly in all directions, so vast that no ordinary person could hope to traverse its entirety on foot.

At its heart rose a mountain that pierced the heavens, crowned by the Temple of Life Sovereign at its unreachable summit.

However, one aspect remained reminiscent of the Mountain of Life’s Origin in the mortal world.

Even if you climbed to the mountain’s peak, you would rarely catch sight of the Life Sovereign.

This deity seldom stayed in their palace, preferring instead to venture out for entertainment.

Sometimes they would be in the God-Given Land’s flower sea or in the spirit realm.

Other times they would be wandering at God Yinsai’s feet, helping themselves to food in the temple.

Yet in the eastern part of this land, which had remained barren and desolate since its creation, a splash of brilliant color had emerged.

The spirits of the God-Given Land had all gathered here on this day, floating down from the sky while holding onto balloons.

As they descended, they found a single flower tree standing in solitude.

The spirits formed a circle around this area, then began singing together.

The Light of Wishes surged forth.

Under the transformation of miracle power, this barren land immediately turned into rich, black soil.

Nearby, Sermos, the Mother of Snakes, used her Life Ability to nurture the tree, causing it to continuously sprout new branches.

The spirits took these branches and planted them in the soil.

Some spirits conjured water to irrigate the earth.

Many little spirits, however, shirked their duties entirely, choosing instead to hide in the newly grown forest to laze about and play.

“Hehe!”

“Can’t catch me, can’t catch me!”

“You’re playing again, I’m going to tell Lady Hila.”

“Nyah nyah, I’m not scared.”

Though they said this, the little spirits still secretly looked back to check if Lady Hila was around.

Originally, this task didn’t require the little spirits’ presence at all.

Dream Sovereign Hila’s power alone could easily accomplish this with a wave of her hand.

But Hila believed the birth of a new dream race held deep meaning, for they were, in essence, the spirits of the new era – a continuation of the ancient spirits from the previous age.

Hila wanted all spirits to participate and earnestly welcome this newborn race.

Across the divided forest and land, Hila worked tirelessly.

She was infusing Dream Ability into this land, transforming it into a fairyland like the Sun Cup Flower Sea.

The origin of the dream race wasn’t merely this flower tree, but rather an environment imbued with dream laws and abilities.

A sea of forests, a fairyland, a dream kingdom.

The tree blooming with colorful flowers had received a name, one given not by God Yinsai but by the spirits – the Rainbow Tree.

Naturally, this forest became known as the Rainbow Forest.

As Hila and the little spirits busily planted branch after branch in the ground, Sermos the Mother of Snakes continuously used her Life Ability to nurture these branches, slowly growing them into great trees.

With time, they grew into immense giants, their trunks thick and strong.

Seeing the little spirits playing and slacking off, Hila immediately spoke up.

“Don’t be lazy!”

“If you don’t plant them properly, the Wood Nymphs will die.”

The little spirits immediately turned around, showing shocked expressions.

“Ah! They can die?”

“Once they die, they can’t come back to life?”

The little spirits asked innocently.

“Of course once something dies it can’t come back to life,” one great spirit said, pretending to be knowledgeable.

“But we never die, so how can they die?” other spirits found it strange that the dream race could die.

“They’re different from us,” the great spirit said.

“You were slacking off earlier.” The spirits immediately looked at their recent work.

“You planted that one crookedly; it needs to be replanted.” The little spirits became ten times more serious about their work.

Gradually, it began to take the shape of a small forest.

Dream Sovereign Hila looked at this forest and nodded with satisfaction.

However, these newly grown Rainbow Trees were still bare, without any flowers.

“Hoo~”

Dream Sovereign immediately extended her hand and gently blew across her palm, sending petals drifting toward the Rainbow Forest.

Endless flower petals flew forth from the Dream Sovereign’s palm, drifting toward the bare forest.

As petals scattered and gentle winds passed, the entire Rainbow Forest bloomed with colorful flowers.

The sea of flowers stretched as far as the eye could see, all the way to the horizon, and carried with it a heart-lifting fragrance.

