Every person is born with divine nature, humankind itself is a part of God. When we pray to the God in our hearts for blessings, we are committing to a spiritual resonance with our kin, invoking the deities of our own ethnicity.

The guards at the gate seemed quite familiar with Gongkong, as one of them immediately took the reins of the camel-horse.

At that moment, a man in his 40s who appeared to be the head of the guards, approached with a smile, greeting, “Young Master, you’ve finally returned. The three of you left early this morning, and only your two subordinates were seen when they returned. I was worried that something might have happened to you.”

The local casually put his arm around the guard captain’s shoulder and joked, “Pops, I am the mischievous demon king of Windwood Citadel and the Southern Gorge Forest. Others fear me, but you’ve never seen me fear anyone else. Pops, may I ask, where is the Chief currently?”

Young Master, you’re talking nonsense again. You are the Great Chief’s son; how could I possibly be your Pops? The Chief, the High Priest, and four other tribe leaders are in the Great Hall on the pyramid platform in the inner city, performing a ritual.”

“Yao Gang, I’m telling you, even if you won’t let me call you that, I insist on it. I’m calling you Pops, and that’s final,” said the local.

“Young Master, where did you manage to abduct people from today?” The nearby guards joked and teased the local while looking behind him. But as soon as they saw the strangely dressed Su Ziqi and the others behind him, they immediately stopped laughing and displayed expressions of surprise on their faces.

Seeing the local, named Gong Kong, interact with these guards, Su Ziqi instantly noted his transformation into a casual and mischievous character – a stark contrast to when they first met. She couldn’t help but question whether the serious demeanor he had shown before was merely a facade.

These guards were all about six feet tall, dressed similarly to Gong Kong; they wore yellow hemp clothing, had yellow headscarves wrapped around their heads, had images of green dragons painted on their chests, wore straw sandals, and held long spears in their hands.

At the foot of the slope were rows of wooden houses, seemingly where the guards resided.

Leading the way, Gong Kong headed towards the path that followed the mountain. This was a main road leading up the mountain. The surrounding terrain was rather gentle, with no steep slopes, and the road gradually ascended.

Almost no pedestrians were seen on the main road. Gong Kong explained that this main road leads directly to the inner city, and only the Great Chief, generals, and nobility are allowed on it when they leave the city or send off warriors to battle.

The mountain was filled with towering trees. Some had diameters of several meters, while the thicker ones even reached more than ten meters in diameter.

They saw small black dots on the branches of those enormous trees, like sparrows lining electrical wires.

As the group approached these towering trees and looked up, they were instantly struck dumb.

It was a unique city, where all the wooden homes were built in the trees. The builders had fully utilized the thick trees of the mountains and the topography to construct homes within tree trunks and branches.

Every towering tree had wooden ladders winding up its trunk. On the same tree, wooden houses were scattered from bottom to top.

Some houses were built on burly branches, while others were hollowed from the trunks and nestled within the enormous trees’ hollows. Most surprising of all were the bright red fruits hanging from these trees; it seemed as though the people living in the treetops could just reach out and grab something to eat.

Wooden walkways spanned the gaps between tree houses on different trees, forming a dense, spider-web-like network of residences.

As Gong Kong led the way, he explained that the noble officials generally resided in the houses built inside tree hollows. The tree houses built on the branches were either soldiers’ barracks or common households, while others were pubs, restaurants, shops, and inns.

Facilities like stables for camel-horse, blacksmith shops, animal pens, and warehouses were constructed on the ground underneath these towering trees.

As the sun began to set in the west, Su Ziqi and the others looked up, gazing at the treehouses along the main road. They noticed that the walkways between the treehouses were sparsely populated, and many of the windows were already closed.

The soft glow of the setting sun gently bathed the ancient and withered tree barks, emitting a golden light, creating a solemn and dignified scene.

"I never expected that the humans on this planet would live in the trees. These treehouses form a community and look quite spectacular. I wonder why they go to such great lengths to build houses on the trees," Su Ziqi pondered inwardly.

Gongkong led them along the main road, heading towards the tallest peak in this mountain range.

When they reached halfway up the mountain, they encountered another wall surrounding the area, approximately ten meters high. Gongkong explained that this was the inner city.

Upon spotting Gongkong, the sentries stationed on the city walls immediately opened the gates to the inner city, and the group entered.

The tree houses within the inner city, as seen from the outside, were visibly much more luxurious than those of the outer city. The homes along the roadside featured lofty towers that extended into the open air, showcasing intricate bracket sets. Moreover, the eaves of each house were delicately carved and partly hidden within the mountain recesses.

Gong Kong led his group toward the highest peak of this mountain range.

The mountain top demonstrated a pyramid shape overall, with a square platform as its base. The sloping sides presented a trapezoid form, each with successive steps.

They had already reached the peak, and here too was a square platform. Overlooking from this platform, they could see the entire cityscape of Windwood Citadel.

Only now, as Su Ziqi and his team looked down at the city, could they truly comprehend the full view of Windwood Citadel.

