Primordial Era: Rewriting the Investiture of the Gods, Section 2

However, that was merely the mainstream interpretation. While they were nominally the protagonists of the world, ordinary humans might have a much easier life, but humanity's strength still couldn't compare to the great powers already established in the world.

Strictly speaking, humanity, as the protagonists of this world, had never truly possessed the strength of protagonists.

During the Witch-Demon Tribulation, humanity was no match for the Witch Tribe or the Demon Tribe. During the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation, humanity was inferior to the Heavenly Court and the Four Sects.

After the Investiture of the Gods, humanity could no longer unite. Without a supreme leader to rule the world, the people of the Southern Continent worshipped deities of the Heavenly Court and the Western Buddhist Ancestors, those of the Eastern Continent believed in the Mystic Gate Heavenly Court, and those of the Western Continent worshipped the Western Buddhist Ancestors.

It seemed as though the whole world was populated by humans, that saving them brought merit and killing them incurred karma, making them the undisputed protagonists of the world. But in reality, they were nothing more than a dish to be divided, with their faith being siphoned off by the various great powers of the Primordial Era. They were simply no match for the true great powers of the Primordial Era.

The few Great Divine Powers that humanity possessed were all affiliated with other Great Sects. None of them truly belonged to humanity. The likes of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, the powerful individuals who truly cared for humanity, were instead stationed in the Fire Cloud Cave to perpetually uphold Humanity's Destiny, unable to emerge unless humanity faced an Immeasurable Tribulation and was on the brink of destruction!

Humanity in the Primordial Era was truly pitiful. It was probably only during the era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors that they had a semblance of being the protagonists of the world. After the era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors concluded, the subsequent Human Kings were at least able to govern the human realm within the Three Realms, at least within the areas where humans resided.

After the Investiture of the Gods war, there were no more Human Kings, only Sons of Heaven and Children of Heaven, and even then, they were far inferior to the Heavenly Emperor. Let alone the Heavenly Emperor, even an ordinary Heavenly Court Deity could act as a senior figure before a Son of Heaven.

When Jiang Haofeng later read about the Investiture of the Gods, the fact that Sons of Heaven replaced Human Kings was an indelible regret in his heart.

"No, I must find a way to make humanity stronger. If nothing else, at least during the Investiture of the Gods, the Sons of Heaven shouldn't have to replace the Human Kings!"

As Jiang Haofeng pondered, the three thousand Innate Humans around him had their eyes light up. Streams of spiritual power surged, and in the blink of an eye, three thousand luminous figures appeared in the forest. Each of them was enveloped in mystic light, their bodies completely obscured except for their heads.

The humans were curiously playing with the spiritual power within them.

Suddenly, one of them unintentionally activated the Human Creation Merit within his body. Instantly, the Golden Light of Merit appeared, a Merit Auspicious Cloud formed above his head, and then, rays of golden light erupted from his body, transforming him into a radiant golden figure.

Jiang Haofeng was stunned. Could this be the Merit Golden Body?

The next moment, a Merit Auspicious Cloud also appeared above Jiang Haofeng's head, and the light of merit enveloped his body, condensing into a Merit Golden Body.

Jiang Haofeng's eyes lit up. "What a treasure! This is Human Creation Merit. Nuwa achieved Sainthood with fifty percent of it. As one of the first fifty humans created, I received ten percent of the Human Creation Merit."

"That's equivalent to one-two hundred and fiftieth of the merit Nuwa needed to achieve Sainthood!"

One-two hundred and fiftieth might not sound like much, but that was the merit for achieving Sainthood. The one-two hundred and fiftieth of merit on Jiang Haofeng's person was already a significant amount. In the Primordial Era, perhaps only the renowned True Immortals of Fortune and a few Great Divine Powers could surpass Jiang Haofeng.

The humans looked at the Golden Light of Merit on the two of them, as if they had found a new toy. They all manifested their merit, and one by one, Merit Auspicious Clouds rose into the sky. All three thousand Innate Humans possessed great merit, and with all three thousand manifesting their merit simultaneously, the valley was bathed in golden light.

The first fifty Golden Immortals created could each condense a Merit Golden Body. As for the remaining two thousand nine hundred and fifty people created later, although their merit was far less than the first fifty, they could still condense a Golden Wheel of Merit.

