Destined by Heaven in the Dark

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

Hong Yun continued expending Heavenly Dao Merit to cultivate and comprehend.

Time passed.

In the blink of an eye, another fifty years went by.

One day, Hong Yun opened his eyes.

The final trace of Heavenly Dao Merit before him had also been completely expended.

However...

Buzz!

Hong Yun rose to his feet, and a terrifyingly powerful aura erupted from his body.

"The Laws of Reincarnation and Chaos have both reached the Greater Mastery Realm!"

Hong Yun was overjoyed.

At this moment, all four of his laws had reached the Greater Mastery Realm. His next step was to nourish his Mythical Dao Fruit.

"Offer!"

Hong Yun shouted.

With a wave of his hand, he offered up all four laws.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The Law of Devouring, the Law of Light and Darkness, the Law of Reincarnation, and the Law of Chaos were like four enormous beasts, circling around Hong Yun and surging up and down.

At the same time...

A Mythical Dao Fruit also floated above Hong Yun's head.

The Mythical Dao Fruit had already grown larger than Hong Yun himself.

Above his head, it formed a phantom image two or three meters tall.

"Combine!"

Hong Yun shouted again.

Then, the four laws instantly plunged into the Mythical Grand Unity Dao Fruit.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

The Mythical Grand Unity Dao Fruit rapidly grew at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Before long, it had grown to three or four meters in size.

After the nourishment was complete, Hong Yun withdrew the Mythical Grand Unity Dao Fruit.

At this moment, Hong Yun's cultivation realm had not improved.

But he could feel that his strength had taken another enormous step forward.

"Although I still haven't reached the Mythical Foundation Building Fifth Layer, I've grown stronger again! Once I cultivate all four laws to the Perfection Realm, I should be able to break through to the Mythical Foundation Building Fifth Layer!"

Hong Yun thought to himself.

Alternatively, he could cultivate other Three Thousand Great Dao Laws, but they would have to reach at least the Lesser Mastery Realm.

And cultivating only one would not be enough. He would have to cultivate at least four or five.

However, the Three Thousand Great Dao Laws were also extremely difficult to obtain. He could only rely on luck.

By comparison, cultivating these four laws to perfection would be somewhat easier.

But...

If he cultivated normally, even while sitting on the Great Dao Cushion, Hong Yun estimated that he would need several thousand, or even ten thousand years.

The further one advanced in divine abilities and laws, the harder it became to improve.

Having tasted the sweetness of Heavenly Dao Merit, how could Hong Yun now have the patience to sit on the Great Dao Cushion and cultivate painstakingly?

"Looks like I need to find some Heavenly Dao Merit!"

Hong Yun muttered.

At present, the Witch-Demon Tribulation had not yet reached its final stage.

The third Witch-Demon War would not begin for some time either.

After all, the Demon Clan had only just suffered a severe defeat. Hong Yun estimated that without ten thousand years, the Witch-Demon Tribulation would not truly reach its peak.

Moreover...

Before that happened, the Demon Clan would find a way to deal with the Witch Clan, especially the Twelve Ancestral Witches.

They would slaughter the Human Race to refine the Witch-Slaying Sword and the Demon-Summoning Banner.

"Right, the Human Race!"

At this thought, Hong Yun's eyes suddenly lit up.

The Human Race had not yet been created by Nuwa.

According to the original trajectory, Nuwa would create humans and obtain Heavenly Dao Merit, thereby becoming a Saint.

But the current Nuwa was only at the Quasi-Saint Peak.

"Nuwa should have realized that she can't become a Saint through merging the Three Corpses. Next, she'll search for a method to become a Saint and think of creating humans!"

"However, that will probably still take some time!"

"During this period, I'll go to Shouyang Mountain and take a look. Perhaps I can create humans first and obtain Heavenly Dao Merit!"

Hong Yun thought.

Immediately afterward, he rode the Myriad Heavens Auspicious Cloud toward Shouyang Mountain.

