At that moment, Qing Xuan's heart trembled. If things were truly as he imagined, then the opportunity before him was an immense one.
Seeing the grave look on Qing Xuan's face, Nuwa assumed he was angry because she had hurt him. She couldn't help muttering under her breath.
"So petty. You're a grown man. What's a little blood?"
Just as Nuwa was grumbling, the Golden Thoracic Vertebra began to glow with golden light, enveloping both her and Qing Xuan.
Nuwa instinctively tried to summon her cultivation to protect herself and Qing Xuan. But Qing Xuan gently took her hand.
"Don't resist. This is an immense opportunity for both of us. If we let it slip by, we'll regret it for the rest of our lives."
Hearing Qing Xuan's voice and feeling the warmth of his hand, Nuwa's taut heart finally began to relax.
At the same time, the golden light before them suddenly faded. Qing Xuan and Nuwa had appeared in an unfamiliar space.
Then, a shocking scene unfolded before their eyes. In it, a giant held up the sky with both hands and braced the earth with his feet, slowly pushing the firmament higher.
Beside the giant were two enormous clouds of Golden Merit Clouds. In the end, they condensed into a tower and a ruler.
The tower radiated Xuanhuang Qi and remained at the giant's chest, protecting him. The ruler, meanwhile, fell into his hand, and the giant occasionally used it to measure the distance between heaven and earth.
As the distance between heaven and earth reached its limit and the firmament stabilized, the giant collapsed with a crash. As he fell, boundless Merit appeared throughout the world.
Then Merit began to consume the giant's body. In mere moments, it had taken the giant apart, transforming him into the Primordial Myriad Things.
Even so, the vast Merit was not exhausted. Its sheer quantity was beyond anything anyone could imagine.
Just then, a burst of Nascent Soul Power surged into the Mysterious Yellow Merit. It carried away a large portion of the Merit, along with the tower.
Then two more bursts of Nascent Soul Power shot into the sky, each carrying a different amount of Mysterious Yellow Merit as they followed the first soul.
Not long after the three souls had vanished into the distance, three beams of golden light descended from the firmament, transforming into a diagram, a Banner, and a bell.
With the three souls already gone, the three beams of golden light merely circled once where they were before flying off into the distance.
At the same time, the giant's spine appeared in the void. A heart hung from his breastbone.
The heart beat slowly. With every beat, it drew some of the Mysterious Yellow Merit into itself.
After it had beaten twelve times, little of the Mysterious Yellow Merit remained in the firmament, and it showed signs of dispersing.
The heart began to beat more and more fiercely. At last, it broke free of the spine and shot toward the Mysterious Yellow Merit in midair. It tore away another portion before fleeing into the distance.
Just then, a sigh came from the firmament. "Alas, you're all shortsighted and greedy, fighting only for what's before you, unable to see the bigger picture."
"I went to great lengths to leave you this opportunity, yet you threw it away just like that. I hope the Great Dao gives you another chance to claim it, so that my efforts in opening the Primordial Wilderness were not in vain."
As the solemn voice faded, the remaining spine flew into the distance. In the end, it became an Immortal Mountain that towered into the clouds: the Sky Pillar, Buzhou Mountain.
Only then did the vision before Qing Xuan and Nuwa disappear, returning them to the space they had been in.
Just then, the vertebra before them, stained with blood from Qing Xuan's brow, began to glow with Milky White Light. It condensed into a drop of jade marrow that drifted toward Qing Xuan.
Qing Xuan slowly raised both hands and caught the drop of jade marrow in his palms. Then he bowed respectfully to the vertebra before him.
"This junior, Qing Xuan, thanks Great God Pangu for his gift. But this Pangu Marrow was originally left by Great God Pangu for the Twelve Ancestral Witches. What have I done to deserve claiming it for myself?"
As he spoke, Qing Xuan remained bent at the waist. Even after he finished speaking, he made no move to straighten up.
Nuwa, standing beside him, was too stunned to speak. She could only bow alongside Qing Xuan.
Time seemed to stand still. No one knew how long had passed when the solemn voice they had heard in the vision spoke again.
"Since you have received this opportunity, you have the right to decide what becomes of this drop of Pangu Marrow. Whether you absorb it yourself or give it to someone else, I will not interfere."
"Still, your character has truly surprised me. If I had more than a trace of Remnant Soul left, I could give you some truly earth-shattering blessings. Alas, I no longer have the strength to do so."
"But since we have met, I cannot let you leave empty-handed. I have a ruler here. Take it as a gift to mark our meeting."
"This ruler was formed from Heaven Opening Merit. I once used it to measure the distance between heaven and earth, which is why it is called the Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler."
"The Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler can kill without incurring Karma. It also bears a trace of my imprint. With it, you can discipline the Sanqing and the Twelve Ancestral Witches."
"I hope that if the Sanqing and the Twelve Ancestral Witches stray from the right path someday, you can use this ruler to set them straight and keep them from going astray."
"Of course, this is only a request. If you cannot do it or do not wish to, you may leave them be. After all, those who forsake what matters most for what is lesser are the unfilial ones."
As the voice faded, a Xuanhuang-colored ruler appeared in Qing Xuan's hand. It was the Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler Pangu had spoken of.
At the same time, Nuwa felt a tremendous force of Merit pour into her body.
Qing Xuan and Nuwa were just about to thank Great God Pangu when they felt their bodies being carried away against their will.
When they steadied themselves, they found they had returned to Buzhou Mountain. The Spatial Entrance had vanished without a trace.
Nuwa finally came to her senses. Staring at Qing Xuan in disbelief, she asked, "Little Gourd Vine, did we just meet Great God Pangu?"
Qing Xuan glanced at the Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler in his hand, then nodded to Nuwa. "You didn't imagine it. We saw Great God Pangu's process of creating the Primordial Wilderness. And we received his gifts."
Nuwa already knew that what she had seen was no illusion. The immense Heaven Opening Merit in her body was the strongest proof.
Now that Qing Xuan had confirmed it, she could no longer contain her joy. She grabbed his hands and began spinning them around in celebration of the great opportunity they had received.
"Stop, stop, stop, young lady! If you keep spinning like this, I'm going to get dizzy."
As he spoke, Qing Xuan pulled Nuwa into his arms to stop her from continuing to spin them around.
Caught in Qing Xuan's arms, Nuwa felt no resistance at all. Instead, she was secretly pleased.
Tapping a finger against Qing Xuan's chest, she asked, "Since we received such an immense opportunity from Great God Pangu, does that mean we've also incurred tremendous Karma?"
Qing Xuan shook his head. "Great God Pangu wasn't that narrow-minded. What we owe him isn't Karma, but a responsibility."
Nuwa nodded in Qing Xuan's arms. Then the two of them stood quietly together, embracing on Buzhou Mountain.