Zeus's grace is higher than the sky

Unfortunately, gods cannot descend to earth in the form of heroic spirits except under special circumstances, so the responsibility of guiding newborn humans fell to Chiron.

Prometheus's Testimony

Level: EX

Description: With a sincere love for humanity, Prometheus hopes to guide them onto the right path, but due to the constraints of the rules, he can only place this hope in you. Do not disappoint his expectations.

Effect: Significantly enhances the transmission effectiveness of knowledge (with further enhancements for specific individuals).

It's a simple effect, but its use is incredibly exaggerated. Faced with the ignorant humans created by Cephalo, Chiron taught them to speak, read, and write in just a few hours, and they mastered most of the common Greek words.

As knowledge spread, a settlement led by Chiron formed in the area where he lived. The people in the settlement worshipped not only the great creator Cephalus, but also Chiron, the centaur who imparted knowledge to them.

Zandal smiled knowingly as he watched Chiron's actions from backstage.

"A very wise decision. Compared to overwhelming force, a wise strategist is more beneficial for early development. Accumulating strength as early as possible will prevent us from being caught off guard at crucial moments."

The formation of settlements led to a clear division of labor in activities such as hunting, farming, and weaving, which greatly improved people's work efficiency and living comfort.

More and more people came to visit, and the settlement gradually expanded, eventually taking the form of an early city-state.

......

Another year passed, and Meneta completed her Omphalusian journey. She recorded all kinds of romance and love on earth, spun them into golden threads, and presented them to Cersis and Zeus, expressing her feelings once again.

With Zeus's company and guidance, Cersis and Zeus accepted Meneta's proposal, and the three became eternal partners.

The golden threads collected by Meneta were remade into a cocoon by Zeus and wrapped around Meneta once more. When she hatched, Meneta would no longer be regarded as a creation of Cerseis but would become a completely independent individual.

"Welcome back, Meneta."

......

As time continued to flow, human settlements gradually began to form around the majestic sacred tree.

A very small number of adventurous warriors were able to bring valuable knowledge to the settlement from the sacred tree.

Having received the knowledge bestowed upon them by the three, the surrounding settlements naturally became their followers.

A man named Celesus, seeking spiritual meaning in his faith, followed Meneta's example upon reaching adulthood and left his homeland to embark on a journey around Onphalus.

Following in the footsteps of Meneta, Celesus witnessed the wondrous sights of the world of Onphalus, an extraordinary experience that prompted Celesus to reflect on the world and himself.

Finally, at the end of his journey, Celestus came to the Tree of Life to meet Thersis, who symbolized wisdom and reason. With the secret help of the three, Celestus completed his methodology for understanding the world.

Following the guidance of the three, Celestus built a garden and courtyard before the sacred tree, naming it the "Garden of the Tree of Enlightenment" so that future generations could awaken their minds, seek knowledge, and attain enlightenment. Celestus is thus known as the "First Scholar."

During this period, due to the emergence of Chiron, the human population gathered under Kephall developed far beyond all other settlements of the same period. The huge population made the social organization of the settlements unbearable, and some far-sighted people keenly realized that it was time to make changes and move to the next stage.

The holy city of Ohma was born from this. At the moment of its completion, Kephale bestowed upon it a new thing—the calendar. The day Ohma was completed was established as the year that this calendar began to be used, which was later known as the first year of the Light Calendar, and also the beginning of the ideal era later known as the Golden Age.

Chapter 249 Heavy Metals

The era that followed was considered by later generations to be the most perfect era. All things grew, civilization expanded, there was neither illness nor disaster in the world, stones did not wear down, and people had endless lifespans.

As Ohmar rose from the ground, city-states followed in its wake, with people of different faiths establishing different city-states.

When the magnificent city of Ohmma was officially completed, the people from the original settlement moved to live in the city.

In order to better manage its expanding population and sprawling city, Ohmma urgently needs a more robust system to replace the extensive management practices of its settlement-era days.

Parliamentary systems emerged on the political stage of Ohmma, and under Chiron's leadership, the first Ohmma parliamentary elections were held in Kefal Square.

"I solemnly swear that, under the watchful eye of Ohmma, this parliamentary election will be conducted in accordance with the principles of fairness, impartiality, and openness."

Naturally, Chiron, who had been teaching humanity since the time of the settlement, was elected as the speaker of the first council with an overwhelming majority of votes. The remaining seats were occupied by those who had performed well before, some of whom were brave and resolute, and others of unparalleled wisdom, but they all shared a common identity—disciples of the sage Chiron.

With the establishment of the most important council, everything in Ohma was on track, and the largest city-state in Onphalus entered a period of rapid development.

Other city-states, with slight modifications, also established their own systems, and followed in Ohm's footsteps into a period of rapid development.

With the unprecedented prosperity of human civilization throughout the world of Onphalus, trade between different city-states became more and more frequent. Initially, trade was conducted through barter, but over time, drawbacks such as difficulty in measurement and invariability in portability became apparent, and people eagerly sought new solutions.

