The twenty-first century.
The war between gods and mortals began to ease as new life forms emerged.
They each started a ceasefire, studying their own life structures, continually evolving.
However, as their life structures gradually differed—muscles, bones... transforming into different creatures—they began developing techniques based on the "Sun Holy Scripture" for their respective species.
Chicken, duck, snake, dog.
Four martial arts belonging to their respective species, each honing their perfect species' tendons, bones, claws, scales, various unique structures, honing every aspect, unlocking their potential.
Thus, biological types were completely divided into four major categories, and as ancestors, their offspring were optimized generation by generation to resemble them.
And three tiers of hierarchical forces emerged.
Pharaohs sleeping in the Sun Ancient Coffin on the Divine Mountain, who can live to future centuries.
Black Ant Grandmasters residing underground, who have reached the unity of mind, energy, and spirit, with souls completely integrated into their brains, also able to live to future centuries, unbound by death's constraints.
And the majority of the lower tier, ordinary ants still dying century after century, living on the surface, with provisional souls attached to shells, quickly dissipating every century.
...
Underground, second layer, inside the desk drawer.
Countless towering buildings rise, even some hanging upside down in the sky like inverted peaks, indescribably beautiful and magnificent.
"Gods reside on the mountain, ageless and immortal, reaching future centuries, ruling the longevity of the land."
Once an ordinary leader of resistance against the gods on the mountains, Mirege Amon now sits on the throne with a cold, sinister snakehead, flicking his tongue, speaking to his peers, "And we, these ordinary beings, through cultivation, have powers comparable to gods... We will completely reside underground, like those Pharaohs of Olympic Mountain, coming to future centuries, ruling the birth, aging, illness, and death of those above!"
"If they can, we can too!"
"We must confront them!"
"Moreover, we must lead the mortals on the surface to successfully break through and come to our underground realm, becoming one of us! That's truly our kin!"
But below, a puzzled voice emerged.
"Aren't we already a different species from them?"
As these words fell, everyone fell silent for a moment.
Indeed, on the surface are still ordinary ant beings, while they have already become like the gods on the mountains, all having four different heads.
At a glance, they are evidently different species.
"We have long ceased to be them." Mirege Amon paused, sitting high in the palace, the snake's head revealing cunning bright red glows, "We reside underground and will also live to future centuries, ruling the life and death of those above!"
...
Olympic Mountain.
God of Death Jaqamachi, sitting on his divine seat, with a bloodthirsty ferocious wolf's head, sharp-eyed, overlooking the Pharaohs below, the gods at each level of the Divine Mountain,
"These foolish, arrogant mortals proclaim themselves strong, saviors who want to rescue the longevity of the land, constantly spreading their doctrines, slandering our great god!"
"Absolutely vile!"
"We must also dispatch our envoys to the land, to propagate our doctrines and ideals, informing of those evil creatures' malice!"
"How do they refer?"
Angry shouts echoed throughout the sacred mountain,
"Demons, underground demons, symbolizing evil, leading the earthly beings into the abyss!!"
...
A new era has completely opened.
Gods reside on the mountain.
Demons reside underground.
A vast number of mortals crowd the surface, even striving to expand the earth's area by piling up mountains and digging deep valleys, building towering buildings.
"They plan well."
An ant with disheveled antennae walks on the earth, constantly observing the architecture, leisurely traveling the scenery,
"Everywhere is ravaged by war, truly a perilous world, gangs, chaos, slaughter... Yet I walk fearlessly amidst the turmoil, observing worldly changes, wandering freely in the world." He carried four arms on his back, looking calm,
"Yet with such meddling, this table can only sustain these ants for four days, I reckon it will soon collapse. Although my table is solid wood, it can't endure much more of this."
He continually calculates, arriving in this world personally to experience some of the more intricate layouts.
There's a strong sense of achievement.
"Perhaps, soon the table won't hold, I must find a more durable new table... Money, truly a headache." Fu Qingjun keeps observing, studying the surrounding ant tribes.
He came here to find ants that can merge with the human soul group.
His gaze swept around, "According to previous experiments, one must be a soul-body integrated Grandmaster, possessing their own soul, to merge with other souls."
