Wandering the Primordial Wilderness

Ancestral Witch Houtu spoke at length about forming factions, suppressing Gong Gong and Zhu Rong, sidelining her eldest brother Di Jiang, and plotting to seize control of Pangu Hall. The whole scene was... hard to put into words.

This was Nuwa's first time learning of it. As she listened to Houtu, her expression became extraordinarily vivid.

"You rebellious disciple! What exactly have you been teaching her?!" As Nuwa listened, her anger flared. She pulled out the Gourd Vine, ready to teach Fang Xun a lesson.

I told you to give Dao Friend Houtu some advice, and you taught her to suppress her own siblings?

"Ah! I was wrong!" Fang Xun's first reaction was to run. It was a conditioned reflex honed during his childhood in his previous life: whenever Mom picked up a weapon, admit fault first, then run!

Whether he could get away was another matter, but anyone who did not run was an idiot!

"Don't! This isn't Xuansu's fault. What he said is right. If I want the Witch Clan to endure, I must centralize power and obtain unquestionable authority."

Houtu looked solemnly at Nuwa.

It's over. Kind and affectionate Empress Houtu has become obsessed with power!

Cough, cough. Fang Xun did not dare play dead at this point and hurriedly stepped forward to explain.

"That does seem to make some sense." Only then did Nuwa put away the Gourd Vine.

"Still, Dao Friend Houtu, you must be careful. Do not let things turn unpleasant between you and your siblings," Nuwa reminded her.

"Rest assured. The Ancestral Witches' thoughts are all... rather straightforward. As long as I subdue them through force, even my eldest brother will have nothing more to say." Houtu was brimming with confidence.

"..." Nuwa was speechless.

After their conversation, Houtu finally led Nuwa and Fang Xun through the Witch Clan's territory. Nuwa spent most of the time introducing the newly born Witch Clan.

The Witch Clan had not been developing for long and was still far from its peak, but under the guidance of the Ancestral Witches, it had already spread throughout the region surrounding Buzhou Mountain.

"Reproduction is the foundation of a race's eternal development." Compared to what she had witnessed in the past, the Witch Clan's present way of life moved Nuwa more deeply.

Traveling across the Witch Clan's lands took nearly another ten thousand years.

"Dao Friend Houtu, please return. The Primordial Wilderness is vast, and my disciple and I still have many places to visit." Nuwa bid Houtu farewell and set out traveling again with Fang Xun.

Houtu stood atop a high mountain, watching master and disciple gradually disappear into the distance. She could not help but feel a little envious. She, too, loved this Primordial Wilderness transformed from Father God, but worldly affairs bound her, and freedom was hard to come by.

"I need to settle the clan's affairs quickly. I want to travel through the Primordial Wilderness!" For no apparent reason, Houtu sensed a feeling of urgency. Yet even using the Great Luo Divine Mystery, she could not glimpse anything in the future, so she had no choice but to let it go.

Another two thousand epochs passed. Only one thousand epochs remained until the Dao Ancestor's final sermon at Purple Firmament Palace.

At this time, Fang Xun was still accompanying his teacher as they wandered the Primordial Wilderness.

This was aimless travel, so Fang Xun called it wandering—arriving with the wind and moving with the waves.

Along the way, master and disciple had encountered countless races and seen countless living beings.

Even now, the Primordial Wilderness was still populated mostly by innate lifeforms. After all, even the weakest innate lifeforms were True Immortals. They were born knowing how to cultivate, possessed decent talent, and naturally had lifespans with no end in sight.

Yet by this time, many races in the true sense of the word had already appeared.

They were not like the Witch Clan, which had originated from the Creation of Humans through the Ancestral Witches' blood, nor were they like the Demon Race, which consisted of countless innate lifeforms.

They truly reproduced through bloodlines, generation after generation, passing down their inheritance through the ages.

Such races had even drawn the Demon Race's attention and were being absorbed into its ranks in large numbers.

