Secret Letter

  That night, they rested on the land of Duke Town and Armon mentioned to Medanzo another purpose of this trip, which was to bring the people of the Link tribe here to establish a stronghold. The Cave Dwellers Tribe lived in the deep mountains, where life was extremely harsh, with no suitable land for farming, and hunting was full of danger.

  Since the great flood, many roads in the mountains have been cut off, and many wild animals have become extinct. Some cave-dwelling tribes have completely disappeared. The living environment of Link's tribe has become even more difficult, and if it weren't for catching enough wild animals when the flood came and learning to make long-term preserved meat, it would be hard to survive until now. Link had led his people to capture many young animals to raise, which barely maintained the tribe's livelihood.

  Actually, Lin Ke had long been thinking of leading his people out of the deep mountains to find a fertile homeland where they could settle down. Now that the opportunity has come, Mei Danzuo thought about it from a different perspective and reminded Ah Mon: "You say this land belongs to the people of Du Ke Town, but you also want to let the cave-dwelling savages establish a village here. Won't your people and Lin Ke's people conflict with each other?"

  Amon replied, "I've thought about this problem long ago, don't worry. The land of Du Ke Town, including the farmland and mines outside the town, all have deeds that can be checked. Originally, there were more than 2,000 people living here, but now there are less than a hundred clan members left. These lands belong to them, and Lin Ke's clan will not occupy them. This piece of fertile land that has emerged from the water is much larger than the original Du Ke Town land, and Lin Ke's clan can cultivate it, farm it, and multiply for generations."

  "Several dozen people have come from afar, it's not easy to establish a foothold in this place. Indeed, someone should set up a village to provide shelter first. This place is infested with ferocious beasts, we need to unite together to survive and have a bright future."

  Amon nodded and said, "The threat is not just those monsters. As the floodwaters recede, this place will become a vast fertile land that can accommodate millions of people. The various powers on the mainland probably won't give up this territory, and there will inevitably be conflicts. However, no matter what, my clan only wants to establish its own home. Maidanzo, I have a task for you: after Link and the others arrive here, help Link train warriors, forge weapons, and build defensive walls. Prepare everything, they are the best craftsmen."

  The next day, when the sun rose, Amun set off again with Xue Ding'e, carrying an iron-branched staff through several pieces of swamp still surrounded by water, entering the deep mountains and forests of the Yu Di River Valley, just like he did when he first left Du Ke Town. Mei Danzuo advised: "Don't you want to stay in your hometown for two more days?"

  "I've already come and I'll be back again, knowing how to stay nostalgic."

  After the flood, many roads in the deep mountains were cut off, and many places between two mountains formed a narrow and long barrier lake. Armon and Medanzo alternated walking on mountain roads and waterways, finally arriving at the mountainous plateau where the Linke tribe was located.

  When they appeared at the entrance of the village of the Cave People tribe, everyone was stunned. The whole tribe rushed to welcome them, and everyone knelt down as if welcoming a divine being. Mei Dansuo felt a bit embarrassed and hid aside, while Xue Ding'an sat there calmly, accepting the kneeling worship of the crowd.

  Lin Ke hastily ran out of the house without even wearing his pants properly, pushed through the crowd and grabbed Ah Meng's sleeve, saying: "My god! You're finally back, everyone has been waiting for you every day!"

  That night, outside the large cave with a bonfire, the whole tribe held a grand carnival. Amun and Link discussed the migration, and the cave-dwelling people agreed enthusiastically, eager to set off the next day. However, Amun ordered Link not to rush, to leave two months later, as the entire tribe's migration required various preparations, and Maidanzo also needed to recover his strength here.

  In the past two years, Lin Ke has already possessed a fifth-level achievement with both sides of his power. When he heard that Medanzo also had a fifth-level achievement, he said with some pride: "It seems we're about even, you've been staying by Ah Mon's side all this time, but you're not much stronger than me."