The scale of the city was far beyond anyone’s expectation, surrounded by hundreds of contiguous mountains, with no foreseeable end in sight.

The mountains were replete with massive trees; they simply couldn’t estimate the number of extraterrestrial natives residing within the city.

At the center of this platform grew yet another colossal tree, and the sheer height of it surpassed even their wildest imaginings. Even biologist Dong Yifeng, with his wealth of knowledge and experience, had never seen a tree of such grandeur.

The diameter of this great tree was at least thirty meters, while the tree trunk soared into the clouds—it was roughly estimated to be over a hundred meters tall.

Around the trunk of the massive tree, there were several windows. At the base of the trunk, in the folds of the bark, there was a tightly closed door with a few layers of steps leading up to it from the ground.

Below the steps, a group of soldiers stood on guard.

Upon seeing Gong Kong, two middle-aged men, who appeared to be the leaders of the group of soldiers, approached him with swords hanging by their sides and well-built bodies. The men greeted Gong Kong warmly, patting him on the shoulder.

Initially, they didn’t notice Su Ziqi and the others standing at a distance. However, when one of them caught sight of the five people, he cried out in surprise, “Gong Kong, are these the gods your subordinates mentioned that emerged from the giant bird?”

Gong Kong let out a curse, something along the lines of a Chinese swear phrase similar to “damn it”. “You two,” he chastised, “are you blind?. One is the Great General, the other, the General of Defense, and what are you doing just standing around here? Get it together and report to the Great Chief! Let him know that Gong Kong, the Chief of Scouts, has arrived at the main hall door with the celestial gods.”

Despite those two men holding evidently higher ranks than Gong Kong, they appeared helpless against his coarse and bossy demeanor. Reduced to silence by his scolding, they had no choice but to mournfully spin on their heels and retreat into the massive tree to convey the message.

In a short while, the sound of footfalls rang out from within the doors, followed by a resonating call, “Gong Kong, My son, the celestial gods are here to visit. Hurry up and invite them in!”

The grand door swung open, and a middle-aged man strode out, with a few others trailing behind him.

This middle-aged man stood a head above most at a good six foot three. His eyes shone brightly, his ears hung low to his shoulders, and his square face bore a broad nose. His big beard tumbled down onto his chest, and he was clothed in yellow hemp fabric adorned with the image of a green dragon. Yellow turban wrapped his head, and he held a stone axe as his scepter.

Upon seeing this man, Gong Kong immediately reeled in his arrogant demeanor, swiftly made his way up the steps, and was about to kneel when the middle-aged man reached out and stopped him. He quietly whispered something into Gong Kong’s ear.

Gong Kong, after listening, gave a dismissive wave and announced loudly, “Reporting to Father, these are the human celestial gods prophesied to come to our people.”

The middle-aged man, upon hearing this, focused his gaze and observed carefully. After clearly seeing the clothing of Su Ziqi and others, he also showed an expression of surprise on his face.

“Please, celestial gods, come in!”

Su Ziqi and the others climbed the steps and crossed the threshold, entering the grand hall. The interior of the giant tree was hollowed out, revealing a circular grand hall with a diameter of over 20 meters. There were windows along the walls, and with no trees obstructing the surroundings, the hall was brightly lit.

In the center of the hall, there was a vermilion lacquered platform, about two meters high, on which a golden lacquered dragon throne was placed. Seated on the throne was a massive painted statue.

On either side of the platform, there were stairs leading to a lower level, where a dragon-carved chair was also placed. Steps connected the lower level to the ground.

The middle-aged man quickly arranged for servants to set up chairs on the steps. After inviting Su Ziqi and the others to sit down, he and his entourage knelt down with a thud and bowed, reciting something under their breath.

Su Ziqi and the others looked at each other, unsure of how to respond.

Wang Yue asked, “Ziqi, what on earth are they up to? What are they saying?”

Su Ziqi listened carefully to the native alien language, frowning. “Yue, it seems like they’re using an ancient ceremonial language. Some vocabulary is somewhat similar to Sumerian, and a bit similar to Mayan too. All I can gather is that they seem to be talking about ‘celestial gods’.”

“Yes, Professor Ziqi, my big data analysis also indicates that they’re using a much older language, which seems to only be spoken during rituals,” Huamei added.

“Haha, I get it. They must be treating us as celestial gods!” Zheng Ya recalled an incident. “During World War II, American military planes landed on an isolated island in the South Pacific. The primitive tribes in the island saw a plane for the first time. After the U.S. military left, they built a plane model out of straw and wood, and began to worship the American soldiers as gods.”

Su Ziqi quickly descended the steps and helped the kneeling tribal chief off the ground. “Chief, we’re not celestial gods. We’re regular humans.”

Upon hearing her speak their native language, the tribal chief and others were even more startled, nodding obediently without daring to raise their heads.

At this time, Gong Kong approached the chief, whispering in his ear for a moment. The chief nodded, promptly dismissed his subordinates, leaving just Gong Kong and five other high-ranking officials. Then he closed the door, and began to converse with Su Ziqi and the others.