City-State of Avel.

Smooth roads were built on three sides of the capital, where camel-like beasts pulled vehicles back and forth. People drove their pack animals while chatting. Their contented expressions showed the peace of life.

The city walls were not particularly high and lacked defensive moats. Only a few canals led into the city.

The side facing the sea had a port. This port had long been abandoned. Only small boats docked there, and no large ships came or went.

However, as the other two coastal cities of the Avel City-State developed, the port gradually became bustling. An increasing number of ships began coming and going.

The Temple of Knowledge in the city was built even more magnificently than the palace.

This temple also served as a library, storing all the books of the Avel people.

The people of Avel placed great importance on knowledge. For them, knowledge was both power and faith.

Of course, this knowledge was primarily focused on divine techniques.

They did not have many books at present, and the library seemed somewhat empty. However, it was foreseeable that more books would be added in the future.

On this day, everyone in the Temple of Knowledge was on high alert. The temple was no longer open to the public.

Even King Sidi of Avel had come to the temple, as if anticipating something.

Yafuan knelt beneath the statue of the God of Truth and Knowledge, holding his Book of Witch Spirit in his hands.

Under everyone’s gaze, Yafuan chanted all the titles of the God of Truth and Knowledge.

“God who holds truth, ruler of books and knowledge, eternal cycle of Asai.”

“I offer sacrifice to you.”

“I beseech you.”

“I hope you will grant me the power of truth.”

All the witch spirits in the Temple of Knowledge began chanting the divine name, offering sacrifices and beseeching Him.

The sacrificial ritual began.

A large number of books and pages rose up in the light.

The text recorded on them peeled off the paper, transforming into twisted black characters that ascended toward the sky.

Yafuan and the witch spirits looked up.

These servants and priests of the God of Knowledge immediately had their consciousness drawn to the sacrificial being.

Their consciousness was instantly torn from reality by the higher mythical being. They saw the great Door of Truth.

Outside in the city, a beam of light descending from the sky could also be seen.

The light beam enveloped the Temple of Knowledge and Yafuan.

“Rustle rustle.”

The Book of Witch Spirit in Yafuan’s hands turned violently. All the divine techniques he had mastered twisted and writhed in an instant.

A mark representing truth appeared on his Book of Witch Spirit.

The light of law flowed through his body.

The pages of various divine techniques recorded in the Book of Witch Spirit flew out. At the same time, numerous blank books and sheets of paper, having just sacrificed their text, swirled around Yafuan.

They merged and fused together.

The spell became its heart. The ghost became its spirit. The pages of divine techniques became its bones. The white paper, assimilated by supernatural power, became its skin.

Finally, a huge white monster was born.

It had the appearance of a land dragon but had grown a pair of enormous wings.

It continued to change, growing larger and larger.

Finally, with a flap of its wings, it flew out of the temple. Its expansive wings spanned tens of meters in the sky.

One by one, the witch spirits chased after it, marveling at the enormous paper creature in the sky.

“Land dragon. This is what a land dragon looks like.” As people of Avel, how could they not recognize this famous creature from Ruhe Beast Island?

“A winged land dragon? Is this a being imagined by Lord Yafuan? Or does such a terrifying life form really exist?” No one had ever seen a land dragon grow wings. All the divine servants gaped at the flying paper dragon.

“A flying land dragon, what is that?” The guards below the temple and King Sidi of Avel in the side hall exclaimed in surprise.

Among species without supernatural powers, the land dragon was the most powerful existence.

It was said that in ancient times, their ancestors once carried the Mother of Life, who had just descended from the realm of creation. Although the sovereign did not grant her supernatural power, she became the strongest species with a physique and vitality that surpassed those of other species.

And now, in Yafuan’s imagination, it had grown wings and possessed supernatural power.

Although it was not real, it was merely made of paper.

Yafuan controlled it. The paper flying dragon let out a roar in the sky.

Its sound waves created layers of ripples that directly tore apart an abandoned building outside the city.

It controlled the wind, swiftly passing over the sky and the city like legendary wind-riding wings, moving so fast that it appeared only as a blur.

