There are smooth roads built on three sides of the capital, and you can see the camel beasts driving the vehicles back and forth. People are chatting while driving the beasts of burden. The tranquility of life can be seen from the comfort on their faces.
The city wall was not built very high, and there was no moat prepared for war. There were only a few canals leading into the city.
There is a port on the sea side.
Originally, the port had been abandoned for a long time, with only a few small ships docking and no large ships coming and going.
However, with the development of the other two cities near the sea in the city-state of Ewel, the port gradually became more prosperous, and more ships came and went.
The Temple of Knowledge in the city is even more magnificent than the palace.
This temple also serves as a library, storing all the books of the Aiweir people.
Aiweier people attach great importance to knowledge. For them, knowledge is power, and knowledge is belief.
Of course, this kind of knowledge mainly focuses on magical knowledge.
They currently don't have many books, and the library seems a bit empty, but it is foreseeable that there will be more and more in the future.
this day.
Everyone in the Temple of Knowledge is on standby and is no longer open to the public.
Even King Sidi of Aiweier came to the temple, as if he was expecting something.
Avian knelt under the statue of the God of Truth and Knowledge, holding in his hand his Book of Witches and Spirits.
In front of everyone's attention, Avian sang all the titles of the God of truth and knowledge.
"The god of truth, the master of books and knowledge, the god of eternal reincarnation."
"I offer you a sacrifice."
"I beg you."
"I hope you will give me the power of truth."
All the wizards in the Temple of Knowledge began to chant the name of God, offer sacrifices to Him, and pray to Him.
The sacrificial ceremony begins.
A large number of books and pages floated in the light.
The words recorded on it peeled off from the paper and turned into twisted black words heading towards the sky.
Avian and the witch spirits raised their heads.
The consciousness of these servants and priests of the God of Knowledge was immediately attracted by the existence of the sacrifice.
Their consciousness was momentarily pulled away from reality by the superior mythical being, and they saw the great door of truth.
In the city outside, a beam of light falling from the sky can also be seen.
The beam of light enveloped the Temple of Knowledge and enveloped Avian's body.
"Crash."
The Book of Witch Spirits in Avian's hand flipped violently, and all the magical arts he had learned and mastered began to twist and squirm in an instant.
It can be seen that a mark representing truth appears on his Book of Witch Spirits.
The light of law flows in his body.
Pages of one kind of magical spell recorded in the Book of Witches and Spirits flew out, and a large number of blank books and papers that had just been sacrificed were spinning around Avian.
The two are combined and integrated with each other.
The cursed seal became its heart, the ghost became its spirit, the pages of divine magic became its bones, and the white paper assimilated by extraordinary power became its skin.
Finally, a huge white monster was born.
It looked like an earthly dragon, but it had grown a pair of huge wings.
It is still changing and getting bigger and bigger.
at last.
With a flutter of wings, he flew out of the temple, spreading his wings tens of meters long freely in the sky.
The witch spirits chased them out one by one, looking at the huge thing made of paper in the sky.
"Earth-walking dragon, this is what an earth-walking dragon looks like." As an Aiweier person, I couldn't recognize this famous creature on the giant island of Ruhe.
"An earth-walking dragon with wings? Is this a figment of Lord Avian's imagination? Or does such a terrifying life really exist?" But no one has ever seen an earth-walking dragon grow wings, and all the divine attendants looked at it one by one.
The flying paper dragon has a big mouth.
"A flying earth dragon, what is that?" The guards under the temple and King Aiweier Sidi in the side hall all exclaimed.
Earth-walking dragons are the most powerful beings among species that do not possess extraordinary powers.
It is said that in the ancient times, their ancestors once carried the master of life who had just arrived from the kingdom of creation. Although the master did not give it extraordinary power, it became the most powerful species because of it, with a body that surpassed other species.
and vitality.
And at this moment.
In Avian's fantasy, it had wings and possessed extraordinary power.
Although, it's not true.
It's just paper origami.
Avian controlled it, and the paper dragon roared in the sky.
