Chapter 956: Chapter 944: The Relationship Between Civilizations Chapter 956: Chapter 944: The Relationship Between Civilizations Five years
Muria’s body had grown to ten meters, and sitting within the rebuilt royal palace, he bore no resemblance to the original black-haired, blue-skinned Yikong People.

He looked down at the legion commanders below him, clad in armor full of technological sense. These commanders had been contaminated by his bloodline over the years, resulting in significant mutations in their physiques, each towering over five meters tall. On their uncovered cheeks, faint golden God’s Patterns emerged.

To say they were a completely different species from the original Yikong People wouldn’t be an overstatement; more accurately, they could be described as an evolved subspecies of the Yikong People!

However, this evolution of the Yikong People came about through the intervention of a transcendent being like Muria, not natural evolution. Such evolution was naturally infinitely beneficial for the Yikong individuals.

But for the civilization of the Yikong People as a whole, the disadvantages outweighed the benefits. The Yikong People, a race of sentient beings in the early stages of development, had always considered population an important limiting factor for growth.

Through his bloodline, Muria forcibly enhanced the life tier of the Yikong People living around him. In the short term, the benefits were infinite.

But over an extended period, a fatal issue would surface among the Yikong People whose life tiers were elevated: a catastrophic decline in birth rates.

This population shortage was undoubtedly fatal for a civilization aspiring to grow and strengthen, so Muria made a distinction among the Yikong People living around him.

Only those with exceptional talent or who had made some contribution qualified to live on Yunjian Peak, while the ordinary Yikong People lived on the ground. In this way, the impact he would have on the future of this civilization would be minimal.

“Your Majesty King Uhl, the fifth round of military expansion is complete. This recruitment, 37,672 soldiers were enlisted, bringing the total number of soldiers to over 200,000!”

“Hmm!” Hearing the report from below, Muria’s face showed satisfaction as he nodded slowly.

Over the past five years, he had dispatched his army to find and persuade tribes of the Yikong People outside the Ayalei Forest to migrate under his command. Supported by the Divine Tree, this process went exceptionally smoothly, the only constraint being transportation.

With an ample population, Muria held a conscription ceremony every year. Now, for a Yikong person to join Muria’s legion, they must become a Baghda.

Such a requirement used to be impossibly high for the former Yikong tribes but was now not particularly challenging for those living in the Ayalei Forest.

First came Muria’s promotion of basic Breathing Methods. To become a Baghda, one must possess a robust physique to contain the Glorious Power. Previously, the Yikong People relied on their innate talents, hence their sparse numbers.

But Muria’s promotion of the Breathing Methods gave every Yikong person the possibility to become a Baghda because they knew how to systematically strengthen their bodies.

Next, the term Baghda is rather broad; having a God’s Pattern on one’s hand would qualify someone as a Baghda, and the same title still applied to those covered in God’s Patterns. The gap between the two was undoubtedly vast.

If a Yikong person could guarantee daily nutrition and diligently practiced cultivation, it wasn’t difficult for an adult to merge with and absorb the Glorious Power, forming a God’s Pattern on their body. Thus, the number of new Yikong recruits enlisted by Muria increased annually.

Of course, the foundation was population; with enough people and time, everything else was negotiable. Muria had faith in his ability to grow this population. Given time, he was sure to eventually allow Yikong civilization to crush Earth Star Civilization. Technology combined with extraordinary powers was not as simple as mere addition.

The problem was, Earth Star Civilization wouldn’t give Yikong civilization too much time. Due to a distortion between the two worlds’ space-time, a natural channel had formed, drawing them closer together.

Thus, as Yikong civilization grew and strengthened, Earth Star Civilization would naturally feel threatened. When that time came, war was inevitable. For two civilizations close enough, the weaker seeking a peaceful rise was but a dream.

To truly ascend, one must fight a decisive and overwhelming battle, to silence the opponent and ensure they could lay down no obstacles. Only then could a relatively backward civilization truly rise.