It possessed the power of two spells, wind and sound.

Yafuan looked at the paper flying dragon, and his emotions surged instantly.

What he saw was not a winged monster.

What he saw was a pair of paper wings that had broken free from all constraints, using their powerful strength to pursue everything he wanted.

If Xiuborn’s ship represented his desire to brave winds and waves, break through all obstacles, and become a solitary island on the sea carrying everything he desired, then Yafuan’s Page of Truth similarly represented the deepest desire of his heart.

Finally, everything turned into a page that emitted blue light as it fell from the sky.

It merged into Yafuan’s Book of Witch Spirit.

This was Yafuan’s Page of Truth. He read the name aloud.

“Yafuan’s Paper Flying Dragon.”

Yafuan became a Third Rank Ability User. He watched as the open Book of Witch Spirit slowly closed, and waves of cheers erupted in the Temple of Knowledge.

“Third Rank Ability User, Lord Yafuan has succeeded!” exclaimed the lower witch spirit Nia excitedly.

“The high priest of the god, upper witch spirit,” Echilio also showed a happy and gratified expression.

Other divine servants remarked, “We once again have such powerful strength.” They looked as if they had become upper witch spirits themselves. Some were so excited that tears welled up in their eyes.

“Lord Yafuan seems different from Lord Xiuborn. The exploration of truth indeed yields different results depending on the knowledge mastered,” some discussed as they noted changes in witch spirit power.

King Sidi of Avel, Yafuan’s close friend, also came forward at this time.

“Congratulations, Yafuan.”

Yafuan said to Sidi, “I am just the first. There will be more people in the future who will embark on this path of pursuing truth and knowledge.”

With Yafuan reaching Third-Rank, the long-prepared ceremony also began.

The next morning, Yafuan officially became the chief divine servant of the Temple of Knowledge in front of thousands of Avel people.

The King of Avel, noble ministers, and divine servants of the temple filled the two side corridors in front of the temple. The other two important figures of the temple, Echilio and Nia, also stood beside him.

Today, he was the sole protagonist.

A young divine servant apprentice approached Yafuan carrying a scepter and looked at him with admiration.

“May the god bless you, Chief Divine Servant Lord Yafuan. You are the first priest of the god, the chief of the temple.”

Yafuan looked at the youth as if he were seeing his former self.

When Yafuan was still a youth, he had been designated by Xiuborn as his successor.

But until now, he had truly lived up to Xiuborn’s expectations and hopes.

Yafuan donned the true robe of the chief divine servant and took the scepter symbolizing divine authority.

He looked toward the buildings in the royal city, the crowded streets, and even the other cities outside, along with the scattered towns and villages.

In twenty years, the Avel people had established their own country and all that came with it.

He raised high the scepter of divine authority, and thousands below shouted his name.

“Lord Yafuan!”

“Lord Yafuan!”

“…”

Yafuan released his paper flying dragon.

The paper flying dragon soared in the sky, emitting a sound that echoed through the clouds and left an indelible memory on this grand celebration.

A beautiful figure descended from above and landed on the territory of the Avel City-State.

Her form was distinctly different from that of the Snake People, for she had no tail but a pair of wings.

She folded her wings and donned a loose cloak as she walked through the corners of cities and villages.

She carefully observed this realm, so different from that of the Winged People.

She became cautious about everything in this country, feeling that these intelligent beings with tails were dangerous.

However, after venturing deeper into the villages, Duma discovered that the Snake People were not much different from the Winged People and even had many similarities. The extent of their commonalities made Duma feel uneasy.

She felt that the Winged People and Snake People were like species cast from the same mold, representing the positive and negative aspects yet sharing the same heart.

“Where did they come from?” she wondered.

“Why is there a second intelligent species in the world?”

The Winged People were unclear about their origins. According to their legends, they were born from the wind.

Thus, they were destined to be companions of the sky, able to control the power of wind.

The civilization and society of the Winged People had no divine intervention. For the first few hundred years of that millennium, they were hardly different from beasts, but they multiplied rapidly due to the lack of natural predators.

Although there were various monsters in this land, aside from terrifying species like Wing Demons, other monsters did not pose much of a threat to the Winged People.

