All Things Are But Straw Dogs, Human Immortal Martial Dao!

"Strange. I absorbed so much Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, violet qi, and even Mysterious Yellow Qi—how could I possibly have no cultivation at all?"

After Nuwa left, Huang Tian turned his awareness inward and found it utterly absurd.

Nuwa had created humanity in two batches.

The first consisted of three thousand Innate Human Race members, each personally molded by Nuwa's own hands.

The second consisted of 126,600 humans, created when Nuwa dipped the Human Creation Whip in Nine Heavens Breathing Soil and Three Lights Divine Water, then scattered it far and wide.

Though all possessed Innate Dao Bodies, the three thousand Innate Human Race members had received Nuwa's painstaking care and even been infused with a drop of Nuwa's Essence Blood.

Thus, in theory, even the weakest of the three thousand Innate Human Race members should have been an Earth Immortal.

The Great Desolation Realm was divided into Refining Essence into Qi, Refining Qi into Spirit, Refining Spirit into Void, Refining Void into Dao, Human Immortal, Earth Immortal, Heaven Immortal, True Immortal, Profound Immortal, Golden Immortal, Primordial Unity Golden Immortal, Grand Luo Golden Immortal, Quasi saint, and Saint.

As the first member of the Innate Human Race, it would not have been excessive for Huang Tian to be a Golden Immortal.

"Hm?"

Just as Huang Tian was mired in confusion, the Kongtong Seal released a streak of golden light, allowing him to comprehend everything.

"So that's how it is!"

Hongjun's Immortal Dao was flawed. If the Human Race cultivated it, they would never again have any chance to rise.

Thus, the Kongtong Seal, the Human Race's Racial Supreme Treasure, had temporarily withheld Huang Tian's cultivation.

Only by walking a different path could Huang Tian reclaim his cultivation and directly break through to the Golden Immortal realm.

"I thought the Dao Ancestor was impartial. Who would have thought that after Hongjun won the Dao-Demon Conflict, that bastard began plotting against countless living beings?"

With his brow tightly furrowed, Huang Tian found the matter thorny indeed.

When chaos first opened, Chaos Gods and Demons and Chaos Beings were born. All cultivated the Primordial Dao, cultivating both within and without, ever strengthening themselves.

Hongjun's Immortal Dao centered on comprehending the Heavenly Dao. The more power of the Heavenly Dao one could borrow, the stronger one became.

To muddy the waters, there was little difference between the cultivation paths below Quasi saint.

After Grand Luo Golden Immortal, the Primordial Dao proceeded to Primordial Golden Immortal and Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal of the Origin, focusing on comprehending laws and creating one's own world.

After Grand Luo Golden Immortal, Hongjun's Immortal Dao required Slaying Three Corpses to become a Quasi saint, then wrapping the Primordial Spirit in Primordial Violet Qi and entrusting it to the Heavenly Dao, thereby gaining Heavenly Dao Authority and becoming a Heavenly Dao Saint.

Thus, within the Great Desolation, Saints could borrow the power of heaven and earth and were stronger.

Within chaos, Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals of the Origin possessed worlds of their own and were stronger than Saints, who could not borrow the power of the Heavenly Dao.

Therefore, the Witch Clan, whose Primordial Spirits had fused into their fleshly bodies, could not comprehend the laws of the Heavenly Dao and could not cultivate Hongjun's Immortal Dao.

As for the Human Race, their innate foundations were weak, so their progress in cultivating Hongjun's Immortal Dao would be exceedingly slow.

Thus, Laozi seized the opportunity, simplified Hongjun's Immortal Dao, passed down the Golden Core Great Dao, and established the Human Teaching to become a Saint.

It looked as though Laozi had given the Human Race a path to survival, but in truth, it was a dead end.

Because the greatest characteristic of Hongjun's Immortal Dao was plunder.

Hongjun passed down Hongjun's Immortal Dao to plunder the destiny of all living beings.

Laozi passed down the Golden Core Great Dao to plunder the Human Race's destiny.

"No wonder Great Immortal Yang Mei looked down on Hongjun and fled into chaos early on, reattaining the Dao of Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal of the Origin."

"While Hongjun racked his brains and colluded with the Sentient Heavenly Dao like wolves in the same den, only barely breaking through to the Heavenly Dao Realm—"

"Great Immortal Yang Mei could always stay one step ahead of Hongjun and attain the Dao of Primordial Grand Ultimate Grand Luo Golden Immortal."

"Hongjun, you bastard! A mere remnant soul from chaos—how dare you?!"

With a sigh, Huang Tian's brows knitted tightly together.

After the Purple Cloud Palace's three lectures, the living beings between heaven and earth who did not cultivate Hongjun's Immortal Dao could be counted on one's fingers.

The Primordial Dao involved opening a world within oneself, absorbing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to nourish and expand it. Later, one could anchor that world upon the Great Desolation, feeding it back in an endless cycle.

Hongjun's Immortal Dao, on the other hand, simply clung to the Great Desolation Origin and sucked its blood dry, massively plundering Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and depleting the Great Desolation Origin.

