Nuwa lowered her head, her gaze sweeping across the 129,600 humans below.
Her eyes were indifferent, without the slightest flicker of emotion.
To a Sage, these newly created lives were nothing more than tools for attaining the Dao.
The karma was settled, and the Great Dao was complete.
Nuwa casually raised her hand, preparing to tear open the void and head beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens to establish her sacred abode.
However.
Just as she was about to turn and leave,
her gaze inadvertently fell upon the young man standing at the very front.
Ye Xuan.
At that moment, Ye Xuan was looking up, meeting the Sage's gaze without the slightest hesitation through his strange Double Pupils.
Their eyes met.
Nuwa's heart stirred faintly.
An inexplicable feeling suddenly welled up within her.
It was a hint from the Heavenly Dao, and also some kind of pull from the human race's destiny.
"This child..."
Nuwa stopped.
She looked at Ye Xuan, at the Chaos Qi swirling in his eyes, and at the Innate Ancestral Qi within him, weak yet incomparably pure.
Inspiration struck.
Nuwa extended a jade-like finger and pointed at Ye Xuan.
Her voice was not loud, but bolstered by the power of the Heavenly Dao, it instantly spread throughout the Primordial Wilderness, booming in the ears of every living being.
"This child is the first of the human race, bearing innate creation. He shall be the Human Emperor!"
Boom!
As her words fell, the Heavenly Dao trembled.
The Human Emperor!
A Fruit Position personally bestowed by a Sage!
Though the human race was still as weak as ants, those words alone gathered the destiny of the entire race within Ye Xuan.
Before Ye Xuan could react,
Nuwa waved her hand again.
Three streaks of light flew from her sleeve and settled gently before him.
The first was a clump of soil radiating nine-colored light.
"This is the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil. I bestow upon you the small amount that remains, to protect the human race."
The second was a jade bottle, filled with rippling, three-colored divine water.
"This is the Three Lights Divine Water. It can restore flesh to bones and revive the dead. I grant it to you for your protection."
The third was a lush green vine, still speckled with mud and radiating a faint aura of mystic yellow merit.
"This is the Human Creation Divine Vine. It once bore the merit of creating humanity and has now become a Postnatal Merit Supreme Treasure. It can strike gods above and demons below, harming the flesh and Primordial Spirit while ignoring defenses."
The three treasures hovered before Ye Xuan, radiating power enough to make even Grand Unity Golden Immortals turn red with envy.
Having finished, Nuwa did not linger.
"The human race is newly born. You must strive ceaselessly to strengthen yourselves."
Leaving behind a Divine Edict, Nuwa's figure dissolved into countless streaks of light and vanished beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens.
The Sage had left.
But the foot of Mount Buzhou erupted into an uproar.
"The Human Emperor!"
"We pay our respects to the Human Emperor!"
The first human to react dropped to both knees and kowtowed deeply to Ye Xuan.
Right after him,
the more than 129,000 humans who had just been born, still ignorant of the world, seemed to respond to a call in their blood and knelt as one.
A vast, dark mass stretched beyond sight.
"We pay our respects to the Human Emperor!"
Their cry was young and chaotic, yet united, it scattered the clouds in the sky.
Ye Xuan stood where he was, holding the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil and Three Lights Divine Water, with the Human Creation Divine Vine wrapped around his waist.
The wind blew past, bringing a hint of chill.
He looked at the spectacular scene before him, at those eyes filled with worship, dependence, and confusion.
Then he looked down at himself.
Aside from the treasures in his hands, he was just like everyone below—completely naked, without even a scrap of cloth to cover himself.
"This setup..."
Ye Xuan swallowed, panic churning inside him.
A Sage had named him Emperor?
A merit treasure?
It all sounded amazing—like a dream start.
But...
Lady Nuwa, did you forget something?
You never taught me how to cultivate!
I have the title of Human Emperor and an Innate Dao Body, but I'm still a mortal!
The Primordial Wilderness is crawling with great demons. Some random Little Whirlwind out patrolling the mountains could swallow me whole!
Ye Xuan gripped the divine vine, his palm damp with sweat.
He looked toward the distant woods, where several pairs of greedy green eyes had begun to glow.
They were Demonic Beasts that had retreated at the Sage's presence and were now closing in again after she left.
"What a hellish start..."
Ye Xuan wailed inwardly.
But outwardly, he straightened his back and put on a dignified air.
Now that he'd been thrust into this position, he had to keep up the act.
