Once upon a time there was a greedy snake

He, who had originally intended to poison someone, ended up consuming the poison he had given himself. Ironically, the giant snake he had intended to kill saved his life.

What am I doing?

At this moment, the Radiant One felt that perhaps it would be better for him to die.

However, faced with the sweet scent so close at hand, he instinctively reached out his hand despite his weakness.

He had never tasted such sweetness.

As the nineteenth generation leader of the Ignivas family, the Radiant One had tasted honey before, but this was the first time he had ever tasted honey of this quality—it didn't even need any processing; the honey itself was already a rare delicacy.

"This level of honey can only be found deep in dangerous mountains, places that even mages dare not easily venture into..."

With this thought in mind, the Radiant One, having regained some strength, raised his head once more.

Those huge snake eyes were also looking at him.

Eyes facing each other.

The Radiant One sensed it...

A little bit of goodwill?

"He... never intended to kill me."

At this moment, the Radiant One had subconsciously begun to use a respectful title.

This made him feel even more ashamed.

It was at this moment that the Radiant One realized that he might have misunderstood the serpent god before him; the other party was neither a terrifying evil nor a bloodthirsty monster.

While the Radiant One was still feeling guilty and blaming himself, the enormous snake tail had already coiled around him and then gently set him down.

This made the Radiant One even more ashamed.

Simply because, at this moment, he is on the back of a god.

What a privilege.

Chapter 7 Don’t get me wrong

Although he didn't know where the savage came from, Du Yi had no intention of simply letting him go back.

He hadn't gotten the information he needed yet. He didn't know where he was, what time it was, or what the world was like.

The savage who nearly died from food poisoning was clearly aware of these things. Although he was wearing animal skin, it was finely sewn, and the bone knife at his waist was clearly carved. In addition, even though he was weak, he still showed basic politeness in his every move. He was obviously a civilized person.

Civilization means records, history, and a certain understanding of the world.

But if Du Yi wanted to get the information he needed, he first had to learn the language of these people.

Of course, Du Yi didn't learn for nothing; he would provide meals, and make sure the horses were full—after all, if you want a horse to run fast, you have to feed it more hay.

He would offer payment, but he also hoped that the savage would do the job seriously.

However, it's clear that this savage has some issues with his comprehension.

After Du Yi returned to his habitat, the savage who had been placed on the ground began to kowtow incessantly, muttering something incoherently. Heaven knows what he was saying.

This made Du Yi somewhat dissatisfied. Did he bring the person back so that he could kowtow?

At first, Du Yi considered whether to try to persuade him, but due to the language barrier, he took out food again. It was mammoth bone marrow that he had carefully roasted, which had been simmering by the campfire. It didn't need any seasoning and was among Du Yi's top three favorite foods.

Unfortunately, this time, the language of food wasn't as effective.

Faced with the large bone emitting an enticing aroma, the savage kowtowed even more vigorously.

This forced Du Yi to use a more colloquial language.

That is, body language.

First, when the savage kowtows, the tail is used to whip and beat him. Then the savage is helped up, the head is shaken, the savage is forced back into a kowtowing position, and the tail is used to beat him again... This cycle repeats itself.

The savage finally understood what he meant, and at least stopped kowtowing uncontrollably.

But even that wasn't enough for Du Yi. What he wanted to learn was the savage's language—but how could he make the savage understand him? That was another problem.

"Perhaps we could start with items?"

Thinking this, Du Yi found a piece of bison meat and placed it in front of the savage.

Unfortunately, the savage, whose comprehension was extremely poor, still did not understand his meaning and even began to treat the piece of beef with great respect.

This forced Du Yi to start using simple body language once again.

After being whipped several times by the tail, the savage finally stopped kowtowing to the beef.

This time, the savages chose to cut the beef and roast it directly.

Seeing that the savage's comprehension was so poor, Du Yi finally lost his temper. After another beating, Du Yi simply pointed at the beef with the tip of his tail, and then at the savage.

"His-"

Du Yi was so anxious that he started to spit out his tongue.

This time, the savage in front of them seemed to understand something as well.

Immediately afterwards, the savage also stuck out his tongue.

"His-"

It was a rather strange way of pronouncing the words, yet it sounded exactly like the voice Du Yi made.

……

After a moment of silence, Du Yi slapped his forehead.

He originally wanted to learn the language of these savages.

As a result, the savage actually understood that he wanted to learn his language.

----------

For the Radiant Ones, this was an unprecedented experience.

Having survived a brush with death, he had never imagined being brought to the deep mountains by the Snake God. But what surprised him even more was the Snake God's current actions.

The serpent god was teaching him the language of the gods.

Although he had misunderstood several times, after calming down, the Radiant One regained the wisdom that a clan leader should have. He felt that he had understood the Serpent God's meaning and realized that this was indeed a very necessary thing.

To communicate with the serpent god, one must understand his language; otherwise, how else could he possibly communicate with him?

So for the next period of time, he diligently studied the language of the serpent god, learning how it pronounced words and even how it stuck out its tongue.

