103: Chapter 103: These two civilizations have highly similar mythologies, both featuring Yagami.

"Global mythology, Xia Country mythology..."

Xiaoyu's beautiful eyes darted; mythology, the source of the physical body.

"Bro, you mean the physical body can be explained through mythology, right?"

"In that case, even if the physical body was created by gods, it still doesn't explain the source of consciousness!"

Jiang Zhe shook his head slightly. "The source of consciousness predates the human body by far, even earlier than when the gods descended from the heavens!"

"Consciousness is a topic for a future lesson. Tonight's mythology mainly concerns the physical body; after all, Nuwa created humans."

Xiaoyu nodded gently, her gaze burning with intensity.

Consciousness actually predates the physical body by so much? She was starting to get curious!

Jiang Zhe leaned back on the sofa and casually tossed out a question:

"Xiaoyu, before we get into mythology, answer a basic question for me: how many years of history does our Xia Country civilization have?"

Xiaoyu's eyes lit up; this was knowledge etched into her bones.

"The textbooks and mainstream narrative say five thousand years of civilization—starting from the era of the Yellow Emperor."

She paused for a moment and added, "But more and more archaeological discoveries, such as Liangzhu, Shimao, Sanxingdui, and even the earlier Jiahu Site... seem to be pushing back the upper limit of Chinese civilization."

"Some believe that the sparks of our civilization were sprouting on this land eight thousand years ago or even earlier."

"However, in terms of history in the strict sense and clearly recorded dynastic systems, it indeed began five thousand years ago."

"Very good!" Jiang Zhe nodded slightly and asked with a smile, "Let me test you again. In our mythology, who are the very first, the most ancient ancestors?"

The viewers in the livestream couldn't keep calm and started flooding the chat with comments.

"Easy, it has to be the three sovereigns and five emperors!"

"Fuxi, Nuwa, Shennong; Yellow Emperor, Zhuanxu, Ku, Yao, Shun, Yu!"

"..."

"It's the three sovereigns and five emperors!" Xiaoyu blurted out. "Fuxi, Nuwa, and Shennong are the Three Sovereigns, and the other five are the Emperors!"

"Correct." Jiang Zhe nodded with a smile. "Then tell me, how many are there in the three sovereigns and five emperors in total?"

"Three plus five makes eight."

Xiaoyu furrowed her brows, thinking the question was a bit too simple.

"Good, remember this number."

Jiang Zhe repeated the number softly, then handed the laptop to Xiaoyu.

On the screen was a simple search engine interface.

Jiang Zhe guided her, "Xiaoyu, look it up. Use keywords like Sumerian Civilization, earliest gods, or chief deities. See how many earliest rulers there are in their mythology."

"Huh? Oh, okay!" Xiaoyu was stunned for a moment, her curiosity piqued. She took the laptop and quickly typed on the virtual keyboard.

The viewers also began to grow curious.

"Live teaching?"

"I know Sumei; I think it's a home appliance brand."

"The guy upstairs is crazy. It's the Sumerian Civilization... the one even earlier than the four great ancient civilizations!"

"..."

Two and a half seconds later, Xiaoyu's eyes slowly widened. When she looked up, her face was filled with disbelief:

"Bro, in Sumerian mythology, the most important group is the Anunnaki gods. According to the Sumerian King List and the creation epic Enuma Elish, before the Great Flood..."

"...there were also eight gods!"

"Eight?" Jiang Zhe raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

Xiaoyu carefully browsed the information. Although there were some discrepancies in the deities recorded on the clay tablets on the screen, there were indeed eight in total!

"I'm sure!"

Jiang Zhe smiled slightly. "Why do both the Huaxia and Sumerian Civilizations have eight gods?"

"This...!!!" Xiaoyu was left speechless by the question.

A coincidence? Or something else?

Even the viewers were staring at the scene with dropped jaws, their brains momentarily stalling.

"What, what, what?"

"What eight?"

"It means that before the Great Flood, the Huaxia civilization had eight gods, and the Sumerian Civilization also had eight gods!"

"Hiss~~ Holy crap!"

"..."

Meanwhile, in the faculty residential compound of the University of History in Kyoto.

Professor Chen Runzhi, who had been listening intently, suddenly gasped.

Old Qian, seeing Old Chen's reaction, asked in confusion, "What's wrong? It's just eight gods. Isn't Sumerian history just made up?"

"You're a history professor; how can you start talking nonsense too?" Old Chen rolled his eyes and retorted sternly, his tone resolute. "The authenticity of the Sumerian Civilization is an established fact in archaeology. Since the mid-19th century: Nippur, Uruk, Ur..."