The sound turned into layers of ripples, directly tearing apart an abandoned building outside the city.
It controls the wind and flies across the sky and the city like the legendary wind-controlling wings, so fast that only an afterimage can be seen.
It possesses the power of two kinds of curse seals, wind and sound.
Avian looked at the paper dragon, and his mood was extremely excited for a moment.
What he saw was not a winged monster.
What he saw was a pair of paper wings that had broken free from all restraints, using great power to break away from all restraints and pursue everything they wanted.
If Shoeburn's boat represents his desire to ride the wind and waves and overcome all obstacles, his desire to become an isolated island in the sea, and his desire to carry all the people he wants to carry.
Then Avian's page of truth also represents the deepest desire in his heart.
at last.
Everything turned into a book page emitting blue light and falling from the sky.
Integrated into Avian's Book of Witch Spirits.
This was Avian's Page of Truth, and he read the name on it.
"The Paper Dragon of Avian."
Avian became a third-level powerful person. He watched the opened Book of Witch Spirits slowly close, and a wave of cheers erupted in the Temple of Knowledge.
"Third-level powerful person, Lord Avian has succeeded." The lower level Wu Lingnia was very excited.
"The superior priest of God, the superior wizard spirit." Echirio also showed an expression of joy and relief.
"We have such a powerful force again." The other divine servants looked as if they had become high-ranking wizards. Some were so excited that tears filled their eyes.
"The masters of Avian and Xiuben seem to be different. The exploration of the truth indeed has different results depending on the knowledge mastered." There are also people discussing the changes in the power of the witch spirits.
At this time, Sidi, King of Aiweir and a close friend of Avian, also stepped forward.
"Congratulations, Avian."
Avian said to Sidi: "I am just the first, and more people will embark on this path of pursuing truth and knowledge in the future."
As Avian became the third level, the ceremony that had been prepared for a long time began.
Early the next morning.
In front of thousands of Aiweier people, Avian officially became the chief attendant of the Temple of Knowledge.
King Aiweier, noble ministers, and temple attendants filled the corridors on both sides of the temple. Echilio and Nia, the other two important figures in the temple, also stood beside him.
today.
He is the only protagonist.
A young disciple of the Divine Attendant came to Avian with a scepter in his hand and looked at him with longing.
"God bless you."
"Master Avian, the Chief Divine Attendant."
"You are the first priest to the gods and the chief of the temple."
Avian looked at this young man as if he saw his former self.
When Avian was still a boy, he was designated as his successor by Shoeburn.
But until now.
Until this very moment.
Only then did he truly fulfill his expectations and expectations for himself, just as Xiuben expected.
Avian put on the robe of the real chief priest and held the scepter that symbolized divine power.
He looked at the buildings in the royal capital, at the crowds of people on the streets, and even at other cities outside the city, dotted with small towns and villages.
In twenty years, the Aiweier people established their own country and everything.
He raised the scepter high, which represented divine power, and thousands of people below shouted his name.
"Lord Avian!"
"Lord Avian!"
"..."
Avian also released his paper dragon.
The paper flying dragon soared in the sky and made a sound that echoed through the sky, leaving an indelible memory and color to this grand celebration——
A beautiful figure fell from a high place and landed in the territory of the city-state of Aiweier.
Her shape is very different from that of the Snake Man, with no tail but a pair of wings.
She folded her wings and put on a loose cloak, walking in the corners of cities and villages.
She carefully observed this country that was completely different from the Winged People.
She began to be cautious about everything in this country, feeling that these intelligent species with tails were full of danger.
But after going deep into the village.
Duma found that these snakes and winged people were not much different from each other and had many things in common. The similarities between the two made Duma feel uneasy.
She feels.
The winged man and the snake man are like species printed from the same mold, representing the positive and negative sides of the mold respectively, but they have the same heart.
"Where did they come from?"
"Why is there a second intelligent species in the world?"
The Winged People do not know their origins. According to their legend, they were born from the wind.
So they were born with the sky and could control the power of the wind.
