Chapter 288: External Cheats, Emperor

Houtu instructed Fengxi, telling this trusted minister that he must not slip up.

After all, this is a world‑wide announcement facing the entire Honghuang universe.

If Fengxi runs into trouble, it's Nüwa who will lose face outside.

Of course.

If Nüwa loses face… there's a saying: when the lord is humiliated, the minister dies.

Fengxi is basically done for.

So, when Houtu hurriedly left this small treasury with the materials, Fengxi rallied his spirit to the utmost in this hall.

He familiarized himself with the procedures in rapid succession, entering each key, constantly preparing for the unprecedented grand spectacle to come.

"Let me think…"

Fengxi scratched his head, "What was the permission to use the Xuanhuang Mountains and Seas… the password again?"

"Huh, I remember now!"

He slapped his forehead and began to work.

Fengxi was very careful and also extremely cautious.

Because this is where Nüwa's treasury is located, it has been fitted with too many defensive measures.

That seemingly calm sea surface, those seemingly eternal mountains… besides Nüwa herself, no one knows whether a tiny disturbance might trigger an explosion, turning into destructive calamitous force.

This kind of Xuanhuang merit can make even mighty beings drool; naturally it has its wonderful uses.

Perhaps, when activated under specific conditions, it could even produce boundless terrifying carnage.

And judging by the vast amount of merit Nüwa possesses here…

Fengxi decided to follow his heart, doing everything according to procedure.

Facing one seal after another, answering question after question, he patiently entered the answers Nüwa had entrusted over the ages.

These questions were all over the place, and the answers were equally bizarre.

For example—"Fuxi is forever Nüwa's younger brother."

Another example—"Nüwa is forever Fuxi's older sister."

And so on.

Through this tiny detail we can see the tension in the relationship between Fuxi and Nüwa, and Nüwa's eager ambition to seize the main voice in the family, vividly reflecting a supreme female deity of Honghuang who aspires to set straight gender relations—a great ideal: the goddess, from now on, stands up!

Fengxi's mind wandered with some off‑key thoughts.

Only after unlocking the 129,600 code locks and truly gaining control over the boundless Xuanhuang Mountains and Seas did he perk up and steady his mind.

"Mission accomplished!"

Fengxi let out a light breath.

Then he began to pull the view, exercising his Honghuang administrator's authority to overlook heaven and earth, perceive the ages, and closely follow his superior's silhouette.

The table was set, the chairs were set, the fruit was served…… this time he's going to eat melon and watch the show!

……

Houtu strolled leisurely, wandering around Mount Buzhou.

This is where he's selecting a site to create humans.

And as she walked, she vanished without a trace, the whole person gone.

In the next instant, a richly attired Nüwa appeared.

She wore the most gorgeous, brilliant, eye‑catching robe, gathering all the colors of heaven and earth, utterly transcendent and beautiful.

Nüwa replaced Houtu.

It is Nüwa who creates humans, not Houtu.

Thus, it also leaves humanity a final safeguard.

If humanity still proves unworthy, even after Nüwa poured in so many resources she couldn't prop it up, losing in the struggle for the protagonists of heaven and earth?

Then humanity could still hold up the Nüwa Emperor's banner, preserving some vital strength.

—At present, the era is openly the Wu‑Yao war, not a humanity‑Yao calamity.

Under the banner of the Nüwa Emperor, once the Yao race takes the victory's fruits, they will likely spare humanity.

But such a humanity, while not facing total annihilation, cannot avoid a decline from which it cannot recover.

Because this premise assumes the gathered strongest military force of humanity—the Wu Clan, forged from most excellent seeds throughout history—has collapsed!

Humanity, its elite all lost!

No more talk of contending for Honghuang, unifying the cosmos, becoming the protagonists of heaven and earth.

At best, a merely strong clan protected by the Great Luo must merge into the Yao collective and obey the edicts of the Yao‑god lineage Heavenly Court.

At that point, the Yao Emperor and Yao Marshal wouldn't bother to exterminate humanity completely—after all, they'd want to save some face for Nüwa.

This is the benefit of "Nüwa creates humans."

What if it were "Houtu creates humans" instead?

If the Wu Clan loses, humanity can't avoid being buried with them.

Unlike the former case.

Though barely clinging to life, perhaps one day the tides will turn and a chance to rebound will appear?

No one can say for sure.

In humanity's arrangements, Nüwa can also be said to have painstakingly planned.

All retreat routes have been prepared…… although it's the choice made in utter helplessness.

"Ah…… humanity."

Nüwa's face bore a kind, tranquil smile; at this moment the radiant gentleness of her maternal light dazzled who knows how many eyes.

Just beneath the smile were eyes rolling about wildly, and muttered self-talk.

