The Spiritual Attainment of Minghe Chapter 191-200

Chapter 191: Xuanyuan's Ruling the World

The feelings of regret did not last long. Upon self- examination, Houtu felt that she had done her best. Everything she had done was for the sake of the Wu Tribe. She was always a member of the Wu Tribe. For the prosperity of the Wu Tribe, she had done nothing wrong. When you stand at different positions, you should not make sweeping generalizations in right and wrong.

As the anger gradually disappeared, Houtu finally calmed down. The Evil Separation Pingxin had returned to the Nether World from the Sacred Island and now she would stand to lose if she confronted Minghe. Although she was a Sage, she could do nothing about it, because she had been grounded in the Nether World.

The Three Pure Ones and Goddess Nvywa were shocked at Minghe's strength having seen the extraordinary Middle Stage of the Origin. They had never thought that Minghe could make a Breakthrough to the Secondary Stage of the Origin as quiet as a mouse. With the help of the God-killing Spear, the Cauldron of Heaven and Earth, and the intractable Law of Space, Minghe now was invincible amongst the Sages. The two Sages in the West were also concerned about Minghe's power. But now they faced a greater problem of Karma between Zhunti and Hongyun. Although Hongyun offered his seat to Zhunti voluntarily in the Zixiao Palace, at first, he was indeed deceived by Zhunti.

Zhunti was supposed to be relieved when Hongyun died. Now that Hongyun returned from incarnation with a cultivation at the Peak Level of Sage-to-be and a position of Ancestor of the Human Tribe, no one in the Untainted Land dared to offend him. If Hongyun did not die, the Karma between Zhunti and Hongyun should be settled eventually. Zhunti, as a Sage, was theoretically not afraid of the Karma, but he did not want to get his disciples into trouble. After all, it was a Karma related to the position of the Sage.

Perceiving Zhunti's sorrows, Jieyin couldn't help but comfort him and say, "Don't worry. Now that you have had the Karma, you will pay it back someday. Although it's involved with the position of the Sage, Hongyun offered it to you completely on her own initiative after all. Such Karma is not so large that we would not be able to pay it back."

In the Blood Sea, as Houtu compromised, Minghe also calmed down. This time he exposed his cultivation at the Secondary Stage of the Origin in order to frighten the Sages. Although the Secondary Stage was only a little higher than the Early Stage in the level, there was a complete difference in power, which posed a great threat to the Sages.

It was not long before he made the Breakthrough to the Secondary Stage of the Origin. But this time, the Breakthroughs of the Law of Blood and the Law of Spiritual Beings occurred all at once. He had been at the Early Stage of the Origin for a long time, naturally Minghe's strength increased several times after the Breakthroughs.

…

After Xuanyuan suppressed the rebellion of the Nine  Li Tribes, the Human Tribe was unified at last. Xuanyuan then ended the age of tribal alliance. He founded a new country and divided the territory. Eight families formed a group called Jing. Three Jings formed a group called Lin. And so on, three Lins a Peng, three Pengs a Yi, five Yis a Du, 10 Dus a Shi, 10 Shis finally formed a province and there were nine provinces in total.

The nine provinces were Ji, Yu, Yong, Yang, Yan, Xu, Liang, Qing and Jing. Xuanyuan established the Province of Ji as the new capital, exactly in the center of the nine provinces. He also set the official positions. The Great Supervisor of Left and Right supervised all states. There were also Three Dukes, Three Juniors, Four Supports, Four Censors, Six Counselors and Nine Commissioners for Virtue. The total number of the official positions was 120.

When the world was unified, Xuanyuan began to divide the territory and rejuvenate the culture in order to enlighten the people. He then invented a variety of utensils for daily use. One of the Secretaries named Cao Hu invented the upper half of the clothing, while Bo Yu made the rest. Yu Ze invented shoes. From then on, people had proper clothing and need not wear hides any longer. Xuanyuan then made boats according to the principle that leaves floated on the river, and Gong Gu finally invented the paddles to help the boat slip over the water.

According to the discipline of the spinning top, they then invented wheels and transportation became more convenient henceforth. Huang Yongfu invented the pestle first and someone under the command of Xuanyuan invented the cauldron. As a result, people could cook meals with these tools. After that, they built houses and cities, instead of caves, for living in. Xuanyuan and Qibo wrote medical books and cured people's diseases. They decided the names of all existed things and divided the stars into the 28 Constellations. They used the 10 Heavenly Stems as the names of the 10 days and the 12 Earthly Branches as the names of the 12 months. Every period of 60 years was called a sexagenary cycle.

When it came to the political management, Xuanyuan commanded all officials to follow the six prohibitions: The voice should not be loud, the makeup should not be heavy, the clothes should not be gorgeous, the scents should not be strong, the food should not be slap-up and the buildings should not be extravagant. He required all officials to be thrifty instead of wasteful. Xuanyuan thought that one must rule his kingdom with great morality, which would help to promote military power and manage the world. So he set the Ministers of Nine Virtues to civilize the people of nine good deeds, including filial piety, beneficence, politeness, credit, gentleness, modesty, fealty, courage and kindness.

As for the use of talents, Xuanyuan selected and valued the able and virtuous personages. He ruled the world by law and appointed Li Mo as the Grand Judge. People that committed a serious crime would be exiled and the worst kind of criminals would be executed. As for the aspect of farming, there were also a lot of creations and inventions. One of the most distinguished was the land system. The land was infinite and the farming was unregulated in the past. To avoid conflicts, Xuanyuan measured the field by feet. He reallocated the land after dividing it into the shape of the Chinese character Jing which was composed of nine parts. The center part of the land was called public land and belonged to the government. The other eight parts were called private land and farmed by eight different families that would pay taxes to the government. Xuanyuan dug the wells and taught the people to farm and seed timely. He then invented the mortar and pestle, opened up gardens and planted fruits and vegetables. People planted mulberry and reared silkworms. They even brought up beasts and began herding.

As for sewing, Xuanyuan invented the loom and taught people to spin and weave. They produced clothes, shoes, hats, tents, baldachins, armors, flags and so on. As for pottery, they made bowls, dishes, kettles, steamers, plates, jars and stove, etcetera. For smelting, they created bronze tripods, knives, bells, Diao, mirrors, clocks and guns. Additionally  in  architecture,  they built palaces, courtyards, avilions, castle, temples and so on.

In transportation, they manufactured boats, vehicles, the South-Pointing Chariots, Drum Chariots. In weapons, they made swords, spears, bows and arrows, banners, commander's seals, scaling ladders, shells and so on. In daily life, they got cooked food, porridge, rice, wine, meat, ink, tables, lamps, pearls, beds, etcetera and so on.

Xuanyuan had four princesses and 10 concubines. The Grand Princess was Xi Ling, also named Leizu. She planted the mulberry and reared the silkworms all by herself. She  then taught people spinning and weaving. Therefore, she was called the Silkworm Mother. It was said that Xuanyuan met a girl who was rearing the silkworms in the mulberry garden on a warm spring. She wore a golden garment, shining softly and gently. A heap of silkworm cocoons piled on the ground.

Xuanyuan asked her what she wore. The girl began to talk about the skills of sericulture and filature. At that time, people all wore leaves in summer and wore hides in winter. They had insufficient clothing to cover their nakedness all the year round. Xuanyuan thought carefully about the girl's words and realized that sericulture and filature was a great invention, which would provide ample clothing for people. So Xuanyuan married this girl and let her teach the skills of sericulture and filature to all the people.

The girl was Leizu, the Grand Princess of Xuanyuan. At that time, Xuanyuan was 30 years old. After Xuanyuan bestowed the title of the Grand Princess on Leizu, Leizu organized many girls to go up to the mountain, plant the mulberry, and rear the silkworms. However, soon a problem appeared, when they got plenty silkworm cocoons, they had troubles in silk reeling and weaving.

At this moment, among these girls, a small, black-skinned, ugly girl invented the spinning wheels and  the  weaving machine. Xuanyuan got the news and greatly admired it. He told the girl to teach her skills to others. Leizu paired the girl off with Xuanyuan. As a result, Xuanyuan married this girl and bestowed her the title of the Second Princess, who was later addressed respectfully as Momu by people.

As all things had been done, Xuanyuan started to cruise the world and offered sacrifices to heaven and earth on Mount Tai. To the East, Xuanyuan arrived at the East Sea and climbed Mount Wan and Mount Tai. To the West, he reached Kong Tong and conquered Mount Jitou. To the South, he set foot in the Yangtse River, Mount Xiong and Mount Xiang. To the North, he expelled the Yunzhou tribe and verified the commander's seal on Mount Fu with feudal vassals, he then founded a capital at the foot of Mount Zhulu.

Xuanyuan moved around and settled down nowhere. Where the troops settled, the barracks were built, just for self- preservation. Xuanyuan named the official positions 'Cloud'. His troops were called Cloudy Troop. Xuanyuan had travelled around for several years in the Human Tribe of the Untainted Land and finally finished his cruise.

Xuanyuan returned to his tribe. He had accomplished his missions and then fixed his eyes on the secret of immortality. He asked Guang Chengzi and Xuan Nü about the regimen. Years passed by and Xuanyuan had written a couple of books, such as Scriptures of Yin Talisman, Yellow Emperor the Continuation, Eight Secrets in Entering the World, Yellow Emperor the First, Eight Keys to Enter the World, Yellow Emperor the Second, Eight Secrets in Manipulating Life and Death, and so on.

Disciples of the Tribe of Enlightenment naturally followed Xuanyuan wherever he went. They preached the way of the Tribe of Enlightenment while helping Xuanyuan manage the affairs of the Human Tribe. For a while, the Tribe of Enlightenment spread quickly in the Human Tribe and their Luck increased sharply. The Honoured Lord of the Origin was quite satisfied with this condition.

Chapter 192: Jingbae Being Bored With the Cultivation

For the sake of the tribesmen, Xuanyuan encouraged the Human Tribe to dig up the wasteland in case of need for boosting food production. After all, natural disasters often occurred in the Untainted Land. Although Fuxi had invented the Eight Trigrams of divination to predict how things would be going, not all tribes could use it well and prepare for the natural disasters.

The Human Tribe's life got better after decades of development. They all reserved surplus goods and used them to exchange other goods they wanted. But the gap between the prices of different goods was a big problem. They sometimes had to give up the exchange because of the price gap. This oversimple method of exchanging goods failed to satisfy the Human Tribe's requirements.

Xuanyuan had been annoyed at this situation for a long time. He thought about it over and over again and still had no solution. He finally had no choice but to turn to his teacher Guang Chengzi and the disciples of the Tribe of Enlightenment.

Meeting Guang Chengzi and the immortals of the Tribe of Enlightenment, Xuanyuan said, "Masters, now the Human Tribe is well developed and the living standard is much better than before. However, there is a great difficulty regarding trading. The method of barter can't meet the needs of the tribesmen. Do you have any solution?"

Guang Chengzi and the disciples thought for a long time, but also came up with no idea. They were all immortals and by no means knew humans' affairs. How could they figure out a solution to settle the trading problem? They shook their heads one by one, which really disappointed Xuanyuan.

