The man whose eyes reflected the sun, moon, and stars sat beside the horned middle-aged man.
To his right stood the one who was now dousing everyone's hopes.
He had sharp brows and bright eyes. Though he looked lazy, he contained boundless killing intent.
A faint narrowing of his gaze was enough to twist and tremble the space three inches before him.
"Alas, Third Brother, why so pessimistic? Though we are confined to Huoyun Cave,
as the Three Sovereigns of the Human Race, surely we can sense it too.
The dynasty newly established today may face troubles, but it is remarkably resilient.
With a Great Sage born to assist it, it will surely achieve great things!"
The three who spoke were the Three Sovereigns of the Human Race.
The star-eyed man in the middle was Fuxi, the Heavenly Emperor.
The horned middle-aged man on the left was Shennong, the Earthly Emperor.
The man on the right was naturally the Human Emperor Ji Xuanyuan, who had attained the Dao through slaughter.
"Hah! Haven't there been enough emperors with grand ambitions? First Emperor Ying Zheng was more than ambitious.
So what if the Heavenly Emperor Haotian was slain? They can establish another Jade Emperor in the blink of an eye!"
Ji Xuanyuan folded his arms over his sword. His lazy air vanished, and killing intent radiated from him.
"Eldest Brother, let me reincarnate into the mortal world and sweep away all the small human kingdoms.
I'll reunite the Human Race, restore the Co-lord's position, and bring back the era of the Nine-Nine Human Emperors. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"
"But Third Brother, the fortune of the Human Race is no match for what it was in ancient times.
If you fail, you won't merely be trapped in Huoyun Cave, unable to emerge.
The karmic sins could extinguish Huoyun's spiritual light. You and I might be left with nothing but a sliver of our true spirits!"
Shennong pulled off one of his horns, scratched his itchy scalp, then put it back on.
Ji Xuanyuan rolled his eyes and dropped the argument.
He knew there was no point debating this sort of thing.
After all, they had been arguing about it for tens of thousands of years.
"All right, my two worthy brothers. We're here to discuss this newly born Great Sage.
Li, you have a karmic connection with him. Tell us about him."
Of the nine people there, the Three Sovereigns sat in the middle, while the Five Emperors sat in two rows on either side.
Only one person sat opposite the Three Sovereigns. He was old and frail.
Seeing the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors all turn to him, Li tugged at his animal-hide clothes and spoke.
"What's there to tell? The karmic obstructions keep me from communicating with him.
I only know that the plow he created is better than my Straight Plow.
His Qu Yuan Plow was modified from my Straight Plow, so I can at least share in a little of the merit.
That lets me faintly sense his presence. What else do you expect me to know?"
Li looked unconcerned as his eyes lingered on the faded Straight Plow before him.
He had already sensed what awaited him.
Like the sages who were gradually disappearing, his soul and body would merge into the Human Dao.
A sliver of his true spirit, carrying a little merit, would return to the cycle of reincarnation.
There was nothing wrong with that. Born among the Human Race and returning to the Human Dao was the fate of sages like them.
Back then, King Wu of Zhou had relinquished the title of Human Emperor.
To stabilize the foundations of the Human Dao, a hundred Sage Kings had taken their own lives, and three hundred Great Sages had returned to the void!
He was merely following the path of the sages who came before him.
At least he still had the chance to reincarnate—far better off than those predecessors.
"That's not necessarily so. I sense something unusual in the fortune of the Human Race. Our opportunity may have arrived!"
Fuxi smiled faintly. He had gone to great lengths to gather all the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.
It wasn't so he could listen to them complain.
At Fuxi's words, everyone immediately perked up.
Even the sages dared not claim they could outdo Fuxi's art of divination.
Naturally, they believed him.
"What happened? You're not gloomy anymore?"
Fuxi teased. Ji Xuanyuan immediately dropped his lazy act.
He ingratiatingly massaged Fuxi's shoulders and said with a grin, "Oh, Eldest Brother, what are you talking about? I was just getting a little restless cooped up here in Huoyun Cave.
You're magnanimous. Surely you won't hold it against me!"
"Enough clowning around. I called you all here today to discuss this.
The Great Sage who has appeared is an anomaly. We absolutely cannot let him perish prematurely.
So I need to use Li's karmic connection with that Great Sage
to send a powerful expert into the world to protect the Great Sage of our Human Race!"
"This... wouldn't that be unwise?"
Shennong hesitated. Karmic obstructions had piled up outside Huoyun Cave.
And keeping the whole matter secret would come at a great cost.
Li might even have to give up his life.
"Hahaha! It's a small matter. What's there to hesitate about?
Have you decided who to send? I'd like to see the youngster who took my place!"
Li laughed heartily, a strange gleam in his aged eyes.
Fuxi shook his head and said, "The Heavenly Secrets cannot be fully divined. I won't choose the person. You decide!"
"My lord, this is a brilliant plan, but there's a problem with the price!"
Circling the modified, simplified Qu Yuan Plow, Wei Zheng exclaimed in delight.
Chen Fan furrowed his brow at Wei Zheng's words and looked at him in confusion.
"Lord Wei, a string of coins isn't much. The great clans may have many craftsmen,
but they certainly won't send every carpenter to learn.
They only need someone to bring back the method for making the Qu Yuan Plow, and they'll soon be able to train a batch of apprentices!"
Wei Zheng shook his head slightly, his expression complicated.
"No, I mean you're charging too little. With this plow, they'll be able to clear wasteland at least fifty percent faster.
And it'll make farming their existing fields much easier, too.
I'd still say a hundred strings of coins per person is too little!"
Chen Fan: "..."
He'd never imagined that he, a man from the modern world, would end up being the conservative one!
Chapter 35: Nezha Leaves the Heavenly Court; To Hell with Riddlers!
In the Heavenly Court's Cloudglow Hall, a stunning woman with a graceful figure rested her chin in her hands.
Her beautiful, wide eyes seemed devoid of life.
"Oh? Who's made our Second Princess so sad?"
A small boy, only four feet tall, flew over. With rosy lips and white teeth, he spoke in a playful tone.
Seeing him, Second Princess Zhang Tianyang immediately lowered her hands and beckoned to Nezha.
"Nezha, come here! I need you to help me with something!"
"What's so urgent that you had to call me over right away?"
Nezha moved, appearing before Zhang Tianyang in an instant.
He casually plucked a spirit fruit and popped it into his mouth!
Before you continue