Primordial Wilderness.
Deep within Pangu Hall, beneath Buzhou Mountain.
Within the enormous Blood Pool, dense blood energy and fiendish energy intertwined violently, churning so thickly they seemed almost solid.
At the center of the Blood Pool floated thirteen massive blood cocoons, quietly radiating a primitive and ancient aura.
Inside one of the blood cocoons, a blurry human figure curled up, as though it had been asleep for billions of years.
Suddenly, the blood cocoon trembled slightly. The figure's eyelids quivered, and he slowly opened his eyes.
"Where... is this?"
"Wasn't I... on my way home from work?"
"Hiss—! My head hurts..."
Fragments of memory surged into his mind like a flood bursting through a dam, carrying countless bizarre and fantastical images.
A city filled with towering skyscrapers, crowds packed together, and the endless 996 work schedule.
"And that ball of light that fell from the sky..." Countless images pieced themselves together like scenes from a revolving lantern, gradually becoming clear and solid.
He, Zhou Ming, an ordinary wage slave in modern society, had actually... transmigrated!
And the place he had transmigrated to was the Primordial World—the source of all myths in the legends of mythology!
That was already absurd enough, but what felt even more ridiculous to him was his current identity... He seemed to have become one of the legendary... Ancestral Witches?!
No! Based on the sudden information in his mind, information that felt innate, he knew with absolute clarity that he was the first to awaken in Pangu Hall.
In theory, he was the thirteenth Ancestral Witch. But in terms of awakening order, he, Zhou Ming, was the undisputed First Ancestral Witch!
This starting point was simply absurd beyond belief! For a moment, Zhou Ming did not know whether he should laugh or cry.
He tried hard to recall the entire process of becoming an Ancestral Witch. The more he thought about it, the more theatrical it seemed.
He had been a wage slave on Earth, working himself to the bone for a meager salary. Working 996 hours a week had been his normal life, while dying from overwork had practically been a visible endpoint.
On his way home from work, he had been struck precisely by a strange ball of light that fell from the sky.
He had not even had time to feel any pain before his consciousness plunged into darkness. He had died on the spot.
When he regained consciousness, he was already here.
Based on the remnants of information in his mind, that ball of light had been a useless system that had chosen him for a transmigration journey.
Transmigrating to the Primordial World was indeed a common opening in web novels. Countless protagonists had relied on this routine to reach the pinnacle of life.
But this system's professional competence was clearly lacking. It had not even calibrated the most basic point in time.
It had sent him straight to the age of Chaos, before Great God Pangu had wielded his axe and created the world!
What a terrifying and dangerous era that had been! Chaos stretched vast and boundless, with the Three Thousand Demon Gods coexisting within it.
And Great God Pangu had been the most dazzling one of them all.
Holding the Heaven-Opening Divine Axe, standing atop the Thirty-Sixth-Grade Chaos Green Lotus, and with the Jade Butterfly of Creation above his head, he had slaughtered countless Demon Gods and created the heavens and earth as easily as cutting vegetables.
The moment this useless system appeared, it attracted the attention of Great God Pangu.
Perhaps the foreign aura had displeased Pangu, or perhaps he had simply felt like moving his hands. Without a second thought, this god of creation had grabbed the system and refined it on the spot.
During the refinement, Pangu discovered Zhou Ming's soul wrapped within the system.
He read his memories and learned of his origins. Perhaps he found this soul from the future interesting, or perhaps it was simply fate at work.
Great God Pangu casually struck the refined System Core into Zhou Ming's True Spirit.
Then, Great God Pangu continued his great undertaking of creating the world.
After the creation of the world was complete, Pangu transformed into all things.
At the final moment, Great God Pangu seemed to remember Zhou Ming. He casually cast his soul into Pangu Hall, which had formed from his own heart, and bestowed upon him a precious drop of heart blood.
Thus, Zhou Ming, together with the twelve future Ancestral Witches whose names would resound throughout the Primordial Wilderness, transformed into blood cocoons and began their long gestation in the Blood Pool of Pangu Hall.
Somewhere deep within Zhou Ming's soul, a vague thought from Great God Pangu seemed to remain: "The Witch Clan's destiny in this world will be fraught with hardship..."
"Perhaps this variable from another world can bring a trace of... hope to the future destiny of the Witch Clan?"
Besides the System Core, Great God Pangu had also passed on to Zhou Ming a strand of insight into the supreme Law of Strength he had mastered.
After sorting through everything, Zhou Ming's heart was filled with conflicting emotions. All he could do was sigh silently.
What was this supposed to be? The package delivered by the system had not only been personally signed for by Great God Pangu, but had also received a five-star review—and even come with a pile of luxurious bonus gifts?
An amateur transmigration accident had somehow created his unique identity as an Ancestral Witch!
Created from Pangu's essence blood, gestated in Pangu Hall, carrying a mysterious System Core, and inheriting the supreme Law of Strength!
This origin and foundation placed him among the tiny handful standing at the very peak of the entire vast and boundless Primordial World!
He had practically been born with a golden spoon in his mouth—a super VIP!