Two hundred years ago, some Winged People witnessed a radiance descending near the great sea.

They felt the power of divinity for the first time and saw the Gate of Spirituality.

They began to develop a system of writing.

They began to break away from their bestial origins and the wilderness, establishing order and igniting the flame of civilization.

It wasn’t until decades ago, when the Winged People’s Queen Melde opened the mythical gate to welcome the descent of divine power, that they truly entered a new era.

Under the power of the god, they became Sky Messengers and built the Radiant City.

The Winged People always believed they were unique, born from the sky and wind, with the Lord of Radiance as the deity controlling the light.

The Winged People had their own cities and territories, scattered throughout the mountain ranges in the northwest.

Each governed their own territories and subjects, and their total population far exceeded that of the current Avel people.

But they had to obey the commands of their lofty Winged Queen.

Queen Melde represented the deity and the most powerful force.

The young Winged woman Duma walked through village after village, observing the Snake People and pondering:

“We can fly and control the wind,” she mused. “They can’t fly, but they can control land and stone.”

A thought flashed through Duma’s mind, and she immediately concluded, “I understand now. Could they be spirits born from the earth? They were born from stones.”

Duma found this idea quite reasonable.

She noticed that the Snake People did not live by hunting but relied on growing a peculiar crop as their staple food: a strange plant with leaves and cones.

The young Winged woman used her mind reading abilities to learn the name of this plant from the Snake People.

“Coiled fern?”

The Snake People had been eating coiled fern for nearly a thousand years, processing it into various foods.

They would grind it into flour to make noodles and cakes.

They would dry the leaves of the coiled fern and add salt to make various dried vegetables.

They would make soup with the processed flour, adding meats and seasonings.

They would also ferment coiled fern into alcohol, which was used to offer to deities or for their own consumption. For example, King Smerkel was particularly fond of drinking it.

She used her spiritual power to guide a Snake Person, wanting to understand how this peculiar plant came to be and to learn about their amazing methods of processing food.

“Where did this come from?” she asked.

However, the Snake Person she asked did not know either.

“The City-State people planted it, and then we learned to plant it from them,” he replied.

The young Winged woman Duma then asked, “City-State people? What’s that?”

The Snake Person said, “Just the City-State people, those people in the south of Ruhe Beast Island.”

“Where is Ruhe Beast Island?” Duma inquired.

“Our homeland,” the Snake Person answered simply.

Only then did the young Winged woman learn where the Snake People came from. She wanted to inquire further, but he was just an ordinary Snake farmer.

He didn’t know much either.

Ordinary Snake People did not know that the coiled fern was a strange creation born in the outer layer of the Moonlight Jungle. It was discovered and promoted by the ancestor of the City-State people, Alcina. Only after that did the Snake People begin to live in large groups, forming the City-State system.

Most of them could not even read, and all they knew were stories passed down orally.

But even from those unreliable stories, Duma could sense that their civilization was very ancient.

The young Winged woman Duma looked at the vast fields.

Suddenly realizing that the Snake People’s civilization might be older and more developed than that of the Winged People, she felt an indescribable sense of loss.

At the same time, she was also incredibly curious about Ruhe Beast Island, the place of origin of the Snake People.

Duma came to the city of the Avel City-State and saw something else.

“Paper?”

This material used for recording text was much more convenient than the clay tablets used by the Winged People. Although the Winged People occasionally used feather garments to record text, that method was too extravagant.

Moreover, text written on feather garments was easily damaged and dispersed, sometimes even proving less reliable than clay tablets.

But this paper was completely different.

Duma noticed that this paper was not precious and that many noble and merchant families had it. She wondered how beneficial it would be if the Winged People could also have such paper.

Duma saw all kinds of books, exquisite gold and silver ironware, and even a few artworks from the Suinhor City-State of Ruhe Beast Island in some wealthy homes.

At the same time, she learned another terrifying truth.

These Snake People also had a god they believed in.

They believed in a deity called the God of Truth and Knowledge.

“How is this possible?” Duma gasped. “Are there really other deities in this world?”

