A Fleeting Century

According to Jiang Yuan's experience, if an act of great merit were performed, it would stir the heavens and earth the very moment it began, manifesting all sorts of miraculous phenomena.

For instance, when creating script, the moment the brush touched the surface, the heavens, earth, ghosts, and gods were all startled.

However, if it were an act of minor merit, there would be no movement at the start; one might not even be certain if it counted as an act of merit at all until the very moment of completion, when the merit finally descended.

Jiang Yuan was writing the History of the Human Race, and the fact that his brush strokes caused no ripples spoke volumes. Writing history for the human race, even if it carried merit, was only minor merit.

To put it bluntly, the history of the human race was too short and lacked significant weight. If he had been writing the history of the Dragon Race, the Demon Race, or the Wu Clan, merit would likely have descended the instant his brush touched the page.

Disappointment was disappointment, but Jiang Yuan's enthusiasm did not wane; he still poured a great deal of energy into the task of recording history.

From then on, Jiang Yuan lived a life of alternating between writing history and resting.

Time flew, and in the blink of an eye, a hundred years had passed.

A century is enough time for many things to happen. First and foremost, thanks to a hundred years of effort, Jiang Yuan had finally finished compiling the History of the Human Race.

The moment the historical record was completed, just as Jiang Yuan had anticipated, Profound Yellow Merit descended from the firmament. Much like the creation of paper, an ordinary person who absorbed it could ascend in a single step and reach the realm of a Heavenly Immortal.

In later ages, this amount of merit would be considered quite substantial, but in the present era, it could only be described as barely worth a glance.

Fortunately, this merit was not a one-time occurrence. As the human race developed and the historical record became more comprehensive, the merit gained would naturally increase accordingly.

Of course, if Jiang Yuan had the ability to compile histories for other races, he could likewise obtain even more merit.

Jiang Yuan was not surprised that merit descended upon the completion of the historical record.

What truly surprised him was that as the history was completed, the most mysterious river in the Primordial World—the River of Time and Space—actually rippled, splashing out a strand of the power of time that merged with the History of the Human Race.

It was this power of time that granted the History of the Human Race the ability to alter the flow of time, allowing it to accelerate or shorten time to a certain extent.

It was this discovery that made Jiang Yuan realize that the historical record could also be called a Book of Time, a manifestation of the River of Time and Space.

If he could compile a complete History of the Primordial World, he might be able to master the Dao of Time and Space. Unfortunately, such things were only worth dreaming about; they were not within the reach of the current Jiang Yuan.

The completion of the historical record was a recent event, but before that, the human race had already undergone significant changes. The most notable change was the appearance of many unfamiliar faces in the vicinity of the human race.

They came from different races and different places; some even harbored blood feuds with one another and wanted to fight to the death the moment they met.

Yet, within the human race, they managed to coexist peacefully. Even if they hated each other, they would only glare fiercely before turning away, not daring to actually start a fight.

This was the deterrent power of a Saint. Aside from mindless fierce beasts, no one dared to act violently on a Saint's territory; it was a crime of great disrespect.

Why had these foreign races come to the human race? This was naturally the result of the Third Ancestor's painstaking efforts.

They were working hard to turn Jiang Yuan's idea of building the human race into the largest trading hub of the Primordial World into reality, bit by bit, so that they could live a life of endless resources through tax collection.

Although a hundred years was a short time, thanks to the fame of Spirit Paper and the easy-to-use Human Script, it had attracted quite a few races to come to the human race for trade.

Indeed, contrary to Jiang Yuan's expectations, the simple and easy-to-learn Human Script was even more popular among the myriad races than Spirit Paper.

Not only did the human race need writing, but other races did as well. However, they lacked Jiang Yuan's wisdom and the strength of the powerful races.

Thus, they could neither create acquired script like the humans nor create Acquired Divine Script like the powerful races.

Being stuck in this middle ground, they had no choice but to pay a huge price to learn the Acquired Divine Script created by the powerful races to satisfy their own needs.

Before the creation of the Human Script, the human race had been the same, forced to learn the Demon Script passed down by Lady Nuwa.

But now, the emergence of the Human Script had changed that.

Compared to Acquired Divine Script, the Human Script possessed no power, but it was simple, easy to learn, and convenient to use.

Most importantly, the cost of learning it was low—almost non-existent. What cost could there be for something you could learn at a single glance?

With such a good thing placed right in front of them, and for free, how could the myriad races resist learning it? So what if it lacked power? As long as it facilitated communication, that was enough.

Besides, no one decreed that one could only learn one type of script. When power was needed, it wouldn't be too late to learn the Divine Script then.

Why was the Human Script so easy to learn? Simplicity was only one aspect; the main reason was that the human race did not keep the acquired script a secret. On the contrary, the human race encouraged other races to learn it.

Why would they keep it secret? This was cultural infiltration; it not only enhanced the influence of the human race but also strengthened the human race's destiny.

The Third Ancestor was eager for all races to learn the Human Script, so how could they possibly keep it secret and prevent others from learning it?

The free things are the most expensive; although the Third Ancestor did not know this principle, they were already acting upon it.

Relying on the export of script and the utility of Spirit Paper, the human race gradually rose to prominence.

Reputation spreads, especially as the use of the acquired script and Spirit Paper became more widespread, leading more and more races to recognize the human race.

As a result, the number of races traveling to the human race for trade naturally increased.

Once the number of races grew, business opportunities emerged spontaneously. Their trading partners were no longer limited to the human race, and they began to attempt trade with other races as well.

Once their trade reached a certain scale, the human race's tax policy was promulgated accordingly.

At first, many races were unwilling to accept this, but after the humans drove them out and forced them to trade outside a few times, they finally recognized the reality and obediently ran back.

People outside were truly daring enough to rob them, and compared to those losses, the human race's taxes were truly nothing—a drop in the bucket.

Paying such a small price to ensure the safety of their own trade was a very worthwhile deal.

The development of trade was only the greatest change for the human race. Beyond that, many exquisite and magnificent buildings had been newly constructed within the human race, and the people coming and going were no longer dressed in animal skins or leaves, but in far more refined clothing.

These buildings and garments also attracted the gazes of outsiders. Everyone possesses a love for beauty, and cultivators are no exception.

Not to mention, the garments were not only aesthetically pleasing but also served as protection, functioning as genuine defensive magical treasures.

The same logic applied to the buildings; their designs and decorations subtly aligned with formations, capable of mobilizing the power of heaven and earth to form defenses, thus also serving as protection.

Although both could provide protection, their functions were clearly different. Garments could only protect one person, while buildings could shelter many.

These buildings capable of providing shelter were also Jiang Yuan's idea, crafted by Youchao. Like silk and Spirit Paper, they were all flagship best-selling products of the Human Race.