Chapter 157: Key Information

You Chao raised his hand, forming a Nine Palaces formation to shield the warrior, and said warmly: "This is the Iron Law personally issued by the Eight Ancestors; even a Saint visiting must still receive transmission. This child guards our clan's backbone; I hope Brother Dao will be magnanimous."

Miao Le's eyes flickered at the words, then laughed brightly: "It seems this humble Daoist was presumptuous." He turned his gaze toward the distant banners: "Just now I observed a hidden nine‑dragon formation in the camp; I wonder…"

"Brother Dao, your law eye is like a torch." You Chao understood and snapped his fingers; from the clouds manifested a hundred‑thousand phantom weapons: "This is the Twenty‑Eight Constellations Battle Formation passed down by Emperor Xuanyuan; if you, fellow Daoist, do not decline, you may step to the Star Platform for a closer look?"

As the two walked on air, Miao Le's peripheral vision caught the camp below. The young warrior still stood at the post like a spear, the setting sun stretching his shadow long, merging with the chain of beacon towers.

The Human Race's military system was forged single‑handedly by Human Ancestor Zhou Yi; at this moment You Chao was facing the mysterious platform, unfolding a strategic sand table, planting the battle flags one by one onto the sand dunes:

"Since the establishment of the four divisions—Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain—our army has formed a complete offense‑defense system: the Wind Camp (Feng Bo Army) handles intelligence reconnaissance; the Forest Division (Qingmu Army) is dedicated to medical logistics; the Fire Banner (Chi Yan Army) commands assault and breakthrough; the Mountain Camp (Xuan Jia Army) constructs the defensive line."

Miao Le, the Great Master, felt his fingers trembling on the jade tablet; when he heard "the five thousand elite of the Chi Yan Army are all at the Golden Immortal realm," his Dao heart nearly faltered.

He stared at the dancing army‑soul phantoms on the sand table; those red qilins forged from battle intent left scorching marks on the sand with each step.

"Only three hundred years…" Great Master Miao Le performed the Jade Pure Technique to calm his mind. He recalled that the last time he came to spread the Dao among the Human Race, the tribal elders were still fretting over how to repel ferocious beasts.

Now the Golden Immortal formation before him, though not as massive as the million‑strong armies of the Witch and Lich races, exuded a palpable martial Dao killing aura that even made this Great Luo Golden Immortal feel a blade's edge at his back.

When You Chao displayed the 129,600 bronze war puppets stored in the Suihuo Cave, Miao Le could no longer hold back: "The solar essence at the core of these war puppets—could it be taken from…?"

"The true solar essence scattered when the Demon Emperor Qun fell," You Chao said, gently stroking the star patterns on the war puppet's surface. "Human Ancestor led us to excavate seven Demon Emperor tombs."

Far atop Shouyang Mountain, Zhou Yi set down the turtle shell, gazing at the surprised expression of Miao Le that appeared upon it, a smile curling at his mouth.

Before him floated thirty‑six jade pendants engraved with Saintly Daoist runes; these were supposed to become the moral aphorisms of the Tai Qing Sheng Ren a millennium later, but now he was re‑forging them with Human Dao qi.

When Miao Le finished his inspection, the Tai Chi talisman hanging at his waist was already tinged with a faint red dust aura.

He stood on the tribal plaza, looking up at the merit monument; at the top was a proverb Zhou Yi had carved with his fingertip: "Human Dao does not borrow heavenly might; the torch of civilization illuminates the Honghuang."

Below the inscription, densely recorded were the seven hundred and twenty victories of the Human Race over the Demon Race in the past three hundred years.

Passing through the Sui Ren Cave, Miao Le heard children's chanting: "Observe the Way of Heaven, uphold the conduct of Heaven, it is fulfilled. Therefore Human Ancestor said: Heaven issues a killing intent that moves stars and changes constellations; Earth issues a killing intent that brings forth dragons and snakes upon the land; Humans issue a killing intent that causes Heaven and Earth to repeat…"

Returning to the thatched hut, Miao Le took out jade silk, and the sound of the forging hall's hammering reached him, interwoven with a strange rhythm that shook his Dao realm— it was a hundred thousand mortals hammering the post‑natal Spirit Treasure.

Great Master Miao Le, though harboring personal ambitions, still has Human Race blood in his bones; the instinct to revitalize the clan remains etched in his veins.

