There can't be a Harvest Moon in the RimWorld.

Of course, I'm not blind, and I can definitely see that this guy has some extraordinary qualities, but is that the problem?

So what if she's a goddess? Does that mean goddesses can't get up? I've faced off against a whole host of indescribable beings!

We've brushed shoulders with the "Final Catastrophe," outwitted the "Thousand-Faced God," clashed with the "Deepsea Cataclysm," confronted the "Eye of Death," and chatted casually with the "Lord of Light." Compared to these beings, this water elemental is at best a discarded product from a rural appliance subsidy program, utterly insignificant.

Do you see how proud I am?

If the water element is truly unique now, it's only in its appearance, which has the power to influence people's senses through its values.

"Barren land, do you really think that the status of this goddess is anything special in front of me?"

I looked at it with a scrutinizing gaze, and after a long while, I spoke in a helpless tone.

My words startled the water elemental, which slowly submerged half of its body in the spring, bubbling in frustration and mumbling incoherently.

"Alright... a human like you who can obtain primordial power certainly wouldn't take a post-apocalyptic god like me seriously..."

This tone sounds so pitiful, like a poor person who has saved for years to finally afford a concert ticket, only to find that they can never afford a decent suit to wear to the concert.

"Hey, don't be too discouraged. Even though what I've met are beings that transcend time and space, you're still amazing," I comforted you.

The water elemental, who had been hiding in the spring questioning its existence, raised its head and asked pitifully, "Really? I feel like you're pitying me..."

"No, that's not true. Let me ask you, how old are you this year?"

“This question is very offensive to a lady… around 1200 years old, I suppose…” the water elemental replied.

I clapped my hands and said, "That's right! Look at you, you've lived through more than a thousand years of history all by yourself, while ordinary humans live for less than a hundred years. Isn't that amazing?"

The water element pondered for a moment: "It seems so... but... something just doesn't feel right..."

Nonsense, I'm comparing you to ordinary people. If you can still be complacent, then I can only praise you for having a good attitude.

However, there's no need for it to discover the problem right now, so I spoke up on my own initiative.

"Don't think about that. I'm more curious about how you've survived these past 1,200 years."

It has been 1200 years since then...

If the history I've encountered these past two days hasn't been fabricated, then it should refer to that era when the divine spirit once walked on land, which was submerged and buried by the burning and burying of the Holy Spirit Church.

Among all the available historical manuscripts, there is a wealth of information about religious orders, but no name of any ancient deity has been recorded—perhaps this time, we can obtain these invaluable messages from its mouth.

[Marcus's Chatting Tip: To start a conversation naturally, learn to subtly steer the topic towards areas familiar or interesting to the person you're talking to.]

Upon hearing what it knew, the water element indeed forgot its earlier doubts and burst forth with the joy of being a teacher.

After I finished recounting all the knowledge I had acquired in the age of gods and raised my inner doubts, the water elemental gave me an incredulous look.

"What! Have people completely forgotten me?!"

Its delicate face unconsciously adopted the expression of an abandoned little animal, and it sullenly sank into the water, blowing bubbles.

"Don't be angry. With such a short lifespan, how could ordinary humans possibly remember someone like you who sleeps for hundreds of years? Let alone remember you, nobody even remembers the names of the gods anymore."

"name?"

The water element asked in bewilderment, "How can something that never existed be remembered?"

This time, I was terrified.

"No name!?"

If it doesn't refer to some martial arts legend who plays the erhu at full health and sweeps the entire map at low health, then good heavens, doesn't it mean that the Holy Spirit Church erased their names, or that such a thing never existed in the first place?

The water element naturally emerged from the water and replied, "Since the day the Nameless Lord descended from the Chaos into the Abyss, all the gods that have been inspired and conceived have had no name."

My curiosity about historical research was piqued, so I quickly asked it to tell me more about the gods.

Countless historians have ventured into the vast forests to search for traces of the original religious groups, precisely because there is so little existing information.

All that remains of these mysterious religious zealots are oral traditions of poetry and rituals, while the few traces of their activities in the jungle have been eroded and covered by the primeval forest at an extremely rapid pace.

