Nuwa Creates Humans, Stealing Soil to Create Humans

The thousand-year truce brought a rare measure of peace to the Primordial World.

The Witch and Demon Clans each licked their wounds. The Demon Clan busied itself repairing the Great Formation of the Stars, while the Witch Clan racked its brains to make up for the Great Heavenly God-Demon Array's flaws—Houtu had transformed into the Reincarnation Cycle, leaving twelve short of one, and the array's power had been greatly diminished.

But some things would not stop just because of a truce.

For instance, becoming a Saint.

Wa Huang Palace, beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, at the edge of Chaos.

Saint Nuwa sat quietly upon a Cloud Bed. Two objects floated before her: a mass of Nine Heavens Breathing Soil and a flask of Three Lights Divine Water.

She had sat there in stillness for three hundred years.

Ever since the first Witch-Demon War, an indescribable stirring had lingered in her heart—the Heavenly Dao was guiding her to do something that could complete the Primordial World and earn boundless Merit.

But as for what exactly it was, she had deduced it for a hundred years, yet it remained unclear.

Until today, when her gaze swept across the lands of the Primordial World and saw those weak creatures struggling to survive amid the fires of the Witch-Demon War, understanding suddenly dawned upon her.

"All the races of the Primordial World are powerful and warlike, with slaughter never ceasing. The Witch and Demon Clans in particular treat all living things as mere grass... This world lacks a kind of creature."

She slowly rose, her voice like a clear spring from the Nine Heavens.

"It lacks a creature that knows propriety, understands benevolence, can be enlightened, and can pass down its heritage."

She raised a hand. The Nine Heavens Breathing Soil flew into her palm, while the Three Lights Divine Water turned into a hazy drizzle and fell.

The Breathing Soil came alive upon meeting water, endlessly changing shape in her hands. Guided by a Saint's Law of Creation, Nuwa began molding the first living creature.

At first, it did not go smoothly.

The creatures she molded either had uncoordinated limbs, incomplete intelligence, or could not survive beyond three breaths.

But a Saint was still a Saint.

On her three hundredth attempt, a palm-sized clay figure with delicate features and well-proportioned limbs slowly opened its eyes in her palm.

Within those eyes shone a light Nuwa had never seen in any other creature—curiosity, innocence, and a trace of... spirituality.

"It succeeded." Joy flashed through Nuwa's eyes.

She set the clay figure upon the ground. It took root the moment it landed and swiftly grew, transforming into a humanoid creature clad in leaves and standing barefoot.

The creature knelt before Nuwa and made blurred yet sincere sounds. "Mother... Goddess..."

Nuwa's heart trembled.

At last, she understood what she was meant to create.

"This race shall be called 'human.' Humans who stand beneath the heavens and above the earth, ever striving to improve themselves."

She began creating humans in batches.

With a wave of her slender hand, the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil became countless specks of mud, nourished by the Three Lights Divine Water falling like rain. Clay figures landed and became people. Before long, there were tens of thousands of them.

Though these newborn Human Clan members were as weak as ants and lived no more than a hundred years, the yearning for life and desire to explore the world in their eyes showed Nuwa another possibility for the Primordial World's future.

"Good."

She continued creating humans. Their numbers steadily grew, gradually gathering into tribes and beginning to multiply across the Primordial World.

Meanwhile, a million li outside Wa Huang Palace.

Lu Chen crouched within a patch of Chaos clouds. The Chaos Brick was in his left hand, the Qiankun Diagram in his right, and around his neck hung the Concealment Cloak he had just swiped from Treasure Distribution Cliff. Wrapped up from head to toe, he looked like a rice dumpling.

"It's happening, it's happening. The iconic scene is about to begin..." He had a Chaos grass root clenched between his teeth, his eyes fixed firmly on Wa Huang Palace.

The moment he saw the first human born, Lu Chen's eyes instantly lit up.

But he did not move.

He was waiting.

Waiting for Nuwa's creation of humans to reach its peak, for the moment when the Heavenly Dao was about to bestow Merit—that was when Nuwa would be most absorbed and least vigilant.

Finally, when the Human Clan reached a number of 129,600, the ultimate number of one yuan, boundless golden clouds of Merit began gathering above the Nine Heavens!

Vast Golden Light of Merit poured down like a waterfall, enveloping all of Wa Huang Palace! Nuwa's aura began rising wildly. Her Saint fruition was completely stabilized, and she even showed faint signs of advancing another step!

Now!

Lu Chen moved.

Brick Escape fully unleashed, the Chaos Brick transformed into an almost invisible streak of dark light. Under the cover of the Golden Light of Merit, it silently slipped to the edge of Wa Huang Palace.

Nuwa was wholly focused on absorbing Merit and stabilizing her realm, with no attention to spare for anything else.

Like a loach, Lu Chen slipped into the rear hall of Wa Huang Palace—where the leftover scraps from creating humans were stored: three baskets of Nine Heavens Breathing Soil fragments, two flasks of Three Lights Divine Water residue, and over a dozen discarded clay embryos.

"I've struck it rich, I've struck it rich..." Rubbing his hands together, Lu Chen first swept all three baskets of Breathing Soil fragments into the Qiankun Diagram. This was innate divine soil that could grow on its own and multiply without end; even a tiny fragment could cultivate a vast expanse!

Then came the Three Lights Divine Water residue. Though only two flasks remained, every drop contained the essence of the sun, moon, and stars, making it top-tier material for healing wounds or refining treasures.

