All Gods: Starting with Two Families

Chapter 4 Location of the OasisIt wasn’t until that suffocating pressure had completely vanished into the depths of the sea of sand that a serpent-man head, covered in earthy yellow scales, cautiously peeked out from behind a dune at the edge of the oasis.

His vertical pupils were filled with lingering fear and deep awe. The Serpent-person Leader summoned his courage and led a few of the most elite warriors, armed with bone blades and stone axes, to approach that giant ”dried squid” with extreme caution.

They cut off Materials that the sand worm disdained to devour, but which were extremely precious to them—

Several bone spurs at the tips of the Demon Octopus’s tentacles, as tough as refined steel (which could be made into weapons);

A few pieces of special dry, hard skin membrane that still held a trace of water-attribute energy (perhaps usable for making armor or containers);

A giant ink sac as tall as half a person (of unknown use)...

After gathering these precious spoils of war, they did not dare to linger for a moment. Quickly shouldering their heavy harvest, they turned and plunged into the vast, boundless golden sea of sand behind them.

The sand was scorching hot, burning the scales on their bellies like a branding iron.

The group moved silently and swiftly, their winding snake tails leaving long marks on the sand that were quickly swept away by the hot wind.

Their destination was the only hope in this sea of despair—that small space shrouded in a strange white mist. It was their home and the only oasis in the desert.

Passing through that layer of misty barrier—which seemed thin but was tough enough to isolate the lethal heat and prying eyes of the outside world—their vision suddenly brightened.

Vitality rushed toward them.

A tiny oasis, like an emerald embedded in a boundless golden carpet.

In the center was a shallow pond as clear as crystal; by the pond, two mystical willow trees stood quietly.

They glowed with a warm, jade-like green light, their thousands of flexible emerald-green branches drooping down. As they swayed in the breeze, they constantly breathed out strands of the misty white fog that maintained the oasis’s existence.

The ”mist-locked pond willow”—this was a wonder Zhou Zheng had exchanged using a B-rank voucher he had obtained earlier.

It not only provided water and life for this oasis, but more importantly, it completely shielded the water source from the sand worm’s senses. Otherwise, this ark in the desert would have long been destroyed by the predators beneath the ground.

In the 10th year of the God Domain, Zhou Zheng had obtained four vouchers: one A-rank voucher was exchanged for the sand worm, two B-rank vouchers were each exchanged for one mist-locked pond willow, and the S-rank voucher he had just received had not yet been used.

Feeling the Chaos aura that had not yet dissipated in the God Domain, he would likely need to rest for eight years before he could load a calamity card again.

However, as the strength of his followers grew, the frequency with which he could load calamity cards would also increase.

By the pond, several young serpent-man hatchlings were clumsily splashing and playing in the shallow water, kicking up small sprays and emitting tender, babbling hisses.

On the dry sand near the edge of the mist, over a dozen adult male Serpent-man Warriors were sweating profusely under the scorching sun.

Their thick, scale-covered snake tails were like steel whips, fiercely lashing at the thick sand lizard skins hanging from dead trees, making dull ”thud” sounds as they underwent rigorous physical and combat training.

The female serpent-people were busy under the shade of the trees, using sharp stone flakes to butcher captured desert lizard meat or grinding collected drought-resistant plant roots in rough stone mortars. The air was filled with a faint scent of blood and the raw smell of plant sap.

The entire tribe consisted of just over two hundred people, and their tools were primitive to the extreme—bone spears, stone axes, and grass ropes were all they had. Yet, their eyes burned with a desire for survival and absolute piety toward their deity (Zhou Zheng).

As the initial race, their faith in their deity would never falter, which was also Zhou Zheng’s greatest reliance.

Zhou Zheng’s Divine Thought was like an invisible breeze, brushing over this small space struggling to survive in a desperate situation.