However, when he delved into Zhou Yi's "Human Race Imperial Law", the furrows between his brows deepened; this widely circulated cultivation method among the Human Race completely overturned his understanding.

As a direct disciple of the Tai Qing Sheng Ren, Great Master Miao Le's original practice was the orthodox Xuanmen heart method passed down from Dao Ancestor Hong Yuan.

Yet the text before him advocated exploiting the body's secret realms, treating the Wheel Sea, Dao Palace and other corporeal treasures as the foundation of cultivation. This runs completely counter to the Daoist sect's emphasis on drawing Qi into the body and refining emptiness to merge with the Dao.

"If the Ren Sect loses the foundational Dao transmission, wouldn't the master's establishment of the sect be empty talk?"

The dust‑sweeping talisman etched a red seal on his palm; Great Master Miao Le watched the Human Race youths practicing the new method on the plaza, while thunderous, otherworldly sounds of secret‑realm breakthroughs rang in his ears.

He deeply understood the Tai Qing Sheng Ren's purpose in sending him to the lower world; he must revitalize the Ren Sect's Dao lineage.

In front of the preaching platform, Sui Huang was directing the clan to set up a Nine Palaces Bagua formation.

Great Master Miao Le, with eyes closed and breath regulated, had already set his strategy: at the assembly three days later, he will not only display the profundities of the Golden Core Dao, but also select ten direct disciples.

When the chanting of the "Huang Ting Jing" drowns out the secret‑realm's roar, that will be the day the Ren Sect regains its teaching authority.

A thousand li away atop Shouyang Mountain, Zhou Yi stared at the swirling demonic qi in the sea of clouds. The Xuan Sword at his waist emitted a clear ringing, reminding him that the Demon Race's army had approached the eastern sea shore. "The Saint's chessboard has its own way, but the fate of the Human Race…" his fingertip brushed the star map engraved on the sword's spine, and the Twenty‑Eight Constellations suddenly lit up, "In the end, it must be written with one's own sword."

The breakthrough opportunity for the Human Race's development became increasingly clear in Zhou Yi's mind; the special potency of the innate spiritual root sparked a flash of insight.

Recalling the original chance at Wuzhuang Observation, Zhen Yuan's ginseng fruit, though imbued with heaven‑and‑earth essence, produced only thirty spirit fruits per millennium, a mere drop in the ocean for billions of clan members.

After repeated deliberation, Zhou Yi finally fixed his gaze on the Peach Spiritual Root. This celestial treasure, if fully matured, could help mortals ascend in daylight, dramatically shortening the thousand‑year arduous cultivation.

Just as the later Heavenly Court relied on this item to forge brilliance, its strategic value is evident.

Reality, however, is like cold water poured over the head; this Honghuang treasure is currently in the hands of Dao Ancestor Hong Yuan, destined to belong to the Yaochi Sacred Land.

Attempting to snatch this from the embodiment of the Heavenly Dao is a self‑destructive path; even after the Heavenly Court is established, there will be no opportunity to seize it.

In the dire situation, a glimmer of hope appeared; the immortal elixir system of the Zhetian world reignited Zhou Yi's hope. When he summoned the system's light panel and his fingertip swiftly swept the dazzling exchange list, he finally captured the crucial information:

【Innate Spiritual Seed: Nine‑Turn Peach Mother Plant】

Grade: Superior Celestial Grade

Exchange requirement: 8,000 Destiny Points

Trait description: originally owned by the Western Emperor Mother of Zhetian; after system optimization it can cultivate offspring plants. The mother's fruit can cause the Supreme to be reborn, while the offspring possess a weakened version of the longevity trait.

A single spiritual root, though precious, cannot solve the Human Race's overall predicament. What truly moved Zhou Yi was the mother plant's ability to proliferate endlessly, which coincides with the evolutionary path of the Honghuang Peach Tree.

Back then, Dao Ancestor Hong Yuan gifted the innate Ren Water Peach to Yaochi, and through grafting offspring, ultimately formed a celestial orchard of three thousand six hundred trees of varying sizes.

In the Honghuang world, celestial fruit rarities have always been the focus of contention. Deep within Yaochi, three batches of spiritual roots are cultivated:

In the middle batch, twelve hundred Peach trees bear fruit resembling amber; they require a six‑thousand‑year maturation cycle, and when cultivators consume them they can summon a rosy light to shield the body, achieving a feather‑like ascension to immortality.