But after hundreds of millions, tens of billions, or even hundreds of billions of years, the souls of True Immortals and Mysterious Immortals simply could not endure. Such vast stretches of time were enough to erode their immortal souls and extinguish their True Spirits.
Only after forming a Golden Immortal Dao Fruit would one qualify to withstand the scouring of the river of time.
In the Primordial World, one calamity cycle lasted five hundred thousand epochs, and one epoch lasted one hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred years, totaling sixty-four point eight billion years. True Immortals and Mysterious Immortals truly could not live that long.
Based on Jiang Haofeng's travels through the Primordial World, an ordinary Witch Clan member in the True Immortal Realm could generally live for around a thousand epochs, roughly one hundred twenty million years.
A Witch Clan member in the Mysterious Immortal Realm could live for around ten thousand epochs, or one point two billion years.
Of course, those were merely rough estimates. The stronger one's cultivation, the longer one lived. Some peak Mysterious Immortal Witch Clan members could even survive for around fifty thousand epochs.
In other words, without breaking through to the Golden Immortal Realm, it was impossible to live until the next calamity cycle. Those who had survived from the previous calamity cycle were, at the very worst, Golden Immortals!
Upon reaching the Golden Immortal Realm, one could be considered an elite in the Primordial World. Whether among the Witch Clan or the Demon Clan, Golden Immortals were the elite of their race. At the same time, only at this realm did one barely qualify to roam the Primordial World.
Grand Unity Golden Immortals beyond Golden Immortals were already the backbone of the Primordial World. Every minor breakthrough was measured in tens of thousands of epochs, and that was only for those with exceptional talent. Some with insufficient foundations, poor talent, or shallow destiny might cultivate for an entire calamity cycle and only advance by one or two minor realms.
At the Grand Unity Golden Immortal level, advancement could no longer be achieved through simple cultivation. At this level, comprehension of laws was the key. Once one's comprehension of laws was sufficient, accumulating magical power was easy. But without sufficient comprehension, cultivation would struggle to advance even an inch!
At the Grand Unity Golden Immortal Realm, advancing one minor realm in a hundred thousand epochs was already quite good, and that was for those with decent talent. Those with poorer talent might pass through an entire calamity cycle without much improvement at all.
Many old monsters who had survived the Dragon-Phoenix-Kirin Calamity were still Grand Unity Golden Immortals even now.
As for Grand Luo Golden Immortals beyond that, they were already the limit of immortals. One step further, and one became a Sage. Perfecting comprehension of a law, transforming one's Law Dao Fruit into the Great Dao, touching the threshold of the Great Dao, severing past and future, and transcending the river of space and time—such figures would rank among the strongest in the Primordial World during any calamity cycle!
At that stage, further advancement became even more difficult. The disciples of the Chan and Jie Schools had entered the Sage's sects during the Witch-Demon Calamity, listened to the Sage's sermon countless times, and cultivated for more than one calamity cycle, yet not many ultimately achieved Grand Luo Golden Immortalhood.
The Quasi-Saints and Sages beyond them no longer comprehended laws, but the Great Dao!
Laws were the laws of the Heavenly Dao of the Primordial World, while the Great Dao was the eternal Chaos Great Dao. Anyone who comprehended even a trace of the Great Dao could transcend heaven and earth, roam Chaos, and become one of the Great Divine Powers of the world!
The Demon Clan's Three Hundred and Sixty-five Demon Gods had shaken the Primordial World, showing just how weighty Grand Luo Golden Immortals were. Even then, more than half of them were experts from the previous calamity cycle whom the Demon Clan had gathered.
More than forty Grand Unity Golden Immortals made humanity a weak race in the Primordial World, vulnerable to a single blow. But if there had been more than forty Grand Luo Golden Immortals, humanity would have been a great race that shook the Primordial World. After the Golden Immortal Realm, advancement in cultivation was far from simple.
Returning to the matter at hand, Jiang Haofeng looked at the spring eye of the Life Spring before him. A small white jade pool the size of a millstone stood on the ground, mystical light rippling across its surface as dense vitality washed over him. Yet the millstone-sized pool was completely empty, without even a single drop of spring water.