Hong Yun Failed to Create Humans, and Nuwa Was Coming to Set Me Up

Whoosh!

A streak of light transformed into Shouyang Mountain, and then a figure descended.

"Shouyang Mountain is still completely barren at this time!"

Hong Yun gazed at the empty Shouyang Mountain before him. This was the future sacred land of the Human Race.

It was also the place where Nuwa would create humans.

Now, he would try to see whether he could create humans first and obtain Heavenly Dao Merit.

If he succeeded, he should be able to gain enough Heavenly Dao Merit to cultivate his laws.

Moreover, Hong Yun possessed the Gourd Vine and the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil, both essential treasures for creating humans.

Hong Yun even wondered: if he failed to create humans, what would Nuwa use to create them?

Without the Gourd Vine and Nine Heavens Breathing Soil, it would be impossible to create humans, even for Nuwa, the Saint chosen by Heaven's decree.

Whoosh!

With a wave of his hand, Hong Yun offered up the Great Desolation's foremost artifact-refining treasure: the Qiankun Cauldron.

He then opened the Qiankun Cauldron and took out the Gourd Vine inside.

Originally, the Gourd Vine had merely been a vine bearing seven gourds and could not even be considered a High-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure.

But after being refined in the Qiankun Cauldron, this Gourd Vine had become a Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure.

"Hmm, I'll try using a Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure together with the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil!"

Hong Yun made up his mind.

Splash!

With a wave of his hand, he tossed out a handful of Nine Heavens Breathing Soil. Then, he swung the Gourd Vine in his hand and smacked it against the soil again and again!

But...

After several full days, the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil was still the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil. It had not turned into the Innate Human Race at all.

"What's going on?"

Hong Yun was somewhat puzzled.

According to his plan, shouldn't the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil directly turn into the Innate Human Race after being struck by the Gourd Vine?

Yet the result had not changed at all.

The Nine Heavens Breathing Soil still radiated a miraculous nine-colored light, but it remained nothing more than divine soil.

The Gourd Vine was still the Gourd Vine as well. It had not transformed into the Human-Creating Whip.

"Could it really be impossible?"

Unwilling to accept this, Hong Yun began studying the matter carefully.

Time passed, and several hundred years went by in the blink of an eye.

One day.

Fengqi Mountain.

"What's going on? Merging the Three Corpses has failed again!"

Nuwa frowned.

She had long since reached the Quasi-Saint Peak and had also Severed the Three Corpses.

But now, according to the method taught by Dao Ancestor Hongjun for becoming a Saint through merging the Three Corpses, she still could not complete the process.

"This... Something seems to be wrong with merging the Three Corpses!"

"But where exactly is the problem?"

Nuwa pondered.

After all, she was also a mighty expert at the Quasi-Saint Peak. She had gradually developed her own insights into cultivation.

After comprehending for several decades, Nuwa's expression gradually grew ugly.

"To merge the Three Corpses, I must use a Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure to contain them. Otherwise, merging them is utterly impossible!"

"If I can't merge them, I can't attain the Saint Position!"

Nuwa finally understood.

Dao Ancestor Hongjun had tricked her.

If she continued trying to merge the Three Corpses, she could waste countless years and still never become a Saint.

Moreover, the Severing the Three Corpses technique could only be cultivated once.

It was impossible to withdraw the Three Corpses and cultivate the Severing the Three Corpses technique again.

"Could it be that I'm truly fated to be without the Saint Position?"

Nuwa was disheartened.

In the years that followed, Nuwa remained in a daze.

Having lost her chance to become a Saint, she seemed to suddenly have no idea what she should do.

Until one day, Nuwa finally recovered.

"Since I can't become a Saint through merging the Three Corpses, I'll search for another method of becoming a Saint! I refuse to believe that Hongjun's method is the only one!"

"Besides, Dao Ancestor Hongjun didn't have a method to become a Saint back then either. He created the Severing the Three Corpses technique through his own comprehension!"

"Why can't I do the same?"

Nuwa thought.