Suddenly, a powerful aura surged, and the strength of a Golden Immortal soared, vast power sweeping through the valley. Five-colored divine light converged in the chest, the five elements aligned, and life flowed endlessly. The terrifying power forced everyone to retreat.

After a moment, all anomalies dissipated. A woman floated in the void, radiating power far exceeding that of a Golden Immortal, though her Merit Golden Body was gone.

"I am the first person created by the Mother Goddess, and I shall manage humanity on behalf of the current Mother Goddess. From now on, you must obey my commands!"

The woman floated in the void, her aura of Grand Unity sweeping out, immediately subduing the humans present.

Jiang Haofeng looked at the woman with some shock. This woman was the first person Nuwa created. Wasn't it Xuan Du who was the first person created according to legend?

And who was this person? Why was there no record of her in history?

Seeing that no one objected, the woman rejoiced and continued, "The Mother Goddess created humanity, and thus shall be the Holy Mother of our people. The Creation Sacred Spring is a supreme treasure of creation left by the Holy Mother, and from now on, I shall be its guardian!"

"The Holy Mother is a woman, so our people shall honor women. Men are forbidden from approaching the Creation Sacred Spring!"

The humans around them immediately showed expressions of agreement. That was right, the Holy Mother was a woman, and the women in the tribe looked much like the Holy Mother, while the men were quite different from her. Humanity should indeed honor women!

Jiang Haofeng's eyebrows twitched. Even in the Primordial Era, humanity had originally started as a matriarchal society.

"Who are you?" Jiang Haofeng asked curiously. He truly didn't know who this person was who had founded the matriarchal clan.

The woman was taken aback. "Who am I?"

"That's right, who am I?"

The next moment, a vague sense of awareness surfaced in the woman's heart. "I am Huaxu!"

"Huaxu of the Human Race!"

Jiang Haofeng's eyes widened. Huaxu, wasn't she the mother of the Heavenly Emperor Fuxi? How did she appear here? The era of the Heavenly Emperor was still a long way off.

No, could this be an ancestor of Huaxu Clan, the mother of Fuxi?

"And who are you?" Huaxu looked at Jiang Haofeng.

Jiang Haofeng was stunned. Just as he was about to state his name, he remembered that this was the Primordial Era, and humanity had just been established. They didn't have surnames yet. Although his surname Jiang was ancient, it wasn't that ancient.

Should he invent surnames and earn some merit?

A thought flashed through Jiang Haofeng's mind, but he quickly dismissed it. Humanity was just born, and there were definitely sages watching. Surnames were something that evolved over time and couldn't be introduced all at once.

Moreover, the current protagonists of the world were still the Witch Tribe and the Demon Tribe. Jiang Haofeng wasn't sure if inventing things would bring any merit.

Besides, regarding surnames, Jiang Haofeng himself was confused about which was the family name and which was the given name. Even if it was a family name, Jiang Haofeng couldn't even remember all the surnames in the Hundred Family Surnames. How could he invent them?

Forget it, let's not even talk about family names for now. Just the given name would suffice.

Under Huaxu's gaze, Jiang Haofeng said, "My name is Haofeng!"

After speaking, Jiang Haofeng looked at Huaxu before him, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke earnestly to the humans around him, "Everyone, merit is precious and a rare top-tier resource in the Primordial Era. We all possess Innate Spiritual Bodies and extraordinary backgrounds. Using merit to improve our cultivation now is too extravagant and wasteful. I implore everyone to consider carefully and not use merit casually!"

In an instant, Huaxu had advanced from Golden Immortal to Grand Unity Golden Immortal, skipping countless years of cultivation and achieving ascension in one step, but she had also completely depleted the precious merit.

Seeing Huaxu's powerful cultivation, Jiang Haofeng's heart ached. Why use this merit for anything other than what was necessary? Even if she wanted to improve her cultivation, she could have waited until she encountered a bottleneck later. Using it now was simply too wasteful.

Jiang Haofeng observed the surrounding Innate Humans, a thoughtful expression on his face. They had clearly taken his words to heart, and he felt a surge of relief.

