Chapter 289: Nüwa creates humans; the wise perceive the Dao; the sage perceives benevolence; Fengxi perceives……

An altar stood at the foot of Mount Buzhou.

It was magnificent and vast, arising from Nüwa's thought, forged from the void.

On the altar were engraved all manner of things—wind, rain, lightning, electricity, stars……dragon, phoenix, flying serpent, white tiger, golden crow……

Too many to count! It encompassed the myriad phenomena of the vast Honghuang, all natural scenery; and also all the races of vast humanity, their forms modeled here.

Heaven and man were both complete, its wonders endless.

Gazing at any of those engravings, one could feel and touch a most vast will, being led in a daze as if truly present, facing wind, rain, thunder and lightning, or as if transforming into dragon and phoenix……giving an incredibly unfathomable experience.

Even if it were merely an altar.

But it could entirely be regarded as the great encyclopedia of the Honghuang universe.

Moreover, what is most marvelous is.

Those engravings seem not to be static, rigid……

They are moving!

After prolonged observation, though the patterns remained the same, a vitality subtly governed and drove them, making the altar like a truly real world: sun and moon turned, rose and set; wind, rain, thunder and lightning intertwined chaotically, sowing seeds of life; countless races raced across the stage of heaven and earth, never ceasing……

With vitality came change.

With change came……time! Thus.

A faint yet vast long river appeared, flowing without beginning or end.

The River of Time!

An altar, evolving a river of years.

Nüwa is supremely holy, her supernatural powers extraordinary, her creation marvelous and inconceivable.

The tiny River of Years flowed, winding and twisting, connecting to the source River of Time of the vast Honghuang universe.

This process was soundless and silent, yet like the greatest sound being formless, the greatest form being invisible.

In the end.

Nüwa seemed merely to stand upon the altar, surrounded by her own temporal creations.

And it seemed as if she made the entire Honghuang heaven and earth into an altar, trampling it beneath her feet, even causing time to change course, making eras form a ring, worshipping her person!

The altar is a small world; the world is a great altar.

Nüwa stood upon it, facing heaven and earth, facing Pangu, performing the sacrifice.

This is absolutely the most grand and magnificent sacrificial activity to date in this era.

However, although it is a sacrifice, the objects are still heaven and earth, and Pangu.

But Nüwa's attitude cannot be called reverent or humble; she lacked the sincere devotion of ordinary sacrificers, merely going through the motions for show.

After all, what is a sacrifice?

For ordinary beings, sacrifice is ultimately a mental communion with something, achieving mutual harmonious coexistence, opening two-way channels, enabling the borrowing and transmission of will or power.

The weak sacrifice to the strong; the lowly sacrifice to the exalted.

But Nüwa? She is already sufficiently powerful, and sufficiently exalted.

Standing at the peak of the Great Luo realm, in essence of life she is not inferior to Honghuang; in seniority she stands shoulder to shoulder with Pangu—at most a little shorter, not lacking a generation.

Now Nüwa's sacrifice……rather than saying it is a sacrifice, it is more like going through the motions, endeavoring to leverage as great a force as possible for the birth of humanity.

Deep down she never felt herself inferior in character and dignity to heaven and earth or Pangu, let alone the genuine awe and fear of true sacrificers.

Confident and self-reliant, this is Nüwa's unique flair.

Of course, there is also her little mischievousness.

When Nüwa sacrificed to heaven and earth, the situation was still normal; using equal rites, she regarded the vast Honghuang as a fellow Daoist, communicating and exchanging, she gathered a big handful of wool……ah no, it was power.

And toward Pangu?

Compared to sacrificing to heaven and earth, Nüwa seemed to show more respect.

To embody her 'sincerity' and 'respect', she deliberately fashioned a statue of Pangu, modeled after the true form of the first-generation Pangu.

Thus, the problem arose.

If one says, his elder brother is the Mountain-opening Ancestor of the godswindle realm.

Then without doubt, Nüwa is the founder and supreme achiever of the figurine industry.

In figurine-making, she claims second place, and no one dares claim first.

But this time……

Many Great Luo beings watching the live broadcast, each with faces about to split——

That Pangu statue was very lifelike, appearing to pursue a one-to-one likeness……but in the end, oddly being a bit shorter than Nüwa was fine.

In overall shape, there was also a slight discord, making one feel its eye bags swollen, cheeks puffed, as if it had suffered domestic violence, being punched in the face by some unnamed sister after a fierce battle and rising to power.

