I came back specially to explain!
Everyone said they wanted to drop the story because of the protagonist's name. Mang, from the Book of Songs: "The mang was simple and honest, carrying cloth to trade for silk." Mang meant commoner. It was also meant to say that the protagonist was just an ordinary person, with no system and afraid of death. Mang could also mean an outsider, hinting that the protagonist was not from this world. That plot point would be addressed later.
Well, since this was my first novel, my writing was indeed weak. I was also afraid I hadn't explained things clearly, so I tended to ramble. Just treat it like a beginner webnovel.
The opening setup did not give the protagonist a high cultivation level, so the pace would be slow. With Quasi-Saints and Great Luo all around him, I could only let the protagonist talk his way through things. Once his cultivation reached the Human Immortal realm, the pace would pick up.
Thanks again~
[How terrifying!]
Liu Mang raised his head and looked at the seated woman before him. Her upper body alone was as tall as a twenty-story building.
She wore an imperial phoenix crown, a radiant ceremonial robe over her upper body, golden-threaded red trousers below, and snake boots shaped like human feet. Though she had already restrained her aura, the pressure still left Liu Mang unable to breathe.
With every gesture, divine light flowed around her, dazzling the eye and stirring the heart, making one reluctant to profane her.
Suddenly, the woman holding half a human body in her hand looked toward the horizon and said coldly, "May I ask which fellow Daoist has arrived? Please show yourself."
Liu Mang did not know that this woman was actually Nu Wa.
She had been in a daze when she sensed that the opportunity for her to attain the Dao had arrived. Following the guidance in her heart, she came here and molded the first member of the Human Race—Liu Mang.
However, what puzzled Nu Wa was that with Liu Mang's birth, there was neither a proclamation from the Heavenly Dao nor descending Merit.
Moreover, although Liu Mang possessed an Innate Dao Body, he was like a salted fish, sitting cross-legged without moving. His only distinguishing traits were that he was male and alive.
Was this reasonable? No, it was not. It was utterly unreasonable!
Nu Wa even suspected that she had sensed wrongly and that her opportunity did not lie here.
With the mindset of treating a dead horse as if it were alive, Nu Wa began molding a second member of the Human Race. If it turned out the same way, it would prove that her opportunity to attain the Dao had not yet come.
When she was halfway through molding her second human, she suddenly heard the words, "How terrifying!" The voice sounded as though it had spoken right beside her ear.
Although Nu Wa appeared calm on the surface, she was panicking inside and had already prepared to fight the other party to the death.
The other party had come so close, yet she had not detected them. Just how strong did they have to be?
In all of Hong Huang, not even the Dao Ancestor, who had already merged with the Dao, could accomplish that, could he?
Seeing that no one answered, Nu Wa swept the area with her Spiritual Sense. She still found no trace of anyone, not even the slightest aura. Her delicate brows furrowed.
Nu Wa thought it over. If the other party intended to attack, they should have acted directly rather than speaking to warn her.
"Perhaps this expert merely wishes to observe in secret and does not wish to reveal himself."
Nu Wa turned her gaze back to the half-formed body in her hand, thinking as she calculated where exactly the problem lay.
Was Liu Mang moved? He did not dare move!
Liu Mang had watched Attack on Titan too. He had watched it before deeply caring about a two-dimensional girl.
The girl had said it was a new anime. Only after messing around for half the day did he find out it was the kind without a catalog number.
But he had never imagined that one day, just like in the anime, he would become food for giants.
The naked giants in it, ugly as ghosts, had all been insanely powerful.
One could imagine just how terrifying this gorgeously dressed, indescribably beautiful woman must be.
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw the half body in the woman's hand, its white eyes rolled back.
Thinking of the half-eaten body in her hand, he felt that his fate was self-evident.
When Nu Wa stopped searching for the source of the voice, that same voice unexpectedly rang by her ear once more.
[Fuck! Didn't the giants in cartoons not talk? How badass must a talking one be?]
PS: He transmigrated before finishing Attack on Titan!
[Did someone arrive? Her tone was so serious!]
[Looks like they're about to fight! I should hide farther away first.]
Nu Wa once again heard the strange voice clearly and could not help looking down at Liu Mang below.
Confirmed! If she had not guessed wrong, this little person was definitely the one speaking.
The Liu Mang Nu Wa had created was currently bracing both hands against the ground, lifting his body, and inching his butt slightly in the direction opposite her.
Yet Nu Wa had not seen him open his mouth. Puzzled, she thought, Could it be that what I heard was all his thoughts?
[Once they both get badly hurt, I'll come out and reap the rewards.]
Nu Wa confirmed that she could hear his thoughts and could not help smiling. She secretly thought, This little thing has quite the ambition. The fight hasn't even started, and he's already thinking of taking advantage.
"What kind of show is a cartoon? Giants? Is he talking about me? Why does he instinctively think I cannot speak?"
