Shennong was indeed the strongest among the Three Sovereigns, as can be seen from the artifacts left behind by the Three Sovereigns.
The fact that Chi You, a descendant of the Nine Springs, was able to oppose the divine realm and create the demon realm is further evidence of this.
As for why Fuxi won, it's because Fuxi and Nuwa were a husband-and-wife team, so it was two against one. Fuxi also enlightened the elite monsters and won over other innate gods. As the ancestor of humankind, he also educated humanity. Shennong when the [beasts] were oppressed, was naturally no match for him.
Even in the Xuan Guang Hall, the Fuxi Sword was on top, together with the Nuwa Blood Jade on the Crystal Wall, suppressing the Shennong Cauldron at the bottom of the abyss.
"It can draw upon the supernatural powers of all beasts to defend against enemies, and it can restore health and enhance cultivation to assist others. The Shennong Cauldron is indeed stronger."
Suppressing the surging Pangu's Vitality Pangu's Divinity within him, Jing Tian abandoned the Shennong Cauldron Nuwa Blood Jade without looking back and flew towards the Fuxi Sword.
The Three Sovereigns Divine Artifacts all contain the spiritual power of the Three Sovereigns, and have formed their own cycle, resembling miniature versions of the Three Sovereigns in terms of artifacts.
Although the Shennong Cauldron is powerful, he now needs the Fuxi Sword more—the final piece of the puzzle of Pangu's Three Elements Dao— the Pangu's Essence.
"I am finally whole." The Setsuna the sword hilt aligned with the lines of his palm, Jing Tian heard his bones being reconstructed—all three hundred and sixty bones trembled simultaneously, reshaping themselves like mountains growing.
The spine transformed into the Buzhou Mountain, the ribs rose into the nine veins of Kunlun, and the brain embedded in the skull suddenly transformed into a divine light—the four heavens of the Holy Realm, the four Brahma Heavens, the four heavens of the Formless Realm, the eighteen heavens of the Form Realm, and the six heavens of the Desire Realm were conceived within it.
The opposite place, where the essence was stored, had transformed into Primordial Void, devoid of anything, from which a silent demonic light arose.
However, this is only the beginning.
Jing Tian's figure, as well as the Fuxi Sword, shattered suddenly.
The three thousand strands of hair, each with its own afflictions, broke off inch by inch, and each hair tip rose into the air and transformed into a star, forming an unnamed Nova on the top of the head;
The iris of the left eye faded to a cold jade color, and the phases of the moon within the pupil rotated in an instant, from the new moon to the full moon, seeping out the clear light of the osmanthus shadow;
His right eye burned into a molten gold fireball, with the solar prominence curling up at the edge of the iris, and the faint phantom of Three-legged Golden Crow swirling around the pupil;
Even breathing has evolved into wind, clouds, frost, snow, torrential rain, and thunder.
The convergence of the three elements of Pangu not only enabled Jing Tian to become a miniature Pangu, but also later evolved into the small but complete Six Realms.
Only after he regained his human form did he transform once again from the ruthless Heavenly Dao that was omnipresent in the Six Realms into a sentient being, the one who existed before Nuwa created humans and lived in chaos—[Pangu].
"It's truly terrifying," Jing Tian, looking at the Fuxi Sword in his hand, whose blade no longer reflected the scene of the divine realm but instead bore the axe mark from the beginning of chaos. "If it weren't for 'me,' I fear I would have truly perished."
"What should I be called back then? The incarnation of the Heavenly Dao— Hongjun?"
However, the risks are proportional to the rewards.
Its three ancient spirits have already merged, evolving into the primordial spiritual power of the five spirits of Pangu.
Even without absorbing the Thunder Spirit Pearl and the Water Spirit Pearl, it will reach perfection someday in the future, or rather, it is improving with every breath, constantly approaching perfection.
The Way of Love, which did not exist in the chaos and was only found in the human realm after the world was born, can also be obtained through self-love.
This is because Jing Tian is already complete, and there is no longer a matching negative aspect to him, or rather, his negative aspect has already merged with him.