After Nüwa finished making the figurine, she gleefully set it up, then took three sticks of incense, lit them, her eyes smiling as she bent forward, bowed, then rose again, repeating three times, and inserted the incense into a temporary censer made before the statue.

This process……really has too many flaws.

It made the peeping spectators' expressions strangely bizarre.

Especially in the Heavenly Court.

A group of Yao Emperors and Yao Marshals, together with outstanding Yao Deities, because of Fuxi being under the same roof, the Tuba's true form could not laugh out loud, only able to twist its face, bare its teeth, and grunt, holding back laughter.

"Fuxi……" Báizé seized the chance to speak, taking a deep breath, wanting to say something then stopping, stopping then wanting to speak, finally letting out a long sigh: "Nüwa's figurine technique makes me inexplicably worry for humanity."

"This worry is not about anything else, just about that appearance……fearing that if my hand trembles a little, a whole bunch of defective products will come out!"

"Well, that is indeed a problem." Surprisingly, Fuxi at this moment actually had no anger at all, merely his gaze slightly drifting, as if watching the human creation livestream, but in fact slightly askew, he peered into Buzhou, saw some hall, saw what mountains and seas, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, his words still casually responding to colleagues, "Being born ugly, remaking is not easy……but ugliness also has its advantages."

"After all, handsome faces are a dime a dozen, while ugly appearances each have their own traits, easy to leave a deep impression, very helpful for enriching humanity's appearance database."

"Don't worry that when the time comes to humanity, everyone will feel as if they've had plastic surgery, all the same model……I'm afraid of face blindness."

Xihuang sighed, lightly brushing past Nüwa's mischief, bearing the bearing of a victor.

"Face blindness is fine; that means some kind of fairness..." Báizé shook his head repeatedly, "If beauty and ugliness differ, problems arise... unfairness easily leads to discrimination, exacerbating contradictions."

"If humanity can't even cross this barrier, there's no talk of establishing resolve for the human way, becoming the protagonists of heaven and earth." Fuxi smiled faintly, "Look at the Buddhist sect—Jieyin's series of great vows, he doesn't even break a sweat, aiming to solve all kinds of problems for the human way... things like seeing farther, hearing more, facial beauty and ugliness, etc."

"A sect like this is so responsible, so aspirational."

"What's more, it's an existence that wants to become the greatest race."

"Rest assured...... right?" Fuxi's voice halted, switching to mental transmission, his gaze subtle, "Why do you care so much about humanity? In stance, the Demon Race is opposed to humanity."

"Brother, you're sitting crooked...... say, you thick‑eyed guy, are you secretly increasing your investment among humans?"

Xihuang mentally transmitted a sharp question.

"How could that be? Nothing like that! Am I that kind of demon god?" Báizé denied three times in a row, displaying his noble, steadfast virtue.

Before Fuxi could continue probing, Báizé abruptly shifted the topic, "Speaking of Jieyin, bringing up the Buddhist sect... don't look at how grand his tone is when he makes those great vows."

"Besides those real material needs, there's also solving spiritual problems—gender equality! Appearance discrimination!"

"He claims he can solve these thorny problems... but I actually don't believe it."

"He dares to issue such a bad check... isn't he afraid that one day humanity will come calling for debt?"

"Tsk...... not necessarily." Fuxi gave a strange low chuckle, "If we follow the proper path, solving this mental malady is truly difficult."

"But if humanity's debt collection gets urgent, there are still shady tricks to fool inspections." "For instance, for the gender issue, just roll out a series of sex‑change surgeries—wouldn't that solve it?"

"We can't change everyone's hearts, but we can let those who feel gender discrimination and unfair treatment make a new choice, welcoming a brand‑new life of their own."

"Like someone dissatisfied with being male, craving the various invisible benefits females enjoy, thinking being female is great... they can do this."

"This way, the male‑female issue isn't indirectly solved?"

"Let those troubled by this gain a satisfactory result, defecting from the camp where they feel discriminated against..."

"Fuxi, are you serious?" Báizé sucked in a cold breath, "I feel like your integrity has dropped a bit."

"Nonsense!" Fuxi mentally transmitted an angry rebuke, displeased at being slandered by a colleague, "How can you say my integrity is low?"

"I'll bring this up, but it's not my own idea...... it's the harvest from gathering material outside!"

"One of my incarnations traveled the mountains and rivers, witnessed human culture, once passed through a country."

