The very next relief, however, brought a dramatic shift in the scene. Enormous, magnificent starships descended from the sky. Beings clad in power armor, enveloped in spiritual flames, hovered in the air before the primitive Yafik people—gods made manifest. In the blink of an eye, the planet Yafik was utterly transformed. Alongside crude grass huts, towering structures of pure metal erupted from the earth. Warriors astride wild horses rode alongside combatants piloting small spacecraft. Young men in environmental suits courted young women in animal skins beneath the moonlight.

A continuous sequence of ten reliefs depicted the Yafik people's lost Golden Age. Across this series of carvings, the Yafik civilization advanced by leaps and bounds. In a remarkably short time, they established a unified kingdom, commanding powerful legions—though they commanded an even vaster army of slaves!

The unified Yafik people worshipped the beings as deities. They constructed tall, splendid temples for their gods, and to curry favor, countless slaves delved deep underground to mine resources for the aliens. These aloof beings, without expending a single iota of their own energy, acquired immense resources from their subservient Yafik hosts. Clearly, this was also the aliens' golden age. One relief vividly portrayed this: the tall, handsome beings sat high upon thrones in the grand temple, while the humble Yafik King and nobles knelt subserviently, offering massive platters piled high with countless glittering treasures.

During this glorious era, the aliens even constructed massive cities floating in the heavens, huge mountains serving as foundations, carrying these colossal metropolises as they traversed the white clouds. The alien civilization was incomparably brilliant.

But the good times were fleeting. In the subsequent relief, the aliens’ exquisitely ornate warships suddenly plummeted from the sky, and countless panicked aliens converged within the temples. Immediately after, these beings boarded their vessels and departed the planet Yafik. Judging by their murderous intent, they seemed to be heading for war.

Soon, however, damaged warships returned to Yafik, and injured aliens—missing limbs or worse—staggered out. The aliens stood atop the high temples and loudly proclaimed something to the kneeling Yafik King and nobles below.

The Yafik warriors laid down their arms; the nobles shed their luxurious robes. Regardless of status, every single person, suppressed by the aliens' overwhelming power, was forced down into the deep mining tunnels to excavate mineral resources, risking their very lives. Mountains of mineral wealth were transported into the colossal warships descended from the sky, while mountains of corpses were interred in the hollowed-out mines.

The Yafik people stoically endured it all, toiling diligently for their masters without complaint. Despite the immense sacrifices, they offered no resentment.

But matters soon changed. The aliens seemed to have suffered a major defeat, as increasingly maimed or dead aliens were being ferried back. Then, a scene unfolded that felt deeply familiar to Gu Xinchen: rows of cultivation pods, as dense as sticks, filled with pale green nutrient fluid. Both aliens and Yafik people, naked and exposed, were crammed into these pods.

The crippled aliens emerged recovered, but the Yafik people who left the pods had been transformed into monstrous hybrids: beast-headed humanoids, human-headed beasts, human-headed birds, and countless other grotesque forms. Some were even transmuted into insectoid chimeras. Warriors with the lower bodies of spiders atop normal human torsos, brandishing various weapons, made the hairs on Gu Xinchen’s neck stand on end.

In the next relief, even larger, bizarre creatures appeared—a giant bird with a wingspan exceeding a hundred meters, a colossal serpent perhaps a hundred meters in length, and a massive ape as imposing as a mountain. These strange beings formed neat ranks as they boarded the massive warships. Countless vessels lifting off implied that even more behemoths had been transported away by the aliens.

The Yafik people grew terrified and then enraged. They convened in the vast assembly hall to discuss countermeasures. They could toil endlessly for their gods, but they could not tolerate being mutated into monstrous things. Yet, they failed to realize that everything they did was under alien surveillance. A great purge, a great massacre followed; countless Yafik were transmuted into alien forms and loaded onto the starships. In another relief, smoke-belching warships landed, but not a single warrior emerged. This period was tragic for the Yafik; the once magnificent temples were buried beneath towering heaps of skulls. The aliens hovered high above, coldly and ruthlessly slaughtering any Yafik who dared to resist. Their power was so absolute that the Yafik helplessly discovered that the weapons forged from the knowledge the aliens had imparted were utterly useless against them.