"Is it because Fuxi has been refraining from taking action because he is too close to Pangu and can only rely on periodic slumber to survive the Calamity of Dao Transformation?" Jing Tian speculated.
After all, in the Legend of Sword and Fairy 7, Fuxi awoke and used the Spring of Chunzi to create Xiu Wu from the Fruit of the Divine Tree. After becoming the protagonist of Legend of Sword and Fairy 7, he did not have time to create more new gods like Xiu Wu, a 3.0 version, before falling into slumber again.
"Ah Tian." Zi Xuan had broken through the illusion and arrived at the [Realm of Truth] where Jing Tian was. The next moment, she couldn't help but look at the [Nuwa Blood Jade], and the Core Elixir within her body suddenly shattered. "What on earth is going on?"
What happened?
The ancestor, a master of medicine, saw that his descendant had kidney stones and helped her break them up.
Tianxin, then said in a way that Zi Xuan could understand, "The power of the Nuwa Blood Jade has made her regard your condition as an illness."
The Nuwa Blood Jade flashed several red lights, as if responding to Jing Tian's words.
"That's fine too." Zi Xuan smiled bitterly. "Changqing is in the past. No, we haven't even really started."
At this moment, she had returned to her form as the Earth Mother, with Human Body Snake Tail. The [Nuwa Blood Jade] automatically detached from the Crystal Wall and adorned her brow.
"This is..." Her bitter smile froze.
Even though her daughter was poisoned by the puppet, she was still absorbing her Nuwa Spiritual Power, but the amount she absorbed was extremely small, less than what she could recover with a single breath.
Now, the Nuwa Spiritual Power that was constantly leaking out has returned to her own body.
"The inability of mother and daughter to coexist is also a problem in Xueyu's view," Jing Tian said. "After all, the divine child's absorption of external spiritual energy is sufficient for normal development. The divine child will not suffer great damage to its vitality when it gives birth to offspring."
Nuwa herself was one of the three transformations of Pangu, and she did not have the defects of the other gods.
However, their descendants were not born from the union of Nuwa and Fuxi.
It was created from the essence of Nuwa's strength.
Although they have not broken free from the divine realm and possess the same immortal body as other gods, and their divine abilities far surpass those of ordinary gods, they also possess the same flaws of the divine race.
"My Qing'er." Zi Xuan covered her face, her long-suppressed maternal love surging back into her heart.
Finally, her Qing'er was able to grow up normally, and the fate of them, the Descendant of Nuwa, was finally ended.
The absence of the Fuxi Sword Nuwa Blood Jade did not shatter the illusion.
Xue Jian and Long Kui, who had just entered the illusion, were still asleep.
"It's time to wake up," Jing Tian said.
Everything in the illusion accelerated rapidly, as if it were traveling at several times the normal speed.
With a resolute expression, Xue Jian, wielding the [Zhaodan] sword, severed Luo Rulie's head.
Long Kui, who was mocked and frightened by many vengeful spirits inside the Demonic Sword, finally mustered up the courage to conjure a spirit bow. She was no longer just a little girl who cried and called for her brother, but instead had her second personality appear to fight off the enemy.
"Ah Tian."
"Elder brother."
The two finally woke up.
"This is the realm that Xu Changqing reached," Jing Tian said. "He saw through the illusion, but he failed to take the Three Sovereigns Divine Artifacts."
The two noticed the bluish-gray stone sword in Jing Tian's hand and Zi Xuan's current Human Body Snake Tail.
"Brother Tian, you got the [Fuxi Sword]!"
"Sister Zi Xuan, you..."
Jing Tian nodded, "It's the [Nuwa Blood Jade] that activated the Nuwa Spiritual Power within her. The form of the Mother Earth after Goddess Nuwa left the divine realm was originally Human Body Snake Tail."
"Where is the Shennong Cauldron?" Xue Jian asked.
"Down."
Hearing Jing Tian's prompt, she looked down.
"What... what are all these?!"
The ground she was standing on was not a transparent glass floor reflecting the star map.
Instead, they were shadowy Beast Shadows that seemed to reflect the dark and ferocious nature of her heart.
