Chapter 779

"I thought you would exterminate them completely."

Yinglong muttered while running errands for Wenming.

They were redefining the Eastern Barbarians, and together with the Fire Master, Cloud Master, and others, they divided the human realm into the Nine Provinces.

Wielding the Opening Mountain Axe, everyone showed respect, and things went smoothly one after another.

The Nine Sons of the Dragon Ancestor were fortunate in this process, yet also unfortunate.

They caught Wenming's eye, and likewise had to go through it.

Whether alive or dead, they must be bound to some objects.

The Xiahou clan wished to cast the Nine Tripods, symbolizing the Nine Provinces!

The elders of the First Dragon Master Divine Dynasty were somewhat unwilling… This was indeed an honor, an elevation, but likewise a shackle, binding the Nine Sons of the Dragon Ancestor in different places, like earth-bound spirits, thoroughly trapped, making it hard for them to intervene later when the Dragon Ancestor Great Sage returns and contends in the Dao with the Great Sage Yinglong.

Unfortunately, the Great Sage Yinglong's attitude was playful, while the Fire Cloud Bird Three Masters' gazes were subtle; inside and out combined into a great force—how could mere arms and legs withstand that?

The Nine Sons fell silent, and finally set out.

They gained considerable fortune, restored the Dragon Master's vigor, strengthened the Dragon Master's prestige, yet were excluded in the game of the Twin Dragons Contending for the Dao.

Yinglong was very pleased, his smile blooming like flowers for a moment, his mood cheerful.

After taking Wenming's sweet dates, they had motivation to work, following him over mountains and rivers, clearing mountains and redirecting rivers.

Sometimes, when interest struck, they even plucked up courage to ask, as in the matter of Shangjun.

"Shangjun, after all, he is Chonghua's child… Are you not afraid he might cause some great commotion?"

"What do I have to fear?" Wenming smirked, "I'm not so low as to stoop to that… It's true I have a doctrinal difference with Di Jun, but I can also defeat him openly and honorably—there's no need to strike at his offspring."

"Furthermore…"

Wenming set down his brush, paused his work, cultivated his spirit, not expending mental energy on the planning of the Nine Provinces Boundary—this is a great project, shaping the foundation for humanity, creating a supreme array that can stand equal to the Heavenly Court's Stellar Array!

Humanity cannot always rely on the Wu Clan's All-Heaven Gods and Fiends Grand Array… that's too absurd!

As long as humanity lacks its own People-Protecting Grand Array, it's hard to say it can stand at the pinnacle of the human way.

——We can't always have a big shot blow a trumpet to suppress the scene, can we?

——That's too shameless!

——Although……

——The Eastern August Emperor doesn't really care about this trivial matter either.

——But after all, humanity itself cares.

——Thus it was destined to be a century-spanning project.

——This way, in the future when the Human Emperor and the Primordial Wu turn against each other, they'll have some leverage……

——Is the All-Heaven Gods and Fiends Grand Array really that awesome?

——We humans also have the Nine Provinces Boundary, capable of suppressing any foe!

——So there arose a grand project.

Dividing the land into nine provinces, using the Nine Tripods as a guide, imitating the heavy artifacts of Honghuang, condensing the supreme legal Dao, they accomplished the ultimate seal formation!

The mountain-opening axe.

The Xuanyuan Sword.

The Heaven-Earth Cauldron.

The Sea-Stabilizing Needle.

And so on, and so forth.

They are the divine weapon traces of the human race's supreme experts, manifested within, blending infinite spiritual mechanisms, capable of slashing through the Myriad Heavens and surpassing eternity.

Imagine such a scene.

When the Heavenly Court's stars fell, within the human race's lands, here a heaven-opening, mountain-opening axe sprang out, there a Xuanyuan Sword was drawn… How thrilling?!

However, such a scene is wonderful, and such work is difficult.

——This is not something ordinary people can accomplish!

Whether it's the Heavenly Court's Heavenly Stars Grand Formation or the Wu Clan's All-Heaven God-Slaughter Grand Formation, none failed to arise from the joint cooperation of countless powerhouses, being the crystallization of peak wisdom, traceable back to the era of the Dragon-Phoenix Catastrophe, with foundations not ordinarily deep.

What does the human race rely on?

——By cheating!

The Xia clan gave the answer.

——We hold the ultimate-version answer, wielding the heaven-opening axe imitation crafted by Lady Nüwa, which is the ancestor of all weapons; from it we grasped a hint of the ultimate seal principle, thus mastering the great power to redefine order like Pangu splitting heaven—it's quite normal!

The reasons are sufficient, reasonable and logical.

Of course, considering the issue of startling allied troops, appearances still need to be kept up.

