We made you the chief, and now you've become the world's chief?

Chapter 181 The Outrageous Power of the Sun God

"What is she doing?"

Xia Minghao asked the girl who was leading the way.

But the girl turned around, her face full of confusion.

"Your beloved daughter, daughter of the sun god, is listening to your instructions."

The girl started to lose confidence halfway through her speech.

The sun god should be right in front of me, so why is...

……

……

……

Before Aisha lay a twisted swamp forest and all sorts of magical little people.

The forest gradually stopped twisting, and the little people ran far away.

She was unable to see the figure from her memory, and a sense of loss welled up in her heart.

Suddenly, the urge to vomit returned, and feeling dizzy, Aisha hurriedly tried to vomit into the swamp beside the boulder.

This would happen every time she ate mushrooms, and Aisha simply took it as the price for seeing the sun god.

The dizziness made Aisha slip, and just as she felt as if she was about to fall into the swamp, she suddenly felt a pair of large hands grab her from behind.

After a brief mental blank, she looked back and saw the figure she had been longing for day and night.

"Sun God!"

Xia Minghao was filled with anger, feeling that he had become a tool in someone else's hands and was being used.

But when he saw Aisha's pure and fervent eyes, he was momentarily dazed.

Why does it feel like it's not what I thought?
Can you hear me?

"Sun God, I have finally seen you again."

"again?"

This one sentence made Xia Minghao realize that something was wrong.

When was the last time you saw me?

"Last time, also here, you asked me to build a huge statue for you."

At this?

Suspicion arose in Xia Minghao's heart, and after asking, he finally understood what was going on.

It turns out it was caused by eating mushrooms...

Just like Aisha now, she is still somewhat delirious.

Aisha did indeed listen and didn't eat the kind she had previously forbidden, but instead found another alternative.

It was naturally a hallucination caused by the mushrooms that made Aisha see a vision of herself, and then she gave the order.

It wasn't about consolidating the theocratic rule she had established, but rather about the ignorance inherent in this theocratic worship.

Looking at Aisha, who was extremely respectful to him and whose piety was almost written all over her face, Xia Minghao pondered.

Nothing lasts forever. Even if this group of people are filled with foolish loyalty to themselves, it is still hard to guarantee that they will not change.

The immediate priority is to address the escalating self-deification here as quickly as possible.

Solving this problem is not difficult. We can take Aisha away, scatter the other "children," move some people away, and move others back. This will suppress the problem.

Of course, this is only a temporary solution, not a cure.

To address the root cause, we must enlighten the public and get them to accept the correct scientific values ​​of modern society.

However, based on Xia Minghao's experience over the past six months, it seems unlikely. Just as he himself couldn't fully adapt to the life of primitive people, he has been using his advantages as a modern person to transform the primitive era.

What should I do?
They created their own religion?
But what kind of religion can avoid the ignorance it brings, and the previously worried problem of stealing the fruits of power?
Just thinking about it gave Xia Minghao a headache!
We can only take it one step at a time.

“Aisha, would you like to come with me to the new place in the Xia tribe? It’s very big.”

"A new place. Is it your divine kingdom?"

Kingdom of God?

Xia Minghao only found out after asking that he had learned this concept from the Xi clan.

At the same time, Xia Minghao also learned a lot about the Sun God Cult, which claimed that he was their god, from Aisha.

It fully embodies integration, incorporating many elements, even including the story of Nuwa creating humans and Pangu separating heaven and earth, which it had previously recounted.

Aisha was able to build such a complete religion that Xia Minghao had seen before, so it certainly couldn't have come from nowhere.

For primitive people with limited imagination, it's either the accumulation of hundreds or thousands of years or the assimilation of things from all over the world.

The second-ranked tribe is the Wu tribe. They were originally planned to be placed as unofficial members, but it seems that we still need to intervene to prevent them from growing wildly and causing problems that hinder the progress of civilization.

However, thinking about this made Xia Minghao feel somewhat amused.

When the sun god theorists of the swamp region and the original sin theorists of the Great Lakes region are put together, it is hard to say whether the east wind will prevail over the west wind or the west wind will prevail over the east wind.
But none of that matters; I'll take action if necessary.

