Primordial Era: Refusing Hongjun's path to sainthood, I attained the Dao of Hunyuan.

Chapter 155 Chi You

Fuxi also saw Shennong and quickly said to him, "My brother Shennong, you can pass on my teachings to the human race."

Upon hearing this, Shennong hurriedly asked, "Why doesn't Your Majesty instruct me personally? Where are you going instead?"

Just then, a strange phenomenon occurred: auspicious fragrance wafted from the ground, celestial music played, and auspicious clouds descended from the sky.

The Supreme Sage, Laozi, the founder of the Human Religion, holding a flat cane, rode slowly on the back of a blue ox and stopped in mid-air.

Upon seeing this, Fuxi and Shennong immediately paid their respects. The surrounding humans also followed suit and kowtowed.

Laozi said to Fuxi, "Congratulations, fellow Daoist. You have now perfected your teachings on the human race and attained the Dao fruit of the Human Emperor. From now on, as long as the human race does not perish, you will be protected by your merits and can enjoy a carefree and blissful life. I am in charge of the Human Sect and have received the decree of Master Hongjun. I have come here to instruct you that after you attain the Dao, you should go to the Fire Cloud Palace beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens to cultivate in seclusion."

Seeing Fuxi's puzzled expression, Laozi continued, "The Fire Cloud Palace was the cave dwelling of the former Red Cloud Daoist. Master Hongjun took that cave dwelling and set it up outside the Thirty-Three Heavens to create a sacred place for you humans."

Fuxi then understood and nodded.

"Once you go to the Fire Cloud Palace, you must not leave lightly. Otherwise, even a supreme sage emperor would be tainted by worldly karma, which would be undesirable and detrimental to humanity. Moreover, you will be free from disasters and calamities and karmic disputes in the Fire Cloud Palace. As long as you calm your mind and comprehend the Dao, you may be able to advance further when the time is right and attain the Primordial Dao." Laozi instructed again.

"Fuxi understands, thank you, Master," Fuxi said, bowing in gratitude.

Laozi nodded and then rode away on his green ox. Afterwards, Fuxi hurriedly instructed Shennong to memorize the Eight Trigrams diagram.

Shennong knew the situation was urgent, so he quickly and carefully memorized it.

The Eight Trigrams created by Fuxi are the Pre-Heaven Eight Trigrams. Although their shapes are simple, the principles they contain are all-encompassing.

Everyone will glean different insights from the Bagua diagram.

The enormous Bagua diagram beneath Fuxi enveloped the entire human territory, lingering there for a long time.

The shape of the eight trigrams is crystal clear, with a yin-yang symbol rotating slowly around the center, seemingly containing endless mysteries.

This Bagua diagram is the origin of the "I Ching" in later generations. It is the first classic of humanities and pioneered the civilization of humankind.

Emperor Yan Shennong comprehended it and created the "Lianshan Yi"; after him, there was a successor to his position as the supreme ruler, Emperor Huang Xuanyuan, who comprehended it and created the "Guicang Yi".

And in later generations, King Wen of Zhou studied it and came to understand the "Zhouyi" (Book of Changes). There are three great Yi (Book of Changes), all of which are all-encompassing, profound, and mysterious.

Besides these, there are various other interpretations and understandings, which have continued for thousands of generations, bringing endless benefits. For the human race, this is truly an immense favor and contribution.

At that moment, the diagram of the Eight Trigrams slowly dissipated, followed by a loud bang.

Visible throughout the three realms of the primordial world.

Vast merits continuously emerged above Fuxi's head, shining with golden light, and descended.

Behind Fuxi, it transformed into an enormous golden wheel.

Moreover, not only that, at the moment the golden wheel was formed, suddenly, all the humans in the primordial world felt a strong sensation.

It was as if, from the depths of the universe, I saw a great river, flowing endlessly, its beginning and end unknown, vast and exuding boundless power.

It wasn't just humans; all other races, all living beings in the world, vaguely sensed it, though not as clearly as humans.

In reality, in the eyes of the sages and Xuanhuang, what had formed at this moment was not a great river, but a vast and boundless avenue.