Naturally, the followers gathered in the courtyard of the sacred tree also encountered the same problem. Different wise men put forward different solutions, and after three days and three nights of discussion, the meeting, chaired by the first sage Celestus, finally settled on a solution.

On the fourth day, Celestus, as a representative, entered the depths of the courtyard and personally met the sacred tree.

"Celesus, the sower of reason and wisdom, the sharer of love and romance, the enlightener of knowledge and desire, the three great gods, your most faithful follower, pays homage."

The branches of the sacred tree swayed gently, and the vegetation before Celestus grew rapidly, revealing an altar brimming with natural beauty. Golden threads coiled around the parchment scroll in Celestus's hand, drawing it to the altar. A bolt of lightning struck the parchment scroll in the center of the altar, but miraculously, it was not destroyed; instead, it shone brightly in the flash of the lightning.

When the parchment was returned to Celestus, three marks appeared at the end: a tree, a butterfly, and a lightning bolt. Celestus knew that this meant the three great gods had approved of the plan they had discussed.

Cyrus looked delighted and left Zeus's residence with the scroll in his hand.

"Using a general equivalent to measure value means that transactions are no longer conducted through direct barter but by first obtaining a general equivalent and then using that general equivalent to make purchases. This solves both the problem of carrying goods inconveniently and the problem of the difficulty in measuring the value of goods. It is truly a brilliant idea."

Meneta exclaimed.

But Zeus and Cersei shook their heads.

"Isn't it good? Then why did you agree to it just now?"

As Serhis slid his fingertips, a series of mineral locations and their various properties appeared before the three of them, their quantity and variety too numerous to be counted.

"These are all kinds of minerals from the entire Onpharos. About 10% of the minerals and metals conform to the proposal submitted by Celesus. Although it is only 10%, there are still many different kinds, making it difficult to unify them."

"Then all we need to do is have a meeting and reach a consensus."

Zeus gently stroked Meneta's cheek.

"It's not that simple. These metal ores are not evenly distributed in Onpharos, but there are tacit spheres of influence among the city-states. Each city-state would certainly prefer to trade with metals that are close to it and are abundant and easy to mine."

"Moreover, the total amount of metals hardly changes, but under the guidance of the gods, human development is changing rapidly. In just a few years, the value of a piece of metal may change dramatically."

"If today one unit of metal can be exchanged for one unit of grain, and a year later, due to innovations in agricultural technology, the same amount of labor can yield more grain, then one unit of metal can be exchanged for two units of grain, Meneta, what would you do?"

Meneta pondered for a moment and then gave his answer.

"If it were me, I would only trade for necessary food, and try to avoid using metal for other transactions..."

Meneta understood the problem once he got to the point—metals existed as a general equivalent to facilitate trade, but in order to avoid losses in the future, these metals had to be stored up as much as possible. So, instead of facilitating trade, a special warehouse would be needed for storage.

"Moreover, due to the changes in the system, the leaders of the former settlements in the city-state of Onphalus have evolved into nobles, who have more resources than ordinary people."

When something can appreciate in value simply by waiting, no one would be foolish enough to pass up such an opportunity. Nobles with more resources will certainly hoard large quantities or even form a coalition to monopolize it, so the aforementioned situation will only become more and more serious.

Meneta lowered his head in disappointment.

"Then why did you agree to it?"

“Methods are constantly being explored, Meneta. I believe you understand from your previous travels that the previous failure was for the sake of a better success later.”

After Celestus brought the proposal back, precious metals began to circulate, trade efficiency improved significantly, and all aspects of the city-states saw visible improvement. Other city-states followed suit and started using precious metals, but they only circulated them within their own territories.

Years later, when the easily minable precious metals in various city-states had been largely exhausted, the phenomenon Zeus had foreseen inevitably occurred, with Ohmma being the most severely affected.

Although initially the balance could be barely maintained by increasing mining volume and diversifying the types of mining, as the mining volume increased, the cost of mining gradually rose, to the point that the mined metal could not even cover the wages of the mining workers.

"It's time for further changes."

Not long after, Celesus requested an audience again, and the question he raised was naturally about the proposed amendments to the previous proposal on the general equivalent of heavy metals.

"Come in, Celestus."

Chapter 250 The World of Conflict Begins

“Three great gods, your followers have encountered difficulties. We earnestly request your grace to help us overcome these difficulties.”

Celestus's voice trembled, and his face was filled with shame.

Normally, he would have tried his best to discuss solutions with other wise men before reporting to the great Titans, but the incident was so sudden and the consequences so serious that there was no time to lose. With no other choice, Celestus could only seek help from the Titans who had guided him and the others.

Zeus's thunderbolt struck Cyrus's head, and in the blink of an eye, Cyrus received Zeus's will.

"Thank you for your grace, great Titan!"

He left in a hurry, disregarding his manners.

"My love, what solution did you give him?"

"The total amount of precious metals has reached saturation, but the city-state's production efficiency is increasing day by day. We cannot use limited precious metals to exchange for an output with no upper limit. A fixed amount can only be exchanged for fixed things."

