The sky had been mended.
In a manner beyond everyone's imagination, Nuwa had resolved this world-ending crisis.
The Heavenly Dao responded, sending down boundless golden light of merit.
This merit was several times more immense than when she had created humanity and attained sainthood!
As the golden light of merit entered her body, Nuwa's cultivation surged once more.
Her strength had already surpassed that of the other six Saints; now, it reached an unfathomable realm.
Having severed her corpses of good and evil, she used this immense merit to faintly touch upon the threshold of "proving the Dao by severing the three corpses."
If she wished, she could sever her corpse of obsession at any moment and become the true foremost being beneath Hongjun.
Yet Nuwa did not do so.
She always felt that the mysterious presence within her was guiding her down a different path.
A path... perhaps even more powerful than proving the Dao by severing the three corpses.
With the mending of the sky complete, the Witch and Demon races, both greatly weakened, withdrew. The second great calamity thus came to a temporary and anticlimactic end.
The Primordial World entered a new era.
An era belonging to the human race.
Within Purple Cloud Palace, the Dao Ancestor Hongjun appeared once again.
His gaze swept over the ravaged lands of the Primordial World before finally settling upon the human race, whose destiny was flourishing.
"Such is the heavenly decree. The Witches and Demons shall retreat, while the human race shall rise."
"The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors should be established to enlighten humanity and perfect the Heavenly Dao."
Hongjun's detached voice rang within the Nascent Souls of the six Saints.
The Three Pure Ones, Jieyin, and Zhunti all perked up.
They knew that an enormous opportunity had arrived!
The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors were the Emperors of Humanity. They bore immense destiny and possessed boundless merit.
Whoever obtained the right to teach the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors would gain a share of this vast merit and destiny. It would greatly benefit the stabilization of their Saintly positions and the improvement of their cultivation.
A new contest among Saints was about to begin.
Yet before they could even speak to contend for it—
Nuwa spoke first.
"Dao Ancestor."
Her voice was cool and calm, yet it carried an authority that brooked no challenge.
"The human race was created by me. Matters concerning humanity should be decided by me, the Human Mother Saint, together with humanity itself."
"The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors concern humanity's future. There is no need to trouble the Dao Ancestor."
The moment she said this, Purple Cloud Palace fell utterly silent.
The other five Saints looked at Nuwa as though she were insane.
This... was she challenging the Dao Ancestor?
Even Hongjun's eternally unchanged face showed a faint ripple.
He looked deeply at Nuwa.
"Nuwa, do you know what you are saying?"
"Of course I do."
Nuwa straightened her back. Behind her, it seemed as though a vast civilization stood tall.
And all of this had naturally been Chen Ran's instruction.
The instant Hongjun spoke, Chen Ran issued his most urgent order.
"Take it! We have to take it!"
"The right to invest the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors must never fall into the hands of Hongjun and the Heavenly Dao!"
Chen Ran knew very well that in the original story, though the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors were Human Emperors, they had been constrained by the Heavenly Dao. In the end, they were imprisoned in Fire Cloud Cave—Human Emperors in name, puppets in truth.
Human Race Destiny had also been thoroughly divided between the Heavenly Dao and the Profound Sect.
He would never allow that to happen!
Humanity's emperors had to be established by humanity itself!
Humanity's merit had to belong entirely to humanity and Nuwa!
"Your Ladyship, trust me!"
"With your current strength, along with the destiny of the entire human race, we are qualified to wrestle with the Dao Ancestor!"
Chen Ran's voice rang out within Nuwa's body.
This was the first time he had conveyed his will to Nuwa so clearly.
Nuwa's heart trembled.
She felt the resolve and confidence within that will.
Thinking back to how inexplicably stronger she had become over the years, as well as the many miracles displayed by the human race—
She chose to trust this "mysterious companion" residing within her.
Thus came her earlier words.
Hongjun fell silent.
He stared deeply at Nuwa, as though trying to see through her completely.
But he was disappointed.
Nuwa seemed shrouded in a layer of mist. Even he, one who had merged with the Heavenly Dao, could not see through her entirely.
In particular, the vast Human Way Destiny around her intertwined with a kind of "civilizational" power he had never seen before, forming a unique field capable of contending with the Heavenly Dao.
"Fine."
After a long while, Hongjun slowly uttered a single word.
"This matter shall be as you wish."
With that, his figure vanished.
The five Saints looked at one another, their hearts churning with towering waves.
The Dao Ancestor... had actually yielded?
Because of a single sentence from Nuwa?
Just how powerful had their sixth junior sister become?
Nuwa paid no heed to her senior brothers' shock.
With one step, she arrived above the valley where the human race lived in seclusion.
Her voice resounded in the ears of every human.
"My human race has endured countless hardships and shall finally flourish!"
"Today, in the name of the Human Mother Saint, I gather the supreme destiny of the human race and invest humanity's Three Sovereigns!"
Her words were like majestic heavenly pronouncements.
Within the valley, millions of clansmen fell to their knees, their expressions fervent and devout.
"Suiren Shi of the human race drilled wood to make fire, founding humanity's civilization of fire. He shall be—the Heavenly Sovereign!"
As Nuwa's words fell, a brilliant beam of golden merit light descended from the sky and landed upon Suiren Shi, who had long since become a leader of humanity.
Suiren Shi's cultivation rose step by step, instantly breaking through the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm and reaching the Quasi-Saint realm!
"Youchao Shi of the human race built nests from wood, founding humanity's civilization of architecture. He shall be—the Earthly Sovereign!"
Another beam of golden merit light descended, and Youchao Shi likewise attained the Quasi-Saint realm!
"Ziyi Shi of the human race raised silkworms and wove cloth, founding humanity's civilization of clothing and adornment. He shall be—the Human Sovereign!"
Three beams of golden merit light illuminated the entire Primordial World.
Empowered by the Human Race Destiny and immense merit, the auras of the three Human Emperors were no weaker than those veteran Quasi-Saint masters!
Most importantly, their power came from humanity itself and from Nuwa's investment. It had nothing to do with the Heavenly Dao!
That meant they were free!
After all was done, seventy percent of the boundless merit fell upon the Three Sovereigns, while the remaining thirty percent surged entirely into Nuwa's body.
Nuwa's aura rose once more.
She felt that she had drawn another step closer to that ultimate realm.
And behind it all, Chen Ran revealed a gratified smile within her body.
The first step had succeeded.
They had seized control of humanity from the hands of the Heavenly Dao!
Next would come the investiture of the Five Emperors, and then...
Humanity would truly leave this valley and become the sole protagonist upon the lands of the Primordial World!
Before you continue