  Amun smiled and said: "Really? You will soon understand Meidansuo's situation. On the other hand, you have never forgotten your kung fu."

  Lin Ke replied, "Of course, since you left, I have been cultivating the power of both sides without a single day's interruption."

  Amon nodded in satisfaction: "That's good, you'll soon be facing a test. How about the Iron Armor Beast King Yun Meng? I heard that you can't find an opponent to practice with in the mountains and often spar with Yun Meng."

  Lin Ke replied with a bit of embarrassment: "Originally, if it was a one-on-one duel, I would be slightly stronger than Yun Meng. However, he has four large iron-armored beasts to help him, so together they are slightly stronger than me."

  Amun smiled: "Don't say anything else, I completely understand. You've never taken advantage of anyone. For this period of time, I'm giving you a task - stop fighting with Yunmeng and teach her to write instead, just like how I taught you back then."

  Lin Ke Zhang opened his big mouth and shouted: "What? Teach Yun Meng to write words, will the Iron Armor Beast also learn to write?"

  Mei Danzuo slapped him: "What's wrong with that, we met the Scorpion King in the desert and could transform into a human figure to talk. There were two humanoid female scorpions next to us, didn't you see? You actually came out without wearing clothes, that figure..."

  Amon interrupted him and said, "Yun Meng is very clever. You are not its opponent after all. It shows that I taught it well at the beginning, and it has been practicing in its own way. It's not impossible to learn how to write, and in the future, it may become as powerful as the Scorpion King, becoming the best guardian of our people."

  Lin Ke asked: "Did you meet King Scorpion again? The experience of leaving the mountain is really wonderful, and I must tell you carefully."

  "Hey, don't worry, let Meidansuo tell you slowly. This time I came to teach you new things, focusing on forging various weapons and artifacts. The cultivation of the two-sided power cannot rely too much on external objects, after all, it is not one's own strength, and may even lead to obsession and greed. However, the process of forging objects is a kind of exercise for both magical powers and willpower."

  Amon settled down in the cave dweller tribe again, and after becoming a great magician and warrior, he gained many new insights into the dual powers of unity. He taught these to Medanzer and Link without reservation, while also passing on some methods for crafting divine artifacts. Some objects did not yet have the conditions to be forged, but others could already be attempted, and Amon personally took action to craft weapons.

  Those variant giant scorpions' abnormally hard carapaces can be made into scale armor, and with the aid of divine technique processing, not only can they withstand weapon slashes but also absorb and transform energy impacts. It's a very good defensive object. The snake gallbladder of the double-headed serpent monster, after undergoing such intense divine technique impact, still managed to preserve its natural solidity, even able to resist some divine technique damage effects.

  The scales of the snake can not only be used to make armor, but also the fan-shaped scales have a prominent bone spur in the middle, which can be ground into a very sharp arrowhead. The tail needle of the scorpion is also a material for making arrowheads, and this kind of arrowhead is highly toxic. Although the venom left in the tail needle cannot be used repeatedly, it is already powerful enough.

  Amon also collected the vertebrae and ribs of the two-headed giant snake, the ribs can be processed into bow back, the vertebrae can be made into handles for weapons, these bones are also materials for making staffs, but the production of staffs is much more difficult.

  The staff must be made from living materials, such as the core of a walnut tree that has grown for hundreds of years, which is the most popular material for making staffs. The bones of this monster are even more rare and can't be found normally. Amun carefully studied his iron branch staff and discovered that it had been processed by the old madman with some unknown method, and inside there were extremely fine growth patterns, so it could be used as both a weapon and a staff.

  This method Ammon is still unfamiliar with, it seems that his level is still far from the top-notch artifact masters on the mainland, and Link and Medanzzo are even further away.

  Maidanzuo's power was still recovering, and Link first tried to forge equipment, starting with the simplest scorpion shell scales. Making those back shells into scales wasn't difficult, as long as he had enough patience, but adding divine magic to them was not easy.