There was no interference from the gods in the civilization and society of the Winged People. In the first few hundred years of the thousand years, they were almost indistinguishable from wild beasts, but they relied on the lack of natural enemies to breed a huge population.
Although there are various monsters on this land, except for terrifying species like the Winged Demon, other monsters are not a big threat to the Winged People.
Two hundred years ago, the Winged Man saw the light coming by the sea.
For the first time, they felt the power of gods and saw the spiritual door.
They began to have words.
They began to get rid of wild beasts and barbarism, established order, and ignited the fire of civilization.
Until decades ago.
The Winged Queen Medel opened the door of myth and welcomed the arrival of the power of the gods, and they truly opened a new era.
Under the power of God.
They became angels in the sky, and they built a glorious city.
Winged people always think that they are unique. They are creatures born in the sky and wind, and the Lord of Glory is the god who controls the light in the sky.
The Winged People have their own cities and territories scattered throughout the mountains in the northwest.
They each govern and rule their own territories and subjects, and their combined number far exceeds the current Aiweier people.
But they must obey the orders of the superior Winged Queen.
Meld represents the gods and the most powerful force.
The winged girl Duma walked through villages and looked at these snake people and guessed.
"We can fly and control the wind."
"They can't fly, and they can control land and rocks."
An idea flashed in the mind of the winged girl Duma, and she immediately confirmed: "I understand, are they creatures born from the earth?"
"It was born from stone."
The winged girl Duma thinks so, and she thinks it is very reasonable.
She noticed that these snake people did not make a living by hunting, but relied on growing a strange crop as their staple food, a strange plant with leaves and cones.
The winged girl used her mind-reading skills to get the name of this plant from the snake man's mouth.
"Rolling ball?"
Snake people have been eating croquettes for nearly a thousand years, and they process croquettes into various foods.
It is ground into powder and made into noodles and cakes.
The leaves are dried and salted to make various dried vegetables.
Will use processed flour to make soup, add other meats, and seasonings for cooking.
The rolling balls are also used to brew wine, which can be used to worship gods or drink for oneself. For example, King Smerkel likes drinking very much.
She used her spiritual power to guide a snake man, trying to figure out where this strange plant came from and their method of processing food. It was really amazing.
"Where did this thing come from?"
However, the snake man she asked didn't know either.
"The people of the city-state planted the seeds, and then we imitated them."
The winged girl Duma then asked: "City people? What is that?"
The snake man said: "Are they the people from the city? Those people from the south of Ruhe Island."
Duma: "Where is the giant island of Ruhe?"
Snake Man: "Our hometown."
Only then did the winged girl know where the snake people came from. She wanted to ask more, but this was just an ordinary snake farmer.
He doesn't know much.
Ordinary snake people don't know that the Rolling Ball Jue is a strange creation born in the outer layer of the Moonlight Jungle. It was discovered and implemented by Arsini, the ancestor of the city-state people. It was also from then on that the snake people began to live in large-scale clusters, forming a city-state system.
Most of them don't even know the written language, and all they know are stories passed down orally.
But even if she just listened to those unreliable stories, the winged girl Duma could feel that the other party's civilization was very ancient.
The winged girl Duma looked at the fields.
Suddenly discovering that the snake people's civilization might be older and more developed than the wing people, she felt an indescribable loss in her heart.
At the same time, she was also extremely curious about the giant island of Ruhe, where the snake people came from.
Duma came to the city of Aiweier City-State, and she saw something else.
"Paper?"
This kind of thing for recording text is much more convenient than the clay tablets used by Yi Ren. Although Yi Ren occasionally uses feather fabrics to record words, this method is too luxurious.
Moreover, the words written on the feathers are easy to be damaged and dissipated, and sometimes they are not as reliable as clay tablets.
But this kind of paper is completely different.
Duma noticed that this kind of paper was not expensive and was available in some noble and merchant families. She was thinking about how people could also own this kind of paper.
Duma saw a variety of books, exquisite gold, silver and ironware, and a small amount of art from the Suinhor city-state on the giant island of Ruh in the homes of some powerful people.
