Along the Shores of the East Sea, the seawater gleamed azure, vast and boundless.
Lu Chen sat alone by the shore, a fishing rod in hand, its hook soaking in the seawater.
"They all say minor currents can be changed while the greater tide cannot. But when enough minor currents are altered, the so-called greater tide will quietly change as well."
Lu Chen murmured.
Under his influence, Hong Yun had not fallen out with Kunpeng this time. After handing over the Primordial Chaos Purple Qi, the great powers who had foreseen this outcome no longer joined forces to ascend Wuzhuang Temple and force Hong Yun to harm himself.
Although Master Tongtian still valued loyalty and friendship, he had also become decisive and ruthless. At the slightest disagreement, he drew his sword, severed the Dao Corpses of the two from the Western Sect, and forced them to swear a grand oath to the Heavenly Dao.
"Even if those two from the Western Sect still become Sages this time, the title of weakest Sages will be firmly nailed to them."
"Rather than cultivating quietly on Kunlun Mountain, you came to fish by the sea. These are turbulent times—aren't you afraid something will happen?"
A clear, melodious voice rang out. A woman clad in a pale pink palace gown appeared behind Lu Chen.
Lu Chen smiled faintly. "No. My master is Tongtian. Now that the two from the Western Sect have been forced to swear an oath, who in this vast Primordial World can touch me? Who would dare?"
His tone brimmed with confidence.
"That is true."
The woman in the palace gown nodded in agreement. Looking at the hook in the water, surprise flickered in her eyes. "Why are you fishing along the Shores of the East Sea?"
"And going to such lengths to use a fishhook made from this rusted piece of mortal iron."
The Primordial World was blessed with outstanding people and fertile lands. Nurtured by spiritual qi, spirit herbs and unusual metals were not rare. Rusted mortal iron like this, on the other hand, was harder to come by.
"Without relying on external objects, using the most ordinary thing—only then is the fish I catch what I truly want."
"Then have you caught one?"
"I already have."
"You caught one?"
The woman in the palace gown looked at the hook, where there was clearly nothing at all. Besides, she had secretly observed for a long time and had never seen a fish take the bait. Yet Lu Chen was saying he had caught one...
!
A complicated expression appeared on the woman's face. "The fish you speak of... is me."
Lu Chen exerted a little force with his arm, pulling the hook from the water and storing it in the Heaven-Devouring Treasure Vase. Then he slowly rose to his feet, turned toward the woman, and cupped his hands in greeting.
"Lu Chen pays respects to Martial Aunt Nuwa."
"You were waiting here for me all along!"
"Yes."
Lu Chen admitted it directly.
"How did you know I would come looking for you?"
"I did not. I merely had a feeling in the depths of the unseen that there was a destined opportunity here. That is why I waited once more."
"Is that so?"
Nuwa looked at Lu Chen, her gaze carrying a measure of scrutiny and suspicion.
"Do you know what this destined opportunity is?"
"I do not."
Nuwa gave Lu Chen a long, deep look. "Stay by my side for the time being."
Her sixth sense told her that Lu Chen had known she would come long ago.
And that he knew what this destined opportunity was.
Little liar.
This opportunity involved both of them. If she kept Lu Chen tied to her side, she refused to believe he could hold himself back from taking it. That would save her the trouble of searching for it herself.
Lu Chen had no idea about Nuwa's little scheme and agreed at once.
Nuwa's beauty had few equals in the Primordial World. Traveling with a beauty at his side was certainly more enjoyable than sitting alone by the shore and fishing.
"Do you think the Primordial World is somewhat too monotonous with only the Witch-Demon Tribes?"
After traveling together for a thousand years, Nuwa looked over all living things across the land and suddenly voiced this thought.
Lu Chen echoed her, "With only the myriad beings of the Witch-Demon Tribes, the Primordial World is indeed somewhat too monotonous."
He knew Nuwa had begun to entertain the thought of creating the Human Race. But the timing was not quite ripe yet, and Lu Chen intended to personally add the final spark to this fire.
