The vanished islands…

Lost continents…

Mystical realms...

Other dimensions…

In his memories, Gio had once heard from a sane and scholarly immoral host that the world was suspected to be made of several layers. The first one was the surface world where normal humans reside. It was where everyone was truly born… And where immoral hosts could only come from. According to records, there had never been immoral hosts that were not originally born in the surface world. 

The other layers, like Atlantis, Agartha, Mu, and several lost cities, did not exist at first, or were originally from the first layer but then either created or brought out of the surface by several high-level hosts. Then since most of these scant groups of system users wanted to play king or G.o.d in their established realm, they abducted a lot of people from the surface world. Some waged wars against other hosts for the citizens and brought them to their 'kingdom' or 'empire' as trophies of victories. Of course, the other insane hosts could have also used other methods unimaginable to normal folks, but most of the time, they opted for the first two ways for convenience. 

The situation of the place Sofony's system had called Xia Empire obviously fell under the second category. The citizens of Xia were from C-Empire several hundred years ago. Around that time, the technology and customs were quite advanced…. With at least firearms were starting to make their debut and the power of the monarchy was gradually diminis.h.i.+ng.

However, when the thousands or so people were transported from the surface world by the high-ranker, they arrived in the land where there was literally nothing apart from nature… What did this mean? What else? But that the poor founding citizens of Xia had to begin their civilization from scratch! There were no tools... no market to buy stuff... They had to build and create everything by their own hands!

"According to legends, the world has been created two thousand years ago. Our great deity Mao felt that his world needs stewards so he began cooking mud, shaping them into his likeness, and breathing life into them so that people could come into the world. A thousand people was successfully created and they became the founding citizens of our great Xia Empire," softly narrated by one of the cleanest and calmest girls in the bunch that Sofony saved from the slave traders. 

"The first batch of humans created by the great deity, thankfully are very intelligent so even though there was nothing in the surroundings and they would have to hunt for their foods by themselves, it didn't take long for them to create a healthy community with a sound political, religious, and economical stability. Through their wits, and by the guidance of the great deity, they immediately conquered the whole plains, vanquished the unintelligent beasts in the mountains, rivers, and seas, and established the empire."

"Now, two millennia had pa.s.sed, yet the empire is still as strong as ever. It is all thanks to great deity Mao and his brilliant descendants who ruled the land on His behalf. It is said great deity Mao loves to take on the form of a mythical dragon so since ancient times, the symbol of the Emperor has always been a dragon and he is celebrated as the 'Mandated Son of Heaven'"

"Every beginning of the year, the whole empire will have a week-long feast celebrating and wors.h.i.+pping the Great Deity... After all, He is our creator, and the one guarding the whole empire, ensuring it will flourish and not be invaded by traitors, heathens, bandits, and beasts..." 

Silence filled the place after the long explanation. 

It had been four hours since then.

Sofony who got irritated by the mixed of trashes in the camp conveniently hypnotized those from the surface to turn against each other while she headed downstairs to free the girls. Of course, none of the guards survived too, apart from one who was actually a relative of one of the ladies that sneaked in. The person was almost caused by her to suicide when she found him secretly unlocking one of the cells in a panicky manner.

"Creator, huh?" she murmured, her gaze landing on the fair peasant girl that just spoke about the creation myth of the Xia Empire.

'There is no way an immoral host can create many people unless he's at level 10 or everyone here is a clone. So that high-ranker hypnotized the people and then instilled this so-called creation myth in their heads? You said the Empire is just a couple hundreds of years old so I can't come up of any other theories why these guys believe their empire is two thousand years old.'

It was taunting her for the obvious.

Face almost scrunched up, she replied, 'Well, yeah, I think I have to thank you system for my luck... I never thought I'd have to entangle with that Mao fellow again after the infiltration in C-Empire.'

Her focus then went back to the cup of tea in her hand. The few girls standing before her quietly watched her. She had to signal them to continue before the calmest girl, who was actually the sole one not flinching under her gaze, began to speak again.

The next thing said were all about the miracles of this Mao deity of theirs and how amazing and far-sighted he was to make the thousand founding members instantly skilled in many areas of life, like blacksmithing, weaving, engineering, medicine, politics… In Sofony's eyes danced disdain and the girls noticed it so they quietened down again, unaware their dreaded savior was only feeling disdainful towards the leader of the secret organization for advertising so many lies to his people.