With a flicker of movement, he left the main group. He decided to find a quiet place to be alone for a while. There was no need to stay with these Innate Humans right now. They were like newborn infants, curious about everything and still in the exploration phase. Let them explore at their own pace. Once they had finished exploring and learned what they needed to, it wouldn't be too late to talk to them.

First, he needed to figure out how he had suddenly arrived here. Wasn't he just doing archaeology on Kunlun Mountain? How did he end up transmigrating?

Finding a small river, Jiang Haofeng sat by its bank and closed his eyes to investigate. As expected, he discovered something unusual in his mind.

A scroll of azure blue text was quietly suspended within his consciousness. The moment his awareness touched the scroll, a massive influx of information flooded his mind.

A moment later, after absorbing all the information, Jiang Haofeng's face was filled with pleasant surprise. What a treasure!

It seemed there was hope for freeing humanity from their original fate!

This treasure was called the Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Book. Its original grade was a Chaos Spirit Treasure, but after Pangu's creation of the world, it was influenced by the laws of heaven and earth, transforming into an Innate Supreme Treasure.

It was originally the companion treasure of the Myriad Manifestations Demon God, who cultivated the Great Dao of Wisdom among the Three Thousand Demon Gods. After Pangu slew the Three Thousand Demon Gods to prove his Dao, the Myriad Manifestations Demon God perished. The Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Book then chose a new master, selecting the Innate Humans, who were most suited to inherit the Great Dao of Wisdom. And Jiang Haofeng was the one chosen by the Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Book!

This treasure possessed no offensive or defensive capabilities. However, it had three functions. Two of them were learning and deduction. With the Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Book, he could learn others' techniques to the greatest extent possible and also innovate, reaching new heights!

It could even learn innate divine abilities and Great Dao laws. When the Great Dao of Wisdom was comprehended to its peak, any technique could be learned at a glance. Legend had it that the Myriad Manifestations Demon God could use any technique after a single glance during combat, whether it was innate divine abilities or the profundities of laws.

Ordinary cultivators couldn't defeat the Myriad Manifestations Demon God; they could basically only fight to a draw. With more encounters, they might even be defeated by the Myriad Manifestations Demon God using his most proficient methods!

Of course, to defeat someone in their area of expertise required a long time, and it wasn't guaranteed that the deduction would succeed. While learning was effortless with the Great Dao of Wisdom, creating something new was as difficult as other demon gods comprehending new laws.

However, this was already enough. Learning an opponent's skills and abilities, as long as his cultivation didn't fall behind, would allow him to be invincible from the start!

As for the third function, it was the simulation of others' magic treasures. As long as the profound mysteries of the opponent's magic treasure were understood, the Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Book could transform into an identical magic treasure. As long as the treasure's origin did not exceed that of the Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Book, it could be imitated!

Most importantly, once he understood and studied them, the learned techniques and divine abilities could also be passed on to others!

What a treasure!

With this treasure, he could completely change humanity's fate and give them the opportunity to truly become the protagonists of heaven and earth!

"Haofeng!"

Just as Jiang Haofeng was joyfully planning how to change humanity's destiny, a voice called out from a distance. A woman was looking for him.

"Who are you?"

Looking at the woman before him, Jiang Haofeng asked with some confusion.

"We're a pair!"

"What are you talking about?"

"How are we a pair!"

Jiang Haofeng felt a surge of blood rush to his head. He stared at the woman in front of him with wide eyes.

"We are a pair. You were the 50th person created by the Holy Mother, and I was the 49th. Of course, we're a pair," the woman said earnestly, counting on her fingers.

Jiang Haofeng was stunned. It seemed she was right.

Nuwa created humans in pairs, one male and one female. The first five humans, starting from Huaxu and ending with Jiang Haofeng, totaled twenty-five pairs. If that was the case, then this person before him was indeed his intended partner.

Jiang Haofeng gave a wry smile and looked at the woman, saying earnestly, "That's not called a pair, that's called siblings. You're the elder sister, and I'm the younger brother. We're from the same mother!"

"Siblings," the woman repeated the words, tilting her head as if pondering their meaning.

"What's your name?" Jiang Haofeng asked, looking at this... barely a sister.

"My name is Zhisheng," the woman replied immediately, looking up as she heard Jiang Haofeng.

Zhisheng.

What, Zhisheng!