Di Jiang's pupils contracted sharply, and the Power of Space around him instantly turned violent.
The other Ancestral Witches reacted even more fiercely. The phantoms of their True Bodies of the Ancestral Witch instantly manifested around hot-tempered figures such as Qiang Liang, Gong Gong, and Zhu Rong!
Boundless baleful aura swept out, shooting straight into the heavens!
"It's those two bald donkeys from the Western Lands!" Xuanming's voice was cold enough to pierce bone.
"Such audacity! They actually dared descend in their true bodies upon our Buzhou Mountain! Do they think the Witch Race has no one left?" Tian Wu roared from all eight faces as Gang Wind howled.
"Form the array! Prepare to summon the True Body of the Father God!" Ju Mang shouted sharply.
As Zhu Jiuyin's eyes opened and closed, a phantom of the River of Time flashed behind him and vanished. The Power of Time locked onto the sources of those two waves of Saintly Might.
For a moment, divine light surged within Pangu Hall, and baleful aura soared into the sky!
The auras of the Twelve Ancestral Witches instantly linked together, drawing upon the most primitive and violent baleful aura between heaven and earth.
A phantom of a terrifying grand array, seemingly capable of Opening of Heaven and Earth—the Great Array of the Stars of Heaven—had already begun to gather!
Faced with the Witch Race's all-out, terrifying display of power, the descending Two Sages of the West showed no hostility.
As the golden light faded, Jieyin and Zhunti revealed themselves, standing in the void with exceedingly humble postures.
"Dao Friend Di Jiang, fellow Ancestral Witch Dao Friends, do not be angered. My Senior Brother and I have not come as enemies."
Zhunti's calm voice pierced through the raging baleful aura and carried clearly into the hall.
"Hmph! Not as enemies? You secretly sowed discord, causing the deaths of our race's warriors. Can such a blood debt be dismissed with a mere 'not as enemies'?"
"State your purpose at once! Otherwise, do not blame us for invoking the Father God's power and blasting even your Saintly Bodies to death here!"
Di Jiang's voice carried chilling killing intent.
The aura of the Great Array of the Stars of Heaven grew ever more terrifying, as though it could unleash a world-destroying strike at any moment.
The smile on Zhunti's face did not change, as if he felt none of that lethal threat. Instead, his tone carried a trace of regret.
"Please calm yourselves, fellow Dao Friends. We know well that the blood feud between the Witch Race and Demon Race cannot be resolved, but today, we have come only to ask one question."
"What question?" Di Jiang narrowed his eyes.
Zhunti continued smiling. "The Demon Race's Golden Crow has been reborn through Nirvana. Di Jun and Tai Yi are about to take that final step, and the Demon Race will soon possess three Saints. Does the Witch Race still have a way out? Does it still have a Life Opportunity?"
Within Pangu Hall, the auras of the Ancestral Witches intensified.
"We already know this! We need no words from you!" Di Jiang shouted decisively.
"Even if the Demon Race has three Saints, why should the Witch Race fear? We will fight to the death! The bloodline of Pangu Father God would rather break than bend!"
"Fight to the death? Admirable courage." Zhunti nodded slightly, but his tone suddenly shifted.
"Yet if the Demon Race truly has three Saints guarding the Heavenly Court, commanding the Great Array of the Stars of Heaven with the might of Saints, then even with the Great Array of the Stars of Heaven, what chance does the Witch Race have of victory?"
"By then, the Witch Race's bloodline may face the danger of utter extinction!"
"Fellow Dao Friends, you have already been forced to the edge of a cliff. One step back lies an abyss ten thousand fathoms deep, where your race will perish and you will die!"
His voice carried a power that seemed to pierce hearts, striking directly at the deepest fears of the Witch Race.
The baleful aura in the hall stalled slightly, and a trace of heaviness crossed every Ancestral Witch's face.
They did not fear fighting to the death, but Zhunti's words were precisely their greatest hidden worry.
The might of Saints was beyond the Ancestral Witches' ability to match!
"What exactly do you want?"
Houtu asked in a deep voice, her clear gaze fixed directly on Zhunti.
She absolutely did not believe that the Saints of the Western Lands had come merely to warn the Witch Race of impending disaster.
With sincere compassion written across his face, Zhunti slowly said, "An alliance!"
"An alliance? Hmph, what scheme does your Western Teachings have?"
Di Jiang sneered, the Power of Space firmly locking onto the two Saints.
"A scheme? This poor daoist seeks only a sliver of Life Opportunity, a future for our barren Western Lands."
"If the Witch Race agrees to one matter, my Senior Brother and I will surely do all we can to help the Witch Race survive this calamity!"
"What matter?"
"If the Witch Race wins in the future and rules the land, then any living being of the Prehistoric World wishing to travel to our Western Lands need only follow the rules and may pass freely through the foot of Buzhou Mountain."
"The Witch Race... must not deliberately obstruct them, nor may it levy passage fees."
Zhunti proposed a condition that seemed utterly insignificant.
Yet only he knew his true intention.
A brief silence fell over Pangu Hall.
The Divine Senses of the Twelve Ancestral Witches intertwined as they swiftly calculated and weighed the matter.
For the Witch Race, which controlled the land, this condition was indeed not harsh. It could even be said to involve almost no tangible loss.