So much so that when the expedition arrived, they could only find scattered settlements in the dense forest, with barely clothed primitive people struggling against nature, as if the powerful and prosperous cultural creators of a thousand years ago were just a bunch of lush weeds that grew while the forces of nature were dozing off.

When it comes to these historical mysteries and stories, who knows more about them than the water element before me?

"Since you've asked so sincerely..."

"Then please have mercy and tell me, okay? Hurry up and tell me, I'm in a hurry to go down the mountain and finish my meal." I interrupted its pretense of mystery.

"Hey, hey, don't go! I was just about to start talking!"

…………

These deities are not native to this world.

I guessed that too. Otherwise, how can we explain that during the thousands of years of fierce competition between land and sea, no god appeared?

The change began at a certain point.

According to the water elementalist, the world was initially a state of chaos, with towering ancient trees standing between heaven and earth, and herds of animals moving among them. The world was shrouded in a primordial mist, the very era in which the gods first appeared.

"Yuanhai" is their name for the endless sea of ​​trees and dense forests in the center of the continent.

These towering trees have existed since the time when the planet was teeming with giant insects. Over countless years of growth, they have expanded into countless vast domains, and all disturbances by life are like ants trying to shake a tree.

Humans cannot shake this primeval forest, so they can only retreat to the coast and islands, competing for the meager amount of arable land.

Until one day, a flame descended from who knows where. This flame illuminated the world, and finally crashed heavily into the center of the forest, embedding itself in the largest tree. From then on, the Abyss had both countless trees and only one tree—because of its extensive root system, only one tree constituted the vast Abyss.

"The Nameless Lord awoke, surveying this world he had never seen before. Flames blazed from his body, yet not a single branch was burned or a single leaf scorched."

"That was no ordinary flame, but the primordial substance that could give soul to all things. Flame represents dedication, ascension, elevation, and purification. The primordial fire burned away the rampant unclean spirits and brought hope to the ignorant earth."

All things were burned away by the First Fire, gaining wisdom and soul, and the world began to flourish.

The first to receive a cleansed soul were creatures that had lived in the Abyss for countless ages. They were inspired by the flames, shed their original forms, and gathered around the Nameless Lord.

The Nameless Lord was as tall as the tallest tree, and his breath was comparable to the fiercest storm. But he had no form, no sound, no breath, and was as empty as a shell, yet his body contained the purest primordial fire.

Imitating the hazy image of the Nameless Lord, the first beings to obtain a cleansed soul absorbed the powerful primordial fire at the Nameless Lord's feet, forming the first beings known as "gods".

A mysterious wisdom was born, yearning for the purity of ashes, the fierce burning, and the great light. Thus, it broke out of the abyss and began to spread in all directions, attracting countless humans who pursued hope.

This is why primitive religious groups, worshipping different gods, maintained a remarkable unity. They helped and supported each other, communicating and assisting one another, and jointly explored this wild continent.

Humans are responsible for labor during the day, while the gods are responsible for protection at night. Humans are responsible for clearing away obstacles, while the gods are responsible for imprisoning evil. Humans are responsible for praising the light, while the gods are responsible for bringing hope.

Under this delicate peace, the wild continent finally began to be cultivated in all directions, gradually becoming suitable for human habitation. It was a golden age when humans and giant beasts coexisted, and gods and nature lived side by side.

The second and third batches of deities also emerged from the abyss, bringing revelations from the nameless lord, guiding the development of rich human civilization, and creating a unique and unprecedentedly brilliant culture.

Subsequently, the most outstanding among humanity were also blessed by the primordial fire, gaining unimaginable power. These people were the demigods, heroes, and great figures in epic legends.

But another unexpected event occurred.

The nameless lord, who coexisted with the giant tree of the abyss, leaned against the giant tree he had encountered upon his descent one day, closed his eyes, and slowly collapsed.

The panicked gods rushed in from all directions, only to discover for the first time that even a god as powerful as a mountain has its limits. The primordial fire within its body had been completely dissipated and could no longer sustain its flame, just like firewood turned to ashes, never to be revived.