The originally gray and colorless world transformed into a fairyland in an instant.

The spirits immediately burst into cheers, feeling this was a sight that could rival the Sun Cup Flower Sea.

Dream Sovereign Hila also felt a sense of pride. “From now on, the Wood Nymphs will dwell here.”

The little spirits flew above the Rainbow Forest’s sea of flower trees, as if searching everywhere for something.

Soon, they returned.

“Lady Hila! Lady Hila!”

“Why haven’t the Wood Nymphs come out yet?”

“Where are they hiding? Why won’t they come meet us?”

“Wait a moment,” Hila replied, “the Wood Nymphs should be born soon.”

Hila’s gaze focused on the depths of the Rainbow Forest, as she could already sense the rhythm of life stirring within some Rainbow Trees.

Some little spirits glanced around at the bare ground and the desolate world beyond the forest.

“The flower sea is so beautiful, but everything else is still empty.”

“Everything will come in time,” Hila assured them.

Though now there was only the Rainbow Forest, the dream race excelled at creating miracles.

They would surely use the Light of Wishes and miracle power to expand this fairyland, gradually transforming the surroundings into the world’s most beautiful scenery.

All the spirits waited beneath the Rainbow Forest for the birth of the Wood Nymphs, following Dream Sovereign Hila as they walked into the forest.

She led them to the thickest, most beautiful flower tree and settled beneath its branches. Taking out a bronze mirror, a smile touched her lips.

“Now,” she said softly, “let us see the ending of that mortal king.”

She used the Miracle Tool, the Spirit’s Magic Mirror, to once again watch scenes from the mortal world, remembering the mortal king who had given her inspiration.

The mirror once again reflected scenes from the mortal realm, its image piercing through the clouds to reveal a palace.

Suinhor City-State.

City of Fire Protection.

The royal bedchamber in the palace was now crowded with people.

King Smerkel’s queen had passed away long ago. In the chamber were only court attendants, the prince, and his ministers.

No one spoke, all simply watching their ruler on the bed.

A sorrowful and heavy atmosphere gathered here.

Though not much time had passed, King Smerkel had already lost considerable weight, his once strong and martial bearing gone.

His face was ashen, without a trace of vitality.

Because it was too quiet, Smerkel was actually the first to speak.

“Why is everyone so silent?”

At these words, no one responded.

Instead, sounds of sobbing could be heard.

Smerkel coughed a few times, then spoke with a weak voice about the most joyous recent event.

“A hundred years ago, I was fortunate enough to meet a deity. That was the most unforgettable memory of my life.”

“My only regret was that the divine object God Iva gave me, the Sun Cup from the Creator’s garden, was lost due to my mistake.”

“This has always been my regret.”

At this point, a smile appeared on King Smerkel’s face.

“Who would have thought.”

“A few days ago, I saw the Sun Cups blooming in the palace garden.”

“Those divine golden flowers covered the tree, their radiance and color truly rivaling the sun itself, just as their name suggests.”

Smerkel spoke with increasing smoothness, as if gradually regaining his spirit.

“This Sun Cup accompanied me as I ascended to the throne, heralding the most glorious era of my life, and now it blooms again as my time draws to a close.”

“Perhaps this is the gift bestowed upon me by the deity.”

“When I saw it, it was like seeing my entire life unfold before me.”

Tears welled up in the prince’s eyes. “I understand.”

The prince had also seen the blooming Sun Cups. Everyone who witnessed them showed expressions of shock and wonder.

“This must be the divine beings’ love for you, Father, a testament to your lifetime of achievements.”

King Smerkel then spoke of something he had never mentioned before: “But what you don’t know is that after the flowers bloomed, something even more incredible happened.”

“A divine messenger from the Creator’s Domain, one of the legendary divine race, descended to visit.”

King Smerkel’s eyes filled with longing, yearning for the most wonderful thing in the world.

“Such a beautiful and sacred being!”

In the bedchamber, everyone was stunned.

