Ye Xuan accepted the twenty percent share of the merit for teaching, and the Golden Wheel of Merit within him glowed a little brighter.
He smiled and nodded. "Good."
With fire, life became a little easier.
But soon, a new problem arose.
The Primordial Wilderness saw frequent rain, and poisonous insects and ferocious beasts were everywhere.
The members of the tribe slept on the ground, often bitten by poisonous insects or made ill by the heavy rain.
Several days later.
A torrential downpour began.
The tribespeople shivered in the mud, with nowhere to hide.
Standing in the rain, Ye Xuan found another man with bright, lively eyes.
He pointed to the enormous bird's nest in a tree. Though crude, it could shelter its occupants from the wind and rain.
"Even birds and beasts know to build nests. Why should humans sleep in the mud?"
"A nest in a tree can keep out dampness and protect us from poisonous insects."
The man's eyes lit up, as if a door to a new world had opened before him.
He immediately gathered a few people, climbed a tree, broke off branches, and bound them together with vines.
After countless failures, the first crude treehouse was finally built.
It leaked and looked ugly, but it was a home.
BOOM!
Merit descended from the heavens.
"I am Youchaoshi! Today, I build nests from wood for the human race, so they may have shelter!"
The man's cultivation surged, and he likewise attained the Fruit Position of a True Immortal.
The second Ancestor of the human race, Youchaoshi, was born!
Ye Xuan once again received a twenty percent share of the merit for teaching.
A few more days passed.
The wind turned bitterly cold.
Ye Xuan looked at the tribespeople, who were still naked, with only leaves to cover themselves.
Though their Innate Dao Bodies could withstand the cold, their skin was covered in scratches from the brambles, a distressing sight.
He called over a thoughtful woman.
"Bark and the fur of wild beasts can both be made into clothing."
"Covering our shame is secondary. Protecting our bodies is what matters."
Ye Xuan picked up a piece of animal hide and draped it over the woman.
She seemed to understand.
She gathered tree bark and tore it into fibers, then used a bone needle to sew the hides together.
When she put on the first garment made of animal hide, the warmth and sense of security brought tears to her eyes.
BOOM!
Merit descended once more.
"I am Ziyishi! Today, I make clothes to protect the human race from the cold and shield their bodies!"
The woman attained True Immortality.
The third Ancestor of the human race, Ziyishi, had taken her place!
Thus, the Three Ancestors of the human race had gathered.
Fire, houses, and clothing.
These three seemingly simple things were the foundations of civilization.
They allowed the human race to take root in the harsh environment of the Primordial Wilderness.
Looking at the three imposing Ancestors, Ye Xuan felt a little more at ease.
With three True Immortals to fight for them, along with his Human Emperor's pressure and the lingering might of a Sage, the human race had managed to stabilize their foothold in the valley, at least for now.
The long years passed, and time was of little value.
In the blink of an eye, ten years went by.
To the Great Powers of the Primordial Wilderness, ten years were no more than a brief nap.
But for the newly born human race, those ten years brought earth-shattering changes.
Rows of treehouses stood in orderly array throughout the valley.
The bonfires never went out.
The tribespeople learned to gather wild fruit and hunt in simple ways.
Ye Xuan sat atop the highest stone platform, watching the tribespeople work each day.
He looked majestic on the outside, but inside, he was growing more and more anxious.
Ten years had passed.
For some reason, he was still a mortal.
Though he had an Innate Dao Body, never aged or died, and possessed immense strength.
Though merit protected him, making him immune to all techniques.
He had no cultivation method!
Nuwa had left in a hurry and hadn't taught him one.
Laozi had yet to establish the Human Teaching, and the Golden Core Great Dao was nowhere in sight.
Suiren Shi and the others had become True Immortals through merit and gained magical power.
Only he, the so-called "Human Emperor," had nothing inside him but the power of his blood and qi.
"What kind of situation is this?"
Ye Xuan sighed and stared blankly at the clouds drifting over the summit of Mount Buzhou.
"Am I supposed to wait for Laozi to come and teach me? Who knows how long that'll take? By then, the Witch-Demon Tribulation will be over, and it'll be too late."
Just as Ye Xuan was at his wit's end—
Buzz!
A strange fluctuation suddenly came from deep within his eyes.
The Chaos Heavy Pupils, dormant for ten years, began to grow hot without warning.
Ye Xuan's heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly closed his eyes and looked within himself.
Deep within his overlapping pupils, the hazy streams of Chaos Qi had formed a vortex.
