Houtu was gentle by nature. Since she and Nuwa got along fairly well, Nuwa had become Houtu's first friend outside her clan.
Therefore, Houtu did not want Nuwa to fight the Ancestral Witches. Once they started fighting, there would inevitably be casualties.
"Fellow Daoists, we all transformed on Buzhou Mountain. Please, don't let this harm our friendship!"
Fuxi also tried to mediate. It wasn't that he truly had any friendship with the Twelve Ancestral Witches; he was simply afraid Nuwa would suffer.
Houtu and Fuxi stood between them and tried to mediate, preventing either the Ancestral Witches or Nuwa from making the first move.
Bai Chen broke free from Nuwa's clutches and climbed onto her shoulder, seemingly turning his gaze toward the Twelve Ancestral Witches.
"Ancestral Witches, your Ancestral Witch bodies probably haven't been cultivated to perfection yet, have they?
"Nuwa's Primordial Holy Sword is an unparalleled treasure, powerful enough to contend with an Innate Supreme Treasure. Can your Ancestral Witch bodies really withstand it?
"Once you fight Nuwa, there will likely be casualties. How can you bear to see your own brothers die?"
Although Bai Chen did not know the Twelve Ancestral Witches' true circumstances, he could guarantee that their Ancestral Witch bodies had not been cultivated to perfection.
After all, according to the course of history in the Primordial Era, the Twelve Ancestral Witches' bodies would only reach perfection during the later stages of the Witch-Demon Tribulation.
After hearing Bai Chen's words, the Ancestral Witches frowned. The situation was indeed just as he had said.
They were not afraid of being injured. No matter how severe their injuries were, they could use the Pangu Essence Blood in the Pangu Blood Pool to recover.
But if they were killed, even Pangu Essence Blood would be useless!
Seeing that his words had made the Ancestral Witches hesitate, Bai Chen continued.
"Besides, as Pangu's Orthodox Lineage, is it really appropriate for all of you to gang up on one person? Wouldn't that disgrace the name of Pangu's Orthodox Lineage?"
Bai Chen knew that the Ancestral Witches cared most about the name of Pangu's Orthodox Lineage.
In later generations, the Three Pure Ones and the Ancestral Witches of the Witch Clan would fall out terribly. The main reason was precisely the name of Pangu's Orthodox Lineage.
You claimed to be Pangu's Orthodox Lineage, and I claimed to be Pangu's Orthodox Lineage—but there was only one such title!
Now that Bai Chen had directly brought up the name of Pangu's Orthodox Lineage, it was practically a killing blow!
The Ancestral Witches' expressions became exceedingly ugly. If word got out that they had ganged up on one person, it would indeed damage the reputation of Pangu's Orthodox Lineage and make others laugh at them.
But if they fought Nuwa one-on-one, they would not be afraid if she had no powerful treasure.
Unfortunately, Nuwa happened to possess a powerful treasure, and they had no confidence that they could defeat her.
Section 7: Mount Sumeru! The Pangu Seal!
Seeing that he had intimidated the Ancestral Witches, Bai Chen immediately leaned close to Nuwa's ear and whispered a few words.
No one knew what Bai Chen had said, but Nuwa actually put away the Primordial Holy Sword.
After storing the Primordial Holy Sword, Nuwa left with Bai Chen. The other Ancestral Witches did not stop them.
Fuxi and Houtu were utterly convinced at that moment. The two of them had tried to mediate for ages without success, yet Bai Chen had stopped the battle with just a few words.
Impressive!
After Bai Chen stopped this small-scale Witch-Demon conflict, he completely settled down on Buzhou Mountain.
Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, countless epochs passed.
During this time, Houtu often visited Nuwa's Daoist abode.
Rather than saying Houtu came to see Nuwa, it would be more accurate to say that she came to play with Bai Chen and listen to him boast and tell stories.
The reason was that Houtu and the others had already discovered Bai Chen, so Nuwa could no longer keep him hidden.
