Shore of the East Sea.
"Fuse!"
Facing the vast fortune of eight-tenths of the merit, Huang Tian did not use it to increase his cultivation. Instead, he merged it into the Racial Supreme Treasure, the Kongtong Seal.
Anyone who had traveled through the Prehistoric World knew that merit could not only rapidly increase one's cultivation, but also refine spiritual treasures into Merit Spiritual Treasures.
Heavenly Dao Merit was acquired merit. Using it to refine a spiritual treasure was harmless; the treasure could still become a Merit Spiritual Treasure.
But using Heavenly Dao Merit to increase one's cultivation would drain a being's potential and cause irreversible consequences.
That was why Nuwa and Zhunti ranked at the bottom among the Six Sages of the Profound Gate.
Nuwa was stronger than Zhunti because the Heavenly Dao Merit from creating humanity was certainly greater than the merit obtained by making grand vows and borrowing against the future.
Great Dao Merit was different. It was innate merit, and whether used to increase cultivation or refine spiritual treasures, it caused no adverse effects.
So, to avoid affecting his Martial Dao potential, Huang Tian had no intention of using Heavenly Dao Merit to force quick growth.
The Kongtong Seal, with nine coiling dragons on top and five blank sides, floated in the air, radiating brilliant golden light as it continuously absorbed Heavenly Dao Merit.
Along with the Heavenly Dao Merit, the nearly boundless Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi within a radius of a hundred million li swirled into a vortex and poured into the Kongtong Seal.
"Vmmm! Vmmm! Vmmm!"
The Kongtong Seal radiated immense pressure, and the surrounding void repeatedly collapsed.
Jade-white light spread across its precious form, as if it had become a heavenly curtain. Within it appeared the daily lives of millions of Human Race members.
They were traces of the Human Race's true spirits, linked to their Racial Supreme Treasure. Even after death, a trace of them would remain.
The traces of every Human Race member who had ever lived would never be forgotten.
The more powerful a member of the Human Race was, the more solid their reflection in the Kongtong Seal became.
As the first leader of the Human Race, Huang Tian was surrounded by the vast fortune of the Human Race. His blood and qi formed a dragon that roared toward the heavens, divine and sacred beyond compare.
The Kongtong Seal concealed the workings of fate. Even Hongjun could not divine them, so no one knew what Huang Tian was doing.
Otherwise, if anyone learned that the Human Race possessed an Innate Merit Supreme Treasure, even the Sages would covet it.
"Not bad."
With a beckoning gesture, the Kongtong Seal, now fully refined, fell into Huang Tian's palm.
A mysterious intuition revealed every detail about the seal to him.
The Kongtong Seal was the Racial Supreme Treasure of the Human Race. It had been an Innate Supreme Treasure, but had now become an Innate Merit Supreme Treasure.
It could suppress the Human Race's fortune and kill without incurring karmic consequences.
It was both offensive and defensive—terrifying indeed.
"Congratulations, Leader, on obtaining a supreme treasure!"
The Human Race members sensed something and could not help congratulating Huang Tian.
"What!"
The next moment, Huang Tian was stunned.
Strands of faith from more than a hundred thousand members of the Innate Human Race drifted out and merged into the Kongtong Seal.
The five blank sides, originally meant to bear the images of the future Five Emperors of the Human Race, now displayed the myriad forms of its people.
The Kongtong Seal had become completely linked to the Human Race's fortune.
This meant that no matter how much the Human Race's fortune grew in the future, the Kongtong Seal would control the authority over most of it.
Whoever controlled the Kongtong Seal could decide the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors of the Human Race and determine the course of its future rise or decline.
In simple terms, whether it was Nuwa or Laozi establishing the Human Teaching, they could siphon off some of the Human Race's fortune to support their cultivation, and that was all.
They could no longer interfere in the Human Race's internal affairs.
With a thought, the Kongtong Seal sank into Huang Tian's brow and hovered within his Divine Court acupoint.
"Excellent!"
Huang Tian's smile grew broader as he looked over the more than a hundred thousand Innate Human Race members before him.
The 2,999 Innate Human Race members led by Sui Ren Shi and the others had all reached the Myriad Transformation Realm, making them comparable to Golden Immortals.
The remaining 120,000-plus members had all reached the Star Aperture Realm, equivalent to True Immortals.