"There, all beings of that civilization believed in and offered to the Buddha... that's not even anything."

"What's interesting is that there prevails an extraordinary heretical art, adept at inverting yin and yang, swapping male and female..."

"Upon seeing it, my mind was greatly shaken; I then connected it to the Buddhist sect's great vows, which could greatly resolve societal mental‑concept issues."

"Furthermore, by extrapolating one to three..."

"Many thorny problems are thus readily solved... like the ugly‑looking, they can be saved."

"There are three heretical arts that can confuse reality and illusion, mix truth and falsehood!"

"Boys...... boys can also be little fairies!"

Fuxi spoke with confidence.

Regarding this, Yao Marshal Báizé indicated he had been considerably stimulated.

He shook his head, shook it again, wanted to say something but didn't, finally could only sigh.

"The people down there...... they know how to have fun!"

"Over these years, I've held a high position, yet I've overlooked so many interesting things down below."

"Also...... I'm handsome and charming; even my incarnations have many beings actively clinging to me, I've never paid attention to how the ugly‑looking could change their fate."

"Mm..."

The Yao Marshal stroked his chin, gaze thoughtful, "Looks like I need to arrange some incarnations to observe the myriad phenomena of the mortal world."

"This, you have plenty of opportunity...... for example, this humanity."

Fuxi smacked his lips, "Just based on my sister's skill at sculpting figurines, turning fine pieces into landscape pieces...... plus humanity's design and crafting, it mostly leans toward perception."

"The higher the perception, the broader the thought, the more one thinks."

"I deeply believe those few great heretical arts can shine brightly among humanity."

Xihuang said, beginning to chant.

"Reincarnation, rebirth lets one lose at the starting point."

"Fate bestows upon people flawed appearances."

"But one day, the strong‑willed will overturn the shackles of reincarnation, seize fate's throat!"

……

"The Wind Lord's face—I will definitely sculpt it myself!"

Fengxi stood in Nüwa's little treasury, thus swearing.

He was very afraid.

Seeing Nüwa's "supernatural craftsmanship," he suddenly felt uneasy.

Fengxi really didn't want to contribute to humanity's appearance database—ugly can be stylish, ugly can be very unique.

One's destiny must be controlled by oneself.

Fortunately.

Soon, Nüwa fed him a calming pill.

She sculpted a landscape piece of Pangu; perhaps because it was her first try, there were some minor mistakes.

She really began creating humans; a failed mother gave birth to a son named Success.

The finished models of humanity are all handsome men and beautiful women! Nüwa's sovereign hand, craftsmanship concentrates divine elegance.

At this moment, drawing power from heaven and earth, gaining experience from Pangu, she is the center of the universe! Creation is like a brush held in her hand, freely painting and writing, achieving an extraordinary race.

Countless heavenly treasures and earthly gems flew forth at this moment.

Nine Heavens' Living Soil, Three Lights Divine Water, Primordial Spiritual Fire...

All the materials that Honghuang has and does not have are presented together here.

Afterwards, Nüwa used heaven and earth as the furnace, creation as the work, yin and yang as the charcoal, all things as copper, refining and melting all heavenly materials and earthly treasures into one, revealing the mysterious yellow color.

Mysterious yellow... mysterious yellow! This is an alternative name for heaven and earth.

Heaven and earth, mysterious yellow.

Heaven is black, deep and dark.

Earth is yellow, vast and boundless.

The human race that is about to be born will take these two colors as its main body, representing Nüwa's blessing to them, hoping they will possess the qualities of heaven and earth.

Heaven moves vigorously; the human race strives for self-improvement without cease.

Earth's nature is receptive; the human race carries things with great virtue! Black hair, yellow skin...... like heaven's profound and unfathomable wisdom, like earth's sturdy body.

This is the human race!

In Nüwa's hands.

The human race appeared bit by bit, descending into this world.

Throughout the process, Nüwa evolved her Dao, her heart.

Each and every Great Luo who was observing gained something from this.

The Wise Man sees the Dao, knowing that Nüwa's realm is profound.

The Sage sees benevolence, understanding that Nüwa's state of mind is flawless.

Of course.

Besides this Wise Man and Sage.

There is also a rather special exceptional existence.

Like Fengxi.

He, who was eating melons and watching the livestream, went off-topic when Nüwa was making the figurine.

He felt that he might have perceived a special essence of Nüwa—

Old driver...

(End of chapter)