Pingxin Hall: First Encounter with Empress Houtu!

Pingxin Hall.

The name, and everything within the hall, felt out of place.

There were no immortal mists, no resplendent gold. The entire palace was carved from a single piece of unknown gray-black rock, massive and rugged, exuding a primal, savage power. The air was thick with the scent of stone dust, strong liquor, and a faint hint of blood, ancient and heavy.

The walls were covered in murals, etched with the marks of blades and chisels. Pangu swung his giant axe, splitting Chaos asunder; the pure qi rose, the turbid qi sank, and heaven and earth were born; twelve drops of essence blood fell from Pangu's heart, transforming into towering Gods and Demons.

Every stroke exuded a defiance of heaven and earth, a belief solely in one's own strength.

Houtu dismissed all her clansmen.

At this moment, within this hall, the core of the Witch Clan tribe, only she and Yang Chen remained.

The hall doors closed silently behind them, shutting out all light and sound from the outside world. The light within the hall suddenly dimmed, with only a few enormous Luminous Pearls embedded in the dome emitting a cold glow.

The steady pulse originating from the earth became incredibly clear at this moment, almost transforming into a tangible pressure that filled every inch of space.

Houtu did not sit. She stood quietly in the center of the hall, her gentle eyes no longer concealing anything, leaving only a solemnity as heavy as the earth's core.

This person's cunning nature and ruthless methods far exceed my expectations. Xing Tian's battle intent, rare in the Primordial World, was effortlessly resolved by him in the most unbelievable way. He is not a brute; he is a madman who knows how to leverage his greatest threat. To gamble with such an existence, one wrong step leads to eternal damnation.

Her gaze was an unfathomable abyss.

"Fellow Daoist, let us speak plainly."

Her voice rang out, no longer soft as it was in the square, but carrying a texture like grinding stone, each word striking the silent air and creating invisible ripples.

"The source of the Karma on you is the indelible imprint of an eternal enemy within the Witch Clan's Bloodline."

She did not mention Rahula's name, nor Pangu's.

But the immense resentment, originating from the dawn of creation and spanning endless ages, completely awakened within this enclosed palace with her words.

The air grew cold.

Yang Chen's gaze shifted from the rugged murals to Houtu.

Finally. With the disguise shed, this is what the Twelve Ancestral Witches should be like. Enemy? What a nice way to put it. They are merely a group of pitiful creatures bound by their Bloodline. Trying to suppress me with this hatred? Too naive.

He walked to a stone table, sat down unbidden, and picked up a wine bowl made of fired clay, larger than a normal person's head.

The bowl contained the Witch Clan's unique strong liquor, dark red in color, as viscous as blood, its pungent, acrid aroma piercing the Divine Soul.

Without even looking, he tilted his head and took a large gulp.

The strong liquor, as it went down his throat, felt like a ball of Chaos divine fire exploding in his chest, its violent power enough to instantly burst the Dao body of an ordinary Grand Unity Golden Immortal.

Yang Chen's body merely trembled slightly, a flush of enjoyment appearing on his face.

Tastes good, potent. Let's see what tricks this only intelligent one among the Twelve Ancestral Witches has up her sleeve.

He put down the wine bowl, slamming it heavily onto the stone table with a dull thud.

"So?"

He raised his eyes, a playful curve on his lips, his gaze showing no panic at being exposed, only pure, unvarnished provocation.

"Is Empress Houtu prepared to clean house for Great God Pangu and deal with me, this 'remnant'?"

"Or do you wish to suppress me, this walking 'Immeasurable Tribulation,' here, removing a scourge for all beings in the Primordial World, and perhaps earn some Heavenly Dao merit in the process?"

His words struck like daggers.

Deep within Houtu's eyes, the abyss rippled slightly.

He is indeed probing my bottom line. Cleaning house? If it were that simple, why would I have invited him to Pingxin Hall? Suppress him? Even Heavenly Dao and the Six Sages can only coax him; what confidence do we Witches have? He is forcing me, forcing me to reveal my final trump card.