This great path is the Way of Humanity. For a long time, the Way of Humanity has been hidden, and all living beings only know the Way of Heaven. But now, with the rise of the human race and the flourishing of the Way of Humanity, it has finally been revealed.

The Way of Humanity is not only the Way of the human race, but also includes other races. All living beings that exist between heaven and earth are included in this Way.

However, now that the human race is the main protagonist, and it is the rise of the human race that has awakened this path, so the human path is now dominated by the human race.

Humanity may not be as powerful as the Way of Heaven, but it surpasses it in its boundless potential. The sky may be high, but the human heart is the highest.

Where humanity resides, so too does the human heart yearn.

At this moment, feeling the immense power contained within humanity, all the great beings and saints couldn't help but feel a trace of greed.

They wanted to take control of humanity.

If we have humanity in our hands, what is there to fear from fate? But how easy is it to control humanity?

Even a saint was only momentarily dazed before regaining his senses, and the burning desire in his eyes subsided.

As soon as the Human Way appeared, it was as if the true spirit of a sage had been entrusted to the Heavenly Way. At this moment, Fuxi also became the Perfect Human, and his true spirit was thus entrusted to the Human Way.

From then on, as long as humanity does not perish, his merits will not be lost, and his true spirit will reside in humanity, so he will not be in danger of perishing.

After attaining enlightenment, Fuxi went to the Thirty-Three Heavens and lived in the Fire Cloud Palace to cultivate in seclusion, no longer concerning himself with worldly affairs.

Shennong continued to govern the human race, and in the blink of an eye, several hundred years passed. Under Shennong's rule, the human race became increasingly prosperous.

Moreover, during this time, Shennong also understood his mission, so he tasted hundreds of herbs, wrote medical books, and passed down the "Shennong's Classic of Herbs". He then achieved perfect merit and, like Fuxi, attained the Dao of the Human Emperor and became a perfect man.

Even so, Shennong was still troubled, because his situation was different from Fuxi's. Fuxi found him and passed on the position of the supreme ruler before he attained enlightenment.

He had already attained enlightenment, but the next ruler was still undecided. Sensing that his time with the human race was running out, Shennong hurriedly sent people to search for promising young talents with the potential to become great sages.

However, although such rising stars were indeed found quickly, it was not one person, but two.

Shennong was troubled again.

These two rising stars, one from the Youxiong tribe by the Ji River, was named Xuanyuan. Xuanyuan's mother was named Fubao, who conceived after seeing a great lightning bolt circling the Big Dipper and illuminating the countryside. She gave birth to Xuanyuan in Shouqiu after twenty-five months.

Xuanyuan was also eloquent and exceptionally intelligent from a young age. As he grew up, he taught his people how to fish and hunt, and that they should not harm female animals in spring or catch female fish in autumn. He was known far and wide for his great benevolence, wisdom, and courage.

Another one came from the Jiuli tribe and was named Chi You. When Chi You was born, there was also an unusual phenomenon: red light rose from the ground and surged into his body, which was quite extraordinary.

Chi You also performed a great act of wisdom. He extracted five metals from the rocks in the mountains and made weapons, swords, halberds, bronze helmets, and iron armor, which greatly increased the military strength of his tribe and made them awe-inspiring to all sides, with no one daring to contend with them.

Shennong was unable to make a decision, so he summoned his ministers to discuss and choose the most suitable one from the two to serve as the common ruler.

Unexpectedly, before the matter could be accomplished, a Taoist priest came and said to Shennong, "The next ruler will not be Chiyou, but Xuanyuan."

Shennong hurriedly asked the reason, and the Taoist replied, "I am a direct disciple of the Jie Sect, with the Taoist name Duobao. I have come here on my master's orders to teach Xuanyuan so that he may achieve unparalleled feats and become the Emperor of Man."

"In that case, Chi You is naturally not the chosen ruler, so why should the Human Emperor worry about it?"

Shennong hesitated. At this moment, Daoist Duobao added, "Furthermore, there is another important reason, which I'm afraid the Human Emperor is unaware of."

"Um?"

Shennong asked, "What do you mean, Daoist Master?"

"That Chi You was not actually human," said Daoist Duobao.

(End of this chapter)