The great powers of the Primordial World wondered if the Heavenly Dao had reached menopause.
It kept bringing down Heavenly Tribulation at the slightest provocation. They would have to keep a low profile for a while.
Otherwise, if Heavenly Tribulation fell on their heads, it would be fatal.
On Kunlun Mountain.
Laozi raised his head and glanced in the direction of the Heavenly Tribulation, then lowered it in thought. "Qing Xuanzi."
"Eldest Brother, this Heavenly Tribulation isn't aimed at Junior Brother Qing Xuanzi. What does this have to do with him? It's clearly targeting those two from the Western Sect," Tongtian said, confused.
Yuanshi looked at Tongtian with contempt. "This must be related to Qing Xuanzi. Otherwise, why would the Heavenly Tribulation appear over there instead of at the Western Sect?"
Laozi looked at Yuanshi as if he were an idiot. Could Yuanshi have cultivated himself stupid? Is that what I meant?
I was clearly reminding the two of you that although Qing Xuanzi is our junior brother, his origins are extraordinary. He definitely isn't as simple as he appears, merely a member of the Congenital Human Race.
"Eldest Brother, is that what Second Brother meant?" Hearing Tongtian's question, Laozi simply left. He could not be bothered to look at his two foolish younger brothers.
"Third Brother, look at you. You angered Eldest Brother into leaving."
Laozi: ...
Nether River, within the Blood Sea, felt somewhat uneasy. Would the Heavenly Dao really not even leave him this little puddle?
Would it use the excuse of Heavenly Tribulation again and simply evaporate the Blood Sea dry?
Within Nüwa Palace.
Nüwa opened her eyes and glanced at Qing Xuanzi, who was hiding among the crowd and snickering wickedly.
Then she looked in the direction of Purple Cloud Palace.
She pondered for a moment.
"Someone, go to my treasure vault. Retrieve the Mountains and Rivers State Diagram and deliver it to Junior Brother Qing Xuanzi."
Azure Luan stepped forward in acknowledgment and headed for the treasure vault to retrieve the Mountains and Rivers State Diagram.
Nüwa closed her eyes once more and let her mind wander beyond the heavens.
Zhunti was getting anxious. Heavenly Tribulation was about to descend. Senior Brother, say something already.
Jie Yin stared blankly at Zhunti for a while, then sighed. "Heavenly Dao above, I, Jie Yin, in my capacity as leader of the Western Sect, expel Qing Xuanzi from the Western Sect."
Then, regardless of whether the Heavenly Tribulation had dispersed, his desolate figure flew straight toward Mount Sumeru.
"Senior Brother." Zhunti called out and followed after him.
The Heavenly Tribulation dispersed, and Qing Xuanzi brought the Three Thousand Congenital Humans back to the mountaintop.
With a wave of his hand, a palace appeared atop the mountain. The plaque above its gates bore the words: Human Race Dao Palace.
The crowd surrounded Qing Xuanzi and entered the Dao Palace.
Before they had even taken their seats.
Azure Luan's voice came from outside the gates. "Fellow Daoist Qing Xuanzi, Azure Luan requests an audience."
Qing Xuanzi immediately turned and arrived outside the palace gates. He bowed and said, "I am Qing Xuanzi. What brings Fellow Daoist Azure Luan here?"
Azure Luan raised her jade-like hand, upon which rested the Mountains and Rivers State Diagram. "Her Ladyship instructed me to deliver this to you."
"The Mountains and Rivers State Diagram?" Qing Xuanzi was dumbfounded after accepting it. What was going on?
This was a top-grade innate spirit treasure, obtained by Nüwa from the Dao Ancestor. Why would she give it to him?
No, it should not have been a gift to him. After all, Nüwa's primordial spirit imprint was still on it.
Then what exactly was the purpose of sending this over?
Watching Azure Luan take her leave, Qing Xuanzi decided not to dwell on it. Since it had been delivered, he would keep it.
Saints could calculate heaven and earth. Perhaps Nüwa had long foreseen something.
