Chapter 12: I Really Want to Progress

The Heavenly Court's emperor, empress, officials, and various ceremonial guards together formed a grand celebratory procession, bestowing endless "imperial nectar" along the way as a grace; wherever they passed, plants and spirits came to life, beasts gained intelligence, and myriad demons looked up in reverence.

The procession arrived at the foot of East Wilderness Shouyang Mountain and saw the already enlightened Lady Nüwa, as well as countless clueless naked primitives scattered across the land—these were the first humans molded by Nüwa from clay.

The Heavenly Emperor and other great divine beings of the Heavenly Court came forward to congratulate, and the newly enlightened Lady Nüwa happily caught up with her old classmates, sharing her insights on attaining sagehood.

But it's a pity that your rank is too low; while the great powers chat and catch up, you can only stand guard at the outermost perimeter, and since those great beings have mystical shielding, you have no chance to hear the sages' discussion of the Great Dao.

Bored, you could only watch the primitives crawling all over the ground...

Your past-life memories tell you that this group of primitives, indistinguishable from beasts, will in the future overthrow the Heavenly Court, create boundless slaughter, nearly exterminate the entire wilderness, and implicate you and the Golden Flood Dragon Clan to utter ruin.

You hesitated a moment, considering whether to cut the Gordian knot with a swift blade, trying to nip humanity in the bud, and you chose: (?)

Recalling your past life as a human, you began teaching them to build houses from wood and earth, then to use fire… each of your "inventions" was nothing new to the Demon Race.

To commend your diligence, the Heavenly Emperor granted you a drop of ancient true dragon blood, also offered a few words of encouragement to the Solar Star Lord, and your teacher, who boasts of being the top loyal hound, was overjoyed and resolved to train you even harder upon returning.

The great beings' sense of time is usually rough; a celebration and reunion stubbornly lasted several years, and by the time Lady Nüwa and the Heavenly Court's great beings finished catching up, you had already organized humanity to complete nine years of compulsory education, with basic communication posing no problem.

"Isn't there a way to just let me write directly?"

Sensing that things weren't simple, Zhao Si scratched his head and carefully analyzed:

"Logically, kneeling before humanity will definitely get me sent to the Execution Platform for Demons; the lesson from the previous simulation round fully proves this."

But to the simple primitives, each of your actions astonishes them into loud exclamations, and their admiration for you even surpasses that for Nüwa who created them.

With a reach, Zhao Si pressed down hard:

Better to forget slaughter; I can't get past that mental hurdle, so I'll kneel first, then reload and choose slaughter if I fail.

Although you were initially uneasy, fearing the Heavenly Emperor would see you as a demon traitor, after a few exchanges you relaxed, convinced that this time the Heavenly Emperor would not make things difficult for you but might instead offer an opportunity for advancement.

You know this full well, but since you've already decided to back humanity early, you won't give up—after all, any progress you make in the Heavenly Court is false progress, humanity as the protagonist of destiny will sooner or later overthrow the Heavenly Court, so if you don't now secure merit by following the dragon, how can you advance?

Lady Nüwa: …

Then you began teaching them to speak one by one, forbidding them from emitting the mournful, wailing long cries of the high apes.

Your teacher, the Solar Star Lord, slid forward on his knees to the Heavenly Emperor's feet, anxiously saying you were his disciple, only over four hundred years old, young and ignorant, and hoping the Heavenly Emperor would forgive you…

But the Heavenly Emperor wasn't angry; instead, he smiled, called you over, and personally asked how your studies at the Heavenly Court were going.

Zhao Si's eyes flickered; at this stage the Heavenly Court's main body had not even come into direct contact with humanity, so it was naturally impossible for them to harbor hostility toward humans.

You stepped forward, lifted each primitive one by one, first gently washing off the dirt on their bodies, then dressing them in leaf-made garments; after this makeover, the primitives finally had a semblance of humanity.

Thinking of this, you worked even harder…

Ah? Too extreme!

Zhao Si was utterly helpless; again like this, he had to die twice before he could set his own strategy…

You chose option B, kneeling early to toil as an ox and horse for the protagonist of destiny, gambling on a future!

"Hmm, still not dead?"

"A: Frantic slaughter! I will overturn all creation! B: Kneel early to toil as an ox and horse for the protagonist of destiny, gambling on a future!"

"But think about it: the reason I would be sent to the Execution Platform for Demons for siding with humanity is actually because the Heavenly Court had already grown hostile toward humans at that time, so after clearly kneeling, the Heavenly Court would judge me as advocating surrender, an enemy harming its interests, and of course one does not go easy on an enemy."

After choosing the kneel option, Zhao Si had long been waiting with a bitter face for the protagonist to swiftly kill himself, but unexpectedly, Di Jun had no intention of striking down traitors.

The Heavenly Emperor and others also noticed the changes in humanity, and curiously asked, gazing at you surrounded by the crowd, "Who are you?"

"So…"

Your actions aroused curiosity among the other ceremonial guards, but they saw no problem, since the peoples under the Heavenly Court vary in civilization level, and the Court has always supported backward groups; thus your enlightening of humanity was merely a "literacy drive" in their eyes.

But what about now?

The Heavenly Emperor highly praised your voluntary literacy work for the new species, calling you the most responsible of the next generation, the Heavenly Court's future hope-star.

Everyone laughed while watching you conduct the literacy drive, yet inwardly looked down on you, thinking you lacked foresight; although literacy is good, today is the big day when the Heavenly Emperor meets his fellow senior brothers and sisters, everyone dressed splendidly to catch his eye, you're so busy and disheveled—what if the Heavenly Emperor forms a bad impression of you?

Humanity: "Mom!" (they wept and knelt down)

Moreover, with no hostility, Di Jun remains the mighty lord who embraces all myriad races of the wilderness; his broad vision easily encompasses humanity, and since the Heavenly Court already hosts countless races in utter disarray, humanity could not possibly be so abstract as to exceed even Di Jun's capacity—adding one more makes no difference.

Meanwhile, houses were built, clothes became customary, fire was mastered, the monogamous marriage and family system took hold…… you even began teaching everyone cultivation, and humanity's aptitude is extremely high—many casually practicing have become immortals.

So, when Lady Nüwa was about to check on her lovely creations, you had already organized thousands of men, women, young and old who had just entered civilization to shout "Mom!" at her collectively.

At the beginning, humans were neither truly good by nature nor innately evil, merely ignorant; under your half‑concerned, half‑forced rod discipline, this group of primitives with dull, vacant eyes became obedient, doing whatever you told them and regarding you as the "Monkey King".

You unintentionally seized the chance to advance, successfully showing yourself before the top great beings, and now you can truly make great progress!

……

(End of chapter)