Chapter 133: Symbol Imprint

"If we can build a rain shelter among the massive tree branches," Zhou Yi's fingertip traced intersecting lines in the mud, "use vines as rope, dead branches as beams, then lay three layers of broad leaves…"

The man suddenly seized his wrist, his calloused grip from years of wielding an axe biting painfully: "Come, there are ready materials in the birch forest to the east." Without waiting for a reply he dragged the man toward the deep woods, startling several nocturnal red‑crowned hawks.

When the moon reached the zenith, the outline first appeared on a twenty‑zhang‑tall iron fir. Seven main beams were bound and fixed with turtle‑back vines, and the sloping surface layered with banana leaves happened to avoid the star directions.

As the first ray of dawn pierced the leaf gaps, two Human Race members coated in sap reclined on the precariously swaying aerial platform, laughing loudly as they pointed at the clan members below.

When the setting sun turned the clouds golden‑red, the burly man leaning on a dark wood staff stood before the newly completed wooden structure, his rough palm brushing the interlocking eaves.

The dampness of moss lingered at his nose; he turned to the gathered clan and said, "From now on, this will be our shelter from wind and rain."

Before his words finished, the heavens' cloud layer split with golden patterns, and a torrent of dark‑yellow energy surged back like an inverted Milky Way.

The Sui Ming tribe witnessed a miracle: the burly man radiated jade‑colored light, and his bone blade at the waist floated, forming a dragon‑shaped phantom.

When the final gift of the Heavenly Dao seeped into the earth veins, the original thatched shelter transformed into a twelve‑tiered glazed palace, its eaves bearing copper bells that rang with clear Dao tones.

"My name is You Chao," the proclamation reverberated across three thousand li of rivers and mountains, startling the immortals debating the Dao atop Mount Kunlun.

Chi Songzi crushed the jade cup in his palm, while Li Mozi's dust‑sweeping brush moved without wind, and from beyond the Thirty‑three Heavens came a faint sigh.

These Preheavenly deities could not understand: how could the frail Human Race repeatedly give birth to two Great Dao Realm Venerables?

On the reef at the shore of the East Sea, the blue‑garmented youth tossed the freshly caught silver shark back into the waves. The bronze compass hanging at his waist warmed slightly, a system prompt indicating an increase in destiny points.

Zhou Yi gazed at the lingering golden merit clouds in the west, a subtle smile curving his lips. Two days ago he instructed Sui Huang to drill wood for fire; today he guided the You Chao clan in building houses, moving the Human Race's destiny as quietly as a chessmaster.

"Host, please note, your fortune accumulation has crossed the threshold," a mechanical voice sounded in the Sea of Awareness as Zhou Yi was sketching a Bagua pattern on the sand with a reed rod.

He erased the Kun position symbol, letting the tide devour those arcane lines.

The Heavenly Dao merit? Nothing but a sweet poison. How could the great beings understand that the "Chaos Formless Technique" they practice must sever all karmic bonds?

Three days later, at the ancestral hall council, the Mystic Fire Mirror and the Nest Palace Decree were placed side by side on the bronze altar.

Sui Huang raised the burning oak staff: "Without the sage Zhou Yi's guidance, we would still be drinking raw blood."

The model of the house that floated in the You Chao clan's hand suddenly expanded, enveloping the entire council hall in a defensive barrier. The twelve elders exchanged glances, seeing the young Zhou seated at the rear bathe in a hazy light, whose presence rivaled the imposing aura of the two Great Dao Realm Venerables.

"The princess's seat…" the white‑haired Shaman was about to speak when a thunderous dragon roar came from the East Sea direction.

Zhou Yi toyed with the newly acquired He Tu fragment, and a system prompt whispered in his ear: 【Hidden Quest Triggered: Mystery of He Luo】.

He watched the endlessly arguing elders, his figure gradually fading into the void; compared to power games, the star map revealed by the Luo Shu was far more worth exploring.

After all, the countdown of the Great Calamity for sealing gods has already begun to flicker along the Heavenly Dao's path.