Although Nu Wa had become interested in Liu Mang, she watched his movements with great amusement.
Liu Mang kept repeating the same movements until he finally stopped after the tenth time. By then, more than two meters separated him from Nu Wa.
[Whew, I'm exhausted. She won't step on me to death now, right?]
[Now I can watch the show. If only I had some sunflower seeds!]
Liu Mang let out a long breath, raised his head toward Nu Wa, and found her looking at him with teasing eyes.
There was no need to think about it. She had seen all his little movements.
[I'm screwed now!]
However, Liu Mang did not give up. He simply stared blankly at Nu Wa, wearing an expression that said he knew nothing at all.
Nu Wa nearly laughed in anger. Who had taught him such skill at playing dumb?
If all the Human Race she created were like this, she would rather not attain this Dao at all.
Nu Wa's gaze kept shifting between Liu Mang and the place where he had been before.
Seeing that he could no longer keep pretending, Liu Mang supported himself with both hands again and reluctantly lifted his butt, inching back bit by bit.
Only after Nu Wa watched Liu Mang return to his original spot, propping his chin in his hands with a look of utter despair, did she turn her attention back to her hands.
With a slight flick of her slender jade fingers, two halos rose from the stone platform. One was interwoven with gold, silver, and purple, radiating the brilliance of the sun, moon, and stars. Merely smelling it refreshed the mind.
The other was only the size of a fingernail, yet the sense of weight it gave off was heavier than mountains. After it landed on the half body in Nu Wa's hand, it slowly filled it out into a complete body.
Gradually, a clay figure took shape in Nu Wa's hand.
Liu Mang did not notice any of this at all. His mind was entirely focused on how to stay alive.
He was helpless too!
Hadn't he merely used repairing an air conditioner as an excuse to show some concern for another man's young girlfriend?
Who would have thought that halfway through his concern, the young girlfriend's husband came back!
He had no choice but to flip over and hide on the outdoor air-conditioning unit. Who knew that even the unit could not stand the sight of him? Its bracket snapped, and with a bang, he transmigrated.
Fine, he had transmigrated. But not only did he have no system or cheat ability, he had even become food for giants.
What should he do if he became food for giants the moment he transmigrated? Waiting online, parentheses, very urgent!
Liu Mang looked up at the woman, wondering whether she had eaten her fill today. If she had, she absolutely must not consider having an extra meal tonight.
Just then, the woman's body began shrinking rapidly. Her original sixty-meter height became the same size as Liu Mang's in the blink of an eye.
Liu Mang's face was full of shock. He stared wide-eyed in disbelief, then fiercely rubbed his eyes with his arms.
What was going on now? Even a leak would not deflate this fast, would it?
Nu Wa ignored Liu Mang's reaction and placed the little person in her hand onto the stone platform.
In an instant, heaven and earth changed. Golden light suddenly appeared in the sky, purple qi spread through the air, and faint immortal music drifted forth alongside the cries of cranes.
Golden Merit clouds emerged between heaven and earth, while Merit Light surged without end.
At that very moment, the little person grew in the wind, slowly changing from one centimeter tall to ten centimeters, then thirty, then fifty...
Liu Mang was completely dumbfounded. Wasn't that what she had just eaten? How had it not only become whole again in less than a moment, but even started growing taller?
Before long, he had become the same size as Liu Mang.
"Looks like the path to attaining the Dao is indeed correct!" Nu Wa muttered to herself excitedly.
She, Nu Wa, was about to attain the Dao as well!
She would become the second Saint in this world.
In an instant, it arrived above Nu Wa's head. Just as it was about to descend, a small portion—roughly one ten-thousandth of the Merit—split off and shot toward the newly grown little person. His tightly shut eyes slowly opened.
The Jin Guang suspended above Nu Wa's head seemed to have completed its task and was preparing to enter her body when it suddenly paused.
It seemed to be looking at Nu Wa, then at Liu Mang, unable for a moment to decide what it should do.
If Jin Guang could speak, it would definitely complain, "When the hell did you show up? Why didn't anyone tell me? Help! What do I do if the Merit went to the wrong person?"
And Liu Mang, as a descendant of Yan and Huang, still did not understand the situation. He was just an idiot!
[Fuck, Empress Nu Wa!]
[This is Hong Huang?! I need to run!]
Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens stood the Purple Cloud Palace.
An elderly Daoist opened his eyes, his face filled with disdain. "A variable? This was your doing, Heavenly Dao, wasn't it?"
The elderly Daoist swept out with his Spiritual Sense, and every major and minor event throughout Hong Huang came into view. "The overall situation in Hong Huang has already been decided. Does this tiny Human Race really think it can contend with me? You truly do not take me, Hong Jun, seriously."
"After three great calamities, it will be the time for me, Hong Jun, to act on behalf of Heaven. Let's see how long you can keep struggling."
Before you continue