The Primordial World.
The Age of the Witch and Demon.
Within the Xuan Yang tribe, one of the three thousand human tribes.
A youth with skin as fair as jade, a hint of childishness in his features, and a handsome appearance sat atop a large tree, lost in thought.
This incredibly handsome youth was Fang Ming.
A person who, after sleeping soundly at home, woke up to find himself transmigrated to the Primordial World.
Fang Ming looked down at the ground beneath his feet.
The branch he was sitting on was a thousand zhang above the earth.
In his previous life on Earth, this height would be equivalent to a thousand-story building, yet Fang Ming felt no fear. He circulated the Golden Core magic power within him and leaped directly down.
*Plop!*
Fang Ming landed on the ground with ease, completely unharmed.
This act, which would have been astonishing in his previous life, brought Fang Ming no sense of pride. It was merely the most basic ability of a cultivator who had reached the "Refining Spirit to Return to the Void" realm through the Golden Core Dao.
"Refining Essence to Qi, Refining Qi to Spirit, Refining Spirit to Void, Refining Void to Dao..."
The youth sighed, "These are the four major cultivation realms below Earth Immortal."
"A cultivator who has reached Refining Spirit to Return to Void can already soar through the heavens and slay enemies with a sword from ten li away. In my previous life, such power would be enough to dominate major nations. Without nuclear weapons, one could be invincible in the world."
"But in the Primordial World... it's useless! It's merely the cultivation of a non-immortal!"
"The ten thousand races of the Demon Court, regardless of their race or individual, all start with Earth Immortal cultivation!"
A flame of unwillingness ignited in Fang Ming's eyes.
He had transmigrated to the Primordial World ten years ago.
In these ten years, Fang Ming had come to understand how weak humanity was in the current Witch-Demon era, and how powerful the ten thousand races of the Demon Court were.
Humanity, for the most part, were merely cultivators, not even true immortals.
A small portion of humans possessed the cultivation of Earth Immortals, Heaven Immortals, and Profound Immortals. However, there were fewer than three thousand humans at the Profound Immortal realm.
At the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm, there were only the three Human Ancestors—Suiren Shi, Youchao Shi, and Ziyi Shi. These three ancestors had their cultivation boosted by Heavenly Dao merit.
And the ten thousand races of the Demon Court?
The ten thousand races of the Demon Court were born as immortals. There were no cultivators among them. Heaven Immortals and Profound Immortals were as numerous as grains of sand, numbering in the "hundreds of millions."
Golden Immortals and Grand Unity Golden Immortals were everywhere. There were as many as three hundred and sixty-five Great Luo realm demon gods.
And then there were quasi-saints like Di Jun, Tai Yi, and Kun Peng...
The gap between them was as vast as heaven and earth.
Under such a massive disparity in strength, humanity naturally became the lowest existence among the myriad races of the Primordial World, slaughtered and consumed for their flesh and souls at will.
Humans had become the bottom feeders of the food chain, living a miserable existence under the oppression of the ten thousand races of the Demon Court, their lives precarious.
Countless humans did not know if they would live to see the next sunrise, as demon attacks on human tribes could happen at any moment.
If such an event occurred, everyone in the tribe would perish.
This was the darkest era facing humanity.
And it was precisely in this darkest era that Fang Ming transmigrated, becoming the young patriarch of the Xuan Yang tribe, one of the three thousand human tribes!
Was this identity useful? In Fang Ming's opinion, no!
The patriarch of the Xuan Yang tribe was merely one of the innate humans personally created by Nuwa. He had cultivated the Golden Core Dao for a million years, yet his cultivation was only at the early stage of Profound Immortal.
Fang Ming, as the young patriarch, was merely a second-generation human born from the reproduction of innate humans. He did not even possess the Innate Dao Body, only the Acquired Dao Body. He had cultivated for eight thousand years, reaching only the Refining Spirit to Return to Void realm.
His foundation and talent were merely those of an acquired human. How could his cultivation speed compare to those innate divine beings?
A human tribe whose highest combat power was only Profound Immortal, what use was the identity of a young patriarch? If the ten thousand races of the Demon Court attacked, would he expect preferential treatment from the demons based on this identity?
Ordinary humans did not know if they would live to see the next sunrise.
Fang Ming, as the young patriarch, also did not know when some hungry demon might suddenly invade the Xuan Yang tribe and devour all its human inhabitants!