Seeing this, Guang Chengzi said, "We are all on the Way of Celestial Immortality and not exactly good at the human affairs. What about putting the official notice up in the Human Tribe? Maybe someone able to solve the problem will appear."

With this idea, Xuanyuan immediately cheered up. If he gathered the power of the whole Human Tribe, this problem would be certainly easier to cope with. Besides, this affair would obviously garner great Merit. Maybe someone would be attracted to solve the problem. Xuanyuan instantly thanked Guang Chengzi and stepped out. He then ordered people to put up the official notice in the Human Tribe. After Xuanyuan left, Immortal Yu Ding asked Guang Chengzi, "Brother, it's obvious that we'll get the Merit if we solve this problem. Why do you give up the chance to others? Maybe we'll soon come up with a good idea after thinking about it deeply."

Guang Chengzi slowly said, "We can get Merit as a reward for solving the problem, but it's related to the actualizing of Xuanyuan. Now that Xuanyuan has held power in the Human Tribe for decades and is about to fulfill the Merit, if we delay Xuanyuan's actualizing, we'll owe a great Karma. The Merit is quite a good thing, however, it's an external thing on earth that is not physically connected with ourselves. We help Xuanyuan actualize this time and we will absolutely be rewarded with the Merit. Don't be greedy and overly concerned about the Merit."

Immortal Yu Ding more or less understood what Guang Chengzi had said and slightly nodded. However, some disciples of the Tribe of Enlightenment standing aside were not convinced of Guang Chengzi's words. But they dared not to be against Guang Chengzi. After all, Guang Chengzi was the Mentor of Human Sovereign and also their brother.

… On the Sacred Island of Blood Sea, a little girl was playing with the Sacred Beast. The Blood Sea, which had been lifeless for millions of years, now rang with cheers and laughter. Kong Xuan stared at the girl from a short distance away, smiles blossoming on his face. The girl picked a lot of flowers, bounced to Kong Xuan and asked, "Master Ancestor, are these flowers beautiful?"

Kong Xuan gently tapped her head and nodded. He said, "Yes, your flowers are quite beautiful." The girl was exactly God Farmer's daughter, Jingbae. She had cultivated with Kong Xuan since she was born. After decades, she still looked like a little girl at the age of seven or eight. It probably would take hundreds of years for her to grow up.

Jingbae wore a light green coat, with her fair arms exposed in the air. Her long hair was tied up with a red line and fell down. Her tender wrist wore a silver ring, hanging three fingertip- sized silver bells. What an adorable girl she was!

Ever since God Farmer actualized the Human Sovereign, his cultivation had been promoted to the Peak Level of Sage-to-be. But such a promotion needed time to be refined. As a result, God Farmer began the cultivation of Martial Arts of the Human Tribe as soon as he returned to the Holy Land of Human Tribe with Fuxi. No one knew how long the Closed Door Meditation would take. Seeing father's Meditation, Jingbae felt bored and came to the Blood Sea with Kong Xuan.

Kong Xuan looked at Jingbae and smiled. He said, "Jingbae, you've been here for a long time, when will you begin your cultivation? Success relies on perseverance. You shouldn't be of two minds. If you continue to play this way, it'll take you tens of thousands of years to reach the Realm like me."

Hearing the word of cultivation, Jingbae felt depressed  at once. She had cultivated with Kong Xuan, off and on for decades. But she had just been an immortal not long ago, which was the lowest-leveled Earthly Immortals.

Jingbae said unhappily, "Master Ancestor, cultivation is too boring. I've already been immortal and I'll have plenty time to cultivate in the future. Besides, no one dares to bully me because of you and my father. Let me play for a while, just a while, alright?" She shook Kong Xuan's arms while she was saying.

Kong Xuan looked at Jingbae helplessly. He felt regret that he had led Jingbae to the way of cultivation at such a young age. After she became immortal, not only did her appearance remain unchanged, but also her mind, just the same as Ling Zhuzi, Child Attendant of Goddess Nvywa. Although he looked like a child, he was indeed several thousands of years old. He had a cultivation of the level of Golden Immortal, but his mind was just like a child.

Seeing Jingbae's unwillingness to cultivate, Kong Xuan sighed and said, "Jingbae, go and play as you like." Jingbae leaped for joy at the good news and ran like the wind to play with the Sacred Beast on the island.

Kong Xuan stood up and went for Minghe. He bowed to Minghe and said, "Master, I'm back." Minghe was attentively controlling the Cauldron of Heaven and Earth and busy refining something. Kong Xuan had no choice but to wait aside.

A few moments later, the Cauldron of Heaven and Earth calmed down and four Spiritual Treasures flew out. Kong Xuan recognized that they were all Primordial Spiritual Treasures of Low Grade. Kong Xuan was confused. Minghe had stopped refining Magic Weapons for a long time. Why did he want to refine Magic Weapons now? Why were they all at the Low Grade? It was not like him before. After Minghe finished refining weapons, Kong Xuan continued to say, "Master, Jingbae doesn't like cultivating. There's nothing I can do. But the Untainted Land was full of peril and I can't protect her all the time. So I come here to ask you for help. Master, please give Jingbae the Nine Cycles Golden Elixirs. Therefore, I'll feel relieved."

Minghe nodded and said, "Fine. I'll also send Jingbae the four Primordial Spiritual Treasures of Low Grade as gifts. After all, I'm her Master Ancestor too. The four treasures are the Sky- Measuring Ruler, the Coin of Earth, the Impenetrable Clothes and the Flying Cloud Shuttle. In this way, no one can hurt her. Besides, there is one thing that I want Jingbae to do for me."

Kong Xuan was delighted at Minghe's words. He received the Nine Cycles Golden Elixirs and the four Spiritual Treasures and instantly went to Jingbae. The girl was upset and unwillingly said, "Master Ancestor, I don't want to cultivate..."

Seeing Jingbae's expressions, Kong Xuan did not know whether he should cry or laugh. The clever girl was so familiar with Kong Xuan's temper that she instinctively knew how to deal with him. Kong Xuan had no other choice but to answer, "Jingbae, I'm not going to teach you the cultivation. Look, my teacher gave me the Nine Cycles Golden Elixirs just a moment ago. You'll become a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal as soon as you swallow the Elixirs."

Jingbae was extremely excited at the good news. She fixed her bright and shining eyes on the Nine Cycles Golden Elixirs in Kong Xuan's hands. After decades of cultivation, she naturally knew what a Da Luo Golden Immortal was. Now in the Untainted Land, a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal was well known as a master.

Jingbae smiled and asked, "Master Ancestor, if I swallow the Elixirs, I'll become a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal and never need to cultivate, am I right?" She stared at Kong Xuan with great expectations.

Kong Xuan nodded and said, "Certainly. After you become the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, I'll never force you into cultivation. We'll begin to cultivate only if you want." That was the only solution at present. When Jingbae grew up, she would naturally understand the importance of cultivation, though Kong Xuan had no idea how long it would take.

Chapter 193: Jingbae's Going to the Human Tribe

Soon the youngest Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal came into the world. Looking at the excited girl, Kong Xuan said, "Jingbae, you've just become a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal and need some time to get with it, and then you should go and do me a favor. It will be funny, I promise."

First hearing the mission, Jingbae was quite upset, she then turned happy at Kong Xuan's promise. After several days of adaptive training, Jingbae tentatively controlled the power of the Early Stage of Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal. To be honest, Jingbae was talented in cultivation, however, she had no ambitions in cultivation at all. Kong Xuan had no other choice but to promote her strength in a fast and efficient way.

Jingbae felt the overwhelming power and smiled happily. She said, "Master Ancestor, I'm now a strong master and no one will bully me. What can I do for you? Tell me the mission quickly and I want to play more after that."

Seeing Jingbae's determination, Kong Xuan couldn't help laughing. After all, Jingbae was a little girl that didn't know about the grim situation in the Untainted Land. Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals were not invincible at all. What's more, she was only a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal without any practical experience. When confronted with other Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals, she would probably put herself in danger.

Kong Xuan waved his hands and the four primordial spiritual treasures refined by Minghe appeared in front of Jingbae. Kong Xuan introduced them to Jingbae and said, "The four Magic Weapons are refined by my teacher. The first one is the Sky- Measuring Ruler, which is modeled on my teacher's Ruler of Heaven and Earth. It contains the power of Heaven and Earth. The second one is the Coin of Earth, which also contains the power of Heaven and Earth. If you're no match for the enemy, you can attack the enemy with the coin."

"The third one is Impenetrable Clothes, Which has overwhelming Defense Strength. When you wear it, you're invulnerable to all the attacks. The fourth one is the Flying Cloud Shuttle. It's a flying Magic Weapon. You can go as far as 120,000 miles in one second. If you were equipped with these four Magic Weapons, even Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals can't hurt you easily."

Although these four Magic Weapons were refined by Minghe conveniently, they were still primordial spiritual treasures with great power. Jingbae gladly received the Magic Weapons and instantly refined them. She then happily experienced the power on the Sacred Island, just like a child.

After a while, Kong Xuan told Jingbae the mission and said, "Jingbae, now, go to the Human Tribe and find the sovereign of the Human Tribe, Xuanyuan. Show him the Sky-Measuring Ruler and the Coin of Earth, and then you can come back."

Jingbae was confused and asked, "It's easy to go and find Uncle Xuanyuan, but why? Is there anything  extraordinary about the Sky-Measuring Ruler and the Coin of Earth? Why should I show them especially to Uncle Xuanyuan?" Jingbae's head was full of questions and she kept asking them all the time.

Kong Xuan laughed and said, "When you go to the Human Tribe and find your Uncle Xuanyuan, you just show him the two weapons. If he asks you, you can tell him the truth. The two weapons can help him solve the trading problem in the Human Tribe. Xuanyuan is such a clever man that he'll understand what you say. Go ahead, you can play as long as you like after you finish the task." Although she was not quite understood Kongxuan's words, Jingbae still nodded cleverly. She controlled the Flying Cloud Shuttle and went straightway to the Human Tribe. She didn't divert her attention to the landscapes at all. She had put her whole heart into finishing the task and going back to the Sacred Island where she could play as long as she wanted.

In the capital of the Human Tribe, Xuanyuan was very anxious. The official notice had been put up for several months, there was still no solution, though there were a lot of people coming in and out. If it continued this way, the development of the Human Tribe would be restricted.

At this very moment, a little girl suddenly appeared, which slightly frightened Xuanyuan. With the cultivation of Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, Xuanyuan naturally perceived that the girl in front of him was also a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal. He looked at the girl carefully and finally recognized who she was. Xuanyuan involuntarily cried out. "Are you Jingbae?"

Certainly, the girl was Jingbae. She rushed to her destination without a single halt. Jingbae flew into Xuanyuan's arms as soon as she saw him. She laughed and said, "Uncle Xuanyuan, I haven't seen you for a long time. I missed you so much." Xuanyuan gladly held Jingbae up and said, "Jingbae, I missed you too." He then remembered that her cultivation was at the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal and couldn't help but ask, "Jingbae, how do you get such a powerful cultivation?"

