The Diversity of Life

Food Priest Lan once again led a group to the dark swamp in the canyon. It took them half a month to extinguish the raging fire above the swamp, completely releasing the fire element stored deep beneath the swamp.

As the towering flames gradually subsided, the scorching heat that had been emanating for dozens of miles slowly decreased.

Lan stood at the center of numerous priests, controlling a Noodle Brain monster in the sky to set up a mental barrier.

"They're coming out."

"Don't let a single one escape."

As Lan's words fell, monstrous roars echoed from the depths of the canyon.

"Roar!"

More than a dozen third-level fire demons burst out of the dark swamp, only to face an entire group of priests standing atop the cliff.

Each of these third-level fire demons was incredibly violent and vicious.

They despised everything in this world, desperately clinging to their existence while striving to increase their power.

They originated from the mythical blood and spirit of temple priests. These temple priests had been cruelly killed by Haru and refined into fire demons, their emotions of pain and hatred still preserved within.

Previously, Haru had enslaved them, preventing them from rebelling.

But now that Haru was dead, they had completely lost control.

They would sleep in the depths of the swamp during the day, and at night, they would fly into villages and cities, plundering living things, minerals, and other items from Trilobite Man settlements to bring back to the canyon as sacrifices to replenish and strengthen the power of the Fire Demon Bottle.

The little fire demons were merely puppets under their control, causing havoc like wild, enslaved cubs.

In a sense, this calamity was retribution for Haru's evil deeds, but it fell upon these other innocent Trilobite Men.

Hundreds of priests joined forces to cast various divine techniques, bombarding the fire demons. Food Paste Slimes bounced up like balls, pouncing on the great fire demons and enveloping them to prevent them from flying away.

In the end, only one third-level fire demon managed to break through the encirclement. It soared into the sky, carrying Haru's magic bottle with it.

This was their core, the thing that enslaved and bound them.

As long as the magic bottle remained intact, these dozen or so great fire demons would be difficult to kill. Even if their fire demon bodies were destroyed, they would be reborn inside the bottle as long as fire element was replenished.

This demonstrated the power of the Divine Artifact Haru had created.

"Fire Demon Bottle!"

Lan immediately noticed it and leaped into the sky towards it.

Several Noodle Brain monsters entwined themselves around Lan, dragging him in pursuit of the fire demon.

Lan stretched out his hand, and a crystal appeared in his palm, shooting out.

A powerful shockwave appeared in the air, striking the fire demon squarely.

Although the fire demon's chest was pierced, this kind of injury meant little to it. However, the Fire Demon Bottle it was desperately protecting was grazed by the aftershock.

"Bang!"

With a light sound, the Fire Demon Bottle shattered.

Lan had no desire to seize this powerful Divine Artifact. His sole focus now was to stop the spreading fire demons and completely eradicate their race.

"Woo!"

All the fire demons simultaneously looked towards the shattered magic bottle, watching its fragments fall through the clouds, letting out a mournful cry.

These powerful third-level fire demons gradually dissipated and died.

Hundreds of little fire demons also lost control, spinning around like headless flies.

They were hunted down by the priest group, struck down and killed one by one.

And so, this massive disaster had finally come to an end.

However, these little fire demons were only a small portion. During this period, thousands of little fire demons had escaped from the swamp.

These fire demon seeds were scattered to various corners of the wilderness, nesting in dark places.

They were completely transparent and unpredictable.

They could even hide in a jar or a candlestick in the city.

As long as they didn't show themselves, even priests would find it difficult to detect them.

Lan looked at the charred canyon and mountains, at the battered priests after the great battle.

"It's not over yet."

"There are more fire demon seeds hiding out there."

"We must stay and clean them up thoroughly."

A priest asked him, "Lord Lan, even if we use all our strength to search for these fire demons..."

"Can we really kill them all?"

Lan told the other priests, "But we must resolve them. This race should never have been born in this world."

"If we let them propagate, they will become a threat to all Trilobite Men."

"And they will bring disasters endlessly."

The priests from the nine great temples present didn't agree with Lan's view. They believed it was merely futile.

They had traveled thousands of miles to help Lan exterminate the fire demons, and they felt they had already done their utmost duty.

A temple priest mocked Lan, "Don't speak so righteously, High Priest Lan."

"Isn't everything that happened here caused by your Temple of Truth?"

"You're only doing this to make up for the mistakes you've committed."

The temple priest turned to leave with several other priests: "The mistakes you've made, find a way to make up for them yourself."

"I only came here on the King's orders. What happens next is none of my concern."

Lan wanted to say more, but as he looked around, he saw that the priests present were already exhausted.

Their gazes towards Lan showed that they agreed with the other priest's words.

Even the priests from the Ice Temple didn't want to continue.

Even Lan's student was carefully tugging at Lan's robe, having noticed the dissatisfaction all the priests harbored towards Lan.

"Teacher!"

"Let's stop here!"

Lan felt somewhat disappointed. He indeed wanted to make up for his own mistakes, but more than that, he was considering the future of Yinsai.

But the people before him clearly didn't care about the consequences the escaped fire demons might bring.

They didn't want to consider some distant future or the vague threats Lan spoke of.

After all, no matter what happened here.

It had nothing to do with them—

Volcano City.

Though it was called Volcano City, it was still quite far from the actual volcano. One could only see the occasionally smoke-emitting crater in the distance.

