Way of Heaven

Chapter 10 – The Flames of Civilization (2)

Translator: BipBop

Ferocious werewolves riding giant wolves darted through the forest. It was an army of werewolves. At the front, a nearly two-meter-tall werewolf chief looked up at the sky, which was obscured by gloomy clouds. The savage werewolf’s lips curved into a smile. He began speaking in the language of the werewolves.

“Faster. We must reach the tauren city by dawn. What right do those damn tauren have to seize the best land?! Us werewolves are the only masters here. Death to all of them!”

“Yes! Death to all of them!” The werewolf army cried viciously, speeding up the giant wolves under their feet. 

Under the cover of the night, an army of werewolves streamed through the forest for dozens of kilometers, not once stopping. In around two hours, a small city appeared in front of the werewolves.

The werewolf chief stretched his hand out to the side. The disciplined army of werewolves reigned in their giant wolves and slowed to halt, lurking in the dense forest.

It was a small city, only covering an area of around 200,000 square meters and containing around several thousand tauren. The three-meter walls outside were crudely built and used only stones and earth. A couple of watchtowers were distributed throughout the four walls. Every wall contained no more than four watchtowers.

The werewolf chief examined it. After a while, he gave an order. The army of werewolves wildly charged towards the tauren’s city gate, shrouded in darkness, their speed like lightning. 

By the time the taurens in the watchtowers were alerted, the army of werewolves was less than 50 meters from the city’s gate. 

“Enemy attack!”

Sharp cries cut through the once solemn night, awakening the taurens in the city.  The charging werewolves began to accelerate. 

“Whizz!”

Several tauren in the watchtowers quickly yanked their bow and arrows and began shooting. Arrows pierced the night, killing three werewolves. But it didn’t change the taurens’ dire situation.

The charging werewolves crushed and pierced the wooden gate like a sharp sword; they breached the city wall and ran rampant in the inner city.

Forming small teams of 10, the werewolves began slaughtering in the city. Soon, the taurens who had just awoken from the “Enemy attack!” rushed into the fray, grabbing their weapons and slashing wildly. They suffered severe casualties. It was too late.

Although the taurens exhibited valor, bravely fending the werewolves off, they were unprepared. Most of them had just woken up and were forced to face several werewolves alone. The werewolf cavalry assaulted in groups throughout the city, taurens dying left and right, their bodies littering the city.

The tauren chieftain, wielding a massive stone ax in each hand, watched in his horror as his kind was massacred. He was furious. Roaring with all his might, he hurtled himself towards the werewolf army, sweeping his stone axes. Several werewolves vomited blood, their bones crushed, their muscles turned to mush, their lives extinguished.

The stone axes turned and slashed down. A giant wolf, which one of the werewolves was riding, made a mournful howl, its body torn in half. Blood and guts splashed on the ground. The tauran chieftain’s eyes were bloodshot, his axes twirling.

The werewolf chief gave a cold snort and signaled at his giant wolf mount. The wolf instantly accelerated towards the tauren leader. A spear assembled from massive beast bones stabbed forward, rippling the air. The tauren chieftain, dyed in werewolf blood, was forced to retreat and parried the werewolf chief’s thrust. 

Bang!

ROAR!

Letting forth a blood-curdling roar, the tauren chieftain swung in his two axes with all his might. Whoosh! The werewolf chief’s spear pierced forward. The chieftain’s eyes widened. He was too late. A spear inserted itself into his heart. Blood reflexively spluttered from his mouth. 

Tired from already dispatching four werewolves in lightning-quick fashion, the tauren chieftain’s body was already starting to wear. He had lost. 

He took a knee, his blood cascading onto the ground. He looked up at the werewolf chief. “S- sinners like you deserve to -.” Hack! His body collapsed. On the ground, he muttered, “One day the Beast God will make you pay the price.”

The werewolf chief sneered and slashed off the head of the tauren chieftain. “The Great Beast God cares not about your life and death.”

The army of werewolves began slaughtering the taurens. They expelled the tauren women and children, ransacked their belongings, and burned the city to ashes.

…

Similar scenes played out throughout the northern continent. 

While other intelligent races advanced their race through hunting and farming without coming in contact with other races, the tribes of the beastmen were persistently dyed in the blood of others. Their killing was endless. 

In the fight for resources, the conflicts between the various beastmen tribes deepened. Finally, on the 613th birthday of the beastmen race, the conflict between the lion-people and the kobolds, which originally was over some fertile land, exploded into an all-out war. This kickstarted a major war. Numerous opportunistic tribes dove into the clash, engulfing the entire north continent in bloodshed.

The flames of war ignited the land. Countless beastmen tribes were burned down from the major war, and the scales of the battles grew larger and larger. At the same time, the assimilation of conquered tribes became bitter. Their cultures clashed and sparks of conflict burst.

At first, the tribes surrounded their cities with simple wooden fences. The wooden fences then became walls made of stone and earth. Cities of all sizes covered the northern continent. The large ones contained tens of thousands of beastmen, while the smaller ones contained thousands. The beastmen have entered an era of cities. 

War promoted the evolution of weapons. Weapons smelted from bronze shined on the battlefield, easily cutting the stone swords, bone spears, and enemy heads. The capabilities of bronze shocked the beastmen and made them redouble their efforts into mining. The number of bronze tools began to skyrocket. 

At the same time, in order to keep up with the labor demand for building cities and mining ore veins, the defeated tribes were no longer slaughtered once defeated. Instead, they were made slaves and were sent for construction and mining. They also served as cannon fodder for the war.

The smaller, weaker tribes surrendered and sought refuge with the strong tribes to avoid being exterminated by the war. The strong tribes accepted their surrender, gaining even more strength. The strong would remain strong. The weak would remain weak. 

In addition, a general communication between beastmen began to form, evolving. Before, each tribe had their own language, but with the emergence of the beastmen language almost all the tribes began to use that instead.

After decades of war, on the 673rd birthday of the beastmen race, the beastmen tribes, which consisted of more than a dozen tribes such as the lion, snake, and ape tribes, finally established their territory. The surrounding tribes respected them, surrendering. The unrest in the north began to fade….

In the following hundreds of years, the major intelligent races expanded at a much faster rate than the Yuan World’s expansion rate. Inevitably, they came in contact with other intelligent races. Communication began to take place.

However, at this time, the territory the races owned satisfied their population. There was an abundance of resources currently. Therefore, no major wars, like what happened with the beastmen, broke out between the races. More exchanges and peaceful assimilations took place. 

For example, humanity, after thousands of years of prospering, reached a population of one million, and their footprint reached over one million square kilometers. Based on their population and land size, there was no need to compete for territory and go to war. Humanity focused on internal development, building a social structure instead.

On the Yuan World’s continent, large and small cities stood tall in the wilderness, mountains, and plains. A societal hierarchy shaped, dividing the humans into different classes: nobles, commoners, and slaves. There were also official divisions and a clergy. A country was being built. 

After the passing of 1,200 years, a sleeping heavenly consciousness began to stir.