The Primordial Era

Di Jun and Eastern Emperor Tai Yi immediately bowed, "Greetings, Dao Ancestor!"

Dao Ancestor Hongjun's gaze was indifferent. Just as he was about to speak, Di Jiang's voice interrupted him:

"Dao Ancestor Hongjun! What is the meaning of this? Why are you interfering in the war between our Witch Clan and the Demon Clan?"

Dao Ancestor Hongjun looked at Pangu's true form and said calmly, "The Demon Clan is not to be destroyed; this is the will of Heaven. From now on, the demons shall rule the heavens and the witches shall rule the earth. No further battles shall be fought for ten thousand years."

Upon hearing this, Di Jun, Eastern Emperor Tai Yi, and countless high-ranking demons rejoiced and knelt, "We respectfully obey the Dao Ancestor's command!"

Many great powers of the Primordial Era, seeing Dao Ancestor Hongjun speak, believed the matter was settled.

The previous battle had left them with lingering fear, and now they all breathed a sigh of relief.

However, just as everyone's minds began to settle, a discordant voice echoed from Pangu's true form, which was composed of the Twelve Ancestor Witches:

"Hongjun! We call you Dao Ancestor out of respect for you. Do you truly think you are the master of the Primordial Era?

This Primordial Era was opened by our Pangu the Father God. We, the Witch Clan, are Pangu's descendants and should rule this realm. When did it become your place to issue commands?"

As the voice faded, the world fell silent.

Li Peng stared in disbelief, as did the Three Pure Ones, the Western Second Saints, Nuwa, and Fuxi.

The other great powers of the Primordial Era were utterly stunned, none having expected the Witch Clan to dare to defy Dao Ancestor Hongjun so brazenly.

And it was not over. As soon as that voice fell, the other Ancestor Witches also spoke:

"Exactly! Hongjun, don't think too highly of yourself! It's not too late to leave now!"

"Hongjun, can you truly protect these demons today?"

"Hongjun, if you know what's good for you, leave quickly, or we'll kill you too!"

The Twelve Ancestor Witches spoke one after another, their words laced with mockery.

Although Houtu did not speak, she did not try to dissuade her brothers either.

She knew her brothers' temperaments well and realized that even if she tried to persuade them now, it would be futile.

Hearing the Ancestor Witches' words, Hongjun's face turned ashen, yet he was helpless.

If Hongjun truly took action against the Twelve Ancestor Witches, who would keep the Demon Clan in check? And who would establish the cycle of reincarnation?

More importantly, Hongjun could not bear the karmic consequences of severing Pangu's bloodline.

The great powers of the Primordial Era, hearing the Twelve Ancestor Witches' pronouncements, were dumbfounded, completely unable to comprehend their reasoning.

Li Peng also felt a sense of helplessness, thinking to himself, The Witch Clan is still the Witch Clan. Their recklessness is beyond my comprehension. To dare to be so insolent without even understanding the power gap... their suicidal tendencies are truly the greatest in the Primordial Era.

At this moment, Di Jun and Eastern Emperor Tai Yi watched the Pangu true form formed by the Twelve Ancestor Witches with amusement. They clearly intended to use Hongjun to eliminate these Ancestor Witches.

As the two were plotting, Pangu's true form raised its giant axe again, its aura surging. This time, it was clearly going all out.

Pangu's true form roared, "Sky-Opening Third Style: Heaven and Earth Open, Primordial Era Forms, Primordial Slash!"

Before the words even fell, an axe light, far more powerful than the one that had shattered the Zhou Tian Star Formation, cleaved directly towards Dao Ancestor Hongjun.

Seeing the Witch Clan's utter lack of tact, Hongjun's brow furrowed.

It seems I must teach these fellows a lesson! Hongjun thought to himself.

With his resolve made, Hongjun raised his hand and struck towards the axe light. As he moved, a giant palm of magic power formed, directly meeting the axe light.

"Boom! Boom boom!"

The axe light and the magic palm print collided with a deafening roar. The void within a radius of a million miles shattered, and countless black holes appeared, swallowing everything. The shockwaves of the collision continued to spread, reaching other regions of the Heavenly Court.

Hongjun's expression shifted slightly. He immediately brought out the Jade Disc of Creation to stabilize space and sort out heaven and earth.

As Hongjun acted, the giant axe light was shattered by the magic palm print. The palm print, its momentum undiminished, struck Pangu's true form heavily.

"Boom!"

With another massive explosion, Pangu's true form disintegrated, transforming back into the Twelve Ancestor Witches. At this moment, all twelve Ancestor Witches had blood at the corners of their mouths, clearly suffering significant injuries.

However, Hongjun had no time to attend to them, as he was still fully occupied with stabilizing the heavens and earth.

Countless demons witnessed this scene and were stunned. They had never imagined that the Witch Clan, who had seemed on the verge of victory, would be so heavily wounded by Dao Ancestor Hongjun due to the arrogance of the Twelve Ancestor Witches.

