"Thirty-Six Grade Chaos Green Lotus, Chaos Supreme Treasure, 10 trillion merit!" "Sky-Opening Divine Axe, Chaos Supreme Treasure, 10 trillion merit." "Chaos Bead, Chaos Supreme Treasure, 10 trillion merit!" "Jade Butterfly of Creation, Chaos Supreme Treasure, 10 trillion merit!" "Pangu Bloodline, 10 trillion merit!" "Pangu Primordial Spirit, 10 trillion merit!" ... "Damaged Jade Butterfly of Creation, Chaos Supreme Treasure Fragment, 1 trillion merit!" "Primordial Violet Qi, 1 trillion merit!" "Taiji Diagram, innate supreme treasure, 1 trillion merit!" "Pangu Banner, innate supreme treasure, 1 trillion merit!" "Chaos Bell, innate supreme treasure, 1 trillion merit!" "World-Destroying Millstone, innate supreme treasure, 1 trillion merit!" "Six Paths Reincarnation Disc, innate supreme treasure, 1 trillion merit!" "Gate of Eternal Life, innate supreme treasure, 1 trillion merit!" ... "Thirty-Six Heavenly Transformations, 500 billion merit!" "Three Thousand Great Daos, 500 billion merit!" "Divine Elephant Suppression Prison Art, 500 billion merit!" ... "Ten Fiends Treasure Arts, 10 billion merit!" "Nine Secret Arts, 1 billion merit!" ... "Yang God Martial Arts Outline, 100 million merit!" ...
Gu Xi gazed at the dazzling array of items in the shop, his eyes nearly blinded by their brilliance.
The shop's offerings included not only magic treasures, cultivation methods, divine abilities, bloodlines, and more, but also things beyond those that had existed in the Primordial World. Anything that had appeared in the Myriad Worlds could be found here.
The only restriction was that magic treasures were unique within each world. Those that had already acknowledged a master in Hong Huang could not be redeemed here.
For instance, the Taiji Diagram was currently in Laozi's possession, so Gu Xi could not redeem another Taiji Diagram from the shop.
Even so, Gu Xi was ecstatic.
"If I don't rise to greatness with an opportunity like this, I'll have let it down."
His heart surging, Gu Xi immediately began choosing the items he wanted.
"It would be wonderful if I could redeem Chaos Supreme Treasures like the Thirty-Six Grade Chaos Green Lotus, the Sky-Opening Divine Axe, the Chaos Bead, and the Jade Butterfly of Creation. Unfortunately, they cost 10 trillion merit... I only have 400 billion left. I'm nowhere close."
He stared longingly at the icons of the four Chaos Supreme Treasures, but ultimately had to give up.
He was still too poor.
The Pangu Bloodline—couldn't afford it. Skip.
The Pangu Primordial Spirit—couldn't afford it. Skip.
Primordial Violet Qi—couldn't afford it. Skip.
The World-Destroying Millstone—couldn't afford it. Skip.
His gaze swept swiftly across item after item.
Finally, his eyes settled on the "Three Thousand Great Daos."
As he focused on the "Three Thousand Great Daos," the relevant information automatically appeared.
"Notice: The Three Thousand Great Daos originate from the Eternal Life World. They are three thousand supreme divine abilities passed down from the Gate of Eternal Life, the supreme treasure of the Eternal Life World. They may be redeemed together or separately."
"They can actually be redeemed separately? That's wonderful."
Gu Xi's face lit up with delight when he saw the notice.
Although he had now advanced to Golden Immortal, he had been cultivating for too short a time to organize and create divine abilities of his own. In battle, he relied purely on his Dao practice and magic treasures.
Divine abilities were precisely what he lacked right now.
The "Three Thousand Great Daos" were extraordinarily powerful. Those ranked near the top were likely no weaker than the finest divine abilities in the Primordial World.
They were perfect for him to redeem and cultivate.
