The Magus Era

Poisonous snakes hid their fangs while fierce beasts curled their claws. Even though they were driven crazy by the hunger, hearing the spell-incanting voices of those young men sitting on the lotuses, they stayed quiet. They lied on the ground gently and softly, without moving even a little bit, just like a baby who was just satisfied by his mother’s milk.

The fiercest wild beasts now looked at the two men in long robes obediently and harmlessly, like chickens; their throats moved slightly, letting out soft glu-glu noises.

People on and behind the fence wall were stunned, watching those golden lotuses growing out from the ground. They had never seen anything like that.

Golden light spots descended from the sky and landed on the ground. Then, from each light spot, leaves and tendrils grew out. Next, golden lotuses bloomed on the ground! How could such a thing ever happen?

Even more magically, a small-sized good-looking young man sat on each lotus, peacefully and devoutly incanting a profound ‘spell’! This spell was completely different from the one these people incanted during offering ceremonies, but it was extremely comforting. Hearing the spell, these people even felt less hungry!

An elderly man, whose hair were white and body was stooped, walked slowly through the crowd and reached to the two men.

This dark-skinned elderly man supported his body with a roughly crafted walking stick. He tried his best to open his lusterless eyes wider, looking at these two men from head to toe, then asked, ”What do you mean? Believe them, then we can have the food we need? You tell me, who would believe something like that?”

People behind the elderly man shook their heads an sighed.

Indeed, who would believe it? Anyone could say the same.

Fill their stomachs? Because of the endless rain, not even a wild fruit could be found in the forest by now,. How could they fill anyone’s stomach at the moment?

Some women glanced at those wild beasts, who obediently lied on the ground and stayed motionless. If they slaughtered these beasts, the meat would be enough for all clansmen to have a nice meal, but that could only make one meal. After these beasts were eaten out, the people would starve again.

The two young men laughed. They reverently bowed to the portrait of Priest Hua and Priest Mu, smiled mildly and said, ”You can surely believe us. If you follow the guidance of our Master Shifus, if you worship them in your ancestral temple, you will naturally get what you need.”

The elderly man with a walking stick wanted to say something else, but the two young men with long robes already started working.

Because of the rain and the flood, the village had disappeared. The fertile farmlands opened by their ancestors were destroyed, and all of the rich soil was washed away. By now, exposed in the air was nothing but cold and hard deep layer soil.

Rich natural powers existed in Midland. If these people could till the deep layer soil as soon as they could, exposing the moist soil in the sun for a couple of days, then bring fresh water into it and carefully take care of it, this area could still become fertile farmlands.

But despairingly, the toxin in the rain had been absorbed by the soil, and the soil was now colorful, like the scales of poisonous snakes. Not to mention growing crops on this kind of soil, if ordinary human beings lived in an area with a toxic soil like this, they might be affected by the toxin and might even die of illness.

As for creating new farmlands and planting crops, to ordinary human beings who didn’t have the ability to remove the toxin from the soil, new farmlands would always be a dream.

The two young men with long robes quickly surveyed the nearby soil, then confidently smiled, cupped their hands to the sky and said, ”Master Shifus, please.”

Along with their moves, a faint green light poured down from the sky and circled the area with a radius of a hundred meters. Visibly, strands of colorful toxic mist rose from the soil and quickly dissipated under the green light.

The hard and cold deep layer soil suddenly turned soft and rich all of a sudden. This hopeless land was turned into a perfectly fertile farmland, as if it had been through countless years of cultivation. A few women, who were farming masters, rushed to the rich land, kneeled and took full handfuls of black, warm and nicely smelling soil. They were stunned, and couldn’t make any sound.

The soft rich soil layer was a couple of feet thick, and these women had sensed the refreshing aroma of plants from it. Those people were silenced. They slowly walked up, with an indescribable devoutness and fear. They held their breaths, stunningly watching the two young men continue their work.

Even the strongest warrior among these people, the one who feared nothing and even dared to fight fierce wild beasts in the forest by risking his own life, had now held his breath, carefully looking at the two young men. Showing on his face was the dread that had never appeared on him, not even for once.

”Like we said, as long as you willingly join us and worship our Master Shifus, you will naturally have what you need.” said a young man while satisfyingly accepting the gazes of fear and devoutness from these people. Conveniently, this young man took out three fist-sized rice seeds.

The three seeds had a beautiful jade-like luster, and emitting a nice aroma of rice. This man dug three human-head-sized holes in the ground, then planted these three seeds. He incanted a spell with a low voice, then waved his hand towards the sky. Another green stream of light poured down on the three planted seeds.

Visibly, the three seeds began sprouting quickly. The green roots drilled Ito the soil while seedlings grew out from the ground.

Following a cracking noise, the seedling reached the height of three feet. All the people shouted out in shock. When did they ever see a plant grow so fast? Before they could realize what had just happened, the three seedlings swayed in the air and grew nine feet tall.

Golden veins, vividly green leaves... As the green light poured down, the three seedlings swayed in a breeze and reached a height of nearly a hundred meters within a couple of breaths.

Human-leg-thick spikes of rice grew out. Next, fist-sized grains appeared on the spikes, and everyone could see those grains swelling.

Within twenty minutes, three giant paddy rice were ripe. Next, a dense aroma of steamed rice spread out. A young man in a long robe leaped up and grabbed down a fist-sized grain. He ripped the husk open and exposed a dark-green-colored, translucent rice grain, that was emitting a great aroma.

This young man handed the rice grain to a strong warrior, smiled and said, ”It’s cooked already. No matter how big your stomach is, eat this, and you won’t feel hungry anymore for the next three days. Besides, if you eat this, you won’t feel cold, not even in a sealed ice cave.”

This meters tall warrior threw the rice grain into his mouth, chewed for a while, then swallowed.

Instantly, a pinkness emerged on this man’s face, which had turned pale because of the starvation. A thin layer of sweat oozed out of his forehead as well, as if he was wearing a cotton-padded jacket in summer. He sensed a strong warmth inside his body, that even made him wipe the sweat on his face.

”This…”

A few elderly men were dumbfounded.

”Come join us, and you will have ample food and clothing. Do you believe us now?” The two young men smiled, gently and warmly.