If done properly, it might even help to mutually suppress ignorance, thereby promoting common progress and stimulating individual initiative.

"It's not a divine kingdom, but we can build it together."

"I wish, great sun god, to be bathed in your warmth is something I dream of every time."

Aisha spoke excitedly, while Xia Minghao looked at Aisha's innocent smile with a hint of helplessness.

Now it's time to get down to business, which is the source of this foxtail grass.

"What kind of foxtail grass did you use to tie the cattails you sent to Yanquan Mountain?"

"Yes, it's a strange tree. The people there tied it up."

“We are building a sculpture of you slaying the god of the strange tree there, but we simply cannot find a larger stone.”

After answering, Aisha showed a clear look of shame on her face.

What a waste of time and money! What's the point of carving that stuff? There are wild cattails everywhere here. We'd be better off picking more so we don't run out in the riverside village and think we're almost done picking them.

"Take me to the region of the strange trees."

Xia Minghao spoke up, and Aisha, behaving quite respectfully, led the way.

Aisha led the way through a densely populated area, whether intentionally or unintentionally, it's unclear.

Xia Minghao didn't urge him, and took the opportunity to check the situation in the swamp area.

This number is really large; it's not like the previous statement that there were ten small tribes, with an average of fifty or sixty people per tribe.

Nowadays, there are at least fifty or sixty women and children left in the tribe, not to mention the men who have gone out, the total number is definitely over one hundred.

Xia Minghao asked Aisha, only to hear an unexpected twist.

It turns out that at the very beginning, two or three small tribes did not believe it, so other people led their tribes in a "theocracy war" and annexed those two or three small tribes.

The birth of a large tribe led to the formation of more tribes banding together.

Regardless of whether anyone is subjectively using their own name to seek personal gain, the fact remains that they rely on their "divine authority" to exercise small-scale rule and profit from war.

There will always be someone who discovers the secrets of this in the future, and thus begins to want to exploit divine authority rather than submit to it, thereby turning it into a tool for personal gain.

Realizing this, Xia Minghao became even more determined to solve this thorny problem, otherwise it would only escalate to an even more difficult state.

Aisha felt frustrated when Xia Minghao only asked about the recent war and ignored the stone statues beside the thatched houses. All of this was a deliberate arrangement she had made to please Xia Minghao.

But now it turns out...

God doesn't care...

If you don't please the sun god, will the sun still shine on you?
This statement was originally a "divine oracle" she made up subconsciously and spoke to the primitive people of the swamp region.

But now, Aisha herself believes it.

"Is this... the idol you mentioned?"

Aisha looked worried the whole way, and it wasn't until they reached the strange tree area that she heard Xia Minghao's voice.

This instantly dispelled the gloom in her heart, and she immediately spoke.

"Yes, Sun God, this is the story of how you killed that despicable Sacred Tree tribe."

Xia Minghao looked over and saw that the first stone statue had been completed, and he was standing on a group of fat men.

The second sculpture is identical in shape to the bent tree in front of him and the strange tree standing next to him.

Xia Minghao naturally had no interest in this kind of "praise and commendation".

Actually, I was surprised by the level of carving in this stone sculpture. Compared to my own statue in Yanquan Mountain, it was a complete victory!
However, the person carving at this moment did not seem to be a stonemason from the Da clan.

Could it be?

“It is your divine people who carved this for you.”

They're not from the Da clan?
"How can you carve so well?"

"It is you who gave us wisdom!"

Aisha immediately uttered the word "wisdom" that she had learned from the Da clan.

Xia Minghao certainly didn't believe Aisha's words, even though Aisha herself probably believed them.

Clearly, through trade with the Xia tribe, this group of people in the swamp region were able to get enough to eat, which gave them more energy.

This religious appeal endowed them with strong subjective initiative, which is why such a group of stonemasons was able to emerge.

To be honest, Xia Minghao was now moved by the power of religion, which gave him the motivation to create a real religion.

However, Xia Minghao, who still retained his rationality, set a bottom line for himself: he had to find a way to shield himself from the ignorance brought by religion, otherwise it would always become an obstacle for the Xia tribe.

