Once upon a time there was a greedy snake.

Chapter 38 Let's order first.
The howling north wind swept southward from the frozen ground, cutting straight down.

But the north wind that came from afar had not yet reached the vicinity of the holy mountain, and the Ignis people who lived on the holy mountain had not looked at any weather forecasts—in the past period of time, they had not paid any attention to any information from the outside world.

They were all focused on studying their own path.

To forge one's own path—this was the maxim left to them by the serpent god—or perhaps the progenitor of the Tao.

At first, they didn't quite understand what the serpent god was saying. After all, although his words sounded inspiring, upon closer inspection, they seemed to say nothing at all. But that's the question: could the serpent god, or rather the ancestor of the Dao, really have said nothing at all?
Impossible, absolutely impossible.

Although the serpent god forbade them to worship him as a deity, he was still a deity after all, and every action and word he made must have a profound meaning.

And this isn't even their own wild speculation; they can actually provide relevant examples.

To go back further, their ancestor, the first patriarch of Ignivas, learned the magic of fire by watching Him make fire.

In the middle, the nineteenth Holy King, after receiving His wisdom, led the Ignis people to prosperity and even founded the city of Ignis.

Both of these events are recorded in many legends of the Ignis people.

As for recently... He has only recently appeared, so there are indeed no relevant examples. However, after listening to His teachings, these Ignis people firmly believe that they can also learn some wisdom from them, just like their ancestors.

They all firmly believed that they could grasp the profound meaning of that saying and put into practice the ancient wisdom it contained.

"But that's precisely the problem."

The serpent god... no, the ancestor of the Dao, the words of that ancestor of the Dao were too obscure. He only told them to find their own Dao, but did not say where the Dao was. So where were they supposed to look?

"Things I want to do..."

The Ignis people in the mountains pondered for seven days and nights, and finally came to a conclusion that everyone agreed with.

"Let's eat the meat first."

This is what they want to do most right now.

Although under the protection of the Serpent... Ancestor of the Dao, the Holy Mountain had long achieved an abundance of food, it was only an abundance of fruits and vegetables—which, while filling their stomachs, could only ensure they wouldn't starve to death.

Even if they don't starve to death, they still want to eat something good.

However, eating meat in the Holy Mountain is an extremely troublesome matter. In the memories of these Ignis people, the Holy Mountain should have been rich in resources, but after they entered the mountain, they found that there was not a single animal to be seen. It was as if the animals in the mountain had been emptied out by someone.

This means that if they want to eat meat, they have to go outside the mountains to find it.

Although the land outside the Holy Mountain was no longer their home, the magicians who had once protected them would not let them go, and the king who had escaped from the Ancestor of the Dao would not let them go either. However, driven by their thirst for meat, these Ignis people who had entered the mountains had their own simple methods. Since there was no shortage of fruits and vegetables in the mountains, they could simply bring out all the fruits and vegetables they could not eat and lure the livestock from the pastures over.

As for whether there will be any consequences to doing this...

"Anyway, the ancestor of the Dao is in the mountains, so those magicians shouldn't dare to chase us into the holy mountain."

That's what they were thinking. Of course, if the Ancestor of the Dao really didn't care, they had other ways, such as being straightforward and paying with fruits and vegetables to replace the livestock, as long as the mages were willing to talk things out properly. If the mages were unwilling to talk things out properly, or even wanted to seize the orchard, they could say it was a blessing from the Serpent God, or even tell the mages the secret of the crazy growth of fruits and vegetables, and let them go to the deep mountains to find the Serpent God's excrement themselves.

Then these mages will truly anger the serpent god, who has not consulted with them about when they can collect the excrement.

"This... seems to work no matter what?"

After realizing this, these Ignis people seemed to have a vague understanding of something.

Could this be the Dao that the Ancestor of Dao spoke of?

However, they had no time to think about it now; their minds were filled with the craving for meat.

So, after selecting a group of brave and daring men, the Ignis began their plan to eat meat.

Perhaps it was because the snake... the ancestor of the Dao, was protecting them in the dark, their plan to eat meat went surprisingly smoothly. They didn't even need to use those follow-up arrangements. They simply took out some fruits and vegetables and led the wild buffalo, antelopes and the like, who feed on fruits and vegetables, into the mountains.

Although these bison and antelopes were very thin, so thin that they weighed very little.

"What's going on? Shouldn't all the livestock raised by those mages be fat and greasy?"

The Ignis people in the mountains were quite puzzled; they didn't know what had happened outside.

But as those bolder individuals explored further, they eventually learned about the changes in the outside world.

It turns out that all those mages had run away, along with the New Dawn. Heaven knows where these royals went. Vast pastures were abandoned, and even the city of Ignis was now empty.

"Doesn't this mean we can go home?"

The Ignis people in the mountains suddenly had a different idea.

However, they only had some ideas; their minds weren't broken. Even the most foolish among them knew very well that this orchard in the mountains, which could produce a large amount of fruits and vegetables in just ten days and nights, was something far rarer than the city of Ignis itself.

Moreover, those mages have only run away; it's not like they won't come back. If they were to actually return to Ignis City and settle down, it would probably be quite dangerous.

But not returning to the city doesn't mean there are no other gains. At least the pastures outside the holy mountain, or rather, the remaining weak livestock on those pastures, are now theirs.

If we just lead these livestock into the mountains, who would dare to go into the sacred mountain to ask for them back?
Even the rising sun probably wouldn't have the guts, let alone those mages.

But what these Ignis people didn't expect was that there were actually people who had the guts to do it.

"Giant, giant, giant, giant... giant!"

Upon seeing those enormous humanoid figures, each as tall as two Ignis, and wielding clubs and spears, the Ignis who were herding their livestock on the edge of the sacred mountain were so frightened that they fell to the ground.

(End of this chapter)