Chapter 239: Fire!
After hearing such high praise from this Muses Goddess, Prometheus felt both surprised and delighted in his heart.
Even for him, a “Foreseer,” he never dared to imagine that these Mortal Spirits he personally created would one day be able to become Gods!
To truly be able to exist side-by-side with these great Gods who were born extraordinary.
Such a thing, even just thinking about it, felt filled with immense challenges, and a glory that made one’s divinity tremble!
He forcefully suppressed the almost bursting excitement in his heart.
However, the smile on his face couldn’t be held back.
“O illustrious Calliope, this, this is truly too much praise. These children are merely Mortal Spirits, how could they possibly stand shoulder to shoulder with the great Gods? That is truly too incredible.”
“It is already very good if they can truly obey the supreme will of our great Your Majesty and bring prosperity to this world.”
Calliope merely smiled subtly, but said no more.
Her silence was not a denial, but a leaving of everything to time and the future.
And Clio, who represented “Social Sciences,” recording and spreading eternal history.
She, with a calm and amiable smile, said softly, “Let’s not let these newborn children continue to prostrate themselves on the ground. Have them all rise.”
“Our Great Father God once said that He does not need the Gods to easily display His majesty and nobility through kneeling.”
“Therefore, as His daughters, we are the same. We also do not need these Mortal Spirits to arbitrarily kneel to us to display our nobility.”
“True respect and reverence lie in whether they can truly obey our Great Father God’s sacred will, rather than these insignificant superficial forms.”
Hearing this, Prometheus’s face became stern, and he said heavily, “Goddess Clio speaks the truth!”
“Our great God King has brought peace and tranquility to this universe, and Your Majesty personally established the most just and benevolent Holy Justice Order!”
“Your Majesty deeply loves all things and all spirits. He uses sacred order to restrain all injustice and arbitrariness, thus bestowing upon all things and all spirits their most precious happiness and tranquility!”
“In the process of teaching humans to grow, I will definitely teach them with the most serious attitude, so that they absolutely obey Your Majesty’s sacred order!”
“Your Majesty’s sacred order allows no living being to transgress! Your Majesty’s mercy is also absolutely not a reason for any living being to violate the just order!”
Calliope also said sternly, “Father God’s Holy Justice Order is the sole foundation for this universe to develop healthily.”
“Any civilization that deviates from the Holy Justice Order will surely lead to a destructive end! We will also teach them well. This is also our duty.”
“However,” Calliope’s expression turned into a gentle smile again, “Now, the most important thing is to first teach these poor children how to survive on this vast Earth.”
“That’s right! The Beautiful Goddess is correct!” Epimetheus finally found an opportunity to speak.
Although, no one paid attention to him.
Prometheus extended his large hand and waved it gently downwards.
A gentle, invisible divine power lifted all those who had been prostrating on the ground, slowly standing them up.
In terms of form, “humans” and “Gods” were originally the same.
They were born to gaze at the stars, to look at this beautiful world at eye level, and to seek all that is beautiful.
Rather than being like beasts, forever prostrating themselves humbly.
At this time, humans completely lacked the concepts of writing and language.
Prometheus, using his powerful divinity, directly connected the souls of all humans, transmitting the will to “stand up” directly into the deepest part of their souls.
The humans who stood up, facing this great power that completely surpassed their imagination and understanding, were all stunned and remained frozen in place, not daring to move.
In their eyes, instinctive fear still existed.
However, they also simultaneously felt a sacred aura, innate and incomparably close.
Their alarmed and uneasy hearts were thus greatly calmed.
Although they were still ignorant and unknowing, they were filled with infinite curiosity and doubt, quietly watching these great Gods who were suspended high above in mid-air.
At this moment, the desire to “fly” was forever imprinted on the deepest part of the human soul.
After all the humans had stood up.
Calliope turned her gaze towards the distant Mount Olympus and began her most sacred prayer.
The other Muses, accompanying her solemn recitation, danced a holy dance filled with reverence.
Waves of sacred music also began to sound slowly in the void.
The beautiful Muses’ skirts swayed lightly, each step in rhythm with the heavenly music, each turn creating tiny yet bright ripples in the air.
