The Long March Is Like Iron, Yet Today We Begin Anew

The Heroic Spirit Monument had been completed, deeply branding the Human Race's unyielding will and spirit of sacrifice into this newborn land.

Yuan Ming did not leave. He sat alone atop that blood-soaked stretch of wall, now reduced to ruins, like a silent stone statue.

His gaze calmly rested on the scene below.

The surviving Postnatal clansmen endured their grief as they cleared the rubble, carried stone, and rebuilt their homes brick by brick with trembling yet resolute hands.

Yuan Ming sat there quietly through the night, letting the night wind brush over his bloodstained robes, letting the monument's solemnity behind him mingle with the clamor of reconstruction before him and wash over his mind.

When the east began to lighten, the first ray of dawn pierced the darkness and gently fell upon this scarred land.

In that fleeting interplay of light and shadow, Yuan Ming seemed to glimpse a blurry yet incomparably kind and gratified smile within the rising sun.

In an instant, an indescribable warmth surged through his body, washing away all exhaustion and gloom.

"The long march through mighty passes is truly like iron, yet today we begin anew."

Yes, the ruins before him were merely one mighty pass along the Human Race's long journey.

Now that the pass had been breached, it was time to begin everything anew!

Compared with the Primordial World's history he remembered, where becoming the protagonists of heaven and earth was destined to be a path strewn with thorns and paved by countless corpses, what did last night's tragic sacrifices and this small setback amount to?

An unprecedented realization arose within his Dao heart. Like steel tempered a hundred times, it became ever more pure and ever more resilient.

Below, Hua Qi was calling out loudly, organizing the reconstruction in an orderly fashion.

Under his leadership, the sorrow in the clansmen's eyes was gradually replaced by something even more steadfast.

Yuan Ming withdrew his gaze and stopped watching.

He immersed his entire mind within himself and began cultivating with even greater focus and madness.

If not for laying the supreme foundation of the Formless Scripture and exploring the path of the Human Immortal Martial Dao, a path unique to the Human Race, then with his current accumulation and Great Dao Comprehension, he could have seized the Primordial Unity Dao Fruit within a hundred years if he recklessly forced a breakthrough.

But a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal produced in that manner would be nothing more than a castle in the air, impressive on the outside but hollow within.

With an unstable foundation, one's Dao Path would inevitably be narrow, and future achievements would be limited.

For this, he would rather suppress his realm and carry every step to its utmost limit.

Amid the clouds and mist above the distant mountains, a lean figure stood quietly in midair. Dao charm flowed naturally around him, as though he had merged with heaven and earth.

It was Grand Pure One Laozi, leader of the Three Pure Ones of Mount Kunlun.

His gaze lowered, still as an ancient well, yet every movement of the Human Race in the Central Plains lay within his sight.

At this moment, his eyes rested on the figure whom the clansmen respectfully called "Ancestor Yuan Ming," and did not move for a long while.

With the depth of his realm, he saw through Yuan Ming's origins at a glance.

He was no ordinary Primordial Human, but one of the first batch of humans personally molded from earth when Junior Sister Nuwa attained the Sage Realm.

The karmic thread connecting him to Junior Sister Nuwa was far thicker and clearer than those of the other humans, like an invisible bond.

What concerned him even more was that, after quietly observing the Human Race of the Central Plains live, multiply, and flourish over these years, he had long since understood the foundation of its inheritance.

The Four-Step Breathing Method that had laid the foundation for the Human Race's strength, as well as that later grand and majestic Dao Scripture that pointed directly toward the Great Dao, had both come from this youth's hand!

"The foundation of the race, the teacher who transmits the Dao..." Laozi murmured inwardly, and a faint ripple stirred his Dao heart, which had been still as an ancient well.

He could clearly see that although that Dao Scripture was still immature, it had already vaguely outlined the principle that the Dao gave birth to One, One gave birth to Two, Two gave birth to Three, and Three gave birth to all things. Its conception had already surpassed the scope of ordinary cultivation methods.

Moreover, when Yuan Ming had protected his clansmen, he had inadvertently revealed the laws of the Taiji Great Dao.

Though shallow, they precisely accorded with the foundation of the Taiji Great Dao he himself had comprehended!

All signs converged, and karma intertwined.

This youth had an extremely deep connection with Junior Sister Nuwa, possessed the merit of creating a method, and was further compatible with the principles of Taiji...

Within Laozi's eyes, endless Dao patterns seemed to arise, perish, and evolve.

Heaven's secrets were clear, and the destined affinity had been set.

He sighed inwardly. His voice seemed to come from ancient eternity, carrying a trace of understanding and inevitability.

"This child is destined to become the first disciple of my lineage."

Grand Pure One Laozi's eyes, which seemed to contain the birth and destruction of the universe, slowly withdrew from the direction of the Human Race's Central Plains.

He had long comprehended the opportunity for sainthood contained within that Primordial Purple Qi. He had merely been waiting.

Waiting for an opportunity, for a perfect vessel capable of bearing his Great Dao of Non-Action.

He had traveled across the Primordial World and observed the myriad races, yet he had always felt something was lacking.

