Chapter 116: The Great Goddess Nuwa Molding Figures by the Riverside

Soon, the screen showed only the great god Pangu, panting heavily, his body drenched in divine blood.

At this point, the theme music had already begun its third repetition of the first movement—majestic yet gentle.

Two billion spectators from the Realm of Fa Ma started discussing the plot eagerly.

“See? That demon god wasn’t completely dead. I just saw the Demon Lord Luohou escaping.”

“Not just Luohou, but also the Eastern Emperor Taiyi, the venerable Hongjun, and others—they all fled.”

“Now I’m curious how this will play out. Is the creation of heaven and earth about to begin?”

“By the way, where did Teacher Xiao Tian fly off to?”

On the screen, chaos churned restlessly. Having caught his breath, Pangu gathered his strength. Finally, with a sweeping motion, his divine axe sliced through the void with a sharp, resounding strike.

In an instant, the entire cosmos fell silent. The next moment, the axe blade, faster than light, tore the universe apart.

Up and down, the heavens and earth gradually took shape. Fearing they might merge back into chaos, Pangu stood firm—heaven above his head, earth beneath his feet—anchored in the midst of the forming world, changing with it.

Each day, the sky rose by a yard, the earth thickened by a yard, and Pangu’s body grew by a yard. After eighteen thousand years, the sky stood towering high, the earth had thickened immensely, and Pangu had stretched to an extraordinary length.

This towering giant, like a colossal pillar, stood upright between heaven and earth, preventing them from collapsing back into chaos. He stood there alone, performing this arduous task for another eighteen thousand years.

Eventually, as the structure of heaven and earth seemed to stabilize, he no longer needed to fear their reunion. Exhausted, he finally collapsed.

At that very moment, a profound transformation swept over him. The breath he exhaled became wind and clouds; his left eye transformed into the sun, his right into the moon; his limbs and torso turned into the four poles and five sacred mountains of the earth. His blood became rivers, his veins turned into roads, his muscles became fertile fields; his hair changed into stars in the night sky; his fine body hair sprouted into flowers and trees. Even his teeth, bones, and marrow transformed into shining metals, solid stones, and precious jade. The sweat on his body, seemingly insignificant, became pure dew and nourishing rain.

In no time, the scene shifted to reveal a great mountain deep within a sea of white clouds.

At the same time, the silver dragon of Xiao Tian appeared majestically, circling the mountain. Beside it, the legendary Kunlun Mountain emerged—ancestor of all mountains, the dwelling place of all gods. The character for “immortal” in the ancient tongue means one who stands atop a mountain; standing there, people become immortals, eternal beings.

As the music transitioned into its second movement—a powerful symphony—the silver dragon spiraled higher around Kunlun Mountain.

To enhance realism, sound effects of jet engines roaring and piercing the air were added, creating a tense, thrilling atmosphere that stirred the hearts of the two billion Fa Ma people. They began moving to the rhythm, most stepping in place.

Breaking through the clouds, the white mist dispersed, and the silver dragon vanished upon entering the mountain’s heartland.

Soon after, a woman with a human face and serpent’s body appeared.

She was Nüwa, the goddess of creation, the Mother of Earth, revered as the Empress, the Sovereign, the Yin Empress, the Imperial Daughter.

“Wow, the goddess Nüwa is so beautiful!”

“Why does she look so melancholy? It breaks my heart.”

“Why is she wandering alone?”

Nüwa twisted her body gracefully and walked slowly to a nearby stream. Looking up at the sky, she sighed softly.

Blinking her beautiful eyes, she rested her chin on her right hand, lost in thought.

Suddenly, she caught sight of her reflection in the water, and her eyes suddenly sparkled brightly.

Everyone held their breath as Nüwa scooped up some yellow mud. With her delicate hands, she began kneading it.

Before long, a woman resembling herself took shape.

Seeing this figure move, Nüwa smiled happily.

“Wow, the goddess Nüwa’s smile is so lovely!”

“She’s smiling! She’s smiling!”

“Someday, I want to try sculpting one too.”

But soon, as the clay figure walked, it crumbled apart.

Startled, Nüwa’s expression changed. She quickly covered her mouth, as if bewildered by what had happened.

Her divine eyes shifted; she then sculpted a dozen or so clay figures.

This time, she blew a breath upon them. The two billion Fa Ma people inhaled sharply, captivated.

The clay figures came to life, lively and animated, gaining legs to match their arms.

Watching as one beautiful woman after another was born, Nüwa’s eyes glittered. Soon, she began sculpting more clay figures.

This time, when she blew upon them, the figures changed noticeably.

“Wow, they have male organs! These are men!” someone shouted excitedly.

Dozens of men and women gathered around Nüwa, cheering exuberantly, dancing with joy. Seeing this, Nüwa smiled.

Suddenly, the scene shifted with the passing of night and day. The next morning arrived.

Now, Nüwa held a rope in her hands.

Seeing her with the rope, a spectator couldn’t help but ask, “Is she going to punish the children?”

Swish!

The rope cracked sharply against the river’s surface, then plunged beneath.

Nüwa began spinning the rope tirelessly, wrapping it with mud.

Swish!

When the rope was pulled from the riverbed, thousands upon thousands of mud clumps scattered like stars, spreading out all around. Each clump transformed into a clay figure. When Nüwa blew on them, they became living beings.

Yin became women; Yang became men. These newly born people gathered joyfully around their mother, cheering happily.

Nüwa smiled.

The spectators smiled along.

Day after day, year after year, Nüwa slid to the riverbank, rhythmically slapping the air to create life.

But she seemed troubled. Sometimes, dissatisfied with the stars’ dullness, she painted radiant rainbows and colorful clouds across the sky.

Seeing that the variety of birds, beasts, fish, and insects was insufficient and lacked distinction, she began creating new and wondrous species.

The stars, the flowers, the trees—all were her creations.

No one knew how much time passed. Watching her children multiply and their consciousness awaken, one day she blushed deeply as she slid along.

“Hey, why is the goddess Nüwa blushing?”

“What keen observation and inference!”

“Exactly. The love in her eyes, her shy demeanor, her slight trembling—she must be longing for her husband.”

Sure enough, Nüwa began speaking to her children. Though the film offered no dialogue, it didn’t matter—soon, the audience understood. People were marrying and bearing children; weddings were celebrated.

The scene shifted again to a wondrous place—the banks of the Ling River in the western heavens.

“Why does Teacher Xiao Tian give such a close-up of that stubborn stone?”

“It’s said that Nüwa counts every person she creates by grains of sand, and over time, these grains formed the stubborn stone.”

“Wait, I remember Sun Wukong was born from a stubborn stone. Is this the same stone?”

“Wasn’t it called the Five-Color Stone? But that makes sense. Nüwa’s ‘Seventy Transformations’ isn’t literally seventy—it means infinite. And Sun Wukong’s learned seventy-two transformations come from this very place.”