Below the pool was a spring eye the size of a needlepoint. Dense vitality gathered above it, and a drop of spiritual liquid was faintly taking shape.
As his divine sense touched the spring eye of the Life Spring, Jiang Haofeng immediately understood its condition. Its effects were exactly as the Grand Pure Sage had described. Below the Grand Luo Golden Immortal Realm, it was absolutely a first-rate life-saving treasure. The Life Spring's water could dissolve any injuries caused by laws.
It was also effective against Grand Luo Golden Immortals, though its effects were much weaker. The weaker the target, the better the effect.
As for those above the Grand Luo Golden Immortal Realm, it was basically useless against magical power containing the power of the Great Dao.
The Life Spring could condense one drop of spring water each day.
Jiang Haofeng nodded in satisfaction. Not bad. It was far better than he had imagined.
With the Life Spring's water, humanity's foundation instantly deepened severalfold. The importance of a treasure that could continuously produce sacred healing medicine to a race was self-evident!
Next, the Innate Humans arrived at the spring eye of the Death Spring. It was likewise a pool the size of a millstone, except this one was made of black jade. The black jade was incomparably deep, as though it could seize one's soul.
The spring water's effects were the exact opposite of the Life Spring's, though their potency was roughly equal. It was ineffective against Great Divine Powers such as Quasi-Saints, and it likewise condensed one drop per day.
The Death Spring's most important effect was its ability to corrode the body, magical power, and primordial spirit. So long as one lacked the Great Dao's protection, coming into contact with its water would be an absolutely agonizing experience.
This water was similar to the legendary Weak Water and was excellent material for refining offensive Magic Treasures. If caught unprepared, even a Grand Luo Golden Immortal would suffer bitter defeat!
After examining the two spring eyes, Jiang Haofeng was extremely satisfied. As expected of treasures that had absorbed half a portion of Human Creation Merit. Their power was truly formidable.
Seeing the Creation Sacred Spring's power, Jiang Haofeng could not help but look forward to humanity's greatest treasure, which had yet to be born!
A Humanity's Destiny treasure, a treasure to suppress the race!
When Nuwa created humans, fifty percent of the destiny went to Empress Nuwa. Ten percent was absorbed by the Human Creation Whip and the Creation Sacred Spring, while another twenty percent was absorbed by the Innate Humans. As for the remaining twenty percent, it vanished into thin air without a trace.
Others did not know, but Jiang Haofeng knew exactly where that twenty percent of merit had gone.
It had been absorbed by the Ultimate Innate Spirit Treasure Kongtong Seal, which was still gestating. It became an Innate Merit Spirit Treasure and the strongest Magic Treasure beneath Innate Supreme Treasures in the Primordial World. Some even speculated that the Kongtong Seal could rival an Innate Supreme Treasure!
Of course, exactly how strong it was would naturally become clear once the Kongtong Seal was born. But as an Ultimate Innate Spirit Treasure that had also absorbed twenty percent of Human Creation Merit, its power was certainly not to be underestimated.
According to the Primordial World's original course of development, after Heavenly Emperor Fuxi became Humanity's Co-Lord and united all humanity, the Kongtong Seal would emerge in response to fate and become the Human Emperor Seal. It would become the treasure suppressing all humanity and a symbol of the Human Emperor's authority.
After the Three Sovereigns' rule and the Five Emperors establishing order, the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors would enter Fire Cloud Cave to suppress Humanity's Destiny. The Kongtong Seal would be handed to the Grand Pure Sage for management, granting him the authority to depose and appoint Human Kings. Of course, the Grand Pure Sage had never used this treasure from beginning to end.
After inspecting the Life and Death Springs, Jiang Haofeng began planning the city according to the scheme he had long prepared. He gathered vast quantities of innate materials, refined them into bricks with Samadhi True Fire, and used them to build Nuwa City.