However, after his brief excitement, Zhou Ming's heart sank.
Ancestral Witch! He knew all too well what kind of heavy destiny those two words represented.
During the Witch-Demon Calamity, nearly all the Twelve Ancestral Witches would perish. The mighty Witch Clan would fall apart, lose all momentum, and withdraw from the stage of the Primordial World.
Would he, too, repeat their fate?
No! Since he had come here, he absolutely could not watch the tragedy happen again! He had to become stronger. He had to defy heaven and change his fate. He had to...
Zhou Ming began carefully examining his condition. Although his consciousness had awakened, he was still wrapped in a thick blood cocoon, and his body was still gestating.
To truly emerge in humanoid form, he would probably need to wait through a long stretch of time.
"Hiss—!"
Just then, a pain that seemed capable of tearing his soul apart suddenly erupted from the depths of his True Spirit!
Caught off guard, Zhou Ming groaned. His newly awakened consciousness nearly scattered from the impact. He immediately calmed his mind and began to look inward.
The next moment, his expression turned extremely grim.
Deep within his soul—which could now be called the embryonic form of his Primordial Spirit—a violent, chaotic, and terrifying current filled with an aura of destruction was madly assaulting, tearing at, and eroding him!
This aura was utterly domineering, as though it intended to completely obliterate his consciousness and turn him into a beast that knew only slaughter!
"Heaven... Heaven-Opening Fiendish Energy!!"
He finally understood what this aura was!
It was the terrifying existence formed from the boundless resentment produced after Pangu created the world and slew the Three Thousand Chaos Demon Gods, combined with the murderous energy of the world's birth!
The Witch Clan had been formed from Pangu's essence blood and had naturally inherited Pangu's mighty physical bodies, but they had also been unable to avoid bearing this Heaven-Opening Fiendish Energy.
Under the erosion of the fiendish energy, it was difficult for the Witch Clan to give birth to Primordial Spirits. Even if one was born by some stroke of luck, it would be affected by the fiendish energy, becoming irritable, bloodthirsty, impulsive, and quick-tempered, worshipping only strength and slaughter!
"So that's how it is... No wonder the Twelve Ancestral Witches of later generations were all hot-tempered battle maniacs who lacked the ability to scheme..."
This Heaven-Opening Fiendish Energy was practically a sword hanging over the head of every Ancestral Witch!
It was especially fatal to a transmigrator like him, who possessed a clear self-awareness and modern thinking!
He now had an embryonic Primordial Spirit, but under the impact of this terrifying fiendish energy, he was like a lone boat in stormy seas, in danger of capsizing at any moment!
Once his Primordial Spirit was completely eroded and assimilated, then even if he retained the memories of a Transmigrator, he would probably become nothing more than a "barbarian" who acted on instinct!
When that happened, how could he talk about changing the Witch Clan's destiny? He would not even be able to preserve himself!
"No! Absolutely not! I can't become a brute who knows nothing but fighting!"
He did not want to become a brute with nothing but strength and no reason!
The thinking of a modern person and his foreknowledge of the general trends of the Primordial World were his greatest trump cards and reliance!
If he lost even the ability to think, what meaning would there be in his transmigration?
"I have to find a way to refine this damned fiendish energy!"
He forcibly suppressed the waves of pain coming from his Primordial Spirit and focused all his concentration.
Although he was inside the blood cocoon, he could clearly sense the System Core fused into the depths of his True Spirit, radiating a gentle and profound fluctuation.
This fluctuation resonated with the insight into the Law of Strength inherited from Pangu, forming a faint yet tenacious barrier.
It barely protected his Primordial Spirit, preventing it from being instantly overwhelmed by the fiendish energy.
"The System Core... refined by Father God Pangu. In essence, it's an Innate Supreme Treasure... attuned to the Great Dao, able to help me comprehend laws..."
Zhou Ming quickly recalled the information Pangu had left behind.
The System Core was not an external aid in the traditional sense. It was more like a companion treasure for comprehending the Dao, capable of suppressing Destiny and protecting the Primordial Spirit!
"And... the Law of Strength!"
Zhou Ming's thoughts stirred slightly as he tried to communicate with and sense the law imprint representing supreme power, engraved in the deepest part of his Primordial Spirit.
Although, in his current state, he could not even touch its most superficial aspect, the mere existence of this strand of insight seemed to naturally suppress the violent fiendish energy to a certain extent.
"I can only risk it! This is my only hope!"
Zhou Ming clenched his teeth. Taking the System Core as his shield and his insight into the Law of Strength as his spear, he began trying to refine the Heaven-Opening Fiendish Energy that was constantly eroding his Primordial Spirit!
The fiendish energy was violently unmatched. Every impact made his Primordial Spirit tremble violently, the pain penetrating to his very bones, as though it might completely shatter at any moment.
But Zhou Ming did not retreat in the slightest. This was the first step he had to take to change his own destiny—and, in the future, the destiny of the entire Witch Clan!
"Refine...!" Accompanied by a silent roar, Zhou Ming immersed himself in his confrontation with the Heaven-Opening Fiendish Energy.