As time passed, some of the fireballs were extinguished while others moved further away.
Shao Xuan's gaze focused on one spot and the scene was magnified.
A pair of old hands brushed the rain-soaked ground and scooped up a clump of dirt. White flames emerged from the palms and the clump of dirt rolled, becoming smaller and more solid. Finally, it took the shape of an egg and became a rock.
Shao Xuan could not see the person's face clearly but he recognized the rock.
However, after the stone was formed, the white flame gradually disappeared, and the figure also became blurry. In the end, it returned to the clouds. The stone flashed with white light, but it was not with the other fire seeds. Instead, it was hidden behind a cloud of mist, as if it was the most mysterious star hiding behind it.
This was the past that Yi Xiang had mentioned. Shao Xuan wanted to see the future, but his body was so tired that he couldn't maintain this state.
There was still time.
As he left the world, Shao Xuan felt his consciousness slowly returning. His nerves relayed the sensations around him. The cold reminded Shao Xuan that he was still on the frozen continent.
He opened his eyes. He still held the golden rope in his hand. His surroundings were still white but unlike before, it was now covered in a thick layer of snow instead of white ash.
Other than the area around Shao Xuan, the snow was knee-deep.
An eagle screeched from a glacier not far away. Chacha landed in front of Shao Xuan with a fish in its mouth.
"Have you been waiting for a long time?" Shao Xuan looked at the eagle in front of him, remembering the scene he saw in the spiritual world of Eagle Mountain. He patted its head and walked towards the edge of the glacier.
Shao Xuan knew that every time he entered the spiritual world, it felt like a long time had passed in the real world even though it felt like a short time. When they first arrived here, Chacha didn't have any major injuries because of the beasts chasing them, but there were still a lot of small injuries. But now, those injuries were completely gone. The new injuries should have been caused by the recent hunting.
The remains of Yi Xiang's puppets had long been covered in snow and frozen by the new ice shelf.
The collapsed ice shelf had once again covered the edge of the continent. It was not as tall as before but Shao Xuan believed that with time, the ice shelf would return to its original state.
The ice shelf was not a few hundred meters above the sea but the thick layer of ice was enough for Chacha to walk on, not to mention Shao Xuan who was lighter.
"Time to go back."
The surroundings were still quiet. The ice seemed to reject all life. However, when he left the spiritual world, Shao Xuan saw some brief images. He knew that if that was the future, the glacier would soon become lively.
Looking back at the white ice, Shao Xuan leaped onto the eagle's back. "Let's go!"
The sky was not as gloomy as it was when they first arrived. Yang Guang's light shone through the thin layer of clouds. The ice mountain did not look so cold under the warm light.
After Shao Xuan left, the frozen world remained the same. Day and night alternated. One day, on the quiet snowy ground, a figure emerged from under the snow. His back was black and his belly was white. His webbed feet stepped on the snow, and his body stood upright, swaying as he walked, looking blankly at the world of ice and snow in front of him.
Behind it, a few similar figures came out from under the snow. They formed a group and wobbled towards the seaside. They jumped into the water clumsily. Some were knocked down by their companions and slid directly into the sea from the snow. In the water, their fin-like forelimbs were like paddles. They swam agilely and hunted excitedly.
But not long after, the figures that jumped into the water scrambled to climb ashore. Some of them were too hasty. Not only did they fail to climb up, they even slid down a few times. It was very embarrassing.
Not far from the shore, a slightly round head emerged. It was black with a tinge of white. It rose vertically from the water and slowly rotated. Its eyes curiously looked around, especially at the figures that climbed ashore. It stared at them for a while before slowly sinking back into the sea.
Crack crack crack —
The sound of ice plates cracking could be heard as a large crack appeared on one of the ice shelves. The crack was getting bigger and bigger, and the floating ice on the water surface was shaking violently. Looking from above, one could see that there was a huge black shadow approaching the water surface.
Whoosh whoosh —
Strong air currents pushed up high water columns on the surface of the sea.
In invisible corners, there were many lives that were awakening.
This desolate land of ice, which was once almost devoid of life, finally welcomed a lively day.
On the other side, Chacha flew back along the same path. However, it did not head towards the desert. Instead, it turned midway.
It was already very far from the ice land. What entered its eyes were high mountains covered in snow. It gave people a cold feeling. The wind was like a cold knife.
"You've been here before?" Shao Xuan asked.
According to the rough map in his mind, they could indeed fly towards the tribe. However, they had to pass through the forest where the fearsome beasts lived.
