Humanity Thrives

Hong Yun looked at the Innate Human Race before him and nodded.

The Innate Human Race were the leaders of the eight hundred billion humans.

"Humanity is thriving now, and I'm very happy to see it!"

Hong Yun spoke to the three thousand members of the Innate Human Race.

"However, if humanity wants to grow stronger, it must have cultivation techniques suited to humans. Now, your opportunity has arrived!"

"In the days to come, I will..., and you will..."

Hong Yun gave the three thousand members of the Innate Human Race some instructions.

There was no need for Hong Yun to conceal anything about Taishang Laojun.

Only by informing the members of the Innate Human Race would they understand what the so-called Golden Core Great Dao was.

Among them, a black-haired young man widened his eyes when he heard Hong Yun's words.

"Holy Father, I've seen the old man you mentioned before!"

The black-haired young man came before Hong Yun, knelt on one knee, and spoke.

"Oh? What's your name?"

Hong Yun frowned.

Taishang's speed wasn't slow. He had already infiltrated humanity.

"Reporting to Holy Father, my name is Xuan Du. A few days ago, that old man taught me a cultivation technique. It was the Golden Core Great Dao. He also told me to cultivate diligently!"

The black-haired young man spoke again.

Hong Yun looked at the black-haired young man before him and understood.

So this young man was Xuan Du, the Grand Magus, who would later become the first disciple of the Human Religion.

Of course, he was also Taishang Laojun's sole disciple.

Moreover, Taishang Laojun had already taught him the Golden Core Great Dao.

"How do you feel after cultivating it for several days?"

Hong Yun asked Xuan Du.

"Reporting to Holy Father, I feel that I've grown much stronger over the past few days. It seems that I can even defeat some demon beasts now!"

"However, this cultivation technique ultimately can't help humanity gain a foothold among the myriad races of the Great Desolation. It can't truly make us strong!"

Xuan Du said.

Hong Yun nodded.

After cultivating the Golden Core Great Dao to a certain level, it was indeed possible to kill minor demons.

These minor demons did not refer to minor members of the Demon Clan.

The great demons of the Demon Clan generally reached the Great Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal level.

As for minor demons, they were at least Mysterious Immortals.

What humanity encountered now were demon beasts that had not even reached the Celestial Immortal level.

They were the lowest class, not yet immortal.

"Very well. For now, do as I said. Next, I'll go meet that old man!"

Hong Yun nodded and spoke to everyone.

Hong Yun did not blame Xuan Du for cultivating the Golden Core Great Dao. He simply let things develop naturally.

Whoosh!

Then, Hong Yun's figure flashed. He released his divine sense, detected Taishang's presence, and flew toward him.

"Farewell, Holy Father!"

Seeing Hong Yun leave, the three thousand members of the Innate Human Race bowed one after another.

At that moment, Taishang Laojun was wandering among humanity.

He seemed to be constantly conversing with people.

"Humanity, humanity. I can feel that my opportunity to become a Saint lies with humanity!"

"But how can I seize this opportunity?"

As Taishang Laojun wandered near Shouyang Mountain, he pondered carefully.

By now, he faintly sensed that his opportunity to become a Saint lay here.

He had found it only after traveling throughout the Great Desolation for several hundred years.

But...

What exactly was this opportunity, and how should he seize it? He had no clue whatsoever.

Whoosh!

However, at that moment, a figure suddenly descended before Taishang Laojun.

"Hm? Hong Yun!"

Taishang Laojun was somewhat surprised to see Hong Yun arrive.

However, after sensing Hong Yun's aura, which was still only at the Great Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal Peak, Taishang Laojun felt disdain.

In the eyes of a Quasi-Saint Peak powerhouse like him, a Great Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal Peak expert was nothing more than an ant.

"Taishang, did you come to humanity intending to steal humanity's fortune?"

Hong Yun looked at the old man before him and immediately shouted.

"You... How did you recognize me?"

Taishang Laojun was startled.

He was currently disguised, yet Hong Yun had recognized him at a glance.

One had to know that he was a Quasi-Saint Peak powerhouse. After disguising himself, even a late-stage Quasi-Saint probably could not identify him.

