The Three Ancestors of the Human Race Gather Worlds

As Suiren left City of All Spirits, the eternally burning hearth in the Fireseed Daoist Arena suddenly flickered, its flames turning from crimson to grayish-white, then back to crimson. He thrust the fire tongs, which had been used to warm the fire for half his life, into the ground. The tongs sank three inches into the earth, and a line of words was carved into their surface. "Suiren is going to collect the shells in the eastern Chaos. The Fireseed Daoist Arena will be temporarily guarded by the fire hearth. As long as the fire hearth remains burning, the Daoist Arena will not disband." After writing this, he dusted off his hands and headed towards the eastern Chaos.

Youchao stood up at the end of the 999th main street of City of All Spirits, slammed his wooden staff, which he had used for tens of thousands of years, into the ground. The staff sank half a foot into the earth, and a new branch sprouted from its tip, bearing a house-shaped fruit. He picked the fruit and put it in his sleeve, then said to the Grey Wheat vendor at the street corner, "Leave the door open for passersby in my house on Wawu Street. Anyone who is tired can go in and rest. There is a hearth inside, and porridge is warming on the stove." After saying this, he headed north towards the Chaos direction.

When Ziyi emerged from the clothing workshop in City of Ten Thousand Crafts, the last bolt of cloth had just come off the loom. The cloth was greyish-white, its weave depicting miniature versions of the 999 main streets of City of All Spirits. She draped the cloth over the loom, and it rolled itself into a tube, a bone needle inserted into the opening. She told the apprentices in the workshop, "This cloth is for those who come to learn weaving. Whoever weaves the first wearable piece can unravel it and use it as thread." With that, she headed west towards Chaos.

The three men split into three groups and headed into the depths of Chaos, each leading an elite force under the command of the Three Ancestors of the Human Race humanity. Suiren led fire-makers who had been working in the Fire Fireseed Daoist Arena for tens of thousands of years, each with fire patterns on their hands and carrying flints, steel hooks, and tinderboxes at their waists. Youchao led carpenters, stonemasons, and bricklayers from the ninety-nine tiled-roof streets of City of All Spirits, each carrying a basket of tools, complete with axes, chisels, saws, and planes. Ziyi led weavers and embroiderers from the clothing workshops who had been weaving cloth for tens of thousands of years, each with thread wrapped around their fingers and needles tucked into their sleeves.

Suiren traveled due east for forty-nine days, collecting thirty-seven Great Thousand World and one hundred and twenty Middle Thousand World. On the forty-eighth day, the foreman at the front suddenly stopped. The tinderbox in his hand ignited without fire, the flame shifting three inches to the east. Suiren went forward and saw a giant shell floating deep in the Chaos. The shell was covered with crimson flame patterns, radiating from the core to the surface. Each pattern was a complete law of fire. Every three zhang (approximately 10 meters) on the shell was embedded a fire seed crystal, each crystal containing an Origin fire. The shell looked like a giant charcoal that had burned for Eon.

Suiren pressed his hand against the shell, and a searing heat surged through his palm. The flame patterns on the shell suddenly accelerated, converging from all directions into his palm. He withdrew his hand, and a crimson fire bead appeared in his palm, containing a complete law of incineration. He crushed the fire bead and examined it; from the fragments floated an extremely subtle divine thought, "The Myriad-Burning Dao Venerable is here. Who comes?"

Suiren flicked the fragments away. "Suiren, the fire patterns on your shell are quite nice. They can burn on their own and even actively crawl into people's hands. It's a pity that what crawls in is your own fire. If I crush it, you'll get burned too."

A loud laugh echoed from within the shell, and the flame patterns on its surface suddenly exploded simultaneously, transforming into a crimson cloud that enveloped the entire giant shell. Emerging from the cloud was an old man in a crimson robe, his hair and beard entirely red, coiled around him by nine fire pythons, each holding a still-burning fire pearl in its mouth, each pearl sealing a complete law of incineration. The Myriad-Burning Dao Venerable spoke, his voice like crackling charcoal in a furnace. "This shell of mine is covered with ninety-nine million fire patterns, each one formed from a wisp of fire I released. For every fire pearl you crush, I release ten more wisps of fire. The faster you crush them, the more I release."