Meanwhile, Guang Chengzi and the disciples of the Clan of Enlightenment came in a hurry. Jingbae's sudden arrival captured their attention. They have concerned that a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal came here all of a sudden. As a result, they hurried up to Xuanyuan with the Dipamkara Taoist.

Seeing their nervous expressions, Xuanyuan explained and said, "Don't panic. This girl is the daughter of the Earthly Sovereign. Her name is Jingbae. Well, Jingbae, you haven't told me, how did you get the cultivation?"

Jingbae laughed and said, "All right. Master Ancestor came and asked his teacher for an elixir, which was called the Nine Cycles Golden Elixirs. I obtained the cultivation of the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal after swallowing it. Besides, he also sent me several Magic Weapons. I'm absolutely a master now."

Xuanyuan and Guang Chengzi immediately understood what Jingbae said. The Master Ancestor that she mentioned was the previous Mentor of Human Sovereign, Kong Xuan. His teacher then was naturally Ancestor Minghe. No wonder, Minghe had the Nine Cycles Golden Elixirs. However, it was far beyond their understanding that he would give the Elixirs to a little girl. What's more, he also sent her several Magic Weapons, which were certainly powerful and precious.

Xuanyuan smiled and asked, "Jingbae, what did you come for today? Why not go and play with your father and Master Ancestor?" Xuanyuan was happy for Jingbae, that Kong Xuan protected her so carefully. He had heard about Jingbae's disappearance last time, what a terrible thing! Now Jingbae not only had a cultivation of the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal but was also equipped with many Magic Weapons. Besides, Kong Xuan was a master of Sage-to-be and he watched Jingbae with all his heart. No one would dare to hurt Jingbae in the future.

Jingbae took out the Sky-Measuring Ruler and the Coin of Earth and said, "Uncle Xuanyuan, Master Ancestor told me to show you the Sky-Measuring Ruler and the Coin of Earth. He said that you would soon understand and know how to solve the trading problem of the Human Tribe."

Xuanyuan looked at the Sky-Measuring Ruler and the Coin of Earth. He and the disciples of the Clan of Enlightenment were involuntarily shocked. They had never thought that Minghe would give a little girl the primordial spiritual treasures. Although they were at the Low Grade, they were still primordial spiritual treasures with great power. The other two treasures must be as equally valuable. They couldn't help but sigh with envy. What a rich person Minghe was!

The Twelve Golden Immortals, including Guang Chengzi, quickly calmed down. They all had their own treasures that they were given by the Honoured Lord of the Origin, thus they needed not envy Jingbae. However, the Dipamkara Taoist was different. The Honored Lord of the Origin gave him nothing. Now that even a little girl could be equipped with several primordial spiritual treasures, how could he not envy her?

Nevertheless, Dipamkara didn't want to hurt the little girl. Firstly, she was the daughter of the Human Sovereign. Secondly, her teacher Kongxuan wasn't a man easy to get along with. Thirdly, Minghe sent her the treasures. It meant that Minghe adored her a lot. If he dared to hurt Jingbae, he would absolutely be killed. Lastly, it was too shameless to hurt a little girl. He didn't want to ruin his reputation. Yet he stealthily came up with an idea, which was unknown to everybody. Guang Chengzi looked at Jingbae and realized that Kong Xuan sent Jingbae here to help solve the trading problem of the Human Tribe. Therefore Jingbae could share the merit when Xuanyuan actualized the Human Sovereign. With more merit, Jingbae could promote her cultivation and better protect herself at the same time. This was really a good way to satisfy both sides.

Xuanyuan stared at the ruler and coin and was wrapped in his thoughts. He continually murmured. "The Sky-Measuring Ruler... The Coin of Earth... The ruler... The coin..." After a long time of thinking, Xuanyuan cried out. "Great! Why couldn't I have thought about that! Haha, Jingbae, thank you a lot!"

Guang Chengzi asked, "What have you been thinking about? Is it the solution of the trading problem of the Human Tribe?" Hearing Guang Chengzi's words, all the disciples of the Clan of Enlightenment turned their eyes to Xuanyuan. They had been troubled by the problem for a long time. They all longed to solve the problem in order to get the merit.

Xuanyuan said, "We can make our own ruler and coin from the model of the Sky-Measuring Ruler and the Coin of Earth. We then measure the size of goods with the ruler and mark the value with the coin. As a result, the problem of trading can be easily solved." Guang Chengzi and others were suddenly enlightened. What an easy and effective way! Why didn't they think it out earlier?

Chapter 194: The Actualization of Xuanyuan

Since Xuanyuan had come up with a solution, Jingbae knew her mission was completed, and said gladly, "Uncle Xuanyuan, now that the problem has been solved, I'm leaving. There are lots of fun on the Sacred Island, and I want to go back and play!" She then flew out from Xuanyuan's arms on a Flying Cloud Shuttle and disappeared from the crowd.

Xuanyuan forced a smile, but he had no time to care about it. As the solution to trading within the Human Tribe was found, he was eager to carry it out. Guang Chengzi and the others wouldn't care either. What astonished them was Jingbae's flying speed, reaching 120,000 miles per second. She was riding a flying magical weapon, and such weapons were extremely rare.

With the solution on hand, Xuanyuan gathered some adept artisans to make rulers that would be used to measure the exact size of objects and to make coins that would be used for trading. Since then, the Human Tribe embraced another prosperous period. With the existence of coins, goods could circulate easily and people could get the things they needed by trading. Thus, the Human Tribe thrived. The simplicity of the ruler brought much convenience as well. After 10 years, the Human Tribe was in its heyday. People were coming and going, and hawkers could be heard everywhere on the streets of Chen Du. That was the case in other areas as well. Xuanyuan had an increasing reputation, reaching the ranks of the Heavenly Sovereign, Fuxi, and the Earthly Sovereign, God Farmer.

Right then, Xuanyuan had an intuition that he was going to fulfill his mission. Since there was not much time left, he began to look for a Great Sage to succeed his position as sovereign, just like Fuxi and God Farmer did.

After searching for many years, he failed to find a proper candidate. At that moment, he felt that his actualization date was approaching, so he had no choice but to pass on his position to Gao Yang. Gao Yang was Zhuanxu, the first emperor of the Five Emperors of the Human Tribe.

It turned out Zhuanxu was Xuanyuan's grandson. He was Changyi's son, who was born in Ruo River and lived in Qiong Sang. The seventh star of the Big Dipper, the Alkaid, emitted lights and fell into the stomach of his mother, Nvshu. She became pregnant and gave birth to Zhuanxu. He was conferred in Gao Yang, which was also his alias. Initially, Xuanyuan didn't intend to pass on his position as sovereign to Gao Yang, but he failed to find a suitable person after seeking for a long time, and the actualization was drawing near. As a result, he had no choice but to give his position to Gao Yang and had him prepare for the ceremony.

The ceremony was held on the same platform where the previous two sovereigns had passed on their positions. Xuanyuan and Gao Yang were standing on the platform, with Xuanyuan's mentor Guang Chengzi at the side and the Human Tribe at the foot. The ones who were now consecrated on the platform were the six Sages of the Untainted Land (excluding Houtu), Minghe, the Five Ancestors of the Human Tribe, Fuxi, and God Farmer.

All the consecrated people were present before the abdication ceremony began. Upon seeing them, the audience paid their respects, "Your honor the Sages, the Five Ancestors of the Human Tribe, and the Human Sovereigns". The Sages then waved to allow them to rise to their feet.

After the ceremony, Xuanyuan walked onto the platform and paid his respects to the heaven, "I'm Xuanyuan from the Human Tribe. Now that I am about to fulfill my mission, I hereby concede my position as sovereign to Gao Yang." The audience then began to chant the names of Xuanyuan and Gao Yang.

At the same time, a streak of the Golden Light of Merit shone from the horizon. Its weight was approximately 50% more than that of God Farmer. Xuanyuan would have a much tougher process of actualization without the timely help of Cangjie. Otherwise, he could not even secure his position as the Human Sovereign.

The Honoured Lord of the Origin was delighted to see the number of Merits Xuanyuan had got. Xuanyuan's actualization was assisted by his disciple from the Tribe of Enlightenment. Now that the actualization was achieved, many merits would be gained by his disciples from the Tribe of Enlightenment, especially the Mentor of Human Sovereign, Guang Chengzi.

Right after the Merit fell, it scattered. Everyone who once gave a hand to Xuanyuan got a piece of it, among which 70% went to Xuanyuan, 15% to Guang Chengzi, and 5% to the Mysterious Lady of the Nine Heavens, Jingbae and disciples from the Tribe of Enlightenment respectively.

Honored Lord of the Origin was satisfied that Guang Chengzi got 15% of Human Sovereign's merits. Although Kong Xuan got 20% merits when God Farmer achieved his actualization, it carried less weight than that of Guang Chengzi.

What surprised Honoured Lord of the Origin was that Guang Chengzi infused all the merits into his Smashing Seal rather than using them to improve his cultivation. After absorbing the Merits, the Smashing Seal was upgraded into the highest grade Postcelestial Spiritual Treasure of Merit. Its power  was enhanced greatly and was capable of killing people without causing any Karma.

The other disciples of the Tribe of Enlightenment were jealous of Guang Chengzi, and they considered it a waste to use merits to lift the power of a Spiritual Treasure. If he didn't need the Merits, what was the point of being the Mentor of Human Sovereign?

Dipamkara, in particular, was extremely depressed. He had intended to use the merits to complete his separation but failed to do so due to the lack of merits. If he could be the Mentor of Human Sovereign, he would have completed the separation long ago. Unfortunately, such an opportunity never came to him. At that moment, the enmity he had towards Honored Lord of the Origin grew even stronger. Both Minghe and Zhunti noticed Dipamkara's anger. The three of them were all guests of Zixiao Palace, but Dipamkara had never found the way to reach Sage-to-be and had been trapped at the peak stage of Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal for a long time.

It occurred to Minghe that the reason Dipamkara betrayed the Tribe of Enlightenment and went to Buddhism after the war of God Deification Ceremony might be because Dipamkara found his own method in Buddhism. Dipankara was the first coffin shapeshifter. He was supposed to cultivate the Way of Nirvana which fitted the doctrine of Buddhism. By doing this, he could be the Buddhas of the past in Western Buddhism.

Standing next to Minghe were Kongxuan and Jingbae. As for Liu Er, he began his Closed Door Meditation when he got the Origin of the Red-Bottomed Horse Monkey. Jingbae's cultivation soared after she got the Merits of the Human Sovereign and reached the Late Stage of Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, surpassing all disciples of the Tribe of Enlightenment except for Dipamkara.

Honored Lord of the Origin was a little discontented when he saw Jingbae getting 5% Merits. He then figured that Minghe just took an advantage when all disciples of the Tribe of Enlightenment failed to provide a solution for Xuanyuan. Having no other choice, Guang Chengzi asked Xuanyuan to put up a notice, which offered Minghe an opportunity to earn 5% Merits for Jingbae. After all, Jingbae was just a little girl and the daughter of God Farmer, so Honoured Lord of the Origin was not willing to argue about this issue with Minghe.

