Not Karma, but Responsibility

At this moment, Qing Xuan's heart was trembling. If it was as he imagined, then what lay before him was a great opportunity.

Seeing Qing Xuan's grave expression, Nuwa thought she had injured him and made him angry. She couldn't help muttering softly.

"So petty. A big man, what's a little blood?"

Just as Nuwa was grumbling, the golden thoracic vertebra emitted waves of golden light, enveloping both Qing Xuan and her within its glow.

Nuwa instinctively moved to mobilize her cultivation, shielding herself and Qing Xuan. But her hand was gently grasped by Qing Xuan.

"Don't resist. This is a great opportunity for you and me. If we miss it, we will regret it forever."

Hearing Qing Xuan's voice and the warmth from his hand, Nuwa's tense heart finally relaxed.

At the same time, the golden light before them suddenly dissipated. Qing Xuan and Nuwa had already appeared in an unfamiliar space.

Then, an incredibly shocking scene unfolded before them. In the image, a giant supported the sky with his hands and stood firm on the earth, slowly lifting the heavens.

Beside the giant were two massive clouds of golden merit, which eventually condensed into a pagoda and a ruler.

The pagoda emitted waves of Xuanhuang Qi, always protecting the giant's chest. The ruler fell into the giant's hand, and he used it from time to time to measure the height of heaven and earth.

As the height between heaven and earth reached its limit and the sky stabilized, the giant collapsed with a thunderous fall. As he fell, boundless merit appeared in this world.

Then, the merit began to erode the giant's body. In just a moment, it dismembered his body, transforming it into the Primordial Myriad Things.

Even so, the vast merit was not exhausted. Its terrifying magnitude was absolutely unimaginable.

Just then, a surge of Nascent Soul Power rushed into the Mysterious Yellow Merit, not only taking a large portion of the merit but also carrying away the pagoda.

Then two more surges of Nascent Soul Power shot up, each wrapping around different amounts of Mysterious Yellow Merit, following the first soul.

Not long after those three Nascent Souls fled far away, three beams of golden light fell from the sky, transforming into a diagram, a banner, and a bell.

Since the three Nascent Souls were already gone, the three beams of golden light merely spun in place before flying off into the distance.

At the same time, the giant's spine manifested in the void. Hanging from the sternum was a heart.

The heart was beating slowly, and with each beat, it absorbed a patch of Mysterious Yellow Merit into itself.

After the heart beat twelve times, the Mysterious Yellow Merit in the sky was nearly exhausted and showed signs of dissipating.

This made the heart beat even more violently. Finally, it broke free from the spine and shot straight toward the remaining Mysterious Yellow Merit in mid-air, tearing off another piece before fleeing into the distance.

Just then, a sigh came from the sky. "Alas, all are eager for quick success, grasping at the present but blind to the long term."

"The opportunities I painstakingly left for you have been cast aside. I hope the Great Dao grants you another chance to obtain them, so that my Pangu's labor in opening the Primordial World is not in vain."

As that majestic voice faded, the remaining spine also sped into the distance. Eventually, it transformed into a towering immortal mountain—the Sky Pillar, Buzhou Mountain.

At that moment, the images before Qing Xuan and Nuwa vanished once more, returning them to their original space.

And then, the thoracic vertebra stained with Qing Xuan's brow blood began to emit waves of milky white light, condensing into a drop of marrow that drifted toward Qing Xuan.

Qing Xuan slowly raised his hands, catching the drop of marrow in his palm. Then he bowed respectfully to the vertebra before him.

"This humble one, Qing Xuan, thanks the great god Pangu for his gift. But this Pangu Marrow was originally left by Pangu for the Twelve Ancestral Witches. What virtue or ability does this humble one have to claim it as his own?"

As he spoke, Qing Xuan kept his waist bent, and even after finishing, he did not straighten up.

Nuwa, beside him, was so stunned she could not speak and could only follow Qing Xuan in bowing.

Time seemed to stand still. No one knew how long passed before the majestic voice from the vision spoke again.

"Since you have obtained the opportunity, you have the right to decide the fate of this drop of Pangu Marrow. Whether you merge it into yourself or give it to another, I will not interfere."

"But that you have such a character truly surprises me. If I were not merely a remnant soul, I could grant you some earth-shattering fortune. Unfortunately, my will is strong but my power is spent."

"Still, since we have met, I cannot let you leave empty-handed. I have a ruler here. Today, I give it to you as a meeting gift."

"This ruler was condensed from the merit of opening the heavens. I once used it to measure the height of heaven and earth, hence its name: Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler."

"The Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler not only kills without incurring karma, but also bears a trace of my imprint. With this ruler, you may strike the Sanqing and discipline the Twelve Ancestral Witches."

"I hope that in the future, when the Sanqing and the Twelve Ancestral Witches stray from the right path, you can use this ruler to guide them back, lest they stumble into error."

"Of course, this is merely my plea. If you cannot or do not wish to, you may leave them be. After all, those who forsake the root and pursue the tip are the unfilial ones themselves."

As the voice fell, a Xuanhuang-colored ruler appeared in Qing Xuan's hand. It was the Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler that Pangu had spoken of.

At the same time, Nuwa felt a vast surge of merit power pouring into her body.

Just as Qing Xuan and Nuwa were about to thank the great god Pangu, they felt their bodies uncontrollably flying outward.

When they steadied themselves, they found they had returned to Buzhou Mountain. The original spatial entrance had vanished without a trace.

Nuwa finally came to her senses, staring at Qing Xuan in disbelief. "Little Gourd Vine, did we just see the great god Pangu?"

Qing Xuan looked at the Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler in his hand, then nodded at Nuwa. "You saw correctly. We witnessed Pangu's evolution of the Primordial World and received his blessing."

Although Nuwa knew that what she had seen was no illusion—especially the vast Heaven Opening Merit within her body, the strongest proof—now with Qing Xuan's confirmation, she could no longer suppress her joy. She grabbed Qing Xuan's hands and began spinning him in place to celebrate their immense fortune.

"Stop, stop, stop, Grandmother. If you keep spinning me like this, I'm going to get dizzy."

As he spoke, Qing Xuan pulled Nuwa into his arms to stop her from dragging him around.

Suddenly held in Qing Xuan's embrace, Nuwa felt no resistance at all, only a secret delight.

Tapping Qing Xuan's chest with her finger, she said, "We've received such a great opportunity from Pangu. Doesn't that mean we've also incurred a tremendous karma?"

Qing Xuan shook his head at Nuwa. "Pangu is not so narrow-minded. What we owe is not karma, but a responsibility."

Nuwa nodded in Qing Xuan's arms, and the two stood quietly, embracing on Buzhou Mountain.