Wind blew from the mountains and seas, carrying the warm fragrance of flowers and the changes of clouds, and clouds began to gather quietly once more.
“At the beginning of Chaos, all things were still silent. O great, warm, sacred Master of the primordial Master of Fire!”
“You are the first manifestation of all light and heat! Oh! That scorching yet warm flame! The world is warm because of your existence, and because of you, it is filled with infinite vitality and hope!”
“Great Hestia! Source of all fires, warmth of fire! You are the symbol of wisdom and civilization, the symbol of life and vitality, and even more so, the gentlest bond of the eternal, supreme God King, and thunder!”
“The radiance of the sun is Your magnificent robe; the lava at the Earth’s core is Your eternally unquenchable foundation!”
“Even destructive wildfires must obtain Your tacit approval to burn in this world; the supreme molten flames that forge divine artifacts also need to borrow from You, Your inextinguishable divine essence!”
“Oh—First Flame, Heart of the Universe! Your flames guide the path of all things in the world! Illuminating the long road ahead for the myriad living beings, dispelling the chilling shadow of despair! You are the eternal protector of all wisdom and civilization!”
“O majestic and sacred Great Fire! You are the supreme, glorious, eternal symbol of the Great God King Zeus, who embodies sacred justice, punishment, sacrifice, destruction, rebirth, life, growth, vitality, motivation, warmth, burning, brightness, and heat!”
“Great Master of Fire—Hestia! Please, have mercy on these Mortal Spirits, as small as dust! Please, accept this purest reverence from the mortal world!”
“Please generously bestow upon these frail and tiny humans, who are swaying in the wind, that eternally unchanging tranquility and warmth, and that sacred fire symbolizing the God King’s radiance!”
As Calliope began to recite this sacred prayer, the great Hestia, far away on Mount Olympus, responded with the gentlest of replies at the first moment.
Together with the will of the God King.
Above the Muses, a patch of scarlet clouds, as if burning with flames, slowly appeared.
And within these red clouds, sacred lightning of golden-red and silver-white continuously roamed, bringing the ultimate divinity and majesty to all living beings!
And also, that most terrifying, breath-taking pressure!
Scarlet and golden-white overlapped in the high heavens, as if the Master of Fire had spread His cloak across the firmament, lightning flowing through the folds of His attire, flashing on and off, heralding the most sacred and compassionate bestowal.
The moment Calliope’s recitation concluded, in that patch of scarlet dark clouds, endless lightning and thunder began to churn wildly, like dragons and snakes dancing!
Hundreds and thousands of dazzling lightning bolts descended like a torrential rain!
The dazzling light caused all humans to tightly close their eyes for an instant!
However, the extreme brightness easily pierced the thin barrier of their eyelids, giving them light that felt like losing their vision.
And the terrifying, earth-shattering thunderous roars and explosions so terrified everyone that, once again, based on their most primitive instincts, they prostrated themselves on the ground, trembling like sieves.
As if only in this way could they find a sliver of security.
In reality, however, there was none.
No one, through any action, gained any sense of security.
This could be clearly seen from the fearful, varied shouts and cries emanating from everyone’s mouths.
These hundreds and thousands of bolts of thunder precisely struck hundreds and thousands of giant, sky-piercing trees, turning each of those giant trees into blazing, scorching, and warm giant torches!
The merciful God King, and the equally loving Master of Fire, generously bestowed upon these newborn humans the universe’s most sacred “Heavenly Fire”!
Similarly, their mercy was also perfectly controlled in terms of distance.
Each of the blazing giant torches would only bring endless warmth to these newborn humans, and would never burn them even slightly.
Under the sacred blessing, the flames would never extinguish, running along the resin and annual rings, crackling like a grand hymn, warmth spreading through the crowd, dispelling the damp cold of fear.
Orange-gold light trembled in every pupil; at this moment, following wisdom, the God King placed small suns into their hearts.
This was survival and evolution.
After the clouds dispersed, heaven and earth returned to clarity, leaving only the hundreds of eternally burning giant torches as proof that all that had just happened was not an illusion.
Prometheus, regaining his senses, once again forcibly lifted all the humans from the ground.
This time, he used even greater strength.