“The Divine Messenger race?”

“The spirits of dreams?”

“Do they truly exist? Those legendary beings?”

They all knew of the Divine Messenger race, the spirits said to exist only in the Creator’s Domain.

Their king had been fortunate enough to witness such a being.

Truly, wasn’t Smerkel a king of legends?

In a corner of the palace, someone immediately began recording this story.

King Smerkel fell silent, leaving the tale unfinished despite their anticipation.

Yet undoubtedly, this tale would spread far and wide.

The palace fell into silence once more. Smerkel gazed calmly out the window, as if waiting for something.

A hint of color rose to his face, like the last flicker of a dying flame.

King Smerkel turned his head, leaning forward to look out the window. “Has the sun set yet?”

A court attendant nearby was startled but quickly recovered.

“Not yet, Your Majesty!”

Smerkel immediately lay back down, letting out a long sigh.

“What a pity.”

“I won’t see my beloved sunset.”

After speaking these words, King Smerkel closed his eyes.

Suddenly, thick mist filled the entire bedchamber, and the sky instantly grew dark.

Everyone seemed to find themselves standing on the surface of a great sea, lost in its vastness.

Red flowers covered the ocean’s surface, leading toward the deep sea — the realm of the Blood Progenitor.

“Look! The King is there!” they called out, pointing.

They saw their king walking across the sea of red flowers, heading toward the misty depths.

Red power emanated from King Smerkel’s body as he gradually grew younger. The Life Ability and bloodline of the Trilobite Men were replacing his Snake People bloodline.

When King Alpens departed, he had left many grand and unrestrained words of advice for Smerkel.

King Smerkel paused only to look back once at his son, speaking his final words.

“Life is short, but there’s no need to rush or waver. Do what you wish to do, accomplish all that you can.”

“I will wait for you at the end of your journey.”

Then he strode away.

He knew that everyone had their own mission and responsibility.

How to carry out that mission, how to live one’s life, these were decisions each person had to make for themselves.

His son would make his own choices and follow his own thoughts.

The Blood Mist Cups guided Smerkel toward the deep sea.

He saw the red lighthouse and passed through the familiar city, arriving at the Temple of Truth.

The moment Smerkel entered, the red Life Ability power surrounding him finally reached its peak, enveloping his entire body.

A massive blood cocoon appeared within the Temple of Truth, pulsing like a heartbeat.

Smerkel felt his flesh turn to dust like rotting wood, but another stronger, more resilient power flowed into the blood cocoon, reforming his vessel.

An ancient memory surfaced in Smerkel’s mind.

He saw the civilization from two hundred million years ago, the world of that time.

He saw a humanoid being with bone armor walking through towering cities, wielding immensely powerful divine techniques, fighting against ancient and mighty monsters and enemies.

With sudden clarity, Smerkel realized he was looking at his own past self.

As the ancient memories merged with his mind, Smerkel became a complete Life Ability user, transforming into one of the most ancient races.

The blood cocoon dissipated, and a blood-red figure emerged.

First he became a Snake Person, then took on a divine form, and finally transformed into the appearance of a Trilobite Man.

The deity on the throne of flesh was moved for a moment at the sight of the Trilobite Man’s form.

They even rose briefly before settling back into their seats after a pause.

Finally, they gazed at the Trilobite Man in the hall and spoke.

“Welcome back!”

King Smerkel bowed deeply. “Lady Vivien,” he said to the Third Sage of Truth, then turned to King Alpens. “Teacher Spoel.”

King Smerkel remembered everything from long ago. In ancient times, he and Alpens had been student and teacher.

They were both priests of the Temple of Truth, members of the demon-hunting group that fought for God Yinsai.

King Smerkel looked at the Temple of Truth with longing and absolute awe.

“Is this truly the Temple of Truth?”

“The temple built by Sandean, the First Sage of Truth.”

The Blood Progenitor nodded: “This is indeed the Temple of Truth.”

“Though rebuilt, it maintains the appearance of the original sanctuary.”

