Deities: Rulers of Nature

Seeing the area shrouded in the rain of wisdom ripple with time distortion, Ji Xuan did not hesitate to pour in the last bit of divine power he had left.

A pale golden halo then spread out, over the rocky beach, over the bushes, and all the way to Mirror Lake and the forest.

The flow of time in the entire area was suddenly accelerated to the extreme.

The scene before Ji Xuan's eyes began to change rapidly. The withering and flourishing of plants happened in the blink of an eye. Fallen leaves piled up into rotten soil, and new buds broke through the soil and grew into tall trees.

The snakes, which had been crawling slowly, turned into blurry afterimages as their bodies underwent a miraculous transformation.

Its originally slender body began to lengthen and thicken, and its scales became layered, making it both soft and tough.

Their spines arch upwards, supporting their upper bodies. The outline of their skulls gradually resembles that of humans, their snouts shorten, and their brain capacity increases accordingly.

For the first time, the pure bestiality faded from his previously murky vertical pupils, replaced by a clear light.

Two arms covered in fine scales grew from the sides of the body, the bones were remodeled, the fingers were distinct, and sharp claws that could be extended and retracted from the fingertips.

The thoracic and abdominal structures underwent fundamental changes, evolving into skeletons more suited to upright movement and internal organs better suited for digesting omnivorous foods.

Only the lower half of the snake's tail remained intact, swinging flexibly on the ground and supporting the weight of its entire body more stably than human legs.

In just a few breaths, the ordinary snakes that had been crawling transformed into upright figures. They averaged about 1.6 meters in height, with thick tails about two meters long trailing behind them, their scales shimmering with different colors in the sunlight.

They communicated with a few simple syllables. Several strong male snake-men worked together to move a boulder as tall as a person and found a nest of plump gray rabbits hidden underneath. Sharp claws shot out from their fingertips, tearing open the prey's fur and sharing the fresh, warm meat with their companions and cubs.

Gradually, more and more snake people gathered together.

They chose a sunny slope backed by Xishan Mountain and facing Mirror Lake, and built simple huts with stones and branches, thus forming a small settlement. This place was both far from the dangers of the mountains and forests and convenient for fishing in Mirror Lake.

Ji Xuan watched calmly. For Him, it was only a few minutes, but for the area shrouded in accelerated time, more than five hundred years had passed.

The first generation of snake people grew old over the years and were eventually buried on the hillside behind the settlement.

The second generation, the third generation... generation after generation of snake people were born and grew up. They worked at sunrise and rested at sunset. The males went out to hunt and fish, the females picked edible wild fruits, and the older and injured stayed in the settlement to take care of the cubs and repair their huts.

Without tools, they can only hunt with their claws, risking injury or even death every time they go out hunting.

Without a source of fire, they could only eat raw food, and many snake people contracted diseases as a result.

Food was never enough; there were far too many creatures in the Qingling Mountains that were stronger than them.

Thick-skinned brown bears would steal the wild fruits, berries, and nuts they gathered, brown rock tigers would attack them, and the Aomori wolf pack nearly wiped out their settlement.

When luck is against them, the entire settlement goes hungry, and they often become prey for powerful predators. Without sufficient nutrition, their bodies develop slowly.

Without extraordinary methods, the vast majority of snake people will remain at the mortal level for their entire lives, never even reaching the threshold of the black iron level.

Even so, they still stubbornly survive in the perilous Qingling Mountains.

[The intelligent race has completed its transformation; the Xishan Serpent People]

The golden light that had enveloped the rocky beach slowly dissipated, and the flow of time returned to normal.

Ji Xuan's consciousness sharpened slightly, and his gaze fell on the settlement at the foot of the mountain.

Over five hundred years, this place has undergone great changes. The original simple shacks have been transformed into wooden houses, and a fence made of sturdy logs has been built around them to protect the settlement. Several young snake people chase and play in the settlement.

Adult snake hunters sometimes carry wooden baskets into the mountains to pick snakes, sometimes use sharpened sticks to fish in Mirror Lake, and sometimes form small teams to go hunting.

Using the All-Seeing Eye, detailed information about the Xishan Serpent Clan was presented before my eyes:

[Race: Xishan Serpent People]

Category: Scaled People

[Level: Medium Race]

Rank: Mortal

[Potential: Bronze (Levels 1-30)]

[Talents: Plant Affinity/Perception/Snake Venom]

Reproduction method: Oviparous, one litter per year, with 1-2 eggs per litter

[Lifespan of the species: 60-75 years]

Number of races: 236

Bloodline Purity: 34/100

[Bloodline Purification: The clan consumes Blood Orchid, Crystal Dew Fruit, and Jade Rice year-round, ensuring a sufficient daily meat intake to replenish nutrients, and undergoes extraordinary training.]

[Information: The Xishan Serpents are an intelligent race that evolved from the inspiration of the Rain of Wisdom. They are divided into three branches: Azure Scales, Golden Rings, and Crimson Chains. They can adapt to various environments such as forests, gravel beaches, rivers, and oceans. They have decorative snake scales on their cheeks and bodies, and their arms and tails are covered with snake scales, which can protect them from the bites of mortal beasts.]

Ji Xuan couldn't help but feel a surge of joy.

Although they are not plant spirits like tree spirits or flower spirits, the potential of the Xishan snake people is much better than He had anticipated.

As a mid-level race with a bronze upper limit, they have already far surpassed the initial kin of most newly born demigods.

Ji Xuan could clearly sense the differences between the three branches. Most of the snake people were connected to His origin and were snake people evolved from the Azure Scale Snake.

The scales of the Jade Scale Serpent are a warm, bluish-green color. Its members have a chance to awaken a natural affinity for plants at birth, allowing them to distinguish which plants are edible and which are poisonous.

The Golden-Ringed Serpent People are fewer in number. They have rings of golden scales on their bodies and have a chance to awaken a talent called Perception, which allows them to sense the body temperature and scent of all creatures within a 30-meter radius. They are natural sentinels and trackers. The sentry duties in the settlement are almost entirely undertaken by the Golden-Ringed Serpent People.

The Red-Chained Serpent People are the fewest in number. Their scales are a vibrant mix of red and black. They have a chance to awaken a talent for snake venom. Their claws can secrete paralyzing snake venom. Once scratched, their prey will become stiff and helpless.

Ji Xuan knew that the Light of Wisdom was initially attracted by the Azure Scale Serpent.

However, when it later transformed into a rain of wisdom, it also enveloped some of the nearby golden-ringed snakes and red-banded snakes.

In a way, it can be considered that when one person attains enlightenment, even their chickens and dogs benefit from it.

The potential ceiling of Bronze means that as long as there is a suitable extraordinary method and sufficient nutrition, more than 50% of the entire race can successfully break through to the Bronze rank.

What surprised Ji Xuan the most were the last few lines of information.

Information regarding bloodline purity and purification was relayed to Ji Xuan by the All-Knowing Eye.

Other deities do not possess these two pieces of racial information; to ascertain the purity of a clan's bloodline, they must rely on various methods of testing. To further purify a clan's bloodline, they must endure a long process of exploration and trial and error.

They need to spend decades or even centuries studying the diet, habits, and supernatural methods of their clansmen before they can come up with a feasible purification plan.

However, Ji Xuan, who possesses the all-seeing eye, skipped all the tedious steps and could see the correct answer at a glance simply by spending faith.

This is a tremendous advantage that no other deity can match.