Moreover, as soon as he released his divine power, those who had just stood up would immediately collapse uncontrollably.
Repeatedly, under his forced lifting, humans could finally manage to stand up.
Everyone looked at the sacred and majestic, bright and scorching, blazing giant torches.
They were all dazed, with instinctive fear and reverence from the deepest part of their souls in their eyes.
And also, the endless yearning that arose from feeling warmth.
At this moment, reverence for thunder and love for fire were both indelibly etched into the deepest part of everyone’s soul.
And became an eternal, indelible imprint for generation after generation of humans!
Fire can burn, and fire can illuminate; thunder can frighten you, and thunder can also guide you.
From then on, humans dared not disrespect fire, nor dare to speak carelessly when encountering thunder.
They learned to warm themselves in reverence, and to seek light in order.
The Muses goddesses all turned towards the distant Mount Olympus and bowed deeply.
In the most beautiful postures, they offered their most noble respect, and praised in unison, “Thank you, Supreme Father God! Thank you, Sacred Master of Fire!”
Prometheus and his brother also immediately followed, not daring to be negligent in the slightest.
Similarly bowing, in the most reverent manner, they offered their most pious gratitude to the Supreme Master.
At this moment, Prometheus was overjoyed beyond measure.
Although he still couldn’t fathom the God King’s deep and profound thoughts, he clearly understood one thing.
The God King held an unimaginable generosity towards these newborn humans.
And this generosity itself was the most precious attitude and declaration!
That was enough.
Calliope slowly straightened her tall and graceful divine body, her eyes beneath the golden crown shimmering with brilliant radiance, a bright smile on her lips.
She looked at Prometheus and said in a clear, soaring voice like a hero’s horn, “Respected God of Foresight, now the Father God has bestowed His most precious bounty, and humans have the warm shelter of the Master of Fire.”
“I believe that the growth and development of humans, and everything thereafter, will surge forward along the path of light.”
Prometheus nodded heavily, the fervor in his divinity almost uncontrollable, his voice thus filled with power, “It will!”
What Zeus and Hestia bestowed together was not mortal fire, but “Heavenly Fire” imbued with divine power!
These hundreds of torches would never extinguish, nor did they require any firewood.
And as long as ash branches were used as guides, the torches drawn from them would not extinguish.
As long as they were covered by the warm radiance of these flames, they would have peace and protection.
The sacred flames shone generously and divinely upon these newborn humans.
Beneath these warm and unextinguishable flames, they would not tremble and die from the harsh cold of the long night, nor would they fall ill and wither from the coolness of the mountains.
All evil spirits and filth dared not approach before this sacred radiance; all fierce beasts lurking in the mountains and forests dared not gaze under this scorching majesty.
This gift, for the vulnerable newborn humans, demarcated an absolutely safe initial land for survival and reproduction.
Moreover, with the two great Titan Gods, “Foreseer” and “After-the-fact-seer.”
And these nine Muses Goddesses, who had insights into almost all existence, all civilizations, and all laws, representing all arts, sciences, and literature in the universe, personally serving as their enlightened mentors.
It could be said that the starting point for the human race was a simple “heavenly mode.”
All of this, only because
The Lord loves the world!
Eleven great deities thus began their initial enlightenment and teaching of humanity.
The first step was to enable them to understand and learn to use “fire.”
How to obtain fire, maintain fire, protect fire, and use fire? When to approach, when to retreat?
It must be known that fire can warm hearts, but it can also burn the ignorant.
From revering the destructive power of fire that could consume everything, to learning to utilize the warmth and light of fire, this was a long and crucially important process.
Following that, it was how to perform gathering and hunting, and how to use “fire” to roast food that could satisfy hunger.
Next, it was how to make clothing to shield them from the elements, and how to find shelters to protect them from wind and rain.
The Muses Goddesses displayed visions of all things with divine power, teaching them to distinguish which berries were sweet and non-toxic, and which roots could satisfy hunger.
Prometheus and his brother then taught them the techniques for making simple stone tools and tracking prey.
The gears of civilization, with a gentle push from the Gods, though appearing nascent, had already begun their solemn and orderly initial rotation.
Everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion.