"Since you find the Primordial World monotonous, why not create a race of living beings yourself?"
Boom!
Lu Chen's words entered Nuwa's ears, and enlightenment dawned upon her. The Primordial Chaos Purple Qi within her Spirit Platform trembled wildly, transforming into a ray of spiritual light that merged with Nuwa's Primordial Spirit.
"To create living beings... that is my Dao!"
Nuwa murmured softly. At this moment, she understood.
"Thank you. I owe you a favor for this."
"But what form should the beings we create take?"
Having offered her thanks, Nuwa began contemplating the matter of creating life.
"Ahem. How about using your form and mine as the foundation for the beings we create?"
Lu Chen decided to see the Buddha through to the west. The age of Sages could not be avoided, so he might as well forge it with his own hands.
"Very well."
Nuwa immediately agreed. She gathered some water and scattered it upon the earth, instantly forming a pool of mud.
With a slight wave of Nuwa's jade hand, a lump of mud shaped like a human appeared.
Joy appeared on Nuwa's face. She sent a strand of creation qi into the mud figure, granting it life. It gazed ignorantly upon the heavens and earth of the Primordial World, then tried to walk.
The joy in Nuwa's eyes vanished.
"Too fragile. It cannot be called a living being."
A light breeze swept past, and the mud figure from before instantly scattered to the four winds.
"Ordinary soil and seawater will not do. What if I molded them from divine water and divine soil?"
"Exactly!"
"It is only that I have some Three Lights Divine Water here. But to find a soil-type supreme treasure on the same level as the Three Lights Divine Water... I do not know where to search for one in such a short time."
Nuwa's delicate brows knitted slightly as she let out a faint sigh.
"Ahem. Back beneath the Gourd Vine, Lady Houtu once gave me a lump of Xi Rang. Perhaps we can use it to give this a try."
Lu Chen coughed lightly and took out the Innate Self-Growing Soil from the Heaven-Devouring Treasure Vase.
Seeing the Xi Rang in Lu Chen's hand, ripples stirred in Nuwa's eyes, and a faint smile appeared on her face. "You came to help me achieve the Dao, did you not?"
"..."
Lu Chen fell silent.
In truth, the one meant to help her attain the Dao had originally been Houtu, not him.
"Martial Aunt, you jest. I am merely offering a tiny measure of help."
Nuwa said rather domineeringly, "If I attain the Dao this time, I will protect you throughout the Primordial World from now on."
Lu Chen smiled but said nothing.
Nuwa took the Xi Rang, then brought out the Three Lights Divine Water and combined the two.
This time, Nuwa chose to do it herself.
The first figure she molded was a woman.
The second was a man...
"This is too slow."
After molding two, Nuwa stood and looked toward Lu Chen.
"May I borrow the Gourd Vine?"
"Mm."
Lu Chen nodded, took out the Gourd Vine, and handed it to Nuwa.
He knew this was a gift returned for a gift received. Once Nuwa attained the Dao, this Gourd Vine would become linked with Merit and the Fortune of the Human Race, transforming into the Beating Whip. It would ascend in a single step to the heavens, instantly becoming a supreme treasure of the Human Dao.
Nuwa dipped the Gourd Vine in a little muddy water and gave it a sweep. The mud fell to the ground and transformed into one mud person after another—men and women alike, each with different features.
When the number of mud people reached three thousand,
Nuwa was instantly enlightened, and her aura erupted.
"I, Nuwa, perceive that the Primordial World has only the Witch-Demon Tribes, its races too singular. Today, I shall create another race, named Human!"
Her voice spread throughout every corner of the Primordial World under the workings of the Heavenly Dao.
Boom!
Heaven and earth shook. Golden auspicious clouds spread across the entire Shores of the East Sea.
These auspicious clouds had all been formed from Merit.
The Merit clouds transformed into several streams of light, entering the bodies of Lu Chen and Nuwa respectively, while the weakest stream fell upon the Gourd Vine.
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