"Massive excavations of ruins, tens of thousands of Cuneiform clay tablets unearthed, recording laws, tax receipts, king lists, and even students' homework. Its period of existence and independent origin are undisputed in the international academic community!"

"To say the Sumerian Civilization is fake is ignorance!"

Speaking of which, Old Chen looked at the projection screen with a burning gaze, "The real problem is that an ancient civilization that developed independently in Mesopotamia and another that developed independently in the Yellow River Basin of East Asia, both have the most core figures in their mythological systems..."

"The founders!!!"

"The number of them weirdly turns out to be the same: [Eight]!"

"The probability of this is truly unimaginable!"

He didn't continue. Old Liu, Old Wang, and Old Qian in the living room all felt a strong chill run up to their heads.

On the other side, inside the living room of Qingfeng Temple.

Hearing this, Zheng Ming couldn't help but snort coldly, "It's just a numbers game. There are plenty of coincidences in the world. How do we know it wasn't just a later fabrication?"

In the living room.

Xiaoyu snapped out of her surprise and asked, somewhat puzzled, "Bro, isn't relying on just the number eight a bit flimsy? It's probably just a coincidence, right?"

"Good question!" Jiang Zhe seemed to have been waiting for Xiaoyu's question.

He took the laptop and quickly operated it, bringing up a simple comparison table.

[Left Side: Huaxia Mythology · Before the Great Flood]

Fuxi, Nuwa, Shennong, Yellow Emperor, Zhuanxu, Ku, Yao, Shun.

[Right Side: Sumerian Mythology · Before the Great Flood]

An, Enlil, Enki, Ninhursag, Nanna, Utu, Inanna, Ninurta—collectively known as the Anunnaki.

He turned the laptop toward Xiaoyu.

Jiang Zhe explained, "If it were just the number, it could indeed be dismissed as a coincidence."

Then he tapped on the [dark blue] separator band below these eight gods, labeled [Before the Great Flood], his gaze gradually sharpening.

"Xiaoyu, pay attention to this premise: Before the Great Flood."

"In our country's mythological system, when were the legends of the three sovereigns and five emperors primarily active?"

"Was it before Yu the Great controlled the waters—that is, before the famous Great Flood?"

Xiaoyu's clever mind whirred, and the answer appeared: "Right, the stories of the three sovereigns and five emperors happened before Yu the Great controlled the waters."

"Then what about Sumer?" Jiang Zhe pointed to the right. "When did the era where their eight primary deities directly ruled over humanity end?"

When Xiaoyu saw her brother clearly pointing to the [Great Flood] in the dark blue separator, she immediately knew the answer:

"Those eight gods of theirs also retreated behind the scenes after a devastating Great Flood, no longer managing human city-states!"

Jiang Zhe straightened his back and nodded slightly.

"Two ancient civilizations of independent origin both recorded eight deities at their beginning who laid the foundation of their civilizations!"

"Furthermore, these eight directly influenced that era, and their rule clearly ended after the legend of a global Great Flood."

"The Great Flood directly became a very clear dividing line between myth and history, between divine right and human right!"

Jiang Zhe paused for a moment to let Xiaoyu digest this concept.

"Now, do you still think that the number eight is just a simple coincidence?"

"This is more like the same mythological record being documented separately by different civilizations in different languages!"

As Jiang Zhe finished speaking, the viewers in the livestream suddenly felt a chilling realization.

"Damn, I've got goosebumps all over."

"So the Great Flood is the dividing line, and the eight gods of both civilizations disappeared?"

"Before, I thought the comparison of the eight gods before the Great Flood in the Huaxia and Sumerian Civilizations was a bit far-fetched, but seeing them compared like this... holy crap!"

"My scalp is tingling; it's terrifying to think about. Don't stop, I can handle it!"

In the living room.

Xiaoyu was completely stunned, looking at the eight-to-eight comparison of different deities from the two civilizations, all of whom disappeared after the Great Flood as if they had vanished from the face of the earth!

After a long while, Xiaoyu shook her head and came to her senses, her eyes showing curiosity. "Bro, is there any connection between Sumerian mythology and Huaxia mythology?"

As she spoke, she saw Jiang Zhe couldn't help but smile. "Because their mythology and ours are so highly overlapping and similar. So similar that... we have Nuwa and Fuxi, and they have their own Nuwa and Fuxi; we had eight gods before the Great Flood, and they also had eight gods before the Great Flood..."

"It even looks highly likely that they were... the same group of gods!"