"What relation do the people I, Nüwa, created have with Houtu?"

"Not at all!"

"I am ultimately the Demon Emperor; creating humans is merely to verify the Dao of creation… What's this about heaven and earth's protagonists battling for supremacy, what's this about the human and Wu clans being unclear… All of it is irrelevant!"

"You wicked-hearted lot, don't even think of aiming your schemes at these creations of mine… Otherwise, if I catch you?"

"Ordinary Demon Gods of the Demon Race, provoking me this mighty Demon Emperor… What are you trying to do? Want to die?"

"That's rebellion against superiors!"

"The emperor must not be insulted… Must be slain on the spot to warn others!"

"Otherwise, the Heavenly Court's system is in peril!"

"Nüwa's voice was very, very soft."

"But…"

"At this moment, who among those able to pay attention to her would be weak?"

"They are all administrators existing between heaven and earth; the Dao is with me."

"Moreover, Nüwa has not yet implemented any targeted shielding or isolation."

"So, these words were heard crystal-clearly by the ears of the three thousand Great Luo."

"Their expressions varied."

"Some had twitching mouths, some were torn between laughter and tears… very interesting."

"As for this, Nüwa seemed still unsatisfied."

"One side, while trekking through Mount Buzhou, she casually plucked a gourd vine and swept the path ahead."

"Meanwhile, she continued muttering, seeming to talk to herself but actually issuing threats."

"The birth of humanity is a blank slate, without cause or effect… According to the Demon Race's enacted population protection law, they have the right to protection."

"To punish without teaching is absolutely unacceptable!"

"Moreover, humanity is equivalent to my offspring and descendants; it is the Demon Emperor's inheritance, nothing could be more noble."

"Unless their wings have hardened, they have their own ideas, and know they must bear responsibility for wrongdoing… If they then rebel against the Demon Race, the great Heavenly Court could then tearfully execute them."

"A prince who breaks the law shares the same guilt as a commoner, right!"

"Nüwa was laying out excuses, finding all kinds of reasons for humanity."

"This caused some mighty Demon Gods to blink, speechless."

"They looked at each other, all shaking their heads."

"Within the Heavenly Court, a group of Demon Emperors and Demon Marshals gathered together, surrounding Di Jun."

"Di Jun said to those beside him: "Nüwa… you really are so thoughtful.""

"Considering humanity to this extent, we've walked the limit of the rules we jointly established… Tsk, is it really necessary?"

"The Demon Emperor sighed."

""Di Jun, fellow Daoist… if you were to swap places and stand in the same position as my younger sister, I think you wouldn't be any better off than she is." Xihuang laughed from the side, "How many years have passed—who still doesn't know whom?""

""The big shots' moral bottom lines are actually about the same… Last time at the Zixiao Palace, everything was made clear.""

""What's the point of roaming the Honghuang?""

""It's nothing but to earn a meal.""

"Xihuang joked, alluding to the shady maneuvers of the Demon Race's high-ranking officials at the second Zixiao Conference—eating the upstream then downstream, selling the upstream then downstream."

"One moment taking the Dao Ancestor's money to fight the Wu Clan in a duel; the next taking the Wu Clan's bribes to pressure the Dao Ancestor."

"And while appearing to side with the Wu Clan, a turn of the hand would shove Nüwa into the great pit of the holy position."

"Such back-and-forth, hopping left and right on the edge of being beaten… Compared to Nüwa desperately digging loopholes in the game rules now, how much better could it be?"

"They're all about the same."

"As Fuxi said."

"Those willing to plunge into the murky waters of the Honghuang catastrophe—each one isn't just after a meal, or perhaps to fulfill their ideals and ambitions?"

"If you truly seek tranquility and nature, you could hide in your cave dwelling for thousands or myriad yuanhui and never come out!"

""Yeah, everyone has something they seek." Di Jun sighed, rubbed his brow, skipped the topic, and turned to Nüwa's response to creating humanity."

""Nüwa, the supreme achiever in the realm of creation." He said, "I can envision that among humanity there must be profound mysteries, having reached the limit of the unseen game rules.""

""Moreover, there might even be a temporary breakthrough beyond the norms.""

"Di Jun said this was speculation."

"But his tone was too certain, firmly determining Nüwa's actions."

"In fact, Di Jun's speculation was correct."

"After all, he is an ancient deity who has overlooked heaven and earth through endless ages, his eyelashes empty, and many things can be guessed correctly just by guessing."

""A breakthrough beyond the norms…""

"Báizé the Demon Marshal sat at Xihuang's lower side, one hand livestreaming Nüwa's preparations for creating humanity, the other chatting with colleagues."

""For a species, to gain an advantage… the entry points are nothing more than these few.""