While Xuanyuan was absorbing most of the Human Sovereign's Merits, Musen seized the chance to appoint the next Human Sovereign. After absorbing the Supreme Aura of the Human Sovereign, Xuanyuan made a huge breakthrough from the original Early Stage of Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal directly to the Peak Level of Sage-to-be. His vital force was even stronger than that of God Farmer. For the remaining 10% Merits, Xuanyuan learned from Guang Chengzi and infused them into his actualization weapon, the Xuanyuan Sword.

After the abdication ceremony was over, the Sages and the audience left one by one. Xuanyuan said to Gao Yang, "The Human Tribe is under your guidance henceforth. I hope you can lead them to greater heights!" He then left for the Holy Land of Human Tribe with the Five Ancestors of the Human Tribe, Fuxi, and God Farmer.

Laozi was the last one to leave. Since Gao Yang was No.1 of the Five Emperors in the Human Tribe, Xuandu would be the Mentor of Human Sovereign this time. Laozi gave Xuandu some advice and left. Xuandu stayed in the Human Tribe to fulfill his duty as the Mentor of Human Sovereign.

After Honored Lord of the Origin went back to Mount Kunlun with his disciples, Guang Chengzi said to him, "Master, through this experience of assisting Xuanyuan, I deeply feel that I have much room for improvement. Hence, I would like to take a Closed Door Meditation for some time. I hope for your approval."

Honored Lord of the Origin nodded with appreciation, saying, "I'm delighted that you realized your weakness and are striving for more cultivation. Without the help of Cangjie during this war, you would all be defeated now. The underlying reason is that your cultivation is too weak. I hope you can learn something through this meditation. You have my approval now."

After Guang Chengzi left, all other disciples looked expectantly at Honoured Lord of the Origin, including Dipamkara. It was because he still had another position of the Mentor of Human Sovereign to assign. Now that Guang Chengzi began his Closed Door Meditation, they were more likely to get the position. Without his meditation, Honoured Lord of the Origin was prone to give the last position of the Mentor of Human Sovereign to Guang Chengzi again.

Chapter 195: Five Emperors Ruling the World (I)

Noticing them, Honored Lord of the Origin was clear about what they were expecting, so he said, "After Gao Yang, the second Mentor of Human Sovereign belongs to our tribe. Considering their previous assistance, I want to  give  the position to... Tai Yi."

Immortal Tai Yi was overjoyed to hear the news, while others were envious and jealous of him. Among the Twelve Golden Immortals in the Tribe of Enlightenment, Guang Chengzi was the most favored by Honoured Lord of the Origin. He was also the eldest disciple, so it was reasonable that he was appointed as the Mentor of Human Sovereign. Immortal Tai Yi, however, was not the second disciple. He was granted this position purely out of the affection that Honoured Lord of the Origin had for him. This naturally made other disciples dissatisfied.

···

Xuanyuan conceded the position as sovereign to his grandson, Gao Yang. In the future, Gao Yang would be known as Emperor Zhuanxu, one of the Five Emperors. Xuanyuan was worshiped as the Yellow Emperor by the Human Tribe. Since then, the Heavenly, Earthly, and Human Sovereign had all fulfilled their Merits and injected more luck to the Human Tribe.

After Zhuanxu took the position as the Sovereign of Human Tribe, he conducted a significant religious reformation. The nine Li tribes conquered by Xuanyuan the Yellow Emperor still believed in Ancestors of Sorcery of the Wu Tribe. They worshiped ghosts and gods because they were mostly Wu people. Therefore, Zhuanxu issued a compulsory order that they should receive education from the Yellow Emperor. By doing this, the cultural integration among tribes was improved, thus promoting the development of all tribes.

Naturally, under the publicity of Zhuanxu, the Tribe of Humanity enjoyed an increasing popularity among the Human Tribe. Conversely, the Tribe of Enlightenment, which flourished in Xuanyuan's time, had to give way to the Tribe of Humanity. This was not a direct order from Xuandu, but Zhuanxu needed the Tribe of Humanity to consolidate his position as the Sovereign of Human Tribe.

At the same time, Zhuanxu also paid much attention to his governing and strived to develop the agriculture. Due to the change in production mode, males had gradually become the dominant role in the Human Tribe while the females' status was declining. Moreover, Zhuanxu created nine provinces according to each tribe's domains and established government organizations to research social order and make public policies. He also reformed the calendar and divided a year into four seasons and 24 solar terms. Because of this, his descendants honored him as the "Ancestor of Calendar".

At that time, there was a Yellow Water Monster at the southwest of Neihuang County. It often spat yellow water which flooded croplands and destroyed houses. Zhuanxu was determined to defeat the Yellow Water Monster, but the monster possessed great Magic Skills. Although Zhuanxu was the grandson of Xuanyuan the Yellow Emperor and had learned some skills, his Taoist cultivation was shallow. Thus, he failed to defeat the monster even after months of fighting.

To seek help, he invited his mentor, Taoist Xuandu, for some advice. Knowing his intention, Xuandu presented him with the Heaven Emperor Sword and taught him how to use it. Zhuanxu then defeated the Yellow Water Monster with the Heaven Emperor Sword. To bring more benefits to the Human Tribe, he used the Heaven Emperor Sword to turn a sand dune into a mountain, called Mount Fuyu, and created a river beside it, called Xiao River. Zhuanxu ruled the Human Tribe for 78 years before he fulfilled his Merits. The Merits descended from the Heaven and created some Human Sovereign Fruits. Xuandu got some Merits accordingly, but he stored them instead of absorbing them immediately. People had no idea what he would do with those Merits. After the actualization of Zhuanxu, the position as Sovereign of Human Tribe was conceded to Emperor Ku.

It was said that Emperor Ku, namely Gao Xin, had been endowed with Spiritual Air ever since he was born. He was also able to say out his own name right after his birth. Moreover, he was taken as a disciple of Immortal Tai Yi, who was under Honoured Lord of the Origin. Ever since Immortal Tai Yi failed to solve the trading problem of the Human Tribe, he did some research on the issues that they had. Therefore, he did not just teach cultivation methods to Emperor Ku, but also gave some advice on the governing of the Human Tribe.

After Emperor Ku took office, he brought benefits to everyone except for himself. He was very perceptive. He could learn about situations at faraway places and see every detail clearly. He followed the Heaven's will and understood the people's needs. He was noble and benevolent, gentle and trustworthy, always improving himself. As a result, all tribes were willing to take him as the leader. He was thrifty about harvesting crops on the land. He cared for his people and taught them all kinds of useful skills. He established the solar terms after calculating the movement of the Sun and Moon and respected the law of nature. He knew all ghosts and gods and worshiped them with care. He was noble and dignified, with high mortality. He acted properly and lived like an ordinary person.

His governance was like the rain watering croplands, covering every space without exception. All tribes were content with his governance. As the saying goes in historical records, "Emperor Ku, the grandson of Xuanyuan and son of Xuanxiao, could say his own name right after his birth. He ruled the Human Tribe with virtue, caring for every person in his Tribe; he was noble and prestigious, paying much attention to the education of his Tribe, thus enjoying a good reputation as bright as the Sun and moon."

Apart from Emperor Ku himself, his sons were quite renowned in Chinese history as well. According to legends, Emperor Ku had four concubines. The first concubine was Jiangyuan, the daughter of Tai Guojun. It was said that she got pregnant because of stepping on footprints of a Giant while she was at home. Since she was not married then, she abandoned her child three times, in a dark lane, a forest and on ice respectively. Surprisingly, her child was protected by various animals every time, so her child was named "Qi". When the child grew up, he liked agriculture and taught people how to plant the Five Grains. Later he became the ancestor of the Zhou Tribe and was honored as the Lord of Millet.

The second concubine was Jiandi, the daughter of Song Guojun. It was said that when she was bathing at a hot spring with her sister, Jianci, a swallow flew by and left an egg. Jiandi ate the egg, got pregnant, and gave birth to Qi (different from the last one in Chinese character), who became the ancestor of the Shang Tribe.

The third concubine Qingdu, the daughter of the Great Emperor, was born in the wilderness. She was adopted by Chen Feng and then by Yin Changru after Chen Feng died. Later, she came to Pu Yang with her adoptive father. She was viewed as a legendary girl because there was always a yellow cloud hanging over her head. After hearing about this girl, the mother of Emperor Ku asked him to take her as his concubine. They then gave birth to Yao.

The last concubine, Chang Yi, was a beauty and had a nice figure. She first gave birth to a girl called Emperor of Heaven's daughter, and then a son called Zhi. Both Zhi and Yao succeeded the emperor, and Xuanyuan's family flourished. The Five Emperors after Xuanyuan and the later Shang/Zhou Tribes were all ruled by his descendants, so Xuanyuan was also called the ancestor of all Chinese.

During Emperor Ku's governance, he was greatly influenced by Immortal Tai Yi's gentle disposition. Therefore, he ruled the Human Tribe with virtue, which was the opposite of Xuanyuan and Zhuanxu, who were keen on wars and expansion. The biggest contribution of Xuanyuan and Zhuanxu was unifying the Human Tribe and laying the foundations of a country. Emperor Ku's contribution was recovering the Tribe's happy, peaceful and carefree lives, just like in the God Farmer's times.

Emperor Ku emphasized production internally and sought peace externally. As a result, a wealth of remote and barbaric clans accepted his peace offer. The Human Tribe thus entered a peaceful and prosperous period. Emperor Ku was grateful for the help of Immortal Tai Yi, so he publicised the Tribe of Enlightenment with great efforts. As time went on, the Tribe of Enlightenment regained its reputation and surpassed the Tribe of Humanity.

Dozens of years passed and Emperor Ku had been ruling the Human Tribe for 70 years. The tribe was flourishing then and people were living and working in peace and contentment. Emperor Ku was about to fulfill his merits, so he left for the Holy Land of Human Tribe. Before he left, the Merits appeared. Immortal Tai Yi received some and his cultivation was lifted to the Secondary Stage of Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal. The Five Emperors gained some Merits through actualization, but far less than the Three Sovereigns. As Immortal Tai Yi only received a small part of that Merit, his cultivations couldn't increase too much.

Emperor Ku also had his own motives. He favored Zhi, Chang Yi's son, so he passed on his position to Zhi. Zhi had ambitions but lacked talents. Due to his 9-year brutal governance, people were dissatisfied with his management. Furthermore, he had no one to assist him, he did not have the reverence to lead other tribes.

Under the pressure from others, Zhi abdicated his position and passed it to Yao, the disciple of Medicine Buddha from Western Sect. Yao was Zhi's brother, whose family name was Yiqi and given name was Fangxun. He was conferred as the Marquis of Tang when he was 15. In the Tang tribe, he shared the weal and woe with his people, practiced agriculture and handled the administrative affairs properly. He ruled the Tang tribe in perfect order, so he was supported by his people and commended by the other tribe leaders as well. Fangxun became the emperor, titled Yao. As he was conferred in Tang tribe, the dynasty was named Tang, which was the first dynasty name in Chinese history. Descendants called this period Tang Yao. It was said that Emperor Yao was virtuous as the heavens and smart as gods. People who approached him would feel the warmth like it was from the sun, and those who looked up to him would feel like they were being sheltered by clouds.