Until the Human Race appeared, until Yuan Ming created that Dao Scripture containing part of the meaning of virtue.

Within that scripture, he saw the embryonic form of the Dao following nature, the humility of supreme goodness being like water, and a newborn race's most simple questions and search for heaven and earth.

This coincided perfectly with his Dao.

"The time has come."

Laozi sighed inwardly, as though bidding farewell to the past and proclaiming the future.

He had seen Yuan Ming of the Human Race, who had created the Dao Scripture, and witnessed the Human Race's unyielding vitality. The final piece of the puzzle in his heart was now complete.

In the next moment, he slowly rose from his meditation cushion. With one step, he was already standing above the Ninth Heaven, overlooking the entire Primordial World.

An invisible Dao charm centered on him and instantly spread to the four corners of heaven and earth. In the Netherworld Blood Sea and among the myriad races of the Primordial World, regardless of cultivation or location, every being felt something at that moment and turned toward the Central Plains.

Then an ancient, vast voice, as though it had existed alongside heaven and earth, resounded in the hearts of every living being.

"I am Grand Pure One Laozi, transformed from Pangu's Primordial Spirit! Today, having comprehended the Heavenly Dao, I shall establish a teaching to enlighten all living beings!"

As soon as his words fell, heaven and earth shook violently!

Three hundred and thirty thousand miles of purple qi surged in from the east like a rolling river, stretching across the heavens!

Above, the sound of the Great Dao thundered and transformed into countless profound runes that drifted down like rain.

Upon the earth, golden lotuses bloomed one after another from the void, covering mountains, rivers, and peaks. Their strange fragrance filled the air, clearing the mind and brightening the spirit.

Amid these endless phenomena, Laozi spoke again. His voice was like a decree of the Heavenly Dao, solemn and sacred.

"The teaching I establish shall be called the Human Teaching!"

"With the Innate supreme treasure, the Taiji Diagram, to suppress its fortune, and with 'govern through non-action, let the Dao follow nature' as its doctrine. The Human Race shall be the foundation of my enlightenment!"

His words became law!

He raised a hand and pointed toward the Human Race's Central Plains.

The Four-Step Breathing Method Yuan Ming had created and which had already spread among the Human Race seemed drawn by a supreme Great Dao. Its fundamental principles were instantly extracted and elevated.

Using the Four-Step Breathing Method as its foundation, Laozi integrated his own Great Dao of Non-Action, simplifying the complex and creating a supreme method that pointed directly toward the immortal path—the Golden Core Great Dao!

This path of Refine Essence into Qi, Refine Qi into Spirit, Refine Spirit and Return to Void, and Refine Void and Merge with the Dao was a stairway to heaven tailored for the Postnatal Human Race!

With his proclamation, the cultivation method of the Golden Core Great Dao became hundreds of millions of points of light that instantly imprinted themselves deep within the bloodline memories of every human in the Primordial World.

Rumble—!

The Heavenly Dao responded, and merit descended!

An immeasurably thick golden light of Dark-Yellow merit descended from beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens. Like a divine pillar piercing heaven and earth, its majesty made the minds of countless great powers tremble.

Of this boundless merit, seventy percent merged into Laozi's body. His Primordial Spirit was entrusted to the Heavenly Dao, and in an instant, a terrifying pressure far beyond the Quasi-Sage Realm swept across the Primordial World!

Beneath a Sage, all were ants!

Of the remaining thirty percent, ten percent fell into the Taiji Diagram, which suppressed the Human Teaching's fortune, and the Heaven and Earth Dark-Yellow Exquisite Pagoda, his protective treasure.

Yet the final twenty percent of merit, beneath the gaze of all, became a brilliant golden river that crossed endless space and poured down with absolute precision upon the head of the bewildered Yuan Ming in the Human Race's Central Plains!

Yuan Ming only felt a vast, warm, irresistible power descend from the heavens and instantly engulf him.

At the same time, throughout the Primordial World, from Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals to mountain spirits, all living beings involuntarily bowed deeply toward Mount Kunlun and chanted in unison.

"Congratulations to Sage Taiqing! May your sacred life know no bounds!"

When Yuan Ming recovered from the cleansing of that boundless merit, an old man in plain Daoist robes, holding a staff, was already standing silently before him.

It was as though he had stood there since ancient times, existing with the mountains and rivers, shining alongside the sun and moon, so naturally that there was not the slightest hint of abruptness.

It was Grand Pure One Laozi, who had just attained the Sage Realm!

Yuan Ming's heart shook violently. Just as he was about to bow, he heard the old man slowly speak in a gentle voice that contained supreme Dao charm.

"Yuan Ming, you created the Dao Scripture and established the foundation of the Human Race's cultivation. You also used the Four-Step Breathing Method as a guide to help my Human Teaching establish the Golden Core Great Dao. You possess great merit toward the Human Race and an affinity with my Dao."

The Sage's gaze lowered, as though it saw through Yuan Ming's past and future. No secret could remain hidden before him.

"Are you willing to take me as your master, enter my lineage, and become the first disciple of my Human Teaching?"