In the past, they had to enter the forest from the tribe. But now, they had to cross the unfamiliar mountain range. On the tall and uneven mountain peaks, there were several huge figures flying. They were giant mountain eagles like Chacha. Except for Chacha, most of the giant mountain eagles liked the high mountains covered in snow. Flying forward, Shao Xuan also saw the ice fields and glaciers on the high mountains. The environment was somewhat similar to the Eagle Mountain. He just did not know if this mountain range was connected to the Eagle Mountain. This mountain range was too long and too big. He could not see where the ends of the two sides were.
The melted snow merged with the spring water from the mountain and flowed through the unfathomable canyon. Then, it flowed with the water from other directions into a large river.
This river … Was it the river in front of the tribe?
Was this the source of the river?
What was the endless river all those years ago?
That was not right. When Shao Xuan crossed the river that year, he had a feeling that the seemingly endless river was not as wide as it looked. It was just that his strength was limited back then and he could not see the mysteries behind it.
There were still many secrets in this world. He just needed to discover them. Just like a long time ago, when the fire seed first appeared, if there was no one who could control it, fire would still be an existence that was feared by all life.
Flying along the river, Shao Xuan saw many things he had never seen before. In the past, he had only set out from the tribe and entered the forest to hunt. The furthest he went was Eagle Mountain. But this time, he was going back from the other side of the continent. What he saw was different from before.
"Back then, you went around the desert from the Hui tribe and flew to Eagle Mountain from here?" Shao Xuan asked.
When Shao Xuan went to the other continent, Chacha stayed with the tribe. During that time, Chacha had left the tribe to fly to the Hui tribe and find his companions to go to Eagle Mountain.
"Ho —" Chacha answered, meaning that Shao Xuan was right.
Even if it was a route they had never flown before, the mountain eagles had a natural instinct for the place they believed in. It was as if there was a compass in their heads telling them where to go. Therefore, no matter where they lived in the world, once they reached a certain age, they would be able to find Eagle Mountain. It was a natural instinct and a belief that was deeply rooted in their bones, even if they had never seen what their 'ancestors' looked like.
On the way back to the tribe, Shao Xuan would often look at the various fearsome beasts in the forest while hunting. It reminded him of the distant past he saw in his consciousness.
The heavenly fire had changed the world greatly. The rise of humans was also due to their own opportunities. Otherwise, even if they could survive the fire, even if they could avoid the heavenly fire, they would still be at the bottom of the food chain. The world was cruel. Without power, one would only be hunted.
After flying for a while, Shao Xuan finally saw the familiar hunting ground. His mood lightened up.
The first time he walked into the forest with the stone knife, Shao Xuan realised that he had really come to this world and could not go back. After so many years in Yanjiao, he had gone from not caring about it to treating Yanjiao as his responsibility. Only Shao Xuan knew how it felt. After all, in the eyes of the Yanjiao people, Shao Xuan was still the person who walked out of the Crouching Bull Cave.
Yanjiao's territory finally came into view.
Below them, the patrol team was running and shouting excitedly.
In front, the shaman and chief were already waiting with their men.
Inside the Flaming River Trading Point.
Beimi was bringing some people to look at their new house. When they arrived, Beimi decided to buy a big house in Yanjiao's trading point and sent some people to stay here for a long time to buy gems and other rare items from the other continent.
As they were talking, they suddenly heard cheers from the Yanjiao tribe on the other side of the river. It was so loud that even the noisy trading point could hear it.
The horn sounded and the Yanjiao people in the trading point hurriedly ran over.
"What's wrong?"
"What happened?!"
The new travellers were confused. They hurriedly asked the others.
Some of the elders who were familiar with the Flaming Horn tribe calmed down after the initial surprise. They pointed at the Flaming Horn tribe on the other side of the river and said, "It should be the Grand Elder of the Flaming Horn tribe. We don't know where he went, but he's back now." Then, they gave the other party a look that said, "This is common, don't make a fuss."
Beside the man-made river that was dug around the trading point, the little pterosaur threw a fish into the water and looked up at the withered leaf birds chirping Chacha on the other side of the river. It spread its wings and flew up. As it flew over the river, it called out a few times towards the water as usual.
A few spindle-shaped figures that were longer than humans leapt out of the water. Their large bony bodies spun in the air, drew an arc in the air, and dove back into the water.
— — —
(End)
No one knew the truth of history.
More imagination, more fun.
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