The Primordial World refers to the Minor Heavenly Way hereafter, while the Great Heavenly Way is distinguished by the addition of "Great."
Across the land, powerful ancestors and patriarchs gazed towards Buzhou, their eyes falling upon the magnificent Nuwa manifested as a divine being with a human head and a serpent's tail.
It wasn't just the mighty; even ordinary beings, from hundreds of billions of miles away, could still perceive the Nuwa manifestation.
A shocking thought suddenly sprang into the minds of the powerful ancestors: Nuwa, was she about to achieve sainthood? Yet, this seemed incredible, for Laozi, the foremost disciple of Hongjun and the head of the Three Pure Ones, had shown no signs.
How could Nuwa achieve enlightenment before the esteemed elder of the Daoist sect?
In the Heavenly Court, Di Jun and Tai Yi rejoiced, while the Demon Master marveled with a heart full of delight. If Nuwa truly became a saint, the demon race would have a saint's protection, and all worries would vanish!
On Kunlun, the Three Pure Ones were astonished; their junior sister had taken a step ahead.
In the West, Zhunti laughed heartily. He saw not just Nuwa preceding him to sainthood, but the dawn of an era with six saints.
Upon the Jianmu tree, Qing Ling gazed at Buzhou. The beginning of all calculations and schemes was at hand. All his prior plans were but laying chess pieces. With Nuwa's attainment of sainthood, the game truly began. The grand chess game of heaven and earth was about to unfold!
In the chaos, the eyes of the living dead filled with disbelief. They had fought for so long, lived for so long, yet a junior could surpass them.
Within the will of the Great Heavenly Way, Hongjun sensed something but remained inactive. However, within the Minor Heavenly Way, an anomaly was about to emerge.
Nuwa, the focus of countless gazes across the Primordial World, remained serene and unaware.
She produced two treasures: one was the Nine Heavens Xi Rang, and the other was the Three-Light Divine Water, both objects of creation.
Her human-faced serpent-tailed manifestation glowed with an unusual light. Facing Buzhou, her form became that of a complete human. Yet, the human-faced serpent-tailed form emerged from behind her, a complete human and a human-faced serpent-tailed being, born back-to-back.
The masses were perplexed, the mighty bewildered, the patriarchs suspicious, and the Heavenly Way seemed to pause.
Nuwa's complete human form faced Buzhou, the Three-Light Divine Water and the Nine Heavens Xi Rang merging into her colossal palm. Simultaneously, the human-faced serpent-tailed form behind her addressed the heavens and earth: "I am Nuwa, sensing the origin of the three ways of heaven, earth, and humanity, and understanding the ultimate principles of the Great Heavenly Way. Pangu the Great God is the beginning of the human way..."
"Rumble—"
Endless clouds surged in the sky, and thunder roared across the universe. With Nuwa's declaration, the heavens and earth changed color, the Heavenly Way raged, and tribulations of thunder rolled forth, a myriad of purple light locking onto Nuwa.
The faces of the Three Pure Ones changed drastically. Nuwa had actually revealed the primordial secrets told to her by Laozi to all beings in the world. This was tantamount to exposing the Heavenly Way's hidden agenda!
Nuwa, unhurried, continued her speech: "The Great Heavenly Way is the will of heaven and earth, divided into three. At that time, the Heavenly Way held sway, disregarding humanity and its common folk. I cannot bear to see the common folk ignorant, nor the myriad spirits deluded. More importantly, I will not allow humanity to be enslaved and subservient to the Heavenly Way. Today, I shall use Pangu's primordial form as a model, with a human head, two eyes, one nose, one mouth, two ears, long hair, two breasts, two palms, a navel, and below, a division of yin and yang for procreation, standing upright on two feet, to create a living being."
As Nuwa's human-faced serpent-tailed manifestation proclaimed this to all beings, the complete human manifestation behind her was already shaping the first being in the world with a complete human form, just as the manifestation had described.
The rolling heavenly thunder condensed into a cold eye of heavenly punishment, devoid of emotion and feeling, carrying the nobility of heaven and earth. It looked down upon all beings as ants, causing their souls and spirits to tremble, as if they were being assimilated into the world by this single gaze.
Nuwa's human-faced serpent-tailed form spoke again, its grand words of the Great Way imbued with the power of creation, unsealing the souls of beings assimilated by the heavenly punishment and protecting them.