The panicked gods began to blame and quarrel with each other, splitting into several different camps and waging endless battles in the Abyss. However, the humans, who regarded the Abyss Forest as their sacred land, were unaware of all this. They continued to vigorously develop their land, waiting for the symbiotic gods to return and share an endless feast.

But many of them will never see their familiar gods again.

The breaking of totem poles and the disintegration of humanity are only part of the problem; the bigger problem lies underground.

The Dark Ages have begun. The filth, burned and destroyed, rises anew from the earth, seeking to corrupt the very foundations of the deep sea and dense forests. The sacred land that gave birth to the gods is about to become an unspeakable, twisted hell. Humans, after death, cannot be reborn in the primordial fire; instead, they fall into darkness, cursed and crawling on the earth, yearning for flesh and blood.

"The evil fears the primordial fire."

The gods agreed, and thus abandoned their dispute, using the primordial fire within them to suppress the resurgence of evil. Heroes among humanity also stepped forward, fighting shoulder to shoulder with the gods.

But it was too late.

Only the primordial fire as fierce as that of the Nameless Lord could suppress the evil across the entire continent.

The silent and nameless Lord, perhaps having foreseen his own demise, bestowed the primordial fire upon the gods around him. But this Lord, ignorant of human nature, failed to realize that his own demise was the very source of his destruction.

Because the primordial fire of the gods who perished in the battles and slaughters had dissipated into the air, even if the remaining surviving gods joined forces, they were not able to completely resist the invasion of evil.

The arrival of the Dark Ages seemed inevitable, and the gods once again diverged, displaying different attitudes.

The first deity to come into contact with the primordial fire chose to remain beside the nameless lord's burned remains, studying the method of creating the primordial fire.

The gods who established a powerful cult placed their hopes on humanity, whose potential was limitless, and together with the original cult, they remained on the newly developed land, jointly confronting the ever-breaking evil forces.

The remaining weak gods, lacking both long-term experience in studying the soul fire and the united support of humanity, could not bear to see humankind sink into darkness. So they chose to flee overseas, hiding in corners far from the battlefield of the Abyss Sea, passively resisting through slumber, awaiting the complete arrival of the Dark Ages...

…………

What happened next was unknown to the water element, a prime example of a coward. It had long since retreated to this desolate lake overseas, adopting a strategy of "cowardice creating its own territory," but it may very well become the biggest winner.

Judging from the righteous atmosphere today, sweeping away all the demons and monsters, it's clear that none of the gods left on the mainland survived.

Those who remained in the Abyss Forest certainly failed to fully comprehend the mysteries of the Primordial Fire, and ultimately vanished completely as the flames died out; those who led humanity in its arduous struggle were no match for the wandering evil spirits, and in their haste, they led the Primordial Order to retreat into the Abyss Forest for refuge, disappearing completely from the annals of history.

Not to mention those gods infected by the evil from the underworld, who have fallen into madness and delirium, they should be the twisted beings Father Carter mentioned...

"It's good to be alive."

I spoke sincerely to the water element, and it also wore a smile of relief, as if it had survived a disaster.

"It's so good to be alive... I never thought I'd survive, and even find different forms of primordial power here..."

The water elemental stretched out its slender hands, gently took my left hand, closed its eyes, and murmured, "I can feel the burgeoning, pure primordial power within... no, it should be called primordial light..."

It suddenly gripped my hand, eliciting a blinding light in the dark mountain valley.

The last afterimage on my retina was of a burst of silvery-white flame suddenly leaping up from the water element's body, burning fiercely at my heart, and instantly connecting to my fingers...

"Don't move... I might be able to guide it out..."

Before I could even react, I felt like my 24K titanium alloy eyes were being blinded again!

"Let go! I won't become light! I won't link the fire! Let go of me!"

Chapter 573 Praising... Praising the Sun?

The warm sea breeze caressed my skin, and the last rays of the setting sun lingered listlessly on the horizon, about to retreat into the depths of the sea and disappear completely beyond the mountains and the sea.

Just as the sun was setting, I pushed open the tavern door with a heavy heart.

"Marcus, why are you so late today?"

Boss Dart still stood behind the bar, like an NPC who appeared at fixed times and locations. Even though he only moved around the tavern and his busy positions were limited to the bar and kitchen, he never got tired of it.