Chapter 1012: Original, Life is a Calculation

Inside the crystal wall labyrinth, everyone slowly looked on.

The divine, platinum-white firebird, radiating immense holiness, exuded an ancient majesty, as if it were the most noble ruler controlling all elements in heaven and earth.

Her true body was only the size of an ant, but her elemental aura was comparable to a sacred giant elephant.

"Where is this?" the Phoenix asked, still disoriented. Before this, she had lived solely within the Four Elemental Planes, rising and falling with the sun of the Mother River.

She was completely unaware that the Mother River civilization outside had long been populated by numerous descendants of the four elemental life forms and had witnessed the flourishing of many civilizations.

Now, she was stepping out of the Four Elemental Planes for the first time.

"You, how do you have the lineage of our clan..." The Phoenix looked at the people before her, and at the newborn semi-elemental infants, with a surprised expression. They carried an inexplicable sense of her own bloodline. Those semi-elemental newborns were enveloped in flames, with a core of flesh and blood life, which was strikingly similar to their own species' life form!

Back then, when she used her bloodline to conceive the thirteen ancient innate gods, they also possessed this characteristic: bodies enveloped in elemental flames with a core of flesh and blood.

"Welcome back," Moon God Ji said with a smile. "We've been waiting for this day for over ten thousand years."

Welcome back? Over ten thousand years...

"Who are you?" the Phoenix couldn't help but ask. The gentle, fifteen- or sixteen-year-old boy before her exuded a mysterious and incredibly powerful aura that was difficult to resist.

She looked around, extremely wary.

This was an ancient elemental land, extremely suitable for elemental life, and the mysterious connection she felt to the semi-elemental beings before her gave her an unexpected sense of comfort, as if she had come home.

"Are you the elemental life form, the ancient ancestor of our Mother River civilization?" Ji Yi stepped forward at this moment, unable to stop herself from asking the Phoenix. "There truly is a subtle spiritual connection."

The Phoenix was slightly taken aback.

Mother River civilization? Am I a member of your Mother River civilization?

Her expression appeared calm, but she remained highly vigilant. No one would choose to relax after suddenly appearing in such a strange environment.

At this moment, Moon God Ji smiled and said, "You will need a lot of time to process this, but you must know that you first descended from the distant heavens onto that land, landing in the desert... and began your life in the Wizard World. But before that, where did you come from?"

The other party knew about the Wizard World, knew her origin... her past?

"My father, Ares, the God of War, bravely fought and died to defend the Land of Gods against unknown enemies... and I also..." the Phoenix murmured. She had naturally heard of this history and her origins.

"Ares?" Moon God Ji smiled, a hint of nostalgia and emotion in his eyes, his expression gentle and refined.

"He was indeed the God of War who commanded fire, his body wreathed in endless divine flames. In his elemental form, his vast elemental body could overshadow the sky and cover an entire continent... So, where did such a powerful God of War like Ares originate? His bloodline couldn't have appeared out of thin air, could it?"

The Phoenix fell silent for a moment.

"Ji Ming, reveal your elemental body..." Moon God Ji said.

As Moon God Ji's former handmaiden, she immediately revealed her true form without hesitation.

A colossal elemental body of flames rapidly soared from the seemingly delicate human girl, instantly engulfing her and expanding to cover the sky.

If her current divine elemental body were compared to a normal human size, then her flesh-and-blood core would be like a grain of rice, suspended within her heart.

"This is..."

"This is the elemental body of the semi-elemental race!"

In the distance, the surviving members of the elemental race watched the transformation of a semi-elemental being for the first time, utterly amazed by the sight.

This elemental body appeared almost identical to their own forms.

Yet, there was a fundamental difference.

Their elemental core was a crystal diamond that could be detached, while the semi-elementals' core was a flesh-and-blood body that could not be separated, making it a fatal weakness.

"The semi-elemental race is indeed very special. We usually move around in our elemental bodies... They act with their flesh-and-blood core, and their energy appears more contained, not overflowing. This is very beneficial for lower realms... After all, most low-level elemental life forms leak elemental energy, which slows their cultivation speed."

High-level beings can naturally contain their energy without overflowing, but low-level elemental life forms, being energy themselves, often have significant elemental overflow when their elemental bodies are active.

This is a significant advantage.

"But how does this elemental body have no size limit?"

"As elemental beings, we also have inherent size limitations..."

In other words, no cosmic life form can grow infinitely. If they could, they would likely consume all the matter in the universe, which is an impossibility.

But the elemental life form before them was incredibly vast, and it even felt as if it could continue to expand indefinitely.

"I understand!"