Smerkel sighed and clenched his fists. “I never imagined I would see this place again, not since that traitor Xiao joined the Evil God and destroyed it, even after an entire era has passed.”

His voice filled with reverence. “This is the Temple of Truth!”

Even in this era, Smerkel’s voice filled with anger at the mention of Xiao’s name.

Alpens spoke to comfort him: “Xiao died millions of years ago. It’s all in the past now.”

Only in this era did Smerkel finally see the true appearance of the Island of Mist and the Temple of Truth.

In the previous era, during the time of Smerkel’s previous life.

The Island of Mist and the original Temple of Truth were already gone.

Xiao, a student of Lan the Second Sage of Truth, had betrayed Lan and joined the Evil God Anhofus, the Little Person in the Bottle.

The Evil God destroyed the Temple of Truth, and Xiao took all the temple’s inherited knowledge, as well as the Second Sage Lan’s experimental data on the path to divinity.

This truly matched the words from First Sage Sandean’s teachings.

Back then, before Elena joined the temple, she had asked First Sage of Truth Sandean: “What if someday someone uses the power you’ve passed down to bring disaster to God Yinsai?”

Sage Sandean had answered: “If someday my actions bring about disaster, I believe that era will also have those who benefited from my knowledge and ideals stand up to avert that catastrophe.”

Sandean’s student Haru touched forbidden knowledge, went mad and accidentally killed Sandean, becoming the ancestor of all monsters, the world’s first monster, the first fire demon.

Sandean’s other student, Second Sage of Truth Lan, killed Haru, ending the monster catastrophe and turning monsters into allies of the Trilobite Men.

Haru’s student Anhofus touched the forbidden and created the Evil God, the Little Person in the Bottle.

Finally, it was the Third Sage of Truth Vivien who ended the Evil God’s catastrophe, winning a future for the Trilobite Men.

Haru, Anhofus, Xiao, and Asai opened the path to immortality and divinity through endless cycles of curses.

While generation after generation of Truth Sages continued maintaining the Trilobite Men’s civilization, they all came from the Temple of Truth, each carrying dreams and hopes for the future.

But some dreams came bearing curses.

The power and dreams Sandean passed down brought disaster, yet also ended disaster.

The three people from the previous era fell silent. After a long while, the demigod on the throne of flesh spoke.

“What should I call you?”

“Are you Smerkel?”

“Or…”

King Smerkel spoke his former name: “Call me Lyons Tito.”

In the previous era, during the time of Smerkel’s former life, the Island of Mist and the original Temple of Truth were already gone.

Alpens wasn’t surprised: “You still can’t let go of the past.”

He couldn’t help glancing at the demigod on the throne of flesh. “Just like Lady Vivien.”

Alpens looked at Vivien and finally said.

“Perhaps we should all look forward.”

“Everything has turned to dust in time, nothing remains.”

“We can only do our best for ourselves, we should bravely forge ahead into the future.”

Smerkel, or rather Lyons Tito, looked at Alpens: “How can we forget?”

“We were descendants of King Redlichia, we were the bloodline of God’s firstborn!”

These simple words caused the demigod on the throne of flesh to lose control of their emotions.

She couldn’t help murmuring along with Lyons Tito’s words: “Indeed! Our past… how could it be so easily forgotten.”

Vivien gripped her scepter, looking at the Seed of the Trilobite in her arms.

She finally descended from the throne of flesh, gazing at Alpens and Lyons Tito.

“Alpens.”

“Lyons.”

“I’ve decided to visit the Sky Temple, regardless of what we’ve become, whether we’ve done well or poorly.”

“That was our past, our ancestors’ temple for generations, the history and origin of the Trilobite Men.”

“We must finally face our past, face the history of the Trilobite Men.”

Alpens: “But the Sky Temple has become part of the Ruhe beast, a monster that could destroy the world.”

“Without the Life Sovereign’s permission, Lady Vivien, you won’t be able to enter.”

Blood Progenitor Vivien nodded: “That’s why I plan to beseech the Mother of Life.”

