With Zhou Zhuo's help, Galen supplemented a lot of Pandaria's history, also completing his understanding of this land.
The earliest history of the Pandaria region can be traced back hundreds of thousands of years when it was the territory of the Old God Y'Shaarj.
As the strongest Old God, it occupied one-third of the ancient Kalimdor continent, from Mount Hyjal in the north to Pandaria in the south, its head was in the center of the continent, which was later the location of the Well of Eternity.
Later, the Titans returned to Azeroth, and the hot-tempered Aman'Thul personally came down and pulled Y'Shaarj out from under the soil of Azeroth, crushing him on the spot.
Facing the Father of the Titans, even the so-called strongest Old God, Y'Shaarj had no power to fight back, only having enough time to exhale a breath before dying, forming the seven Sha that later plagued the Pandaria region.
After the Old Gods and Elemental Lords were sealed, Azeroth entered a stage of rapid development. The north was centered on Ulduar, while the south was personally built by the great guardian Ra-den with various Titan facilities, sealing Y'Shaarj's heart, waiting for the Titans to return to study it.
Later, the Life-Binder Freya also came to the Vale of Eternal Blossoms in Pandaria, where she helped the White Tiger, the Ox, the Azure Dragon, and the Red Crane become Wild Gods, also known as the Four Celestials of Pandaria.
Twenty-five thousand years ago, Sargeras annihilated the Titan Pantheon. Incomplete news was transmitted back to Azeroth. The great guardian Ra-den obtained the most information, understood the most, and was also the most painful. He immediately became depressed and hid himself in self-abandonment.
Later, anomalies appeared in Ulduar, and Freya rushed back, only to be attacked by the corrupted Loken and confined in her life greenhouse.
During this period, the Four Celestials guarded Pandaria. Many new creatures emerged near the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. They established tribes, villages, and even formed empires, such as the Jinyu, the Pandaren, and the Hozen, etc.
More than fifteen thousand years ago, the Zandalari Empire confronted the Aqir insectoids head-on. One insectoid fled ahead of time to the Pandaria region, and they were the later Mantid.
Later, the Curse of Flesh spread to Pandaria in the south, and some Titan creations in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms were fleshed. They used the nearby Titan magical springs and technology to enhance their power, becoming a race with powerful magical abilities, namely the Mogu.
The arrival of the Curse of Flesh caused fear and suspicion to take root in the minds of the Mogu, and subsequently, conflicts erupted among the Mogu, and the Mogu race divided into more than a hundred large and small clans.
Whenever the Mantid crossed the Great Wall wanting to invade the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, the Mogu tribes would instinctively unite against their lifelong enemies.
Later, a Mogu named Lei Shen appeared. He was a descendant of a low-ranking overseer. He grew up in war. By chance, he found Ra-den in an underground palace north of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.
Ra-den told Lei Shen the truth about why he was hiding in the palace and not going out. As a result, Lei Shen was angered by such an answer, so Lei Shen attacked Ra-den without warning and seized Ra-den's power, along with Aman'Thul's remaining power.
Lei Shen told Ra-den that from now on, his duties as the great guardian would be inherited by him, and he would lead an army to defeat the Burning Legion and protect Azeroth.
Lei Shen relied on the Heart of the Thunder seized from Ra-den to obtain powerful strength, unifying all the Mogu and establishing a strong Mogu Empire, Lei Shen became the First Emperor of the Mogu Empire.
The Pandaren, Jinyu, and Hozen living in the Pandaria region all became prisoners of the Mogu.
Among the races enslaved by Lei Shen, the Jinyu were the first to rise up in rebellion, but they were quickly suppressed by Lei Shen. The crushing defeat of the Jinyu was due to their ally, the Hozen, temporarily betraying them and informing Lei Shen. It was also this crushing defeat that made the Jinyu eternally at odds with the Hozen.
Upon learning of this news, the Pandaren went to Kun-Lai Summit to seek the help of the Wild God, Xuen, the White Tiger. This strongest of the August Celestials fought Lei Shen one-on-one, but ultimately, due to insufficient strength, he was defeated by Lei Shen, who possessed Titan power. Subsequently, Xuen witnessed the Pandaren being enslaved by the Mogu.