Time waited for no one. The Sage's protection had already dissipated. Though humanity was still protected by the Sage's lingering might, and the myriad races of the Primordial World did not dare move against humanity, Jiang Haofeng, who knew the Primordial World's future, naturally understood what would happen next.
The Witch Slaying Sword and Demon Slaying Sword, those two swords of resentment and slaughter, would be forged from the hatred of countless humans.
The sooner Nuwa City was completed, the sooner humanity would have another place to settle and survive. When the great calamity arrived, more humans would be able to live on!
Jiang Haofeng had never considered changing the Witch-Demon War, nor had he considered rapidly raising humanity's strength to a level where it could contend with the Witch and Demon Tribes.
Those who had not lived through the Witch-Demon Calamity could not understand how powerful the Witch and Demon Tribes were. Their strength was enough to inspire despair. Humanity had absolutely no possibility of catching up in a short time.
If either of the current Witch and Demon Tribes were placed alone in later generations, it would have no problem flattening the Heavenly Court and Spirit Mountain, naturally assuming the Sages could not intervene.
Twelve peak Quasi-Saints—merely mentioning them brought a crushing pressure. Forget twelve peak Quasi-Saints; even gathering twelve ordinary Quasi-Saints would be extraordinarily difficult.
To end the Witch and Demon Tribes, the two races could only destroy each other in battle. Before the Witch and Demon Tribes left the stage, humanity would forever remain a supporting character in the Primordial World.
What Jiang Haofeng needed to do now was not participate in the Witch-Demon War, but reduce humanity's casualties and losses in that future disaster as much as possible. Ideally, he would prevent that calamity altogether and keep the Witch Slaying Sword and Demon Slaying Sword from ever appearing in the Primordial World.
At the very least, he had to preserve humanity's core: the three thousand Innate Humans. They were humanity's true foundation. Given the brutality of that massacre and humanity's later history, probably very few of the three thousand Innate Humans had survived.
The Innate Humans with the best foundations had been wiped out. It was no wonder later humanity produced so few powerful experts. Humanity monopolized the Primordial World's destiny and possessed greater destiny than even the Witch and Demon Tribes, yet it lacked their might and prestige.
The reason was that humanity's elite had been slaughtered, leaving a break in its inheritance.
This time, at the very least, he had to protect the three thousand Innate Humans and leave a foundation for humanity's future rise.
Nuwa City was the trump card Jiang Haofeng had left behind. No matter how mad the Witch and Demon Tribes became, they would not dare slaughter their way directly into Nuwa City.
No matter how little Sage Nuwa involved herself in worldly matters, if they breached Nuwa City and damaged a Sage's dignity, she would absolutely take action.
Once Nuwa City was complete and humanity had a path of retreat, it would be time to plan how to preserve all humanity.
There was actually something Jiang Haofeng had never been able to understand. During the Witch-Demon Calamity, humanity had truly been weak, yet two Sages stood behind it. Humanity had no resources worth coveting but an enormous backing, making it as troublesome as could be.
If either the Witch Clan or Demon Clan had possessed any common sense, they would not have provoked humanity.
Though the Witch Slaying Sword and Demon Slaying Sword were fairly powerful, they were nowhere near capable of deciding victory or defeat on the battlefield. What could determine the direction of a great war were peerless arrays such as the Twelve Capital Celestial Gods Array and the Zhou Tian Star Dou Great Array.
Or Innate Supreme Treasures like the Chaos Bell.
No matter how he looked at them, the Witch Slaying Sword and Demon Slaying Sword did not seem like Magic Treasures capable of deciding the course of a great war. Moreover, during the Witch-Demon War, those two killing swords had not accomplished much. Was it truly necessary to risk provoking two Sages merely to massacre humanity?
If one said that Demon Clan members born later did not know of the Sages or that humanity had Sages behind it, and thus massacred humans, that would have made sense. But the Demon Emperor, Demon Sovereign, and Twelve Ancestral Witches were all Great Divine Powers who understood humanity's origins perfectly.
Yet under such circumstances, they still dared order the massacre of humanity and the forging of killing swords. Jiang Haofeng found it utterly baffling.