At the same time, she learned another terrible truth.
These snake people also have gods they believe in.
They believe in a god called the God of Truth and Knowledge.
"how come?"
"Are there other gods in this world?"
Duma was in disbelief.
In this mood, she came to the royal capital of the city-state of Aiweier.
She hid her figure and observed the royal capital.
She marveled at the prosperity of this royal capital, and the craftsmanship, cultural heritage and other aspects of the snake people, which were indeed superior to those of the wing people.
She carefully arrived at the Temple of Knowledge.
She looked at this temple belonging to another god.
Duma raised his head and didn't even dare to speak.
She could only shout loudly in her heart: "Are there really... other gods?"
This is completely inconsistent with Yiren's beliefs and worldview. It also tears up and overthrows everything Duma knows and believes in in the past.
Even if there is danger inside, she must go in and confirm.
The winged girl Duma flew into the temple at night, walked into the main hall of the temple, and came under the statue of the God of Truth and Knowledge.
Her intrusion immediately alerted another person in the temple.
Countless pieces of paper flew in and turned into a huge paper dragon, which raised its head in the tall temple.
Although it cannot fully open its wings, its posture is enough to make ordinary people collapse.
However, the winged girl Duma was fearless, and she looked directly into the eyes of the paper flying dragon.
"Third-level powerful person."
"There is also the breath of God."
Duma looked at the paper dragon, and for the first time she was convinced that other gods really existed.
Because she felt the aura belonging to the gods from the paper dragon, but that aura did not belong to the Lord of Glory.
It belongs to another god.
She turned back and looked at the statue of the God of Truth and Knowledge.
Avian appeared behind Duma, and he immediately recognized the winged girl.
"It's you?"
Duma ignored him and continued to look at the statue.
Although Avian is very powerful, she is confident that the other party cannot keep her, and what is more important for her now is to figure out another problem.
Avian asked her: "Are you a winged person?"
Duma still didn't speak, but his eyes flickered.
But sometimes not speaking is also a kind of answer.
The snake-people civilization has more intrigues and is more complex than the wing-people, and the answer can be easily seen from Duma.
Avian smiled and said: "It seems that I guessed well."
Duma asked Avian: "Is this the god you believe in?"
Avian is much more rational and steady than when he was young. He is no longer the young man who would risk everything for the sake of his passion.
The more responsibilities he bears, the more things he needs to do, and the more reasons he thinks about.
He gradually understood the former Shoburne and the truths Shoburne said to him.
He looked at the winged girl in front of him and said, "Guests from afar."
"You may not believe in other gods, but no matter you face any god, you should have a heart of awe."
"It should be done with the utmost caution and humility."
"Perhaps the gods will not be angry, and the gods will not punish mortals for small mistakes."
"But mortals' lack of respect and arrogance will lead to disaster."
Avian sighed: "Gods are like the sun. If weak mortals get too close or too far away, disaster will come."
Duma heard another meaning from Avian's words: "Other gods?"
"You mean... there are many gods in this world?"
Avian looked at Duma: "Don't you know your origins?"
Duma was completely excited, and there was an indescribable seriousness on her expressionless face.
"Do you know our origins?"
"Did you know us before you met us?"
Avian finally determined that the winged people in front of him had lost their past.
They have forgotten where they came from and why they were born.
Avian stretched out his hand, and a book suddenly appeared in his palm.
"Your stories are recorded here."
"If you are interested, I can read it to you."
Avian looked into Duma's eyes: "But this story may be different from what you imagined. Are you sure you want to know?"
Duma didn't speak, just nodded.
Avian took her to the corner and asked Duma to sit down.
He opened the pages of the book and started talking.
"This is a story about a thousand years ago, a story about gods and mortals."
"A... story about the birth of an intelligent species."
It was a fairy tale called "The Mother of Snakes and the Trial of the Gods".
The story tells the story of the Mother of All Snakes and the Lord of Life. The Lord of Life created the Mother of All Snakes. In order to make the Mother of All Snakes worthy of God's favor, He tested the Mother of All Snakes, Ser, through trials.
mousse.
