Just as that sky-piercing golden light of merit descended.
The entire Primordial World erupted.
Countless eyes looked toward Buzhou Mountain with envy written all over their faces.
Yet the Three Pure Ones, Dijun, Taiyi, and the others sensed an exceptionally familiar aura coming from Buzhou Mountain.
By the East Sea.
Jieyin and Zhunti, who had been leisurely wandering along the coastline, abruptly stopped in their tracks.
As they watched the golden light of merit shoot into the sky from Buzhou Mountain, their eyes instantly reddened.
"My heavens... how much merit is that?!"
"Buzhou Mountain... what happened there?"
As they stood stunned, a Grand Yi Golden Immortal cultivator was riding the wind not far away. Judging by his direction, he seemed to be heading into the depths of the East Sea.
Zhunti's eyes shifted, and he immediately put on an exceedingly amiable smile before flashing in front of the cultivator to block his path.
With his palms pressed together, he said with a smile:
"Fellow Daoist, please stay."
"I see that you have an affinity with the West."
"Why not come west with the two of us and comprehend the Great Dao together?"
The moment the cultivator heard the word "West," his face filled with disdain, and he said without hesitation:
"The West? Not even dogs would go there!"
"Even rats would have to leave behind two grains of rice in tears before they could get out!"
With that, he tried to go around them. "Move aside! I still need to hurry to the Immortal Court!"
The smile on Zhunti's face did not fade. Instead, it grew wider, though it carried a trace more chill.
"Since Fellow Daoist refuses to appreciate kindness, don't blame us brothers!"
Before his words had even faded, Jieyin and Zhunti stepped forward at the same time. With a stretch of their hands, they instantly subdued the Grand Yi Golden Immortal.
Zhunti lightly swept the Seven Treasure Tree in his hand, and five-colored divine light flashed.
Bathed in the divine light, the cultivator's eyes instantly became hollow and dull. The next moment, he fell stiffly to his knees and bowed.
"Disciple greets Master!"
Zhunti threw back his head and laughed. With a sweep of his wide sleeve, the cultivator was helplessly drawn inside.
His sleeve billowed, and within it seemed to lie another space. Vague figures could be seen inside, and who knew how many cultivators like the one just now, with dull eyes, had already been collected there.
Buzhou Mountain.
When that utterly terrifying pressure of Pangu descended.
Halfway up the mountain, Nüwa and Fuxi suddenly felt an irresistible force descend from the heavens.
The siblings could not even summon a trace of resistance before they were forced flat onto the ground, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.
Yet at the summit of Buzhou Mountain, Qin Xuan and the Ancestral Witches felt not the slightest discomfort.
Instead, an inexplicable sense of familiarity welled up in their hearts.
The next moment, the void twisted slightly, and a majestic phantom slowly appeared between heaven and earth.
"It's Father God!" Dijiang's eyes reddened as he nearly shouted the words through tears.
The other Ancestral Witches also came to their senses and cried out:
"Father God's will has descended!" They gazed at the phantom, tears glimmering in their eyes as they struggled to contain their excitement.
Qin Xuan and the Ancestral Witches hurriedly bowed in a grand salute and said in unison:
"We greet Father God!"
Pangu's phantom looked at Qin Xuan and the Ancestral Witches with benevolence in his eyes, seemingly greatly pleased by their actions in protecting Buzhou Mountain.
He slowly raised a finger and flicked it toward Qin Xuan and the Twelve Ancestral Witches.
Fourteen balls of light emanating various law auras flew from his fingertip, each one accurately entering Qin Xuan and the Twelve Ancestral Witches' bodies.
Hou Tu, however, received two balls of light.
After doing all this, Pangu's phantom said nothing. He merely gave Qin Xuan a deep look, as though it held praise, encouragement, and a hint of expectation.
Then, the majestic phantom slowly dissipated into nothingness.
As Pangu's phantom vanished, that terrifying pressure also receded.
Qin Xuan paid no attention to anything else and immediately examined himself internally. He discovered that the ball of light within him was shockingly a fragment of the incomparably pure Law of Strength!
