Primordial Era: A brick knocks Hongyun unconscious, and he seizes the throne at the start.

When Lu Chen arrived at Wuzhuang Temple, the area under the ginseng fruit tree was already in chaos.

Zhen Yuanzi was sweating profusely as he channeled his magical power into Hongyun, but Hongyun's aura continued to weaken, her face turned ashen, and there were still traces of blood left at the corners of her mouth.

What alarmed Lu Chen even more was that the stagnant purple energy that should have been purified in Hongyun's dantian had reappeared, and it was even more turbid than before, emitting a strong demonic aura!

"What's going on?" Lu Chen squatted down, the Chaos Brick floating in his palm, ready to suppress at any moment.

"It's...it's the remnant of that waste purple energy." Zhen Yuanzi gritted his teeth. "When the Dao Ancestor purified it back then, he left a trick, secretly sealing away a wisp of demonic seed essence. Over the past hundred years, that wisp of demonic seed has been slowly eroding Fellow Daoist Hongyun's Dao foundation, and today it suddenly erupted..."

Lu Chen's face darkened.

A hidden trick left behind by the Dao Ancestor Hongjun?

No wonder Hongyun was so easily corrupted by the demonic seed back then, and the Dao Ancestor's intervention to purify him was so "timely"—it was all a scheme!

Hongyun's failure to become a saint and the damage to his Dao foundation were probably also part of the Dao Ancestor's plan.

What is the purpose?

Lu Chen's mind raced, and suddenly he remembered something—

For the human race to prosper, it needs the rule of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to establish its destiny.

As for the selection of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors...

"Fuxi, Shennong, Xuanyuan, Zhuanxu, Diku, Yao, Shun, Yu..." Lu Chen murmured, "These people were either reincarnations of ancient great beings or appointed by Heaven... But Senior Hongyun should have been one of them!"

He understood instantly.

Hongjun prevented Hongyun from becoming a saint and even secretly destroyed his foundation of cultivation, all to make him "unqualified" and vacate the positions of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors so that other "obedient" people could be arranged to take them up!

"A clever scheme." Lu Chen sneered.

But it won't work if he tries to scheme against his friends.

"Senior, let go, I'll do it." He pushed Zhen Yuanzi away and placed his hands on Hongyun's dantian.

The Law of Power was operating at full force, and nine-colored light surged into Hongyun's body, forcibly stripping away that wisp of demonic essence!

However, the demonic seed is very cunning. It has been deeply bound to Hongyun's Dao foundation. Forcibly separating it could damage the foundation and even turn Hongyun into a cripple.

"We need to use a clever approach." Lu Chen narrowed his eyes and took out an item from the Qiankun Diagram—a drop of the essence blood of the Time Ancestral Witch Zhu Jiuyin.

The laws of time allow for rewinding!

He injected his essence and blood into Hongyun's body, while simultaneously activating the Morning Bell.

"clang--!"

The bell tolled, and time began to flow backward in Hongyun's dantian!

It wasn't a complete reversal, but only targeted that wisp of demonic seed—Lu Chen used the laws of time to "push back" it to the state it was in when it was first sealed a hundred years ago, and then took the opportunity to smash it apart with the Chaos Brick!

"puff!"

The demonic seed dissipated, turning into a wisp of black smoke, which Lu Chen collected using the Qiankun Diagram.

Hongyun groaned, and his breathing began to recover. Although he was still weak, at least his life was saved.

"Phew..." Zhen Yuanzi breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, young friend."

"You're too kind, senior." Lu Chen waved his hand and looked at Hongyun. "However, senior Hongyun's foundation has been damaged, his path to sainthood is severed, and the position of one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors... is probably not going to him."

Zhen Yuanzi smiled bitterly: "It's already a blessing to have survived; how could I dare to hope for anything more?"

But Lu Chen didn't think so.

"Since they are ruthless, don't blame me for being ruthless too." A glint flashed in his eyes. "They can arrange the selection of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, and so can I."

"What do you want to do?" Zhen Yuanzi asked in surprise.

"Don't worry, senior, I won't force things." Lu Chen grinned. "The human race is destined to prosper; that's the will of Heaven. But how it prospers, and who decides that... that's not necessarily true."

He took out eight jade slips from the Qiankun Diagram—these were crafted casually during his hundred-year seclusion, and they contained eight different "Human Emperor Paths," corresponding to the eight positions of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.

"Fuxi developed the Eight Trigrams, Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs, Xuanyuan quelled wars, Zhuanxu severed the connection between heaven and earth, Emperor Ku established the calendar, Yao and Shun abdicated, Yu controlled the floods..." Lu Chen handed the jade slip to Zhen Yuanzi. "These are all key moments in the rise of the human race. As long as we place 'our own people' at these moments, or secretly exert influence, we can share the human race's fortune, and even... control the future direction of the human race."

Zhen Yuanzi took the jade slip, scanned it with his divine sense, and gasped: "You... are you trying to steal food from a sage?!"

"It's not about stealing, it's about cooperation," Lu Chen corrected. "The human race has immense fortune, enough for many to share. The Three Pure Ones want to establish their religion, the West wants to spread its teachings, Nuwa wants to provide protection... It's not unreasonable for us to only want a portion of it, is it?"