Peaceful coexistence? Mutual benefit? Those were but beautiful hopes when two civilizations were at a deadlock. When one civilization was more powerful than another, it would only think about how to crush and devour the other’s everything.

Although Earth Star Civilization had sent numerous mining spaceships to Pandora World over the past five years, they had not waged any war against it.

The two worlds were in a temporary state of peace, but Muria was very aware that this was a result of the stance he had taken five years ago, not because he had used his deity status to tempt the councilors with immortality.

Under the persuasion and lobbying of Dr. Allen, many councilors indeed shifted factions, from neutral or hawk to dove, but they hardly contributed to the peace over the last five years.

Five years ago, they had already decided not to wage any wars against Pandora World in the near future, primarily because they hadn’t yet ascertained what kind of terrifying monsters might still be hidden in Pandora World.

So, in other words, they got something for nothing, extending their lifespans by roughly twenty years from Muria without lifting a finger.

But for Muria, these crystals that extended the lives of these influential councilors were merely trifles, casually formed in his spare time. He could easily draw some life force from the trees of Ayalei Forest, and this small amount of life force, spread across the entire Ayalei Forest, wouldn’t even cause a single leaf to yellow.

Therefore, these councilors felt they had profited, but Muria would never be at a loss; he was the supplier. Moreover, the existence of these life-extending crystals had indeed caused the Earth Star civilization’s ruling class to view Pandora World in a completely different light.

Pandora World was rich in energy resources that could liberate Earth Star civilization from its current energy crisis. The deities of Pandora World could provide life crystals, extending lifespans, making the dream of immortality a reality.

The existence of these two valuable aspects led the ruling class of Earth Star civilization to veto any weapon that might cause devastating destruction to Pandora World. They needed both energy and life crystals.

…

Earth Star, within a luxurious mansion, a young-looking university graduate, full of intellectual charm, entered the opulent building and smiled warmly at the middle-aged woman who approached her.

“Councilor Haya!”

“Dr. Allen, in your recent visit to Pandora World to see that entity, what gifts did you receive?” Haya asked the woman with a smile.

Over the years, she had indeed been flourishing due to Allen, having drawn many councilors to her side to form a political group. Within this group, she subtly asserted her leadership, amassing vast political resources.

“Just some inconsequential gifts. I brought back from King Uhl’s Royal Court many beneficial things for the human body!”

“What kind of things?” Haya, whose body had grown increasingly younger over the last five years, asked eagerly. She had paid a significant price for her current appearance, paying in ways that touched upon the meaning of humanity itself.

“An idol of a deity!” Allen said with a smile, drawing a crouching figure of a Mesha from her bag.

“This is…” Upon seeing the purple-black idol with golden patterns on its scales, Haya narrowed her eyes, recognizing the Overlord-level creature known by soldiers as the Battleship Crusher.

“This is also a deity, named Mesha! If you pray and worship it three times a day, each time for ten minutes, then after maintaining this ritual for a while, you will find some unexpected gains!” Allen said with a smile.

“What kind of unexpected gains?” Haya asked, touching her face.

“Such as becoming younger! You might also gain powers humans normally don’t possess!” Allen suggested seductively, “This is a being of the same caliber as King Uhl.”

“Really?”

“Why not try it? After all, it’s just a little bit of your time each day, and the total cost is negligible compared to what you might gain,” Allen reasoned.

“You have a point.” Upon hearing Allen’s words, Haya couldn’t help but nod. Indeed, spending some time in daily worship was nothing compared to her current lifespan.

“Well, I must take my leave now, to visit a few other councilors. I believe they might also benefit from this deity’s grace!” Seeing that Haya was willing to worship Mesha, Allen excused herself.

“Clang!”

As the female doctor left, the councilor, now a woman of a certain age, gazed at the idol in her hands, lost in thought. She envied Pandora World’s extraordinary powers, yet felt awe, a subtle fear, and even a sense of longing.

“Aaron, take this idol to the laboratory for testing. If there’s nothing wrong with it, bring it back to me!”

“Your Excellency, do you really want to worship this foreign god?”

“If it can make me younger, then why would it matter to worship it?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read