And then there was Huang Tian, who had broken through into the Immortal Realm, planted the seed of the Dao, and become a Martial Emperor (Daluo)—a mighty being who had transcended the river of time.
Taken as a whole, the Human Race's strength could now place it among the lower ranks of the Ten Thousand Races.
And this was the progress they had made in only two hundred years.
Given a thousand or ten thousand years, with the Human Race's potential and rate of reproduction, what could the Ten Thousand Races—or the Wu and Yao—do to stop them?
"The Human Race will rise!"
Smiling, Huang Tian raised his arm and cried out, elated.
Under the usual course of events, during the million years protected by the Sage's Barrier, the Human Race would produce only three Taiyi beings: Sui Ren Shi, Zi Yi Shi, and You Chao Shi, the destined Three Ancestors of the Human Race.
Even that would be thanks to the merit they gained from making fire, clothing the people, and building nests—merit that forcibly wrung out their potential to raise their cultivation.
The rest of the Human Race would generally be Earth Immortals or Profound Immortals.
Before the Wu and Yao, they would naturally be powerless to resist.
After all, the Demon Clan alone had 365 Da Luo Demon Gods to arrange the Zhou Tian Star Dou Formation, all of them late-stage Daluo or even at the peak.
And there were also the Ten Great Demon Sages, with their ranks crowded by Quasi saints, as well as Demon Master Kunpeng, Eastern Emperor Taiyi, and the others.
Under normal circumstances, the Human Race would have no chance of matching them and could only become their puppets.
But now Huang Tian had passed down the Martial Dao, giving the Human Race the power to truly control its own fate!
"Uh..."
Still, Huang Tian didn't celebrate too soon.
It wasn't that a threat had appeared. It was just that what lay before his eyes was painful to look at.
Two hundred years had passed, and millions of Human Race members were still completely naked.
"We should usher the Human Race into the Bronze Age early and bring about the birth of the Three Ancestors."
With that thought, Huang Tian made up his mind.
Sui Ren Shi would drill wood to make fire, ushering in the age of cooked food.
Zi Yi Shi would make clothes to cover the body and establish proper human relations and etiquette.
You Chao Shi would build wooden nests, giving people a place to live safely and avoid danger.
The Three Ancestors of the Human Race would lead their people into the early stages of civilization, no longer living as savages who ate raw food and drank blood.
Huang Tian could not afford to delay.
A million years was far too short in the Prehistoric World.
When the Sage's Barrier disappeared, the Human Race would face immense challenges.
The first great war between the Wu and Yao would break out around then, and the Human Race would be the first to face the catastrophe of the Witch-Slaying Sword.
It didn't even have to be Demon Emperor Dijun or Eastern Emperor Taiyi.
Any Demon Saint, even the likes of Fei Lian or Yingzhao, could easily sweep through the Human Race as it stood now.
"Once we return, you must study the Martial Dao diligently. It is the foundation that lets our Human Race survive."
"Have descendants, and teach them the basics of the Martial Dao yourselves, step by step."
"Second Brother, stay behind. I have important matters to discuss with you."
Huang Tian waved a hand and gave his orders calmly.
"We obey, Leader!"
The Human Race members filed away, leaving only Huang Tian and Sui Ren Shi's group behind.
The first time the Martial Dao was taught, merit had been bestowed. There would be no such good fortune afterward.
So, having the tribal leaders pass on the Martial Dao to the children born in their tribes would be more efficient.
"Elder Brother, is there something you need us to do?"
Once the others had left, Sui Ren Shi eagerly asked Huang Tian.
"For any race to grow strong and endure, cultivation alone is not enough. It needs a civilization to support it."
"Can you see it?"
Huang Tian smiled at Sui Ren Shi, then casually summoned a bolt of lightning and struck a tree.
Flames blazed, and a wave of scorching heat washed over them, turning Sui Ren Shi's cheeks red. He pondered what he was seeing.
"The foundations of Heaven and Earth are nothing more than earth, water, fire, and wind."
"If you do not comprehend it now, when will you?"
Huang Tian's thunderous voice rang in their ears. He spoke sharply, giving Sui Ren Shi a helping hand.
"Thank you, Elder Brother! I understand!"
Snapping out of his daze, Sui Ren Shi cried out in delight.
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