Kunpeng stood bathed in the golden light of Karma, feeling his cultivation swell with every breath, yet his face held not a shred of joy. Instead, it was a mask of pure, startled fury.
He was utterly dumbfounded. He had never expected Nuwa to begin proclaiming the Demon Script the very second she stepped out of his door.
How could she be in such a desperate hurry?
He had originally planned to wait for Nuwa and Fuxi to depart, refine the Demon Script further within his own mind, and then launch a sudden, clandestine action to seize the initiative.
But Nuwa had begun the moment she crossed the threshold. There was no buffer, no interval.
It was far too sudden!
"Was she... was she truly that afraid that I would forestall her?"
Kunpeng's complexion turned a sickly shade, his eyes blazing with a terrifying fire of rage. Though as a senior figure of the Yao Race, he had received a small portion of the Karma, causing his long-stagnant cultivation to inch forward, the benefit was a mere pittance.
If such a minor fragment yielded these results, what would have happened if he had secured the lion's share as Nuwa had?
"Curse it all! That Karma rightfully belonged to me!"
Kunpeng was so incensed he beat his chest and stomped his feet, wanting nothing more than to physically level the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains in his spite. To watch such a massive benefit fly away just as it reached his lips—how could a man of his temperament endure such a loss?
The Demon Script was established, and the Heavenly Dao responded with a torrential descent of Karma. The golden radiance illuminated the Honghuang World, blanketing the endless Yao population. In an instant, the Luck of the entire Yao Race began a rapid, upward surge.
The cultivation levels of the various Great Yao rose in tandem. This was not merely Nuwa's personal Karma; it was a carnival of power for the entire Yao civilization.
As the one who held the vast majority of the merit, Nuwa found herself draped in a sea of Luck. The golden light of Karma condensed into a shimmering Nine-Colored Divine Light, wrapping her long, divine frame in a cocoon of brilliance.
Her cultivation surged forward with startling speed, quickly approaching the threshold of the Middle Stage of the Quasi-Saint Realm.
Nuwa's expression was one of solemn sanctity. Her crimson lips were pressed firmly together, and a brilliant golden mist crowned her head. A phantom of a titanic serpent glided through the clouds above her, swaying its head and tail as it inhaled and exhaled the boundless Karma, soaring upward as if to swallow the very firmament.
The Spiritual Qi of the entire Hundred Thousand Great Mountains began to converge upon Nuwa's position. The massive volume of essence gathered with such density that it formed a gargantuan, physical cloud of Spiritual Qi.
Nuwa opened her mouth and took a light, effortless breath. The cloud of Qi, which was vast enough to blot out the sun, was drawn smoothly into her form.
Then, she raised a jade-like hand and gave a light, sweeping brush toward the Void Realm beside her own body.
Amidst a hazy, shimmering mist, a young woman dressed in palace robes stepped forth. She bore a striking resemblance to Nuwa, though she appeared younger and more innocent. She bowed deeply toward Nuwa, her face radiating a brilliance that seemed to make a hundred flowers bloom at once.
Nuwa returned the bow. The maiden nodded softly and transformed into a streak of golden light, drilling directly into Nuwa's body.
In that heartbeat, Nuwa's Aura erupted. Her cultivation officially crossed the threshold into the Middle Stage of the Quasi-Saint Realm, and it continued to swell as she absorbed the remaining remnants of the Karma.
A boundless, sacred Aura radiated outward, reaching across the furthest corners of the world. Countless members of the Yao Race turned toward Nuwa's direction and prostrated themselves, their hearts overflowing with gratitude and sincere devotion.
The entire Hundred Thousand Great Mountains seethed with excitement. Nuwa's increase in strength acted as a direct injection of confidence for her subjects; the dark clouds of their previous defeats at the hands of the Wu Race were swept away in a single stroke.
"A blessing for the Yao Race!" Even Bai Ze could not help but sigh in admiration. The Heavenly Dao Karma from moments ago had granted him significant benefits as well, pushing his own cultivation forward.
He had learned from Fuxi that Nuwa had originally sought to validate a Heavenly Marriage. He hadn't expected the marriage to fail, only for the Demon Script to take its place.
This led him to speculate—he even possessed a premonition—that this matter was likely connected to Ling Xiao.
