Empress Nuwa had created humans and become a Sage; the Grand Pure Dao Venerable had taught the Human Race and attained the same exalted status!
To be at his side and show him the way—even if it meant nothing more than leading his ox—what an incredible opportunity!
Countless beings of the Primordial World could beg for such a chance and never get it. Yet it had fallen right into Yellow Dragon's lap!
Yellow Dragon answered without a second thought, his voice trembling with excitement. "It would be my honor to guide you."
He hurried forward, eager but careful, his gaze settling on the gleaming silver-white ring through the Azure Ox's broad nostrils.
He could not tell what the ring was made of. Strange patterns had been carved across it.
So this is the Diamond Bracelet that struck the Great Sage on the head, Yellow Dragon thought.
"I'll lead your ox now." Curious, he reached out and gently took hold of the cool, smooth ring.
The Azure Ox stared at this fellow who had no sense of boundaries. He had grabbed its nose ring without even asking!
Two jets of white breath burst from its nostrils, and its curved, black-jade horns dipped slightly.
Its bulging eyes fixed on Yellow Dragon's swaying backside.
One little thrust would send this presumptuous little bug flying hundreds of miles.
Just as the tip of a horn was about to strike Yellow Dragon—
The Grand Pure Dao Venerable sat on the ox's back, apparently dozing with his eyes closed. Yet a faint smile crossed his lips.
A hand emerged from the wide sleeve of his Daoist robe. As though brushing away dust, he gave the Azure Ox's broad back three gentle pats.
Pat, pat, pat.
The three soft taps were almost inaudible.
The Azure Ox tossed its head in frustration and snorted. Then its great head swayed, and it returned to its slow, solid manner.
Only its eyes remained fixed on Yellow Dragon's back.
Yellow Dragon noticed none of it. He only felt an inexplicable shiver.
His steps faltered. Frowning, he twisted his neck and looked around.
Oh, that giant beast must have worn me out chasing me earlier. Between that, the aftereffects of being frozen in space, and all this excitement, I'm imagining things. He quickly found an explanation.
After all, the Grand Pure Dao Venerable was right beside him. What in the Primordial World could threaten him now?
He even gave the ring an unconscious tug, pulling the Azure Ox forward.
With that thought, the chill faded.
Yellow Dragon steadied himself and straightened his back. Holding the Azure Ox's nose ring, he guided the Supreme Pure through the void, covering a thousand miles with each step until they reached the edge of Human Race territory.
It had been several thousand years since Yellow Dragon had last set foot there.
Yellow Dragon took the form of a young boy in coarse hemp clothes. Leading the Azure Ox, which had concealed its supernatural nature, he carried the Supreme Pure, who still retained a hint of an immortal's bearing, across mountains and rivers and through one Human Race settlement after another.
He watched settlements take shape, develop, and flourish. He also came upon several struck by natural disasters or savage beasts. Yellow Dragon saved their people and helped them rebuild.
One day, they arrived at the largest, strongest, and most prosperous settlement of the Human Race—the Suiren Tribe.
Massive logs formed a barrier around its perimeter, while squads of Human Race warriors patrolled outside.
People streamed through the settlement gates. Countless members of the Human Race gathered there to barter, and the place already bore the first signs of civilization.
Yellow Dragon and the Supreme Pure took in the bustling settlement, then entered with the crowd.
On a raised platform at its center, a great mass of Kindling burned year-round. Its dancing flames cast warmth and light over the entire settlement.
This was where Suiren had first made fire by Drilling Wood to Make Fire. It was the Human Race's second sun.
The Supreme Pure took the form of a kindly old man with graying hair and beard. Dressed in worn hemp clothes, he settled in the Suiren Tribe as a medicine master.
Word of the "old healer who had come from afar" soon spread.
The old healer was extraordinarily skilled. A few unremarkable wild plants or stones picked up by a stream were often all he needed. Once prepared or ground down and applied to a bloody wound, they stopped the bleeding and eased the pain. Even wounds deep enough to expose bone healed quickly.
At the Supreme Pure's direction, Yellow Dragon taught the Human Race how to identify, gather, and prepare common medicinal herbs.
Time slipped silently by amid the bustle of the Suiren Tribe, like the little stream that flowed day and night. Several years passed in the blink of an eye.
One day, watching the unending stream of people seeking treatment from the Supreme Pure, Yellow Dragon sighed. "The Human Race... Though Empress Nuwa created them with bodies suited to the Dao and remarkable intelligence, they're frail compared with the myriad races of the Primordial World. They have no method for cultivating the Great Dao, either. Survival is hard for them!"
Yellow Dragon had spoken casually, but his words struck a chord with his listener.
The Supreme Pure slowly raised his head. Yin and yang turned within his deep eyes, as though they reflected the birth, death, rise, and fall of all living things.
"Good," the Supreme Pure said with a smile.
He said no more. Slowly, he closed his eyes, and an indescribable aura quietly spread from his seemingly ordinary body.
It was no earth-shaking pressure, but the vast, boundless, all-embracing presence of the Dao.
The sun rose and set. The stars wheeled overhead.
The Supreme Pure remained seated for three full years.
When he opened his eyes again, two flashes of clear light passed through them. An invisible wave of Dao resonance surged outward from him, like a boulder dropped into a still lake, and swept through the entire Suiren Tribe.
At that same instant, a figure appeared beside Yellow Dragon and the Supreme Pure. It was Suiren, foremost of the Three Ancestors of the Human Race.
Suiren looked at Yellow Dragon and the Supreme Pure, who had revealed their true forms. He plainly recognized Yellow Dragon. Bowing respectfully, he said with excitement, "Immortal Master, you've finally returned!"
Yellow Dragon gave him a slight nod. "You've reached the Great Luo realm now. You needn't address me that way."
He then introduced his companion to Suiren. "This is the Grand Pure Dao Venerable, one of the foremost innate sacred beings of the Primordial World and Empress Nuwa's senior martial brother."
Suiren hurriedly bowed to him. "Greetings, Grand Pure Dao Venerable."
"No need for ceremony. I see that the Human Race has no method for cultivating the Great Dao, so I have created one for you. In three days, I will teach it here," the Supreme Pure told Suiren.
Suiren was beside himself with excitement. Though he had the cultivation of a Great Luo Golden Immortal, it had come solely from the merit bestowed by the Heavenly Dao. He knew no divine abilities for combat. He had long wanted to create a cultivation method suited to the Human Race, but had never succeeded.
Three days later, gentle light shone from the great mass of Kindling at the Suiren Tribe's center. Its flames danced as though alive.
Several dozen people sat around it, led by Suiren, Ziyi, and Youchao. Most had been shaped by Empress Nuwa's own hands when she created humans. The rest were the most gifted people Suiren had personally selected from more than a hundred Human Race settlements.
"To cultivate the Great Dao, the human body is the furnace, the soul is the fuel, and heaven and earth are the craftsmen." The Supreme Pure's voice was calm, yet it rang like a great bell, every word engraving itself upon the minds of Suiren and the others.
"Gather Essence and Qi. Refine Essence into Qi, Qi into Spirit, Spirit to return to Emptiness, and Emptiness to unite with the Dao. Temper the body with divine fire, cast away impurities, and return to the source... Form a golden core of the Great Dao within yourself, and you can grasp its mysteries and set foot upon the path ahead."
As the last word fell, clear light blazed throughout the Suiren Tribe!
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