"But what about the Sage..."

"I'll handle the Sages." A confident glint flashed in Lu Chen's eyes. "I'm a Primordial Golden Immortal now. Although I'm not as powerful as a Sage, I'm qualified to sit at the table and negotiate. Besides... they're not a united front."

There are internal conflicts among the Three Pure Ones, the two Western Saints are at odds with the Three Pure Ones, and Nuwa is relatively neutral... These are all loopholes that can be exploited.

"So what do you plan to do?" Zhen Yuanzi asked.

"The first step is to save Senior Hongyun." Lu Chen looked at the unconscious Hongyun. "His foundation is damaged and needs to be repaired. The fortune of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors of the Human Race may be able to help him rebuild his foundation."

"You mean... let Hongyun be reincarnated as a human to compete for the throne of the Human Emperor?" Zhen Yuanzi frowned. "But his memories haven't faded, and his cultivation is still intact. If he's reincarnated as Hongyun, it doesn't conform to the rules."

"Who said we'd have to let him do it himself?" Lu Chen laughed. "We can cultivate a 'representative' to compete for the Human Emperor's throne, and then secretly bind Senior Hongyun's true spirit to the representative so they can share the same fortune."

This operation is a bit convoluted, but it's feasible.

"Where do spokespeople come from?"

"Choose from among the human race." Lu Chen had already planned this. "Among the Twelve Yuan Chen, Chen Long, Chen Hu, and Chen Bao were created by me using the essence and blood of the human race. They share the same roots and origins as the human race. It would be most suitable for them to be reincarnated as humans and compete for the position of the Three Sovereigns."

Zhen Yuanzi's eyes lit up: "Chenlong and the other two are already Taiyi Golden Immortals. After reincarnation, they retain their cultivation memories. With your secret support, they certainly have a chance to contend for the Human Emperor's throne!"

"Not just them." Lu Chen then thought of the Torch Reaper. "The Torch Reaper's three thousand avengers are all transformed human souls who hate the demon race to the bone. Let them reincarnate as humans and become the backbone of the human race. They can both protect the human race and be used by me."

"What about the underworld..."

"We have people in the underworld, so reincarnation procedures are easy to handle," Lu Chen said with a smile. "The Reincarnation Decree is in my hands; opening a back door isn't too much to ask, is it?"

The plan is in place.

Zhen Yuanzi was finally persuaded: "Alright! Then this old Taoist will take the gamble with you!"

The two began to divide the work.

Zhen Yuanzi was responsible for contacting the underworld's agents and arranging reincarnation matters.

Lu Chen was responsible for preparing the "reincarnation package"—equipping Chen Long and the other two with cultivation techniques, magic weapons, pills, and most importantly, the "Human Emperor's Fate Talisman" to ensure that they could successfully awaken after reincarnation and embark on the path of vying for supremacy.

Three days later, everything was ready.

In the backyard of Wuzhuang Temple, Chenlong, Chenhu, and Chenbao knelt before Lu Chen.

"In your next reincarnation, the three of you will forget your past lives and start anew." Lu Chen placed three jade talismans between their foreheads. "But the jade talismans seal your memories and cultivation levels, which will awaken when you reach adulthood."

"After awakening, your mission is to become the supreme ruler of humanity and lead it to great prosperity. In the process, you will encounter other competitors, including those chosen by the sages. Show no mercy; fight when necessary and kill when necessary."

"Remember, I'm behind you. If you encounter any problems you can't solve, I'll step in."

The three men kowtowed: "We will obey our master's orders!"

"Go ahead," Lu Chen waved.

The three transformed into streaks of light and flew towards the underworld.

Immediately afterwards, three thousand streams of light rose from Wuzhuang Temple—those were the avengers of the Fire-Burning Tribe, who voluntarily reincarnated as humans to contribute to the rise of humanity.

Watching this scene, Zhen Yuanzi sighed, "This generation of the human race... is about to get interesting."

"It's better when it's lively," Lu Chen grinned. "Only when the water is murky can we fish."

He turned around and looked at the unconscious Hongyun.

"Senior Hongyun, please recuperate at Wuzhuang Temple first. Once Chenlong and the others have established themselves, I will come to fetch you and send you into reincarnation to share in the Human Emperor's fortune."

Hongyun seemed to sense something, and her eyelids twitched.

Lu Chen then said to Zhen Yuanzi, "Senior, in the next hundred years, the human race will enter the era of the 'Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.' This is a crucial period for the flourishing of the human race's fortune, and also a stage for the power struggles among various forces. You can stay at Wuzhuang Temple and observe the situation quietly. If necessary... you can secretly lend a hand to Chenlong and the others."

"I understand."

After arranging everything, Lu Chen finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But soon, he remembered something else—

On the other side of the sea of ​​blood, the gourd fragments and the last remaining malevolent energy of the God-Slaying Spear have not yet been dealt with.

"It will take at least several decades for Chenlong and the others to reincarnate and awaken," he calculated. "I'll take advantage of this time to go to the Blood Sea and settle old scores."

He activated his Brick Escape Technique and flew towards the Sea of ​​Blood.

On the vast chessboard, he placed several more crucial pieces.

And the history of humanity will take a completely different turn because of this mastermind.