She shook her head.

"No."

A single word, decisive.

"Quite the opposite."

She gazed at Yang Chen, her eyes, which could see through the earth's dragon veins, now seemed to pierce through Yang Chen's past and future, inside and out.

"From you, I not only feel an end that can destroy everything."

"But also a sliver of… vitality, which even I cannot clearly discern."

Her voice was very low, with a confusion bordering on a dream, one she herself could not be sure of.

"You are like a ghost, wandering outside the Heavenly Dao, unbound by fate, untouched by Reincarnation. You are that 'escaped one,' the greatest variable, and the greatest anomaly."

"I will not be your enemy."

Houtu took a step forward. Her earth-yellow palace dress moved without wind, and the heavy aura of oneness with the earth ascended to its peak at this moment.

"In fact…"

Her voice carried a hint of resolve.

"My Witch Clan can cooperate with you."

"Cooperate?"

Yang Chen raised an eyebrow, leaning forward slightly. The playfulness on his face receded a bit, finally revealing a hint of genuine interest.

Interesting. This is interesting. She actually saw through my essence? The "one that got away"? That term sounds much better than the Heavenly Dao's "daddy." Cooperation… she actually wants to cooperate with a walking nuclear bomb. This boldness surpasses ninety-nine percent of the beings in the Primordial World. I want to see what price she's willing to offer.

This word, coming from one of the Twelve Ancestral Witches, carries immense weight.

Especially after pointing out the ancient enmity between him and the Witch Clan.

Empress Houtu's gaze swept over the murals of towering Ancestral Witches on the walls, her eyes revealing a trace of pity and heaviness that outsiders could hardly perceive.

My brothers only knew how to fight, but they couldn't see that our path had already been cut off. While Father God's bloodline is powerful, it has also become our greatest shackle. The Heavenly Dao disapproves, and the Saints surround us. If we don't find another way, the Witch Clan's fate is already sealed. Yang Chen… he is that sole variable, a poison, and perhaps the only antidote. I must place my bet on this gamble!

"Our Witch Clan does not cultivate the Primordial Spirit, nor do we revere the Heavenly Dao. We only believe in the bloodline and power left by Father God. This path, though seemingly dominant, has in reality… reached its end."

Her voice carried a deep sense of powerlessness.

"Without a Primordial Spirit, we cannot be entrusted to the Heavenly Dao, nor can we achieve the Primordial Dao Fruit. In the end, we are merely pawns on this Primordial chessboard, unable to control our own destinies. When the great tribulation arrives, our clan will face annihilation."

"I have been searching for a way out for the future of our Witch Clan."

Her words were utterly candid, almost laying bare the Witch Clan's most core weakness to Yang Chen, an "outsider."

"Your appearance has shown me a possibility."

Her gaze locked onto Yang Chen's face once more, a flame igniting in her gentle eyes.

"Your existence makes even the Heavenly Dao retreat, and the Six Sages hesitate to act. This in itself is a power capable of overturning the entire board!"

"Our Witch Clan does not need the Heavenly Dao, nor Hongjun, and certainly not those lofty Saints!"

"We need a fulcrum, an ally who can stand against the entire Primordial World and still remain unyielding!"

Her voice echoed within the enclosed hall, filled with undeniable sincerity and resolve.

"Our Witch Clan can become your ally."

"When you need it, the Capital Celestial Evil Formation, which condensed Father God's twelve drops of essence blood, can be activated for you at any time!"

"I have only one condition."

Yang Chen set down his wine cup.

Inside the grand hall, an oppressive silence fell once more.

Laying bare her greatest weakness and her ultimate trump card – what a decisive woman. An ally? The Twelve Capital Celestial Evil Formation? This gesture is far more generous than what Primordial and Tongtian offered. However, there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world. The more generous the gift, the heavier the price demanded in return.

He looked at the Ancestral Witch before him, who had staked her entire race's fate on this gamble, and at her flame-burning eyes, then calmly asked:

"What condition?"