Thus this project was done day after day, night after night, with subordinates working in three shifts, demonstrating its difficulty.

Every three days a small meeting, every five days a large meeting, gathering the wisdom of countless human talents; various drafts piled like mountains and seas, various brilliant ideas abounded, all presented into Wenming's hands.

He also went through the motions of approval, seeming to constantly adjust… although the slacking-off component was predominant.

Otherwise, the Responding Dragon couldn't find leisure time to inquire about some behind-the-scenes power struggles.

Chonghua's legacy influence and power remain a problem.

The transition of old and new hegemony naturally gives rise to countless disputes…… In the past, the struggle between the Dragon Master Dan Zhu and the Bird Master Chonghua fully elaborated the subtleties here.

However, Wenming ultimately let Shang Jun off.

His words carried great confidence; he disdained to bully the descendants of political rivals.

Moreover…

"Di Jun, although his path is biased, drawing upon the peril of human hearts and desires, striving to attain the Dao… Although this has caused great harm, I too have gained something from it."

"Taking others' benefits, then exterminating them completely… This is somewhat excessive; I will not take such."

Wenming, facing Yinglong, talked and laughed lively.

"Ah?" Yinglong was dazed.

"How? Very strange?" Wenming smiled faintly, "No need to be strange… Although I dislike Di Jun, he pointed out the flaws and loopholes existing in the Human Dao, proposed a plan, and that too is an achievement."

"His mistake is actually just using the loophole for profit…… This is a moral character issue."

"Between us there will be struggle, yet we can also have tacit understanding and cooperation."

"To a certain extent, I will take the strengths and compensate for the weaknesses of the path he opened up……"

"Just like back then."

"The Phoenix Line promoted the Immortal Dao of a hundred flowers blooming."

"The Dragon Line exalted the Divine Dao of Great Unification."

"We defeated the Dragon Clan, schemed to kill the Dragon Ancestor……" Wenming recounted the past, "But in the end, did we block the path of Great Unification? No."

"On the contrary, we also absorbed its essence, and finally forged the Heavenly Court."

"The Heavenly Court, using Great Unification to govern Honghuang, condensed the Human Dao, ultimately raising the realm to become Dao, incarnating as Great Luo."

The oldest batch of divinities, their breadth of mind is extraordinary.

They would not, because of past antagonistic stance, devalue the opponent's path as worthless, arrogant and conceited.

On the contrary, they are skilled at extracting the opponent's shining points, dialectically absorbing them into their own path, constantly strengthening themselves!

Thus, they naturally become ever stronger!

Confident yet humble, embracing all, they ultimately became Pangu.

Struggle is not the only main line; on the contrary, cooperative win-win is the mainstream.

As for why there is cooperation yet they still resort to weapons and slaughter opponents?

——Because they don't want to pay patent fees.

"Now, Di Jun schemed the era with 'Fairness', incarnating as the negative side of Human Dao…… I saw that, suppressed and killed him, the gain was also not shallow."

"From now on, this path will be registered by me, added to my Law Dao Package, becoming a capable officer."

"Fengxi's Blessings and Virtue Great Dao, under this influence, will thoroughly reach perfection——all beings have blessings!"

Fairness

This is a good thing

So……

Take it, you!

Yinglong stared dumbfounded, looking at the earlier who, under the gaze of all beings, angrily denounced Chonghua, as if wishing to slice him into a thousand pieces to sacrifice to heaven, shouting that Equality Great Dao and Fairness Great Dao are irreconcilable, the lord of the Xiahou Line, now actually is so smooth.

Too outrageous!

"Crack!"

Yinglong silently put his dislocated jaw back in place, his whole complexion shifting unpredictably, as if he had thousands of words to say but held back.

"This…… really works?"

After a long while, she then raised the question, "Can Equality and Fairness really coexist?"

"Moreover…… I have always been somewhat confused."

"What is called Fairness, what is called Equality…… and also the Blessings and Virtue Dao……"

Yinglong hesitated and said.

Wenming looked with interest at the confused little lass, beckoned, "Come with me."

He took a step forward, and the ages of time became disordered, walking amidst the Myriad Heavens and Myriad Worlds.

Yinglong followed behind him.

The two seemed to wander aimlessly, yet also seemed to have a clear direction, moving away from the thriving universe and civilization of cultivation.

Until, they paused in a remote time tributary, standing at one of the most remote corners of the Myriad Heavens.

There, the Great Dao lay dormant, vital energy inert, the spirit of Human Dao also withered; in the vast universe, only a few blossoms of civilization flowered, no Immortal Dao, mainly Tool Dao.

Wenming flicked a finger, time became a picture, the green history became a book, reflecting the splendid colors of this place's Human Dao, which he and Yinglong viewed together.