He was rich but not proud, noble but not indulgent. He wore a yellow hat, black clothes, and rode on a scarlet carriage with white horses. He respected people with virtue, and all the people in his Clan were living in harmony. He investigated his officers and found that they were working diligently. All the bordering countries were getting along well.

Tang Yao conferred on his brother Zhi as the Marquis of the Tang tribe. After taking lessons from Zhi's mistakes and learning from his mentor Medicine Buddha, he quickly stabilized the Human Tribe. He often went to remote and backward villages to investigate the local government and search for talents. He was afraid to miss out any. According to historical records, there were 9 (or 11) officers assisting him and were a group of talented man.

Chapter 196: Five Emperors Ruling the World (Ⅱ)

With the assistance of so many talented personnel, the Human Tribe prospered under the governance of Yao. During the preliminary period of Tang Yao's administration, the astronomical calendar was not quite ideal, so the populace often missed the farming seasons. Therefore, Yao commanded the Xi's and the He's to observe the Heaven's will and enacted a calendrical system according to the appearance of the sun, the moon and the positions of stars. This taught the men which season was the right time to take part in production.

The Xi's and He's mastered astronomy and calculated the time and date according to celestial phenomena and climatic phenology like the movements of the sun, the moon, the stars and so on. They also determined the four seasons, where a cycle for the moon is a month, a cycle for the sun is a year, and that there are 366 days in a year. This was the earliest calendar recorded in our country, which laid a foundation for the lunar calendar in China.

There are 366 days in a year, so they added intercalary months to rectify the four seasons, which are spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Emperor Yao once again sincerely admonished all the officials to perform their own duties and deal with all kinds of affairs properly. Under such administration, Human Tribe greeted another wave of rapid development. By then, Emperor Yao had been in on the throne for more than 70 years, feeling that he had fulfilled his Merits. Therefore, he had to find a Great Sage to take over his position as sovereign of Human tribe.

Thereupon, Emperor Yao convened all the officials and asked them who could take the place of the Sovereign of Human tribe. Having heard that, the officials discussed for a while, then replied, "The son of the sovereign, whose name is Dan Zhu, is

understanding and knowledgeable, and should be qualified to

take the position of the Human Sovereign."

Emperor Yao replied disdainfully, "Humph, Dan Zhu is truly foolish, stubborn and fierce. He is not qualified." Everyone fell into silence after hearing this. Dan Zhu was the son whom Emperor Yao liked best. Now that he was eliminated, there was no one left for them to recommend.

After a short silence, the officials started to discuss the candidates again. Finally, they reached a consensus and spoke with one voice, "Kuhuang Majesty Xuanyuan has a grandson,

whose name is Gun. He's very knowledgeable and competent.

His conducts are also commended by the people, so he must be qualified for this glorious responsibility."

Having heard that, Emperor Yao lowered his head and thought for a while. When he was about to give his consent, his heart flipped, then he rowed his eyes, stroked his beard and said, "He is definitely great, but it's best for you to recommend some more candidates, in case we overlooked."

Having heard that, everyone felt that it was quite reasonable, so they started the discussion again. All of a sudden, a minister called Siyue said to Yao, "There is a person named Yu Shun, he

lives among the people, and has a noble integrity. But it's

unknown whether he is competent to take the position as sovereign."

Emperor Yao said, "Hmm, I have heard of this person before, but just don't know how he is. You should tell me in detail. " Siyue answered, "Shun was born in a household environment

with an obstinate father, a wicked mother and an arrogant brother named Xiang. His father Gu Sou is blind and harbors evil intentions. His step-mother is a double-dealer. His brother is stubborn and intractable. They collude with each other, and will certainly not feel content unless Shun is gotten rid of.

However, Shun is very obedient to his parents and fulfills his duties as a son. Besides, he has been very kind to his brother for decades and has never changed. When his family was trying to harm him, he fled just in time. Once things got better, he just went back with them and gave as much help as he could. No matter how miserable his life is, or how bad the living environment is, Shun can always live in concord with his family, treat his parents with filial piety, and handle matters at home well. As a result, they could avoid becoming evil and wicked."

Then Yao said, "Let me give him a test first!" So he asked his two daughters Ehuang and Nvying to get married to Shun. Yao observed his character through them and judged whether he could manage a family appropriately. Shun requested them to set their honors aside and live in their house beside the Gui River, obeying the rules of female behavior.

The two girls both favored Shun a lot and obeyed the female virtues. While making pottery, Shun and the people around him all worked hard and carefully. He tried to better the best, and never worked in a rough and slipshod way. Therefore, wherever he went, people followed him with their whole heart. They gathered a village in one year, and after two years, they formed a county. After three years, they were already a capital. Yao felt very happy to know about these and bestowed him Chiyi, which were cotton clothes made of cambric, qin, cattle, and goats. Yao also built a warehouse for him. Although Gu Sou still tried to kill him and plotted to frame him with the other members of the family, Shun miraculously  survived as if the God blessed him. Even after this, Shun treated his parents and brother like before, friendly and much more respectful.

After testing Shun's conducts, Yao began to give him a chance to engage the government affairs. Yao commanded Shun to take the position of Situ and to be responsible for the implementation of moral education. Shun taught people to behave themselves according to the Five Cardinal Moral Codes, which were righteous fathers, loving mothers, friendly elder brothers, respectful younger brothers and filial sons. All the officials and people were willing to comply with his instructions, and they all acted in accordance with the Five Cardinal Moral Codes.

Yao also asked him to lead all the officials and deal with the government affairs. All the industries were highly developing with no one left. They were all in perfect order.

Yao ordered Shun to stand by Simen of Ming Court, in charge of receiving vassals who made pilgrimages. Shun got along quite well with the vassals and they were harmonious and friendly with one another. Those vassals and guests who were coming from distant places were all respectful to him.

At last, Yao decided to let Shun go into the woods at the foot of a mountain. He had to go in alone to take the nature's test. Caught in fierce rain and thunderstorm, Shun couldn't differentiate directions but still walked on, which showed his strong viability. Through all these tests, Yao saw Shun's great talents and moral virtues. Shun got Yao's recognition eventually, and Emperor Yao ordered preparations to be ready to pass the position as sovereign to Shun.

While Emperor Yao was a sovereign, he spent much time propagating the Western Religious Sect, but it didn't work well. Before the time of the Three Royals and Five Emperors, the Tribe of Humanity, Tribe of Severity, and Tribe of Humanity had already preached in Human Tribe, but Western Religious Sect only had an influence in the east. Although Emperor Yao propagated it, Western Religious Sect was too distant for Human Tribe. Luckily, there were still some people who professed Western Religious Sect, which helped Western Religious Sect to somehow prosper in the east.

Shun's mentor was Sacred Lady Jin Ling in the Tribe of Severity. The first disciple in Tribe of Severity, Abundant Treasures Buddha, was arranged to be the last Mentor of Human Sovereign. After Shun took the position as sovereign in Human Tribe, Sacred Lady Jin Ling consequently accompanied him, solving all the problems for him and teaching him the method of cultivation.

With the support of Tribe of Severity, Emperor Shun started to make implementations. Firstly, Emperor Shun inspected whether there was anything wrong with the movement of the sun, the moon, Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, and Saturn by observing the Big Dipper. Then he held a provisional ceremony to offer sacrifices and tell the Sages. To fete Heaven, the Earth, and four heavens, he burned sacrificial offerings on fire. To fete famous mountains and great rivers, he offered sacrifices from afar. Then he feted all the deities.

He gathered five jade symbols from dukes, vassals, counts, viscount, and marquis, which were Huangui, Xingui, Gonggui, Gubi, and Pubi. Then he chose a bright and propitious day to summon Siyue and governors from all states and gave the jades to them. During the time Shun made an inspection tour to the east, and he burned firewood to fete the East Yue when he arrived at Mount Tai. He then feted all the famous mountains and great rivers by offering sacrifices from afar. Then, he called in all vassals from the east to help rectify the four seasons, solar terms, length of a month or a day and unified the standard of music temperament, length, capacity,  and weight. They also revised the five manners, which  are Propitious, Ominous, Guests, Army, and Prizes. According to his stipulation, when having a meeting with the  emperor,  the vassals should bring five apertured jade tablets and three silk fabrics. Qing Tau Fu is supposed to bring lambs and wild geese, and scholar-officials should bring dead pheasants. After the pilgrims, five apertured jade tablets should be returned to the vassals.

Shun told the vassals how to govern a country, inspecting according to their performances, awarding carriages and clothes according to their contributions. Shun divided the whole country into 12 states and dredged rivers and lakes. He also regulated that the law should be enforced according to penalty. He also implemented banishment, replacing tattooing, nose- cutting, castration, and decapitation. They punished people with whips in the feudal official. In the educational institutions, they punished people with ferrules.

Those faults caused by disasters can be absolved. Whoever persisted in evil and refuse to repent should be punished. At the same time, Sanmiao incited revolts for several times around the Yangtze-Huaihe river basin and Province of Jing. When Shun came to inspect, he banished Huandou to Mount Chong to change the customs of Southern Man. He also ordered Sanmiao to migrate to Mount Sanwei to change the customs of Western Rong. What Shun had done was very pleasing to the people.

However, things happened unexpectedly. During the late stage of Shun's governance, there were torrential rains and floods in the Untainted Land. Moreover, it got worse and worse. It was not the Dragon Tribe who was to blame this time, but a real natural calamity. Shun was not quite skilled at this. With no alternative, he gave this important task to another Great Sage in Human Tribe, whose name was Gun.

Gun's father was Emperor Zhuanxu. Zhuanxu's father was Changyi. Changyi's father was the Yellow Emperor. He was honorable among the Human Tribe, and a mighty candidate to be the Human Sovereign. It was a waste that they all became Zhi's ministers. He was dismissed after Emperor Yao became the sovereign of Human tribe.

When Gun was young, he was taught by a deity and learned lots of skills. Since he took the responsibility of regulating water, he worked hard with all his heart. However strong Gun was, he couldn't block the flooding alone. Even if the whole Human Tribe gathered to contribute all their advice and efforts, the natural disaster couldn't be stopped.

However, Gun still felt a great responsibility for it. Having got Emperor Shun's orders, Gun packed his luggage and then regulated the water problems with the others. Gun adopted the method of obstructing. He used the magical earth that Goddess Nvywa had left after creating the humankind. He also made dams to force the water of the Yellow River to return to its own position. Gun blocked the river and deposited water, which contributed to the irrigation of agriculture.

Though the flooding problem subsided temporarily, it was not settled forever. Ten years later, the flooding problem broke out again, and it was even fiercer. Human Tribe suffered a great loss for a while. Consequently, Gun was beheaded in public by Emperor Shun.