"Redeem the 'Great Destiny Art,' 'Great Karma Art,' 'Great Wish Art,' 'Great Reincarnation Art,' 'Great Five Elements Art,' 'Great Calamity Art,' 'Great Inner Demon Art,' 'Great Origin Art,' 'Great Chaos Art,' and 'Great Yin-Yang Art'..."
Gu Xi directly redeemed all ten of the highest-ranked arts among the "Three Thousand Great Daos."
Then, after some thought, he realized that since his primary path was the "primordial merit great Dao," he should also redeem some divine abilities related to it.
Only then could he truly bring his full strength to bear.
Thus, he redeemed four more of the Three Thousand Great Daos: the "Great Salvation Art," "Great Pervasion Art," "Great Blessing Art," and "Great Morality Art."
These fourteen arts from the Three Thousand Great Daos cost a full 250 billion merit.
That was half the price of the complete Three Thousand Great Daos.
The reason was that the top ten arts cost far more than those ranked below them.
As soon as the exchange was complete, countless scriptures flooded into Gu Xi's primordial spirit. They were the fourteen arts from the Three Thousand Great Daos he had just redeemed.
"If I try to fully comprehend and master these fourteen arts, who knows how many years it will take? Even hundreds of millions of years might not be enough... That's far too long."
"Fortunately, there's still the 'Dao Enlightenment' system."
Gu Xi closed the shop interface and opened the "Dao Enlightenment" interface.
The "Dao Enlightenment" function was simple: by consuming merit, it could instantly place its host in a state of Dao enlightenment. The higher the grade of the cultivation method or divine ability being studied, the more merit it consumed.
"Let's begin Dao enlightenment."
Gu Xi's expression grew resolute, and he selected the "Dao Enlightenment" button with his mind.
In an instant, an unfathomable, invisible power descended upon Gu Xi, plunging him into the deepest state of Dao enlightenment.
At that moment, his entire being seemed to enter a state of absolute clarity and stillness. Everything in the world fell away from him, leaving only the scriptures of the fourteen arts from the Three Thousand Great Daos spinning rapidly through his mind.
Countless profound and mysterious insights continued to surge through his thoughts like a tide.
An instant passed.
Yet it also seemed like hundreds of millions of years.
Gu Xi slowly opened his eyes.
His eyes shone with boundless wisdom and bore the weathered weight of vast ages, as though a sage of immeasurable wisdom had awakened from a slumber lasting hundreds of millions of years.
"Truly, hundreds of millions of years in a single instant!"
Gu Xi sighed in wonder, delight written across his face.
Only an instant had passed in the outside world.
Yet he had already cultivated all fourteen arts from the Three Thousand Great Daos to great mastery.
The results of hundreds of millions of years of arduous cultivation had been achieved in a single instant.
How could he not be delighted?
The only thing that stung a little was how much merit this "Dao Enlightenment" function consumed.
The 150 billion merit he had left had now dropped all the way to zero.
"Let the wind blow away the eggshells; once the money's gone, the man can rest easy... 150 billion merit in exchange for instantly achieving great mastery of fourteen supreme divine abilities. Worth it."
"If my merit's gone, I can just earn more."
Comforting himself, Gu Xi rose with a smile, then looked toward the hundreds of thousands of newly born humans.
At that moment, the hundreds of thousands of newly born humans were also watching Gu Xi. Seeing that he had finished cultivating, some of them bowed to the ground.
"We pay our respects to the Holy Father. Holy Father, where should our Human Race go from here?"
One of the humans asked.
Gu Xi pondered. He had been human in his previous life, and in this life, he was the Human Race Holy Father. No matter what, he could not simply stand by and ignore the Human Race.
Moreover, as the Human Race Holy Father, his fortune was now linked to theirs. The stronger the Human Race became, the greater the share of human race fortune he would receive.
Thus, he had to find a way for the Human Race to grow strong as quickly as possible and gradually become the protagonists of heaven and earth.