As for Xuanming, after that incident, she and Nuwa had fallen out badly and never visited Nuwa's Daoist abode again.
However, Houtu often took Bai Chen out to play with Xuanming.
Nuwa watched as Bai Chen grew so close to Houtu and Xuanming. She said nothing on the surface, but she was still very displeased inside.
She had spent a Spiritual Treasure and risked offending Yuanfeng to buy Bai Chen from Jin Ning, the Mystic Sky Fire Phoenix, and bring him to Buzhou Mountain.
Yet Houtu and Xuanming had contributed nothing and could play with Bai Chen together. It was unfair.
Speaking of these epochs, because she had felt guilty after stealing the cat on Phoenix Perch Mountain, Nuwa had not gone to Phoenix Perch Mountain to discuss the Dao with Yuanfeng again.
During these epochs, the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Clans had fought a massive war. They had nearly exhausted their cannon fodder, and the fighting had ended.
Now, the Ten Thousand Scaled Clans, Ten Thousand Flying Bird Clans, and Ten Thousand Beast Clans had all suffered tremendous losses. They were practically ruined, and many of their Innate Divine Beasts had fallen.
Back then, when the Innate Divine Beasts of the Primordial Era's myriad clans united to attack the Fierce Beast Clan, they had been incredibly powerful.
But now, because of the selfish motives of Ancestor Dragon, Yuanfeng, and First Qilin, the Primordial Era's living beings had been plunged into misery.
The myriad clans of the Primordial Era had already suffered heavy losses in their battle against the Fierce Beast Clan.
Later, in order to become the leader of the Scaled Clans, the Flying Birds, and the Beasts, Ancestor Dragon, Yuanfeng, and First Qilin had subdued and suppressed the myriad clans by force. They had oppressed the Innate Divine Beasts, causing the clans to suffer another blow.
Now, because of their own selfish interests and their struggle for the position of ruler of the Primordial Era, the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Clans had treated the Innate Divine Beasts and the myriad clans as cannon fodder and sent them onto the battlefield.
At least eighty percent of the Innate Divine Beasts and the elites of the myriad clans had been lost.
The era of the Innate Divine Beasts was destined to fade away. The era of the Innate Deities was about to begin!
The karmic consequences created by the deaths of the Innate Divine Beasts and the karma generated by the decline of the Primordial Era's myriad clans would all need someone to bear.
Now that the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Clans had nearly exhausted their cannon fodder, the battlefield between the three clans had shifted from behind the scenes to the open.
As the three clans launched large-scale battles, High-level Golden Immortals were thrown onto the battlefield as if they cost nothing.
Every large-scale battle resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of High-level Golden Immortals!
Only the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Clans could withstand losses of that magnitude. The later Demon Clan and Witch Clan would not have been able to bear them.
After all, the later Demon Clan had merely picked up the ruined chessboard left behind by the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Clans, then continued playing with the pieces those three clans had discarded, treating them as treasures.
Apart from Nuwa, the nominal Saint of the Demon Clan, the only things the later Demon Clan could truly put on display were two world-shaking formations.
The Western Primordial Era...
Mount Sumeru was the ancestral source of the spiritual veins in the Western Primordial Era, and it was also where Ancestor Luohu's Daoist abode stood.
Ancestor Luohu had established his Daoist abode on Mount Sumeru not because Mount Sumeru was the ancestral source of the West, but because of the treasure suppressed beneath it. He had done so to guard that treasure.
Ancestor Luohu manifested the power of his laws. The Demonic Dao Law surged into the heavens, and the sky and earth of the Western Primordial Era lost their color.
If ordinary Innate Deities or Innate Divine Beasts saw this terrifying power of laws, they would inevitably be scared stiff.
The power of these laws was terrifyingly dense. It was nothing like something an Innate Deity should have been able to control.
On the surface, Ancestor Luohu was an Innate Deity. But that was merely his apparent identity. His true identity was a Chaos Demon God who wielded the Demonic Dao Law.
