Without written language, things were truly inconvenient. There was nothing to refer to, so no matter what he taught, he could only explain it aloud over and over again. It wasted energy, and the results were inefficient.
Furthermore, if a race had no written language of its own, it could never develop a civilization. Without even a civilization, how could it hope to rise? Sooner or later, it would be eliminated by the tide of time.
Written language was the beginning of civilization. Only after it existed could a tribe's accumulated experience and knowledge be passed down more effectively. Social order would also gradually become more structured as a result.
Therefore, if the Human Race wanted to grow stronger, it had to have a written language of its own.
"We have to create written characters. Every great race has its own script, to pass on its culture and develop its civilization."
The more Jiang Yuan thought about it, the more he felt that creating written characters couldn't be delayed. Just look at the great races of the Primordial World—the Dragon Race, Demon Clan, Wu Clan, and others. Didn't they all have scripts of their own?
Although the Human Race couldn't compare to them, it still needed a written language of its own. It couldn't afford to lose at the starting line.
With that in mind, Jiang Yuan had his students continue cultivating on their own, then hurried off to find Ancestor Sui and explain to him the importance of creating written characters.
Under the blazing sun, Ancestor Sui listened to Jiang Yuan's account. He fell silent for a long while before finally speaking.
"I know all the things you've said. But creating written characters isn't easy. It requires an extremely deep understanding of the rules of the Great Dao. Neither you nor I have the cultivation to accomplish it."
Ancestor Sui was helpless, too. The Ten Thousand Races of the Primordial World all understood how important written language was. Yet in the end, only a few great races had managed to create their own scripts.
Why was that?
Was it because the smaller races didn't want to?
No. They dreamed of it, but their cultivation held them back. Their understanding of the rules of the Great Dao was insufficient, and they simply couldn't create a script.
"Creating written characters may be difficult, but it depends more on wisdom. What does it have to do with the rules of the Great Dao? And why would it require such high cultivation?"
Jiang Yuan was confused. He asked in bewilderment, feeling as though he and Ancestor Sui weren't talking about the same thing.
"Written characters have power!"
"All the written characters in the Primordial World are, in essence, explanations of the rules of the Great Dao. The more precisely they explain them, the higher the script's rank and the greater the power it contains."
"For example, Demon Script is the most precise explanation of the rules of the Great Dao currently known, aside from Innate Runes. It can be called the foremost Acquired Divine Script."
Seeing that Jiang Yuan didn't understand, Ancestor Sui patiently explained.
In truth, Innate Runes were the written language of the Primordial World. But they were too obscure; only Innate Gods and Devils could fully master them.
The Primordial World was vast, but how many Innate Gods and Devils were there? They made up less than one in countless billions of all living beings. Most were ordinary Innate Living Beings.
To accommodate them, Acquired scripts came into being. Compared with Innate Runes, Acquired scripts held less power, but in turn, they were easier for Innate Living Beings to understand and master.
"I see. Ancestor Sui, you've fallen into a misconception. The script you're talking about may be called written language, but in truth, it's divine script, prepared for cultivators."
"But the written characters I want to create won't have any power. They'll be a written language truly meant for ordinary people."
"They won't explain the rules of the Great Dao. Their purpose will be to help people better recognize and understand the world."
At this point, Jiang Yuan paused. Words alone seemed too inadequate to describe his idea, so he pointed to the sky and the surroundings before continuing.
"This is the sky, this is the earth, this is a mountain, this is water, this is the sun, moon, and stars..."
"When we create written characters, we only need to describe these things as they are, so that people can recognize their differences—what is sky and earth, what is mountain and water, what is the sun, moon, and stars..."
"Writing carries the Dao. The most important function of written language isn't how powerful it is, but how it carries knowledge and passes it down, allowing later generations to better understand the world they live in and distinguish between all things."
"So written characters only need to be accurate and easy to learn. There's no need to explain the rules of the Great Dao to gain power."
"Or rather, intangible power is stronger than tangible power. What written language ought to carry is intangible power."
After hearing this, Ancestor Sui was so shaken that he couldn't speak. Jiang Yuan's words had opened up a whole new world for him.
That was right. Why should written language pursue power? As Jiang Yuan had said, its essence was to pass on wisdom, record events, and make everyday communication easier.
So it only needed to be simple and easy to learn. There was no need to make it complicated or tie it to explanations of the rules of the Great Dao.
If one truly wanted to understand the rules of the Great Dao, weren't there still the Innate Runes? No matter how precisely Acquired Divine Script explained them, it could never surpass Innate Runes.
"You're right. I fell into a misconception and made a simple problem complicated."
"Creating written characters really doesn't need to be so troublesome. There's no need to explain the rules of the Great Dao. Describing the world is enough."
Ancestor Sui was truly a man of great wisdom. He hadn't understood before only because he'd fallen into a misconception.
Now that Jiang Yuan had reminded him, countless sparks of inspiration flashed through his mind. He had even thought of how to create the characters.
Pictographs!
Draw the outward features of the objects being represented with lines, and use them to express their meaning.
"Creating written characters is a massive undertaking. It can't be done in a day, nor can one person accomplish it. We'll need to pool our ideas and bring forth the wisdom of the entire tribe," Jiang Yuan suggested, seeing that Ancestor Sui had found a direction.
The most important thing in creating written characters was setting a standard. Once the standard was established, the rest could be left to others, while he only needed to conduct the final review.
"That's exactly right. Yuan, I truly didn't misjudge you. Your wisdom may even surpass mine."
Ancestor Sui first nodded, then offered his heartfelt praise.
Before, he had simply thought Jiang Yuan was the finest among all his descendants.
But now, it seemed he had been too modest. Not only among his descendants—perhaps there was no one in the entire Human Race more outstanding than him.
"Ancestor Sui, you flatter me."
Jiang Yuan's face flushed at the praise. If this really were his own ability, that would be wonderful.
Unfortunately, it wasn't. This was the wisdom of later generations. He had merely stood on the shoulders of giants to arrive at this insight.
"In any case, counting this time, you've already rendered great service to the Human Race several times. So, until you reach the Heaven Immortal realm, the tribe will provide all the resources you need."
Jiang Yuan had rendered great service to the Human Race, and he had to be rewarded. But the Human Race was newly born and lacked a foundation; it had no treasures worth presenting.
Ancestor Sui was helpless. He could only prepare as many resources for Jiang Yuan as the tribe could afford.
"I know this reward is meager and doesn't match your contributions. But you know the tribe's situation. This is all we can offer for now."
"But don't worry. Once the Holy Mother emerges from seclusion, I'll ask her to reward you. I doubt the Holy Mother will begrudge you a generous reward."
After saying this, Ancestor Sui himself felt a little embarrassed, so he hurriedly added an explanation. The Human Race was still too weak. It couldn't even produce treasures to reward those who had rendered meritorious service.