Xia Minghao didn't believe in any "wisdom of later generations." In this godforsaken era, who knew how long it would be before a "later generation" wiser than himself, a modern person, would actually appear.

Therefore, it's best to handle things yourself if you can solve them yourself.

Looking around again, I saw that the foxtail grass in this place was indeed growing more lushly than I had ever imagined.

The amount of foxtail grass brought here initially should not have been large, yet its growth rate is so rapid.

It must be that foxtail grass has evolved to produce many offspring and reproduce rapidly.

In addition, the humidity level in this area is much higher than in other locations, which must also give it the characteristic of being resistant to flooding.

These are all characteristics that will make it easier to plant crops on the floodplains.

So why does this happen?

After walking around the strange tree a few times, I couldn't help but recall the first time I came here.

At the time, Xia Minghao felt that the biodiversity of this place was unusually high.

However, since they didn't yet understand the power of totems, they didn't make any connection at all.

Could it be related to the power of totems, or rather, totem stones?

When studying the large totem stone obtained from Yushan, Xia Minghao made a conjecture.

The large totem stone may induce certain targeted gene mutations through radiation, thereby endowing a person with totem power.

Could there be a large totem stone here, or something similar that has the same effect, producing some kind of radiation that makes nearby plants more prone to mutation?

Xia Minghao walked into the distance until he stopped at the point where the foxtail grass was dense and sparse.

The distribution of foxtail grass does not show obvious changes in density, perhaps due to the dispersal characteristics of its seeds. If it is indeed caused by radiation as speculated, it would be difficult to use foxtail grass as an indicator.

But mushrooms are different. Xia Minghao searched among the foxtail grass and soon found a line. This line was relatively clearer, with all kinds of mushrooms growing on one side, but almost nothing on the other side.

"come here."

"You, go there."

"And you."

"Yes, Sun God!"

Xia Minghao sent the three people to three relatively far boundary points. By using the three points to define the circle, the perpendicular bisector quickly found the location of the center of the circle.

Then, counting their steps, they started from the center and walked towards the distant boundary.

They walked back and forth several times in different directions, taking roughly the same number of steps, which confirmed that this area of ​​abnormal evolution was indeed circular, and the place they had just found was the center of the circle.

Aisha and the others were completely baffled by Xia Minghao's actions.

They didn't know why the sun god, as they understood him, did this, but there must have been a reason.

"Go and call for people, start digging from here!"

Xia Minghao addressed the crowd, and naturally, no one dared to disobey. He immediately summoned a large group of people.

Upon arriving and seeing the sun god in person, the group immediately knelt in worship.

He had just witnessed it firsthand; once you kneel, you can't get up, and you won't be able to do anything.

However, having already learned about it, I naturally had a plan in mind.

"Those who kneel down, the sun will not shine on you!"

The moment these words were spoken, the effect was indeed remarkable. Everyone stood upright with their backs bent, seemingly neither daring to disobey nor daring to kneel, their expressions quite comical.

Xia Minghao smiled faintly, naturally not wanting them to remain at a loss, and pointed to the center of the circle, giving the order to dig.

Finally, they had a goal, which was a "divine oracle" personally given by the sun god. They not only did not hesitate at all about the heavy work of digging, but even rushed to do it.

Seeing this scene, Xia Minghao was shocked once again.

The power of religion is too strong...

As the excavation progressed, Xia Minghao's heart gradually became more and more excited.

He couldn't wait to find out if things were really as he had predicted.

"Sun God, we can't dig any further here!"

At this moment, Aisha, who had been supervising the work, suddenly ran over and said something.

Can't dig it out?
Upon hearing this, Xia Minghao immediately stepped forward and looked into the pit.

The pit was dug quite large in order to widen the slope and prevent a landslide that could crush the group of people.

The deepest part that was dug out was actually only a small piece.

Xia Minghao did not hesitate to go down into the pit and look at the place they said they couldn't dig anymore.

He took out his entrenching tool and tapped it.

There was a rock under the ground, and the rock felt quite huge.

The core of a swamp is long-term water accumulation and organic matter buildup, so it's really unreasonable to have such huge rocks there.

Could this be the root of the anomaly?
(End of this chapter)