Fu Qingjun was in no hurry, walking around, searching for strong individuals who have achieved soul-body integration.
After all, it was already a period of great explosion; the batch of ant shells accumulated over the past centuries had almost reached their limit. With the physical conditions met, as long as the newly born souls had decent qualifications and reached the mental conditions, they could break through the shell.
After all, it is the fusion of soul and body, called the God-Breaking Realm.
Once the body has met the standard, it depends on one's mindset. But such things as mindset rely on enlightenment. It can be hard to achieve, yet it could be so simple as having a meal to suddenly see through one's inner self.
Time passed.
Fu Qingjun was very patient, after all, he had a whole night.
Suddenly, his brows moved.
A small distant tribe erupted in cheers, and with a raised eyebrow, Fu Qingjun walked over slowly.
He saw a handsome black ant radiating a powerful aura, tall and strong, standing amidst the ant colony.
Suddenly, this handsome black ant Grandmaster sensed an inexplicable aura, and his gaze turned towards the distance.
Rustle.
An ant slowly walked over.
Though it seemed very weak, as if it distorted space and time, it gave him a vast, solemn, magnificent feeling, yet it was hard to distinguish reality from illusion.
"Are you... the god from the mountain?"
"Or the demon from the depths?"
Odyssey looked at this fellow with unclear origins in surprise and asked.
The present gods and demons had long outgrown the bottom layer of the ant tribes. They possessed unique appearances that were evidently powerful with just one look.
However, this peer in front of him appeared just as ordinary as them.
God?
Demon?
Having been called enough times, Fu Qingjun no longer said much and had gotten somewhat used to it.
Perhaps, to the ants of the desk world, he truly was a god.
Fu Qingjun chuckled softly and said, "Do you wish to have a future?"
"What future?"
Odyssey was taken aback and laughed bitterly, "The newly born strong individuals among us have already lost the greatest opportunity. We can't catch up to the god's grace, and can only forever maintain this appearance."
They missed the granting period, breaking through only now and are thus unable to touch the four souls again, doomed to forever maintain this bottom-tier ordinary ant form. Ants, being lower insects have a very low ceiling. As muscle ants, they've reached their limit, leaving them helplessly cornered in the future.
The new four-race barrier has already formed, making it harder for beings on the ground to break through.
"Not necessarily." Fu Qingjun smiled and said, "If you wish for a future, I can give you..."
"Are you the great God of Wisdom Jia Xia?" Odyssey became excited.
Fu Qingjun shook his head, "The time I have to teach you is very short, learn as much as you can."
With a point of his finger, a human soul fused into his mind.
This was the soul he just bought with thirty taels of silver.
"What is this??" Odyssey was startled upon feeling his own body, an underlying foundation surging and precipitating, continuously raising his limit, transforming into a new race and elevating the new ceiling...
He was overjoyed and knelt down on the ground at once,
"You must be one of the reincarnations of the remaining two of the three ancient gods."
The whole tribe around fell to the ground in fervor, kneeling continuously.
"I am not one of the gods symbolizing all concepts in the void." Fu Qingjun immediately laughed and said, "I'm just a passing traveler, a merchant wandering the world, trading everything with the beings—wealth, strength, knowledge... I enjoy the balancing laws of everything, supporting the leap of low-level life civilizations to reach higher dimensions."
"You come from another world?" he exclaimed.
"Yes, you must believe in the goodwill of this higher civilization."
Fu Qingjun smiled slightly, "However, everything in the world is balanced. I walk upon the earth, adhering to the principle of equivalent exchange... Though these are insignificant, I still hope that you will pay a price instead of just demanding."
"We understand! We are willing to pay any price!" Odyssey knelt on one knee, devoutly like a knight.
He knew well what this meant, as long as there was a chance of reincarnation, strong individuals who broke through later on the ground could have a new future even though they missed the timing.
Beings on the ground could also have their own race!
"You must understand that the reincarnated race itself is very weak."
Fu Qingjun said softly, "It doesn't have the strength of four souls nor provide any corporeal enhancement, its specialty lies merely in slightly more powerful intellect."