Yet Hong Yun had exposed him immediately.

Buzz!

Since Hong Yun had recognized him, Taishang Laojun no longer concealed himself.

His figure changed, instantly reverting to his original appearance.

"Hong Yun, I intend to become a Saint here. If you have nothing to do, leave immediately!"

Taishang Laojun spoke with a dark expression.

In his view, becoming a Saint was the most important matter.

A mere Great Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal Peak Hong Yun was not worth mentioning.

If Hong Yun refused to leave, he did not mind teaching him a lesson.

Although they had once all been among the three thousand guests of the Purple Cloud Palace, now... the difference between them was enormous.

He was about to pursue the Saint Position, while Hong Yun was still merely a Great Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal. It was utterly laughable.

"You want to become a Saint here? Hahaha, and you think you can become a Saint without my permission?"

Hong Yun maintained his calm expression as he looked at Taishang Laojun.

Without Hong Yun's approval, there was no chance of successfully borrowing humanity's fortune to obtain Heaven's Dao Merit.

"You? Humanity is a race with tremendous fortune. Don't tell me you, Hong Yun, also intend to snatch that fortune?"

Taishang Laojun's expression turned slightly hostile when he heard Hong Yun's words.

"I won't steal humanity's fortune!"

Hong Yun smiled calmly.

Humanity already called him Holy Father. Why would he need to steal anything?

If he wanted humanity's fortune, it was already his, Hong Yun's!

After speaking, Hong Yun ignored Taishang and left directly.

"Hm?"

Seeing this, confusion appeared on Taishang Laojun's face.

However, Hong Yun was only at the Great Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal Peak. After thinking it over, Taishang sensed nothing unusual and still did not take Hong Yun seriously.

Several decades passed.

On this day.

"I understand! I know how to become a Saint! Hahaha!"

Taishang Laojun suddenly seemed to comprehend something and began laughing.

At that moment, he finally understood that there was only one way to become a Saint: establish the Human Religion, borrow humanity's fortune, and obtain Heaven's Dao Merit.

At this thought, Taishang Laojun was incredibly excited.

The path to proving the Primordial Dao and attaining the Saint Position was right before his eyes!

At that moment, Taishang Laojun was extremely agitated. The aura around him erupted uncontrollably, producing a thunderous boom.

He had finally comprehended how to attain the Saint Position.

It was truly difficult, yet also incredibly fortunate.

Taishang Laojun felt that all the luck he had accumulated over the past several hundred years had converged today.

"Hahaha! Becoming a Saint—now I'll prepare to become a Saint!"

Taishang Laojun shouted excitedly. Then his figure flashed, and he arrived above humanity.

"Eight hundred billion humans, heed my command!"

In midair, Taishang Laojun shouted explosively.

His voice was like a great bell, resounding throughout the entire area around Shouyang Mountain.

Immediately, countless humans emerged from their caves and looked toward the sky.

"Who... who is that?"

"His aura is so powerful! But he doesn't seem as powerful as Holy Father!"

"Don't bother with who he is. I heard Holy Father is at Shouyang Mountain. No one can do anything to humanity!"

Groups of humans looked toward Taishang Laojun and discussed him among themselves.

Most of them had never seen Taishang Laojun.

Even Xuan Du had never seen Taishang Laojun's original appearance. When Taishang Laojun taught him the Golden Core Great Dao, he had also been disguised.

"That's... Taishang Laojun, the one Holy Father mentioned?!"

At that moment, Xuan Du still recognized the old man. He should be the person who had previously taught him the Golden Core Great Dao.

However, over the past few days, he had already given up cultivating the Golden Core Great Dao.

He also understood that the Golden Core Great Dao could not change humanity's fate.

"So this is Taishang Laojun, the one Holy Father mentioned! He has finally appeared!"

"Heh, he doesn't know that Holy Father already anticipated everything!"

"Now let's see what this Taishang Laojun does!"

Groups of members of the Innate Human Race also came out one after another.

They looked at Taishang Laojun in midair without the panic of the ordinary humans.

In fact...

They even felt a little amused inside, wanting to see Taishang Laojun make a fool of himself.

