Chapter 822: The Squeeze Begins!

Yan Aohan snorted, a hint of disdain on his face. "So, the people of the First Civilization decided to leave this planet for this very reason. They all departed, leaving behind the legend of heaven and earth separating—sky as sky, earth as earth. They left the Second Civilization behind."

She continued, "Then came the concept of cultivation. Gradually, legends arose of cultivators ascending to immortality. The difference between the Second and First Civilizations was this: the First Civilization was born with such abilities, nurtured by heaven and earth. The Second Civilization had to cultivate. Once they started cultivating, they were depriving the world of spiritual energy. This caused disasters for heaven and earth. Thus, the spiritual energy on Earth grew thinner and thinner."

Yan Aohan paused. "The story of Gonggong crashing into Mount Buzhou originated from this era too. Our Yan family truly rose to power from this time. Actually, we weren't called the 'National Guardian Yan Family' back then. We were known as the Yan Family, the Human Pioneers. Our family managed the natural development of life in every nation—from birth, to growth, to death. We ensured everything happened naturally. If there was even a slight imbalance, we would step in to adjust it."

"And then?" Zhu Yanyi had been listening so intently that she had forgotten why she was here in the first place.

"You still want to hear more?" Yan Aohan smiled helplessly. He pointed to a small flame not far away. Zhu Yanyi noticed that about a hundred meters away, a small flame had appeared. Its outer shape was blue, while the inner fire was white jade-colored. It was particularly beautiful, swaying gently in the wind, as if it too was listening to Yan Aohan’s story.

Yan Aohan smiled slightly and continued leading Zhu Yanyi forward. "Humans in the Second Civilization were born after the fact, so polarization appeared quickly. One group could cultivate and became cultivators. The other group could not and remained mortals. Cultivators did not care for the pleasures of food and drink; even if they didn’t eat or drink, they wouldn’t die. But mortals needed to eat and drink. To survive, they gradually forgot everything from the past. When cultivators discovered this, they combined the power of several great experts to seal certain memories of mortals—specifically, the memories in the right brain. Mortals could only use their left brains, and the right brain would show no traces. Thus, mortals and cultivators were truly and completely separated."

"After a long time, most cultivators broke through the void and ascended, leaving only mortals on this planet?" Zhu Yanyi thought for a moment and understood the result.

"Yes. The planet’s spiritual energy slowly disappeared as cultivators absorbed it. Only ordinary natural air remained. Mortals could live with this air, but cultivators could not survive without spiritual energy. So, in the end, the cultivators left this planet, and humanity entered the Third Civilization." Yan Aohan continued telling the story of the lost civilizations.

Zhu Yanyi hadn’t expected each civilization to be connected. "So, does that mean true humanity actually began with the Third Civilization?"

"No. The mortals in the Third Civilization enjoyed peace for too long and developed ambitions. They wanted to know the world outside. But they no longer had the ability to cultivate, so they began manufacturing various machines. This led to an interstellar war that nearly destroyed the solar system." Yan Aohan spoke of these events in a cold, narrator-like tone. If Zhu Yanyi hadn’t known he was only twenty-six years old, she would have thought he had come from that civilization himself.