The Fifty-second Emperor of Xuanyuan
After several years, the human race had fully identified with the law of currency and measurement. Shennongshi was also old and weak, and selecting the next emperor was imminent. If it weren't for the need to promote the law of currency and measurement, Shennongshi might have already chosen a successor. However, he devoted all his energy to spreading these two laws throughout the human race, thus delaying the selection of the next emperor.
After the human race began to use this currency and measurement method, the Heavenly Way immediately bestowed great merit. The merit was divided into three parts, with Wu Tao and Jing Wei assisting Emperor Huang in promoting it, each getting one quarter of the merit. As for Kun Peng, he was the strategist and creator of these two things, so he alone got half of the merit. As for Emperor Huang Shennong, he had not yet completed his merit, so no merit was bestowed upon him, but rather waited until his merit was complete before bestowing it together.
The heavens bestowed such great merit that the saints couldn't help but go a little crazy. Kunpeng's merit since the Great War against the Witch had far surpassed that of Nüwa, who became a saint through great merit. However, despite obtaining such immense merit, he did not become a saint, leaving the other saints perplexed. At the same time, they also came to understand how crucial the Grand Dao's mechanisms were in aiding one's ascension to sainthood. In reality, things weren't as they imagined - if Kunpeng had followed the path of achieving enlightenment through great merit, he would have already become a saint with the merit he possessed. However, Kunpeng walked the path of slaying the three corpses to achieve enlightenment, making merit less important to him. It was precisely because of this that Kunpeng used his great merit to forge two ultimate treasures of acquired merit.
The improvement of his cultivation allowed Kunpeng to gain a deeper understanding of the difference between acquired and innate spiritual treasures. He had previously absorbed the chaotic aura emitted by the innate treasure "Hunyuan Bell" in the "Pangu Cauldron", which made him think that the cauldron could one day evolve into an innate treasure, but now he realized how great the gap was between them. The innate treasure he obtained on Taiyin Star had not yet taken shape, but its origin was from chaos, so it could continuously absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to evolve itself. On the other hand, the "Pangu Cauldron" originated from acquired formation, and it was already a great achievement for it to evolve into an acquired treasure, there was no possibility for further evolution, and the acquired treasure was its final form.
Kunpeng had already used up all the original stored merits when making up for the lack of good deeds. The merits bestowed by the Heavenly Way this time just happened to make up for Kunpeng's deficiencies, and he did not want to use these merits to refine another earthly treasure of great merit. He had a deep understanding of how much merit was required to create a true earthly treasure of great merit. Last time, when refining the "Pangu Cauldron", the amount of merit used exceeded his expectations. If he hadn't used the fragments of Mount Buzhou as the material, the "Pangu Cauldron" wouldn't have become an earthly treasure of great merit comparable to the "Heavenly and Earthly Jade Tower". Refining a top-grade earthly treasure of great merit consumed a huge amount of merit, even someone like Kunpeng with great merits felt heartache. Therefore, he hesitated for a while when it came to refining another earthly treasure of great merit.
Due to the laws of currency and measurement, the heavenly way has bestowed such great merit, which was within Kunpeng's expectations. What he didn't expect this time was that after the heavenly way bestowed its merit, the 'Nine Heavens Primordial Yang Merit Ruler' actually underwent a transformation, adding some spatial laws. After contemplating it, Kunpeng finally understood the new ability of the 'Nine Heavens Primordial Yang Merit Ruler', which is to fix part of space. Kunpeng gave it a name called 'Ruler Fixing the Universe'.
With the example of 'Nine Heavens Primordial Yang Merit Ruler', Kunpeng understood that the ultimate acquired merit treasure has a special function, but this merit requires certain requirements to be met in order to unlock it. Kunpeng used the 'Nine Heavens Primordial Yang Merit Ruler' as a prototype to impart the method of measuring human merit, only then did he unlock its function.
After this realization, Kunpeng finally understood how deeply the Supreme Old Lord had hidden. The acquired ultimate function of the Ultimate Treasure of Postnatal Virtue was not a simple defensive spiritual treasure; in some degree, it was more useful than the Innate Treasure. 'The Tower of Heaven and Earth's Mysterious Yellow' was the first ultimate postnatal treasure between heaven and earth. Kunpeng did not believe that it had not opened this ultimate function, so he added another layer of vigilance to his heart towards the Supreme Old Lord.
Kunpeng had two ultimate treasures in his hands, the successful variation of the 'Nine Heavens Primordial Yang Merit Ruler'. This made him happy while also thinking about how to enable the 'Pangu Cauldron' to unlock this ultimate function.
Fortunately, Kunpeng had a later memory of the development trend of Honghuang, and after his careful consideration, he finally determined the method to activate the ultimate function of "Pangu Ding". If Shennong's merit is the greatest among the Three Emperors, then Yu's merit is also the greatest among the Five Emperors. He not only made great contributions to water control but also refined the nine tripods to suppress the nine states' energy operation. Kunpeng wanted to use Yu's hands to activate the ultimate function of "Pangu Ding".