“I heard recently that the Mother of Life’s avatar descended upon the Mountain of Life’s Origin. I will go to their temple to express my plea.”

“I believe they will agree,” she said with quiet conviction.

After much consideration, the Blood Progenitor finally decided to visit the Sky Temple, but first she would journey to the Mother of Life’s earthly temple.

With that, the Blood Progenitor vanished from the blood realm.

Mountain of Life’s Origin.

The Blood Progenitor arrived at the summit riding Blood Mist Cups, but froze the moment she appeared.

For there was nothing at the peak.

The former City of Life, the Temple of Life, and the Tower of Heaven had vanished without a trace.

The Blood Progenitor walked across the empty mountaintop, the cold wind whipping at her robes and hair, bewilderment written across her face.

“It’s gone?”

The Blood Progenitor searched in circles, walking through every corner.

Finally, Vivien stood where the Temple of Life had once been, then prostrated herself on the ground.

She prayed here to the Ruler of Life, but received no response.

Dream Realm.

Under the Rainbow Forest of the Dream Continent, Dream Sovereign Hila had just witnessed this scene.

Hila lowered the bronze mirror, its image frozen on the Blood Progenitor’s bewildered face.

The images slowly faded into blur.

Hila originally didn’t know what abilities to grant the Wood Nymphs, or what the Wood Nymph race could accomplish.

But now, Hila had decided.

They could perhaps become messengers between gods and demigods, or messengers traversing the Dream Realm.

When they were happy, they might even help mortals convey their troubles and prayers to beings in the Dream Realm, or deliver emotions people wished to express to those far away.

The spirit understood that conflict and tragedy often arose from an inability to communicate.

Dream races could easily traverse between the Dream Realm and reality, instantly moving from one place to another through the Dream Realm.

However, this required setting coordinates in advance.

Hila had hoped the new dream race would bridge reality and the Dream Realm. Creating them wasn’t just about giving them life, but also bestowing an innate mission and gift.

“Delivering messages through trees and flowers, becoming messengers who traverse dreams.”

“That sounds wonderful!”

“First-Rank Wood Nymphs can already deliver messages, Second and Third-Rank Wood Nymphs should be able to do even more.”

The spirit’s thoughts were undeniably naive, perhaps too idealistic for this world.

But once she had the idea, she immediately acted to realize it.

As the spirit fell into contemplation, the Rainbow Tree behind her suddenly burst forth with layer upon layer of dazzling light.

The other spirits who had been wandering about, trying to guess which Rainbow Tree would birth a Wood Nymph, immediately gathered.

“Over here!”

“Over here!”

“Quick, come see the Wood Nymph!”

A hollow suddenly appeared in the center of the Rainbow Tree, brilliant light emanating from within.

Within the light, a beautiful maiden slowly took form.

The world’s first Wood Nymph was born.

The maiden was born wearing a wreath of flowers, her hair as black as the Creator’s.

This was the rarest and most unusual color in this world, yet Dream Sovereign Hila had bestowed it upon the Wood Nymph race, showing her high expectations and beautiful wishes for this new dream race.

Their pupils were extraordinary, refracting rainbow light in the sunlight.

Their gaze created an enchanting illusion, as if one might fall into a dream, making the Wood Nymph race seem truly otherworldly and ethereal.

She wore white gossamer that was light and simple, yet perfectly accentuated their pure and beautiful nature.

The Wood Nymph stretched lazily in the tree hollow, then noticed the crowd of little spirits outside looking at her curiously.

She immediately hugged her legs shyly, burying her head.

After a long while, she carefully emerged from the tree hollow.

Her pure white bare feet touched the ground as she lifted her skirts to curtsy to the deity surrounded by spirits.

“Great… God!”

She had inherited the divine language through bloodline, but clearly wasn’t fluent in using it.

Dream Sovereign Hila stood amid the sea of flower trees, holding a little spirit’s hand as she spoke.

“I would prefer you use my name, or like the other spirits, call me Lady Hila.”