Samos, the mother of snake charmers, passed one test after another and became an apostle of God.
In the end, out of jealousy, he released the intelligent winged man created by God.
The story ended abruptly here. Avian did not talk about God's punishment, nor did he talk about the situation after releasing the Winged Man.
This is a book written by later generations, a story written by a wandering musician. It contains many fabricated and imaginary contents, but it also roughly tells the core content of several trials in full.
Avian put down the book and said to the winged girl Duma.
"This is our myth."
Duma couldn't believe it, so she asked Avian in a funny tone.
"Is this your myth?"
"It's so absurd and so funny."
"Since neither your god nor my god is the supreme god."
"The Mother of Life is the highest god, the god who created us and everything else. Why don't you believe in the Mother of Life?"
Avian's next words completely defeated the winged girl.
"No!"
"you are wrong."
Avian shook his head: "Although He created us, He also started this era."
"but."
"He is not the supreme god, He is the Lord of life and the creator of all spirits."
Avian told Duma a truth even more terrifying than the story just now.
"She is the deity to the left of the Creator's throne."
"Under the throne of God, there is also the King of Wisdom with a crown."
"To the right of the throne of God, there is the Lord of Dreams who controls the dream world."
Duma looked at him blankly, and she asked something out of nowhere.
"Above the throne of creation..."
"who is it?"
Avian shook his head: "I don't know His name yet. My teacher once saw everything in the previous era, but he never told me in the end."
"Those ancient sacred names, those ancient secrets."
"Maybe it's not something us mortals should know."
"But before we were born, in an era too ancient to be traced back."
"The Creator created everything, and all wisdom, life, and power come from Him."
Duma found another flaw: "In that case, why don't you believe in Him?"
"Believe in what you say about the Creator of all things?"
Duma was so excited that she felt that she had never had such intense emotions since she was born.
"If there were such a great god."
"Why doesn't He let everyone believe in Him? Tell everyone how great He is?"
Avian suddenly asked Duma: "Say."
"How do gods view the faith of mortals?"
How could Duma know such a thing? She has never seen a god.
But Shoburn remembered what happened a long time ago, when Master Shoburn was still alive.
Shoeburn also asked Avian: "How do you think the gods view the beliefs of mortals?"
At that time, Avian was also stunned on the spot.
However, Shoeburn said something to Avian that made him tremble. He felt as if he had been frozen to the bone by the cold wind on the spot, unable to move at all.
Shoeborn's expression at that time was extremely helpless and hesitant, even with a hint of madness.
He said to Avian.
"God said."
"Belief in me has nothing to do with me."
Avian thought that these words were spoken by the Lord of Life, which was in line with the aloof image of this Lord.
He didn't know that this was what Shoburn heard from the Sky Temple, from the "Lederiki Oath" sung by generations of three-leaf people.
What King Jeser said.
Avian stood up and looked at the city outside and the moon in the sky.
"Because the supreme god has no need of mortal faith."
Avian expressed his inner thoughts: "I just said it."
"God is like the sun."
"Mortals are too weak and stay too close to the sun, which will lead to disaster."
"And without the sun, we can't exist in this world."
"We need the sun. Even if there is a trace of light or a trace of warmth in the darkness, we must hug Him tightly."
Duma looked at Avian and she asked him.
"Is your belief still considered belief?"
Avian asked her back: "Does God care?"
Duma was shocked, but she did not believe what Avian said.
"not like this."
"not like this."
She shook her head and kept backing away, looking at Avian with indescribable emotions in her eyes.
But in the end.
She didn't argue or get angry.
She just spread her wings and flew into the sky, her beautiful and light figure passing under the moon.
She left with unspeakable fear and uneasiness.
On the other side, Avian watched Duma leave, feeling a sense of uneasiness and crisis in his heart.
"The Yiren clan has indeed survived."
Avian looked to the northwest, and he could probably guess that the Winged Man's territory should be there.