Chapter 39: The Creation of Written Language

“Time waits for no one!”
Fuxi stood up decisively. “Let us set out at once. First, we shall go to Mount Kunlun to invite the Three Pure Ones and the Queen Mother of the West; then again to the Northern Sea to invite Kunpeng; next, to the Blood Sea to invite Minghe…”
The Twelve Ancestor Witches, Emperor Jun, and the Eastern Emperor had no objections.
Without delay, the gathering swept out from the Nine Heavens in great numbers, heading toward Mount Kunlun to visit the Three Pure Ones of Pangu.
Among the Three Pure Ones, the Honorable Lord of Virtue was suddenly seized by a premonition, sensing a vast throng approaching Mount Kunlun from the Nine Heavens. His expression subtly changed, and he went out to greet them with his two brothers.
Only then did they realize that those before them were the Witch Tribe of the Great Desolation and the people of the Nine Heavens.
The Honorable Lord of Virtue was utterly bewildered.
According to the Three Pure Ones’ understanding, the Twelve Ancestor Witches, Emperor Jun, and the Eastern Emperor were supposed to be mortal enemies—like water and fire.
Yet what was happening now?
The Twelve Ancestor Witches were walking together with the Heavenly Court?
Their doctrines aligned, both possessed ambitions to dominate the land of the Great Desolation—how could such rivals unite?
The Honorable Lord of Virtue was not the only one stunned!
Both the Primordial Lord of Heaven and the Master of Tongtian were equally dumbfounded, doubting their own resolve and wondering if they’d become deluded by inner demons.
When they finally regained their composure,
The Primordial Lord of Heaven spoke with displeasure, “May I ask what brings you all to gather here in such numbers?”
Fuxi was the first to respond, “Please do not misunderstand, Primordial Lord. We have come seeking your aid, with no malice whatsoever.”
Fuxi then explained the plans of the Ancestral Sect and the Heavenly Court, sincerely inviting the Three Pure Ones to join the Divine Court, forming a third power.
However,
After some deliberation, the Three Pure Ones ultimately declined.
Their characters were well known to all.
The Honorable Lord of Virtue was naturally detached, rarely involving himself unless his own path was at stake; even when he later established the Human Sect and received immense merit to become a saint, it was merely to fulfill his duty, taking Xuan Du as his disciple to give the human race an account.
As for the rest, he cared not at all.
The present tripartite division of power was meant to stabilize the Great Desolation by uniting all great beings, but the wisdom of the Three Pure Ones saw through the arrangement: in truth, the Witch Tribe and Heavenly Court were the true masters of the land and sky. The so-called Divine Court was merely a supporting player, granted only a token share in affairs.
Given all this, how could the Honorable Lord of Virtue possibly agree?

The Primordial Lord of Heaven, too, was not one to cooperate with others.
The Master of Tongtian, though open to all, was equally carefree and unconcerned with order or stability in the Great Desolation.
Thus, seeking the Three Pure Ones of Pangu was destined to be futile.
Fuxi and Nuwa, disappointed, bid farewell.
The group then visited the Queen Mother of the West and the King of the East…
These two were also great beings, but had not yet reached their full potential as had the Twelve Ancestor Witches, Emperor Jun, the Eastern Emperor, Fuxi, and Nuwa—sixteen in all, each at the mid-stage of the Hunyuan Divine Demon realm, soon to enter the late stage.
The Queen Mother of the West, fearing to offend her peers, declined.
The King of the East, ambitious like Emperor Jun and the Eastern Emperor, sought great merit and wished to establish the Immortal Tribe and dominate the Great Desolation.
Upon reflection,
If joining the Divine Court could bring him merit and allow the Immortal Tribe to grow under the auspices of its powerful members, the King of the East agreed.
Kunpeng agreed!
Minghe agreed!
Hongyun not only agreed himself, but also brought along his friend Zhen Yuanzi.
The Chess King would never leave Chessboard Mountain, of course.
Thus,
After much effort, Fuxi and Nuwa managed to recruit five great beings, causing the Divine Court under their leadership to swell in power.
Emperor Jun and the Eastern Emperor exchanged uneasy glances.
Where once they thought the Witch Tribe would be their strongest foe, it now seemed that Fuxi and Nuwa’s Divine Court was equally formidable, with astonishing potential not to be underestimated.
At last,
The group traveled across the vast lands to visit Jieyin and Zhunti in the West.

What surprised Emperor Cang greatly was that Jieyin and Zhunti did not seize the opportunity to agree.
Jieyin, full of sorrow, said, “The great war between the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin tribes devastated the earth veins of the West. Our resources are scarce, the land barren. If the two of us leave now, the Western lands will be utterly hopeless.”
“We must tend to the earth veins and cultivate spiritual roots!”
Jieyin added, “We are deeply ashamed, but at present, we are unable to join your organization.”
The Twelve Ancestor Witches and others had no choice but to bid farewell.

Thus,
The three great powers of the Great Desolation were preliminarily established.
The Twelve Ancestor Witches governed the earth together.
Emperor Jun and the Eastern Emperor ruled over the Heavenly Court.
Fuxi, Nuwa, and seven great beings united their power in the Divine Court, responsible for overseeing the Nine Heavens and mediating disputes between the Ancestral Sect and the Heavenly Court.

With the situation settled,
Ancestor Witch Dijang was eager. “Now that everyone has gathered, what are we waiting for?”
“Let us act together, combining our wisdom to establish the Great Desolation Code.”
Fuxi said, “To create a code for the Great Desolation, we must first have a unique written language for the three powers—or else use the Chaos Dao Script.”
Ancestor Witch Houtu smiled and produced the ‘dictionary structure’ compiled by Emperor Cang, containing three thousand syllables, each with various meanings. These meanings could be combined to deduce a script truly belonging to the Great Desolation. Houtu said, “If we follow this method to create the script, the results should come quickly.”
The great beings examined it.
Emperor Jun of the Heavenly Court said, “The meanings are useful, but the syllables are unnecessary. The Dao has its own mysteries and syllables; we can evolve them according to the general idea. Why make it so complicated?”
Thus, the twenty-one great beings acted together, evolving innate patterns from the meanings of words. Countless mysterious Dao markings appeared as if out of nothing, continually evolving. As the Dao markings converged and were condensed repeatedly, they slowly transformed into a single character.
Emperor Cang witnessed Houtu create the character ‘Earth.’ Through this single word, one could perceive the rise and fall of mountains and rivers, boundless plains, towering peaks reaching the clouds, and a faint aura of nurturing all life and bearing virtue.
“Is this merely a character?”
Emperor Cang was shaken. “Just compiling a dictionary, and these mighty figures seem to be forging some kind of supreme merit treasure!”