"Today, our Human Race has gained paper and clothing. One lets us pass down the Dao, while the other covers our bodies. It's a double blessing, and it must be recorded."
Ancestor Sui saw this and burst out laughing. Then he fetched a long length of rope and prepared to tie knots in it, recording the happy events that had taken place today.
Keeping records with knotted cords—the oldest, most ancient form of history!
"Ancestor Sui, times have changed. This primitive way of keeping records with knots ought to be retired."
Seeing this, Jiang Yuan blurted out his thoughts. They had writing now; if they wanted to keep records, they could simply write them down. Why go to all this trouble?
"Ah, I'd forgotten. The Human Race is no longer what it once was. We have our own writing now, so we can record things directly on paper. It's far more convenient and accurate than tying knots."
Ancestor Sui paused, then chuckled.
It was simply a habit. Although writing had appeared, it had only been around for a short time, and he hadn't fully adapted to it yet. So whenever he thought of keeping records, he instinctively prepared to tie knots.
"Speaking of keeping records, I have an idea. I plan to write a history book, recording everything the Human Race has experienced since its birth, so that future generations can learn from it and draw upon the wisdom of those who came before."
The discussion of recordkeeping finally reminded Jiang Yuan of the idea that had occurred to him when he obtained the Spirit Paper: writing a history for the Human Race.
A history book carried not only the past, but also the wisdom of those who came before. In truth, a history book was a book of experience left behind by the ancients.
The ancients recorded all their wisdom, along with the mistakes they had made, in the hope that future generations would learn from them and avoid making the same errors.
This was inheritance!
Not of blood, but of culture and wisdom!
"An excellent idea. We have no objections."
The Third Ancestor nodded in unison, praising Jiang Yuan's proposal to write a history.
"I do wish to write a history, but I was born too late and know little of the Human Race's past. So I hope the Third Ancestor will teach me."
Jiang Yuan explained his predicament: he had been born too late to know much about the Human Race's history.
"That's easy. We'll pass our relevant memories on to you."
Ancestor Sui smiled. He copied the memories in his mind related to the development of the Human Race and turned them into a streak of spiritual light, which he handed to Jiang Yuan.
Afterward, Youchao and Ziyi did the same.
"Thank you, Third Ancestor!"
Taking the streaks of memory-light, Jiang Yuan thanked them. With the Third Ancestor's memories, he could certainly compile an exceptionally accurate history of the Human Race.
Although he didn't know exactly what good might come of compiling a history, his past experience told him there would definitely be benefits. At worst, he would earn a sum of Merit.
It was just a pity that the Human Race was still too weak. If they were powerful enough, he could write far more than a History of the Human Race right now—he could go straight ahead and compile a History of the Primordial World.
And the benefits of writing a history of the Primordial World would surely far exceed those of writing one for the Human Race.
That was the one bad thing about being too weak. So many benefits lay within reach, yet they could only watch them slip away for lack of strength. It was deeply frustrating.
After discussing these matters, Jiang Yuan left. His cultivation was still too weak, so for many things, he only needed to offer suggestions. Someone else would handle the practical details.
Put simply, he was a consultant. His main duties were to answer questions and set the general direction; he didn't need to personally handle every little thing.
At the Sacred Temple, Jiang Yuan spread out the Profound Yellow Paper and prepared to draw on the Third Ancestor's memories to write a history for the Human Race.
The Profound Yellow Paper was the first paper in the Primordial World. Since it had been infused with Merit, Jiang Yuan had named it the Profound Yellow Paper.
There were two broad types of history: accounts of people and accounts of events. The former meant writing biographies; the latter meant recording the important events of each year in chronological order.
Chronological accounts highlighted the passage of time, while biographies highlighted people's contributions.
Jiang Yuan had no intention of choosing between the two. He wanted both. It wasn't difficult for him, so he planned to start writing at once. And if he was writing a history for the Human Race, naturally he had to begin with Nuwa Creates Humans.
Likewise, if he wanted to write biographies, he first had to begin with the first generation of the Human Race. They were its ancestors, and all the humans alive today were their descendants.
But just as Jiang Yuan was about to begin writing, the Profound Yellow Paper suddenly changed. It transformed into a streak of light and merged with the Character Creation Diagram.
The next moment, the Character Creation Diagram advanced from a low-grade Acquired Merit Spirit Treasure to a mid-grade one.
"This..."
Jiang Yuan was stunned. He hadn't expected such a turn of events.
But a moment later, he understood why. The Character Creation Diagram was writing, and the Profound Yellow Paper was paper. Paper carried writing, so it was only natural for the two to merge.
In fact, not only could the two treasures merge, but the History of the Human Race that Jiang Yuan planned to compile could also be written directly onto the Character Creation Diagram.
A history book was made of writing and written on paper. The Character Creation Diagram had both writing and paper, making it the natural vessel for a history book.
Now that it had united these three Merit Spirit Treasures and carried the civilization of the Human Race, the Character Creation Diagram's future truly had no limits. At the very least, it could become a top-grade Acquired Merit Supreme Treasure, and might even rival an Innate Supreme Treasure.
The same was true of the Writing Brush of Creation!
Taking his eyes off the Character Creation Diagram, Jiang Yuan looked at the Writing Brush of Creation in his hand.
This treasure was no ordinary thing. It was already an Acquired Merit Spirit Treasure, and he would use it to write history. That would give it the qualities of a history brush, with the merits of a thousand ages all resting beneath its tip.
As a result, its grade would rise as well, and its potential would be no weaker than the Character Creation Diagram's.
Put simply, these two treasures were a matched pair. No matter how much the Character Creation Diagram could hold, Jiang Yuan would need the Writing Brush of Creation to write it.
That meant that when one grew stronger, the other would grow stronger too, and the gap between them would never become large.
"One brush and one book: the Book of Life and Death with the Judge's Brush, or the Earth Emperor's Book with the Human Emperor's Brush?"
Looking at the brush and book in his hands, Jiang Yuan smiled. He felt he ought to give these two treasures some suitably impressive names.
The Book of Life and Death and the Judge's Brush weren't suitable. The Earth Emperor's Book and the Human Emperor's Brush, on the other hand, seemed just right.
These two treasures not only marked the beginning of the Human Race's civilization, but also shouldered the duty of passing it down. Calling them Imperial Dao Treasures would be no exaggeration.
So, as far as the Human Race was concerned, the Character Creation Diagram and the Writing Brush of Creation were worthy of the names Earth Emperor's Book and Human Emperor's Brush.
However, Jiang Yuan could think of it that way, but he couldn't actually do it. In this era, the meaning of "human" was broad; it didn't refer only to the Human Race, but to all sentient beings.
From the Innate Divine Beings above to the ants below, all could be called "humans." So the title of Human Emperor couldn't be thrown around carelessly.
What cultivation did he have, to dare name his treasure the Human Emperor's Brush? Was he trying to become the Human Emperor and rule over all living beings?
If Jiang Yuan dared to do that, he'd be lucky to survive even one breath.
"Just because it can't be done now doesn't mean it can't be done in the future!"
Silently committing the matter to memory and setting it as a long-term goal, Jiang Yuan swept his brush across the Character Creation Diagram, writing three large characters: "History of the Human Race."
Then he began writing a history for the Human Race. The opening line read: In the Primordial World there was a god named Nuwa, who fashioned humans from clay beneath Mount Buzhou.
The brush touched down without stirring so much as a ripple, and no strange phenomenon appeared. Jiang Yuan felt a little disappointed. It seemed the History of the Human Race wasn't valuable enough; he would only earn Merit once the book was complete.