Once upon a time there was a greedy snake

At that moment, the 28th Akakage had made up his mind.

He would keep this secret to himself and would never tell the next Akakage, not even until his death.

Since lies can bring benefits, let the lies continue.

Chapter 77: Moving Mountains and Seas

As it turns out, the 28th Akakage's determination was indeed firm enough.

Until his death, the 28th Akakage never told anyone that secret. After reviewing the records about the snow mountain, he also deleted and modified some of them. What the Serpent God saw on the mountaintop was simply omitted. Instead, he added all the descriptions left by the 27th Akakage, imitating the tone of the Serpent God and the people in the mountain.

This was also the only thing that the 28th Akakage did himself during his tenure.

He did nothing else.

During this time of food shortages, stability was the only thing a Crimson Shadow should do; nothing else mattered to him. As it turned out, his judgment was at least partially correct. In the decades following his ascension to the throne, the Ignivas not only withstood the food shortages but even slowly recovered some of their fruit and vegetable production.

Although the quality of these foods could never compare to those made from the serpent god's compost, they still filled some of the food gap.

"At least we did something."

With these thoughts in mind, the 28th generation Akakage, who was already very old, also left this world.

Because the 28th Akakage did not pass on the lie about the Great Snow Mountain before his death, the newly appointed 29th Akakage was completely unaware of the secret. As someone who grew up listening to the legends about the Great Snow Mountain, the 29th Akakage was quite persistent in exploring the other side of the Great Snow Mountain.

At the same time, since each generation of Akakage is basically the strongest mage and the strongest warrior of that era, and as the most powerful one among the Ignivas, the 29th Akakage even plans to personally climb to the summit to take a look at the world on the other side of the mountain.

"I can do it! I definitely can!"

With this in mind and bearing the expectations of all the Ignivas people, the 29th Akakage, carrying luggage and supplies, ventured deep into the Great Snow Mountain.

Then, he was carried back.

As it turns out, the colossal peak, which even the great serpent god found difficult to traverse, was an insurmountable Wailing Wall for mortals. This attempt to challenge the gods with a mortal body ultimately ended in failure.

If the 29th Akakage hadn't brought his attendants with him when he went into the mountains, he would probably have been the only Akakage to die an unexplained death before a successor could even be arranged.

Even if they manage to retreat alive, the only thing the 29th Akakage can do right now is to arrange a successor.

The climb through the snowy mountains, in that frigid climate, had already caused irreversible and serious damage to his body.

"To conquer that mountain... we must climb over it!"

After selecting his successor, the 29th Akakage left these last words.

After the 29th Akakage passed away, the 30th Akakage who succeeded him was not his apprentice—after all, the 29th Akakage died too young and had no time to train an apprentice.

This directly led to the fact that, when choosing a successor, the 29th Akakage could only consider his fellow disciples, those mages who worked with him for the 28th Akakage. From among these people, he selected the most shrewd and capable one.

And the 30th Akakage did not disappoint the previous Akakage; at least he was not foolish enough to risk his life to climb the Wailing Wall himself.

But apart from that, the 30th Akakage provided unwavering support for his people's ascent of the Great Snow Mountain. He even visited those reclusive seekers of the Dao, obtained many secret techniques that could assist his people in climbing the mountain, and passed them on to all the Ignivas who wanted to cross the Great Snow Mountain.

"We will definitely get over that mountain!"

The 30th Akakage spoke these words with utmost seriousness.

Clearly, this slogan is mixed with personal grudges. After all, the 29th Akakage was once his friend. Now that his friend has died young while climbing the dangerous peak, he will naturally vent all his anger on that mountain.

Although the 29th Akakage died on his sickbed, the 30th Akakage still stubbornly believed that the Great Snow Mountain had taken his friend's life.

But that's where the problem lies.

If he had received instruction from Akakage and formally learned how to be an Akakage, he should understand that as an Akakage, one must never let personal emotions interfere with judgment in official matters—but this self-taught Akakage had not considered this at all; at this moment, he only wanted to grind that snow mountain to dust.

"……etc?"

Driven by this hatred, the 30th Akakage vaguely realized something.