His heart instantly surged with wild joy.
He had never expected that setting up a protective grand formation for Buzhou Mountain would draw the descent of Father God's will and bring such a heaven-defying harvest!
This was countless times more precious than the merit bestowed by the Heavenly Dao!
The Ancestral Witches were equally excited. Each of them had obtained a corresponding Law Shard within their bodies.
Zhurong burst into laughter.
"Wonderful! With this Law Shard, breaking through to the Primordial Golden Immortal realm will be much easier!"
The other Ancestral Witches also chimed in, unable to suppress the excitement on their faces.
At that moment, Hou Tu's gentle voice rang out.
"Little Brother Xuan, Father God seems to have given me two Law Shards."
She paused before continuing.
"One is the Law of Earth that I cultivate."
"The other is the Law of Reincarnation."
The Law of Reincarnation?
Qin Xuan's heart jolted when he heard this.
Hou Tu's Primal Spirit was already close to recovery.
If she comprehended the Law of Reincarnation as well...
Wouldn't she be able to establish reincarnation directly and found the Earthly Dao on the spot?!
He looked at Hou Tu with a meaningful gaze and said softly:
"Sister Hou Tu, don't rush to comprehend it. You should focus on restoring your Primal Spirit first. As for the laws, we can discuss them later."
Yet inwardly, he muttered to himself:
Maybe we'll all have to cling to your thigh in the future!
At this moment, Dijiang asked:
"Qin Xuan, you know more than we do. How should we use this Heavenly Dao Merit?"
"Can it directly raise our cultivation? Those mighty experts' auras all surged quite a bit after they received merit!"
Buzhou Mountain was the pillar of the Primordial World. Protecting Buzhou Mountain was an enormous merit!
Naturally, the Heavenly Dao had also bestowed merit as a reward.
However, Qin Xuan shook his head, his expression turning serious.
"Brother, no. We walk the path of laws."
"Using merit to forcefully raise our cultivation may be fast, but it will leave our foundation unstable and do more harm than good!"
He naturally knew that although Heavenly Dao Merit could rapidly raise one's cultivation, its drawbacks were extremely obvious—one could even say fatal.
The unstable foundation of cultivation built with Heavenly Dao Merit was only one of them.
More importantly, the more one used, the more deeply one would be bound to the Heavenly Dao. In the future, one's actions would be constrained by the Heavenly Dao at every turn, until one ultimately lost true freedom.
After hearing this, Dijiang said directly:
"We'll listen to you. However you say we should use it, that's how we'll use it!"
Thus, under Qin Xuan's guidance, the Ancestral Witches condensed the Heavenly Dao Merit directly into a Merit Golden Wheel.
Afterward, the thirteen brothers wasted no more time and returned directly to Pangu Temple to prepare for seclusion.
They had to make full use of their time to comprehend the Law Shards bestowed by Pangu Father God and strive to break through to the Primordial Golden Immortal realm as soon as possible.
Qin Xuan also began comprehending the Law Shard of Strength, seeking to break through to the middle stage of the Primordial Golden Immortal realm.
This seclusion lasted tens of thousands of years.
While they were in seclusion comprehending the laws, Nüwa and Fuxi halfway up Buzhou Mountain were completely dumbfounded.
Earlier, they had been pressed flat to the ground by Pangu's pressure. Only after it receded did the two manage to climb back up.
Still shaken, they had planned to descend the mountain to find Qin Xuan and ask about what had happened.
But they were horrified to discover that they could no longer leave Buzhou Mountain!
At some unknown point, an invisible barrier had appeared around Buzhou Mountain.
Every time they tried to leave, an invisible force bounced them back, knocking lumps all over their heads.
Nüwa and Fuxi were completely numb.
They had been cultivating peacefully in their cave abode. Who had they offended?
First, they had been pressed flat by some unknown force.
And now, they could not even leave Buzhou Mountain.
What kind of nonsense was this?!
Before you continue