Ancestral Witch Houtu, Fierce Beast Taotie?!

Chapter 0048: Ancestral Witch Houtu, Fierce Beast Taotie?! "Refreshing!"

"This stuff is potent."

"This liquor has kick."

Xingtian took several gulps before reluctantly pulling away, wiping the lingering alcohol from the corner of his mouth and letting out a hearty, bold laugh. "Do you have more of this?"

"Not much left."

Cangyuan shook his head.

Xingtian's face fell with regret. "What a pity."

"But I can tell you the brewing method."

Hearing this, Xingtian's eyes lit up with surprise. "Really?"

"Of course, brother."

"However..."

Cangyuan shifted the topic. "This time, This Poor Daoist has come on my master's orders to request a Spiritual Treasure from the Witch Race."

"A Spiritual Treasure?"

Xingtian was taken aback, blurting out, "What use are those scraps of metal? They're nothing... oh right, you cultivators can wield artifacts in battle. I suppose they'd be useful in your hands."

"Though Spiritual Treasures are worthless scrap to us Witches, to keep them from falling into enemy hands, they're strictly managed. Only the Ancestral Witches have the authority to deal with them."

"Hmm... My Xingtian Tribe is under the Ancestral Witch Houtu Tribe. I'll take you to see Ancestral Witch Houtu. You killed that Demon Race beast for me, gave me drink, and come on Saint Tongtian's orders—I reckon Ancestral Witch Houtu should grant your request."

Hearing this, Cangyuan's eyes flickered with interest, and he smiled lightly. "Then I thank Great Witch Xingtian."

"No need for thanks. Let's go."

Xingtian swung his Battle Axe, cleaving open the space before them. He hung the wine gourd at his waist, gripped his axe in one hand and a shield in the other, and strode in first.

Cangyuan quickly followed.

After traveling through the void for a time, Xingtian swung his axe again, splitting the space ahead. Beyond the rift lay an enlarged version of a tribe!

Witch clansmen walked everywhere.

Among them were not a few Great Witches!

This was the Witch Race's tribe.

Cangyuan and Xingtian emerged from the void together. The surrounding Witch clansmen bowed respectfully. "Greetings, Great Witch Xingtian!"

The Witch Race revered martial might—whoever had the biggest fist earned their respect and recognition.

Of course, the Heavenly Court and Demon Race were exceptions. Even if Eastern Emperor Tai Yi attained the Hunyuan Great Luo, the Witches would still curse him as a Mottled Feathered Bird.

"All of you, go about your business."

Xingtian waved his hand, dismissing the Witch clansmen.

He turned to Cangyuan. "This is the Houtu Tribe. See that central Earth God Palace? That's the dojo of Ancestral Witch Houtu. I'll take you to pay respects to her. Compared to the other eleven Ancestral Witches, Ancestral Witch Houtu is gentle and easy to talk to."

Hearing this, Cangyuan looked toward the center of the Houtu Tribe, where a massive, majestic earth-yellow palace stood!

The materials used to build it were almost entirely premium jade, Immortal Gold, Divine Bronze, Pure Silver, and more. Thick Law of Earth aura coiled around it! Dao marks were heavy, and Sha Qi was desolate.

The law aura lingering on just this single palace had already reached sixty percent, hinting at how deeply its master had cultivated the Law of Earth.

She had likely reached sixty percent perfection, with a faint chance of breaking through to seventy percent and attaining the Hunyuan Great Luo.

Cangyuan: "Please, Great Witch Xingtian, make the introduction."

Xingtian laughed heartily, slinging an arm around Cangyuan's shoulder. "A trivial matter, haha!"

"Let's go, let's go."

"This... this is what you call gentle?"

As they neared the Earth God Palace, Cangyuan saw a stunning woman in a earth-yellow Daoist robe, her skin a healthy wheat color, surrounded by dense Law of Earth aura. She was swinging her delicate fists, pounding them into a rampaging fierce beast!

