Spring breezes wafted by, midsummer sun blazed, autumn rains poured, and winter snows fell.
The two of them sat cross-legged on the mountaintop, enduring the wind and rain, letting dust accumulate on their bodies, rainwater turning into mud.
They remained motionless, and gradually, the dust and mud grew thicker. They seemed to have become two statues.
Ten thousand years passed.
Life in this world gradually increased.
In the beginning, only simple animals appeared, but as time went on, the creatures in this world also became more diverse.
Lions, wolf packs, rabbits, wild deer, and other animals occupied the grasslands and forests below the mountain.
Tigers, squirrels, monkeys, and other animals occupied the mountains.
In the animal kingdom, the law of the jungle, survival of the fittest, was an eternal truth.
Whoever had sharper claws and fangs, whoever possessed greater muscular power, would be the ruler of this world.
But nothing was absolute. Gentle herbivores feared ferocious carnivores, but for carnivores, injury meant death.
If injured, they couldn't run fast enough, couldn't catch prey, and would starve to death.
After they died, their bodies would decay, turning into fertile soil, from which trees and wild grass would grow, to be eaten by herbivores.
The cycle repeated, life continued endlessly.
Nature had always been this way.
Until...
A group of terrifying bipedal apes appeared.
These upright-walking apes, lacking sharp nails and fangs, and without robust physiques, were seen as prime prey by any carnivore.
But they gradually discovered that these bipedal apes could use tools!
Those bipedal apes used clubs to bludgeon them, used sharpened stones to smash them, and used stone knives to cut through their bones.
These bipedal apes were not only exceptionally intelligent but also incredibly united.
They built fences to protect their crops, they domesticated herbivores to work for them and provide meat, and they even learned to use fire.
Moreover, they discovered the most terrifying aspect of these fearsome bipedal apes:
That this group of bipedal apes ate *everything*!
They ate the plants that herbivores ate, and they also ate the herbivores themselves.
They didn't just eat herbivores; they ate carnivores too!
It seemed there was nothing on the earth they didn't eat.
How terrifying! They weren't prey; the entire earth was their hunting ground.
Gradually, these terrifying bipedal apes learned to live in tribal communities, learned to make cloth, learned to skillfully use fire, and even created writing. The one who created writing named their terrifying bipedal ape species...
Human.
This world now had intelligent beings, it had humans.
Humans were primitive. They were powerless against floods, droughts, torrential rains, wildfires, and earthquakes. Over time, they mystified these events, believing they were signs of divine wrath.
Thus, they developed faith.
But gods were ethereal, invisible. They wanted to worship the gods and ask for blessings of favorable weather, but they didn't know who to worship.
One evening, during a storm, a bolt of lightning descended from the heavens, striking the two "statues" on the mountaintop.
Those statues had stood there for generations, never moving. No one knew what they were, only that anyone who approached within ten feet would die.
But now, as the lightning struck, the soil on the statues was shaken off, revealing their true forms.
Only then did people see that they were also two people.
No, they were two gods!
After all these years, enduring wind, rain, floods, and earthquakes, they had remained unharmed. What else could they be but gods?
Thus, people's faith found a definitive focus.
People offered sacrifices to the deities, bowed and prayed. Those two deities became their spiritual pillars.
Another several thousand years passed.
The humans in this world had developed systematic civilizations. They created various cultures, dividing into large and small factions, constantly at war with each other.
Empires, long divided, would unite, and long united, would divide.
History had always been this way.
But regardless of the dynasties, they all worshipped the two deities on the sacred mountain.
Depending on the era, people called them by different names.
In the very beginning, people called them Xi He and Wa, when civilization and writing were just emerging.
Later, when emperors appeared, they were also called Xi Huang and Wa Huang.
Even later, some called them Shangdi and Shengmu.
Still later, people called them Tiandi and Di Hou, or Dijun and Xihe.
If Wan Lei had known he was called Dijun, he might have resurrected the real Dijun to take a look.
Throughout the dynasties, people used various names. It wasn't until the emergence of Qi practitioners and the prevalence of Taoism that they were referred to as Tianzun and Tianmu.
Finally, a great hero emerged, swept across the land, unified the realm, and also settled the names for those two deities.
Restoring the ancient system, they were named Xi Huang and Wa Huang.
Regardless of the name, it was always one male and one female, after all, their appearances and figures were there for all to see, clearly a man and a woman.
As for the male, enough said. But the female deity was truly a vision of unparalleled beauty, capable of toppling nations.
Qi practitioners gradually flourished. In this world, there were Qi practitioners who could ride swords and fly through the clouds, whom people called Immortals.
This implied they were on par with those two deities.
Taoism established its ancestral temple and divine halls on this sacred mountain, "protecting" these two deities from further suffering of wind and rain.
Of course, the primary reason they did this was that the spiritual energy on the sacred mountain, especially around the two deities, was truly dense.
Highly conducive to cultivation.
Another tens of thousands of years passed.
During these tens of thousands of years, there were many exceptionally talented Qi practitioners. They reached new realms, named those realms, blazed new paths, and became the strongest of their eras.
It wasn't that no one dared to challenge the authority of the deities. However, without exception, whenever they approached within ten feet of the deities, they would turn to dust.
This made them even more reverent towards the deities. To express their respect, they forbade mortals from calling themselves Immortals.
They felt unworthy.
Ten million years passed.
Finally, a great and powerful being broke through to a new supreme realm. He believed that he was the true deity.
He gathered his courage and approached the deities.
"Deities, you... are actually just two broken stones. Over these years, you have neither ensured favorable weather nor brought peace and prosperity to our world, nor have you imparted cultivation methods to us.
Now, I am the truly most powerful deity. I shall replace you."
Having spoken, the man stepped within ten feet. He...
Did not turn into ashes.