Suiren ignored him and took a step towards the very center of the shell. The fiery patterns on the shell immediately wrapped around his ankle. He trembled, and the fiery patterns shattered into sparks, but within three breaths, the shattered sparks regenerated into thicker fiery patterns, binding him even more tightly. He took another step, and another layer of fiery patterns shattered, each layer twice as thick as before. Myriad-Burning Dao Venerable stood in the fiery cloud and laughed, "You've taken three steps, and the fiery patterns on the shell have increased from 99 million to 110 million. After you take a hundred steps, the fiery patterns on my shell will increase to 1 billion. When you reach the center of the shell, the fiery patterns on the shell will be able to refine you into a lump of burning coal."

Suiren stopped and glanced at the shell. The fire patterns on the shell were indeed growing wildly, but he noticed that the direction of the fire patterns was regular—they converged from the surface to the center, becoming denser towards the center. However, there was a palm-sized patch in the very center of the shell where the fire patterns were extremely sparse, so sparse that the shell material underneath could be seen. He pointed to that sparse patch, and a drop of Suiren's Origin fire seeped from his fingertip. The fire landed on the sparse patch, and suddenly a small section of the shell collapsed, revealing a bottomless fire hole. From inside the hole came a muffled groan from Myriad-Burning Dao Venerable.

"All ninety-nine million fire patterns on your surface are connected to the 'Myriad-Burning Pool' at the heart of your shell." Suiren withdrew his finger. "You nurture the patterns with fire; the more patterns, the larger the pool, and the larger the pool, the more fire you can create. But there's a 'fire eye' at the bottom of your pool. When the fire eye is blocked, the pool can hold the fire, but when the fire eye opens, all the fire in the pool escapes. I just dripped a drop of Suiren's Origin fire onto your fire eye, and now it can't be blocked anymore."

Myriad-Burning Dao Venerable's expression changed. A gurgling sound of leaking fire came from inside the shell. The fire patterns on the shell surface began to wither, extinguishing layer by layer from the center outwards, exposing the shell material where it had died down, covered with fine cracks. Myriad-Burning Dao Venerable pressed the nine fire pythons onto the shell surface, and the fire pythons transformed into nine fire pillars to support the shell surface. However, the fire pillars could support the shell surface but not the fire holes. The fire pool inside the shell was still leaking, and the leaking fire water seeped out from the cracks in the shell. Suiren slapped the extinguished area on the shell surface, and a crack appeared. He crawled into the crack and landed on the edge of the fire pool inside the shell. Myriad-Burning Dao Venerable was squatting at the bottom of the pool, trying to plug the fire holes with his hands. He plugged one, and two leaks came out; he plugged two, and four leaks came out.

"Don't block it." Suiren squatted by the pool and looked down. "Those fire holes in your shell are counterweight holes, left on the debris that Pangu flung out when he created the world. You've turned the shell into a fire pool, and those counterweight holes have become fire holes. The fire holes leaking fire is the shell's self-regulation—if there's too much fire in the pool, the shell becomes too heavy, so it opens the fire holes to release fire and reduce weight. If you block the fire holes, it's no wonder the shell collapses."

Myriad-Burning Dao Venerable looked up at him. "Then what should we do?"

"Open half the fire eye, store half the fire in the tank, and the weight of the shell is just right. Don't spread all those fire patterns on the shell surface; leave 30% inside the shell as a fire reservoir, and 70% on the shell surface is enough."

Myriad-Burning Dao Venerable squatted at the bottom of the pool for a long time, then loosened his grip on the fire eye. The fire eye leaked for a while and then stopped on its own. The pool water level dropped from full to half, and the number of fire patterns on the shell decreased from one billion to sixty million. The shell was no longer shriveled, and the fire patterns were no longer erratic. He jumped out of the pool and handed the nine fire pearls to Suiren: "You can take this world. But I'll go back with you, and I'll borrow your method of regulating the fire eye for three days. I've cultivated the Myriad-Burning Dao for tens of thousands of years, and in the end, I turned my own shell into a leaky ladle. I don't even know when I blocked it."

