The Ger's Contract Marriage [BL]
Chapter 76: The First Immortals

Chapter 76: The First Immortals

In the records of history, stretching back over a thousand years, the Dongzhou continent bore witness to a momentous arrival—the immortal beasts. These mysterious beings did not emerge as the initial inhabitants of the land, but their arrival ushered in an era of unprecedented prosperity.

It was as if the very soul of an ancient civilization had sprung to life, developing at an astonishing pace, steeped in the rich tapestry of the current Dongzhou culture.

The immortal beasts’ arrival granted untold blessings to the people of Dongzhou. They shared their wisdom and guidance, elevating the culture and traditions of the continent to new heights.

They easily became the revered rulers and guardians of the land, their presence like a blessing on the continent.

Initially, the ability of these immortal beings to take on the form of animals frightened the locals. Yet, either out of fear or the comfort of their new lives, the people embraced the newcomers as if they were divine emissaries.

As the decades passed, the immortal beasts gradually transformed less and less, but their status as revered figures and "immortals," continued. They became gods in the eyes of the Dongzhou inhabitants.

The rulership of the continent was divided into five distinct regions, and each of the immortal beasts assumed dominion over one of these territories.

They blended effortlessly with the local population, creating offspring with the most beautiful individuals from each region. Through these unions, they established a dynasty of godlike rulers.

However, with each succeeding generation, a trend began to emerge—their immortal bloodline was diminishing. The descendants of these once-mighty beings couldn’t take on the form of beasts; instead, they carried remnants of their ancestors’ bloodline characteristics.

But these characteristics like unusual eye colors and hair color, the presence of scales and more, were beginning to decrease with each generation.

At first, the beautiful white or red haired descendants of the Fox clan could be seen sparsely in every generation, or the elongated pupils of the Snake clan descendants. But over time, these characteristics became more and more rare.

Their lifespans, although longer than those of the ordinary population, fell far short of the centuries that their immortal predecessors had enjoyed before they retired from the realm of the living.

The once-potent bloodline was fading at an alarming pace, like a passing wisp in the winds of time.

As the sands of time continued to flow, the original immortal beasts had already retreated from the world, disappearing into seclusion that left the common folk pondering their fate.

Speculation ran rampant: were they dead, or had they started the journey back to their mysterious homeland across the vast Dongzhou seas?

Before their departure, the immortal beasts had left a hidden prophecy for their descendants. After the passage of a century, their divine bloodline would surge anew.

During that time, the most gifted offspring of the generation would be chosen by fate and their ancestors before them to ascend and inherit the original five immortal beasts’ life blood; which contained the entire inheritance for their respective clans.

The descendants of the immortal bloodlines of Dongzhou were divided in their beliefs regarding this prophecy.

Some held it as gospel, embracing the notion that a resurgence of their extraordinary lineage was destined to happen. Others dismissed it as a superstitious rumor, a farfetched tale spun by the elders to make them value their declining heritage and maintain the bloodline through marriage.

Either way, the fading echoes of this prophecy lingered in the collective consciousness of the nobles of the continent, a promise of renewal in a world increasingly marked by the vanishing remnants of immortality.

Four of the five noble immortal bloodlines spanned across several clans, each bearing the divine essence of a different immortal beast: Dragon, Snake, Fox, Turtle, and Wolf.

The dragon bloodline was always thin as they had trouble reproducing and had only one clan with few descendants.

These clans ruled as the royalty and nobility of their respective territories, guiding their lands through eras of unmatched prosperity and wisdom. The arrival of these immortal beasts brought distinct cultural differences from each animal and its clans and influenced their territories uniquely.

As the generations unfolded, the divided continent of Dongzhou with its five unique territories, each under the rule of one of the immortal beast descendants, continued to flourish.

They formed the royal families of their respective domains, governing in relative harmony for years. However, the peaceful reign was shattered by the unexpected demise of the last Dragon descendant of Donghua.

The balance of power on the continent was irreversibly disrupted, and the discontented local inhabitants rose up in defiance, demanding an end to the age-old reign of the immortal bloodlines.

What followed were brutal and bloody wars, with the land soaked in the blood of the fallen and the cries of the homeless.

Decades of relentless and gruesome warfare, spanning centuries, eventually gave way to a fragile peace that held for the last hundred years.

Of the five territories in Dongzhou, four still retained their ruling immortal bloodline descendants. Only Donghua, the once-thriving domain of the Dragons, had transitioned from the Dragon ruler to a human ruler.

In exchange for this unprecedented change, the families of the four remaining bloodlines were given noble titles and awarded seats in the king’s government to support and oversee the governance of Donghua.

It was a delicate and often tenuous power balance between the descendants of the immortal bloodlines and the humans who had grown weary of their long-standing control.

The struggle was now waged on two fronts. On one side were the descendants of the four remaining immortal bloodlines, battling to retain their influence and maintain order.

On the other were the humans, seeking to secure their newfound rule and authority.

The most pure blooded of the ruling bloodline families of the four other Dongzhou territories were concentrated in the capital, Jinghua. But, even they had difficulty retaining the distinctive characteristics of their respective animals.

With each passing generation, the divine blood that once pulsed through their veins grew thinner. As the conflict ebbed and flowed, the hopes of a resurgence and the reclamation of their birthright gradually dimmed.

It was a perpetual contest marked by the uncertain tides of history, where the delicate thread of balance was stretched thin, and the torch of immortality flickered slowly.