The key question was whether the Two Sages of the West's "help" could be trusted, and whether it truly held any value.
"How will you help my Witch Race?" Di Jiang asked on behalf of the Ancestral Witches. His tone remained cold, but the suppressed intent of destruction within the array eased slightly.
A sharp glint burst from Zhunti's eyes.
"The key lies with Nuwa! The Demon Race's only Saint, and your greatest current obstacle! As long as she cannot intervene in time..."
"You intend to strike Nuwa directly?" She Bishi asked in astonishment.
A battle between Saints could destroy heaven and earth at a whim. The risk was far too great.
The Two Sages of the West actually dared make such a resolution?
How was that possible?
"No." Zhunti shook his head, revealing an unfathomable smile.
"Saints are Ten Thousand Calamities Indestructible. Direct conflict is truly the worst option. I have a plan that will leave Nuwa with no time to attend to anything else!"
"Oh?" Doubt appeared on every Ancestral Witch's face.
"We will invite Empress Nuwa to explore the source of the River of Time together—the mysteries of the earliest days of Opening of Heaven and Earth!"
Zhunti's words were astonishing.
"The source of the River of Time! The beginning of Creation of Heaven!"
Zhu Jiuyin, who had remained silent while controlling the Power of Time, suddenly raised his head.
Terrifying divine light erupted from his crimson-red and dark-blue eyes, while the laws of time fluctuated violently around him.
"You actually dare set foot in such a forbidden place? Aren't you afraid Father God will split you apart with one axe, mistaking you for Chaos Demon Gods?"
Zhunti's words had completely thrown Zhu Jiuyin, who controlled the Great Dao of Time, off balance.
Peering into the beginning of Creation of Heaven!
That was courting death!
Zhunti nodded, his expression solemn. "Having attained Sainthood and become Immortal and Indestructible, we should be qualified to seek the ultimate mysteries of the beginning of heaven and earth."
"With such an opportunity before her, Empress Nuwa presumably will not refuse to accompany us."
His tone shifted, carrying a trace of cold calculation. "At the time of Creation of Heaven, divine might was boundless. If she interferes in the battle between Pangu and the Chaos Demon Gods, even a Saint may face the risk of falling."
"To re-condense a Saintly Body and return from the River of Time of the Prehistoric World... the time required would likely have to be measured in countless Eons!"
"Would those long years be enough for you to decide victory or defeat against the Demon Race?"
Dead silence filled the hall!
"You..."
Di Jiang wanted to speak, but Zhunti's plan had shocked him into speechlessness!
Zhunti had actually found a way to scheme against Saint Nuwa!
His gaze turned to Zhu Jiuyin. "Is it feasible?"
The Wheel of Time spun wildly in Zhu Jiuyin's eyes as he rapidly deduced the feasibility of the plan.
Di Jiang, Houtu, and the other Ancestral Witches instantly understood the core of Zhunti's vicious scheme.
Lure Nuwa into a place as perilous as the source of the River of Time, causing her to become "accidentally" trapped within it and unable to return for a short time!
Without Nuwa's presence and deterrence as a Saint, and before Di Jun and Tai Yi completed their Nirvana and became Saints, the Demon Race's Heavenly Court would have only the Great Array of the Stars of Heaven to rely upon!
This was precisely the perfect opportunity for the Witch Race to go all out against the Demon Race in a final battle and settle everything in one stroke!
Zhu Jiuyin silently nodded. "It is feasible!"
"Good! What a plan to drive the tiger against the wolf and kill with a borrowed blade!"
A ferocious light surged in Di Jiang's eyes, and a savage, resolute smile finally appeared on his face.
Though he knew full well that the Two Sages of the West were using the Witch Race, this plan truly struck at the heart of the matter and secured a once-in-a-millennium opportunity for the Witch Race!
"Then..." Di Jiang swept his gaze across the Ancestral Witches. Seeing blazing battle intent ignite in every pair of eyes and no further objections, he abruptly turned toward the Two Sages of the West outside the hall. His voice shook the universe:
"Zhunti! Jieyin! The Witch Race accepts your request! Once Nuwa leaves, it will be the time for our Witch Race to shatter the Heavenly Court and fight the Demon Race to the death! Do not break your word!"
"Good!" Zhunti and Jieyin pressed their palms together at the same time. Sorrow and serenity mingled on their faces, but a faint gleam of scheming success flashed deep in their eyes.
"My Senior Brother and I will certainly do our utmost to bring this about. Witch Race... wait quietly for the right time!"
Golden light rose once more, and the figures of the Two Sages of the West slowly vanished into the void above Buzhou Mountain.
Fengqi Mountain was shrouded in clouds and fog, its rosy light hazy and radiant.
Nuwa stood quietly atop the mountain, her gentle gaze watching the scattered Human Race tribes on the plains below as they gradually multiplied and thrived.
Watching those living beings she had fashioned from earth with her own hands grow from their initial ignorant explorations to gradually learning to fish, hunt, build nests, and gather into communities.
An indescribable sense of satisfaction and expectation welled within her, like a mother watching her toddling child slowly grow.
"Little sister, the Nirvana of the Demon Emperor's offspring has shaken the Prehistoric World. Are you truly not going to the Demon Court to take a look?"
Before you continue