What can triumph over death?
Prophet Al had to face this question once again.
He had once asked God, and God told him:
"What neither reproaches nor fears, neither oppresses nor tires, endless and persistent, that prevails over death."
He had pondered deeply, yet grasped nothing, with the burdensome distractions of his lifelong prophetic duties; Al often forgot the question he had raised to God, for he saw that the people of Logos gradually accepted death, making the question seem less urgent, less essential.
The people of Logos seemed no longer restrained by death.
However, his brother, the Sapo King, had once again drawn the attention of the people of Logos.
The man on the King's Throne demanded the entire civilization seek the elixir of Eternal Life.
Does Eternal Life mean conquering death?
Al felt it did not, yet he could not find the recipe to surpass death.
The Sapo King had already taken action; with the vigorous vitality of a mature ruler, he led the mighty Hunters of the kingdom in a forceful military expedition to explore the outside, sparing no costs, all to find the path where both body and spirit achieve Eternal Life.
For some reason, whenever Al recalled that day's Sapo, he felt an inherent panic from the depths of his heart.
This panic revealed itself subtly, always sprouting like a wheat stalk before sleep each night, alerting his spirit.
Therefore, the Prophet made a resolution, that for the next hundred years, he must spend his days meditating in the Pattern Garden, discussing with the Priests, those closest to God, those who sought worldly patterns, to understand first what truly triumphs over death.
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In a blink, nearly a hundred years passed.
God stood on the high mountain, often seeing a bustling crowd by the altar located mid-mountain.
Over these years, Chen Yi had traveled many places, almost traversing half of the world himself.
And seldom, or rather, never did he worry over the people of Logos.
Now, the people of Logos have gained the ability to establish themselves on earth; they were no longer the foolish Ape-men crying over their shed fur.
God had no intention of directing them down a specific path, nor of making them live by certain standards.
It wasn't that He didn't love the people of Logos. Quite the contrary, sometimes people need to lose their way, need to err occasionally.
Always walking on the right path could lead to endless troubles.
Civilization needed true growth, not a false prosperity.
Since He had chosen Al early on, let Al, as one of Logos, lead this civilization.
Let Al be the bridge between humans and God.
And compared to the recent state of the people of Logos,
In these past hundred years, He had more significant things to focus on.
High up on the mountain, a new pond had appeared.
Within the pond, there was a pile of fertile soil, and a twig had been planted in the soil.
That was the very twig brought by Chen Yi to the mountain summit to grant reasoning to the people of Logos.
He tenderly cared for the plant while observing any changes during the period.
After being planted in the soil, the twig began to grow, albeit very slowly, adding no more than a centimeter each year, and only after a few years did sprouts begin to emerge.
God had patience for it; to Him, decades were but the blink of an eye.
Chen Yi slowly stepped forward, walked over the water's surface, nearing the plant, and a faint light enveloped the sprouting buds, not from reflected sunlight but an inherent, spontaneous glow.
Inside this twig seemed to reside something called a "soul."
"When I casually bestowed reason upon the people of Logos using this plant, inadvertently, I planted the seed of the 'soul' on this twig."
Chen Yi made a rudimentary judgment, knowing He still needed more time to observe.
No life in this world possessed a soul yet, and yet He was able to create from nothing and bestow a soul.
God could see,
His existence seemed to transcend the rules of this world.
Thump.
Just as God watched this plant.
A faint, barely perceptible sound came from a distant place.
The sound originated from the Ancient Chaos at the boundary of the world.
God turned his head, gazing into the distance, and slowly squinted his eyes.
It seemed as if the Ancient Chaos was stirring once again.
Thinking this, God waited for a moment, yet nothing happened.
The sound was just like an illusion.
God furrowed his brow.
"My existence is not yet stable enough,"
Chen Yi murmured to himself.
If the Primordial Will intended to conceal its power and secretly change the world, with his current capability, it was sometimes difficult to perceive.
What he could do was merely wait for the people of Logos to progress and stabilize his own existence.
......
The people of Logos vainly searched for the secret to Eternal Life in the vast world, like searching for a faint ember in a pile of ashes, attempting to fan it into a flame, to reignite a fire that had been dying for long.
Nearly a century had passed, and the Sapo King had seen one wise elder from Logos after another enter into the slumber of death, each highly admired and respected by him disappearing from his sight.
The Sapo King felt fear.
He led his robust hunters outward, establishing one stronghold after another, combating prehistoric beasts with spears. Time passed by, and at some point, he suddenly realized that his muscles had shrunk, his whole body trembled while throwing a spear, and it no longer penetrated deeply into a mammoth's flesh but was obstructed by its thick hide.
The king was aging. He felt vitality slipping away despite his attempts to retain it. The days full of life along with the endless bravery of the past, in winters one after another, became memories worth recalling yet irretrievable.
The vigorous young men displayed their extraordinary prowess, their spears accurately piercing the hearts of prey, also piercing through the former pride of the Sapo King, whose past glories he gradually stored away.
"Dertulian, I want to reward you,"
sitting on the stone King's Throne, the Sapo King looked down with a lofty gaze at the Logos man before him.
It was Al's younger son, Dertulian, also a hunter and warrior known throughout the kingdom, who had recently slaughtered a Four-legged Earth Dragon half as tall as a mammoth, saving a whole team of Logos hunters.
Dertulian knelt on one knee before the throne, and the Sapo King looked at him, slightly lost in thought; this young man's face so closely resembled his brother's, and the astonishing bravery similarly echoed his own former self.
Even among his own children, there was no one quite like Dertulian.
Dertulian then raised his head, looking up at the Sapo King, his eyes bright and spirited.
"King!"
The Sapo King came back to reality and asked,
"Dertulian, what reward do you want?"
"King, I want no reward,"
Dertulian simply replied,
"I only wish to return to Pattern Garden for a while, to see my parents."
The Sapo King was immediately surprised, then gave a wry smile and said,
"Well, since you need no reward,"
Dertulian nodded earnestly, then stood up, ready to leave the palace.
"Hold on, Dertulian,"
the Sapo King stopped him.
Dertulian turned back, puzzled.
"You just said you wanted to see your parents… What about your brother Yarlessto?"
asked the Sapo King, who had heard rumors of discord between Al's elder and younger sons.
Dertulian appeared uncomfortable, then awkwardly replied:
"Yes… I will of course see my brother too."
His tone confirmed that rumor.
"Then, go back,"
the Sapo King no longer detained him, allowing him to leave the palace.
Dertulian left, and in the empty palace, only one person remained on the King's Throne. The palace unavoidably quieted down.
The Sapo King gazed in the direction Dertulian had left, his slightly aged eyes revealing a faint trace of jealousy.