Living in the Primordial World during the Witch-Demon era, as a human, there was no guarantee of life!
After transmigrating to the Primordial World, Fang Ming naturally did not want to become food for the myriad races!
However, the scientific knowledge he had learned in his previous life was utterly useless in the Primordial World. Even a mere Heaven Immortal demon could possess enough power to destroy planets, a feat of planet-destroying caliber.
21st-century technology was still unable to destroy planets, yet any Heaven Immortal demon could do so. Golden Immortal demons were even capable of destroying the solar system.
Understanding this, Fang Ming's confidence and plans to fight against the demons using 21st-century technology completely collapsed. He cast these thoughts aside and devoted himself entirely to cultivating the Golden Core Dao.
But technology could not save humanity, and cultivation also could not save humanity.
The Golden Core Dao, passed down to humanity by the Grand Pure Sage, the more Fang Ming cultivated it, the more he felt it was a trap!
An ordinary human with average talent, cultivating the Golden Core Dao for thousands of years, would only reach the Refining Spirit to Return to Void and Refining Void to Dao realms.
Cultivating for tens of thousands of years might barely allow one to reach Earth Immortal.
Cultivating for millions of years might possibly lead to Profound Immortal.
To reach Golden Immortal... without tens of millions, even hundreds of millions of years, there was no hope whatsoever!
This made Fang Ming utterly exasperated!
Although time was not valuable in the Primordial World, and each Kalpa lasted for sixty-four billion years, the time required for the Golden Core Dao was far too long!
Cultivation times of tens of millions or hundreds of millions of years were commonplace. Was this not a deliberate trap set by the Grand Pure Sage for humanity?
Fang Ming mused that, according to later conspiracy theories, this was indeed possible.
Humanity was destined to be the protagonist of heaven and earth in the future. If they were too powerful, how could the high and mighty Sages collect boundless destiny from humanity?
How could the disciples of the Sages harvest endless incense and faith from humanity?
Recalling the Journey to the West era, where gods and buddhas in the sky reaped human incense, Fang Ming strongly suspected that this was the ultimate purpose of the Grand Pure Sage in passing down the Golden Core Dao.
It was to limit humanity's potential, making them obedient ATMs for the merit, destiny, and incense of the myriad gods and buddhas.
Fang Ming thought, "Inferring the purpose from the outcome, the Golden Core Dao that humanity cultivates is definitely a trap!"
"The reason humanity lost to the demons was largely due to this Golden Core Dao... The Grand Pure Sage definitely harbored ill intentions towards humanity..."
"But even seeing through this, I am powerless to change it!"
The Golden Core Dao was passed down by the Grand Pure Sage and was the only cultivation technique practiced by all humans.
Fang Ming could not produce any other cultivation technique to replace the Golden Core Dao!
To clearly see through it yet be helpless, this was Fang Ming's misfortune, and humanity's misfortune!
The force manipulating humanity's suffering, outwardly, was only the Demon Court, but behind the scenes, there was a Saint-level expert like the Grand Pure Sage!
"If only I had a cultivation technique that could replace the Golden Core Dao, one that is incredibly suitable for humanity..."
As Fang Ming was lost in this fantasy.
A mechanical voice echoed.
[Encountering myriad worlds... Ten-year delay... Human Development System activating.]
[This system is the Human Development System, capable of helping the host bind the entire human race.]
[The more humans develop and the more powerful they become, the more system rewards the host will receive.]
[System rewards include: Xuanhuan, Fantasy, Xianxia, Mythology, Sci-Fi, and all treasures and cultivation systems from all the myriad worlds.]
[Due to... a ten-year delay... a compensation gift package is being sent to the host. Please accept it.]
A system?
Fang Ming's heart leaped in surprise!
No one understood the meaning of a system better than he, a transmigrator.
This was the essential support for a protagonist's rise!
"I thought I didn't have a system, but today I have awakened one!"
"It arrived ten years late? Why is the reason garbled? Never mind, that's not for me to worry about. The important thing is that I have a system now!"
Fang Ming had no way of knowing why the system was delayed by ten years, so he immediately put that thought aside.
The most important thing now was to see what this system could do!
"The function of this system is to develop and strengthen humanity. Every development of humanity will reward Origin Points."
"Origin Points can be used to purchase various treasures in the system store."
Fang Ming communicated with the system and quickly understood its functions.