"And without a doubt, even with continuous technological innovation and increasing production efficiency, what remains unchanged is the time spent on labor. Precious metals should not be used to exchange for fixed labor output, but should correspond to the length of labor."

“And what corresponds to the ever-increasing output should also be something that can be produced indefinitely.” Zeus produced a banknote he had made himself.

"Is that so?"

Cersei looked at the banknotes in Zeus's hand.

This cloth-like object, bearing the marks of the three individuals, can be printed as many times as they desire, with virtually no upper limit.

......

Zandal looked at everything in Onpharos.

"Interesting, very interesting! They want to skip the gold standard and go straight to fiat currency in just one year!"

To ensure realism as much as possible, Zandal also hoped to realize the function of currency through the self-adjustment of internal parameters in the early simulations. However, such natural generation not only requires a lot of time but also consumes a lot of resources, and the adjustment of related parameters is also lagging.

Later, this idea was abandoned, and instead, the variable "Law" was used to intervene and force the creation of a permanent currency that could be automatically generated according to the system's needs, and the relevant detailed simulations were removed.

Zandal watched with great interest all of Zeus's actions in Onphalus.

"Your current power parameters don't even exceed the demigod level I set, and your technical parameters haven't surpassed the limit either. How are you going to accomplish this? This truly intrigues me. Let me experience the wonders of 'civilization'!"

Because of Chiron's appearance, the emergence of settlements and city-states was accelerated by several hundred years, and Zandal was very curious about what surprises Zeus could bring him next.

Zandal shut down the monetary system that used "law" to shirk responsibility in the background and restarted a more refined simulation of the monetary system.

......

Looking at the banknotes in his hand, Zeus couldn't help but sigh that although Onphalus was the chosen place that could give birth to super messengers, it was far inferior to other planets in the universe in terms of the use of artifacts.

"After all, it's a simulated world. Apart from the pre-programmed powers, the functions of any artifacts cannot be used."

In the outside world, there's no need for such trouble. Just slap the split gold coins on the table, and the gold coins will appreciate infinitely. The so-called gold standard will soon become garbage, less than toilet paper, and you will be forced into the era of fiat currency without any force.

Guided by Zeus, Cyrus summoned the people and, as Zeus had instructed, distributed notices to collect as much precious metal as possible from each household using "notes" bearing the mark of the gods. The "notes" were then issued and it was stipulated that they should be used for daily circulation in the city-state.

The issuance of the "banknotes" immediately alleviated the problem of precious metals that had been piling up for months. The "banknotes" bearing the marks of the three people were later known as "Dramarks".

By guiding the rapid updating and iteration of human civilization's technology and deliberately ignoring the teaching of metal mine development technology, precious metals were in a state of extreme shortage at the beginning of their use, thus enabling the country to almost directly skip the precious metal stage and arrive at the fiat currency stage.

"But is this really a good thing? If this happens too often, people will become echoes of Titan. What will they do when we have to leave one day?"

Zeus smiled.

"Don't worry, humans are very resilient, they will find a way out on their own."

Guided by Zeus as the principal and Chiron as the assistant, human civilization grew at an astonishingly rapid pace, and people spent thousands of years in abundance and joy.

The comfortable living conditions led to a significant increase in the population of Onphalus, which gradually caused minor frictions among the city-states. As time went on, these frictions escalated and even extended to inter-city-state relations.

At this time, the golden age, which later generations cherish and hope to return to, came to an end, and an era of strife was about to begin.

Finally, when the variable of "Conflict" was introduced, Nicardo's birth occurred during the first war of this world in Onphalus, and from then on, Onphalus entered a long and bloody era—the Age of Conflict.

Endless blood stained the river red, and countless corpses piled up on the wilderness. The conflict, appearing only for the first time, already demonstrated its terror and power.

Before the long Golden Age of Onphalus, the concept of death was still vague, and the Onphalus people, whose bodies were destroyed, could only drive their souls to wander the world.

"You're so pitiful, let me help you!"

At the other end of a deep pit, deep underground, the land had been transformed into the underworld during the Golden Age, and all the aimless wandering souls came here.

With a beautiful face, a kind heart, and an appearance identical to Ishtar, Zeus placed the second variable in Omphalus: Ereshkigal, the mistress of the underworld.

Following Zeus's guidance, Ereshkigal created the gun cage, providing refuge for souls that could not die.

The cold of the underworld dulls the senses of suffering souls, slightly reducing the pain they feel.

"Soon, very soon, the Lord of the Underworld of this world will arrive, and then you will be freed."

......

Before the war began, death had already entered this world, in Aidiria, the place where the first human to die of natural causes appeared in Onphalus.

He was a pitiful person whose body was tormented by all kinds of acquired pain. His endless lifespan prevented him from truly dying, and every day he lived was an unparalleled torment.

Senatos, acting on instinct, bestowed the blessing of death, allowing the poor souls to find peace from their torment. From then on, the Aedrians who witnessed the miracle became followers of death.

Sensing that war was about to engulf all of Onphalus, Senatos knew that she was about to fulfill her duty—to bring eternal rest to the suffering.