After Shun's death, a baby was born from his corpse, who was saved by Abundant Treasures Buddha, the first disciple in Tribe of Severity. Abundant Treasures gave Yu to Gun's wife and told her to bring the child up. After Yu knew what had happened to his father, he decided to avenge the insult and settle the flooding problem. He ran here and there to find good methods to solve the flooding problem.

Chapter 197: The Five Emperors Ruling the World (Ⅲ)

When Yu was 30 years old, he met Lady Tushan of the Tu Shan clan and fell in love at first sight with her. They eventually became married. With Tushan Tribe being a powerful matriarchal Tribe in the Dongyi region, he moved to his wife's hometown as a live-in son-in-law.

Even though he was in a matriarchal society, Yu received the great support of the Dongyi region and it laid a foundation for his later achievements. At the moment, he and his wife were still on their honeymoon and enjoying themselves. Emperor Shun became increasingly reassured when he received reports about Yu's new life.

But there was still something that confused Emperor Shun and he called in a meeting with his ministers. "I have considered your recommendation that Yu be appointed as the officer responsible for regulating the rivers and watercourses, and I find it workable. But I have one question. I have never heard that Gun has any descendants. What's the reason for that?"

One of the ministers came forward and replied cautiously, "It's said that Yu isn't born to Gun's wife. He was taken out from Gun's stomach when he died. Now he's being taught by Abundant Treasures Buddha, a senior fellow apprentice of the sovereign's mentor." Emperor Shun was astonished that his face paled and he couldn't speak for a moment. After a pause, he asked in wonder, "There's such a weird thing in this world?"

Another officer stepped forward. "Your Majesty, you don't have to be surprised. There are many precedents for this. The Heavenly Sovereign, Fuxi, was born when her mother, Huaxu, stepped on the footprints of a Giant in the Thunder Marsh. The Earthly Sovereign, God Farmer, was born when his mother, Rensi, met a spiritual dragon and became pregnant. With there being Mysterious Signs about Yu, that means he's also a legendary figure." Emperor was finally relieved and gave orders to summon Yu.

Yu was on his honeymoon when he received the imperial edict. He reluctantly bade his wife farewell and commenced his career of regulating rivers and watercourses. He paid a visit to Abundant Treasures Buddha before leaving. His mentor heaved a sigh and took a roll of bamboo slips. "This is your father's relic. Now that you're going to take up your father's mantle, it's time for you to have this. Do your best in your new responsibilities. I'll back you up behind." His mentor didn't let him go empty-handed, giving him two more things. "I have refined two tools for you. This ax is called the Mount-cutting Axe, used for dredging riverways and regulating water. This is the Compliant Golden-Hooped Rod, used for investigating water levels and easing the sea. I hope you put them to good use."

After combing his father's notes and his experience, he ended up with a method that would later become famous:"better to divert than to block". He then left for the capital of the Human Tribe to pay his respects to Emperor Shun.

Emperor Shun was satisfied with Yu's proposed method and conferred him the title of the minister in charge of regulating rivers and watercourses. Yu took the job without hesitation.

Together with Yi and Lord of Millet, he recruited others to assist him in this task. After investigating the waterways and learning lessons from Gun's failure, he decided to reform the regulating method by emphasizing diverting the water flow rather than blocking it. He personally walked over hills and dales and crossed numerous rivers, all the way to the east to measure the terrain and erect surveyor's poles to regulate the waterways. Yu led the civilian workers to follow the surveyor's poles, excavating the mountains and building banks before pools to dredge waterways and guide the flooded water back into the sea. He never once complained of hardship, always racking his brain and never resting in his quest to regulate the rivers and watercourses.

He left his wife, Lady Tushan, not long after their wedding and began his career. Later, when he passed by their home, he heard the sounds of his wife giving birth. He didn't enter even when he heard the cries of his son. When he passed by their home for the third time, his son was in his mother's arms and knew how to wave and call him father. But he merely waved at his wife and son in acknowledgment and left without entering.

While he was excavating the mountains and waterways, he was attacked by some monsters of the Demon Tribe. Yu helplessly sought his mentor's help. Abundant Treasures Buddha led the Tribe of Severity disciples to kill the Demon Tribe monsters, securing Yu a smooth regulating process.

After 13 years worth of hard work, they finally excavated countless mountains, dredged innumerable rivers, and built numerous dams, guiding all rivers to flow into the sea. Yu succeeded in regulating the rivers and watercourses, solving the flooding problem once and for all. Since the flooded areas were too wet, he had Yi distribute seeds and teach the people how to plant crops.

Without Wu Zhiqi's interference, Yu's task had been smooth. The ordinary monsters of the Demon Tribe were defeated easily by the Tribe of Severity disciples. After several years had passed, Yu had excavated nine mountains and dredged nine rivers, leading all rivers to the sea.

Yu's success earned him a great reputation in the Human Tribe, surpassing even Emperor Shun. Shun became worried that Yu might overturn his throne. He had the same worries when Yu's father, Gun, succeeded and secretly assassinated him before another flood hit the Human Tribe.

Though Shun's mentor, Sacred Lady Jin Ling, shared the same ancestor with Yu's mentor, the chief disciple of the Tribe of Severity, Abundant Treasures Buddha, Shun didn't want to pass on his throne to Yu. Therefore, he credited the success of regulating rivers and watercourses to the ghosts and gods in the worshiping ceremony of the ghosts and gods.

After fulfilling his Merits, Shun passed his position as Sovereign of Human Tribe to his son, Shang Jun. To prevent suspicion, Yu went to live in the Yang City. Shang Jun held little prestige after taking the throne, causing dissatisfaction among the feudal princes of all the tribes.

They all left Shangjun and went to Yu. Shangjun finally abdicated after losing so much support and negotiations. Yu ascended the throne as sovereign at the age of 53, naming Anyi as the capital. His dynasty was dubbed Xia, and his family name Si. He became known throughout history as Xia Yu.

After ascending the throne, Yu named Dan Zhu the prince of Tang and Shangjun the prince of Yu (a region). He also started using the lunar calendar. Meanwhile, all Central Plains tribes formed a group with the Xia Tribe in the center. Yu's role in the group was akin to a junior royalty.

Yu ordered Gao Yao, an officer in charge of penalties, to lay down rules and any tribes found to defy those rules would be subject to punishment. At that time, the leader of the Yue Tribe was trying to gain independence from Yu. He claimed that the Yue people were superior to others and defied Yu's orders. Yu punished him by killing him in public during the meeting on Mount Miao and paraded his corpse for three days. His death signified the power of the Xia Dynasty, as well as Yu's holiness, to the feudal princes and ministers of the other tribes. They dared not to offend Yu any longer and those who had neglected to pay tributes all hurried to do so. Since then, Yu's sphere of influence reached even the Yangtze River and Huai River. With his high prestige, everyone in his territory paid the utmost respects to his dynasty.

When he was regulating the rivers and watercourse, Yu had toured his entire territory so he knew well about the terrain, custom, and production of each area.

He once again divided his territory into nine provinces, namely Ji, Yan, Qing, Xu, Yang, Jing, Yu, Liang, and Yong for separate governance. He also stipulated the tribute species of each province.

The Tribe of Severity was flourishing thanks to Yu's endorsement and they gradually exceeded the popularity of the Tribe of Humanity and the Tribe of Enlightenment and Western Religious Sect. In return, they threw all their support behind him. That reassured Yu greatly and he turned his attention to improving the lives of his people. Yu was a rare great politician with outstanding ability and character. When he was regulating the rivers and watercourse, he often combined it with country governance. While tackling the flooding issue, he would instruct the people to restore and develop agriculture. While developing the architecture for water transportation, he would rebuild houses for the people. He would govern a place and reunite the local leaders, improving political authority and lifting the living standards of the people at the same time.

With the mass collaboration in constructing a water network coupled with Yu's leadership, the Human Tribe stepped out of the shadow of floods for the first time. They also broke through the obstacles that bottlenecked their development, allowing for the Human Tribe to enter an era of unprecedented prosperity.

Despite having ruled the Human Tribe for dozens of years, Yu still felt that he had not fulfilled his merits. Thus he came to his mentor Abundant Treasures Buddha for advice, who finally said after predicting for a long time, "The Human Tribe enthroned its Three Royals and Five Emperors so its luck would flourish, thus securing its position as the ruler of the Heaven and Earth. As the last of the Five Emperors, you should fulfill the luck of the Human Tribe before you can fulfill your Merits." Yu spent a long time trying to come up with a solution before an idea finally came to him. He ordered people to collect all the copper in the world to construct nine tripods and pour human blood inside. He named the tripods after the nine provinces.

He used the Nine Tripod Cauldrons to protect the nine provinces and kept the luck of the Human Tribe flourishing. With that, the last one of Three Royals and Five Emperors also fulfilled his Merits. The Merit he received was far higher than what the previous four emperors received. It was close to what Xuanyuan received.

Yu passed his position to the Great Sage, Boyi, after his actualization. However, there was no lack of people who were unhappy with Boyi's governance. Yu's son, Qi, was the most obvious in his dissatisfaction and many also supported him. They preferred Qi who was tough and decisive.

Qi attracted many tribal leaders to his camp and successfully wrestled true power from Boyi, making himself the de-facto leader of the Human Tribe. He then launched a coup against Boyi, killing most of his army and capturing Boyi. After thinking for a long time, he decided to sentence Boyi to death lest he invited any future troubles. Thus, Qi became the sovereign using the military might. He also consolidated his position by suppressing some tribes in favor of Abdication System. He announced himself be the king and established the Da Xia Dynasty, replacing the abdication system with the hereditary system.

Qi's rebellion was incredibly successful, having suppressed counterforce so quickly that the Sages didn't have the time to react. By the time the Sages realized what was going on and wanted to gain some advantages out of it, he had already succeeded in his coup. More importantly, he gained the full support of the Clan of Severity. With Tongtian backing him up, there was nothing all Sages could do.

Chapter 198: Plans after a Disaster

Let's backtrack to the time before Yu regulated the rivers and watercourses, when the Human Tribe was afflicted by an even more terrible flood for the second time. Caught off guard without any preparation, they naturally suffered a great loss.

Such a catastrophe definitely shocked the Holy Land of the Human Tribe, but the martial arts and immortal cultivators were helpless against natural disasters. They could only report it to the Human Ancestors, hoping that they would have a solution.

When he found out, Suiren-Shi immediately summoned Youchao-Shi, Ziyi-Shi, Cangjie, Fuxi, the God Farmer, Xuanyuan, Zhuanxu, Emperor Ku, and Emperor Yao. Since Musen was still in his Closed Door Meditation, saying he had some enlightenment, he didn't bother him. After all, he couldn't ask for Musen's help for every little thing.

The gathering of the four Human Ancestors, three Sovereigns and three of the Five Emperors was a gathering of Sages-to-be. Perhaps only the Human Tribe was capable of summoning so Sages-to-be in the Untainted Land. For the other tribes, it would be good enough if they could call for one or two. When everyone was here, Suiren-Shi said, "Our Human Tribe is now afflicted by flood, and the Human Sovereign Shun has no solution. Do you have any ideas to tackle this flood?" Since six of them used to be the human sovereigns and had experience of ruling the Human Tribe, he naturally hoped that they would come up with a solution.