Holy Father Hong Yun had already explained everything to them. Each of them knew exactly what to do next.

Compared with Holy Father Hong Yun, Taishang Laojun was not even worth a fart in humanity's eyes.

"Eight hundred billion humans, today, I, Taishang Laojun, will impart the Golden Core Great Dao to you!"

Taishang Laojun continued speaking from midair.

Then he waved his hand, and countless streams of cultivation information drifted down like sheets of paper, landing in the hands of countless humans.

Seeing that most of humanity had received his Golden Core Great Dao cultivation technique, Taishang Laojun nodded.

Although he had casually devised this Golden Core Great Dao cultivation technique on the road and later passed it on to Xuan Du, it had still been created by a Quasi-Saint Peak powerhouse.

If cultivated to the extreme, it could definitely condense a Golden Core.

It could even complete nine revolutions of the Golden Core and rival an Earth Immortal.

Although Earth Immortals were insignificant in the Great Desolation and far weaker than Celestial Immortals, Mysterious Immortals, and Golden Immortals,

they were still somewhat stronger than Human Immortals.

After all, humanity was simply too weak.

Taishang Laojun did not feel that there was anything wrong with the weakness of the cultivation technique he had bestowed upon humanity.

Instead, he felt that this was because humanity itself was weak. Otherwise, why would it need someone else to bestow a cultivation technique?

For example, the Three Pure Ones had not received cultivation techniques from anyone else. When they were born, inherited cultivation techniques had already existed in their minds.

"Very good. Humanity has accepted my Golden Core Great Dao cultivation technique. Next, I can establish the Human Religion!"

Taishang Laojun nodded.

By establishing the Human Religion and borrowing humanity's fortune, he could obtain Heaven's Dao Merit.

Once he had enough Heaven's Dao Merit, he, Taishang Laojun, could prove the Dao and become a Saint today.

As for humanity cultivating the Golden Core Great Dao and ultimately not becoming stronger, but instead becoming material for the Demon Clan to refine the Demon-Slaying Sword, he could not care about that.

"Humanity, I, Taishang Laojun, hereby establish the Human Religion today!"

Taishang Laojun's voice rang out again, echoing in the ears of countless humans.

"We're not cultivating any Golden Core Great Dao!"

"We don't want this lousy cultivation technique!"

"That's right! What kind of trash technique is this? We don't want it!"

At that moment, voices rose from among the crowd.

At first, there were only a few, coming from the members of the Innate Human Race.

Gradually, more and more voices joined in, until all eight hundred billion acquired humans were shouting.

After all, the members of the Innate Human Race were the leaders of the acquired humans.

Even the leader had said not to cultivate this technique, so the Acquired Human Race naturally followed his wishes.

"We won't cultivate the Golden Core Great Dao!"

"We won't cultivate this garbage technique!"

"The Human Race doesn't need a technique like this!"

Voice after voice rang out across the entire Shouyang Mountain, like roaring waves and crashing thunder.

At that moment, Taishang Laojun was establishing his religion and preparing to obtain Heavenly Dao Merit. He was somewhat stunned.

"What's going on?"

Taishang Laojun looked toward the densely packed 80 billion members of the Human Race.

He could hardly believe that these people were actually so united and refused to cultivate his Golden Core Great Dao.

However...

Regardless of whether the Human Race cultivated his Golden Core Great Dao, his Human Religion would be established today.

As soon as the Human Religion was established, the Heavenly Dao Merit would respond and descend upon him.

"Human Religion... establish!"

Taishang Laojun shouted once more.

Rumble!

In the sky, tribulation lightning suddenly erupted. Clouds and rosy light blotted out the sun, as though the entire sky had changed color.

"Our Human Race recognizes only the Holy Father as its religious leader!"

"Our Human Race recognizes only the Holy Father as its religious leader!"

"The leader of the Human Religion is the Holy Father!"

"The Holy Father!"

"The leader of the Human Religion is our Holy Father!"

For a time, countless voices rang out once more.

Every member of the Human Race, including the three thousand Innate Human Race members and the 80 billion Acquired Human Race members, frantically resisted Taishang Laojun.