Age of Gods

Main article: Fifth Nightmare (Event)

During the Age of Gods, humans accumulated knowledge and progressed from hunting beasts with flint spears to forging intricate tools and weapons out of bronze. They also learned to work mystical and sublime materials, advanced in sorcery, philosophy, and agriculture, and began developing writing, a gift from Hope, the Demon of Desire. Humans gained a deeper understanding of the Path of Ascension and developed essence techniques to climb it, resulting in more Transcendents and humans with divine blood in their veins.^[2]

During the dusk of the Age of Gods, the mortal realms were still ruled by the Creatures of Corruption. Humans had carved out a place for themselves under the sun, but they were still on the defensive, fighting fiercely to safeguard their settlements. Even though humans were steadily growing stronger as time went by, they were not ready to challenge the abominations for dominion over the world just yet. That would only happen when the Age of Heroes arrived, prompted by the fall of the First Kingdom and the rise of Transcendent champions who had divine blood in their veins.^[3]

During this time, human cities existed in a primitive state, and their rulers included powerful warriors and religious figures who worshipped the gods. One city was ruled by a mighty warrior who worshipped Beast God. He had a rivalry with a Transcendent Monster, a great tiger who lived in the woods. The two often quarreled and fought, but defended the city against Creatures of Corruption side by side. Another city across the mountains was ruled by a priestess of Storm God. The priestess was old and nurturing a successor, and the temple she ruled had been built many centuries ago, with its influence spreading across the entire realm.^[3]

The Age of Gods was also a time of strange occurrences and stories involving gods and extraordinary beings. One rumor told of a young shepherd who had witnessed a goddess bathing in a stream and became enamored. Nine months later, a stone he had sat upon in a daze split, revealing an infant whose skin was so tough that no sword could pierce it. These stories were among the many strange accounts circulating among the people during this time.^[3]

As the Age of Gods ended, the First Kingdom continued for a few more generations before collapsing and splintering, ushering in the Age of Heroes. Humans had become powerful enough to challenge the Creatures of Corruption openly and began fighting for dominion over the world, led by exalted champions. Meanwhile, the gods became more distant: their avatars rarely left the Divine Realms to roam mortal lands, and most of the daemons had also become withdrawn. Mirage spent more time inside her Great Mirror, Rime explored distant skies aboard her living ship, Ariel was rumored to have built a magnificent palace from pure white jade for a beautiful monster, and Nether spent his time by Storm God's side. Hope was the only one among them who still seemed interested in humans.^[2]

• In the battles of the ancient pasts, gods and daemons were allies, indicating that the war against the abyss continued even after the abyss was sealed.^[4]
• At the dawn of the Age of Gods, the deities fought against the lingering Creatures of the Void with the aid of the daemons, leaving lasting scars across the Dream Realm from those ancient battles. The Corrupted appeared afterward, and some eventually reached comparable strength — powerful enough that even a god's avatar could not withstand this Unholy Terror without assistance.^[5]