Once upon a time there was a greedy snake

But at that moment, Carlosane nodded.

"That's right, haven't you already joined us?"

"Look, you are now on a war chariot built by the Ice People, going with the Ice People's king to destroy the dwarves' defenses... According to the Ice People's custom, we will even give you a share of the spoils after the battle."

"As for the gods... the gods have already accepted your worship, which is why they spared your life, taking only your hands and legs as offerings for your worship."

"Don't worry, even if you lose your hands and feet, it doesn't matter. As long as you have your body and your life, you can still continue to sing praises of the gods and continue to offer your faith to them."

"Of course, if you wish, you can continue to offer some of your own internal organs as sacrifices. The gods love to eat these, especially since you are big enough. The gods will enjoy eating them."

……

David Day was speechless.

He had lost both his hands and feet, and he couldn't even die—especially the loss of his hands, which meant the disappearance of magic and that he had become a complete cripple.

With both hands and feet gone, his enormous body was utterly meaningless.

Thinking of this, David Day was even moved to tears.

"Why are you crying? Hasn't your wish already been fulfilled?"

Carlossane shook his head repeatedly.

"Don't cry, we're almost at the front lines... Do you remember what you were going to say?"

"Forget it, cry if you want to. As long as you're here, that's enough."

Gazing into the distance at the defensive line that the Ignis had built over hundreds of years, Carlosane narrowed his eyes.

Since he can already see the defensive line, the dwarves inside must have seen him as well.

And the one beside him, the so-called Dwarf King

Even from such a distance, Karlosane could sense the dwarves' fear and panic, which made him shake his head even more.

"The warriors who couldn't be killed by the biting cold wind have fought against such weak opponents for hundreds of years?"

Carlos suddenly felt like laughing.

But in the end, it was just a long sigh.

Perhaps long ago, these dwarves were indeed formidable, otherwise these warriors of the frozen earth wouldn't have suffered defeat after defeat—but the dwarves of today are clearly not the same as those of the past.

Not only have their warriors become weak, but even their king has become foolish, actually thinking that after losing everything, he is still qualified to talk about cooperation with the Ice People.

Perhaps these dwarves and the Iceborne people did cooperate before, though it wasn't a written cooperation, but rather a silent understanding. The Iceborne warriors could sense that these dwarves, who lived in warmer regions, had no interest in the barren tundra itself; they were simply fighting for the sake of war, or even for the sake of killing more people.

As for the reason, it's easy to guess. It's most likely because these dwarves don't have enough food, so they have to consume a group of people, just like the warriors on the frozen land who, when they get old, choose to actively seek death to save food for the younger generation.

However, what these dwarves used to expend their strength were wave after wave of young and vigorous warriors.

"That's really extravagant."

Thinking of this, Carlosan felt even more excited about that warm place.

But before that, he decided to help these dwarves solve their overpopulation problem one last time.

"Kill them all."

As the Ignisian defensive line drew ever closer, Carlosane waved his hand and gave the order.

This could no longer be called a war; it was clearly a one-sided massacre. The Ignis, who were thrown into panic by seeing David Day with the giants, were unable to organize any effective resistance.

On the contrary, the warriors from the frozen land, wielding batons and axes, were as ferocious as tigers among sheep.

In just one afternoon, the defenses that the Ignis had maintained for hundreds of years were completely breached.

And those soldiers from the frozen land finally set foot on the land they had longed for.

"Next, we will fulfill your other wish."

On the high platform, Carlossane looked at David Day's massive body.

“We will conquer your cities, we will slaughter your people… oh, you call us rebels, we will even kill your gods to avenge you.”

"After all, the little bit of flesh and blood you sacrificed before was far too little for our gods."

"Our North Wind God is very hungry."

Chapter 38 Let's order first.

The howling north wind swept southward from the frozen ground, cutting straight down.

But the north wind that came from afar had not yet reached the vicinity of the holy mountain, and the Ignis people who lived on the holy mountain had not looked at any weather forecasts—in the past period of time, they had not paid any attention to any information from the outside world.

They were all focused on studying their own path.

