Qilin Territory

High above the Honghuang continent, Xuanqing flew through the air, swiftly running through the major future events of Honghuang in his mind.

"First and foremost is the emergence of the human race!"

Since the creation of heaven and earth, this was the greatest act of Heavenly Dao Merit apart from Pangu's splitting open of the heavens.

Nüwa became a Sage through it, and the human race became the protagonists of heaven and earth because of it.

No matter what, he had to find a way to get a share of the pie! Even a sip of the soup would be enough to benefit him without end.

"Then there's Houtu's transformation into reincarnation."

This, too, was boundless merit that completed the workings of heaven and earth. Houtu thus became a Sage of the Earthly Dao, eternally guarding the Nether.

He had to find a way to get involved in this as well.

"And the Three Pure Ones establishing their sects, Jieyin and Zunti making great vows to become Sages..."

Each of these was a towering heap of merit.

However, as the First Disciple of the Chan Sect, he would naturally receive a share of Fortune Merit when the Three Pure Ones established their sects, so there was no need to worry too much about that.

Jieyin and Zunti were not in the same camp as him. It would be too difficult to meddle in their affairs, and he might end up covered in trouble besides.

Therefore, his most important and easiest target at the moment was Nüwa!

But the question was, how was he supposed to get involved?

He couldn't exactly run up to her and say, "Daoist Nüwa, I've calculated with my fingers that you'll one day mold people from mud and become a Sage. Take me along when the time comes, will you?"

She would be crazy not to throw him out as a lunatic.

Besides, heavenly secrets could not be divulged. If he made things too clear and changed the course of history, causing Nüwa to fail to create humans, then things would get truly entertaining.

Xuanqing stroked his chin and began recalling every detail concerning Nüwa's creation of humanity.

He remembered that Nüwa had been traveling through Honghuang when inspiration struck, prompting her to create an entirely new race.

The key materials for creating humans were the Nine Heavens' Soil and the Three Lights Divine Water.

"Three Lights Divine Water!"

Xuanqing's eyes lit up. He had that stuff!

Back then, Master Yuanshi Tianzun had used it like ordinary water to irrigate his true body, and Xuanqing himself had secretly stored quite a bit of it.

"Nine Heavens' Soil... I think Nüwa has that herself."

Xuanqing frowned.

If he merely provided the Three Lights Divine Water, he would gain some credit, but certainly not much.

He had to offer something more crucial!

"Wait..."

Xuanqing suddenly thought of his true body—the Purifying Mystic Bamboo!

The first postnatal Merit Spiritual Root in heaven and earth, containing vast vitality and pure power of merit.

Nüwa used the Nine Heavens' Soil to mold the human race's fleshly bodies and the Three Lights Divine Water to grant them spirituality.

But the earliest humans were actually very frail, and their intelligence was not especially high.

What if... what if he added a drop of his own essence blood during the creation process?

The origin of the Purifying Mystic Bamboo, fused into the bloodline of the human race!

Not only could this greatly strengthen the human race's foundation and potential, it would also give them an innate and formidable resistance to all kinds of negative energy!

For a newly born race, this was simply a priceless treasure!

And as the "Optimizer of Human Bloodline," the merit he could obtain would absolutely surpass all imagination!

"That's settled, then!"

Xuanqing slapped his thigh, and a decision instantly formed in his heart.

It would neither seem too deliberate nor fail to maximize his own gains.

The only problem now was where to find Nüwa.

Honghuang was so vast, and Nüwa was traveling about. It would not be easy to "run into" her by chance.

"Right, Mount Buzhou—Phoenix Mountain!"

Xuanqing remembered. Before becoming a Sage, Nüwa often stayed with her older brother, Fuxi.

And Fuxi's abode was at Phoenix Mountain near Mount Buzhou.

At this time, there was an eighty to ninety percent chance that Nüwa was there!

Though it was rather far away, he did not care in the slightest.

His figure flashed, transforming into a streak of azure light that shot into the sky and flew straight toward Mount Buzhou.

"Is Honghuang really this damn huge?"

As he flew, Xuanqing grumbled inwardly.

He had set out from Kunlun Mountain and flown for several hundred years, yet it felt as though he had not even completely left the boundaries of the Kunlun Mountain Range. Back in his previous life, he would probably have circled the planet hundreds of times by now.

"Delivering myself right to her doorstep definitely won't work. I need to make her discover my value on her own." Xuanqing stroked his chin, calculating in secret.

"My origin blood essence is absolutely a great tonic for the newly born Human Race. As long as I find an opportunity to let her see how miraculous my origin blood essence is, I won't have to worry about her not being tempted."

Just as he was immersed in his perfect plan, the sight ahead made him abruptly halt his flight.

The Honghuang earth, originally teeming with life and brimming with spiritual qi, bore an enormous scar up ahead.

The sky was dark crimson, like congealed blood. The earth was cracked, enormous ravines crisscrossing it in bottomless chasms. The Mountain Ranges had all collapsed, leaving only bare broken stumps, still marked by massive claw tracks and the charred traces of divine ability bombardments.

Sha Qi permeated the air. If ordinary immortal cultivators remained here too long, even their Dao Hearts would likely be corroded.

"What place is this?"

Xuanqing frowned. The Merit Golden Wheel within him began to turn automatically, radiating a faint golden glow that shut out those negative auras.

Out of caution, he did not rashly enter. Instead, he flew a circle around the outskirts of the area.

That circuit made him suck in a cold breath.

The ruins covered an unimaginably vast area, nearly as large as a continent from his previous life.

He slowly descended from the clouds and landed on a relatively level patch of ground. The soil beneath his feet was blackish-brown, hard as stone when stepped on, utterly devoid of life.

He swept the land with his divine sense and discovered that the earth veins here had been almost completely severed. Even the spiritual qi had become chaotic and violent.

"Good heavens, which great power had a life-and-death brawl here?"

He proceeded carefully, seeing countless enormous skeletons along the way. Some stretched for ten thousand zhang. Even after having died countless ages ago, their bones still retained a faint oppressive aura.

The skeletons came in all shapes. Some were dragon-like, some phoenix-shaped, but even more belonged to strange beasts he had never seen before.

They had died horribly. Some had their skulls pierced through by sharp claws, some had been cut in two at the waist, while others seemed to have been directly crushed into powder by terrifying Strength.

This was clearly an ancient battlefield.

"Wait, this aura..."

Xuanqing stopped before a massive broken stone stele. The runes carved upon it had long since become indistinct, but the material of the stele, as well as the faint wisp of origin aura lingering upon it, felt somewhat familiar to him.

He closed his eyes and sensed it carefully. Information about the Myriad Races of Honghuang that Yuanshi Tianzun had once explained to him surged into his mind like a tidal wave.

"This place... was the territory of the Qilin Clan?"

Xuanqing's heart shook violently.

He finally remembered—the Dragon-Han Calamity! That terrifying Tribulation that had swept across all of Honghuang and nearly driven the dragon, phoenix, and qilin clans to extinction!

The ruins before him were precisely the remnants left behind by that Tribulation!

Once he understood this, all fear vanished from Xuanqing's heart, replaced by an indescribable excitement.

During the Dragon-Han Calamity, countless Innate Godly Beings had fallen, and countless Innate Spiritual Treasures had been shattered or lost. Beneath this ancient battlefield, who knew what treasures might be buried?