"It seems... it really works?"

At this moment, the 30th Akakage suddenly had an epiphany.

Although he came from a self-taught background and was the least like Akakage, this gave him a perspective that was independent of Akakage's. The normal Akakage would think more about the Ignivas people themselves and would ignore many other things.

Just like it is now.

Is crossing the snow-capped mountain the only way to get to the other side of the mountain?

"Not always!"

With this in mind, the 30th Akakage pondered for a whole day and night.

He then issued new orders.

It was less of a command and more of an idea, or perhaps a suggestion—clearly, for the Ignivas, crossing the colossal peak that even the gods considered difficult was virtually impossible.

But why is it necessary to climb over it?

"We can absolutely destroy that Wailing Wall!"

The 30th Akakage said this.

It doesn't even have to be destruction; even just carving a passable path through the Wailing Wall would suffice, since the latter would be a much smaller undertaking. However, slogans are meant to be loud and impactful, aiming to be as awe-inspiring as possible.

After proposing this idea, the 30th Akakage received support from almost all the Ignivas.

"We should have done this a long time ago! Why didn't we think of it before!"

Upon realizing that there was another way to cross the snow-capped mountains, the Ignivas immediately began their work.

Under the leadership of the thirtieth Akakage and with the support of all Ignivas, the massive mountain-moving movement began.

Chapter 78 The Power of Faith

Although it's called a mountain-moving project, the Ignivas don't treat it as physical labor; they simply start chipping away at the mountainside.

After twenty-nine generations of Akakage's management, the people of Ignivas are now all magicians. Every adult can conjure a fireball by clapping their hands together, and the researchers who specialize in magic have an extremely skilled command of fire.

Now that they're going to open up the mountain, they'll naturally use their best skills.

Five thousand four hundred and thirty-two mages—that's all the combat power currently available to participate in this mountain-moving operation. As for the others, it's not that they lack combat power, but rather that they are not quite qualified for such a dangerous undertaking.

After all, the things we're about to do require extreme precision.

Simply creating a fireball is something any Ignivas can do, but precisely controlling the temperature of the flames, or even controlling where the melted snow flows, is beyond the capabilities of an ordinary mage—and this is merely a preliminary step in moving a mountain, not even touching the mountain itself.

The melted snow water will not be wasted, but will be channeled into reservoirs beneath the giant peaks.

Only after all of this is completed can the actual tunnel excavation work begin.

Yes, tunnels. After anticipating the enormous workload, the Ignivas, realizing they were not yet capable of destroying the giant peak, ultimately opted for the less strenuous option of tunneling.

However, this saving of effort is only relative to blasting the entire giant peak apart.

In fact, tunneling itself is an extremely complex task.

The mages would take turns melting a channel through the mountain. The melted snow would then come in handy – when the cooled snow water was poured onto the scorching hot rocks, even the hardest rocks would crack on the spot.

This is an extremely delicate task, not something that can be accomplished by simply blowing up two fireballs. They even need to precisely control the flames to prevent any explosions, otherwise, the avalanche triggered by the explosions would be enough to bury them alive on the spot.

However, once the work becomes more detailed, it means that the progress will slow down. In addition, they have never been to the other side of the mountain. They are just digging westward purely based on their judgment of direction. They don't even have a way of judging what progress they have made or when they will be able to completely dig through the tunnel.

Even as the 30th Akakage grew old, there was still no sign of the tunnel being completed.

"Does this mean that this mountain has no end? Is everything we've done in vain?"

The aging 30th generation Akakage vaguely considered this possibility, but he dared not voice his guess.

The tunnel has been under construction for decades, with countless manpower and resources invested. If we were to say now that all the previous efforts were in vain, or that the mountain has no end, countless people would collapse on the spot, or even die inside the tunnel.

and so……

"The tunnel must be dug, no matter what, we must continue digging."

The aging thirtieth Akakage spoke these words to his successor.

However, his successor, the thirty-first Akakage, eventually faced the same problem: the tunnel would never be finished, the other side of the mountain seemed forever out of reach, and that land filled with milk and honey seemed like nothing more than a dream.