A section of the city wall had been blasted open, and many places bore black scorch marks from flames.

Previously, several third-level fire demons had invaded here with many little fire demons, causing considerable chaos before being driven back by some of Lan's students.

On the day when a large group of priests withdrew from the dark swamp back to Volcano City, the spirit entered this largest city on the eastern border.

She walked down the street, skipping along, when suddenly she stopped as if discovering something.

She opened a broken jar discarded in a street corner, and something with an unclear pattern crawled out.

The spirit blew a breath, and a cluster of starlight bound it.

It was a little fire demon.

It looked like a small transparent ball of gas, and as the spirit startled it, it immediately burst into flames, becoming a small flame.

It trembled, like a panicked and distressed young beast.

"Don't be afraid!"

"I don't mean to hurt you, I just want to look at you."

As the spirit's understanding deepened, she gradually comprehended what had happened and understood the nature of fire demons.

Fire demons were a kind of artificial special life form. When newly born, they didn't possess high intelligence, more like a group of beasts and birds running on the ground and flying in the sky.

The truly intelligent and insane ones were the fire demon progenitor Haru and those great fire demons he created using Trilobite Man bloodlines.

But now, these great fire demons were all dead.

"The great fire demons consumed by hatred and curses have died, and the remaining little fire demons have returned to calmness."

The spirit held the little fire demon: "It doesn't seem as dangerous as imagined, just much less intelligent compared to Trilobite Men."

"Is it because of the impurity of the bloodline?"

The spirit had come not only to observe the fire demons but also to pose a question to Food Priest Lan.

Inside the Yinsai Temple in the city.

On the divine platform stood the statue of the Yinsai God, its image appearing like a radiant star with a blurred human figure within.

In the deep of night, the spirit descended into the temple, holding a little fire demon.

The spirit first bowed to the statue, then looked towards the depths.

Her perspective fell from the mortal world into the dream realm, immediately seeing the various illusory dreams floating and rising around her.

All sorts of different dreams, she chose one to enter.

This dream was composed of a series of workshops, where various foods and snacks could be seen piled up like mountains.

It was Food Priest Lan's dream.

But at this moment, Lan was not inside the workshop watching his favorite food being produced, but standing on top of the workshop, looking into the distance.

His face was etched with worry.

The departure of his teacher and Haru's death had dealt him a huge blow. He even began to feel lost, not knowing what he should do.

The only thing he could do now was to destroy the monsters created by his teacher and Haru.

He couldn't let such things remain in this world, tarnishing the reputation of his teacher Sandean.

This was also the reason for his persistence.

The spirit materialized behind Lan and addressed him.

"Lan, why must you completely exterminate the fire demons?"

"The cursed resentment has dissipated, and the fire demons have calmed down again. Perhaps these new life forms could also play a role in promoting civilization?"

The Food Priest was in a daze, merely dreaming his own dream.

"We have no choice," he replied. "We must exterminate them to make up for the mistakes Haru committed."

"I don't want to see them harm anyone again, don't want to see the scene of towns being devoured by flames again."

"This world belongs to the Trilobite Men. Their existence will only occupy and oppress the living space of Trilobite Men."

In the dream controlled by the spirit, no one could deceive her.

This was also Lan's true thoughts.

The spirit suddenly understood that this was a conflict that couldn't be reconciled.

The spirit sighed: "Is it not possible to coexist?"

"If the monsters cannot enter the world of Trilobite Men, could you accept their existence?"

Lan laughed, thinking the person asking him this question was quite naive.

He recalled those temple priests who rejected him, recalled his obstructed state in the Ice Temple.

"When people can't even fully trust their own kind, how can they trust a monster?"

The spirit nodded, suddenly understanding a bit about the existence of Trilobite Men.

"Oh!"

"Indeed... so that's how it is!"

Lan quietly awoke from his dream, and the spirit's figure appeared in the sky above the temple.

Under the moonlight, a hot air balloon drifted down.

The spirit flew into the basket, following it as it chased the clouds and crescent moon.

She stood in the night sky, looking down at the earth and cities.

Her gaze fell into deep thought as she began to ponder a question.

In the past, the Trilobite Men of the mortal world and the People of the Abyss each had their own place, one occupying the land, the other the sea.

In the spirit's view, the Trilobite Men were the divinely-permitted rulers of the land, the rightful protagonists governing the nation that believed in the Yinsai God.

This belief led her to an unconscious conclusion: what benefited the Trilobite Men as a whole was justice, and what harmed the majority of Trilobite Men was evil.

But if one day, this world was filled with all kinds of intelligent races, and they waged war for the right to survive and for territory.

Who would be just, and who would be evil?

If the spirits were not favored by the divine and lived on the earth like Trilobite Men.

Would the Trilobite Men also view them as a terrible threat and seek to exterminate them?

"God granted the sky, land, and sea to the bloodline of Redlichia. The Trilobite Men of Yinsai occupy the land, and the People of the Abyss occupy the sea."

"Monsters, as a race born with intelligent bloodlines, naturally have the right to survive."

The spirit looked towards the barren earth, lonely with only Trilobite Men.

If, according to the Trilobite Men's thinking, every newly born race and creature were exterminated, wouldn't this world forever remain so barren and silent?

"Every race has the right to live on this earth, because only then..."

"Will life bloom into different flowers."