[Qiongqi] emerged from the bottom of the abyss, its tiger body and bat wings dripping with putrid liquid, each drop etching a wailing human face onto the brick surface. Its tail split into nine forks, each wrapped with a piece of chewed-up [Loyalty, Filial Piety, Integrity and Righteousness] inscription, and the ink that splashed out when it swung was the evil words it had kept from speaking three days ago.
To the left, the Gudiao dwells in the Bone Forest, with seven infant skulls wedged between its eagle head and deer antlers. Whenever her heart races, the skulls cry out in unison, the sound waves causing the bricks beneath her feet to sprout fleshy growths, revealing the dead faces of Tang Family Fortress people, including her grandfather, within these growths.
Deep within, the Jiuying dwells, its nine human heads and serpentine necks intertwined to form a well-like enclosure. Each head has facial features on both sides: one side recites the Tao Te Ching, while the other spews ghostly fire. The bubbles rising from the well reflect the three thousand sins she might commit in the future, and each bursting bubble brings excruciating pain.
"The abyss reflected in your heart." Jing Tian's words seemed to have a magical power, instantly waking Xue Jian up. "There are actually many loopholes in this."
"Although the mythical beasts in the Classic of Mountains and Seas exist, there have been errors and omissions in their transmission from ancient times to the present day. How could they all be the same as what you know?"
"Moreover, most of them are innate gods, so how could they appear on the body of the cauldron?"
"In ancient times, although beasts were stronger than humans, they were not intelligent and were weaker than the gods to whom humans depended. Beasts were the lowest class oppressed by both gods and humans, and only a few could survive by eating humans."
"There was no Tao Te Ching at that time."
Upon waking, Xue Jian finally saw the illusion of the Exotic Flowers and Strange Herbs in the cauldron. She was easily fooled, while Long Kui was not. Xuejian's face turned red.
"That's normal," Jing Tian reassured him. "After losing the suppression of the Fuxi Sword Nuwa Blood Jade, the power of the Shennong Cauldron already exceeded the level of a normal test."
"Xiao Kui is alright." He couldn't help but flash in front of Long Kui and pull her into his arms. "If you were imprisoned in the Demonic Sword and lived with the vengeful spirits within for thousands of years without going mad, you could also resist the power of the Shennong Cauldron."
"Xiao Kui, I..." Xue Jian's face turned even redder, like Jing Jing's bottom.
"We should go," Jing Tian said.
"But... [Shennong Cauldron]... Xiao Kui wants to get the [Shennong Cauldron] for her brother."
He felt a muffled thud from Long Kui's chest, accompanied by a surge of heat and an itch.
"It's best not to." Jing Tian shook his head. "If three of the Three Sovereigns Divine Artifacts are lost, the illusion will completely disappear, and the God Realm will also notice."
"I'm not ready to meet with them yet."
"Oh." Long Kui buried her head even deeper, as if she wanted to meld herself into Jing Tian's body.
Xuan Guang Hall is located at the foot of Floating Mountain.
"You... you actually succeeded." Cang Gu's attention was drawn to the ancient sword in Jing Tian's hand.
The blood jade on Zi Xuan's forehead was ignored.
Because Xu Changqing had not yet had a chance to reveal the truth about the Three Sovereigns.
"Is this the Fuxi Sword or the Xuanyuan?"
"None of those," Jing Tian said. "Now you might call it the Creation of Heaven."
"The Fuxi Sword does not belong to you." Cang Gu's eyes flashed with anger.
They were very familiar with Jing Tian's tone, which was like putting themselves in others' shoes.
Just like [Zhaodan], when it was in Fei Peng's hands, its name was [Zhaodan].
After it fell to earth and was obtained by Taiqing, it was renamed "Demon Suppressor".
Even though the subsequent sect leader contacted Taiqing, who was in the divine realm, and learned of its origins, which were recorded in the "Origin Examination" and not deleted by the later sect leader, they did not change the name, and regarded "Zhaodan" as their Shushan.
"Junior brother, since the Fuxi Sword has chosen its master, we should accept it and let it go," said Qing Wei, who had arrived. The three elders behind him nodded in agreement.
The people of Shu Mountain are all sword cultivators who love swords like crazy and regard them as their second life.