Incidentally, after two thousand Yuan Hui, the friction between the Witch and Demon Tribes had grown increasingly frequent. Whenever members of the two races met, a fight was unavoidable.

This inevitably plunged the entire Primordial Wilderness into chaos, dragging many living beings and races into the conflict.

Of course, this did not affect Nuwa and Fang Xun much. If anyone failed to recognize their betters, Fang Xun simply killed them with a casual strike.

Then one day, Nuwa suddenly sat down on an unremarkable little mountain and entered a state of enlightenment.

"I do not have much time left, so I must enter seclusion to comprehend the Dao." Nuwa gave her instructions, then closed her eyes and seemed to turn into a stone statue.

Seeing this, Fang Xun took a deep breath. He knew that this journey was likely nearing its end.

"Not much time... does that mean one thousand epochs? The Third Sermon at Purple Firmament Palace truly is an extremely important turning point..." Fang Xun glanced at his teacher's awe-inspiring sacred form and began setting up several small formations around her to guard her during her cultivation.

Only after finishing all that did he turn his attention to the Chat Group.

Fang Xun: "Everyone, the moment you have all been waiting for is coming soon!"

Fang Xun gave a preview in the Chat Group.

The Group Friends who had been discussing the Dao immediately paused and turned their attention to Fang Xun's situation.

Ji Ning: "Is Empress Nuwa about to begin the Creation of Humans?"

Fang Xun: "I think it's close!"

Fang Xun: "I feel as though something is pushing Teacher forward, compelling her to complete the Creation of Humans before the Third Sermon at Purple Firmament Palace."

Ye Fan: "After the Third Sermon at Purple Firmament Palace, Dao Ancestor Hongjun will have settled his karmic ties and merged with the Heavenly Dao. Then the Primordial Wilderness's future will become fixed."

Meng Qi: "Empress Nuwa is likely fighting for the final variable before the time arrives."

Hong Yi: "The destiny carried by Empress Nuwa before and after the Creation of Humans is completely different. And in the Primordial Wilderness, destiny represents far too many things."

After the Creation of Humans, Nuwa would not merely be an Innate Divine Saint and the First Great Luo of Primordial Wilderness. She would also become the Holy Mother of the race destined to be the hegemon of heaven and earth!

Even Heavenly Dao Hongjun could not ignore the weight carried by the title of Human Race Holy Mother!

Fang Xun: "Will the Dao Ancestor stop my teacher?"

Fang Xun's body suddenly tensed, yet he was powerless to intervene. If the Dao Ancestor wished to block her path, no one could stop him for even an instant.

Meng Qi: "Have you forgotten the essence of the sermons at Purple Firmament Palace?"

Fang Xun's heart skipped a beat as he recalled the Chat Group's definition of the Purple Firmament Palace sermons: exchanging karma for destiny.

For the Dao Ancestor to undergo Dao Integration, he needed a "pass." That "pass" was recognition from the heaven and earth of the Primordial Wilderness.

The first batch of Innate Divine Saints had been directly nurtured by the Primordial Wilderness Origin and possessed ninety percent of the Primordial Wilderness's destiny. Gaining their recognition meant gaining the recognition of the Primordial Wilderness's heaven and earth.

This step had already been completed during the first sermon at Purple Firmament Palace. At that time, all the Innate Divine Saints had bowed their heads to Hongjun and addressed him as Dao Ancestor!

The later sermons were all Hong Jun repaying this Yinguo. The word "repaying" would become even more evident during the Third Sermon.

Fang Xun: "So if my teacher carries the Human Race Destiny, will she hold greater weight in the Dao Ancestor's eyes?"

After all, Nuwa represented the Human Race and the future of the Primordial Wilderness.

Meng Qi: "Exactly. This is likely also what your teacher is planning. It will strengthen the Dao Ancestor, but it will also give her more room to choose."

The greater Nuwa's destiny, the more Hong Jun would owe her. By then, not even a strand of Primordial Violet Qi and several Innate Spiritual Treasures would be enough to settle the debt.