Under Lei Shen's command, magnificent buildings rose from the ground, the Great Wall of Serpentspine, the Shrine of Seven Stars and the Shrine of Two Moons, as well as the two huge Mogu statues on the left and right of the Golden Pagoda, were all built by the Pandaren slaves leading other slaves.
Just to resist the Mantid, Lei Shen planned the Serpentspine from Kun-Lai Summit to Krasarang Wilds, and the Pandaren slaves spent thirty years.
During this period, Lei Shen took the lead in unifying weights and measures and formulated the first written code in Azeroth's history, which stipulated the supreme status of the Mogu race.
During this period, Lei Shen saw the great potential of the Pandaren and feared that they would shake the rule of the Mogu Empire, and therefore could not trust them.
After he conquered this land, the Pandaren were forbidden from learning to read and write. Their leaders and thinkers were executed, all Pandaren art and literature were burned, and the Mogu overseers forbade their slaves from possessing weapons.
The number of Pandaren gradually decreased, and some lucky Pandaren acted as clowns to entertain their Mogu masters. These Pandaren lived in stone palaces, living a relatively luxurious life. But once a joke angered the master, this luxury came to an end, and only spinal fractures and decapitation could arouse more laughter from the Mogu.
During this dark period, Pandaren monks worked hard to inspire their brothers and sisters in distress. They were storytellers, brewmasters, and healers, helping their race to unite closely in the darkness.
Ra-den installed a Nalak'sha Engine in the vault of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. Lei Shen wanted to use it to lift the Curse of Flesh from the Mogu, but the experiment failed and instead created the Saurok and the Gokkosh.
Lei Shen, not giving up after the failed experiment, later learned from Ra-den that there was a Titan facility in Uldum that was even more powerful than the Nalak'sha Engine, the Origin Forge!
Lei Shen led his Mogu army and Zandalari allies to invade Uldum, trying to find the Origin Forge—he believed it contained the secret of eternal life.
He announced to the Tol'vir that he had taken over the work of the Titan guardians and asked them to hand over the Origin Forge.
The Tol'vir knew that they had no chance of winning against Lei Shen's army, so they turned to another tactic, they activated the Origin Engine.
They knew that if the engine was running at full power, it would destroy all life on Azeroth, so they reduced the power, allowing the engine to affect only the surrounding land.
The surge of power then burst out in Uldum, causing the ground to heave, distort, and twist, enveloping the entire land in the energy of destruction.
In an instant, the Tol'vir defenders, including Lei Shen and his army, perished at that time. And what was annihilated by this burst of power was almost all life around Uldum, turning the land into a desolate wasteland.
As for the Tol'vir who survived in Uldum, they busied themselves ensuring that no one would ever attempt to seize the power of the Forge of Origination again.
They magically concealed the mountain paths leading to this place, completely isolating Uldum from the sight of mortals.
The death of Lei Shen plunged the Mogu into internal strife. As the empire decayed with the passage of time, the Pandaren saw an opportunity for revolution.
Because they had no weapons, the monks trained ordinary people to fight with their bare hands, teaching them to master a positive energy: chi.
Revolution itself is bloody. While destroying the empire, it also brought terrible death to countless Pandaren, whether they were warriors or civilians.
But eventually, the Mogu Empire was overthrown, and a new empire was established. Although the Pandaren monks later incorporated the use of weapons into their attacks, they still emphasized chi as a source of power, remaining extremely destructive in hand-to-hand combat.
Twelve thousand years ago, the Pandaren, with their perseverance, secret diplomacy, and unique hand-to-hand combat skills, launched a successful revolution, ending the rule of the Mogu and establishing an empire that prospered for millennia.
Although the Mogu's rule was overthrown by a Pandaren-led revolution, their legacy is still preserved in the millennia-old ruins.
Not long after the establishment of the Pandaren Empire, the Zandalari trolls, in order to help their allies regain their kingdom, sent a large army to attack the newborn Pandaren Empire.
The Zandalari tribe was numerous. Although the Pandaren monks were not afraid of them, the Zandalari trolls' combat tactics with bats and pterodactyl riders made it impossible for the Pandaren to counterattack.
Until a Pandaren girl named Jiang rode a cloud serpent from the sky to strike them.
The Zandalari attacks lasted for several years, even deploying their fearsome dinosaurs into battle.
During the Zandalari invasion of the Jade Forest, thanks to Jiang's efforts, more and more cloud serpents were trained for knights to ride, and the newly formed Cloud Serpent Rider Order turned the tide of the battle.