In Bai Ze's estimation, with Nuwa's own intellect, creating the Demon Script would have been an arduous task. Without external guidance, it would never have been this effortless.
"The Yao Race shall flourish!" Gui Che, Jiu Ying, and Ji Meng shouted with excitement, sensing that the path ahead for their race had suddenly turned luminous.
The Karma from the Demon Script had allowed Nuwa to achieve the Middle Stage of the Quasi-Saint Realm. With her current cultivation paired with that staggering volume of Karma, she was likely now the number one existence beneath the Saints.
Not only had Nuwa experienced a massive leap, but their own strengths had grown as well. This meant they would no longer be forced into a passive role against the Wu Race; they finally possessed the leverage to meet them head-on.
From top to bottom, the Yao Race erupted in a jubilant celebration.
The Great Desolation grew lively as the news rippled outward. Nuwa had slain her second corpse and ascended to the Middle Stage of the Quasi-Saint Realm; the vast, pressuring Aura of her breakthrough swept across the boundless, ancient lands.
Many great powers felt the weight of that magnificent Aura.
Yujing Mountain.
Laozi, Yuanshi, and Tongtian awakened from their meditation simultaneously, their gazes fixing upon a single point on the horizon.
"Junior Sister Nuwa has slain her second corpse!"
Tongtian spoke with a note of surprise, feeling an invisible pressure settle on his shoulders.
"Hehe... Karma once again. Nuwa seems to have an extraordinary affinity for the Path of Merit," Yuanshi remarked with a thin, cool smile. His tone carried a trace of disdain; in his eyes, using Karma to slay a corpse was a shortcut that lacked the true merit of independent cultivation.
Nuwa had now leveraged Karma twice to bolster her progress, drifting further down that specific path.
"It is not a bad thing. That Nuwa can utilize Karma to such an extent proves she possesses immense Luck. She is not to be underestimated," Laozi noted, his face carrying a calm, detached smile. He appeared entirely unfazed by Nuwa's breakthrough.
This level of tranquility caused both Yuanshi and Tongtian to look at him in surprise. Then, a suspicion began to take root in their minds.
"Brother... could it be that you are also...?"
Laozi idly stroked his snow-white beard and chuckled. "Indeed. I, too, am about to slay my second corpse!"
As the words left his lips, the auspicious clouds atop Laozi's head began to churn. Black and white Qi billowed upward, coalescing into the phantom of a Taiji disk. The imagery of the Yin and Yang balance permeated the surrounding air.
A Daoist with a stern, almost ruthless expression stepped out from the mist. His features were remarkably similar to Laozi's, yet he carried an air of arrogance and coldness.
Yuanshi and Tongtian were struck with a profound shock. They hadn't realized that while they were living side by side every day, their eldest brother had secretly reached this milestone and was now manifesting his second corpse!
In the West, upon Mount Sumeru.
The Two Sages of the West were jarred from their meditation by the ripple of Nuwa's breakthrough. The two brothers, their heads crowned with halos, exchanged a look of pure astonishment.
"Nuwa has actually utilized Karma to slay her second corpse!" Zhunti spoke with a voice thick with envy. There was a deep, visible longing in his tone; before they had even noticed, Nuwa had pulled ahead.
"Nuwa's insights into the Path of Karma are indeed profound. She has walked ahead of us; she is truly extraordinary," Jieyin spoke with a calm Dao-sound, yet his heart was burning with a similar envy.
"At the very least, we are not the last. The Sanqing are still with us!"
Zhunti said with a small laugh, attempting to comfort himself. Though Nuwa had broken through, he took solace in the fact that the Sanqing were seemingly in the same boat as them. This made their own lack of progress feel less like a failure.
Jieyin nodded slightly in agreement. They had always measured themselves against the Sanqing; as long as those three hadn't slain their second corpses yet, their own psychological pressure remained manageable.
"Wait... what is this?"
Suddenly, the Two Sages looked toward the horizon in unison. They felt a second, massive Aura erupt—one that was identical in scale to Nuwa's breakthrough from moments ago.
"Laozi... has slain his second corpse?!"
Jieyin's expression turned grim, his voice sinking into a low rumble. Beside him, Zhunti's face fell instantly, turning a shade of sickly green.
Just a moment ago, they were consoling themselves that the Sanqing were their peers in stagnation. The slap to their faces had arrived with terrifying speed.