As the nineteenth leader of the Ignivas family, the Radiant One has always been a quick learner.

After only thirty cycles of day and night, he was already able to achieve some basic communication.

Just like it is now.

"Hiss?"

While imitating the sound of a snake, the Radiant One pointed to the large mammoth bone beside him.

"Hiss, hiss?"

"His."

The enormous serpent responded.

So the Radiant One carried the large bone to the side of the even larger campfire.

When he turned around, he saw the giant snake nodding at him.

This is the most basic form of communication. He just asked if he wanted to eat this for dinner, whether he wanted bone marrow or beef, and the snake god's response was to tell him to start grilling the bones first, as there were other plans for the evening.

He always learns things very quickly, whether it's ancestral magic, how to be a leader, or even the language from the gods right now.

Understanding the language of the gods allows one to better serve them.

Yes, serving the gods—he was no longer the one filled with hatred. Now, he genuinely wanted to follow the instructions of the eighteenth patriarch and seek the gods' forgiveness—partly because the source of the family's magic was the theft of the gods' power.

On the other hand, it was also because of his previous attempt to poison the gods.

The thought that he had been so foolish as to poison a serpent god by poisoning his food made the Radiant One feel that he must have gone mad.

Therefore, after gradually learning the language of the serpent god, the Radiant One immediately expressed his thoughts, including the source of his family's magic and even his previous reckless actions.

However, to the Radiant One's surprise, the Serpent God simply shook his head in response to what he had said.

"His."

The short syllables signify complete indifference; the serpent god doesn't take what he considers faults and original sins seriously at all.

"—Hiss?"

The drawn-out ending of the syllable indicates that the serpent god is very interested in their magic.

This puzzled the Radiant Ones. After all, the power of magic was stolen from the Serpent God by their ancestors. The Serpent God should know these things very well, so why would he be curious about them?

"His."

Finally, the snake god added one more sentence.

But it was this one sentence that left the Radiant One speechless for a long time.

This is because the serpent god's last sentence clearly denied the existence of a god.

He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

The great serpent god actually said that he was not a god.

Chapter 8 The Reasons for Being Called God

"Don't mistake me for some kind of god, and I have no interest in accepting that kind of worship."

After being able to conduct the most basic communication, Du Yi naturally said this.

After spending these days together, Du Yi had noticed that the savage seemed to have a strange sense of reverence for him. Although being worshipped as a god might not be a bad thing, Du Yi had no interest in playing god-playing games with a group of savages.

He only wanted to know the information he needed.

Excessive emotions can actually hinder communication and distort information.

"More than that, tell me about you, about your upbringing, about your magic... I want to know your history, your culture, and what the world looks like through your eyes."

Seeing that the savage was still somewhat dazed, Du Yi simply lashed out with his tail again.

Fortunately, the savage reacted quickly enough, causing Du Yi's long tail, which he had raised a second time, to fall back to the ground.

After the savage began to recount his story with trepidation, Du Yi gained a better understanding of this unfamiliar world.

According to this savage known as the Radiant Ones, their Fire Clan comprehended the power of fire magic after witnessing him light a fire. Since then, relying on the power of fire, they have overcome numerous obstacles, defeated many ferocious beasts, and established a firm foothold in this dangerous world.

"This……"

Upon hearing this, Du Yi was momentarily speechless.

He never expected that his most primitive method of striking stones to start a fire would have such a great impact on these savages.

As for the principles of magic, the Radiant Ones couldn't explain them clearly. Although they seemed to have a strange theory, such as getting stone powder on one's hands and then colliding with it violently, which could trigger divine power, Du Yi understood how burning was produced. This directly led to him being completely confused about what the Radiant Ones were talking about.

And since he has no hands or feet, he can't even try.

"Let's think of something later, at least get some of the stone powder that the savage mentioned."

Du Yi put this question aside for the time being, since the next topic was more important.

The savage, known as the Radiant One, began to recount their history.

The history of these savages can be called a history of pioneering. When talking about these things, the Radiant Ones' faces are full of pride. From the time of their ancestors, when they struggled to survive under the hunting of wild beasts, to conquering the ferocious saber-toothed tiger, and even conquering the even larger mammoth, the Radiant Ones' eyes really seem to shine when they talk about these things.

During this pioneering process, those who wielded the power of fire played a crucial role. They were known as "magicians," meaning people who used magic. As the top combat force among these savages, they were always at the forefront, blasting fireball after fireball at those poisonous insects and ferocious beasts.

"You can just say venomous snakes or ferocious beasts, I don't really care about that."

Noticing the hesitation in the Radiant One's words, Du Yi shook his head.

After shrinking back, the Radiant One continued his story.

With their formidable fighting strength, they established their own village—though it was called a village, it actually had a population of nearly ten thousand, which, in Du Yi's eyes, was already comparable to some small towns. They had even tamed the terrifying saber-toothed tiger, and they even used mammoths as livestock. It was clear to the naked eye that they would continue to prosper.

Until the arrival of the beast tide.