To forge one's own path—this was the maxim left to them by the serpent god—or perhaps the progenitor of the Tao.

At first, they didn't quite understand what the serpent god was saying. After all, although his words sounded inspiring, upon closer inspection, they seemed to say nothing at all. But that's the question: could the serpent god, or rather the ancestor of the Dao, really have said nothing at all?

Impossible, absolutely impossible.

Although the serpent god forbade them to worship him as a deity, he was still a deity after all, and every action and word he made must have a profound meaning.

And this isn't even their own wild speculation; they can actually provide relevant examples.

To go back further, their ancestor, the first patriarch of Ignivas, learned the magic of fire by watching Him make fire.

In the middle, the nineteenth Holy King, after receiving His wisdom, led the Ignis people to prosperity and even founded the city of Ignis.

Both of these events are recorded in many legends of the Ignis people.

As for recently... He has only recently appeared, so there are indeed no relevant examples. However, after listening to His teachings, these Ignis people firmly believe that they can also learn some wisdom from them, just like their ancestors.

They all firmly believed that they could grasp the profound meaning of that saying and put into practice the ancient wisdom it contained.

"But that's precisely the problem."

The serpent god... no, the ancestor of the Dao, the words of that ancestor of the Dao were too obscure. He only told them to find their own Dao, but did not say where the Dao was. So where were they supposed to look?

"Things I want to do..."

The Ignis people in the mountains pondered for seven days and nights, and finally came to a conclusion that everyone agreed with.

"Let's eat the meat first."

This is what they want to do most right now.

Although under the protection of the Serpent... Ancestor of the Dao, the Holy Mountain had long achieved an abundance of food, it was only an abundance of fruits and vegetables—which, while filling their stomachs, could only ensure they wouldn't starve to death.

Even if they don't starve to death, they still want to eat something good.

However, eating meat in the Holy Mountain is an extremely troublesome matter. In the memories of these Ignis people, the Holy Mountain should have been rich in resources, but after they entered the mountain, they found that there was not a single animal to be seen. It was as if the animals in the mountain had been emptied out by someone.

This means that if they want to eat meat, they have to go outside the mountains to find it.

Although the land outside the Holy Mountain was no longer their home, the magicians who had once protected them would not let them go, and the king who had escaped from the Ancestor of the Dao would not let them go either. However, driven by their thirst for meat, these Ignis people who had entered the mountains had their own simple methods. Since there was no shortage of fruits and vegetables in the mountains, they could simply bring out all the fruits and vegetables they could not eat and lure the livestock from the pastures over.

As for whether there will be any consequences to doing this...

"Anyway, the ancestor of the Dao is in the mountains, so those magicians shouldn't dare to chase us into the holy mountain."

That's what they were thinking.

Of course, if the Ancestor of the Dao really doesn't care, they have other ways, such as being straightforward and paying with fruits and vegetables to replace the livestock, as long as the mages are willing to talk properly. If the mages are unwilling to talk properly or even want to seize the orchard, they can say that it is the serpent god's blessing, or even tell the mages the secret of the crazy growth of fruits and vegetables, and let them go to the deep mountains to find the serpent god's excrement.

Then these mages will truly anger the serpent god, who has not consulted with them about when they can collect the excrement.

"This... seems to work no matter what?"

After realizing this, these Ignis people seemed to have a vague understanding of something.

Could this be the Dao that the Ancestor of Dao spoke of?

However, they had no time to think about it now; their minds were filled with the craving for meat.

So, after selecting a group of brave and daring men, the Ignis began their plan to eat meat.

Perhaps it was because the snake... the ancestor of the Dao, was protecting them in the dark, their plan to eat meat went surprisingly smoothly. They didn't even need to use those follow-up arrangements. They simply took out some fruits and vegetables and led the wild buffalo, antelopes and the like, who feed on fruits and vegetables, into the mountains.

Although these bison and antelopes were very thin, so thin that they weighed very little.

"What's going on? Shouldn't all the livestock raised by those mages be fat and greasy?"

The Ignis people in the mountains were quite puzzled; they didn't know what had happened outside.