""Either it has strong reproductive capacity, capable of waging a sea-of-people tactic.""

""Or it has strong individual potential, with the possibility of a qualitative change suppressing quantitative change.""

""Or else it has the highest growth potential, making it easy to achieve a fundamental elevation of life.""

"The Demon Marshal listed them one by one."

"Finally, he chuckled, "I think I can roughly guess Nüwa's thoughts…""

""In the era of great war, troop numbers are vital; the reproductive capacity of humanity won't be too weak… at the very least, it's far stronger than that of our Demon Race's top clans.""

However, once reproduction gets underway, the bloodline constitution will inevitably suffer some drawbacks… Nüwa should think of making up for it.

They might begin to work on the true spirit, making some arrangements in perception, intelligence, and the like.

Tsk tsk tsk—Báizé clicked his tongue in amazement. "It is said that the Wu Clan's ancestral witch Houtu has made extraordinary achievements in the way of the true spirit… What if Nüwa had consulted her?"

Báizé shook his head.

He said, "May I ask for advice?"… but the senior demons present all understood.

Besides the true spirit, in terms of the human constitution, Nüwa should also think of unique ways to make up for deficiencies. Báizé spread his hands. "At that point, the opponents our demon youths face could be quite formidable."

All of this, from my perspective, considering the biggest loophole Nüwa could exploit, is the worst-case scenario… you just need to hear it.

If that's really the case, it's indeed quite bad. Di Jun's expression didn't change much; he remained very calm. "Just in case, we demons also need to prepare some countermeasures."

We don't actively cheat… but if the opponent is suspected of cheating, we can't be too rigid; we must cling to the rules.

Di Jun said slowly.

Oh? I don't know what good plan the demon sovereign has? Yao Marshal Jimeng asked curiously.

Naturally, we start with the foundation of our demon race… Di Jun smiled. "I intend to create something, spread it across heaven and earth, to greatly strengthen the demon race, elevate the spirit, and cleanse the bloodline."

Our demon race may not have much else, but we are numerous… Even if only one in a quadrillion of our countless offspring gains some benefit and insight, that would be enough to offset the hidden move Nüwa has left for humanity.

Di Jun said this, and the powerful beings present already understood.

This thing is the Emperor's Flowing Elixir! Di Jun's smile grew wider. "It combines the wonder of the sun and moon's rotation, the foundation of all life, borrowing the universal illumination of the bright moon, transforming into endless golden threads."

If Nüwa goes too far, producing oddball after oddball among humanity… then we will scatter the Emperor's Flowing Elixir down every day.

If Nüwa makes fewer small moves? Then we will also restrain ourselves a bit.

Don't drag this great calamity into the abyss of utterly destroying the rules, ending up fighting just for the sake of fighting.

At bottom, our original intention is to argue for the path of humanity… the demon race speaks of reality, the Wu Clan speaks of ideals.

Let's see whether reality moves toward ideals, or ideals collapse under their own flaws.

Di Jun concluded.

Here, the various demon gods and Yao Marshals are now praising his wisdom and grandeur, able to consider the big picture, thinking of the welfare of humanity.

Speaking of flaws… Donghuang suddenly said, his eyes gleaming, "Then… how are the preparations for the 'Witch‑Slaying Sword' going?"

Almost ready. Yao Marshal Báizé said in a low voice, "With humanity in place, this sword can now be forged."

This sword is invincible, best at killing the person and the heart… the Wu Clan has peerless martial prowess, but we don't know if they can withstand this strike that springs from the spirit.

If they cannot withstand it, their ideals will shatter, their beliefs will break… the vast Wu Clan, even if not utterly annihilated, will surely suffer grave vitality loss.

This is the genuine, non‑fictional loophole of their idealist faction… there is no room to dodge.

Báizé commented.

Indeed. Xihuang nodded in agreement beside him, "This sword cannot be escaped… however?"

This is a calamity, and also an opportunity.

If humanity and the Wu Clan can withstand the beheading of the Witch‑Slaying Sword, face their flaws and make up for them, be reborn in fire… then they will truly have the qualification to stand as protagonists of heaven and earth.

Because, that is equivalent to the heart tribulation an ordinary cultivator faces when proving the Dao and attaining the Great Luo!

Our Honghuang humanity most needs such a collective will…

When Xihuang said this, all the gods fell silent.

After a long while, Di Jun chuckled and shook his head, "If humanity can truly succeed in this trial, what does it matter if we let them win?"

It's just that the difficulty here… never mind.

Yeah… it's too hard.

Fuxi sighed.

After sighing, his gaze drifted, looking toward Mount Buzhou.

There, Nüwa piled up a huge altar, offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, to Pangu!

(End of chapter)