This small, newborn race was rapidly passing through the most difficult stage of primitive ignorance at an unimaginable speed.
Of course, the lives of Gods did not apply to Mortal Spirits.
Therefore, they did not teach humans any extraordinary methods.
These fragile and minuscule Mortal Spirits, although possessing almost infinite potential, currently had more potential in the realm of “wisdom.”
Their bodies were still fragile, their souls not yet refined.
They could not, like the Gods, freely absorb and use the Aether, which formed the basis of ordinary divine power.
Moreover, the authority to use Aether had not yet been opened to Mortal Spirits at all.
Within the Divine Network Order established by the God King at this time, there were no related rules whatsoever.
The current cosmic order, although it had passed the initial creation phase, was far from perfect.
The grand “Heavenly Dao” and “Divine Network” systems were also still somewhat rudimentary in their structure, with many details needing to be filled in.
Ordinary Mortal Spirits, unless by special divine grace, truly could not even engage in the most basic cultivation.
Because, in the current Divine Network System, these rules simply did not exist!
Laws were unwritten, and techniques had no basis.
Only when the Gods created a new rule in the Divine Network System, and under the fulfillment of corresponding conditions, could Mortal Spirits potentially utilize the power manifested in the world.
If even the rules did not exist, then all was in vain.
Now, it was still the era of pure Gods and mortals.
There were only “Gods” and “Mortals”; the “Supernatural” had not yet emerged in between.
Everything now was just a beginning.
For humans, the first things to be resolved were “survival” and “basic cognition” of this world.
Other paths were still too distant for now.
In the process of humans learning to survive and develop, the concepts of “unity,” “rational” thinking, “planning” foresight, and the power of “collective cooperation.”
Were also like invisible imprints, deeply carved into their nascent and potential-filled minds.
Great Gods, out of loneliness, chose to create intelligent life.
Thus, all intelligent life, by its very nature, carried an innate fear of loneliness.
Similarly, humble humans did not possess the divine power to create everything and transform the world.
What they possessed were only their hands, and each other.
And in this wild world filled with the unknown and crisis, only unity could allow them to survive and develop.
Thus, small tribes, bound by emotion and blood ties, gradually formed.
They were like faint stars in the night sky, scattered dots across this vast land, and with the propagation of life and accumulation of knowledge, they slowly began to grow in silence.
At this time, the world still lacked a clear definition of the concept of “death.”
The lifespan of Mortal Spirits was also extremely long; as long as their physical bodies could withstand the erosion of time, they could live on.
Fortunately, the God King had already established the order of the Netherworld.
Otherwise, those beings whose physical bodies had decayed, leaving only souls, would have to wander aimlessly in this world until their complete end.
That would truly be a torment second only to Tartarus.
However, no matter how one looked at it, everything was developing steadily for the better.
The act of creating humans, although it caused a tremendous stir and evoked cosmic-level magnificent phenomena.
However, for the vast majority of Gods in the universe, there was nothing particularly noteworthy.
This most sacred, most glorious moment was solely for the newly born race of “humans.”
For the Gods on high, this was merely the existence of one more minuscule life form in the world.
No matter how grand the commotion of their creation, Mortal Spirits were just Mortal Spirits.
Even if this newborn being’s form was so similar to that of the Gods.
However, the Gods would not truly care because of this.
If this were merely a private creation by Prometheus and his brother, then perhaps some arrogant and narrow-minded Gods might feel dissatisfied.
But now, as the Goddess of Wisdom had participated in the creation, why would the Gods offend the God King’s beloved first wife for such a trivial matter?
Moreover, the God King had never expressed any opinion on this matter from beginning to end, and even sent down the Sacred Creation Thunder, and finally, the Muses Goddesses personally descended to assist.
This indicated that His Majesty had also tacitly approved of all this.
Since that was the case, there was even less reason to meddle, let alone destroy them.
Mere conventional similarity in form did not signify anything.
They were merely, minuscule Mortal Spirits.
Except for those Gods and Nymphs who, out of boredom, felt curious and showed some interest in this “race similar to Gods,” most others watched the unfolding events.
And then there were the few Gods with long-term vision who wanted to contact this race that the God King seemed to greatly value.