Suiren put the fire pearl into his sleeve. "I'll lend you the method. You keep the shell. After you've collected them all, go to City of Ten Thousand Crafts and find Yin Xi. He has ten thousand trials there. The ten thousandth trial is called the 'Naturalness Pass.' When you can adjust the weight of the shell without using your fire eyes, you'll be considered a master."

Youchao traveled due north for forty-nine days, collecting twenty-nine Great Thousand World and ninety-seven Middle Thousand World. On the forty-eighth day, the foreman of the carpenters at the front suddenly stopped. The ink line in his hand snapped by itself, and the end of the line deviated three inches towards due north. Youchao stepped forward and saw a giant shell floating in the depths of Chaos. The shell was covered with gray-white brick and stone patterns, arranged in concentric circles from the center of the shell to the surface. Each circle of brick and stone patterns was a complete law of construction. Every three zhang (approximately 10 meters) on the surface of the shell was embedded a brick and stone crystal, and within the crystal was sealed an Origin construction. The shell looked like a giant brick city built over countless Eon.

Youchao pressed his hand against the shell, feeling a rough texture in his palm. The brick-like patterns on the shell suddenly accelerated their rotation, squeezing into his palm from all directions. He withdrew his hand, and a grayish-white brick-like bead appeared in his palm, containing a complete law of stacking. He crushed the bead and examined it; from the fragments floated an extremely subtle divine thought, "The Myriad-Rampart Dao Venerable is here. Who comes?"

Youchao flicked the debris away. "Youchao, the brick pattern on your shell is quite nice. It can build itself and even squeeze into people's hands. It's a pity that the bricks that squeezed in were your own. I'll crush them and you'll still get a prick."

A muffled thud came from within the shell, and the brick-like patterns on its surface suddenly exploded simultaneously, transforming into a gray-white brick city that enveloped the entire giant shell. Emerging from the brick city was an old man with a gray-white, short, brown robe. The old man was square-shaped, and nine brick pythons coiled around him, each holding a still-spinning brick bead in its mouth. Each brick bead contained a complete stacking law. The Myriad-Rampart Dao Venerable spoke, his voice like bricks clashing. "My shell is covered with ninety-nine million brick patterns, each pattern formed from a brick blank I released and then fired. For every brick bead you crush, I release ten more brick blanks. The faster you crush them, the more I release."

Youchao ignored him and took a step towards the very center of the shell. The brick patterns on the shell immediately wrapped around his ankle. He stomped his foot, and the patterns shattered into fragments, but within three breaths, the fragments reformed into an even thicker, more tightly packed pattern. He took another step, and another layer of patterns shattered, and the reformed pattern was twice as thick as before. Myriad-Rampart Dao Venerable stood in the brick city and laughed, "You've taken three steps, and the patterns on the shell have increased from 99 million to 110 million. After you take a hundred steps, the patterns on my shell will increase to 1 billion. When you reach the center of the shell, the patterns on the shell will be able to embed you into the wall."

Youchao stopped and glanced at the shell. The brick-like patterns on the shell were indeed growing wildly, but he noticed that the direction of growth was regular—the patterns converged from the shell towards the center, becoming denser towards the center. However, in the very center of the shell, there was a palm-sized area where the patterns were extremely sparse, so sparse that the shell material underneath could be seen. He pointed to that sparse area, and a drop of Youchao's Origin wood pulp seeped from his fingertip. The pulp fell onto the sparse area, and a small section of the shell suddenly collapsed, revealing a bottomless brick-like hole. From inside the hole came a muffled groan from Myriad-Rampart Dao Venerable.

