Deities: Rulers of Nature

Qingdao and Qinglv woke up from their dreams almost simultaneously.

The knowledge in their minds was crystal clear, as if they were born with it, and they remembered exactly how each divine spell worked.

Greenie threw off the animal skin blanket, flicked its tail, and rushed out of the room.

As soon as I arrived at the door, I saw my father standing in front of the stone table, staring blankly at the things on it.

On the stone table, a hundred lustrous, jade-colored grains of rice lay quietly, their surfaces glowing with a warm luster under the cool light of the water moonstone, as if they were carved from the finest jade.

"Father, that wasn't a dream!" Qinglu's voice trembled uncontrollably.

Qingdao didn't turn around. He reached out and gently touched one of the grains of Yutong rice.

The warm, smooth touch came from my fingertips, so real it couldn't be more real.

Two lines of tears slid down Qingdao's cheeks and dripped onto the stone table. This was the first time he had shed tears in front of others in all the years he had been the clan leader.

"Praise be to God of Nature! Thanks be to God of Nature for your mercy, we are saved!"

Seido turned around, facing the direction of the summit of Shioyama, clenched his right fist and pressed it against his heart, then bent down deeply.

This is the etiquette contained in the oracle, the most sincere respect for their Creator.

Qinglu followed her father's example and bowed respectfully.

The cold wind was still howling outside the window, but inside the house it was so quiet you could hear each other's heartbeats.

Seido straightened up, and his entire demeanor changed.

The heaviness, oppression, and bitterness that had been weighing on him vanished, and a bright light rekindled in his eyes.

"Green, go and wake up all the tribespeople."

Qinglu nodded vigorously. He hadn't seen his father smile so easily since he became the clan leader.

He first summoned the golden-ringed snake people who were guarding the settlement, told them that he had something important to announce, and then together they woke up all the snake people in the settlement.

"Mommy, why did the clan chief wake us up?" Little Red rubbed his sleepy eyes, tugging at his mother's hand, his little tail leaving a thin trail in the snow. His face was red from the cold, and his nose was twitching.

"Mother doesn't know either, but the chieftain must have something important to do." Crimson Mother wrapped the animal skin cloak around her son and said softly.

"It's Brother Qinglv!" Little Red's eyes lit up instantly as he pointed at Qinglv not far away. "When I grow up, I want to be as amazing as Brother Qinglv! I want to hunt lots and lots of meat for my mother and the tribe."

The Snake-People of Xishan reach adulthood at fourteen, and Qinglu is the first person in the entire settlement in over five hundred years to have condensed a transcendent seed at the age of fifteen. This caused a great sensation at the time, not to mention that today he led a team to hunt long-tailed argali sheep, which made all the children regard him as an idol.

Before long, all the tribespeople gathered in the open space in the center of the settlement.

Everyone was wrapped in thick animal hides, their necks hunched, and their breath quickly dissipated into the air.

Everyone was filled with doubt, but no one complained. They all knew that the clan leader wouldn't wake them up at a time like this for no reason.

"Everyone, please be quiet. I have something important to announce." Seido stood at the front, his voice not loud, but carrying an unprecedented excitement that clearly reached everyone's ears.

He didn't continue speaking, but closed his eyes and, following the method in his mind, mobilized the spiritual power within his body. A soft white light slowly gathered in his palm, growing brighter and brighter until it finally became a ball of light the size of a fist.

The sphere of light emitted a warm, non-glaring glow, instantly illuminating an area of ​​several meters around it.

Thanks to Ji Xuan's gift, Qing Dao and Qing Lü are now able to mobilize their spiritual power and perform divine arts through the extraordinary seed.

[Light Spell: Level 1 General Divine Spell. Consumes the caster's own mental energy to guide and condense pure light elements from the sun, creating a stable, soft light source. The light source can levitate around the caster or attach to the surface of any object, illuminating a ten-meter radius. It can also simulate a light source by consuming mental energy, but this will significantly increase the energy consumption.]

The originally dark open space suddenly became bright.

Although the orbs of light created by the Light spell did not have any additional effects, they still shocked the snake people.

The open space quickly descended into chaos.

"What is this?"

"Why is the chieftain's hand glowing?"

"I heard my grandfather say that he was fortunate enough to witness a Bronze-rank beast breathing fire when he was young. Has the clan leader advanced to the Bronze rank?"

As soon as he said that, everyone fell silent.

Hundreds of eyes were fixed on Qingdao, filled with burning anticipation. If their chieftain had truly reached the Bronze rank, then their Serpent Clan would no longer have to worry about winter.

"I didn't advance to Bronze." Qingdao smiled and placed the ball of light against the stone pillar beside him. The pillar immediately emitted a bright light, illuminating everyone's faces clearly. "But what I'm about to say is more important than my advancement to Bronze."

Qingdao paused, his voice becoming incredibly solemn: "Just now, Qinglu and I received the blessing of the great God of Nature. Our Lord, in His mercy on our suffering, bestowed upon us the hope to live on."

The tribesmen looked at each other, their faces filled with confusion.

They had all heard the legend of the guardian deity atop Xishan Mountain, but no one had ever truly taken it to heart. Elders had previously recounted that the god of Xishan had manifested himself many times, saving the entire settlement.

But no one had ever seen it with their own eyes, and with everyone already struggling to survive each day, they had no extra energy to ponder these unrealistic things.

Qinglu stepped forward, opened his palm, and five grains of Yutong rice lay in his palm, gleaming with a warm luster under the white light.

【Yutong Rice】

[Rank: Iron]

[Spirituality: Nourishment]

[Appearance: The plant grows to about two meters tall, with light green leaves that have a faint silvery-white sheen at the edges. When mature, it produces plump, jade-green rice ears, with grains that are translucent and lustrous like carved jade.]

[Growth Characteristics: Extremely cold-hardy, it can grow normally in environments as cold as -30 degrees Celsius. During its growth, it actively absorbs surrounding snow and ice, converting it into nutrients it needs, requiring no additional watering.]

[Yield: Each plant typically produces only one spike, with each spike yielding 100-120 grains of corn rice.]

[Information: This is an annual herbaceous spiritual plant imbued with nourishing spiritual energy. It has a four-month growth cycle and requires at least one month of growth in a low-temperature environment. It contains mild yet abundant energy; 10 capsules daily are sufficient to meet the energy needs of mortal beings for their daily activities. Long-term consumption can slowly improve physical constitution and increase slight resistance to cold. It also has a good nourishing effect on black iron-level beings.]

"This is Yutong rice, a food bestowed upon us by our Lord, and our hope for survival." The clear, green introduction reached the ears of every tribesman.

What Qinglv refers to is not just a new type of food, but also a completely new way of obtaining food—farming.

From now on, the snake people will no longer have to rely solely on hunting and fishing; they can grow their own food.

The snake people looked at the tiny grain of rice with curiosity, seemingly never expecting such a small thing to be so miraculous.

Although I was curious, I didn't feel much joy.

Someone muttered under their breath, "Even if it's the best, it'll still take several months to ripen, but we're almost out of food right now."

This is the thinking of the snake people: distant water cannot quench immediate thirst.

They had seen the growth of plants in the mountains before, but even the most common ones took dozens of days to grow, let alone the trees.

Even if we plant them now, the earliest we can expect the Yutong rice to mature is next year.