  Lin Ke almost ruined half of the shell, and it took a month to successfully create a perfect scorpion-scale armor. Such an astonishing waste and extravagance would make anyone else's heart ache and bleed, but Amun didn't mind much. He told Lin Ke that this was a necessary process, and any outstanding artifact master was made from astonishingly precious materials. As one's magical power, realm, and craftsmanship improved, the creation of artifacts would also become more skilled, allowing for the processing of even more precious artifacts.

  The most precious materials in Ah Mon's hands were the eight fangs and two snake tendons, which he decided to craft personally. The eight fangs were four long and four short, and Ah Mon started by simply handling them, damaging two of the short fangs in the process. He used the other two short fangs to create two curved knives with an arched shape. These two knives were light and sharp, even having a similar effect to a magic wand, assisting in casting spells during battle, and naturally possessing a shocking spiritual impact akin to a sonic boom.

  He handed the two slender curved knives to Medanzo and Link, which were not only a beautiful decoration but also a good weapon in battle, much stronger than the general warrior's long sword.

  Next, Ah Mon made a bow with four long teeth, and although he was very careful, one of them was still damaged. When making the bowstring with snake tendons, even more were damaged, and three short sections of bowstrings added up to less than ten feet in length, but he used up an entire thirty-foot-long snake tendon before succeeding.

  These three bows are extremely powerful, and ordinary people can't even draw them. They are also a kind of divine artifact that can assist in the casting of water elemental magic, and can also condense into magical arrows out of thin air, making it a weapon that mages can use as well. These three bows naturally belong to Amun, Link, and Medanzzo, one each, and come with arrows made from snake-scale bone spikes.

  Amon personally processed two curved knives, three bows and a batch of arrows, after which he didn't move his hands again, handing over all the remaining materials to Link, whatever can be processed is fine, just treat it as practice.

  After Amun finished processing these instruments, more than a month had passed, and Maidanzo's strength had fully recovered. He was surprised to find that the growth of his power was still continuing, so he came to ask Amun what was going on. Amun smiled and said: "Congratulations, you already have six-level achievements, and can cultivate many high-ranking divine techniques and body techniques. I will pass them on to you before I leave."

  Mei Danzuo was overjoyed. Lin Ke, who was beside him, was so envious that he couldn't help but pull on Ah Meng's sleeve and ask in a whining tone: "Ah Meng God, when can I also learn high-level divine magic?"

  Amidst a seemingly amused yet not quite smiling expression, he said: "Soon enough, after you've gone through a great deal of hardship, it'll be almost time. Leading the entire tribe in migration isn't an easy task, we'll see if you can hold on then... How's Yun Meng doing with her studies? I was thinking of going to take a look today."

  Lin Ke nodded and said: "Soon soon, it will write its own name!"

  That afternoon, three people left the village and went to a water pool where several iron-armored beasts were resting. Xue Dingyuan seemed very interested in this matter and followed behind them, running quickly to watch the excitement. When they arrived at the edge of the water pool, Ah Meng called out, and the Iron-Armored Beast King jumped up, wagging its tail in a very affectionate manner, splashing several people with water. The four large iron-armored beasts also floated to the surface, looking at Ah Meng with a very reverent expression.

  Amun smiled and said: "Yun Meng, I heard that you can write your own name now. From now on, you are no longer an ordinary beast king, but have grasped the wisdom of human beings. Quickly write it for me to see."

  Yun Meng nodded obediently and stretched out a front paw to write a line of words on the ground. Xue Ding'e had been poking his head out with wide eyes staring at it, suddenly turned his head away without looking, and Mei Dan Su also covered her mouth and laughed.

  Ammon frowned and looked at Lin Ke with a somewhat strange expression: "How did you teach him? Why is it written backwards?"

  Lin Ke awkwardly replied: "What I taught is all correct, maybe its eyes just grew differently from mine."

  Ammon was stunned for half a day and suddenly gave Link a punch: "Do you stand opposite when writing?"