"The patterns on all 99 million bricks of yours are connected to that 'Myriad-Rampart Kiln' at the core," Youchao withdrew his finger. "You fire bricks to cultivate patterns; the more patterns, the bigger the kiln, and the bigger the kiln, the more bricks you can fire. But there's a 'kiln hole' at the bottom of your kiln. When the kiln hole is blocked, the kiln can hold bricks, but when the kiln hole is opened, all the bricks in the kiln collapse. I just dripped a drop of Youchao's Origin wood pulp onto your kiln hole, and now it can't be blocked anymore."

Myriad-Rampart Dao Venerable's expression changed as a rumbling sound of collapsing bricks echoed from within the shell. The brick patterns on the shell surface began to loosen, collapsing layer by layer from the center outwards, exposing the shell material beneath, which was covered with fine cracks. Myriad-Rampart Dao Venerable pressed the nine brick pythons onto the shell surface, and the brick pythons transformed into nine brick pillars to support the shell surface. However, while the brick pillars could support the shell surface, they couldn't support the kiln opening. The brick kiln inside the shell continued to collapse, and the brick fragments leaked out from the cracks. Youchao slapped the collapsed area on the shell surface, creating a crack. He crawled into the crack and landed beside the brick kiln inside the shell. Myriad-Rampart Dao Venerable was squatting at the bottom of the kiln, trying to plug the kiln opening with his hands. Each time he plugged it, it collapsed twice; each time he plugged it twice, it collapsed four times.

"Don't block it." Youchao squatted down beside the kiln and looked down. "That kiln opening is the counterweight hole of the shell, a counterweight hole on the debris thrown out when Pangu separated heaven and earth. You built the shell into a brick kiln, and the counterweight hole became the kiln opening. The leakage of bricks from the kiln opening is the shell's self-adjustment—if there are too many bricks in the kiln, the shell becomes too heavy, so the shell opens the kiln opening to put in more bricks to reduce the weight. If you block the kiln opening, it's no wonder the shell collapses."

Myriad-Rampart Dao Venerable looked up at him. "Then what should we do?"

"Open half the kiln opening, store half the bricks inside, and the weight of the outer shell will be just right. Don't lay all the brick patterns on the outer shell; leave 30% inside as a brick storage area, and fill the outer shell with 70%."

Myriad-Rampart Dao Venerable squatted at the bottom of the kiln for a long time, then loosened his hand from blocking the kiln hole. The leak stopped on its own after a while. The number of bricks in the kiln decreased from full to half, and the number of bricks on the outer shell decreased from one billion to sixty million. The shell no longer collapsed, and the brick patterns stopped malfunctioning. He jumped up from the bottom of the kiln and handed nine brick beads to Youchao: "You can take this world. But I will go back with you, and I can borrow your method of adjusting the kiln hole for three days. I have cultivated Myriad-Rampart Dao for tens of thousands of years, and in the end, I have turned my own shell into a leaky ladle. I don't even know when I blocked it."

Youchao put the brick bead into his sleeve. "I'll lend you the method. You keep the shell. Once you've collected them all, go to City of Ten Thousand Crafts and find Yin Xi. He has ten thousand trials there, the ten thousandth of which is called the 'Naturalness Pass.' When you can adjust the weight of the shell without using a kiln hole, you'll be considered a master."

Ziyi traveled due west for forty-nine days, collecting thirty-one Great Thousand World and one hundred and four Middle Thousand World. On the forty-eighth day, the foreman of the weavers at the front suddenly stopped. The spindle in his hand spun by itself, and the spindle head shifted three inches to the west. Ziyi stepped forward and saw a giant shell floating in the depths of Chaos. The shell was covered with gray-white silk threads, arranged in a spiral pattern from the core to the surface. Each thread was a complete weaving principle. Every three zhang (approximately 10 meters) on the shell was embedded a silk crystal, each crystal containing a weaving Origin. The shell looked like a giant silk cocoon that had been bound together for Eon.

Ziyi pressed her hand against the shell, feeling a resilient strength emanating from her palm. The silken patterns on the shell suddenly accelerated their coiling, wrapping around her palm from all directions. She withdrew her hand, revealing a grayish-white silk bead in her palm, containing a complete binding law. She crushed the bead to examine it, and from the fragments floated an extremely subtle divine thought, "The Myriad-Weaving Dao Venerable is here. Who comes?"