Her momentum was fierce, as if she were venting.

Each punch made the ground shake and the heavens tremble, as if the sky were collapsing.

This stunning woman was one of the Prehistoric World's most famous Female Immortals—the Earth Ancestral Witch: Empress Houtu!

The future one who would transform into Reincarnation, open the Six Paths, and rule the Netherworld Underworld as a Saint: Empress Pingxin!

A complete sexy little wildcat.

And the fierce beast being beaten by Houtu was no ordinary creature.

It was a Quasi-Saint level fierce beast, its body as massive as a mountain, covered in dark, bronze-like heavy scales. Between the scales seeped wisps of black mist that devoured light.

It had a goat's body and a human face, but its features were blurred in twisting shadows. Only a massive mouth split nearly to its ears, revealing no teeth—just a spinning darkness that could reduce all things to nothing.

Under its armpits grew a pair of blood-red eyes. The horns on its head didn't grow upward but twisted and coiled like the gravitational ripples of a black hole.

Seeing its form, Cangyuan was astonished. "This... could this be Taotie, one of the Four Fierce Beasts under the Beast Emperor Shen Ni from the Fierce Beast Era?!"

"Taotie?"

Xing Tian scratched his head, a look of confusion on his face. "I dunno. After Ancestral Witch Houtu brought it back, she's been using it as a punching bag. Poor thing's got it rough."

"Damn."

Cangyuan gave a thumbs-up.

The two of them just stood to the side.

Silently waiting for Ancestral Witch Houtu to finish venting.

A moment later.

Having let off steam, Ancestral Witch Houtu walked over, refreshed, a bright and sunny smile hanging on her exquisitely beautiful face. "Nephew, you've come on the orders of Fellow Daoist Tongtian—what business brings you here?"

Back then, Houtu had also attended the lectures at Zixiao Palace, and she was the only one among the Twelve Ancestral Witches to have heard all three sessions. By the rules of the Three Thousand Guests of the Red Dust as fellow disciples, Houtu and Sect Master Tongtian could be considered senior and junior siblings. Calling him "nephew" was perfectly reasonable.

Cangyuan bowed respectfully. "Greetings, Aunt-Master Houtu. This junior wishes to walk the path of the Hunyuan, cultivating the Laws. My master said that the Witch Race's Twelve Ancestral Witches are experts in this path, specializing in the Laws. Thus, this junior has come specifically to seek guidance on the Hunyuan Dao."

"Hunyuan?" Ancestral Witch Houtu's expression turned strange, and she looked at Cangyuan with a peculiar gaze before laughing. "The Hunyuan path is incredibly difficult. Even my Elder Brother, Di Jiang, hasn't touched the threshold of the Hunyuan Great Luo. Proving the Dao through the Laws is as hard as reaching the heavens."

Cangyuan smiled faintly. "Aunt-Master Houtu jokes. As if cultivating the Immortal Dao and trying to prove the Dao as a Saint is any easier."

Houtu chuckled softly. "True enough."

"Come with me."

Houtu turned and walked toward the Earth God Palace. "Since Senior Brother Tongtian sent you, I'll offer you some guidance. How much you comprehend will depend on your own Creation."

"Thank you, Aunt-Master Houtu."

Cangyuan followed Houtu into the Earth God Palace.

Houtu began to instruct Cangyuan in the way of the Laws.

"You achieved Form Transformation through a Spiritual Treasure, and your origins... are actually at the level of a High-grade Innate Divine Being?!"

Houtu probed Cangyuan's origins and was genuinely taken aback.

In this era, an Innate Divine Being had actually been born?!

How strange.

"The Law you cultivate is no simple thing either. This single Law incorporates multiple others: the Innate Five Elements, Time and Space, Destiny and Karma, Reincarnation and Creation. How peculiar—all the Laws needed to open up a world are gathered here."

Cangyuan: "This junior's primary Law is the Law of Creation, which focuses on proving the Dao by opening up a world..."