"With palms reaching the heavens and feet rooted to the earth, a head full of wisdom, a body connected to the celestial and terrestrial forces, and blood, flesh, and bones containing the principles of the universe, it imitates Pangu the Great God, standing tall between heaven and earth, unyielding. I forge this spirit with my lifelong Dao of creation, hoping it will live and die within the imperial heavens and thick earth, never submitting to the might of the Heavenly Way, and never losing the grand momentum of the human way! I name it 'Human' in accordance with the human way, and its race 'Human Race'! It is because of the human way that there is a Human Race, not because of the Human Race that there is a human way!"
As her words fell, the eye of heavenly punishment could endure no longer. Bolts of heavenly punishment lightning struck Nuwa's human-faced serpent-tailed manifestation. Neither spiritual treasures nor divine abilities could resist; nothing could impede the direct path to her divine body.
Nuwa's human-faced serpent-tailed manifestation was shattered, scales scattering with each strike of the heavenly punishment divine lightning. Her entire being was engulfed by the tribulations of lightning, her spirit suffering greatly, yet she continued her defiant words.
Concurrently, Nuwa's complete human manifestation had already created over a thousand humans. She then summoned the gourd vine from Buzhou. The Three-Light Divine Water and the Nine Heavens Xi Rang were gently mixed into mud, and with a wave of the vine, countless drops of mud fell to the ground, transforming into humans upon contact!
However, whether formed by Nuwa's own hands or flung out, the clay figures were as stiff and numb as puppets, devoid of emotion and wisdom.
Seeing this, Nuwa's human-faced serpent-tailed form leaned down. The tribulations of heaven rolled in, and the lightning descended upon Nuwa's body, inflicting countless wounds, large and small, as if thousands of knives were piercing her flesh. The pain and suffering far exceeded any words. From these wounds flowed droplets of bright red blood, which merged into the numb and witless bodies of the humans below. These vital drops, containing Nuwa's Dao of creation, were as precious as any treasure.
Thus, the Human Race began to awaken their spirits and gain wisdom!
As the Human Race opened their eyes to the world, the first scene they beheld was the magnificent figure creating them, standing before them, shielding them. Endless lightning struck the creator mother, and the sky rained red, the blood of the Human Mother, the rain of creation for the birth of the Human Race!
Hundreds of thousands upon hundreds of thousands of humans bowed in tears. The first bow of the Human Race was not to heaven, nor to earth, but to the Mother of Humanity, Empress Nuwa!
"Greetings, Empress Nuwa!"
"Greetings, Empress Nuwa!"
"Greetings, Empress Nuwa!"
Chants of sincere calls from the heart, tears of emotion watering the earth!
Nuwa created humans, with worldly essence as flesh, divine water as blood, Nuwa's blood as soul, and Nuwa's will as bones!
She created four hundred and ninety thousand humans before her blood ran dry and she stopped.
Surrounding Nuwa, forty-nine thousand humans bowed to thank Empress Nuwa for the grace of creation.
Nuwa completed her creation of humans. The Heavenly Way bestowed no merit, but the Great Heavenly Way descended immeasurable merit, commending Nuwa for creating humans and thus completing the human way among the three ways of heaven, earth, and humanity.
However, before the merit descended, Nuwa cried out: "The three corpses, why do you not emerge!?"
A magnificent light of creation erupted from Nuwa's body. The self-corporeal corpse could no longer remain within Nuwa's divine body and was severed from her true form by the will refined by countless heavenly tribulations. The self-corporeal corpse emerged.
On Phoenix Perch Mountain, the serpent-bodied evil corpse emerged. Nuwa's complete human good corpse behind her also emerged. Finally, the human-faced serpent-tailed self-corporeal corpse appeared.
The three corpses merged into one, the Dao reaching a state of primordial harmony. The Dao of Creation ascended to the Primordial level. Nuwa ascended to the firmament, the primordial Dao disk formed by the three corpses suspended behind her head. Nuwa's body reached a state of perfection, immortal and unkillable, indestructible and unscatterable. Nuwa's true spirit vanished from the river of fate, no longer within its bounds.
At this moment, the merit formed by the will of heaven and earth descended. The primordial purple qi on Nuwa's body was drawn out, and a saint emerged!
The heavenly tribulation receded, and the ten thousand miles of thunderclouds transformed into myriad auspicious clouds, a thousand shades of rainbow light, heavenly flowers falling like rain, magnificent and colorful, with exotic fragrances filling the air. Brilliant radiance emanated, golden phoenixes cried and prostrated on the ground, heaven and earth rejoiced together, sun and moon shone in unison, and the vast mountains and rivers offered congratulations.
The Hunyuan Saint Empress Nuwa achieved enlightenment and became a saint! Not a saint of the Heavenly Way, but Empress Nuwa.