27: No, Thirteen Ancestral Witches

After completing the final movement, Xiang Dong, now no bigger than a soybean, felt a wave of emptiness.

In his little figure of light form, his entire body shattered, fine specks of light drifting away beyond his control.

Long-distance transmission through the Superquantum Channel with two people had been too much of a strain. Coupled with his nonstop journey and his forced use of a Top-grade Innate Spirit Treasure, it had drained every last bit of his energy.

Not just his Law Power, but his Primordial Spirit as well, so his consciousness gradually grew hazy.

Looks like I'll have to sleep for a while. But that's all right. From here on, it's all up to the script running automatically. I don't need to keep watching it.

He had done everything he should and could. If he still hadn't managed to save the Twelve Ancestral Witches, then he had nothing more to say.

As the last glimmer of light scattered and merged completely into the world, Xiang Dong's consciousness fell asleep.

At the same time, his main body, which Nuwa had replanted in the spirit field, let its once golden flower head droop limply. The entire Spirit Root fell into a deep sleep.

Nuwa merely glanced at him before turning her gaze toward Buzhou Mountain.

Now that Xiang Dong had obtained the Twelve-Rank World-Cleansing White Lotus and gone to accomplish his great undertaking, what would happen at Buzhou Mountain next?

The clever Nuwa already had a premonition, so she waited, waited for the day the waters would recede and the stones would come to light.

And that day was not far off.

There was no cycle of sun and moon inside Pangu Hall, and aside from the sound of churning blood, there was nothing by which to mark the passage of time.

In the mountains, time passed unnoticed; in the world, a thousand years had gone by.

The Pure World White Lotus operated tirelessly. As the innate Sha Qi and Turbid Qi were steadily purified, the blood in the pool gradually grew clear—even translucent enough to reveal a jade-like luster.

A vortex of Spiritual Qi also appeared beneath the base of the Pure World White Lotus, constantly drawing in innate Spiritual Qi to nourish the flesh cocoons of the Twelve Ancestral Witches.

With one decreasing and the other increasing, the Twelve Ancestral Witches might all emerge into the world somewhat earlier than they otherwise would have, and they would be even stronger.

Clearly, Xiang Dong's great purification undertaking had gone rather well.

And after Xiang Dong's consciousness had fallen into a complete slumber, Pangu's Pressure bearing down on Di Jiang's flesh cocoon gradually faded until it vanished entirely.

With Pangu's Pressure gone, Di Jiang could finally see the light of day.

Crack. The crisp sound of something breaking echoed through the empty hall.

A huge fissure then opened in Di Jiang's flesh cocoon, and the entire cocoon was empty.

A figure shaped like a yellow sack, red as cinnabar fire, with six legs and four wings and a featureless, faceless body, flickered and darted around the empty hall.

After emerging from the flesh cocoon, it simply refused to stop for even an instant, darting about nonstop.

Those in the know would say that the one who had emerged was the Ancestral Witch Di Jiang. Those who didn't would think it was a husky.

Fortunately, Pangu Hall wasn't all that large, and Di Jiang settled down after a bout of commotion.

"Father God Pangu above, today I, the Ancestral Witch Di Jiang, am born into the world."

Di Jiang first bowed toward the depths of Pangu Hall. After announcing the birth of the first Ancestral Witch, he shed his true Ancestral Witch form and appeared in the hall in the form of an Innate Dao Body.

And so, the great ball of flesh with six legs and four wings vanished. In its place stood a burly man with rugged features, skin red all over, and knotting muscles.

Foremost of the Twelve Ancestral Witches, master of the Space Principle, known as the Ancestral Witch of space and speed—Di Jiang!!!

Although he had transformed into an Innate Dao Body, the presence of the Space Principle he radiated had not weakened in the slightest. By the divisions Hongjun would establish after becoming the Dao Ancestor, Di Jiang's mastery of the Space Principle should now be at the Great Unity Golden Immortal realm.

The strength of his physical body was also at the Great Unity Golden Immortal realm.

To be a Great Unity Golden Immortal the moment he was born was already a very high starting point, but Di Jiang's Primordial Spirit was only at the Early-stage Golden Immortal level.

By comparison, it seemed out of place.

Di Jiang raised a hand and touched the white lotus mark between his brows. This was his Nine-Grade Lotus Throne.

He could feel that, under the lotus throne's nourishment, his Primordial Spirit had become more stable than ever before, and was still slowly recovering bit by bit.

It was just that he had been severely corroded by innate Sha Qi. A complete recovery would not be possible in a short time.

But his sound Primordial Spirit had given Di Jiang more information. For instance, he knew that this was Pangu Hall, that his divine name was Di Jiang, and that he also knew his origins.

He and the brothers and sisters being nurtured in the blood pool were the Twelve Ancestral Witches who had inherited Father God's bloodline. The Primordial World was the world Father God had created, and they had reason, responsibility, and a duty to govern it well.

Di Jiang nodded silently, then turned and began counting the flesh cocoons in the blood pool.

One, two, three... eleven, twelve.

Di Jiang's gaze swept over every flesh cocoon protected by a Nine-Grade Lotus Throne, sensing the stirring of bloodlines from within and the resonance of their shared blood.

With his birth, the nurturing of his remaining twelve brothers and sisters had also sped up. It looked as though it would not be long before they awakened their intelligence.

Wait, hold on. Twelve? There were still twelve in the blood pool, so wouldn't that make thirteen including him?

That wasn't right!

Di Jiang hurriedly counted again. There were twelve around the blood pool, counting the one he had originally occupied. That was right.

But there was another one in the very center of the blood pool.

Beneath the Twelve-Rank World-Cleansing White Lotus, enveloped in a dense presence of Pangu, was another flesh cocoon.

This cocoon was very small. Compared to theirs, it really was a lesser witch standing before a greater one.

Yet it carried a purer, denser presence of Pangu than theirs, because it had been nurtured from Pangu Heart Blood and Jade Marrow.

So there were thirteen in total. Di Jiang scratched his head and counted carefully once more. There really were thirteen.

Di Jiang couldn't make sense of it. There were supposed to be Twelve Ancestral Witches, so how had an extra one appeared?

Just as that thought occurred to him, Pangu's Will gave him clear guidance through his Primordial Spirit.

The message was simple and direct: the one in the middle was their youngest brother. He had used himself as a vessel to purify the blood pool for them, paving the way for their birth.

He had poured all of his own origin into it. In the future, he might not even have the strength to be born, and even if he could be born, he would be hard-pressed to compare with them. He would be very weak.

So, as his older brothers and sisters, they had to take good care of the youngest. Did they hear that?

Di Jiang stood rooted to the spot.

He looked at the little cocoon in the center, which was giving off a faint glow, his eyes already moist.

Di Jiang had been able to feel the innate Sha Qi constantly corroding their Primordial Spirits, but amid the relentless corrosion, the pain had gone on until he had grown used to it.

Later, as Xiang Dong's great purification undertaking progressed, Di Jiang had no longer suffered the torment of the innate Sha Qi's corrosion. Before digesting this information, he had thought that he had withstood the innate Sha Qi's corrosion of his Primordial Spirit himself.

Never, ever had he imagined that it was his little brother who had stayed at the very heart of the Sha Qi, silently bearing it all.

Di Jiang: (Ĭ^Ĭ)