Fuxi closed his eyes and counted on his fingers. He said after awhile, "I found out this is a natural disaster and not a flood caused by human. I'm afraid the Way of Heaven is testing the last of the Five Emperors and whoever who manages to regulate the rivers and watercourses will be the next Human Sovereign."

Suiren-Shi believed his words, for Fuxi was famous for his Way of Prediction in the Untainted Land. However, he was still unwilling to see his tribesmen outside suffering. "Even so, I'm grieved to see our tribesmen suffering. Does any of you have any solution?"

Cangjie replied, "This flood is a test for the last Human Sovereign. If we forcefully solve it, the last Human Sovereign will find it hard to fulfill his Merits. But we can stop the rain so the flood won't be aggravated and the losses will be reduced." Suiren-Shi nodded in agreement. This flood involved the final Human Sovereign, so he couldn't interfere too much. However, stopping the rain would prevent the flood from worsening and the Human Tribe could seize this chance to restore their lives.

But humans weren't good at controlling the weather. What was worse, it rained everywhere in the Human Tribe. Even if someone in the Human Tribe knew how to control the weather, it would merely be a drop in the bucket. They still needed the help of the Dragon Tribe to stop the rain thoroughly.

Unfortunately, the relationship between the two tribes hadn't recovered since their conflict the last time. Suiren-Shi worried that the Dragon Tribe wouldn't help even if they begged them to, but they still had to give it a try.

After some consideration, Suiren-Shi sent Xu Bo, an elder of the Realm of Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal to the East Sea. Ao Guang, the Dragon King of the East Sea was the current leader of the Dragon Tribe, ruling all the clans in the Four Seas. If they could convince him, everything else would be easy to handle.

Xu Bo paid his respects to Ao Guang after arriving at the Crystal Palace. "Your Majesty, I'm an Elder from the Human Tribe. I came here under the orders from Human Ancestor to seek for your help. Can you please help us end the rain?"

Sitting on his crystal throne, Ao Guang narrowed his eyes at Xu Bo. His smile was mocking and that naturally didn't escape Xu Bo's attention, but he didn't say anything for he needed Ao Guang's help.

Ao Guang sneered. The Human Tribe once forced his tribe to surrender their descendants but now they wanted his help to solve their problems? No way in hell. Thus, he replied, "It's not that I don't want to help, but there's nothing I can do. I dare not change the weather without the consent of the Heavenly Court. Why don't you come back when you get an imperial edict from the Heavenly Court?"

Xu Bo knew he wouldn't be able to convince Ao Guang this time, so he could only excuse himself helplessly. Ao Guang smiled grimly. There was no way Xu Bo would be able to get an imperial edict from the Jade Emperor, for the Human Tribe had offended him as well in their previous conflict.

Who didn't know that the Jade Emperor Haotian was an ambitious person with his heart set on expanding the Heavenly Court and make it the biggest force in the Untainted Land? Based on Haotian's character, he definitely wouldn't agree to help. Even if he did, the Human Tribe would be paying quite the steep price.

Xu Bo relayed Ao Guang's words to Suiren-Shi after returning to the Holy Land of Human Tribe. Suiren-Shi frowned, knowing that Ao Guang was just finding excuses, but he couldn't refute all the same time. The Dragon Tribe was, after all, under the governance of the Heavenly Court with their laws of heaven. Without Haotian's imperial edict, the Human Tribe had no way of asking for help from the Dragon Tribe.

But the Human Tribe had greatly offended Haotian last time. Now that they wanted to ask his help, he wouldn't agree to their request that easily. However, Suiren-Shi knew they had to try because it was the only way to solve the flooding problem.

Thus, Xu Bo set out again and soon arrived at the Southern Gate outside the Heavenly Court. The gatekeeper stopped him, shouting, "Who are you? How dare you enter the Heavenly Court uninvited! Don't you know it's a capital offense?" Xu Bo looked at the gatekeeper, a mere Golden Immortal. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't even pay attention to this person but he was asking for help this time, so he replied politely, "I'm an Elder from the Human Tribe, Xu Bo. I'm here with a request for the Jade Emperor. Please help me inform him."

The gatekeeper was shocked because an Elder from the Human Tribe meant he was at the Realm of Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal. It was foolish of him as a Golden Immortal to reproach a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal. Fortunately for him, Xu Bo didn't appear angry. He replied respectfully, "Please wait here for a moment. I'll inform the Jade Emperor right away."

Soon, the gatekeeper returned in a rush. He said awkwardly, "The Jade Emperor is in his Closed Door Meditation. The Queen Mother says you should come here another time."

Xu Bo looked dejected. Considering the gatekeeper's expression, he knew the Jade Emperor had just made an excuse not to see him. But he couldn't very well expose him, so he could only return to the Holy Land of Human Tribe. ...

On the fairyland of the Jasper Lake, Haotian and Yao Chi were watching the Haotian Mirror showing the scene of Xu Bo. Yao Chi noticed Haotian's smile and wondered out loud, "Haotian, why aren't you meeting the emissary from the Human Tribe? They're here to ask a favor from us. It's a great opportunity for the Heavenly Court to establish prestige in the Human Tribe."

Haotian replied with a smile, "The Human Tribe is suffering greatly from the flood and the rainstorms. It's them who should feel the urgency, not us. Though they want our help, they only sent an Elder here. Did they think anyone can enter the Heavenly Court? Besides, it's not up to a mere Elder to decide the affairs of the Human Tribe."

Yao Chi naturally understood his meaning. So many clans of the Sages were preaching in the Human Tribe recently, resulting in the gradual diminishing prestige of the Heavenly Court. Now that the Human Tribe was seeking for their help, Haotian intended to take this opportunity to seek greater benefits from the Human Tribe.

··· In the Holy Land of the Human Tribe, Suiren-Shi was disappointed to hear Xu Bo's report. He knew Haotian wanted to threaten the Human Tribe with this disaster to seek even more benefits. The Human Tribe was at an abyss of suffering due to the flood and rainstorms. There wasn't any more time to be wasted, so he had no choice but to visit the Heavenly Court in person to convince Haotian.

Just then, Musen had come out of his Closed Door Meditation. He noticed Suiren-Shi's anxiety and asked, "Brother, what makes you so worried? Tell me. Perhaps I happen to have a solution." Suiren-Shi then told him what was going on outside.

Musen sneered. "How dare the Dragon Tribe and Haotian threaten our Human Tribe with this stuff? Very well! I'm going to to take drastic measures to deal with them and see what they can do then." He continued, "Don't worry. I'll now head to the Blood Sea. I'm going to ask Minghe to prepare an ultimate weapon for us."

Suiren-Shi was relieved for he was always content with Musen's methods. Moreover, there was the enigmatic Ancestor Minghe backing them. Though Minghe had never openly helped the Human Tribe, they had only come this far with his support. For this, Suiren-Shi was grateful from the bottom of his heart.

Chapter 199: Taking Drastic Measures to Deal with Dragon Tribe

Musen headed straight for the Blood Sea immediately after leaving the Holy Land of Human Tribe. He soon arrived on the Sacred Island and met Minghe who asked, "Musen, I thought you're still in your Closed Door Meditation to enlighten the Origin of Martial Arts. Did you gain something already?"

Musen sighed. "I've been enlightening the Origin for a long time and I feel a breakthrough is close, yet there's always something lacking. I sense my Fated Chance isn't here yet, so I can only come out. I'm here to seek your help in the affairs of the Human Tribe."

Minghe said, "I'm aware of the flood, but that's a natural disaster meant to test the last of the Three Royals and Five Emperors. Though I can help the tribe solve their problem, I'm afraid the Three Royals and Five Emperors won't be able to achieve Fulfilment."

Musen shook his head. "That's not it. I'm here to ask for your help in refining a Magic Weapon. The last of the Five Emperors will solve the flood problem himself, but we can stop the rainstorms. That requires the weather control ability of the Dragon Tribe, but Haotian and the Dragon Tribe plan on reaping an advantage from this. I'll never let them succeed."

A smile instantly appeared on Minghe's face. "I see. Perhaps I'm the only one in Untainted Land who is capable of refining that weapon. Wait for a moment, I'll refine it right away." Minghe and Musen were telepathic, so he naturally understood Musen's plans.

Days after, Minghe handed over a Magic Weapon in the shape of a blood-red inkstone. Musen was overjoyed seeing this treasure and looked toward the Heavenly Court with a mocking smile. It seemed Haotian would be disappointed once again. The Human Tribe would never fall into his traps.

After leaving the Blood Sea, Musen went to the bank of the Yellow River instead of returning to the Holy Land of Human Tribe. He smiled as he watched the rushing torrents, he smiled. Koi were constantly jumping out of the water, making for a bright scene.

These koi could only depend on their inherent ability to take in the Spiritual Air and the Power of Stars. They also had low cultivation and couldn't even shapeshift. Even so, there was something special about them. They shared a certain amount of blood linkages with the Dragon Tribe, which was why Musen came here.

With a flick of his sleeves, he summoned numerous koi. There were probably thousands of them, but far from enough. He traveled down the Yellow River, taking in every koi he found into his sleeves. He was only satisfied when he collected nearly every koi in the river.

When Musen returned to the Holy Land of Human Tribe with the Magic Weapon from Minghe and countless koi in his sleeves, Suiren-Shi and the rest walked up to him. Noticing the smile on his face, Suiren-Shi asked, "How did it go?"

Musen smiled. "Of course it's going well. Please follow me, I'll show you something." He then led Suiren-Shi and the rest to an enormous lake in the Coast of the East Sea. With a flick of his sleeves, he released all the koi he caught from the Yellow River.

Suiren-Shi asked, "These are... koi? Are they useful? You actually gathered so many of them. Can they  solve  the rainstorm problem in the Human Tribe?" Though he was confused, he knew Musen had done this for a reason. "You may be unaware of this, but dragons are licentious, so many tribes in the Water Tribe are linked to the Dragon Tribe by blood. These koi are one of them. Their bodies are full of pure Dragon Tribe blood. If they can get a Fated Chance, they're very likely to shapeshift into dragons," Musen replied.

Everyone was delighted. If they could cultivate their own Dragon Tribe, they would no longer need to subject themselves to the whims of the Dragon Tribe in the Four Sea. They could just leave the task of making clouds and bringing rain to the dragons converted from koi. When that time came, Haotian and his Dragon Tribe would truly regret refusing their request. It was a wicked move by Musen, who had completely to take drastic measures to deal with them.

It seemed Musen had already found the Fated Chance for these koi, otherwise, he wouldn't have collected so many of them. As per their predictions, they watched as Musen point at the sky and a huge stone gate materialized above the lake. The gate would later become known as the famous Dragon Gate Later, appearing every 15th day of each month on a full moon.

Musen extended his hand and the Magic Weapon refined by Minghe came out flying, landing atop the Dragon Gate. The Magic Weapon was none other than the Pool of Dragon Transformation, containing the blood of the Dragon Tribe and even some of their Blood of Essence. If these koi could cross the Dragon Gate and enter the Pool of Dragon Transformation, they could purify their blood links and shapeshift into dragons.