Judging that what she heard from them was enough, the woman stood up and had the girl help her change into a local set of clothing. Afterward, with the girls respectfully following her, she went into the large hall where the rest of the rescued commoner women were huddling together in a corner while drinking water or eating buns. The moment the Silver Princess came in, each of them kneeled in a panic with their heads touching the ground.

"Thank you for your grace, Milady!" they chorused.

"Thank you for saving us!"

After taking her seat with her posture like that of a princess, Sofony nodded. She did not tell them to stand up or raise their heads as her attention was taken away by somebody's entrance. Her eyes narrowed and a strange glint flickered across her eyes.

Who would have thought the big fish was so easy to lure out of the waters?

So the slave traders' camp was more important than expected? Perhaps, owned by some bigshots?

The sole guard who survived the weird ma.s.sacre walked towards her before kneeling respectfully. Behind him was a group of warriors headed by a middle-aged scholar. And while the majority showed an intoxicated expression after seeing her, one of them immediately recovered, replacing the l.u.s.t in his eyes with extreme vigilance.

With a smile on her lips, she lightly tilted her head and said, "Governor Su, I suppose?"

The middle-aged man's eyes were sweeping the place around. He held his breath, seeing that there was no other male, much less an army, by the girl's side which greatly alarmed him. Who annihilated Merchant Guo's armed elites then?

"Who are you? Do you know that what you did, killing a merchant and his servants on top of theft of property can put you under the guillotine? You better pray that your excuse will be able to convince me, or else..." In a thunderous voice, he said, trying to intimidate everyone there and established prestige.

But Sofony displayed an uninterested att.i.tude towards the man due to his lack of confidence in his loud roar. Seated in her chair looking as at home as ever, she stretched her arm sideways.

"Have you ever seen anything like this?" She asked back, her words seemingly random.

Everybody's sight followed her movements and in a second, gasps and screams were drowning the place. It all came from the guards who had been staring with an enchanted look at Sofony a while back. Now each of them was staggering back, with aghast faces, and fingers pointing to Sofony's open palm.

"Y-you! W-witch?!!!" Frightened, the governor shouted. He too began to retreat and all colors were drained from his face.

Sofony slowly grinned and turned her head to her right palm which was leisurely controlling the dancing fire that suddenly ignited in the air without warning. Due to her control, it gradually formed a shape, a phoenix that seemingly wanted to fly after letting out a sharp shrill cry. Its temperature was greater than normal fire as despite its size which was only equivalent only to a volleyball's, it could be felt by everyone in the whole room.

The slave girls looked up once before hurriedly bowing again, beads of sweat instantly forming and running down their faces.

"Witch?" Sofony looked at the governor. She said with a laugh, "I thought I am a G.o.ddess, a newly born one… Governor Su, are you perhaps, telling me my memory is wrong?"

The man was pinned down by the woman's hypnotic eyes. The fear, dread, desire to destroy, and everything clouding his heart and mind vanished with just a thought and all he could do was stare into those beautiful pair of eyes that seemed to be more dazzling than the starry stars.

Under hypnosis, Su Delan no longer kept stepping back. The plan to hide behind his guards got tossed to the back of his mind. The one before him became more beautiful and ethereal in his subconscious.

She was a G.o.ddess! A new divine being that would usher the next golden period of Xia Empire!

Full of emotion, he vowed with solemnness and answered, "Forgive my lack of manners, Your Highness. Su Delan is forever your servant. Please let me serve you with all my heart and soul!"

Sofony only watched him as he said this. The man then felt like his performance was not enough. After glancing around a bit, he realized what he was lacking. So when the thought came by, he immediately knelt!

"Praise the Lady!" he said while kowtowing, performing the highest form of salute that he knew.

"Praise the Lady!" A couple of seconds later, after the guards and the other servants brought by the governor exchanged glances with each other, they also started to kneel and shout. Even the female slaves began to emulate them, trembling and shouting their reverence.

From start to finish, a satisfied smile hung on the lips of the 'G.o.ddess'. However, her expression immediately reverted to normal after a minute, aware that she could not let the yells get into her head since, in all honesty, she was actually in danger.

With regained calmness and a cold glint flickering through her beautiful black eyes, Sofony willed the fire to vanish and then she ordered the governor, "Tell me everything about the royal family and big aristocratic families in Xia Empire's capital… Leave no details unsaid... It is my first test to you as my loyal subject..."