Good Merit are easy to accumulate, but great Merit are not.
Zheng Fa's goal was clear—to gain Merit by doing so!
You're kidding. Others might not know, but he certainly does. There are only a handful of great Merit that can lead to sainthood, and none of them are things he can even dream of right now.
The Creation Daoist thinks he can sit on a prayer mat after accomplishing great Merit; that's pure wishful thinking.
In Zheng Fa's view, the only feasible way is to try with great Merit, great perseverance, and great enlightenment.
Simply put, if you need a perfect score to sit on that prayer mat, Zheng Fa thinks the most reasonable approach is to rack up 30 or 40 points in Merit, and another 30 or 40 points in the other two categories, adding them up to a perfect score. Alternatively, you could rack up 30 or 40 points in the first Merit, and then find a few more great Merit to rack up.
He didn't dare to even think about being the first author; he could just write a few second or third author papers, and maybe that would meet the admission requirements of the university.
Zheng Fa flew out of the Five Organs Temple and wandered aimlessly, hoping to find a powerful figure who could take him flying.
But the Nine Luminaries Heaven World has changed drastically.
When they first entered the Nine Luminaries Heaven, this small world was not very large, but it was similar in size to the Nine Mountains Realm. However, now, with the help of the memories of the Fusang Wood, they have returned to the Ancient Immortal Realm.
The Ancient Immortal Realm was far more vast than the present-day Xuanwei.
Zheng Fa looked up, and in the distance, Mount Buzhou was so tall it was terrifying. Even from hundreds of thousands of miles away, he could see the majestic outline of this divine mountain.
Mount Buzhou, the sky was a pale blue-white, with magnificent palaces floating above the clouds. One after another, beautiful or ferocious demons soared into the Nine Heavens, enjoying songs and dances among the stars and drinking celestial wine.
This is the Demon Court.
Beneath Mount Buzhou lies the territory of the Witch Race.
The Witch Race, centered around this ancestral mountain, occupied a vast territory.
The newborn Witch Race children, with their tender faces but bodies like baby elephants, fought fiercely, both men and women, shirtless, causing the green mountains to collapse and the green rivers to stop flowing, while the Witch Race adults laughed heartily on the side.
They are truly a blessed race.
Even though these existences were all illusions, Zheng Fa's eyelids still twitched wildly, and he sighed inwardly: Although the struggle between the witch and demon races was becoming more and more frequent, they still had the composure of being the overlords of heaven and earth.
In their eyes, this world seemed to be their playground.
Zheng Fa intended to seek out Houtu Zuwu, since he was familiar with the matter of opening up Reincarnation, and it wouldn't be difficult to gain some Merit by leveraging his experience from the previous project.
The world had become so vast, and the power of the Witch Race was so great. He transformed into the appearance of Witch Race and spent several months traveling through Witch Race villages, but he still couldn't find the Houtu Wu Houtu.
Although these Witch Race could exchange a few words with him, most of them were not very intelligent, and sometimes their words were incoherent.
When he arrived at the Houtu Tribe, he discovered the fatal flaw in the matter: due to poor communication, he had no way of figuring out where the Houtu Ancestral Witch was. Relying only on fragments of information he had heard, Zheng Fa found it very difficult to find the whereabouts of such a powerful being.
On the other hand, he had another concern: Did Houtu, the Houtu witch, possess sentience?
Zheng Fa wandered around the Houtu Tribe for several more months, but didn't even see a single hair of Houtu, the Houtu witch, and gradually became somewhat disheartened.
That day, he was squatting on a mound, watching two Witch Race fighting each other, wearing only shorts, when a Communication Talisman came flying through the air.
"Fellow Daoist Shi, did you gain anything? The rest of you should all return to the Five Organs Temple in the coming days to exchange information."
Zheng Fa glanced at the Communication Talisman, then at the group of passionate Witch Race men in front of him, shook his head, and flew towards the Five Organs Temple.
Inside the Five Organs Temple, the Golden-Winged Great Peng and the White Lotus had already arrived, and the eight members of the Lu Clan were also waiting for them, but the Gu God and the White Bone Devil Ancestor had not yet arrived.
Upon seeing Zheng Fa arrive, the Creation Daoist asked expectantly, "Where have you been lately, fellow Daoist? Have you gained anything?"
Zheng Fa's heart stirred, and he said, half-truthfully, "I thought the Witch Race was powerful and controlled the land, so there must be many fortuitous opportunity. I wandered around the Witch Race's territory, but unfortunately, I came up empty-handed."
The eight members of the Lu Clan, who had been frowning, immediately smiled with relief upon hearing Zheng Fa's answer.
Just as the Creation Daoist was about to say something, he suddenly looked outside and laughed, "My two fellow Daoists have arrived."
Zheng Fa followed his gaze and saw the figures of the Gu God and the White Bone Devil Ancestor appear outside the hall, seemingly without anyone noticing when they had appeared.