Yin Chao rose instantly to reply: "If Brother Zhou Yi had not supported us, the True Lord of Fire Virtue and I would still be lingering at the Golden Immortal threshold. This heavenly gift should have belonged to him."

Indeed, the weight of merit added twice is enough for Zhou Yi to strike the quasi‑Saint peak.

Yet the young cultivator chose to share the opportunity with others, solely to accelerate the Human Race's overall rise.

"A self‑sacrificing heart is the foundation of a thriving clan," Sui Huang stroked his long beard, his voice booming like a great bell through the hall, "With a leader of such character, how could our clan not prosper?"

The vigorous support of the two founding Human Ancestors instantly quelled the swirling undercurrents within the council hall.

The elders who had intended to object exchanged glances, finding all rebuttals pale and feeble.

In fact, Zhou Yi's initial scheme was more circuitous. He planned to cultivate several merit cultivators, boosting the clan's strength while amassing reputation, paving the way for future dominion.

Yet Sui Huang's and the You Chao clan's direct endorsement accelerated the whole process by several centuries.

In this simple Honghuang era, the Human Race was united like iron plates, all thoughts devoted to resisting heavenly disasters and the oppression of powerful clans.

When eight hundred tribal elders bowed in unison, a celestial tone of the Heavenly Dao sounded from deep within Zhou Yi's Purple Palace: "The Human Race princess returns, fortune empowerment activates, granting ten thousand points of destiny power, the ancient Saint Body Great Completion secret method."

The young leader suppressed the tremor in his heart, outwardly maintaining a composed demeanor.

The weight of this generous gift far exceeded expectations. Ten thousand destiny points can exchange for Preheavenly Spiritual Treasure‑grade cultivation resources, and after the ancient Saint Body Great Completion, even confronting the true form of the demon‑emperor Taiyi Shen would be a battle within reach.

This means the Human Race truly now possesses the capital to stand in Honghuang.

"Having accepted the heavenly mandate, we shall bear the title of Human Ancestor," Zhou Yi suddenly declared, his voice sweeping Mount Buzhou, "I hereby vow to lead the Human Race to break through the nine‑layer heavens, making the Shaman and Undead clans bow in submission."

The character "Heng" in the title both echoes his name and implies everlasting permanence. Yet this boast made some elders shake their heads in silence; the Human Race now struggles merely to survive, let alone surpass the dominion of heaven and earth.

Facing the myriad doubtful gazes, the white‑clad youth simply stood with his arms crossed. He knew that when the first Human Race battle flag rose atop Mount Buzhou, all criticism would vanish like smoke.

Within the Human Race's sacred temple, Zhou Yi ran his hand over the carved totem stone pillar and spoke gravely: "Do you realize we still lack a key to unlock civilization compared to the eternal Honghuang great clan?"

"Please enlighten us, sir!" Sui Huang's torch illuminated his face, the descendant of Shennong who tasted a hundred herbs, his pupils flickering with a flame of curiosity.

Below the stone steps, the twelve tribal elders simultaneously held their breath; having known fire's illumination and shelter's protection, they now sensed they would witness another miracle.

"A people without memory is like a herd of beasts living by the water and grass," Zhou Yi's fingertip traced the varying grooves on the pillar, "The secrets sealed in jade slips are ultimately just the sand flowing from an immortal's fingertips."

He turned to the laboring crowd in the plaza, smoke rising from the newly built earthen kiln, and said, "I will grant every clan member the power to record their inner voice; we shall create a symbol imprint belonging to the Human Race."

The You Chao clan stroked the bone blade at his waist and mused, "Like using knots to tally prey?" The sage who once led the tribe to build nine‑tiered towers now seemed a novice apprentice.

"No, it's a picture that tells spring sowing and autumn harvest, a pattern that records birth, aging, illness and death." Zhou Yi drew sun, moon and stars on the compacted earth:

"When a mother inscribes blessings on a pottery jar, when a hunter marks beast tracks on a cliff, when a child sketches the world with a wooden stick on sand, that is the true civilizational foundation for all beings."