As long as Dao Ancestor Hongjun dealt with these Ancestor Witches, the remaining members of the Witch Clan would be like prey in the Demon Clan's grasp. The day the Demon Clan unified the Primordial Era seemed to be fast approaching.

For a moment, all the Demon Clan faces showed ecstatic joy.

The heavily wounded Twelve Ancestor Witches, collapsed on the ground, showed no intention of surrendering. They glared at Hongjun with furious eyes, as if they wanted to devour him.

Seeing this, Li Peng was utterly speechless. They were still so stubborn even at this point. Weren't they afraid that Dao Ancestor Hongjun would simply obliterate them with a single palm strike?

As Li Peng's thoughts raced, Dao Ancestor Hongjun had already repaired the spatial collapses caused by the recent battle.

After finishing this, Dao Ancestor Hongjun glanced at the Twelve Ancestor Witches and felt a sense of helplessness.

These Ancestor Witches couldn't be killed, nor could they be beaten too severely.

After all, if he were too heavy-handed, Houtu would not go on to create the cycle of reincarnation in the future, and the loss would be immense.

Helplessly, Hongjun had no choice but to speak again: "From today onwards, the Demons shall rule the heavens, and the Witches shall rule the earth. No battles shall be fought for ten thousand years. Those who violate this will face heavenly punishment."

As soon as his voice fell, Hongjun vanished.

The Twelve Ancestor Witches listened to Dao Ancestor Hongjun's words, their hearts still filled with indignation and unrest.

However, they did not continue to provoke Hongjun's limits. They simply got up and flew out of the Heavenly Court.

Di Jun, Eastern Emperor Tai Yi, and the other Demon Clan members watched the Twelve Ancestor Witches leave, also feeling helpless.

Although they wanted to keep the heavily wounded Ancestor Witches, they themselves were not lightly injured. Moreover, Dao Ancestor Hongjun's warning still echoed in their ears, and they dared not make any rash moves.

Li Peng, watching from the thirty-third heaven as the show concluded, got up, opened a spatial passage, and left the area.

As for whether other powerful beings had left, it was no longer his concern.

Upon returning to Three Immortal Island, Li Peng began his secluded cultivation.

Time flowed by, and five thousand years passed in the blink of an eye.

As the Demon Clan retreated to the Heavenly Court and the Witch Clan had a sparse population, making it difficult to occupy vast territories, during these five thousand years, without the constant threat of powerful enemies, the Human Race ushered in a period of vigorous development.

Their population grew from less than two billion to a staggering two hundred billion.

With the surge in population, the shores of the East Sea could no longer accommodate such a large number of humans.

Thus, the Human Race continuously migrated outwards. In just five thousand years, an area of millions of miles beyond the East Sea coast was dotted with Human Race tribes.

Fortunately, Li Wu had long since taught the Human Race the skills of domesticating livestock and cultivating grains.

Li Wu had once wanted to find crops like corn, rice, and sweet potatoes to free the Human Race from hunger. Unfortunately, these crops seemed to be hidden by the Heavenly Dao. Even when he asked Li Peng to deduce their existence, he could not find any trace. In the end, Li Wu had to abandon the idea.

As the Human Race's territory expanded, the living space of the Primordial Era's Demon Clan was squeezed. Human border settlements were frequently attacked by nearby demons. Although these demons were not very powerful, they served as perfect training targets for the Human Race and helped them maintain a sense of crisis. Therefore, Li Wu did not personally intervene to eliminate them.

One day, while Li Wu was in seclusion in the Human Ancestral Hall, someone suddenly reported that Ancestor Witch Houtu had come to visit. Li Wu was puzzled. He had no prior dealings with Houtu, so why was she visiting him so suddenly? Unable to figure it out, he rose to welcome Houtu into the hall.

"Ancestor Witch Houtu, what brings you here?" Li Wu asked directly.

Houtu was slightly taken aback, not expecting Li Wu to be so straightforward. She replied frankly, "I happened to discover that there have been unions between the Witch Clan and the Human Race, resulting in offspring. These children all possess the Spiritual Powers of the Witch Clan. Therefore, I wish to propose a comprehensive intermarriage between the two races."

Li Wu thought to himself: Humans and Witches are already appearing so early? It seems this is inevitable. He then shook his head, "I cannot make this decision. You will have to discuss it with Saint Golden Peng and Saint Nuwa."

As a clone, he had no authority to decide such a major matter. Moreover, if intermarriage with the Human Race were to occur, figures of sufficient standing would need to come forward to negotiate for more benefits for the Human Race—otherwise, given the temper of the Twelve Ancestor Witches, they might simply abduct people.

Houtu suddenly understood. Recalling that the Human Race was created by Golden Peng and Nuwa, she realized that the matter of intermarriage indeed required the consent of the two Saints. She nodded and said, "Alright, I will go and discuss it with them now." With that, she flew away.