Ziyi flicked the fragments away. "Ziyi, the silk patterns on your shell are quite nice. They can wrap themselves around and even actively wrap around people's hands. It's a pity that what wraps around you is your own silk. Even if I crush it, you still have to pull it out."

A soft laugh came from within the shell, and the silken patterns on its surface suddenly exploded simultaneously, transforming into a gray-white silk net that enveloped the entire giant shell. A woman in a gray-white dress emerged from the net; her figure was slender, and nine silken pythons were coiled around her, each holding a spinning silk bead in its mouth, each bead containing a complete binding law. The Myriad-Weaving Dao Venerable spoke, his voice as clear as silk thread passing through the eye of a needle. "This shell of mine is covered with ninety-nine million silken patterns, each woven from a single strand of silk I have released. For every silken bead you crush, I release ten more strands. The faster you crush them, the more I release."

Ziyi ignored her and took a step towards the very center of the shell. The shell's silk threads immediately wrapped around her ankle. She trembled, and the threads shattered into tiny strands, but within three breaths, they were spun back into thicker threads, binding her even more tightly. She took another step, and another layer of threads shattered, the re-spun threads twice as thick as before. Myriad-Weaving Dao Venerable stood within the silk net and laughed, "You've taken three steps, and the shell's silk threads have increased from 99 million to 110 million. After you take a hundred steps, the shell's silk threads will increase to 1 billion. When you reach the center of the shell, the shell's silk threads will wrap you up like a cocoon."

Ziyi stopped and glanced at the shell. The silk threads on the shell were indeed growing wildly, but she noticed that the direction of the silk threads' growth was regular—they converged from the shell towards the center, becoming denser towards the center. However, in the very center of the shell, there was a palm-sized area where the silk threads were extremely sparse, so sparse that the shell material underneath could be seen. She pointed to that sparse area, and a drop of Ziyi's Origin silk essence seeped from her fingertip. The silk essence fell onto the sparse area, and suddenly a small section of the shell collapsed, revealing a bottomless silk hole. From inside the hole came a muffled groan from Myriad-Weaving Dao Venerable.

"All ninety-nine million silk threads of yours are connected to that 'Myriad-Weaving Pool' at the core of your shell." Ziyi withdrew her finger. "You release silk to nourish the threads; the more threads, the bigger the pool, and the bigger the pool, the more silk you can release. But there's a 'silk eye' at the bottom of your pool. When the silk eye is blocked, the pool can hold silk, but when the silk eye is open, all the silk in the pool leaks out. I just dripped a drop of Ziyi's Origin silk paste onto your silk eye, and now it can't be blocked anymore."

Myriad-Weaving Dao Venerable's expression changed, and a hissing sound of leaking silk came from inside the shell. The silk threads on the shell surface began to loosen, peeling off layer by layer from the center outwards, exposing the shell material where it had fallen off, which was covered with fine cracks. Myriad-Weaving Dao Venerable pressed the nine silk pythons onto the shell surface, and the silk pythons transformed into nine silk pillars to support the shell surface. However, the silk pillars could support the shell surface but not the silk holes, and the silk pool inside the shell was still leaking, with the leaking silk water seeping out from the cracks in the shell. Ziyi slapped the area where the shell had fallen off, and a crack appeared in the shell surface. She crawled into the crack and landed on the edge of the silk pool inside the shell. Myriad-Weaving Dao Venerable was squatting at the bottom of the pool, trying to plug the silk holes with his hands. He plugged one hole and two more leaked, then two more and four more leaked.

"Don't block it." Ziyi squatted by the pool and looked down. "Those holes in your silk are the counterweight holes of the shell, the counterweight holes that came off the debris thrown out when Pangu created the world. You've turned the shell into a silk pool, and those counterweight holes have become the silk holes. The leakage of silk through the holes is the shell's self-regulation—if there are too many silks in the pool, the shell becomes too heavy, so the shell opens the holes to let in silk to reduce its weight. If you block the silk holes, it's no wonder the shell collapses."