In truth, based on Qing Xuanzi's understanding of the major events to come in the Primordial World, he had vaguely guessed part of Nüwa's intentions.
But since it had not yet happened, there was no way to confirm it.
Qing Xuanzi returned to the Human Race Dao Palace and sat upon the central platform.
Looking down at the Three Thousand Congenital Humans below, a sense of pride arose within him.
These were his foundation, the capital for the rise of the human race, and the hope for the revival of the Human Dao.
"Everyone, since we are the Congenital Human Race named by the Holy Mother, we must act for the sake of the human race. Today, I establish this Human Race Dao Palace. Do any of you object?"
As the first human to enter the world, Tian had witnessed everything Qing Xuanzi had done and deeply admired him. He immediately spoke up:
"Since that is the case, now that everyone is here, I have a suggestion: why don't we acknowledge Qing Xuanzi as the worthy teacher of our human race?"
Tian had originally wanted to say "holy teacher," but the word "holy" was too conspicuous. After all, Qing Xuanzi was not yet a saint.
Calling him that would easily invite disaster.
"Greetings, Worthy Teacher of the Human Race." The other Congenital Humans did not even need to think about it before bowing to him.
Qing Xuanzi's prestige among the human race was simply too great. Every human who had become immortal could trace their origins back to him.
He was their uncrowned teacher.
"Good. This Dao field shall be the Dao field of the human race. Tian, Di, Xuan, Huang, Hong, Huang, Yu, Zhou, where are you?" Qing Xuanzi did not stand on ceremony and began calling names directly.
"Worthy Teacher, your disciples are here." The eight Congenital Humans stepped forward and answered.
"You shall serve as the guardian elders of the Human Race Dao Palace, overseeing the eight divisions of human immortals. Any who betray the human race shall be killed."
"We accept your command."
"Human immortals must not interfere excessively with mortal humans. You need only pass down skills for survival and allow mortals to develop freely, forming human civilization. Any who infringe upon the interests of the human race shall be killed."
"We accept your command."
Qing Xuanzi set down only two rules: do not betray the human race, and do not interfere excessively with its development.
What he needed was for the human race to flourish in a hundred different ways, not become monotonously uniform.
As the foundation of the human race, they only needed to ensure that humanity would not perish and would not suffer humiliation.
Qing Xuanzi knew that ensuring humanity's survival was easy. The Heavenly Dao would not allow the human race to be exterminated.
But ensuring that they would not be humiliated was far more difficult.
Not to mention how the saints would later divide up the human race's interests, control its development, and thoroughly destroy its future.
Even the coming slaughter of humanity by the Demon Clan would be difficult to overcome.
Though his flower had bloomed with Thirty-six Petals, he was only a Great Luo Golden Immortal. Before a quasi-saint, he was merely a dish on the table—perhaps not even qualified to be one, just an ant.
For now, the only option was to desperately strengthen the human race's foundations.
With his sense of urgency overflowing, Qing Xuanzi said, "In a thousand years, after you have fully consolidated the gains from my previous lecture, I will open the palace again and preach the Dao. Any human immortal may come and listen."
"Thank you, Worthy Teacher."
Qing Xuanzi had just returned to his room to meditate and had not even closed his eyes.
Hongjun—no, the Heavenly Dao—appeared.
The Heavenly Dao's blank stare made Qing Xuanzi's heart leap into his throat. What trouble are you going to cause now?
Within the Heavenly Dao Space.
A giant eyeball glared at Hongjun's primordial spirit. "Hongjun, Qing Xuanzi could not possibly know how to condense a Blessing Seed. Why did you teach her?"
Hongjun's primordial spirit replied blandly, "He is my disciple."
"Aren't you afraid that I will truly devour you?"
"How many times have you said that? You've been saying it ever since I merged with the Dao. Have you ever done it?"
"Fine, fine, fine. I truly must have been blind back then to choose such an ungrateful wretch as you."
"I was the blind one. If I had known, I would have let you choose Luo Hou instead. He was far more ruthless than I was."
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