The disciples of the various saints saw that Wu Dao and Jing Wei had gained such great merit just by helping the human race develop, and they couldn't help but be moved. They began to help the human race one after another. Among the three teachings of Ren, Xuan, and Jie, the Jie teaching had the most disciples, and with many people came great power. As soon as they took action, they dominated most of the affairs, and thus the human race's faith in the Jie teaching began to grow stronger. The Xuan teaching had too few disciples and quickly fell behind in the competition for the human race's faith.
Seeing the number of people spreading the teachings under his door exceeded that of the Xuan Jiao, the Tian Xuan Zong was overjoyed. He was happy, but the Yuan Shi Tian Zun was somewhat annoyed - his disciples were so disappointing, they actually let the Xuan Jiao suppress them. However, he had let Guang Cheng Zi accept Xuan Yuan as a disciple, and when Xuan Yuan succeeded to the throne of Ren Huang, he could then use the power of Ren Huang to spread the teachings among humans.
After Shennong completed the promotion of currency and measurement methods, he put his energy into selecting the next human emperor. Xuan Yuan returned to the tribe after completing his studies and took over his father's position, leading the development of the tribe. With the support of the Xuan teachings behind him, the tribe developed very rapidly.
Shennong learned about Huangdi in detail, knowing that he had great wisdom and ability, and with the support of the gods behind him, decided to pass on the throne of the Human Emperor to Huangdi.
With this decision, Shennong quickly began to arrange the handover ceremony. This decision made some of the tribe's people feel dissatisfied. The human race had developed to this stage, and they already had a distinction of nobility. The new emperor was not from their tribe, which would affect the reputation of the tribe. Unfortunately, Shennong was the emperor, and his decision could not be changed. The tribesmen could only follow his orders and start preparing for the handover ceremony.
Xuanyuan was overjoyed when he learned that the Human Emperor Shennong would abdicate in his favor, feeling that he finally had a chance to fulfill his ambitions. The Fengchou tribe where he lived was also filled with joy and excitement.
On this day, the weather was fine and sunny, and the leaders of all human tribes received a message from Shen Nong, the Human Emperor, to gather together to witness the handover ceremony. The handover of the Human Emperor is a major event, so it's natural for Taishang Laojun, the master of the Taoist teachings, to make an appearance. Yuanshi Tianzun, as the ancestor of Huangdi, also had to appear, and Fuxi, as the Heavenly Emperor among the Three Emperors, naturally had to show up. Nüwa, the mother of humanity, also came to the human tribe.
Shennong formally announced Xuan Yuan's succession to his duties, and he was appointed as the next Human Emperor. The leaders of various tribes of the human race, along with the previous Human Emperor Fuxi, the sages Taishang Laojun, Yuanshi Tianzun, and Nuwa, witnessed the handover ceremony. From then on, the human race entered the era of Human Emperor Xuan Yuan. Kunpeng was the holy teacher of the human race, but due to the previous incident, he attracted the attention of all the saints, so he did not show up in person, instead sending Wudao and Jingwei to represent him at the ceremony.
Shennong retreated, and the heavens bestowed great merit. However, this time the merit was unexpectedly large, almost twice as much as Fuxi's. This shows how much sweat Shennong shed for humanity. Another unexpected point is that although Shennong obtained a lot of merit, he didn't share it with others, but instead absorbed it all himself. After absorbing the merit, Shennong's cultivation suddenly advanced to the level of quasi-sainthood, achieving the Human Emperor Dao fruit.
Shennong obtained the Tao, and many people came to pay their respects. Wudao stepped forward and said: "I have seen the Human Emperor, but my master is in retreat for cultivation and cannot come personally to congratulate the Human Emperor. I hope the Human Emperor can understand."
Nüwa heard the words of enlightenment and couldn't help but let out a cold snort, saying: "This Kunpeng is really arrogant as the Holy Master of the Human Tribe, not even coming to pay his respects on the occasion of the Emperor's succession."
Shennong heard Nüwa say this and hastily said: "Holy Master, the human race is infinitely grateful. The handover of the Human Emperor is just a ceremony. Whether you come or not doesn't make any difference."
Nüwa saw Shen Nong protecting Kun Peng, her face changed color, but soon returned to calm, and didn't say anything else.
The Primordial Old Lord said: "Since Shen Nong has achieved the Human Emperor Dao Fruit, he can go to Huo Yun Cave to cultivate. From now on, he is not allowed to interfere with the affairs of Hong Huang."
Shennong nodded in agreement with Taishang Laojun's suggestion, then stood up and went to Huoyun Cave with Fuxi. Before leaving, Shennong knew he owed his wife an apology, so he asked Jingwei to visit her mother more often when she had time.
Xuanyuan succeeded as the Human Emperor, and the original Fengchu tribe was officially renamed the Youxiong tribe. After Xuanyuan became the Human Emperor, Yuanshi Tianzun was overjoyed, sending all his disciples to assist Xuanyuan in governing the world. Thus, the Xuan teachings gradually flourished among humans, taking advantage of the Human Emperor's prestige.