Al suddenly exclaimed, his face filled with excitement. "That's incredible! So that's it! This race's true body is flesh and blood... their elemental body is an external form, so naturally, it can expand infinitely..."

The surrounding leaders and others were immediately astonished and praised Al.

This young Al had a very quick understanding; he quickly grasped the extraordinary principle that was beyond their capabilities.

"This form... it really does resemble the God of War, Ares..."

At this moment, as the Phoenix watched, a sense of familiarity washed over her, and the connection to her bloodline grew even stronger.

Could it really be their own clan?

Higher members of her father's bloodline?

Her wariness began to subtly ease.

"In terms of bloodline, you are their ancient ancestor," Moon God Ji said with a smile. "The connection between bloodlines cannot be faked..."

"Then why?" the Phoenix couldn't help but ask.

She had a vague premonition.

The enemies of the Land of Gods back then were mysterious and unpredictable; even Hermes had fallen. And these so-called enemies, she suspected, were none other than the Mother River civilization before her.

"What you call the Land of Gods was actually a very evil and powerful civilization, encompassing Buddhism and Daoism..."

Moon God Ji spoke very calmly: "Back then, when I attacked them, my lifespan was nearing its end. For the sake of the future, I decided to plunder their bloodline and talents, ultimately acquiring their immortal bloodline and the ultimate concept of ancient cosmic existence..."

Plunder their immortal bloodline?

At this point, the elemental survivors nearby were still listening intently to the history.

They never imagined that another mutated branch of their own people had long left these ancient ruins, ventured out, and even engaged in warfare, reaching an extremely flourishing level of civilization.

They had even waged war with other terrifying civilizations and plundered the legendary immortal bloodline!

It was known, according to their inherited knowledge, that immortality was one of the most mysterious, powerful, and ultimate talents, yet now, it had actually been seized...

"However, in that war, as I seized their bloodline, they were also trying to seize ours... Plunder is always mutual..."

Moon God Ji smiled and said softly, "Their system is terrifying, possessing a fearsome radiation ability that can alter others' minds and assimilate other races. Entering their Buddhist sect, accepting their teachings, and becoming a believer meant encountering their dazzling golden light and platinum radiation, which could obscure an entire galaxy, and they were called... Buddhas!"

Buddhist sect?

Everyone pondered for a moment, instantly engraving it into their minds as a truly terrifying and taboo system.

"Ares was assimilated by them... He entered the Buddhist sect and converted to their race."

Moon God Ji's voice was calm, revealing no emotion, as if he were witnessing ancient eons of gods and demons. "Ares fought battles for their race, and what's more, they coveted our bloodline.

"They even tried to completely assimilate him into their native race, to make him entirely of their bloodline... They had Ares fall in love with one of their goddesses and bore offspring..."

Many people felt as though they were witnessing that ancient war history unfold.

The elemental survivors, in particular, were filled with righteous indignation!

Al, who had been quick-tempered earlier, now couldn't help but curse, "How despicable! They used such a bizarre and strange transcendent system to plunder our race's bloodline!"

They had inadvertently transformed their pride in their ancestors into pride for the Mother River civilization, as this was their true kin.

The Phoenix felt a jolt run through her body upon hearing this, and she couldn't help but wonder inwardly, "Could it be that I have always lived within the enemy's ranks?"

Moon God Ji continued, "They even communicated with subtle conceptual existences, engaging in equivalent exchange... to create a new world, allowing Ares' daughter to establish that world and proliferate the semi-elemental race!"

Proliferate the semi-elemental race?

A terrifying thought flashed violently through her mind:

It was to help proliferate the race of ancient innate gods!

Upon hearing this, even with her typically serene and ascetic nature, the Phoenix was utterly shaken, her heart churned with tumultuous waves, and she felt a sense of terror unlike anything she had experienced before!

After all, this was directly related to her origins.

This information was far too astonishing!

Now, thinking it over carefully, it truly could be so!

The creation of the Ancient Barren World, perhaps, was indeed a scheme orchestrated by those Buddhist and Daoist entities.

The lineage of ancient innate gods that proliferated in the Ancient Barren World, commanding wind, fire, thunder, and lightning, was clearly some kind of attempt to localize the semi-elemental race.

And she, who had always been self-sufficient in the Ancient Barren World, acting as a Dao Lord, aiding the development of this civilization and continuously advancing it, had evidently mistaken foes for kin. In reality, she had been caught within the forbidden machinations of some terrifying entity operating behind the scenes.

"So, my life before this, it was actually..."

The Phoenix's heart was far from calm; her mind was in turmoil.

"But you have returned at last, after more than ten thousand years..." Moon God Ji said softly and peacefully.

I've returned!?

A shiver ran through her, bringing with it an inexplicable warmth and gentleness.