After driving away the Zandalari trolls, the Pandaren Empire was stabilized!
The Zandalari trolls' repeated failures in foreign wars caused their national strength to decline. During this period, the night elves began to skillfully use arcane energy from the Well of Eternity, using magic to create the magnificent Night Elf Empire.
The Night Elf Empire defeated the Gurubashi and Amani, the other two troll empires weakened by the Zandalari wars, and the troll culture never recovered to its former prosperity.
The Pandaren Empire and the Kaldorei Empire officially became allies. The hegemony of the trolls and the Mogu withdrew from the stage of history, and they were never able to restore their strong national power.
Because the night elves were too addicted to the Well of Eternity, and even began to abuse it, the Pandaren decided to sever ties with them after their advice was ignored, and closed the borders of Pandaria, which is why the Pandaren did not participate in the War of the Ancients.
Later, on the day Emperor Shaohao of the Pandaren ascended the throne, he followed the tradition of previous emperors and went to the great Jinyu waterspeaker for guidance.
The young emperor came to the prophet with great interest, guessing that good news must be waiting for him. However, the waterspeaker brought him a terrible prophecy: a group of wizards from a kingdom surrounded a giant well, summoning hordes of demons from the well. Green flames fell from the sky, and all the continental plates of the world disintegrated.
Just when Shaohao was at a loss, the August Celestial Yu'lon, the Jade Serpent, advised Shaohao to shed his burdens, purify his soul, and become one with the land.
The emperor did not understand what it meant, but continuing to stay on this cold mountaintop would not find more answers. Emperor Shaohao stepped down the mountain in despair, intending to discuss the next step with his companion, the Monkey King.
Later, with the help of the Monkey King and the August Celestials, Shaohao successively defeated Doubt, Despair, Anger, Fear, Hatred and Rage in the Four Celestial Temples and sealed them underground.
But he stopped when facing the last one—Pride.
Emperor Shaohao's arrogance caused Pandaria to be shrouded in mist, because he believed that the Pandaren were superior to other races in the world and had the ability to solve problems on their own. But for the next ten thousand years, they stagnated, and their doubts and fears were buried beneath this land, emerging to corrode people's hearts whenever they had the opportunity. Therefore, arrogance is the most insidious and cunning sha, more dangerous than all the others combined.
After defeating the six sha, Shaohao gathered a group of elite monks and founded the Shado-Pan to continue to restrain and control the evil sha.
The emperor was no longer the same as before. He embarked on his final journey, becoming the embodiment of faith, hope, courage, perseverance, love, and peace, becoming a creation that radiated pure light.
Finally, one day, at dusk, green flames rolled in the sky, and the earth trembled in fear. But the emperor was not afraid, and there was no doubt or despair in his heart. When the sky cracked, he feasted and sang loudly. Emperor Shaohao saw fear and doubt in the eyes of his subjects, so he issued a declaration—life is short, every day should be spent happily in the present, and every night should be spent peacefully and worry-free.
Shaohao ascended to the Terrace of Endless Spring, inserted his artifact staff into the ground, and his soul became one with the land, and the mist began to spread.
Shaohao shrouded his homeland in an impenetrable mist, and no one in the world could find Pandaria again.
Even ships that occasionally sailed into this mist would lose their direction, spinning in place until they returned to open waters.
For the Pandaren, as they looked out at the mist-shrouded sea, many believed that the outside world had been destroyed in the Great Cataclysm.
After Emperor Shaohao disappeared, the power of Pandaria was devolved to the local level.
Only the Shado-Pan remained to resist the sha and the mantid, and the Golden Lotus to manage government affairs and act as a court.
With all threats blocked by the Great Wall, there was no need for an emperor, and Shaohao became the last emperor of Pandaria.
For nearly ten thousand years, only one brave Pandaren named Liu Lang set out to explore the world outside the mist on the back of a giant sea turtle, Shen-zin Su.
The sea turtle grew bigger and bigger, and Liu Lang's desire to explore the world gradually became stronger.
More people joined him, eventually forming a settlement of Pandaren explorers on the back of the great sea turtle, traveling in the sea, known as the "Wandering Isle."
After Jiā lín traced the past of Pandaria, his heart was surging!
He decided to help it clear all the threats!