Deep within Pangu Hall, the air froze.
The last trace of a smile vanished from Dijiang's face. The Space Law around him warped slightly under the violent shock to his mind, growing exceedingly unstable.
"Say that again."
"Elder Brother Dijiang, I said that the Witch Clan faces a catastrophic disaster." Xuanzheng met Dijiang's suddenly blade-sharp gaze directly. His voice was not loud, yet every word bore down like a mountain. He did not explain too much and instead began an Oscar-worthy performance.
His eyes half-closed. When he opened them again, they were filled with sorrow and grief, as if he had personally witnessed that tragic future. "While comprehending Father God's legacy, I glimpsed a fragment... of a terrifying future. In that future, Buzhou Mountain—Father God's spine—collapsed!"
"The Water of the Heavenly River became a world-ending flood and poured backward. The earth was torn apart, and the wails of millions of Witch Clan warriors echoed between heaven and earth! I saw our tribes swallowed by mudslides in an instant. Strong Witch Clan warriors were like ants amid the towering waves. Countless newborns did not even get to see this world before they became cold corpses alongside their mothers..."
Rather than a prophecy, this description was a doomsday painting steeped in blood and tears, unfurled before his two elder brothers in Xuanzheng's most grief-stricken tone.
Dijiang fell silent, his fists clenching with crackling sounds. Zhujiuyin closed his eyes, and the phantom of the River of Time flickered behind him. A moment later, he suddenly opened his eyes, his face already deathly pale.
"What you said... was not empty talk." Zhujiuyin's voice was incomparably strained. "Though I cannot see the exact scenes clearly, deep within the heavenly secrets, there is indeed a monstrous calamity aimed at our Witch Clan. Its source... points directly to the pillar of the earth!"
Dijiang looked at Xuanzheng, his expression incomparably complicated. "Thirteenth Brother, did Father God... reveal anything else?"
Xuanzheng was utterly reassured. Done! The two hardest to convince already believed him ninety percent.
"Father God's spine is both the source of the disaster and the source of hope!" Xuanzheng struck while the iron was hot. His tone shifted, filled with the resolve to break and rebuild. "If we can gather the strength of the entire clan and use supreme power to recast the mountain, stabilizing the Heavenly Pillar, then not only can we resolve this calamity, but we can also bind the Witch Clan Destiny completely to the entire prehistoric land, Indestructible Through Ten Thousand Calamities!"
Ancestral Witch Council Hall.
When Xuanzheng, at Dijiang and Zhujiuyin's prompting, solemnly announced that "artistically enhanced" doomsday prophecy and "salvation plan," the entire hall sank into a long silence.
Even the flames around Zhurong seemed to dim somewhat, while the mist surrounding Gonggong stopped flowing.
"Buzhou Mountain... will collapse?" The color drained entirely from Houtu's compassionate face. Her hands pressed against the ground, and a mournful cry from the depths of the earth traveled through her fingertips, making her delicate body tremble. She murmured, "The earth is crying... It's true... It's afraid..."
After that brief dead silence came a violent uproar.
"Impossible!" Xizi, who had a relatively conservative temperament and controlled lightning, was the first to rise. Electric light flickered wildly around him. "Buzhou Mountain is Father God's spine, the pillar that holds up the heavens! Repair the entire Buzhou Mountain? If we pour all our strength into it, we will only exhaust our clan's foundation!"
"Elder Brother Xizi speaks reasonably." Qiangliang, who controlled thunder and possessed a fierce temperament, also revealed a rare solemn expression. "Thirteenth Brother, our greatest enemy is the Demon Clan Heavenly Court! If we pour all our power into this illusory undertaking of 'repairing the mountain,' then when Di Jun and Taiyi, those two feathered bastards, come attacking, what will we use to stop them? Our mouths?"
Qiangliang's words lit the fuse. Tianwu, Jumang, and several other Ancestral Witches chimed in one after another. They did not doubt Xuanzheng, but the difficulty and risks of this plan made them instinctively resistant.