There had to be a conspiracy behind this!
Jiang Haofeng silently made up his mind. In the future, he would do everything in his power to protect humanity's peace and ensure that the immense disaster sweeping over humanity vanished before it could take form.
After the Human Clan Assembly approved the plan, all humanity was immediately mobilized. The Human Manifest Lineage gathered innate materials from the surrounding regions and continuously transported them into Central Phoenix Mountain, while the three hundred thousand True Immortals and three thousand Innate Humans within Central Phoenix Mountain worked with all their strength to build the city.
With all humanity giving its utmost effort, Nuwa City's construction progressed at a shocking pace. In only a thousand years, a massive city rose upon the Primordial World's land. Its walls were three zhang and three chi tall, twelve zhang wide, and two hundred eighty thousand li long. The entire city lay under the protection of the Two Forms Micro Dust Great Array.
Nuwa City's walls were not especially tall and were no different from ordinary city walls. Humanity was only so large; building walls ten thousand or a thousand zhang high would be laborious and bring no benefit.
Towering walls would not appear grand. Instead, they would make humanity seem especially insignificant. If he truly built them a thousand zhang high, the city would be more suitable for the Witch Clan than for humanity.
Within Nuwa City, two great avenues running north-south and east-west divided the city into nine sections. The central section was where Central Phoenix Mountain stood. This land remained unchanged from before. There were no buildings or streets, only mountains, rivers, vegetation, blooming flowers, and wooden houses scattered throughout the forest.
This was where the three thousand Innate Humans lived. These wooden houses had all been built by the Innate Humans for themselves. After Da Chao observed birds building nests and invented wooden houses, the humans had each built their own homes.
Jiang Haofeng did not intend to destroy this place. It was humanity's birthplace and humanity's root.
Jiang Haofeng used magical power to carve out a long river surrounding all of Central Phoenix Mountain, separating the land beneath the mountain from the eight outer districts.
In the future, this would be humanity's core and Nuwa City's inner city. Only those who obtained the position of humanity's elder could move inside and build a wooden house to live in.
At the same time, entering this place signified truly stepping into the core of all humanity.
Jiang Haofeng moved the Human Ancestral Pavilion, the Holy Mother Temple, the Holy Master Temple, and the wooden houses of the first fifty Innate Humans onto Central Phoenix Mountain.
This was the core within humanity's core. Only those who became Humanity's Grand Elder would qualify to move onto Central Phoenix Mountain.
Elders and Grand Elders were Jiang Haofeng's means of gathering humanity's strength. Only by bringing strength together could it be brought to its fullest power. Was not the current Demon Clan the same? It had gathered the myriad races, including vast numbers of Dragon Clan and Phoenix Clan members, and only then possessed its current immense might.
Yet in the original history, humanity had been scattered. All humanity had been divided into countless tribes, with no connection between them. Already weak, humanity became even weaker after splintering apart.
The three thousand Innate Humans had been scattered among various tribes. Suiren, Da Chao, and Zhisheng had originally each been leaders of their own tribes. The three had mostly relied on their reputations to become humanity's nominal leaders, but they had been nominal leaders only.
Humanity's true unification would not come until the time of Heavenly Emperor Fuxi.
But now, with Jiang Haofeng's intervention, humanity had united ahead of time. However, humanity had not yet developed and its population remained small. Furthermore, humanity was divided into manifest and hidden lineages and had no Co-Lord, so it was not yet completely unified.
Returning to the matter at hand, the central inner city retained its original state, while the eight outer districts were built according to the image of a city in Jiang Haofeng's mind. Small courtyards lined the crisscrossing streets.
These eight districts were where the members of the hidden lineage lived. At present, all three hundred thousand cultivators of humanity's hidden lineage resided there.
As Jiang Haofeng engraved the three words "Nuwa City," humanity's first city—and the Primordial World's first city—was completed!
In an instant, heaven and earth responded. A ray of merit light descended from above, and at the moment it appeared, twenty percent surged directly into Chaos and was collected by Nuwa.
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