18: Chapter 18 The Whip of the Star Sun God, The Starfire Empire

Throughout the four corners of the world and across all of time, there has only ever been one god, and that is the Great Deity Xingyang.

The Xingyang God has only one group of descendants, and that is us, the Cat People.

We are the noble and sole Children of God!

This has been the fervent and undying faith and ideology of the Cat People for nearly ten thousand years.

Their ancestors, Sweet Dumpling and her four sisters who were originally saved by the god, taught their kin the methods of roasting meat and making fire by drilling wood, which they had learned from Chu Xingyang.

Clean and easily digestible cooked food made the Cat People healthier and longer-lived, allowing the elders to accumulate more experience to pass down to future generations.

And the ability to make fire anytime and anywhere also greatly changed every aspect of their lives.

One such change was their discovery that many wild beasts feared the light of fire.

Consequently, they used fire to domesticate snow wolves, improving the breed and turning them into mounts for hunting and combat.

Furthermore, their absolute devotion to Chu Xingyang not only gave the Cat People a backbone, enabling unprecedented unity and a united front against outsiders.

It also made them fearless and valiant in battle, always pressing forward.

The descendants of Sweet Dumpling and her five sisters gradually formed five legions: Upper, Lower, Left, Center, and Right.

The five tribes of the Cat People galloped across the battlefield, invincible, and soon established the continent's first military empire in the north: the Starfire Empire!

In front of the low and crude imperial palace stood a statue of Chu Xingyang, dozens of meters tall.

The first emperor, Emperor Tang Fei, was a descendant of Sweet Dumpling and also the commander of the Center Legion; he rode a snow-white, handsome snow wolf and held a tough, sharp sword in his hand.

Standing on the high platform at the foot of the statue, he spoke with great passion: "Subjects of the Empire, we are all Children of God! Back then, our common ancestor Sweet Dumpling and her four sisters bathed in the grace of the Xingyang God and inherited the flesh and blood of the Xingyang God, which is why we have our incomparably glorious present."

"But in the south of the continent, in those vast, savage lands, there still dwell countless ignorant people who are uncivilized and know nothing of the god."

"Our Star Fire Nation has a long and arduous road ahead; we must strive for progress, overcome all obstacles, and bring the grace and blessings of the Xingyang God to every corner of the world!"

The more Emperor Tang Fei spoke, the more excited he became; he raised his long sword, his eyes filled with a chilling, ruthless gaze, and he shouted at the top of his lungs: "Those who do not believe in the Xingyang God, execute them!"

Thousands of soldiers from the five armies below joined in a chorus, their voices like a landslide or a tsunami, seemingly reaching the heavens.

"Those who do not believe in the Xingyang God, execute them!"

"Those who do not believe in the Xingyang God, execute them!"

With magnificent momentum, the five mighty armies of the Cat People began their march to the south.

They conquered cities and stormed strongholds all along the way, unstoppable like bamboo being split.

After all, in the age of cold weapons, Cavalry that could charge into battle often held the initiative on the battlefield.

The other four races on the northern continent also had Cavalry, but they only had warhorses in limited numbers.

Even though horses had higher carrying capacity and stronger endurance for long-distance travel.

However, the snow wolves, which had been domesticated much earlier, had been undergoing constant breed optimization and iteration.

Therefore, in close-quarters combat, warhorses were no match for the more mobile and ferocious war wolves.

Coupled with the incomparably lofty faith in the Xingyang God in the hearts of the Cat People, they were driven to always be at the forefront of battle, charging forward fearlessly.

Every time they conquered a place, the chiliarch of the legion would drive the local residents and captives to a vast open space.

Surrounded by a perimeter formed by nearly a thousand Cat People Cavalry, they were completely hemmed in.

They were the meat on the chopping block, and the captors were the knives.

Facing the snarling snow wolves and the fierce, menacing Cavalry all around them, the unarmed captives could only huddle together in terror, heads bowed, trembling as they awaited their unknown fate.

Standing on a high mound, the chiliarch spoke arrogantly to the group: "Everyone, do not panic. We are the messengers of the Xingyang God, and we are faithful believers of the Xingyang God. We have come to bring you light and blessings."

After saying this, the chiliarch scanned the people who had just lost their homes and continued slowly: "Therefore, the merciful Xingyang God now gives you a chance to embrace the light. Those who choose to believe in the Xingyang God, walk out through the gap on the north side, and someone will naturally register your household and allocate land to you. From then on, as long as you keep your faith and hand over half of your labor's produce to the god, you will naturally live in peace and contentment."

"Of course, for those who still choose to have no faith, or do not wish to join our Star Fire Nation, just stand still. In the end, we will let you go, but you cannot stay here, you cannot stay in the Star Fire Nation; you must continue south to seek your former kingdoms."

After a moment of hesitation and whispered discussions, several people in rags would often step out from the perimeter, muttering: "It's the same. Even if they hadn't come, we would still have to hand over half of our crop yield. Giving it to the Cat People now makes no difference to me. Besides, I don't want to leave the hometown that raised me."

Led by them, more than half of the people would slowly walk out of the perimeter to receive their new household registration.

However, a small minority would choose to remain where they were, unmoving.

Once everyone had made their choice, the chiliarch would glare viciously at those still in the perimeter, a sinister grin appearing at the corner of his mouth: "Stubborn to the end. Our war wolves are already hungry; you shall serve as their food."

After speaking, he raised his right hand high and waved it three times.

Upon receiving the order, the Cavalry immediately closed in and began a bloody massacre of everyone within the perimeter!

In an instant, swords flashed and shadows danced, blood flowing like a river. Miserable wails resounded across the land.

A captive, unwilling to just bow their head and die, pointed at the chiliarch's nose and cursed: "You villain! You clearly said you would let us flee south and let us seek our old masters."

The chiliarch widened his eyes and sneered: "How slow would you be if you walked? Once you're in the bellies of the war wolves, you'll arrive very quickly. Rest assured, we will soon occupy the entire continent, and you and your monarch will be able to meet underground very soon, hahahaha."

Under the leadership of its first emperor, Emperor Tang Fei, the invincible five tribes of the Cat People soon became a nightmare in the eyes of everyone in the southern Four Kingdoms, and they called the empire's Cavalry the "Whip of Xingyang God"!

They believed this was the punishment and lashings sent down by the god upon the people of the world!

Despite their immense fear, they still persisted in stubborn resistance. In the face of the Star Fire Nation's five armies, which were attacking with overwhelming force, the Four Kingdoms naturally formed the Four Kingdoms Alliance to ensure the eternal survival of their nations.

The leader of the alliance was Mo, the leader of the Artisans, who were proficient in mechanisms and siege equipment.

At the alliance meeting, Mo, full of confidence, gestured across the sand table: "Although our Four Kingdoms have lost most of our territory, fortunately, we still have the An Shen River and the Su Lian Mountains as two great natural barriers to hold. As long as we firmly defend the three passes—Ox Pass, Tiger Pass, and Yang Pass—the Star Fire Nation will absolutely not be able to break in!"