And this time, it wasn't just the 31st generation Akakage; even the Ignivas who participated in the mountain-moving movement were digging themselves into a state of existential crisis.

"The tunnel cannot be stopped! It absolutely cannot be stopped!"

Although the 31st Akakage himself was somewhat disheartened, he keenly realized that if the tunnel construction stopped, the Ignivas people would probably collapse on the spot—this was not only from the 30th Akakage's dying words, but also from his own personal experience.

In order to dig this tunnel, the Ignivas have unknowingly staked everything they have.

To stop digging is to kill all the Ignivas.

"Perhaps... we have no choice but to think of another way."

After consulting with several seekers of the Dao, the 31st Akakage finally had an idea.

He revived the harvest festival.

To celebrate the harvest festival, the tunnels in the Great Snow Mountain were naturally shut down for seven days, and the Ignivas people, as always, prepared delicious food to celebrate this festival symbolizing abundance—although their food looked rather strange, with powders and pills that didn't look like food at all.

However, the 31st generation Akakage has his own methods.

The pills were rolled into long strips, and the powder was used to outline and decorate. Soon, one after another, small black snakes were rolled out.

"Since it is a festival to celebrate abundance, it should naturally be made in the shape of Taiyi."

Taiyi is the serpent god who symbolizes abundance. However, the Ignivas people have always referred to the serpent god either as the serpent god or as the ancestor of the Dao. Only on very rare occasions have they used this new name, Taiyi.

However, right now, the 31st Akakage clearly intends to use this name to replace the other two names.

"The 'one' in Taiyi is the tunnel we are going to dig."

"That's what the 31st generation Akakage said."

"As for His former name, the Ancestor of the Dao, it guides us and tells us that we will surely be able to open up this path."

Yes, this is the plan of the 31st Akakage.

After exhausting all possible methods, his choice was to directly worship the gods.

When everything had been burned away, even hope itself had been consumed, what could sustain the Ignivas people to continue was probably only faith—as long as everyone firmly believed that the serpent god, the One God, was right, the tunnel could continue to be dug.

Unfortunately, he probably won't be able to see the light on the other side of the tunnel.

The excavation of the tunnel lasted for five generations: the thirty-first Akakage, the thirty-second Akakage, and finally the thirty-sixth Akakage took over before the long tunnel was finally dug to an end.

"Thank you, God Taiyi!"

The people of Ignivas had never been so jubilant, considering they had considered giving up several times, but they had done it and finally managed to break through the mountain.

However, just as they were preparing to go to the other side of the tunnel to continue their careful exploration...

On the other side of the tunnel, some strangely-looking strangers were already walking towards them.

Chapter 79 Clean and hygienic

The reason these strangers are described as having peculiar appearances is mainly because their appearances are simply too outrageous.

Although the other party did indeed have a human-like body, with solid muscles that were even more robust than those of the Ignivas, when they saw the bull's head on the neck of these people, the Ignivas really didn't know whether they had encountered anyone who could be considered human.

At least in the understanding of the Ignivas, normal people do not grow horns on their heads.

When the minotaurs saw the Ignivas, they were stunned; clearly, they had never seen such faces before.

After a moment's hesitation, it was the Ignivas who made the first move.

They took out the food they carried with them, which consisted of pills extracted from various ingredients. After taking out these pills, the leader of the Ignivas people gestured to the minotaurs opposite them that these were edible.

The ancient custom of using food sharing to connect with strangers dates back to the Old Kingdom era.

Unfortunately, these minotaurs didn't even recognize that it was food.

The minotaurs took the pills with a puzzled look. Instead of putting them in their mouths, they held them in their hands and played with them, treating them as some kind of ornament.

"Ha, it seems these minotaurs are probably similar to those ice field people."

"They probably haven't seen food that's almost completely free of impurities before."

At this moment, a strange sense of superiority arose in the hearts of several Ignivas.

The way they looked at these minotaurs now carried a similar air of looking at the barbarians of the Icefield.

However, those minotaurs were clearly quite intelligent; they quickly understood what the Ignivas meant and put the pills into their mouths.

Immediately afterwards, these minotaurs shook their heads.