Finally, his gaze fell upon those discarded clay embryos.

These embryos were Nuwa's failed attempts at creating humans. Some lacked arms or legs, while others possessed muddled intelligence. They should have been destroyed. Yet Lu Chen sensed within them a faint trace of... residual Law of Creation.

"Good stuff." His eyes darted as he took away all dozen-plus clay embryos.

After finishing all this, he was about to slip away when a thought suddenly struck him, and he turned back.

He looked toward the center of the hall. There lay the last small mass of Nine Heavens Breathing Soil essence, about the size of a fist, from the main material Nuwa had used to create humans.

Nuwa had deliberately left it behind, intending to use it in the future to refine a clan-protecting supreme treasure for the Human Clan.

"Sorry, Your Ladyship. I'm just borrowing a little." Lu Chen grinned and extended two fingers, carefully pinching away... a tiny amount no larger than a fingernail from that large mass of Breathing Soil.

It really was only a tiny amount.

But that tiny amount was the most fundamental core essence of the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil.

He mixed it with the "Creation Jade Disc fragment powder" he had previously swiped from Treasure Distribution Cliff, then added three drops of his own blood essence.

Then, he began molding people.

Not properly and methodically like Nuwa had, but recklessly.

He molded twelve bizarre little clay figures. Some had three heads and six arms, some had wings on their backs, some had eyes on their foreheads, and some were covered in scales...

"Since Her Ladyship molded 'normal people,' it's not too much for me to mold some 'special' ones, right?" Lu Chen muttered as he worked.

Once he finished, he blew a breath at the twelve little clay figures. That breath carried part of his cultivation insights, along with a seed of the Law of Strength.

The little clay figures fell to the ground and quickly grew, becoming twelve "innate humans" over ten feet tall, each with a different aura.

They looked at Lu Chen, then all knelt in unison. "Father God!"

Their voices were loud, their eyes clear, and every one of them had started out as an Earth Immortal! They were countless times stronger than the mortals Nuwa had created!

"Keep it low-key, keep it low-key." Lu Chen hurriedly covered their mouths. "From now on, you'll be called the Twelve Yuan Chen. Go find some remote corner of the Primordial World, build a tribe, and cultivate properly. Remember, don't reveal your connection to me. If danger comes, run. If you can't run, then... invoke Lady Nuwa's name."

The Twelve Yuan Chen nodded innocently.

Lu Chen placed them inside the Qiankun Diagram, intending to release them somewhere suitable later.

Only after finishing all this did he slip out of Wa Huang Palace in satisfaction.

At this moment, the Golden Light of Merit gradually faded.

Nuwa stabilized her realm and slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she did was look at that mass of Nine Heavens Breathing Soil essence—it was key to her future plans.

Then she froze.

The Breathing Soil... seemed to be missing some?

She examined it carefully. It truly was missing a tiny amount the size of a fingernail.

Though insignificant, that was core source essence!

"Who was it?!" Saint Nuwa's aura surged, and the entire Wa Huang Palace trembled.

She deduced the Heavenly Secrets, only to find a field of Chaos—someone had used a supreme treasure to conceal the Heavenly Secrets!

"Could it be..." The image of someone carrying a brick around and knocking people unconscious surfaced in her mind, but she immediately shook her head. "Impossible. Though Lu Chen is slippery, he would not dare steal from me, much less possess the ability to hide it from me..."

Nuwa frowned and pondered for a long time before ultimately attributing it to "natural losses during the process of creation."

After all, that tiny amount was truly too little, so little that even a Saint felt she might simply have remembered incorrectly.

Meanwhile, on a deserted island somewhere along the Eastern Sea coast of the Primordial World.

Lu Chen released the Twelve Yuan Chen and gave them a pile of cultivation-method Jade Slips, medicinal pills, and magical treasures. He instructed them, "Develop yourselves properly. Don't cause trouble. Once your cultivation rises, I'll come get you."

"Yes, Father God!" The Twelve Yuan Chen knelt once more.

Lu Chen nodded and vanished with Brick Escape.

He was in an excellent mood.

This trip had not only netted him Nine Heavens Breathing Soil and Three Lights Divine Water, but had also produced twelve "biological sons" with limitless potential.

More importantly, from those discarded clay embryos, he had comprehended a trace of the true meaning of Nuwa's Law of Creation in creating humans. Though faint, it would greatly benefit his future understanding of the "creation" aspect of the Law of Strength.

"Next, it's time to see the 'aftereffects' of the Witch and Demon Clans."

He looked toward Buzhou Mountain. There, Zhu Rong and Di Jun were both beginning to feel that something was wrong with their bodies.

The backlash of the Demon-Slaying Sword and Witch-Slaying Saber was about to begin.

And the culprit behind it all was already carrying his brick, humming a little tune as he headed toward his next "fortuitous opportunity."

Upon the chessboard of the Primordial World, Old Sixth's pieces were falling in ever greater numbers.

Meanwhile, deep within Chaos, at Purple Cloud Palace.

Dao Ancestor Hongjun watched the entire process of Lu Chen stealing soil and creating humans through a water mirror, then shook his head with a laugh.

"This brat... he even dares fleece a Saint."

"Still, the Twelve Yuan Chen... are an unexpected variable."

With a light sweep of his whisk, the water mirror dispersed.

The Heavenly Dao continued to turn, gaining a few more traces of Chaos.

And all of this was within a certain Old Sixth's plans.