After more than ten years of travel, Ancestor Witch Houtu finally arrived at Three Immortal Island. Li Peng sensed her arrival and directly welcomed her onto the island.

Two hundred and sixty

Li Peng feigned ignorance and asked, "Ancestor Witch Houtu, what is the purpose of your visit?"

Houtu had no choice but to inform Li Peng of her intention regarding the intermarriage between humans and witches.

Upon hearing this, Li Peng pretended to ponder.

In reality, he had already learned of this matter through his clone and was quite in agreement with it.

As the Human Race multiplied, their innate aptitude gradually declined.

Those who could cultivate the immortal path went from one in a hundred to merely one or two in a million, and even then, they barely managed to get started.

As for immortal geniuses, they were rarer than one in a hundred million.

Regarding the martial path, although it did not heavily rely on aptitude, those with poor talent cultivated ten times slower and had only a one-tenth chance of breaking through bottlenecks.

If they were like the first generation of humans who were born with a lifespan of ten thousand years, even with mediocre talent, they would have enough time to cultivate to the Earth Immortal realm and prolong their lives.

Unfortunately, the lifespan of humans in this era was only two hundred years, and this was due to the abundant spiritual energy in the Primordial Era.

If they were in a place with scarce spiritual energy, their lifespan would be even shorter.

Therefore, the Human Race urgently needed to improve its aptitude to cultivate more geniuses and strengthen the Human Race's power.

Li Peng's feigned contemplation was actually an attempt to secure greater benefits for the Human Race.

After a moment, Li Peng felt that the time was right and was about to agree when a system prompt suddenly sounded.

"Ding! The system has detected your current situation. Please make a choice!"

"Choice One: For the purity of the Human Race bloodline, sternly reject Houtu's request! Reward: One hundred thousand years of Magic Power, one random Mid-Grade Innate Spiritual Root."

"Choice Two: For the future of the Human Race, agree to Houtu's request! Reward: One hundred thousand years of Magic Power, one random Mid-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure."

"Option Three: Lead by example in inter-species marriage between Humans and Witches. To promote intermarriage, please take Houtu as your Dao companion. Reward: One Yuanhui of Magic Power! Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure Book of Life and Death, Judge's Brush, and Heavenly Dao-grade martial skill Sky-Opening Second Style: Yin-Yang Slash!"

"Please make your decision quickly, Host!"

Li Peng was stunned by the voice, not expecting the System to appear at this moment.

However, since an opportunity had presented itself, he naturally had to seize it. He immediately reviewed the options.

The first option was to refuse intermarriage, which he could immediately rule out – he had long intended to promote the union of Witches and Humans.

Of course, none of these were the key points.

The key point was that the reward for the first option simply couldn't change Li Peng's mind.

Next, Li Peng looked at the second option.

This one was acceptable and aligned with his thoughts, but the reward was truly underwhelming.

Still, even a mosquito's leg is meat; he'd keep it for now!

Then, Li Peng's gaze shifted to the third option.

"What the heck? Inter-species marriage between Humans and Witches starts with me? And I have to take Houtu as my wife? Although Houtu is indeed a rare beauty, do I need the System to arrange something like this?" Li Peng couldn't help but complain.

But as his gaze swept over the reward for the third option, his complaints abruptly stopped.

"One Yuanhui of Magic Power, the Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures Book of Life and Death and Judge's Brush, and even a Heavenly Dao-grade martial skill – Sky-Opening Second Style: Yin-Yang Slash? This reward is too generous!" Li Peng was inwardly shocked.

"Um... actually, I think this arrangement from you, System, is quite good." Li Peng then said to the System.

So good!

Seeing that the System didn't respond, Li Peng didn't say anything more and directly made his choice to the System: "I choose the second and third options."

After making his choice, Li Peng then said to Houtu, "In principle, I don't oppose intermarriage between Humans and Witches, but without high-level figures leading the way, this matter will be difficult to promote. After all, the differences between the two races are too great, with vast disparities in strength and lifespan."

"Ding! Congratulations to the Host for fulfilling Houtu's request and completing Choice Two!

Reward obtained: 100,000 years of Magic Power, Mid-grade Innate Spiritual Root White Jade Fruit."

The System's prompt sounded. Li Peng didn't pay much attention; he didn't care about this meager reward.

Upon hearing Li Peng's words, Houtu first breathed a sigh of relief, but after hearing his concerns, her heart became anxious again.

"Does Fellow Daoist Li Peng have a solution?" Houtu asked urgently.

The reason for Houtu's urgency was the previous great war with the Demon Clan. Although the Witch Clan had won, they had also suffered heavy losses.

Even though new Witches had been born in the past five thousand years, their numbers were far from enough to compensate for the war casualties, and the newly born Witches were still weak and had not yet grown up.

Now that she saw hope for increasing their population, Houtu was unwilling to give up under any circumstances.

"There is a solution, but it might make things difficult for Fellow Daoist Houtu," Li Peng said calmly.