  Lin Ke slapped his forehead: "Ah, I treated it as a human being, didn't expect it to be so stupid!"

  Amun glared at him: "It's not that Cloud Dream is stupid, you see how well it learned! Can't blame you either, usually in this mountain there's no chance to write words, no experience is just no experience... All of you go out, I'll talk to Cloud Dream alone for a few words."

  Lin Ke and Mei Dianzuo came out of the forest and waited on the mountain road outside. Not long after, Ah Mon brought Xue Dingrui out, and he said to Mei Dianzuo: "You already have a six-level achievement with one body and two faces, now go try the power of the Iron Armor Beast King's cultivation. I just ordered Yun Meng, whatever skills you have, bring them out, don't hold back."

  Mei Danzuo went in, and soon heard a loud roar from the depths of the forest, with waves splashing and magical powers surging, and countless broken branches and trees flying out. After about an hour's time, the commotion finally stopped, and Mei Danzuo emerged from the forest, looking very disheveled.

  Ammon smiled and asked: "How's it going? Who wins or loses?"

  "Originally, if it was a one-on-one duel, I would be slightly stronger than Yun Meng. However, with the help of its four large iron-armored beasts, they become slightly stronger than me overall."

  Ammon furrowed his brow: "This sounds familiar, how come it's exactly the same as what Link said?"

  Lin Ke saw Mai Dangzo eating a pancake and burst out laughing: "The reason is very simple, we were all taught by the same teacher."

  Amon glared at him again: "Yun Meng is stronger than all of you, don't you feel ashamed? Its power has made great progress and will play a very important role in the future migration of our people. In another half month, we will set off, so order the tribesmen to hurry up and pack their things, take what they need to bring with them, and leave behind what is not needed."

  Just as Amun and Medan arrived in Ducktown, Hilarie and Raphael also arrived in Cape City and Uruk City. Since the traffic was cut off by the Great Flood, these two city-states were receiving messengers from the Hittite Kingdom's Syria City-state for the first time. They came to convey the greetings of the great god Zorvath, and received polite hospitality.

  Both of them had a secret letter and declared that it could only be opened by the lord of the city himself, which brought unexpected trouble to both envoys.

  Rhodopis read the secret letter from Glaucus, sat alone in his room for half a day, did not summon any officials or consult with Vice-God Julian, but only invited his most trusted aide, Aristides. He handed the letter to Aristides and said: "Sir, I received a letter and don't know how to deal with it. Should I hand it over to Pharaoh along with the messenger, or pretend that I haven't read it at all?"

  Aristotle read the letter and didn't speak for half a day. Roddick finally couldn't help but open his mouth: "You have always been my most trusted friend, so I will discuss it with you alone, hoping to hear your opinion."

  "Aristotle pondered, 'Such a letter is indeed difficult to discuss openly. Galileo didn't mean to be your enemy; this 9th-level grandmaster simply told you what he foresaw in the future and proposed a suggestion.'"

  Rodrik sighed, "What is to happen in the land of Mallorca, I have also heard rumors, but I am just the lord of Cape Town, although unwilling to see it, nor can I stop the disputes between countries."

  "Aristotle: 'But Galileo wanted to stop it, so he made such a suggestion. I'm an outsider, from the perspective of an onlooker, this great magician's tragic heart is worthy of admiration, as for whether it can succeed or not, that's another matter, at least he wants to do so.'"

  Rod Dick forced a wry smile: "I couldn't consider his suggestion, nor did I want anyone to know that I'd heard it, but at the same time I didn't want to offend Song Lie. So what do you think I should do?"

  Aristotle thought for a moment and replied, "Groteus also foresaw the war that is about to break out between Hatti and Egypt. This is probably something neither you nor he can stop. His proposal can be considered again after the war, when the situation may have changed, or perhaps it will not even need to be reconsidered. You don't have to give any answer for now."

  （）