No matter in the East or the West, to possess the bloodline of the nobility is always something to be grateful for. Even if one is a captive, better education and background can bring more opportunities of destiny.

"Chief Divine, protect me! I must seize this opportunity! I must seize it!... Return to Kyushu... Reclaim the great power... Revive the Main Family..."

At this moment, the former monk soldier Watanabe Masumi, now Ryuzoji Jia Hong, bowed his head as he walked towards the "Yin Merchant Mysterious Bird Temple," harboring a strong desire for destiny. After a long journey, he had already learned about the vast territory of this "Gummy People Nation," its wealth in gold, and the ambitious expansion under its military system, all of which could offer him powerful support!

During these torturous years, the more Ryuzoji Jia Hong learned, the more his desire burned. It seemed that ever since he abandoned his monk name and converted to the chief god of the "Mysterious Bird," his original Buddhist Law cultivation dissipated. At this moment, the flame of the "Mysterious Bird" burned constantly on his neck, where he wore the Chief God's Amulet, stimulating his restless mind. The obsession with the Martial Family grew hotter, stirring infinite earthly desires, leading one straight into the Asura.

"Chief Divine, protect me! After the decline of the Great River Minamoto Clan, it could still be revived by Minamoto no Yoshiie. After Minamoto no Yoshiie's defeat and death, there would still be the resurgence of Minamoto no Yoritomo and Minamoto no Yoshitsune, eventually establishing the Kamakura Shogunate!... And Minamoto no Yoshiie, as an elder brother, suppressed his younger brother Yoshitsune, just like me and my younger brother Jia Jian... All this is not impossible! As long as I can get the support of the Gummy People Nation of the Eastern Sea, even if it's just the support of gold!"

With endless obsession and worries, Ryuzoji Jia Hong walked into the deep Chief Divine Temple, also stepping into the path of irrevocable earthly desires. This seemed to be the fate of noble bloodline; from birth to death, it flows with slaughter, calculation, and corpses...

At the same time, far away nine thousand miles to the south at West Mountain Port, an old man who refused such a fate was also enduring inner torment. He silently planted a heavy pinewood staff into the soft embankment. Then, he forcefully wielded a lengthened iron sickle, like a humanoid old bear, fiercely harvesting the golden rice field!

"Swish! Swish!..."

"Swish! Swish!..."

"..."

Chiwaco stared in surprise, holding a small sickle, watching the "bulldozer-like" Cedar Shaman beside him. The large, sweeping sickle made the old Militia shrink his neck, reflexively stepping back two steps. Yet the Cedar Shaman's steps did not stop, cutting all the way to the end of the acre rice field before turning around sharply. Then, still with his head down, he cut straight towards Chiwaco's ridge with a "swish swish".

"Swish! Swish!..."

"Stop! Stop! Old Woody! Are you crazy!... Stop it!!..."

Chiwaco was startled, scrambling back onto the embankment. He picked up Old Woody's staff, jabbed it precisely into the rice field, then forcefully flicked it upwards!

"Bang!"

The "crazy sickle" in Cedar Shaman's hand was finally flicked out. Dazed, Cedar Shaman looked at his empty hands and eventually came back to his senses.

"Old Corn, what are you...? Ah! Ouch!... Why are you hitting my head?..."

"I'm hitting you, you crazy Old Woody! You almost cut me and the rice together!..."

Chiwaco angrily hit him three times with the staff. The dazed Cedar Shaman took the hits, then, holding his head, complained embarrassedly.

"Hey! Hey! Stop hitting; three times is enough!... I was a bit distracted just now and didn't see you; it wasn't on purpose... Ugh! My back, cutting rice so vigorously earlier made it ache..."

"Phew! Phew! You confused Old Woody! Mindless and spineless!"

Chiwaco hit him two more times before throwing the Shaman Scepter on the ground. Hands on his hips, he scrutinized Cedar Shaman up and down, finally opening suspiciously.