A point of starlight appeared at its center.
Then the light rapidly expanded, turning into an ancient, mysterious portal.
The portal was suffused with laws of space and time that did not belong to the Primordial Wilderness.
A message passed through his Double Pupils and imprinted itself directly into his mind:
[Double Piercing Gate activated] [Connected world: A vast cultivation world where the body becomes a Saint and the treasures of the human body are unearthed]
"This..."
Ye Xuan's eyes flew open, and his breathing quickened.
A vast cultivation world?
One where the treasures of the human body were unearthed?
Wouldn't that solve his immediate problem perfectly?
He couldn't cultivate in the Primordial Wilderness because he lacked a suitable technique, and the cultivation system there started at such a high level that it demanded enlightenment of the Heavenly Dao right from the beginning.
If he went to another world and found a method that started from the basics and focused on cultivating the body...
With this Innate Dao Body personally molded by Nuwa, wouldn't he take off?
"Heaven never seals off every path!"
Ye Xuan clenched his fists, his eyes blazing with unprecedented excitement.
He didn't hesitate at all before making his decision.
Go!
He had to go!
If he stayed in the Primordial Wilderness, he could only be a mascot. Over there, he might be able to carve out a future for himself.
Ye Xuan rose to his feet and straightened the exquisite animal-hide imperial robe Ziyishi had sewn for him.
"Someone, come."
A moment later.
Suiren Shi strode over and bowed respectfully. "Human Emperor."
Over the past ten years, Suiren Shi's presence had grown steadier, and he had begun to carry himself like a grandmaster.
Ye Xuan looked at him, his expression solemn.
"Suiren Shi, I have received a summons from the Heavenly Dao and must enter seclusion to comprehend the Dao. It may take a few months, or it may take several years."
"During this time, you, Youchaoshi, and Ziyishi will discuss and decide all matters within the tribe."
"Remember, guard the valley. Do not step beyond the bounds of the Saintly Resonance."
"If a great demon attacks..."
Ye Xuan untied the Human Creation Divine Vine from his waist and solemnly handed it to Suiren Shi.
"Present this treasure, and it will keep you safe."
Suiren Shi accepted the divine vine with both hands, his eyes full of trepidation and a sense of responsibility.
He fell to his knees and bowed, his voice ringing with resolve:
"I obey your command!"
"I swear to defend the human race with my life and await the Human Emperor's return from seclusion!"
Ye Xuan nodded and said no more.
He turned and returned to his stone house deep in the valley.
The stone door shut tight.
Ye Xuan sat cross-legged on his stone bed and took a deep breath, steadying himself.
"Open."
He gave the command silently.
Chaos Divine Light blazed from his eyes.
The portal through space and time, hidden deep within his pupils, slowly opened.
A vast, wild aura utterly unlike that of the Primordial Wilderness surged out from beyond the gate.
Ye Xuan stepped through.
His body vanished from the stone house, leaving behind only a faint ripple in space.
Space and time shifted; the stars wheeled overhead.
When Ye Xuan's feet touched solid ground again, his surroundings had completely changed.
The oppressive, heavy air beneath Mount Buzhou was gone.
The sky here was vaster, and the spiritual energy more violent.
The air carried the fresh scent of soil and plants, along with the muffled roars of beasts from the distant mountains.
Ye Xuan opened his eyes.
Another message surfaced in his mind:
[Current world: Perfect World] [Location: Great Wilderness, Stone Village]
"Perfect World?!"
Ye Xuan was shaken, then overwhelmed with joy.
If this was Perfect World, it was practically made for him!
Blood Moving, Cave Heaven, Spirit Transformation...
This cultivation system seemed tailor-made for his Innate Human Race body!
Ye Xuan suppressed his excitement and looked around.
It was the middle of the night.
All around him lay a quiet little village. Its houses were built from massive stones, rough and primitive.
And not far away, at the village entrance,
stood an enormous stump.
It was charred black from top to bottom, over ten meters in diameter, as though it had been struck by lightning and fire. An air of death clung to it.
But at the top of the charred trunk,
a single tender green Willow Twig hung down.
It swayed gently in the night breeze, radiating a soft, sacred green glow, like the only beacon in the darkness of the Great Wilderness.
Ye Xuan's pupils contracted sharply.
A charred tree stump, and a single Willow Twig.
"Willow Deity..."
Ye Xuan murmured to himself.
He knew his great opportunity had arrived.
Before you continue