As time passed, the Great Desolation Origin weakened, and Innate Spiritual Qi degenerated into Acquired Spiritual Qi.

After Hongjun later realized this, he even plotted the Investiture of the Gods War, making Tongtian bear the karmic consequence of shattering the Great Desolation's heaven and earth.

Using the opportunity to repair the Great Desolation, Hongjun swept up the last of the Great Desolation Origin and merged it into Beyond the Heavens.

That was why, in later generations, immortals and gods no longer existed, living beings could no longer cultivate, and the world thoroughly entered the Age of Dharma Decline.

"Wait. If that's the case, didn't the Human Race fall into the pit Hongjun had dug from the very beginning?"

"The Twelve Ancestral Witches were formed from Great God Pangu's Essence Blood. They should have been the rulers of the Great Desolation."

"The Demon Race was deliberately supported by Hongjun precisely so it could perish together with the Witch Clan."

"But the Demon Race only had two top-tier Innate Gods and Devils, while the Witch Clan had the Twelve Ancestral Witches."

"By the end of the battle, the Witch Clan still could have won."

"But then the Human Race appeared."

"The Human Race was born in response to the Human Dao, bearing a portion of the Prehistoric World's destiny. They can harm the Witch Clan's physical bodies."

"The Demon Race slaughtered the Human Race and became tainted with immense Karmic Retribution. Even if they ultimately won a miserable victory over the Witch Clan, they would end up like the Dragon Clan—entangled in Karmic Retribution, gradually declining, perhaps even perishing."

"Furthermore, the Human Race reproduces at an astonishing rate. Even if only a million humans remained, in the Prehistoric World, where cultivation makes years uncounted, their numbers would soon return to trillions, even trillions upon trillions."

"Generation after generation, the Human Race's bloodline grows weaker, their innate foundations deteriorating into acquired ones. They can only cultivate the Golden Core Great Dao and find it difficult even to attain Human Immortality. Aren't they the most easily controlled puppets?"

"Hongjun stands at the peak, exploiting most of the Human Race Destiny. The Saints divide up a portion, and the Heavenly Court takes another share."

"The Human Race is nothing but pork raised in a pen!"

"The harder the Human Race strives, the happier the immortals and gods of the heavens are when they periodically harvest them."

"This was the scheme Hongjun laid out."

"Damn it!"

Huang Tian clenched his fists, his expression exceedingly grim.

He had thought that if he remained cautious and endured until the Lich Tribulation passed, waiting for the age of the Human Race to arrive, humanity would be able to rise.

But Hongjun would never sit by and watch the Human Race escape his control.

Even now, the Human Race did not possess the qualifications to regard Hongjun as an opponent.

To break free from the chessboard Hongjun had arranged, the Human Race first had to defeat the Witch and Demon Clans, then cross the Five Sages of the Profound Gate and the Two Sages of Buddhism before they could face Hongjun directly.

It was far too difficult.

After all, beneath Saints, all were ants.

"Looking at it this way, Laozi is the most like Hongjun—a spineless Old Coin."

"So the fate of the Six Sages of the Profound Gate was already decided."

Unable to stop himself, Huang Tian drew a deep breath, his expression solemn.

Bearing ten percent of Heaven-Opening Destiny, Laozi walked the Primordial Dao. It was not impossible for him to attain Hunyuan Daluo.

But that required unwavering perseverance—the very thing Laozi and Hongjun lacked. That was why they preferred to take shortcuts.

Laozi offered up ten percent of his Heaven-Opening Merit, bowing and scraping before Hongjun, and obtained the opportunity to become a Heavenly Dao Saint.

Tongtian was arrogant and believed himself forever strong. He founded the Jie Teaching, seeking to intercept a thread of life from Heaven for all living beings. By accident, he nearly forged a new Primordial Dao, and so Hongjun plotted against him, forcing him to swallow the Saint-Slaying Pill and imprisoning him.

Yuanshi was merely a brainless brute; there was no need to say more.

Seen this way, Laozi's so-called Way of Non-Action was nothing but a colossal joke.

They were all the Three Pure Ones, so why was Laozi alone born with the divine ability One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones?

It was because Laozi had awakened his spiritual intelligence earlier and seized part of Tongtian and Yuanshi's origin essence to perfect himself.

"My fate is mine to command. Man can conquer Heaven. I refuse to believe I cannot break free of Hongjun's vast web of schemes!"

His gaze blazing like torches, Huang Tian steeled his resolve.

In an instant, the Kongtong Seal between his brows burst forth with brilliant radiance.

"What is this?"

Receiving the information transmitted by the Kongtong Seal, Huang Tian could not suppress his astonishment.

As expected of a Racial Supreme Treasure—the Kongtong Seal itself came with cultivation techniques best suited to the Human Race.

Martial cultivation tempered the body, providing the soul with a sturdy vessel; the soul cultivated nature, guiding the martial path.

Dual Cultivation of Nature and Life, Human Immortal Martial Dao!