Duma could hardly believe it.

With these emotions, she went to the capital of the Avel City-State.

She concealed her form and observed this capital.

She marveled at the prosperity of this capital. The craftsmanship, cultural foundation, and various aspects of the Snake People indeed surpassed those of the Winged People.

She carefully approached the Temple of Knowledge.

She looked at the hall dedicated to another deity.

Duma looked up, rendered speechless.

In her heart, she could only shout, “There really are… other deities?”

This completely contradicted the faith and worldview of the Winged People and upended everything Duma had known and believed.

Even if it was dangerous inside, she had to go in and confirm.

That night, Duma flew into the temple, entered the main hall, and approached the statue of the God of Truth and Knowledge.

Her intrusion immediately alerted another person in the temple.

Countless paper scraps flew, forming a huge paper flying dragon that raised its head in the tall temple.

Although it couldn’t fully spread its wings, its imposing posture was enough to overwhelm ordinary people.

However, the young Winged woman Duma was fearless. She looked directly into the eyes of the paper flying dragon.

“A Third Rank Ability User with the aura of a god,” Duma observed in a barely audible whisper.

Duma looked at the paper flying dragon. For the first time, she was certain that other deities truly existed.

She felt a divine aura emanating from the paper flying dragon, an aura that did not belong to the Lord of Radiance.

It belonged to another deity.

She turned back and looked at the statue of the God of Truth and Knowledge.

Yafuan appeared behind Duma, immediately recognizing this young Winged woman.

“It’s you?” he said, his voice a mixture of surprise and caution.

Duma ignored him, still examining the statue.

Although Yafuan was very powerful, she was confident he could not detain her. At that moment, she was more concerned with understanding another matter.

Yafuan asked her, “Are you a Winged Person?”

Duma did not speak. Only her gaze flickered for a moment.

But sometimes, not speaking is also a kind of answer.

With a more complex civilization and more deception than the Winged People, the Snake People could easily discern the answer from Duma.

Yafuan smiled and said, “It seems my guess wasn’t wrong.”

Duma asked Yafuan, “Is this the deity you believe in?”

Yafuan was much more rational and steady compared to his younger self, no longer the youth who acted recklessly out of passion.

The more responsibilities he shouldered, the more he had to do and the more principles he considered.

He gradually came to understand the former Xiuborn and the principles that Xiuborn had taught him.

He looked at the young Winged woman before him and said, “Guest from afar.”

“You may not believe in other deities, but no matter which deity you face, you should have a sense of reverence.”

“You should approach with utmost caution and humility.”

“Perhaps the deity won’t be angry, and won’t punish mortals for small mistakes.”

“However, a lack of reverence and arrogance from mortals will bring calamity.”

Yafuan sighed, “Deities are like the sun. Weak mortals who get too close or too far will invite disaster.”

However, Duma heard another meaning in Yafuan’s words: “Other deities?”

“Do you mean… there are many deities in this world?”

Yafuan looked at Duma, “Don’t you know your origins?”

Duma was thoroughly excited. Her usually expressionless face showed indescribable seriousness.

“You know our origins?”

“Did you know about us before encountering us?”

Yafuan finally confirmed that the Winged Person before him had lost their past.

They had forgotten where they came from and why they were born.

Yafuan extended his hand, and a book suddenly appeared in his palm.

“Your story is recorded here.”

“If you’re interested, I can read it to you.”

Yafuan gazed into Duma’s eyes: “But this story might be different from what you imagine. Are you sure you want to know?”

Duma didn’t speak, just nodded.

Yafuan led her to a corner and asked Duma to sit down.

He opened the book and began to narrate.

“This is a story from over a thousand years ago, a story about gods and mortals.”

“A story… about the birth of intelligent species.”

It was a mythological story called “The Mother of All Snakes and the Divine Trial.”

The story told of the Mother of All Snakes and the Ruler of Life. The Ruler of Life created the Mother of All Snakes, and to make her worthy of divine love, She tested the Mother of All Snakes, Sermos, through trials.

The Mother of All Snakes, Sermos, passed one trial after another, becoming the apostle of the god.