"You two fellow Daoists have arrived rather late." Creation Daoist nodded to the two, his expression showing little surprise. He then looked at Zheng Fa, his tone carrying a hint of reassurance, "This humble Daoist has also not encountered any fortuitous opportunity."
He turned his gaze to the Golden-Winged Great Peng and the White Lotus.
The Golden-Winged Great Peng stood proudly, chest puffed out. "I have joined the Demon Race."
Zheng Fa was slightly taken aback. How did this Golden-Winged Great Peng communicate with those Demon Race?
" The Demon Race includes my Roc clan. I am connected to them by blood, and we can communicate without hindrance." Saying this, the Golden-Winged Great Peng glanced at Zheng Fa again and sneered, "I have also mastered many of the languages here."
"In that case, it is indeed a fortuitous fortuitous opportunity you, fellow Daoist." The Creation Daoist seemed oblivious to the smugness in his words, praising, "Joining the Demon Race, and helping them unify the world, might truly be a great act of Merit."
He then looked at White Lotus.
White Lotus clasped his hands together, his expression calm, and said, "This humble monk does not possess the abilities of Benefactor Roc. I merely serve by the side of the two Founder, guiding vengeful spirits, averting war, and accumulating Merit."
Zheng Fa's heart skipped a beat, and the others looked at White Lotus with great surprise—in the Purple Cloud Palace, if anyone could be called the Founder of Thunderclap Temple, it would only Zhunти and Jieyin.
So everyone's just trying to freeload!
White Lotus added, "Although I learn slowly, I have some understanding of the local language."
The eight members of the Lu Clan couldn't help but look at Zheng Fa, their gazes filled with a hint of mockery.
Zheng Fa remained unmoved. He knew that the language barrier was not entirely insurmountable—the people in front of him were all powerful figures selected from among billions of Xuanwei.
Having lived here for more than half a year, it's not surprising that even if they could only use gestures at first, they can now master some everyday language.
The Creation Daoist then asked, "Where are the other fellow Daoists?"
After a moment of silence, the Gu God and the White Bone Devil Ancestor Gu God, "We are also searching around, but we haven't found much yet."
Her words sounded somewhat untrue.
The eight Lu Clan also said, "We are also learning the local language."
Creation Daoist shook his head. "I haven't gained anything either. It seems that Fellow Roc Dapeng and Fellow White Lotus Bailian have made some progress."
The people in the hall nodded slightly, and then Creation said, "Why don't you all share what you've seen and heard in your respective places?"
The group exchanged glances, knowing they had all returned for this very reason—to exchange information.
Although they each harbored their own ulterior motives and distrusted one another, they shared the same goal: to obtain the Primordial Purple Qi.
Zheng Fa thought for a moment and then spoke first about the news he had heard from the Witch Race. The Golden-Winged Great Peng listened very attentively—after all, he was going to help the Demon Race unify the world, and the Witch Race was naturally his greatest enemy.
After he finished speaking, the others also started talking about their own experiences. Although they were certainly holding back some information, Zheng Fa listened very attentively.
The Gu God suddenly mentioned some news, which cheered him up:
" Nuwa seems to have been wandering in the Eastern Sea for the past few years and hasn't returned to the Demon Court for a long time."
Zheng Fa felt a surge of emotion. He looked at the others, including the Creation Daoist, who was also interested in the news. After all, Nuwa was one of the six people sitting on the futon, clearly a big figure in this world.
The group discussed it for a while, but didn't take it too seriously, probably just hoping to find an opportunity to try their fortuitous opportunity.
Having left the Five Organs Temple, Zheng Fa flew directly towards the Eastern Sea.
In fact, Zheng Fa's first target was Nuwa, but unlike Houtu, who had a large and powerful family, Nuwa, although not alone, was also aloof from the world and only nominally belonged to the Demon Race, making it difficult to find her whereabouts.
He then decided to try and find Houtu first, but unexpectedly, he heard news of Nuwa from the Gu God.
In Zheng Fa's view, no one in the world can compare to Nuwa in terms of great Merit!
If the legend is true, the only one who truly Nuwa through great Merit was Nuwa, Houtu could only be considered half a saint.
Even rubbing against Nuwa's thigh can bring you Merit.
The Ancient Immortal Realm was so vast that it took him half a year to travel from the Five Organs Temple to the shores of the Eastern Sea.
He searched for another month near the Eastern Sea before finally spotting Nuwa.
She was strolling along the beach, her brow furrowed, as if troubled by something.
"Your Majesty."
Zheng Fa landed before Nuwa and bowed in greeting.
"It's you." Nuwa's gaze softened upon seeing him, though the furrowed brow remained. "You came to see me?"
"... yes."
Although he still didn't understand what state Nuwa was in now, the other party's keen insight still slightly startled Zheng Fa, and he dared not hide anything from her.
