Chapter 1148: The Birth of a God

Having become a four-dimensional being, he could naturally witness the moment of his own birth, a time when he had not yet developed consciousness or memories.

“What is that? Who?”

Yi Mang whispered softly.

He looked on in some shock at the colossal giant towering into the clouds.

He had believed himself to be the first creature in the universe and had not expected that mysterious beings existed before him.

He found it somewhat incomprehensible.

He only felt that it was mysterious, powerful, and unfathomable.

By now, he had reached a certain state, transcending the seven-stage limit of three-dimensional beings and attaining the eighth stage. His comprehension of the universe had begun, and he could sense an unprecedented aura of mature cosmic principles emanating from that being.

However, he had no time to ponder further and embarked on his journey back.

When he returned to the tribe, he found it sparsely populated and an air of desolation everywhere.

After all, their elders and fathers had all committed suicide because they found life monotonous, having repeated it for countless years, and the lives of the younger generation were also affected.

Although they were still young, still found the universe fresh, and could immerse themselves in activities like sculpting and cultivation—so life was not boring—the dark future also instilled fear in them.

However, all of this changed with the seventh return of their primeval ancestor, the one they called "the deity."

“I have fully returned!”

Sacred flames emanated from his entire body as he displayed his power.

At this instant, the chaotic Hongmeng tribe erupted with excitement once more!

“Ancestor, have you found a new way for us to reach adulthood?”

They wept with joy, embracing each other through tears. In the midst of the chaotic desolation, they seemed to see a new future.

“Yes, I have found a new stage of growth.”

Standing atop the statue, Yi Mang addressed his tribesmen below:

“After the first seven growth stages of our lives, we have an eighth stage. In this eighth stage of growth, we will become four-dimensional beings!”

“Four-dimensional beings?”

“What are four-dimensional beings?”

A buzz of discussion erupted below, their voices filled with excitement.

They faced chaotic natural disasters where dimensions were unstable, with some areas sometimes ascending or descending dimensions, fluctuating between one, two, and three. They were naturally aware of this.

“The fourth dimension is length, width, height, and time.”

Yi Mang began his first true sermon, elucidating his understanding of the universe. He spoke without any pretense, like an elder at a bonfire gathering, sitting among the people, recounting tales of time.

“As a four-dimensional being, time, for me, is like a straight line that can be controlled. I can traverse the past and future of my own lifeline.”

The tribesmen were astonished, and a thorough discussion erupted.

Did that mean their chief could go back to the past and travel to the future?

“That is not what I mean.”

Sitting in his elevated position, Yi Mang clarified: “It’s not about going back to the world’s past or future. It’s about controlling the past and future of my own life.”

He immediately demonstrated.

He began to accelerate his life, entering a time flow where one day equaled a hundred years. His personal time sped up rapidly.

In his eyes, the surrounding beings seemed like motionless statues, their movements unimaginably slow, as if they were not beings of the same dimension.

“Ah!”

“The chief is gone!”

“What happened?”

Everyone was astonished.

Soon, Yi Mang reappeared, sitting in his elevated position once more. “Because my time is too fast,” he explained, “I fast-forwarded my life’s time. You couldn't see my movements at all. In your eyes, only a few seconds passed, but in my eyes, several days had already gone by!

“I just rapidly fast-forwarded on my 'timeline'—one day equals a hundred years! If I wished, I could even make one day equal a hundred million years, quickly reaching the me of a hundred million years in the future!”

Everyone was utterly astonished, filled with excitement, and found it immensely intriguing.

They didn't find it strange,

because they already lived in an unusual world where dimensions sometimes collapsed, turning them into one-dimensional beings—a point or a line—or into two-dimensional beings—thin sheets of paper.

“So this is what a four-dimensional being is?”

They were very happy, realizing they had an even more powerful adulthood ahead of them.

They had previously experienced becoming one, two, and three-dimensional beings, but they never imagined they could directly become four-dimensional beings.

“Furthermore, not only can I accelerate my life forward, but I can also reverse its progress.” Yi Mang spoke without any pretense. The next second, he rapidly grew younger in everyone's sight.

Thirty thousand years old.

Twenty thousand years old.

Ten thousand years old.

His cultivation declined, and he quickly transformed into a powerless infant.

“Ah!”

“Chief!”

“He turned back into a child!”

They were greatly astonished.

But the next second, Yi Mang transformed from an infant back to his present self.

At this moment, everyone fully grasped the power of the eighth growth stage: the ability to control and adjust one's own timeline.

“This is the eighth stage of life's growth.”

Yi Mang looked at his tribesmen below, full of vigor, and declared enthusiastically: “In this eighth stage, we transcend time itself! We become four-dimensional beings of the next dimension!

“To us four-dimensional beings, three-dimensional life appears as motionless as a statue. The entire universe seems still, and three-dimensional beings cannot perceive us,

“because their timeline, to us, barely progresses.

“It's like how we, as three-dimensional beings, perceive our kin who have become two-dimensional beings: they, as two-dimensional beings, are completely unaware of the higher-dimensional existence of three-dimensional life!

“Before, you always called me a deity, but I felt I was not!

“Now, standing before this great four-dimensional being, one that transcends three-dimensional life, I truly believe *that* is a god!

“Because a four-dimensional being, with sufficient energy, is fundamentally unkillable. Even the most terrifying spatial turbulence cannot kill a four-dimensional being! They can enter and adjust the progression of life to accelerate wound healing. Four-dimensional beings are like great entities living in segmented layers on the timeline.

“I want to call this eighth stage of life 'divinity'! This is the supreme true god! Every one of us has the potential to become a god!”

Everyone trembled upon hearing this.

Eighth-stage deities!

Indeed!

These four-dimensional beings, who transcend three dimensions, are truly great and true gods!

What is a god?

One who transcends the dimension of time, who controls their own past and future—a four-dimensional being is a god!

Nothing else deserves to be called a deity.

“Hahaha, gods! As long as we grow to the eighth stage, the great, great... growth stage, we will be gods!”

Countless naive and primal beings, of all sizes, slung arms over shoulders, ran and leaped everywhere, as if at a bonfire party.

They were still unaware of the historical significance of this moment. History would remember this as a historic scene from the most primordial era.

At this moment, gods were born in the universe.

Meanwhile, a young tribesman recorded this moment in the oldest sculpted art mural: an ancient god, surrounded by others, narrating the birth of deities.

“I already sense the prelude to a great terror unfolding,” he mused. “Why would the eighth-stage gods of later generations become...” Xu Zhi fell silent for a moment.

His hand gently turned to the next page of "Genesis," where it recorded:

*At the end of the Great Expansion Era, the Great Solitude Calamity descended. The primordial gods and devils endured tens of thousands of years of suffering in chaos, feeling the world was dull, and thus perished by their own hand. Another ten thousand years passed, Yi Mang journeyed through the universe, opening up the realm of deities, and gods began to emerge between heaven and earth.*