Back then, Ancestor Luohu's former body had been slain by a single axe strike from the Great God Pangu, and his Primordial Fruit Status had been shattered. His Primordial Spirit True Spirit fled into the Western Primordial Era and transformed into Ancestor Luohu.
Ancestor Luohu had concealed his identity and plotted for countless epochs. Now, he was finally about to accomplish his great undertaking.
"Eight Great Protectors, heed my command. Guard the eight directions of Mount Sumeru. Kill without mercy anyone who trespasses!"
Luohu summoned the Eight Great Protectors and issued his orders.
He was about to carry out a major undertaking and did not want anyone to ruin it.
"We respectfully obey the Ancestor's Imperial Decree!"
After Ri Biao and the other Seven Great Protectors bowed to Ancestor Luohu, they vanished.
Ri Biao and the other Eight Great Protectors were actually eight Innate Fierce Beasts.
The Eight of Ri Biao were the eight great beast generals, second only to Beast Emperor Shen Ni and the Four Beast Kings.
When the Fierce Beast Clan was destroyed, Ancestor Luohu rescued the Eight of Ri Biao.
After submitting to Ancestor Luohu, the Eight of Ri Biao had served him ever since.
If the supreme experts transformed from the remnant souls of Chaos Demon Gods—Ancestor Luohu, Ancestor Yang Mei, Ancestor Hongjun, and the others—were the first echelon of combat power in the current Primordial Era,
then Ancestor Dragon, Yuanfeng, and First Qilin, the three overlords who stood in the open, were the second echelon.
The Eight of Ri Biao had once been the eight great beast generals of the Fierce Beast Clan. Their current cultivation belonged to the third echelon of the Primordial Era!
As the Eight Great Protectors departed to guard the eight directions of Mount Sumeru,
Ancestor Luohu used the Demonic Dao Law to offer up the vicious treasure, the God-Slaying Spear, and drove it into Mount Sumeru.
A restriction within Mount Sumeru was instantly awakened and manifested.
As the supreme divine might of the restriction emerged, even Ancestor Luohu felt immense pressure.
"Pangu, you caused me to lose my Primordial Fruit Status and end up in this state. Today, don't even think about stopping my great undertaking!"
Ancestor Luohu looked at the sealed restriction and cursed. He brought out the Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, the Twelve-grade World-Ending Black Lotus, and forcefully withstood the might of the Pangu Seal.
Then, he used the Demonic Dao Law to activate the God-Slaying Spear, extracting the essence blood of the myriad clans and the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Clans from the battlefield, along with vast amounts of baleful energy.
Streams of essence blood and baleful energy were drawn over by Ancestor Luohu. He then sent them into the Pangu Seal with a backward sweep of his hand.
The Pangu Seal was gradually corroded by the vast essence blood and baleful energy, eroding and extinguishing its mighty divine power.
No one knew how long this process lasted. At last, the Pangu Seal was broken open, and the object suppressed by the Great God Pangu finally emerged.
One after another, withered corpses were released from the Pangu Seal. The power they unleashed shot straight toward the Thirty-three Heavens, causing the thirty-three layers of heaven to tremble.
(The Three Pure Ones had not yet attained the Dao, so they had not opened up the Three Pure Heavens. The Primordial Era currently had thirty-three heavens. Once the Three Pure Ones attained the Dao and opened up the Three Pure Heavens, there would be thirty-six heavens!)
These withered corpses possessed such overwhelming might that they seemed ready to resurrect at any moment and wreak havoc across the Primordial Era.
Fortunately, four divine iron pillars hung at the four corners, suppressing the withered corpses and preventing them from wreaking havoc for the time being.
Section 8: Ancestor Luohu's Plot Against the Primordial Era!
Although these corpses were only withered remains, they possessed enough might to make the thirty-three layers of heaven tremble.
As for their identities, they were already obvious.
That's right. They were the withered remains of the Three Thousand Chaos Demon Gods.
Back then, after the Great God Pangu slew the Three Thousand Chaos Demon Gods, most of their withered physical remains fell into the Western Primordial Era.
Before you continue