"Since you want it, then I'll grant your wish!"
After speaking, Nu Wa relaxed her mind and actively welcomed the infusion of merit power.
The Hongmeng Purple Qi, which had been out of control all this time, seemed to sense that Nu Wa was no longer resisting. It stopped absorbing merit and obediently returned to Nu Wa's body.
However, Nu Wa no longer dared to leave the Hongmeng Purple Qi unchecked. With a wave of her jade-like hand, it obediently landed in her palm.
Perhaps it knew that Nu Wa's path to proving the Dao through merit had become inevitable. Or perhaps Nu Wa's strength had soared beneath the infusion of merit, and it knew resistance was futile. This time, the Hongmeng Purple Qi did not resist in the slightest, allowing Nu Wa to grasp it barehanded.
"Your purpose really was to make me prove the Dao through merit. I just wonder what benefit this brings you."
Only after seeing that the Hongmeng Purple Qi was completely under her control did Nu Wa finally relax and begin carefully experiencing the benefits brought by merit.
Nourished by merit, Nu Wa not only felt her strength increase, but even her physical body underwent a complete transformation.
As a member of the Demon Race, Nu Wa had always believed her physical strength was nearly at its limit. Yet after absorbing less than a quarter of the merit, her body had already become incomparable to what it had been during the Quasi-Saint stage.
Now, she could pin her mid-stage Quasi-Saint self to the ground and rub her into the dirt—the literal kind.
Furthermore, beyond the changes to her body, Nu Wa felt that the heavens and earth of Hong Huang had become much closer to her.
With a single thought, her Spiritual Sense could roam across all of Hong Huang.
The three thousand Laws and Great Daos possessed by the world of Hong Huang were clearly displayed before her eyes.
With merit's aid, one Divine Mark after another was condensed by Nu Wa, floating before her.
The mysteries of heaven and earth filled her mind, immersing her completely.
Yet whenever Nu Wa tried to further comprehend these Grand Dao Divine Marks, she was always interrupted by an inexplicable force.
Once, ten times, a hundred times, ten thousand times...
One mark, ten marks, a hundred marks, a thousand marks...
No matter how many times Nu Wa tried, no matter how many Divine Marks she changed, nothing changed.
Apart from the Law of Creation, which she was already familiar with, she made virtually no progress with any other Laws.
Nu Wa's gaze swept over the Divine Marks, and she frowned slightly as she murmured, "Once one proves the Dao through merit, can one no longer comprehend other Laws?"
Nu Wa casually seized a Grand Dao Divine Mark and continued.
"In that case, if I want to advance further, I can only remain confined within this world and continuously obtain new merit."
Nu Wa looked up at the sky, as though she wished to speak through the Merit Golden Light to the mastermind behind it all. "But no matter how much merit I obtain, won't it all ultimately benefit you, the one who becomes the Heavenly Dao?"
"Heh, no wonder you told us the three methods of proving the Dao had no distinction of superiority or inferiority. So this was the trap waiting for us. If we choose to become Saints through merit, we'll ultimately be at the mercy of you, the one who replaces the Heavenly Dao."
A cold smile appeared at the corner of Nu Wa's lips. "Looks like Liu Mang was right! Saints really are heaven-chosen laborers!"
Previously, when Nu Wa heard Liu Mang talk about "heaven-chosen laborers" and "the laborer's spirit, the laborer's soul, laborers can never become the upper class," she had not understood what it meant.
After this matter of proving the Dao, if Nu Wa still could not understand, then she would truly be unworthy of the intelligence of Hong Huang's first Saint.
Luckily, she could hear Liu Mang's inner voice. Otherwise, if she only discovered Hong Jun's scheme after becoming a Saint, it would have been far too late.
Thinking of this, Nu Wa looked toward Liu Mang with gratitude, but after searching the crowd for a long while, she could not find him anywhere.
Just as Nu Wa was puzzled, Liu Mang's voice sounded beside her ear.
[I can't take it anymore! I'm going to die! Old Demon Han truly never deceived me!]
Following the voice, Nu Wa searched for a long while before finally discovering Liu Mang, whose entire body had been pressed into a pit, unable to move.
If Nu Wa had not been able to hear his inner voice, she might have thought Liu Mang had already been crushed to death by the aura of her proving the Dao.