After all, the human race had no one else to rely on right now.
The Sage's purple aura drifted eastward as the pressure that had crushed the ages gradually faded.
Yet a faint Saintly Resonance still lingered at the foot of Mount Buzhou.
It formed an invisible barrier, like a giant bubble enveloping the 129,600 newly born humans.
The Demonic Beasts, which had been itching to attack, prowled beyond that unseen boundary.
Greed practically spilled from their eyes. They hungered for Innate Dao Bodies.
But the fear of the Sage, rooted deep in their souls, kept them to low growls. They did not dare cross the line.
"We're safe for now."
Ye Xuan let out a breath, his grip on the Human Creation Divine Vine loosening slightly.
He turned to look at his bewildered people.
Most were still kneeling, their eyes clear but naive, like blank sheets of paper.
When the wind blew, many shivered from the cold and instinctively huddled together for warmth.
As their Human Emperor, the one they depended on, he had to do something.
"Everyone, rise."
With the aid of Innate Dao Rhyme, Ye Xuan's voice carried clearly across the entire area.
"Though Holy Mother Nuwa has departed, she left her Saintly Might to protect us. Those Demonic Beasts cannot enter for now."
"We cannot simply wait for death, and we must not wander off. This valley is our boundary. No one may step beyond the Saintly Resonance, not even by half a step."
"We must survive here until we have the strength to protect ourselves."
His words were brief and firm.
Though the humans were still naive, they instinctively obeyed the Human Emperor's commands.
"We will obey the Human Emperor's Divine Edict!"
Their voices rose again like a crashing tide.
However, the days that followed were far from easy.
Night fell.
Darkness blanketed the valley.
There was no light. Only the distant Demonic Beasts' green eyes gleamed.
Fear spread through the crowd.
"Cold... So cold..."
"I'm... scared of the dark..."
Soft sobs rose and fell.
Ye Xuan sat on a large boulder, brows furrowed as he watched them.
The Innate Human Race had strong bodies and would not freeze to death.
But this primitive state of survival was simply too harsh.
"Looks like we have to deal with survival first."
Ye Xuan looked at a burly man beside him.
He was the first to kneel before Ye Xuan, and the strongest among the humans.
"Come here." Ye Xuan beckoned.
The man hurried over and knelt respectfully. "Human Emperor."
"It's dark. Are you afraid?" Ye Xuan asked.
The man nodded honestly. "Yes. I can't see anything, and it makes me uneasy."
Ye Xuan pointed to a dead tree in the distance, struck by lightning and still bearing a blackened scar.
"Lightning can create fire. Fire can drive away the dark and bring warmth."
"If there's no lightning in the sky, why not ask the wood on the ground?"
The man froze, confusion flashing in his eyes. "Ask the wood?"
"Fire lies hidden in wood, waiting to be released." Ye Xuan picked up two dry branches and mimed rubbing them together. "Movement generates heat, and when the heat grows strong enough, fire appears."
"Go and try."
The man did not understand the principle, but he trusted the Human Emperor.
He found a thick, dry log and a sharp, sturdy stick. Imitating Ye Xuan, he began drilling into it furiously.
"Puff... puff..."
His strength was great, and wood shavings flew everywhere.
The surrounding humans gathered around, watching curiously.
After some time, a wisp of smoke rose.
"Smoke!" someone cried.
The man worked even harder, the veins in his arms bulging.
"Pfft!"
A spark fell onto the dry leaves, instantly igniting a tiny orange flame.
Light.
In the pitch-black night, the little flame shone like the sun.
It drove away the darkness and brought warmth.
"Fire! It's fire!"
The man shouted excitedly, holding the burning stick aloft as he ran through the valley.
The humans cheered wherever he went, and much of their fear faded.
Boom!
Just then, the skies changed.
A cloud of mystic yellow merit appeared from nowhere. Though it held less merit than Nuwa's creation of humanity, it was still enough to make Grand Unity Golden Immortals envious.
The merit split in two.
Eighty percent entered the man's body, while the remaining twenty percent flew toward Ye Xuan.
"I am Suiren Shi! I have brought fire to the human race to light the way ahead!"
In a flash of inspiration, the man raised his torch and roared toward the heavens.
As the merit entered him, his cultivation surged. He rose from a mortal straight to Heavenly Immortal, then finally settled at the True Immortal realm.
The first Ancestor of the human race, Suiren Shi, had taken his place!
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