Then, she left Fengqi Mountain and headed toward the Great Desolation.

She would seek out opportunities and comprehend the opportunity to become a Saint. She could only do so by continually traveling through the Great Desolation.

At the same time.

On Shouyang Mountain.

"Forget it, forget it. I give up!"

Hong Yun was speechless. He had experimented for several hundred years, yet he still had not managed to create a single human.

He had not even been able to create a humanoid lifeform.

He truly was not suited to cultivating the Dao of Creation and knew nothing about creating humans.

Thus, Hong Yun simply put away the Gourd Vine and Nine Heavens Breathing Soil and quietly waited for Nuwa to arrive.

Although most of these several hundred years had been wasted, fortunately, he had not spent all his time experimenting with how to create humans.

Hong Yun had used part of that time to refine the restrictions on the Pangu Banner, an Innate Supreme Treasure.

The Pangu Banner contained a full forty-nine innate restrictions.

Hong Yun had now refined thirty-six of them.

Although he still could not unleash the full power of the rudimentary Pangu Banner, he could at least activate it with ease.

"The Pangu Banner has the strongest offensive power in the Great Desolation after the World-Opening Divine Axe. Once I finish refining it, it will absolutely become my greatest killing weapon!"

Hong Yun thought to himself.

For the time being, he planned to refine the Pangu Banner and wait for Nuwa to arrive.

In any case, with the Great Dao Cushion, Hong Yun's speed in refining the restrictions had increased a hundredfold.

Moreover, after refining the Pangu Banner, he still had many other supreme treasures to refine.

For example, the Taiji Diagram, the Innate Five Elements Banners, and the Twelve-Grade Golden Lotus of Merit.

Time passed.

Nuwa traveled through the Great Desolation for several hundred years before finally arriving at Shouyang Mountain one day.

The moment she reached Shouyang Mountain, Nuwa sensed her opportunity to become a Saint.

Perhaps everything truly was predestined by Heaven. Nuwa had stayed at Shouyang Mountain for less than three years when she began working on creating humans.

She seemed to sense that creating a new race would be the day she became a Saint.

In the distance, Hong Yun quietly watched Nuwa comprehend the Dao of Creation.

This went on for thirty years.

During those thirty years, Nuwa also experimented many times.

Every attempt failed, but each one brought her a step further than the last.

Of course, Nuwa also sensed Hong Yun's presence.

However, she paid him no attention.

Compared to the great undertaking of becoming a Saint, Hong Yun was not worthy of her consideration.

Moreover, Nuwa had already reached the Quasi-Saint Peak, while the aura Hong Yun gave off was still merely at the peak of the Daluo Realm.

The two of them were on entirely different levels.

That was also why Nuwa had no need to pay Hong Yun any attention.

At last, on this day, Nuwa seemed to have realized something.

"I've completely grasped the method of creating an entirely new race. Now, it seems I'm only missing the materials and treasures needed to create the new race!"

Nuwa pondered.

"Right. Back at Buzhou Mountain, Hong Yun obtained the Gourd Vine and the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil. Those two treasures are absolutely essential for creating humans!"

At that thought, Nuwa immediately turned her gaze toward Hong Yun.

Hong Yun was still sitting atop Shouyang Mountain, looking completely unperturbed as he cultivated.

Nuwa then walked toward Hong Yun.

Through Hong Yun's divine sense, he detected Nuwa approaching him, and he was secretly delighted.

She's here, she's here! She's walking toward me. She must be coming to swindle me out of the Gourd Vine and the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil!

Hong Yun knew that sooner or later, Nuwa would come to swindle him out of those two treasures.

Without them, Nuwa would have no chance of creating humans.

At that moment, Hong Yun was not worried in the slightest. Instead, he was somewhat excited.

Because if Nuwa came to swindle him, he would have a chance to swindle her in return!

Hong Yun was already prepared.

After Nuwa had come to Shouyang Mountain earlier, he had begun refining the Gourd Vine all over again.

The Gourd Vine had now become a gigantic devouring beast.