In the original timeline, after discovering the Demonic Sword in Jing Tian's hand, he did not clamor to take it back, but respected the Demonic Sword's choice.
If they were transported to the world of Feng Yun and saw Nameless stealing Bu Jingyun's "Peerless Good Sword" under the pretext of fearing he might go astray, they would probably immediately stand up for justice for Bu Jingyun.
"Yes," Cang Gu reluctantly uttered the word.
"Young friend, I hope you can go to the Ghost Realm to rescue Changqing," Qing Wei pleaded.
Did he not know that Jing Tian would save the person out of respect for Zi Xuan? Of course he knew.
He was just giving Jing Tian a reason to possess the Fuxi Sword.
"Of course, you don't need to ask." Jing Tian glanced at Zi Xuan.
The resentment in Cang Gu's eyes disappeared.
"That's wonderful. I truly don't know how to thank you enough, young friend," Qing Wei said.
He genuinely didn't know how to express his gratitude.
In the original timeline, he was able to treat Jing Tian so casually because Jing Tian was considered half a disciple of the Shu Mountain sect and had learned the Shu Mountain mental cultivation method.
Now, Xue Jian, the weakest of the four, has become so powerful in her Wutu Spiritual Power element after passing the illusion test that she is almost at the level of Half-Immortal.
"Jade Visage Condensing Mist Pill."
"Osmanthus Shadow Condensing Pill."
The suggestion was made by Jingming and Youxuan, two of the five elders of Shushan.
Jingming cultivates the [Supreme Purity Method] to eliminate lustful thoughts, but his thought pattern remains unchanged. In an instant, he thought of the [Jade Visage Condensing Mist Pill] as a gift of gratitude, a pill that can restore and fix one's appearance to its best stage.
Youxuan is the military leader among the five elders, and he is the most intelligent.
He noticed that Hua Ying and the little monkey were very favored, and thought of the [Osmanthus Shadow Condensing Pill], which was designed to purify Demonic Aura and enhance cultivation in beasts.
"[Jade Visage Condensing Mist Pill]?" Ancient One his sleeve. "Junior Brother Jingming, what kind of behavior is this!"
His personality is similar to Chang Hao's; he also dislikes female disciples. He finds it absurd to use pills, which are only used by women, as a gift of gratitude.
"[Osmanthus Shadow Condensing Pill]?" Heyang, the most skilled alchemist among the Shu Mountain Five Elders, nodded. "Take the essence of the moon at midnight in mid-autumn, mix it with the remnants of a jade pestle used for pounding medicine and the pearl powder from an old clam in a cold pool, and seal it in a century-old cassia seed for storage. When the winter solstice arrives and Yin reaches its extreme and Yang begins to rise, open the seal and judge its quality by the waxing and waning of the moon's reflection within the pill."
"Since the decline of the dual cultivation of spirit pets in Shu Mountain, few people have been able to refine it."
"But coincidentally, my Dingzhen Pavilion happens to have an Osmanthus Shadow Condensing Pill of full moon quality stored in its cellar."
"Of course you will," Youxuan said. "You can refine any pill that is included in the [Dingzhen Pavilion] pill manual. I won't make promises lightly."
"[Jade Visage Condensing Mist Pill], what kind of pill is this? Will it make me more beautiful?" Xue Jian glanced at Zi Xuan, hesitated for a long time before finally asking.
The description of the [Osmanthus Shadow Condensing Pill] suggests that it is beneficial to both Hua Ying and little monkey, but she prefers the former.
Aside from her physical advantages, she wasn't confident that she could surpass Zi Xuan in terms of looks.
"Of course!" Jingming, who had been somewhat listless after being scolded by Cang Gu, was now full of energy. "This pill will not only give you a Jingming and graceful appearance, but it will also keep you young forever!"
"I also have the Jade Visage Condensing Mist Pill in my Dingzhen Pavilion, three gourds of it. Why don't I take them all?" Youxuan said quickly, seeing that Cang Gu seemed about to get angry.
"Very good." Qing Wei nodded.
As the leader of the Shu Mountain Five Elders, he was responsible for making decisions.