But as those bolder individuals explored further, they eventually learned about the changes in the outside world.

It turns out that all those mages had run away, along with the New Dawn. Heaven knows where these royals went. Vast pastures were abandoned, and even the city of Ignis was now empty.

"Doesn't this mean we can go home?"

The Ignis people in the mountains suddenly had a different idea.

However, they only had some ideas; their minds weren't broken. Even the most foolish among them knew very well that this orchard in the mountains, which could produce a large amount of fruits and vegetables in just ten days and nights, was something far rarer than the city of Ignis itself.

Moreover, those mages have only run away; it's not like they won't come back. If they were to actually return to Ignis City and settle down, it would probably be quite dangerous.

But not returning to the city doesn't mean there are no other gains. At least the pastures outside the holy mountain, or rather, the remaining weak livestock on those pastures, are now theirs.

If we just lead these livestock into the mountains, who would dare to go into the sacred mountain to ask for them back?

Even the rising sun probably wouldn't have the guts, let alone those mages.

But what these Ignis people didn't expect was that there were actually people who had the guts to do it.

"Giant, giant, giant, giant... giant!"

Upon seeing those enormous humanoid figures, each as tall as two Ignis, and wielding clubs and spears, the Ignis who were herding their livestock on the edge of the sacred mountain were so frightened that they fell to the ground.

Chapter 39: Entering the Pass

No one from Ignis could have imagined that giants would appear here.

Although they all knew that the Ignis had been fighting the giants in the north for hundreds of years, and although some of them had even returned alive from the front lines, they all believed that the giants could not possibly move south—after all, that defensive line had been maintained for hundreds of years without any problems, so how could the giants possibly move south?

But the giants did indeed head south, and even occupied the entire city of Ignis, as well as all the land that originally belonged to the Ignis people.

It was at this time that the people of Ignis in the mountains learned that their king had actually voluntarily pledged allegiance to those ferocious giants.

Even the magicians were included.

As for how they knew, it was because they had also been captured alive—after all, these Ignis people in the mountains were just a group of civilians. Let alone magical powers, they didn't even have much of the most basic combat skills.

The giants didn't even need to fight; they just stood there, raising their batons, and the victims were already terrified of death, their legs going weak and some even turning and running away.

"Holy Mountain, Holy Mountain..."

At this time, they were still thinking about the Holy Mountain. Many of them felt that if the serpent god could save them once, he would save them a second time.

But the facts prove that such a good thing simply doesn't exist.

The serpent god did not come to their rescue at all, even though those savage giants had even broken into the holy mountain—but the serpent god who had once saved them seemed to have vanished into thin air, showing no intention of showing up at all.

Thus, even though these Ignis people in the mountains organized a little resistance, their insignificant counterattack failed to kill even a single giant.

This only made the giants burst into laughter.

The giants—or rather, the ice field people—did have every right to laugh. After all, they originally thought that the closer they got to the dwarves' city, the more intense the battle would be. But who would have thought that the further south they went, the easier the battle would become?

At first, they encountered sporadic resistance; the dwarves near the front lines were somewhat capable of fighting. But as they continued south, and even until they occupied the so-called dwarf city, they encountered no significant resistance.

And now, they have even occupied what these dwarves call their sacred mountain.

"Where is your God, or His?"

A glacial man who had some knowledge of Ignis language grabbed a terrified Ignis man at random.

The terrified Ignis man simply shook his head. He truly knew nothing. If he knew where the gods were, he would have fled to find the serpent god long ago. How could he have ended up being captured alive in the holy mountain?

Or, is that deity truly a deity?

It was at this moment that the captured Ignis realized that their god, the serpent god they spoke of, had never personally admitted to being a god.

Not only did they not acknowledge it, the serpent god even rejected their faith, stating explicitly that they must learn to save themselves.

"He gets busy sometimes too..."

It was only then that these Ignis realized that they seemed to have misunderstood the words of the serpent god.

During this time, they were both fixated on the "Tao" the other spoke of, forgetting that the phrase itself was also a warning to them.