But in the end, due to jealousy, she set free the Winged People, an intelligent species created by the god.

The story ended abruptly here. Yafuan didn’t mention the god’s punishment or what happened after the Winged People were set free.

This was a book written by later generations, a story compiled by a wandering minstrel. It contained many fabrications and imaginations, but it also roughly narrated the core content of several trials.

Yafuan put down the book and said to the young Winged woman Duma.

“This is our mythology.”

Duma could hardly believe it. She asked Yafuan in a tone that felt ridiculous.

“This is your mythology?”

“It’s too absurd, too ridiculous.”

“Since your god and my god are not the supreme god.”

“The Mother of Life is the highest deity, the god who created us and everything. Why don’t you believe in the Mother of Life?”

Yafuan’s next words, however, completely shattered the young Winged woman.

“No!”

“You’re wrong.”

Yafuan shook his head and said, “Although She created us and initiated this era, She is not the supreme deity. She is the Ruler of Life, the Creator of All Things.”

Yafuan told Duma a truth even more terrifying than the previous story.

“She is the deity to the left of the Creation Throne.”

“Below the throne, there is the King of Wisdom wearing a crown.”

“To the right of the throne, there is the Dream Sovereign who controls the Dream Realm.”

Duma stared at him blankly and asked a question as if possessed.

“Above the Creation Throne…”

“Who is it?”

Yafuan shook his head and said, “I don’t yet know His name. My teacher once saw everything from the previous era, but in the end, he didn’t tell me.”

“Those ancient sacred names, those ancient secrets.”

“Perhaps they are not for us mortals to know.”

“But before we were born, in an ancient, untraceable time, the Creator created everything. All wisdom, life, and power come from Him.”

Duma found another flaw: “If so, why don’t you believe in Him?”

“Why not believe in what you call this Creator of everything?”

Duma was extremely excited, feeling that she had never experienced such intense emotions since her birth.

“If there is such a great deity, why doesn’t He make everyone believe in Him? Why not tell everyone of His greatness?”

Yafuan suddenly asked Duma, “Tell me, how do you think deities view the faith of mortals?”

How would Duma know such things? She had never seen a deity.

Xiuborn, however, recalled something from long ago, when he was still alive.

Xiuborn also asked Yafuan, “What do you think, how do deities view the faith of mortals?”

At that time, Yafuan was also stunned.

But Xiuborn told Yafuan something that made him shudder. He felt as if a cold wind had frozen him to the bone, rendering him immobile.

Xiuborn’s expression was one of helpless bewilderment, tinged with a trace of madness.

He told Yafuan, “The god said, ‘Your belief in me is no concern of mine.'”

Yafuan thought these words were spoken by the Ruler of Life, which fit the image of this lofty ruler.

He did not know that this was what Xiuborn had heard from the Sky Temple, from the “Redlichia Covenant” chanted by generations of Trilobite Men. These were the words of the Creator God Yinsai to Yesael, the second King of Wisdom.

Yafuan stood up and looked at the city outside and the moon in the sky.

He said, “Because the supreme deity does not need the faith of mortals.”

Yafuan expressed his inner thoughts: “Deities are like the sun.”

“Mortals are too weak. Getting too close to the sun will bring disaster.”

“But without the sun, we cannot exist in this world.”

“We need the sun. Even in darkness, we must cling tightly to even a sliver of its light, a bit of its warmth.”

Duma looked at Yafuan and asked,

“Is such belief of yours still considered faith?”

But Yafuan asked her in return: “Does the deity care?”

Duma was greatly shocked, but she did not believe what Yafuan said.

“It’s not like this.”

“It’s not like this.”

She shook her head and continued to retreat, looking at Yafuan with indescribable emotion in her eyes.

In the end, she neither argued nor got angry. Instead, she spread her wings and flew into the sky, her graceful figure gliding under the moon.

She left, filled with unspeakable fear and unease.

Meanwhile, Yafuan watched Duma’s departing figure, feeling a rising sense of unease and crisis in his heart.

“The Winged People indeed survived.”

Yafuan looked towards the northwest. He could roughly guess that the Winged People’s territory should be there.