"Old Woody! Something's definitely off with you! You usually laugh like a hairy-less orangutan, yet today you haven't smiled at all... You cut rice so vigorously, rushing forward like a rutting buffalo... What's going on with you? Regretting not accepting the kingdom's honorable nobility title before?"

"Oh! What's 'hairy-less orangutan', what's 'rutting buffalo'? Stop talking nonsense!... Old Corn, though others may not understand me, don't you? Do I care about such titles?..."

Cedar Shaman spat twice, shaking his head, and walked to the side of the embankment. He picked up his Shaman staff, forcefully planted it into the soil, then sat on the embankment, staring motionlessly at the distant West Mountain Port, lost in thought.

"Phew! This West Mountain Port, every time I look, it moves me greatly... I've been away for just two years, and yet it has changed so much! Look at these rows of timber and thatched huts, look at the stone temple! Originally, this was all barren land by the lake here..."

"Oh, Chief Divine! The changes of the Era, like the rings of the Northern Continent, rise and fall following the unpredictable nature... But what changes are not only the port's buildings, not only West Mountain Port?... Even the North Bay Tribe where I grew up, and even the tribespeople of the same clan I am familiar with, are undergoing earth-shaking changes!"

"Ha! How is it that you, usually a merry old bear, suddenly look worried like a raccoon?"

The old Militia Chiwaco patted off the dust and sat beside Cedar Shaman. He looked at the drought-resistant paddy field before them, then at the corn and potato fields surrounding the distant port, his face full of the smile of a bountiful harvest.

"Old Woody! Look at the fields around the port, at this vast stretch of farmland! Look at the newly planted rice here, yielding so much, perfectly suited to the climate here! This year's field yield is really good, your tribe should be the same, everyone can have enough to eat... this is a good change, a great thing worth being happy about! Seeing these fields, I can't feel worried, I could laugh even in my sleep!"

"Oh! Old Corn, this field's yield is indeed excellent! Thanks to you these past few months, always teaching the young men of the tribe those farming skills..."

Cedar Shaman nodded, yet the bitterness on his face, like engraved tattoos, never relaxed. With a bitter expression, he searched in his arms, lit a roll of Divine Smoke, inhaled leisurely twice, then exhaled a ring.

"Phew!~ Oh high Chief Divine! Oh great spirit! They came here, built many fields on the tribes' land. The fields yielded more food, the tribe all ate enough... Then, they built a temple, the tribe bowed to the god statue, chanting the god's name, also understanding what is the sky above and what is the ground below..."

"All this is good; it is the road the tribe has to walk forward! But having more food, knowing of god and heaven and earth, is not the end of this road. At the end of the plain, there will always be a mountain..."

"Phew!~ Oh high Chief Divine, oh great spirit! In just a few years, they brought the distinction between nobility and commoners, brought the separation of heaven and earth!... From now on, in the tribe generally level, a small mountain appeared. Some sit on the mountain, wearing feathered crowns. More busy below, holding farming hoes..."

"I saw the kingdom to the south, and I also saw the future of the Northern Land. The people on the mountain will grow taller and fewer. The people below will grow lower and more... This will eventually separate into an upper and a lower higher than the mountain in the range of this Mountain Forest!"

As he sang, Cedar Shaman looked at the silent old Militia Chiwaco with a bitter face. He sighed faintly, his heart surging with complex emotions, yet even he couldn't clearly understand them.

"Ah! Old Corn, can you understand my worries? Heaven and earth separated, the road on the plain has ended, all behind are undulating mountain roads! Yet some can walk on the mountain, possessing the entire sky... More will be buried below, increasing in numbers, seeing no sky..."

"Alas, I have already seen the destined future! After I am gone, this Golden Bay land of my homeland, the communal society of clan equality, will gradually fade until it's completely gone... Among the many Miwock Tribes, there will only be the kingdom nobility as noble as cocoa, and the overwhelmingly humble tribespeople like weeds!"