Myriad-Weaving Dao Venerable looked up at her. "Then what should we do?"

"Open half the silk pores, store half the silk in the pool, and the weight of the shell will be just right. Don't weave all the silk threads onto the shell surface; leave 30% inside the shell as a silk reservoir, and weave 70% onto the shell surface."

Myriad-Weaving Dao Venerable squatted at the bottom of the pool for a long time, then loosened her hand from the silk thread hole. The hole leaked for a while and then stopped on its own. The pool water level dropped from full to half, and the number of silk threads on the shell decreased from one billion to sixty million. The shell stopped falling off, and the silk threads stopped leaking. She jumped up from the bottom of the pool and handed nine silk beads to Ziyi: "You can take this world. But I'll go back with you, and I'll borrow your method of regulating the silk thread hole for three days. I've cultivated the Myriad-Weaving Dao for tens of thousands of years, and in the end, I turned my own shell into a sieve. I don't even know when I blocked it."

Ziyi put the silk beads into her sleeve. "I'll lend you the method. You keep the shell. After you're done, go to City of Ten Thousand Crafts and find Yin Xi. He has ten thousand trials there. The ten thousandth trial is called the 'Naturalness Pass.' When you can adjust the weight of the shell without using the silk eye, you'll be considered a master."

When the three shells were brought back to the Primordial Wilderness, the Three Ancestors of the Human Race set up three stone tables in the central square of City of All Spirits. Suiren led Myriad-Burning Dao Venerable to the first table, Youchao led Myriad-Rampart Dao Venerable to the second table, Ziyi led Myriad-Weaving Dao Venerable to the third table. After the three sat down at the tables, Suiren turned to Taiqing Benzun and said, "We have collected one Universe World each in the due east, due north, and due west. Where should we put the shells after they are brought back?"

Taiqing himself peeked halfway out from the Kunlun Mountain: "The one due east is placed east of the Eastern Victory Divine Continent, the one due north is placed north of the Northern Julu Continent, and the one due west is placed west of the Western Ox Continent. Bring the shells back and dismantle them first. After dismantling, sort them by size. Large shells will be placed on the continent, medium shells will be used for materials, and small shells will be used to feed the earth's veins."

Suiren nodded and said to Myriad-Burning Dao Venerable, "Come with me to the east of the Eastern Victory Divine Continent to look at the shells. Once they're dismantled, the fire patterns will be used as teaching materials." Youchao said to Myriad-Rampart Dao Venerable, "Come with me to the north of the Northern Julu Continent to look at the shells. Once they're dismantled, the brick patterns will be used for practicing bricklaying." Ziyi said to Myriad-Weaving Dao Venerable, "Come with me to the west of the Western Ox Continent to look at the shells. Once they're dismantled, the silk patterns will be used for practicing weaving."

The three accepted the order and left. The Three Ancestors of the Human Race sat in the central square of City of All Spirits and sent a message to the Human Dao Heavenly Net: "The Three Ancestors of the Human Race have each collected one Universe World. The three Primordial Daluo Golden Immortal within the shells have returned to the Primordial Wilderness. Mortals who wish to learn how to collect shells can go to the east of the Eastern Victory Divine Continent, the north of the Northern Julu Continent, and the west of the Western Ox Continent to look for shells."

The message had been sent out for the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea when Yin Xi replied from below, "Lord Suiren, Myriad-Burning Dao Venerable Youchao, Myriad-Rampart Dao Venerable, and the three Myriad-Weaving Dao Venerable have arrived at City of Ten Thousand Crafts and are squatting in front of the first level, the Character Recognition Pass. Myriad-Burning Dao Venerable said he will start from the first level and work his way up to the ten thousandth level. Myriad-Rampart Dao Venerable said he will first borrow brick patterns to practice bricklaying for three days before breaking through the gate. Myriad-Weaving Dao Venerable said she will first borrow silk patterns to practice weaving for three days before breaking through the gate."

Suiren replied, "Let them break it. Once they're done, come find us in City of All Spirits, and we'll arrange work for them."