But everything suddenly shifted. In this relief, a Yafik noble operating a massive excavation machine deep underground discovered a strange pit. Within that pit, they found a circular platform, upon which floated a black, gaping maw. A Yafik noble approached the platform, and then—the tall, valiant Knight Gu Xinchen had seen in the Yafik assembly hall appeared. Clad in armor radiating blinding light and wielding a similarly luminous greatsword, he led countless knights in an assault against the aloof aliens above. They slew alien after alien, routed their armies, and breached the temples built for them.

The aliens were caught completely off guard; they suffered heavy casualties, and even their most sacred main temple was captured. All the idols were smashed.

An intense light surged forth from the shattered idols, slowly coalescing into a writhing humanoid form. This newly emerged being slipped into the body of a retreating alien, instantly granting that being immense power. Even the leading Knight was struck down. Here, the scene in the relief grew somewhat metaphysical. The blood-soaked Knight rallied and fought back, using every ounce of strength to strike down the demon-possessed alien. That alien fled in terror with a large contingent of its kind, only to inexplicably run into the mining tunnels. The brave Knight and his fearless subordinates pursued them relentlessly, finally cornering and slaying every last alien within the cavern.

The final relief showed the courageous and fearless Knight, now wearing a crown, standing atop the former temple, with countless cheering Yafik citizens below.

“Quite a legendary tale!” Gu Xinchen chuckled. This was the classic blueprint for a founding monarch chronicling his own glory. But why did those aliens resemble the Romans so much? Why were they so familiar? And the things they did—the Romans were certainly capable of that! Earth Federation history textbooks recorded how the Romans, upon first arriving in the solar system, played the role of divine imposters for years before they were finally exposed by the combined might of the three major forces of the Dark Alliance.

Could these aliens be the ancestors of the Romans? Given how the Romans roamed the universe endlessly, it seemed quite plausible they were the stray dogs chased out of their homeland.

However, could the Yafik alone muster the strength to expel the Romans? Could a Knight armed with a cold weapon and encased in metal armor defeat the Romans, who possessed starships? Only if they were all high-level Fighters. But Gu Xinchen couldn't detect any truly formidable figures among the Yafik. Even the Shadow Guards protecting the planet's defense system consoles were only so strong.

Gu Xinchen stroked the relief before him, shook his head, and turned away.

Fu Ya.Ming was similarly touring the reliefs with her nine newly appointed kingdom ministers. She slowly explained the carvings, detailing the glorious contributions made by the Yafik Knight and how, due to his immortal achievements, the Kingdom of Yafik could stand tall among the galactic civilizations. This Knight, she explained, was the founder of the kingdom—an ancestor many generations removed from Fu Ya.Ming herself. The Ming Clan had made immense historical contributions to the Kingdom of Yafik, ensuring that any who dared plot a coup would ultimately fail.

The group circled the vast hall, admiring the reliefs. Just as Fu Ya.Ming concluded her narrative, a pillar of fierce flame, a cloud of ice mist, and a blast of wild wind erupted from the floor in the center of the hall. Accompanied by a deafening roar, the heat and cold were whipped out in all directions by the gale, forcing the nine ministers behind Fu Ya.Ming to stumble backward.

Three solemn, imposing middle-aged men, clad in jade-white robes, emerged from the flames, frost, and wind. The eyes of one man faintly flickered with fire; thin wisps of cold air constantly emanated from the fingertips of another; and the long hair of the third billowed as if in a constant breeze, accompanied by the faint sound of rushing wind.

Fu Ya.Ming raised the scepter in her hand, inclined her head in greeting to the trio, and said, "I am Fu Ya.Ming, the newly appointed Queen of the Kingdom of Yafik. I greet the three esteemed Knights."

The man whose eyes seemed to burn stepped forward two paces. He barked in a chilling voice, "You have delayed too long. You should have been here four months ago. Why the extensive delay this time? Have you forgotten the dying wishes of your ancestors?"

Lowering her head helplessly, Fu Ya.Ming sighed, "I apologize, esteemed Knight. The kingdom suffered a rebellion. Prince Daogen attempted to seize the throne. Only yesterday did I finally secure control."

"Hmm?" The man with fiery eyes frowned and grunted, "Daogen? I met him; he was a steady, reliable young man. Why would he rebel?"

Gu Xinchen frowned. The tone of this fellow's speech felt off. If Prince Daogen was steady and reliable, did that imply Fu Ya.Ming was less so?

Gu Xinchen curled his lip, feeling a weary cynicism rise in his heart. Looks like he needs a lesson.