"Look, there is a very distinctive civilization here." Wenming pointed out, "Through it, you can understand the subtle disparity between Equality and Fairness."

"When is Equality mentioned? When is Fairness mentioned? And…… why bring it up?"

"Like this……" Wenming casually picked, "Look, this speaks of gender Equality, not gender Fairness."

"Why propose gender Equality?"

Because the era needs diversified development, each person has strengths and weaknesses; also, to liberate productive capacity, the advancement and spread of civilization's wisdom-mechanism crystal allow different ways to achieve the same goal of labor.

Respecting difference is a need of civilization.

This is Equality…… ensuring every life, regardless of gender, has equal opportunity.

They should all enjoy the most basic era benefits, from growth, to education, to work, to the realization of life's value.

Equality, is a need of civilization.

However, as the road goes on…… when production exceeds demand, costs need compression, Fairness rises.

Wenming talked and laughed, "The population of this universe has a huge gender disparity."

Compared to females, males have stronger physiques, more rational thinking, and thus generally more enduring of hardship…… this helps compress production costs.

So, from a Fairness perspective…… when hiring employees, there is still a preference for males somewhat.

This also seems quite reasonable.

With the same wage expenditure, one can obtain more output…… not choosing males but choosing females, is that fair to males?

Unfair

I strive, I struggle, therefore I get work, reap a career, squeezing the other side, involution killing the female side…… isn't that a natural and justified principle?

This is not wrong.

The same number of individuals creates more value, more products circulating in society…… This is beneficial to society.

Fairness is society's need.

Now looking again…… from the perspective of fairness, does equality still have necessity to exist?

Wenming smiled and asked Yinglong.

Yinglong looked left and right, hesitant and stammering, "It seems there isn't…… but I feel something is off."

"Yeah, something's off!" Wenming smiled satisfactorily, patting Yinglong's little head.

"No matter what, equality cannot be abandoned…… because the ultimate truth inscribed in heaven and earth is——"

"The Great Derivation of Fifty, its use is forty-nine, there is one that escapes!"

"This one that escapes is the root of equality's existence!"

"The evolution of life is full of endless variables."

"Our practice of equality is an expectation for the future, a glimmer of civilization."

"Overemphasizing fairness is the utmost arrogance…… those who try to solidify hierarchies believe their own strength, looking down for a moment, will inevitably make their descendants strong, surpassing peers."

"Little do they know, the rich rely on technology, the poor rely on mutation……"

"As long as the foundation of the universe remains, the existence of variables allows space for mutation."

"Thus the outcome's victory or defeat can never be prematurely concluded."

"A single mutant talent can outweigh myriad mediocrities, leading civilization forward…… and equality exists to safeguard such civilizational hope."

"It extends its utmost care to all beings, merely so that when such a talent arises, they can more easily rise above rather than be trapped to death."

"And the existence of fairness ensures that outstanding individuals reap the fruits of their labor, fostering a healthy atmosphere…… In this regard, equality and fairness become the best partnership."

"The positive and negative aspects of humanity, in this flawless cooperation, achieve humanity's radiance."

"Neither can be lacking."

"This is the greatest blessing! The highest merit!"

Wenming said with a sigh, "I must say, Di Jun promotes fairness, though with ill intent, exploiting workers—if you don't work, there are plenty who will."

"But he indeed did some good, establishing a complete theoretical system that helped us clarify its subtleties…… This can be used for humanity, and for my Dao of Law."

"At the same time, it can also inspire those who come after……"

"We must maintain a balance, a balance between fairness and equality."

"Overemphasizing fairness undermines civilization's future potential; overemphasizing equality drains society's current developmental drive……"

"Those who intend to play chess should ponder and be cautious……"

Yinglong listened, nodding repeatedly.

"Di Jun's research subject is fine…… but his actions are underhanded, making it hard to entrust such authority to him." Wenming said leisurely, "So I severed his tentacle and took over the concept of fairness."

"Afterward, I will enact and promote the Anti-Monopoly Law to limit the infinite expansion of fairness…… At the same time, unite the four great royal courts of humanity to conduct comprehensive social welfare integration, ensuring the practice of equality…… and, legal adjustments, so that equality does not violate the moral bottom line—the legal standard will not be equal for the sake of equality."

"Mm…… after this, Fengxi's little fellow's Five Virtues Way has unknowingly brought merit, morality, and sagacity to full completion."

"Including the already completed merit…… tsk!"

Wenming sighed.

He gazed into the distance, perceiving the source of humanity's Dao.

Yet there, a figure bowed from afar.

Wenming chuckled lightly and returned the salute.

The Five Virtues of Humanity are about to be accomplished!

In the most difficult, unimaginable circumstances, step out that foot of completion!

(End of Chapter)