I am the sacred tree, evergreen for eternity.

Another year of grand festivals has arrived.

It was more grand than ever before.

Before dawn, the Xia clan members began to get busy.

The women polished the earthenware jars until they shone, then filled them with fruit wine made from the year's newly harvested millet and wild berries.

The men spread out the animal hides they had hunted, one by one, to dry in the sun, selecting the most intact and softest ones to offer to the tree god.

The children were washed clean from head to toe, dressed in new clothes made of animal hides and linen, and ran around the altar chattering away.

When the sun climbs to the zenith of the sky, illuminating the entire valley as bright as day.

Thousands of Xia clan members had gathered at Yu Su's feet, kneeling in a dense, dark mass, like a wheat field flattened by the wind.

The altar has been expanded.

The platform is made of three layers of bluestone, with twelve stone pillars on both sides, and the pillars are engraved with the characters that Xia has learned over the years.

At the top of the altar, the leaf with the character "summer" carved on it is placed on the stone platform in the very center.

The area next to it was piled high with the fattest game of the year—ordinary deer, wild boar, and elk, forming small mountains.

There are also ferocious beasts that the totem walkers risk their lives to hunt: pangolins covered in black scales, rhinoceroses with a single horn that can unleash lightning, and giant eagles with wingspans of several meters.

The corpse of each ferocious beast is a testament to the growth of the Xia clan.

Hong's hair was completely white, but his posture was still upright like a pine tree, with a straight back and broad shoulders, not at all like an old man over seventy years old.

He is the oldest totem walker of the Xia clan, and also the most powerful warrior of the Xia clan.

The peak of the Body Refinement stage of the Body Forging Technique is only one step away from breaking through the limit.

Hong glanced back at the clansmen kneeling behind him, then turned to face the towering tree that blocked out the sky, and slowly knelt down.

"By the Tree God."

Hong's voice was old yet loud, echoing through the valley.

"The Xia clan has achieved its current prosperity thanks to the protection of the tree god."

"Now, we have thousands of people, a territory to thrive in, and totem walkers who wield extraordinary power..."

"All of this is a gift from the Tree God."

Hong kowtowed deeply, his forehead striking the ground with a resounding clang.

Then, he raised his head and stared intently at the giant tree bathed in spiritual light.

The trunk of Yu Su's tree is so thick that it takes dozens of people to hug it.

The patterns on the bark resemble winding rivers, with a gentle flow of spiritual energy emanating from them, radiating a warm glow.

The tree canopy spreads far and wide, covering most of the valley in its shade.

The branches and leaves were covered with animal hides and bone ornaments offered by the tribesmen, swaying gently in the wind and making soft rustling sounds.

Hong focused his breath into his dantian, his voice resounding through the clouds, as if declaring to the entire world:

"Tree God, I have a request."

"I want the Xia clan to remember for generations that this is where the tree god took root, the starting point of our civilization, and our eternal home."

"I want to name this valley—"

"Valley of the Divine Tree"

Three words, each uttered slowly and deliberately, each word carrying weight and conviction.

Thousands of Xia clan members kowtowed in unison, their voices echoing across the surrounding area.

"Please grant permission, Tree God!"

Yu Su remained silent for a moment.

Aura emanated from the veins of the tree trunk, coalescing into a soft light above the altar.

The light slowly spread out, like a thin veil, enveloping each kneeling tribesman.

Warm, deep, with an indescribable sense of peace.

Feeling the warmth, Hong trembled all over, tears streaming down his face.

he knows--

The tree spirit acquiesced.

From that day on, the Xia clan had a true home.

The years do not live, the seasons flow.

The appearance of the Sacred Tree Valley changes every year.

Thatched huts have been transformed into sturdy houses with stone and wood structures, stone-paved roads have been widened into avenues wide enough for two oxcarts to travel side by side, and the pigs and rams in the animal pen have multiplied for generations. The millet fields have expanded from the hillside to the entire flat land on the south side.

More importantly, iron tools began to replace stone tools.

The Xia family's craftsmen discovered that the blackish-gray stones they picked up from the mountain streams could be refined into a metal a hundred times harder than the stones when burned in a fire.

They used this metal to forge the first knife, the first axe, and the first hoe.

Hong named this metal "iron".

"Iron tools are sharp and can be used to kill enemies; iron tools are sturdy and can be used for farming."

Hong stood on the altar, holding aloft an iron sword, the sunlight reflecting off the blade with a blinding gleam.

"This is yet another treasure bestowed upon us by the Tree God!"

Hong knew that this was not a gift from the tree god.

This was something Hui—the young man who invented the bow and arrow—developed through countless failures with the help of his craftsmen.

The tree spirit didn't directly tell them what iron was or how to smelt it; it simply gave them a direction and let them go their own way.

This is what makes the Tree God so great.

The tree spirit never gives alms; the tree spirit only sows seeds.

Under the protection of the Divine Tree Valley, generations of Xia people have thrived.

Those children who were born and raised at the foot of the tree god did not experience the hardships of their ancestors' wandering.

The first thing they saw when they opened their eyes was that giant tree that blocked out the sky.

The first word they learned was "summer".

The first phrase they remembered was "The tree spirit is above".

They had no fear, no inferiority complex.

Yes, it's curiosity.

It is an endless curiosity about the vast world beyond the valley.

Xuan is that kind of person.

He was tall and broad-shouldered, with a square face and a pair of eyes that always burned with fire.

He was Hong's youngest son and also the one with the highest cultivation talent among all of Hong's children. At only twenty years old, he had already entered the Body Refining stage of the Body Forging Technique.

"Father, what's outside the valley?"

This is a question Xuan has been asking since he was a child.

Hong's answer was always the same: "Dangerous."

But Xuan didn't believe it.

Or rather, he wasn't afraid.

"The tree god said that the strong prey on the weak, and there is no escaping it."

Xuan squatted beside the tree roots and used a twig to draw a topographical map of the area surrounding the Divine Tree Valley on the ground.

"Father, we are travelers of the tree spirit, we cannot spend our whole lives holed up in this valley."

"We must go out and spread the will of the tree god to the wild mountains and seas."

Hong looked into his son's eyes and remained silent for a long time.

There was no hesitation or fear in those eyes, only the stubbornness that only young people possess.

Hong hesitated for a long time before finally speaking, his voice as calm as a deep lake.

"Go, child."

"Follow your own will and roam freely."

"But remember, come back alive."

Xuan grinned, turned around, and strode away.

He assembled an exploration team.

The team members were all young people around his age, all of them totem walkers, and all of them had extraordinary skills.

Xuan serves as the captain, with Yan as his deputy, a calm young man. The team also includes Meng, who possesses immense strength; Feng, who is incredibly fast; and Ling, who has keen senses.

Five people, five figures, like five arrows released from a bow, disappeared into the eastern mountains.