At this moment, Liu Mang only wanted to play dead, intending to fool the aura of proving the Dao and muddle through.
Liu Mang regretted it so badly his guts turned green.
[Old Demon Han clearly said it: when facing major events, retreat first. How did I let lard clog my brain and end up having to play dead?]
Nu Wa nearly laughed in anger when she heard that.
I'm seriously speechless with you, you old schemer. If you're not thinking about hiding, then you're thinking about playing dead!
Looking at Liu Mang's current state, Nu Wa felt it was only right for him to suffer a little. After thinking for a moment, she raised her left hand and seized several Grand Dao Divine Marks. Looking at Liu Mang, she said, "You still have the energy to complain. Looks like the pressure isn't enough. Let me add a little more."
After speaking, Nu Wa waved her hand and sent the Grand Dao Divine Marks into Liu Mang's body.
Liu Mang had gradually adapted to the aura and had begun slacking off wholeheartedly when he suddenly felt the pressure surge. It was as though a two-hundred-pound mountain of stone had abruptly fallen onto his back.
With a smack, his entire body was crushed flat against the ground. His chest caved in, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
Immediately afterward, his body was wracked by pain as though blades were carving through flesh. The next moment, it was replaced by the maddening itch of new flesh growing.
Liu Mang was trapped in a never-ending cycle of pain and itching, over and over again, occasionally accompanied by another mouthful of freshly spat blood.
[Pfft, looks like I not only failed to fool the aura, I actually pissed it off!]
[Mother! Save me! Your son is going to hurt himself to death!]
"Mm, you still have the strength to shout. There shouldn't be any serious problem."
Nu Wa glanced at him and no longer paid attention to Liu Mang's thoughts. She extended her left hand again and lightly clenched it at the void. All the Grand Dao Divine Marks gathered into her palm and disappeared.
Liu Mang did not know that the sudden increase in pressure had come from Nu Wa, the very person he had been desperately begging for help from. If he found out, who knew whether he would still be in the mood to cry for help.
In truth, all the changes in Liu Mang's body came from the Grand Dao Divine Marks. He simply did not understand. Having read in novels that an aura could injure people, he mistakenly believed it was caused by the aura of Nu Wa proving the Dao.
The Grand Dao Divine Marks that had entered Liu Mang's body damaged him one after another, only for a Divine Mark of Creation to repair his body the next instant.
Seeing that their Grand Dao Divine Marks were having no effect, they became anxious. One became two, and eventually, all the Divine Marks joined the battle.
Liu Mang's pain spread from his flesh to his skin, meridians, bones, and finally his entire body.
The scene was like five Xiang Yus in the canyon ganging up on Little Braised Egg. Just as Little Braised Egg was about to collapse, our Cai Wenji ran over and unleashed her ultimate, while the five burly men on the other side kept beating him senseless.
Liu Mang remained trapped in this endless cycle of regeneration. The benefit was that not only did his physical body become increasingly formidable, but his meridians also grew tougher, and even his consciousness became more condensed.
Before long, Liu Mang's physical strength had nearly reached the level of a Great Witch.
However, beneath the cover of merit's radiance, no one noticed any of this except Nu Wa, the instigator.
If anyone learned that Liu Mang, a mere mortal, contained more than ten Grand Dao Divine Marks within his body, then his fate in Hong Huang would make Tang Monk's flesh in Journey to the West look like nothing.
Liu Mang did not know that his body was being subtly transformed by the Grand Dao Divine Marks all along.
Only when he achieved the Quasi-Saint realm would he discover that, during Nu Wa's proving of the Dao, he had obtained a fortuitous opportunity that made everyone in Hong Huang green with envy.
While Liu Mang was being beaten, Nu Wa did not remain idle either. She began madly absorbing merit power, striding forward on the path to becoming a Saint.
Once Nu Wa had absorbed all the merit, seven-colored divine light pierced through the clouds and descended. For a time, immortal music drifted through all of Hong Huang, auspicious light fell from the heavens, and the Four Spirits appeared in the world.
Vast and boundless Saintly pressure burst from Nu Wa's body, sweeping across all of Hong Huang like an overwhelming tide.
Before you continue