"Yes, that woman who looks a bit like Witch Race also came to see me," Nuwa nodded.
Like Witch Race, a woman, perhaps she is Gu God?
It seems the Gu God has almost learned the local language?
Zheng Fa felt a pang of gloom when he heard Nuwa say, "You've come for the seventh prayer mat?"
Zheng Fa slowly raised his head and saw Nuwa staring intently at him, her eyes seemingly knowing everything.
"Your Majesty?"
Nuwa bent down, picked up a conch shell at her feet, and examined the patterns on it in her palm.
"She told me many things. It turns out that later generations really don't know our names anymore. You come from a place called Xuanwei."
Hearing this, Zheng Fa couldn't help but curse inwardly.
This Gu God even smashed the pot while eating, and he tells everyone everything.
To put it bluntly, the Gu God probably sensed that these Sage were eager to know about the future, so in order to win the favor of the Nuwa, he told her everything at once.
This made Zheng Fa's plan to Merit much more difficult than expected.
Seeing the expression on his face, Nuwa sighed softly, "So it's all true. In later generations, no one remembers us anymore."
"... It's not that there's no one."
You know me?
"Yes."
Zheng Fa said in a low voice.
"That woman wanted to gain Merit, and I gave her a chance." Nuwa didn't ask any further questions, seemingly uninterested, and simply looked towards the sea. "I asked her, 'I have sensed my opportunity to attain enlightenment, but there's a question I haven't been able to figure out. Could she tell me the answer?'"
Zheng Fa was thrilled upon hearing this. The Gu God might not know, but he knew all too well—it was about creating humans!
He seemed to be holding the standard answer from later generations, opening his mouth as if about to speak.
Then Nuwa said, "I asked her, 'I listened to my teacher's teachings in the Purple Cloud Palace and realized that my Dao lies in Creation.'"
"Although the Witch and Demon races are currently very powerful, and I can barely be considered Demon Race, one of them is ignorant and the other is ferocious, both of them are far removed from the Dao. If they were to truly become overlords, it would be a blessing for all living beings."
I asked her if she had any ideas, but she couldn't answer and only said she didn't know.
She doesn't know I do!
This is a completely open-book exam; with just those two simple words, he can gain a huge amount of Merit!
Nuwa suddenly said, "Actually, I already realized it long ago: to create humans."
"..."
Zheng Fa stared blankly at Nuwa, feeling as if this Nuwa was teasing him, asking and answering her own questions, or even interrupting him to answer!
Seemingly amused by his expression, Nuwa chuckled and shook her head, saying, "When I saw you, I actually sensed something in my heart."
Zheng Fa suddenly understood.
"Most of you are not Precelestial Divine, nor are you Demon Race or Witch Race," Nuwa, gazing into the distance with a dreamy look in her eyes. "Yet you came from the future, and among future cultivators, your strength must not be weak..."
"There's only one explanation..." Nuwa looked at Zheng Fa, her eyes filled with clarity, "You are the protagonists of the future world, perhaps even the only protagonists."
"..."
Zheng Fa was stunned.
He thought the memories in his mind were the answer.
Unexpectedly, the moment they appeared before Nuwa, everything was laid bare before this future Sage.
They themselves are the answer!
Seeing his blank expression, Nuwa gently shook her head, gesturing for him to follow. The two walked slowly along the beach. Zheng Fa had a thousand words in his heart, but they all boiled down to one question:
"Your Majesty, since you already knew..."
Nuwa turned her head to look at Zheng Fa: "Are you asking why I didn't create humans to become saints?"
"Yes."
Nuwa turned to look at the sky. "That's exactly the question I wanted to ask you."
"What?"
Why should I create humans to become saints?
"..."
Zheng Fa became increasingly confused, unable to grasp the meaning of Nuwa's words for a moment.
Nuwa suddenly stopped in her tracks. "If what you know about the past is true, then I should create humans, become a saint, and then what?"
"... Then?"
"Since I will eventually perish, what's wrong with me creating humans?" Nuwa's question shocked Zheng Fa. "Or rather, is it really right for me to create humans?"
Zheng Fa looked at the Nuwa.
Nuwa's Divine Spirits and her expression dignified. Looking into the distance, her face showed deep doubt.
This Sage, who had long since vanished from all the heavens and myriad realms, appeared so lifelike to Zheng Fa that he even began to reflect upon his own existence because of the arrival of Zheng Fa and his companions.
Those Witch Race were too stupid to communicate, but this Nuwa was too clever.
He originally thought this illusion was just a script, and that he possessed the answers from the future, allowing him to progress quickly.
Only now does he realize that it's far from that.
What he was holding wasn't a fill-in-the-blank question; he only needed to write the words "create a person" on the blank line.
He was faced with a proof question—why create humans?
As we all know, proof problems are the most difficult.
(End of this chapter)