Chapter Forty-Nine: Journey Through the Primordial Wilderness

Time flew swiftly by, and in the blink of an eye, more than a decade had passed. On this day, Nuwa finally awakened from her long seclusion, emerging from the Palace of the Empress with an expressionless face.

“How did it go?”

Li Tian sensed Nuwa’s return and immediately appeared outside the palace, greeting her with a warm smile.

Nuwa shook her head. A thousand years of cultivation had yielded nothing, and she felt stifled and frustrated. Yet, upon seeing Li Tian, her mood lightened somewhat.

Smiling, Li Tian took Nuwa’s hand and led her aloft to ride the clouds.

“Let me take you for a walk through the Wilds.”

Nuwa nodded without hesitation, a sweet smile blooming on her lips.

Li Tian smiled as well, and together they descended from the gates of Heaven, leaving the Celestial Realm behind. This journey through the Wilds was chiefly for Nuwa’s sake—he wished to help her find her path to sainthood. Thus, he did not ride the Nine-Dragon Chariot, nor did he inform anyone else of their departure.

Now that Nuwa had severed her second soul, she should, according to the original history of the Wilds, have already created mankind and attained sainthood. But because of Li Tian’s intervention, her ascension had been delayed.

Yet now, the time for her to become a saint had come...

As for severing a third soul? Li Tian had never considered it. After all, countless innate deities had been trapped at the intermediate quasi-saint realm for eons, unable to advance even an inch. Even when the Three Pure Ones attained sainthood, they had only severed two souls.

The pair first landed atop Mount Buzhou.

At Li Tian’s suggestion, they refrained from using any magic, choosing instead to walk as ordinary mortals would, step by step.

It had been over a hundred thousand years since the Heavenly Court was established. Under its rule, as Li Tian had foreseen, all living beings had become divided into two groups: the gods and the demons.

Mount Buzhou, now the heart of the Celestial Court’s dominion, was devoid of demon tribes. Even if one happened by chance, it would be ostracized by the other godly clans, unable to survive on the mountain.

As Li Tian and Nuwa walked, passing through various tribes, Li Tian sometimes felt as if the human race had already been born.

On Mount Buzhou today, over ninety-nine percent of beings were gods, living in their innate Dao bodies.

Thus, along their way, they rarely saw any half-beast, half-human demons. The few they did encounter were invariably treated as slaves by the gods.

The gods had begun to universally look down upon the demons.

Everything was unfolding as Li Tian had planned, and so his mood remained good.

Yet in Nuwa’s eyes, this racial discrimination was far from pleasing. More than once she nearly intervened, but each time, Li Tian gently restrained her.

To prevent any rift between them over differing ideals, Li Tian patiently explained, “Though this appears cruel, it is the natural law of survival. Just as carnivores must eat herbivores—how could you stop them? Would you have them starve? And do not herbivores also devour the spirits of grass and trees...?”

He spoke of the survival of the fittest and the laws of nature. In the end, Nuwa began to agree with him, and she let the matter go.

Li Tian sighed in relief. After all, Nuwa was about to become a saint; if a rift emerged now and she left him after her ascension, would he not be heartbroken?

So, the two journeyed onward. Occasionally, in good spirits, they would travel swiftly by magic, yet still it took them several centuries to cross Mount Buzhou.

Over those centuries, they passed through countless tribes and witnessed the full spectrum of mortal joys and sorrows, though for the most part, they remained mere observers, seldom interfering.

Only when they encountered something truly intolerable would they step in.

Notably, over the years, they encountered many gods who coveted Nuwa’s beauty—some even boasted of their strength and shamelessly declared they would kill Li Tian and claim Nuwa for themselves.

To such ant-like beings, Li Tian could not even muster annoyance. He did not blame them; after all, how could they fathom the depth of his and Nuwa’s cultivation?

Thus, Li Tian merely glanced at them, and left them to their own devices.

He considered himself quite merciful—at the very least, he spared them any sensation of pain...

Leaving Mount Buzhou, they flew onward, soon witnessing a scene utterly unlike what they had left behind.

Though the gods were numerous, their numbers paled in comparison to the seemingly infinite multitude of demons. Beyond Mount Buzhou, ninety-nine percent of the tribes were of demon-kind; gods were a rare sight.

As the two walked among the demon tribes, surveying everything around them, they could not help but frown.

The regions where these lowly demons dwelled could scarcely be described as anything but squalid and foul.

Whenever they approached a demon tribe, they could smell the stench of filth from afar.

Most demons had failed to take human form, and their cultivation was generally low, so they still needed to eat, drink, and relieve themselves. Moreover, demons were typically lazy and cared nothing for cleanliness. Over time, the results were all too obvious.

As they traveled, Nuwa witnessed all manner of depravity among the demons and began to grow disgusted with them.

Over the years, they had seen countless powerful demons run rampant, oppressing the weak at will.

They even came upon a fox demon tribe where every female’s first time was reserved for a great demon of celestial power.

As for strong demons enslaving the weak, that was a common sight.

On Mount Buzhou, slavery was rare—most gods possessed magical powers, and could accomplish anything with a gesture; lowly demon slaves were of little use.

But demons were different. Even the most powerful among them were merely at the celestial level; if a celestial demon wished to build a grand palace, his power alone was insufficient, so he would capture weaker demons and enslave them...

The two journeyed on, and a thousand years later, they finally stopped at the banks of a vast river.

Hand in hand, they approached the water, and Nuwa gazed at her reflection. Suddenly, an idea awoke within her—to create an entirely new race.

Imagine, she thought, a race born with the innate Dao body—how extraordinary that would be!

The more she pondered, the more her heart surged with excitement, until even the primordial spirit energy slumbering within her began to boil.

In that moment of revelation, Nuwa seemed to grasp something.

The great merit she was destined to achieve... was to create a wholly new form of life!