...In the original myths, the Human Race eventually succeeded in replacing the Witch and Demon Races as the protagonists of heaven and earth. But their rise was anything but easy. It was a road steeped in blood and tears.
To forge the Witch-Slaying Sword, the Demon Race once slaughtered countless humans.
During the Witch-Demon War, Buzhou Mountain toppled. Amid that vast calamity, the Human Race, lacking enough powerful protectors, also suffered countless deaths and injuries.
Throughout all this, Nuwa never acted to protect the Human Race, despite being the Human Race Holy Mother... Perhaps because she came from the Demon Race, she felt guilty toward them after realizing that the Human Race was destined to replace the Witch and Demon Races as the protagonists of heaven and earth. Perhaps that was why she refused to help humanity.
Or perhaps she believed that as long as the Human Race ultimately became the protagonists of heaven and earth, it didn't matter how brutal the process was. So when calamity struck them, she chose to stand by with her hands tucked into her sleeves.
As for Saint Taiqing, who later became the Human Teaching Sect Master, he clearly founded his sect upon the Human Race and enjoyed their great fortune, yet never intervened when disaster befell them... Heh, how ironic and cold-hearted. Taking all the benefits without doing a thing!
And later, even though the Human Race clearly became the protagonists of heaven and earth... they never received the treatment that status deserved. They had none of the imposing might the Witch and Demon Races or the ancient Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Clans had possessed as the protagonists of heaven and earth...
...Above them were the gods of the Heavenly Court, below them the Netherworld, and there were also the Six Sages and the four teachings. All these powers would stand above the Human Race in the future, even draining their fortune with reckless abandon. Though humanity would be the protagonists of heaven and earth, their actual standing would probably be lower than even the East Sea Dragon Clan's...
...Even the Human Emperors of later generations would have to worship heaven and earth upon ascending the throne, report to the Six Sages, worship the gods of the Heavenly Court, worship the ghosts and deities of the Netherworld, and even worship the dragon gods. Only then could they secure their position as Human Emperor.
Such a Human Race wouldn't possess even a tenth of the might the Witch and Demon Races wielded now. How would they resemble the protagonists of heaven and earth? They would be nothing more than sheep penned up by the various powers, endlessly fleeced by them.
As Gu Xi recalled the endless blood and tears the Human Race had suffered during their rise, along with their later weakness, killing intent gathered in his eyes.
In this life, as the Human Race Holy Father, he would never allow humanity to endure such a history of blood and tears again.
Still less would he allow the Human Race to remain so weak after becoming the protagonists of heaven and earth.
If the Human Race were the protagonists of heaven and earth, then they deserved to be treated as such—to suppress the gods and demons of the eight wildernesses and reign supreme over heaven and earth, not exist as a weak flock for every power to fleece.
"The lands around Buzhou Mountain are good, but they are not suitable for the Human Race's development. We will find another place to call home."
Remembering that the Buzhou Mountain region would become the battlefield of the final Witch-Demon War, Gu Xi addressed the humans.
He rose into the air and swept his broad sleeve. A fierce wind immediately lifted the hundreds of thousands of humans, setting them down upon a bank of clouds.
With the hundreds of thousands of humans in tow, he swiftly left the Buzhou Mountain region behind.
"Th-this... Is Gu Xi, the 'God of Misfortune,' leaving the Buzhou Mountain region?"
"Wonderful! That 'God of Misfortune' is finally leaving. We're safe!"
"I'd recently been considering whether to move away from the Buzhou Mountain region, but I never expected this 'God of Misfortune' to leave so suddenly. Now I no longer need to consider relocating..."
"Hahaha, let the 'God of Misfortune' go plague other gods and demons! From now on, we can rest easy."
When the many gods and demons of the Buzhou region noticed that Gu Xi was taking the Human Race away from Buzhou Mountain, they all rejoiced, feeling as though a great weight had lifted from their shoulders as they watched him depart...
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