Zhurong scratched his head and bellowed in a muffled voice, "I think Thirteenth Brother and Sister Houtu make sense! If the heavens fall, what the hell is there left to fight the Demon Clan over? We'll all be finished together! It's just... this project is really too massive. If my fire goes to burn the mountain, I'm afraid I'll burn right through it..."
For a time, the hall split into clearly opposing factions, their arguments unending.
Dijiang and Zhujiuyin sat in the center, their expressions grave, saying nothing.
Xuanzheng stood quietly, taking in every Ancestral Witch's reaction. Opposition, fear of difficulty, hesitation... everything was within his expectations. In the end, his gaze fell on the figure who had not spoken a word from beginning to end, yet seemed particularly unusual.
The Water Ancestral Witch, Gonggong.
At this moment, Gonggong was neither irritable nor argumentative. He simply propped up his chin, his narrowed eyes fixed firmly on Buzhou Mountain outside the hall. A peculiar light flickered in his gaze.
It was a mixture of scrutiny, curiosity, and a trace of... the fanaticism of a craftsman who saw a peerless piece of uncut jade with flaws and wanted to personally polish and reshape it.
Xuanzheng thought, Here it comes! The destiny pull of "Gonggong Angrily Collides with Buzhou Mountain" from the original script had undergone a marvelous shift at this moment. His obsession with Buzhou Mountain had not disappeared. Under the guidance of Xuanzheng's "reinforce Buzhou Mountain" script, it had merely changed from simply "destroy it" into the more complex desire to "control it, transform it, and even... make it stronger in my, Gonggong's, way?"
"Stop arguing!"
Just as the debate grew increasingly heated, Gonggong suddenly slapped the armrest of his chair and stood up.
The hall instantly fell quiet, and all the Ancestral Witches looked toward him.
Yet Gonggong pointed at Buzhou Mountain outside the hall and asked in a deep voice—a question directed at everyone, "Father God's spine is indeed magnificent, but don't you think it suppresses the prehistoric land's water veins too severely? Its structure is also far too rigid! If I use my myriad waters to scour its interior, have Zhurong's true fire temper its bones, and then let Rushou's metal energy shape its form, wouldn't it become more perfect than it is now?"
That question left every Ancestral Witch stunned.
Zhurong was the first to react, his eyes widening. "Gonggong, what do you mean?"
"Idiot!" Gonggong did not even glance at Zhurong, still staring fanatically at Buzhou Mountain. "What I mean is that Thirteenth Brother's plan is interesting! Rather than wait for it to collapse on its own someday, we should personally turn it into what our Witch Clan wants it to be! A perfect Heavenly Pillar that will never collapse and can be used by us!"
The moment those words came out, everyone was shocked. Even Dijiang and Zhujiuyin revealed surprised expressions.
The designated demolition crew leader had actually volunteered to become the chief engineer?
Xuanzheng rejoiced wildly inside, but his face still retained that grave, worried expression. He knew the timing was about right. Now, he needed one final dose of strong medicine.
He stepped forward, and his entire aura abruptly changed.
The "innocence" and "bravery" belonging to the Thirteenth Ancestral Witch faded away, replaced by a compassion and resolve that seemed to carry the fate of the entire Witch Clan. His eyes were as deep as the starry sky, making every Ancestral Witch who met his gaze shudder inwardly.
"My elder brothers, I know this matter is difficult to believe."
"Mere words are indeed hard to trust."
Xuanzheng slowly raised his hand, palm facing upward, toward the heart of Pangu Hall. A wisp of weak yet incomparably pure power of the Law of Destiny and Karma, mixed with a trace of True Meaning of Destruction, intertwined in his palm.
"Since that is the case, I shall use the meager insight Father God bestowed upon me to let you, my elder brothers... see that calamity with your own eyes!"
Before you continue