Primordial Era: Starting with the repair of Penglai Immortal Island

Huang Long pondered for a moment, then looked at Duo Bao and slowly said, "Senior Brother Duo Bao, don't be impatient. With Shennong's contributions to the human race, it's only a matter of time before he becomes the Human Emperor."

Duobao nodded: "Of course, Senior Brother knows this, but in these thousands of years, Shennong has not only made no progress in his cultivation, but has also made no outstanding contributions to the human race."

Huang Long frowned slightly: "Several thousand years?"

Duobao smiled wryly: "A full five thousand years. He spent several thousand years breaking through from the early stage of the Great Luo realm to the late stage, and now five thousand years have passed, and he's still only at the late stage. Junior brother, do you think I'm not worried?"

Huanglong pondered for a moment, then asked, "Shennong is the sovereign of the human race, and the human race's fortune is intertwined with his. The stronger the human race becomes, the stronger he becomes. Over the past ten thousand years, the human race has flourished, so his cultivation should have risen accordingly. How could it have stagnated?"

Duobao also looked bitter, which was why he couldn't find the problem.

Huang Long pondered for a moment before slowly speaking: "Senior Brother Duobao, given Shennong's contributions to the human race, it was indeed only a matter of time before he became the Human Emperor. But now that his cultivation has stalled at the late stage of the Great Luo realm, there must be some problem with the human race itself."

Duobao was taken aback: "Is there a problem with the human race itself? What problem?"

Huang Long shook his head: "We don't know yet. But since we can't find out where the problem lies, let's look at the current state of the entire human race before making a decision."

He put down his teacup, stood up, and looked toward the distant human territory.

"The root cause of stagnation in one's cultivation often lies not within oneself, but in the karmic consequences of the Great Dao one bears. Shennong is the supreme ruler, and his Dao is connected to the fate of the human race. Whatever problems arise in the human race, his Dao will be stuck there."

Duobao suddenly realized: "Junior Brother means that the human race's operation has gone wrong, causing the flow of fortune to be disrupted, and Shennong, as the sovereign, has naturally been affected as well?"

Huang Long nodded: "That's right. The best way to find out what's wrong with the human race is to see for ourselves what's happening."

With a thought, Huanglong communicated with the totem statues enshrined in various human tribes.

"Reflecting the mountains and rivers."

Huang Long uttered four words softly, his voice not loud, but it was as loud as a thunderclap.

As the statues resonated with him, a vast scroll slowly unfolded in the void before him, enveloping the entire human territory.

That scroll was no ordinary painting, but a "Shadow of Mountains and Rivers" formed from the condensed fortune of the human race.

Every mountain, every river, every tribe, and every human being within the human realm is depicted in exquisite detail in the painting.

Duobao and Xuandu stood behind Huanglong, looking at the vast painting in the void, a hint of amazement flashing in their eyes.

If Huanglong had not enjoyed the fortune of the human race as a totem, no matter how high his cultivation level was, he would have found it difficult to see the entire territory of the human race.

After all, among the human race, there are also two saints, Taiqing and Nuwa, who protect the human race.

In the painting, mountains and rivers crisscross like veins, and human tribes are scattered like chess pieces among the mountains and rivers.

Some tribes are built on mountainsides, with houses scattered in an orderly fashion; some tribes live by water, with paddy fields crisscrossing the land; and some tribes are located on plains, with vast stretches of fertile land.

Zi Ling also came over at some point, standing on tiptoe to look at the painting in the void, her eyes full of curiosity.

"Begin." With a thought, Huang Long caused the light and shadow on the scroll to shift, and one tribe after another appeared in turn.

In the painting, the scenes of tribes located on the plains are clearly presented to the audience.

The tribe is quite large, with tens of thousands of people. The houses are arranged in neat rows, and the surrounding area is filled with vast farmlands.

The fields are planted with five kinds of grains: millet, sorghum, wheat, beans, and hemp. They are growing well. As far as the eye can see, golden waves of wheat ripple in the wind, and the heavy ears of wheat bend their backs.

In the tribe's granary, grain was piled up like mountains. There was millet, wheat, and beans, all brimming full, almost overflowing.

But in a corner of the granary, there were large patches of moldy and rotten grain. They couldn't finish eating it, and they couldn't store it. They could only watch it spoil.

Huang Long frowned slightly, but did not speak. As the light and shadow of the painting shifted, they reflected on a group of mountains.

The human tribes here are much smaller than those on the plains, ranging from several hundred to a thousand people.

The houses are built against the mountainside, simple and crude. There are no large tracts of flat farmland around the tribe.

The tribes of humans lived by hunting.

In the painting, dozens of adult men, armed with simple bows and arrows and stone spears, are hunting prey in the mountains and forests.

The tribe had very little grain, with only a few pottery jars containing a small amount of millet!

The light and shadow shift in the painting, deep within the mountains and forests.

The tribes here are even smaller, with only about a hundred people. Their houses are simple, and they have almost no decent farmland.

The food in the mountains and forests was simply not enough to feed more of the tribe, and many excellent medicinal herbs went unsold.

Countless human tribes appear alternately in the painting.

Huanglong observed very carefully, visiting one tribe after another.

He observed very carefully, noting the geographical location, resource endowment, food sources, material reserves, and difficulties faced by each tribe...!

Duobao and Xuandu were also watching, but they were looking at the big picture, not as closely as Huanglong.

The vast scroll in the void was always unfolding, reflecting each and every tribe.

Zi Ling kept refilling the tea for the three of them.

Duobao and Xuandu would occasionally exchange a few words, but most of the time they would quietly observe.

Throughout the day, Huanglong observed thousands of human tribes, his gaze covering every corner of the human territory.

He was fully aware of the current situation of the entire human tribe.

When the scene in the painting reflected the ancestral land of the human race, Huanglong looked at the ancestral land, which lacked nothing, and sighed slightly. The vast painting in the void slowly dissipated.

A flash of understanding crossed his eyes.

Duobao had been waiting impatiently for a while. Seeing Huanglong put away the scroll, he quickly asked, "Junior brother, what did you see?"

Huang Long picked up the Enlightenment Tea that Zi Ling had just poured, took a sip, and then slowly spoke:

"Brother Duobao, Shennong did three great things for humankind: he tasted hundreds of herbs, selected the five grains, invented agricultural tools, and promoted planting. His merits are immeasurable and beyond doubt."

Duobao nodded: "That's exactly right."

Huang Long then changed the subject: "But that's also where the problem lies."

Duobao was taken aback: "What's the problem?"

Huanglong looked at Duobao and asked, "Senior brother just said that Shennong selected the five grains for humankind and widely taught the methods of cultivation, giving humankind ample food. Is that true?"

Duobao thought for a moment and nodded: "Yes."

"Not entirely," Huang Long shook his head. "For tribes in the plains, that's certainly true. Their land is flat and suitable for large-scale farming. The grains they plant have high yields and abundant harvests, which can indeed meet the tribe's needs, and even far exceed them."

He paused, then continued, "But not all human tribes are suitable for cultivation. Senior brother, please look...!"

With a wave of his hand, a miniature map of the human race's territory reappeared in the void. But this map was different from the previous one; it was no longer a complete picture, but rather divided the human race's territory into several major regions, marked with different colors.