The pool was a bluestone pool inlaid on a colossal and flat rock, with an area of nearly 1000 square meters. It was engraved with quaint lines that resembled mysterious incantations. Four prominent dragon heads sat at its corners, looking alive with thin scales and long tentacles. Their open mouths contained a golden-light dragon ball. The bottom of the pool was engraved with a Nine Dragon Paddling Map, in which the dragons were either flying, curling up, making rain, or playing. The whole pool was full of vitality.

The koi became agitated when they saw the Dragon Gate and the Pool of Dragon Transformation. Though they hadn't shapeshifted, they had gained wisdom. The temptation of the pool was evident for they could feel it in their blood that their Fated Chance had come.

But the Dragon Gate was imbued with a forbidden formation and the koi couldn't exert their supernatural power at all. They could only jump over the Dragon Gate with their own power. The difficulty was increased by numerous times, but it wasn't enough to stop the koi from coveting the pool.

Countless koi rushed to the Dragon Gate in a mad dash, leaping to cross it. Unfortunately, they all failed as it wasn't that easy to succeed. The scene of leaping koi did form a bright scenery.

Out of the struggle of numerous koi, one finally crossed the Dragon Gate and entered the Pool of Dragon Transformation. A golden dragon soared from the pool with a roar and transformed into a blond-haired man. The man knelt before them, saying, "Many thanks for transforming my life."

Musen replied, "Good. From now on, you're Jin Sheng, the Dragon King of the Human tribe. You're responsible for converting the koi into the Dragon Tribe and making clouds and bringing rain in the lands of the Human Tribe. Do you understand?" Jin Sheng agreed without a second thought.

Though he was a golden dragon, his cultivation was merely at the Black Immortal level. He owed it to the Pool of Dragon Transformation. With his current cultivation, he would likely be captured as a ride or killed as an ingredient for weapon refinement as a dragon's body was rather valuable. Dragons who were converted from koi could only hope to survive by seeking the refuge of the Human Tribe.

This time, the Dragon Gate materialized for a whole month so enough of the Dragon Tribes could be created. In the future, it would only appear on a night of full moon. It would fade at dawn and reappear in the next full moon night.

Within that month, hundreds of koi managed to cross the Dragon Gate. Jin Sheng, as the Dragon King, finally had proper tribesmen. Musen asked for a Primordial Unity Golden Elixir from Minghe to secure Jin Sheng's power, making him a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal. The new Dragon Tribe converted from koi had truly taken shape.

For convenience's sake, Musen assigned Jin Sheng and his tribesmen to Zhenyuanzi's Earth Immortal's Residence. They held positions of Dragon King and God of the Yellow River in water areas of the Human Tribe. From then on, the Koi Dragon Tribe was in charge of making clouds and bringing rain in the Human Tribe. They would no longer be under the control of the Dragon Tribe in the Four Seas and neither did they have to worry about floods or droughts. Haotian in the Heavenly Court and the Dragon Tribe in the Four Seas naturally found about this new development. Haotian was indignant. He hadn't expected the Human Tribe to be so cruel and take such a drastic measure. It seemed it would be impossible for them to interfere with the Human Tribe's affairs making clouds and bringing rain as an excuse.

The Dragon Tribe in the Four Seas fared even worse. Their once-unique skill of making clouds and bringing rain was why Haotian spared no effort in uniting the Dragon Tribe in the Four Seas. It was also their best method for accumulating Merits. Now that the transformation of koi enabled the Human Tribe to make clouds and bring rain according to will, they were now in abject misery.

With the increase of dragons converted from koi, the rainstorms in the nine provinces of the Human Tribe gradually eased. Moreover, as the Koi Dragon Tribe had settled in the water areas, the floods eased as well and were tamer than the ones in the past. That laid the primary foundation for Yu the Great in regulating the rivers and watercourses.

Chapter 200: Letting Go

Soon after this incident, Yu the Great managed to regulate the rivers and watercourses, thus becoming the last emperor of the Three Royals and Five Emperors. He then built the Nine Tripod Cauldrons to protect the luck of the Human Tribe, pushing it to the peak. After Yu the Great achieved actualization, all the Three Royals and Five Emperors had achieved their Fulfilment. His son then ushered in the hereditary system of the Human Tribe.

Musen stood atop a tall mountain on the Holy Land of Human Tribe, quietly overlooking his tribe. The Human Tribe could be said as having truly reached its peak, comparable to the Sorcerer and Demon tribes in the past. There was no doubt that he had spared no effort in making sure the tribe flourished. It wasn't too much to say that without his contributions, the tribe wouldn't have been this prosperous.

Now there were as many as 10 Sages-to-be on the Holy Land of Human Tribe and over 100 Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals, never mind the other cultivators. This place had truly become the Holy Land for cultivation for humans where the majority of the tribe elites and talents was gathered. As long as there wasn't any problem with this place, the day of demise for the Human Tribe would never arrive. Human Tribe outside the Holy Land also lived and worked in peace, enjoying a rapid development after the era of the Three Royals and Five Emperors. As time lapsed, various talents would also spring now and then to lead the Human Tribe to even further progress.

This was exactly what Musen was hoping for. In the 20,000 years since the time Goddess Nvywa created the humans to the era of the Three Royals and Five Emperors, the tribe had evolved from a weak tribe to become the current ruler of Heaven and Earth, the strongest tribe in the Untainted Land. The whole experience seemed like a dream.

When Goddess Nvywa first created humans, Minghe formed Musen through his obsession with separation. He was just an ordinary human without any cultivation then, but he was now at the Fate Reading Peak Stage, equivalent to the Peak Level of Sage-to-be. He was currently enlightening the Origin. Though he had no idea when he would actualize the Realm of Origin, his current cultivation speed was impressive enough in the eyes of all living beings of Untainted Land. This sounded like a dream as well.

He sat on the top of the mountain, overlooking the prosperity of the tribe. Numerous images poured into his heart, showing how they had come this so far to achieve their success today and how they could now stand confidently on the peak of Untainted Land.

...

A woman made 129,600 special creatures out of the mud in a forest and called them humans. The newly-born Human Tribe knew nothing about their new world and  became  confused when the woman left. Only one human was different. He knew quite clearly what they should do.

...

In the beginning, the Human Tribe led a primitive life and were often afflicted by disasters and diseases, such as Wild Beast attacks. Then a man came and taught them how to start a fire, roast food with fire, and drive the beasts away with fire. From that point on, the tribe ended their primitive lives and entered a time with fire.

... As the tribe learned to use fire, they began to expand but welcome fresh problems as well. A fire could withstand neither rain nor be taken to distant places. Consequently, humans could only live around fires. Therefore, a man invented houses, teaching people how to build a house and how to protect themselves from the severe cold and beasts by living in houses. The tribe then walked into a time of permanent houses.

...

With the introduction of fires and houses, tribes began to form. When the winter came, however, people could only huddle in their houses and warm themselves by the fire. They couldn't leave to seek food and they were often bitten by venomous insects. At that point in time, a woman introduced them to clothes. She instructed them on how to make clothes by using animal skin and feathers, as well as how to protect themselves against insects and the cold. The Human Tribe then bade goodbye to times of nudity.

...

With the existence of fires, houses, and clothes, the Human Tribe entered an era of high-speed development. Since humans were weak, they couldn't fight against the powerful Wild Beasts, never mind the monsters or even the Demon Tribesmen who had cultivations. Those were new challenges for them. At this point, a man taught them Martial Arts and they began cultivating Martial Arts to keep fit, greatly increasing their power.

...

When the Human Tribe began to cultivate and became stronger each day, disasters landed as well. The Demon Tribe killed their humans without mercy, leaving a field littered with corpses. The Human Tribe suffered heavy casualties and the entire tribe was pushed to the brink of extinction.

When the Human Tribe was left helpless, four tribesmen led countless Martial Artists to fight back against the Demon Tribe, nearly killing all the Demon Tribesmen who attacked them. Through this war, the tribe had established its prestige on Untainted Land. No one dared to look down on the Human Tribe ever since.

... The Sorcerer and Demon tribes withdrew from the stage after their war, leaving the Human Tribe to step onto the historical stage. The Hundred Tribes of Untainted Land gave way to the Human Tribe. After the passing of 10,000 years, they walked out of the Coast of the East Sea and began to occupy the most abundant area in the Untainted Land.

...

When the progress of the Human Tribe came to a bottleneck, people instituted the Three Royals and Five Emperors to solve their problems one by one. Under their governance, the Human Tribe witnessed an era of rapid growth and embraced another development peak after about 1,000 years.

...

Now, the Human Tribe had established the Dragon Gate to transform the koi into dragons in charge of controlling the weather. They would now be free from the Heavenly Court and the Dragon Tribe in the Four Seas. They had become an independent and self-sufficient tribe, overseeing the Hundred Tribes of Untainted Land. ...

Musen smiled when these scenes flashed before his eyes. It was a smile of pride for the strength of the tribe, of contentment for the achievements of the tribe, and of relief as he had spent many efforts to develop the tribe. Now that the tribe had reached its Peak, it was time for him to let them go.

Musen rose to his feet and dusted his clothes. He jumped on a piece of cloud, flying to the Sacred Palace of Human Ancestors where Suiren-Shi, Youchao-Shi, Ziyi-Shi, Musen, and Cangjie lived. Beside the palace was the Human Sovereign Palace for the Three Royals and Five Emperors.

All of them were gathered for a discussion in the Sacred Palace of Human Ancestors. When Suiren-Shi saw Musen's arrival, he asked, "Where have you been? Are you aware of the accident in the Human Tribe?"

Musen smiled. "Do you mean Yu's son seizing the Sovereign of Human tribe and establishing the Xia Dynasty? I'm aware, but what's the big deal? In fact, it's quite normal." The establishment of a dynasty was certainly not something that could be stopped by human power. Noticing the lack of concern from Musen, Suiren-Shi said anxiously, "Do you know how serious this is? The abdication system is a way of electing the next Sovereign of Human tribe. Since Qi has established the Xia Dynasty, the sovereign title will forever belong to his descendants." As the father of Qi, Yu the Great was embarrassed to hear this.

Suiren-Shi continued, "That's not all. With Qi's support, the tribe of Severity has currently surpassed all other tribes of the Sages. As time passes, it's likely they'll be the dominant tribe in the Human Tribe. When that happens, the Sage Supreme Pure will intervene in our affairs."

Musen's smile remained on his face as he patted Suiren-Shi on the shoulder. He said gently, "Brother, don't worry too much. The Human Tribe has developed over 20,000 years to be the strong tribe it is today. Can we care for them forever? It's time to let go of the Human Tribe."

Everyone was stunned. Let go? They had thought of letting the Human Tribe develop on its own, but it never occurred to them that Musen would mention it first. Suiren-Shi was momentarily uncertain and asked, "What did you say?" Musen replied, "I said we should let go. It's not possible for the tribe to develop under our protection and guidance forever. Since they've entered a new era, we should let go of them. After all, a young eagle has to learn to fly by itself."