Chapter 2: Tianba Clan
[Teleportation about to begin, space-time power converting.]
[Countdown starting, 5.4.3...]
Seeing the countdown before teleportation, Bubu Wang, Baha, and Beini were all stunned.
"Woo~"
"Damn, another countdown, how far is this?"
"Meow."
Bang!
After a strong blunt impact to the back of the head, Su Xiao's vision plunged into darkness. This sensation was especially intense, like being hit by a train speeding at full force.
A damp, cold feeling came from beneath him. A drop of icy liquid landed on Su Xiao's face, and his eyes opened.
The sound of splashing water entered his ears. Su Xiao sat up from a wet rock, and a drop of mountain spring water fell, splashing on the rock.
Su Xiao gently rubbed the back of his head, looking around. In a small pool not far away, he saw a string of bubbles.
Gurgle~
A dog head surfaced. Even more miraculous, it didn't stop there. Bubu Wang's entire body slowly rose upward, and eventually, it sat on the water's surface.
It looked like ascending to immortality on the spot, but in reality, Bubu Wang was panicking inside. There was something under its butt.
Bubu Wang began to slowly move across the water's surface, and eventually, it was thrown by whatever was underwater onto the rocks by the pool.
"Croak~"
"Woof."
"Croak croak."
"Woof woof woof."
A toad over two meters long started communicating with Bubu Wang. After a while, these two actually shook paws—a dog paw and a frog paw—to show friendliness.
"What did it say?"
"Woof."
Bubu Wang meant that Brother Frog welcomed them. If they wanted to live in this cave, the 'rock water' could be shared, but they couldn't stay here permanently—this was its territory.
A giant toad having territorial instincts wasn't strange. What was amazing was that this giant frog actually had a spirit of sharing.
[Entering World: Source World]
Location: Mujuan Mountain
World Difficulty: Lv.50 - Lv.68 (Primordial World)
World Source: 0%
World Introduction: The 'gods' have 'returned home,' becoming legends. The erosion of the Source has never stopped.
[God Era Year 306: The ancient 'spirits' ceased their conflicts. At some unknown time, they began calling themselves gods. They were once monsters, but after gaining beautiful or majestic bodies, they became 'them.' Or rather, are they truly gods?]
[God Era Year 415: Human nations were in conflict until they attempted to open the ancient sealed lands. Everything changed.]
[God Era Year 692: Human kingdoms collapsed in prolonged warfare. As individual strength grew, powerful figures emerged, dominating regions and establishing their own forces.]
[God Era Year 715: Conflicts among major human factions continued, and technological progress nearly halted. Until one day, a powerful figure daring to challenge the ancient gods appeared. He called himself Tianba. Soon, something shocking the entire continent happened: an ancient god actually fell, killed by Tianba.]
[God Era Year 975: Order stabilized. Two great nations occupied vast territories and formed an alliance, vowing never to invade each other. The small countries around the continent, though poor, frequently clashed, but under the restraint of the two great nations, they dared not act recklessly.]
[God Era Year 1032: The ancient gods angered two human kings. The two great nations launched a decisive battle against the ancient gods—this was the Godfall War.]
[God Era Year 1162: The two great nations declined in the war against the ancient gods, but they remained behemoths. Though the nations had fallen, the ancient gods also suffered heavy losses. Eventually, they 'returned home,' and the two great nations continued to guard this beautiful and resource-rich continent.]
[No one noticed that the erosion of the Source had become increasingly severe. 'Tianba' had become the name of a race, an honorary title. The Tianba Clan might become the new ancient gods.]
[World language acquired.]
[World, begin!]
After reviewing the world introduction, Su Xiao fell into thought. The history of the Source World was complex, involving ancient gods, the Tianba Clan, two great nations, and more.
From this information, the ancient gods initially seemed to be a group of monsters with various appearances. For some unknown reason, they became ancient gods. Su Xiao felt this should be related to the Source.
Clearly, the gods of this world were different from neutral gods or ancient gods in other worlds. The gods here had no followers or anything like that—they established their status through individual strength.
As for the Tianba Clan, Su Xiao had seen them before: a race of humans with blue skin, transformed from normal humans after drinking Source Water.
The Tianba Clan's abilities of 'Soak' and 'Drown' were a nightmare for tank-type combatants. If an adventure group entered the Source World, they'd be overwhelmed in no time.
The Tianba Clan Su Xiao encountered back then was eroded by the small piece of [Source] he had obtained, and that was just from soaking this [Source] in water.
Having trained individuals drink this Source Water turned them into the Tianba Clan. Now it seemed the term 'Tianba' had deeper implications.
The Source in this world was much larger. If Su Xiao wasn't mistaken, the [Source] here was over 200 times bigger than the one in his hand. It was easy to imagine how powerful the Tianba Clan here would be.
The ancient gods once ruled this world, enjoying abundant resources. At that time, the various nations on the continent were locked in chaotic wars, unable to resist the ancient gods.
Eventually, these nations overplayed their hand, leading this world into an era where the strong ruled. But this era didn't last long before the two great nations rose.
The two great nations were far more reliable. This was the power unleashed when people, oppressed for too long, united. Countless powerful figures emerged within these nations. Taking the original god-slayer Tianba as their model, they launched a total assault on the ancient gods.
The result was that the two great nations won—humanity won. Though the two nations were now half-crippled, they didn't disappoint people's expectations, nearly wiping out the ancient gods.
Based on Su Xiao's experience, these two great nations wouldn't see obvious power struggles for now. The current two kings were both dedicated to protecting humanity. But after the two kings died, power struggles would likely appear quickly. Humanity had this peculiar trait: extremely united with external enemies, producing heroic figures, but once the external threat was gone, internal strife began.
[Main Quest: Source Water (First Ring)]
Difficulty Level: Lv.66
Quest Information: Obtain Source Water from this world, soak the [Source] in it, and let it resonate with the [Source] within this world.
Quest Time Limit: 15 days.
Quest Reward: 3 True Attribute Points.
Quest Penalty: Forced Execution.
...
Seeing this main quest, Su Xiao frowned. There were almost no clues. This meant only two things: either the clues were nearby, or the clues would come to him, since he was holding a small piece of [Source].
Su Xiao could feel the [Source] in his bosom emitting very subtle fluctuations. These fluctuations were faint, but from the moment he entered this world, he discovered that this item could no longer be stored in his storage space.