Buzhou Mountain.
The foremost divine mountain in the Primordial Wilderness, transformed from Pangu's spine, it propped up the heavens and grounded the earth, towering majestically.
The higher they went, the more terrifying the pressure left behind by Pangu became, and the denser Pangu's Will grew.
Zhou Ming brought Zhurong, Gonggong, Xuanming, and Houtu, climbing upward step by step.
As they walked, Zhou Ming muttered inwardly, "Cry Mountain... This operation would've made the headlines in the modern era, wouldn't it? 'Shocking! Top powers of the Primordial Wilderness band together to extort their ancestor!' 'Ancestral Witches cry miserably online for treasures'..." The corner of his mouth twitched, but he still maintained a solemn expression.
The pressure here was completely different from the gentle aura near Pangu Hall at the foot of the mountain. This pressure was real and substantial; every step felt like carrying a small mountain on one's back.
The farther up they went, the clearer and heavier that will and pressure became, almost as if it had taken physical form.
At last, on a relatively flat section of the mountainside, Zhou Ming stopped. "This is the place!"
He turned around and looked at the four younger siblings wearing expressions of confusion—or perhaps reluctance. His expression was solemn, but his eyes held a hint of encouragement.
"Are you all ready? Remember, bring out your true abilities! For the Witch Clan." Before they could react, Zhou Ming dropped to his knees with a thump, swift and decisive!
His movements were so precise, his expression so sorrowful, it was as though he had rehearsed countless times.
"Father God..."
A cry of utter anguish, thick with sobs, rang through the heavens!
"Father God—I've missed you so much—!"
His voice echoed across the silent mountaintop, filled with endless grievance and longing.
Zhurong, Gonggong, Xuanming, and Houtu were all dumbfounded by Zhou Ming's sudden bellow.
Big Brother... he... he was really crying, and crying so... passionately.
Zhou Ming ignored them and continued his tearful lament:
"Back then, in Chaos, I was ignorant and clueless. I was dragged along by the system, but with your piercing insight, you rescued me from it and granted me a new life."
"When you created the world in Chaos, how mighty you were! You established Earth Water Fire Wind and manifested all the phenomena of the Primordial Wilderness! I thought I could stay by your side forever, listen to your teachings, and learn how to hold up the heavens and stand upon the earth as you did..."
"You treated me with kindness as weighty as a mountain, with affection like that between father and son! But why, when I awoke, were you already gone?"
"Boo-hoo-hoo... You left me all alone in this empty Pangu Hall, and I still had to raise these twelve younger brothers and sisters who knew nothing at all..."
When the emotion reached its peak, Zhou Ming secretly winked at Houtu and Xuanming, signaling with his eyes: Cry! Hurry up! The atmosphere is already here!
Xuanming and Houtu exchanged a glance, their pretty faces flushing slightly.
Have them cry? And in front of Father God's Will... This... was too difficult for witches!
But seeing Big Brother crying so passionately, with such "genuine emotion," the two gritted their teeth and stamped their feet.
For the Witch Clan!
Houtu was the kindest of heart. Seeing Big Brother crying so sorrowfully and thinking of the Witch Clan's difficult future, her eyes reddened, and large tears rolled down her cheeks. Choking back sobs, she said, "Father God... We... we're really having such a hard time..."
Xuanming was initially somewhat awkward, but when she saw Zhou Ming and Houtu crying, then caught Zhou Ming's stare, which clearly said, "If you don't cry, I'll beat you," she could only brace herself and work up her emotions.
She thought of everything Big Brother had said. She thought of how the Witch Clan had no treasures or backers, and how they might be bullied by the Demon Clan and schemed against by Sages in the future. The more she thought about it, the more aggrieved she became. With a loud wail, she began crying as well. "Father God... Boo-hoo-hoo... You just left like this... What are we supposed to do now...?"
At this, Zhurong and Gonggong were completely dumbstruck.
Even the usually calm and composed Xuanming was crying.
The cries of the two Ancestral Witches, though not as "professional" as Zhou Ming's, still carried some genuine emotion, making the atmosphere considerably more mournful in an instant.
Seeing this, Zhou Ming thought to himself, They're teachable! Then he cried even harder, to the point of shaking heaven and earth and making ghosts and gods weep.
"Father God! Look at these children of yours! I worked so hard to raise them. Every one of them has transformed and even developed a Primordial Spirit. But what are they going to do in the future?"
"Look at Zhurong! He's a brainless brute! His temper is foul and stubborn, and he throws punches whenever we disagree. He'll definitely be schemed to death someday!"
Zhurong: "..."
Big Brother was crying, but why did those words sound so unpleasant?
"And Gonggong—this stubborn fool is even more hopeless. He's completely single-minded! He clings to dead principles and will surely ram his head into your Buzhou Mountain one day, ending up with his soul scattered!"
Gonggong: "..."
Big Brother, you can't curse me like that.
"And little sister Houtu. She has the kindest heart and resembles you most, Father God. But in the future... in the future, for the sake of all living beings in the Primordial Wilderness, she'll even... Boo-hoo-hoo..."
Houtu was already crying. Hearing this, grief welled up inside her, and she burst into tears, her face streaked with pearly drops. "Boo-hoo... Father God..."
"The mighty Witch Clan, your painstakingly nurtured descendants, will ultimately end up with some dead and some scattered, unable even to preserve our inheritance. Father God, can you bear to see this? If your spirit watches over us from heaven, please take pity on us and give us some treasures to protect ourselves."
Stirred by Zhou Ming, Zhurong and Gonggong could no longer hold back either.
Their minds might have been straightforward, but they knew Big Brother was talking about the Witch Clan's future. Imagining that miserable scene and sensing Father God's lingering Will, tremendous grief and indignation surged in their hearts.
"Waaah—Father God!" Zhurong threw back his head and wailed, his voice shaking the surrounding lands.
"Father God—this is unfair—!" Gonggong followed with a cry, beating his chest and stamping his feet.
For a time, cries of grief shook the summit of Buzhou Mountain.
Seeing that the moment had come, Zhou Ming struck while the iron was hot and began tentatively naming his price:
"Father God, I think that Twenty-Fourth Grade Green Lotus of Creation would be quite good. It's an Innate Supreme Treasure, with rock-solid defensive power and a high grade. It's perfect for us thick-skinned children to protect ourselves! Why don't you bestow it upon us?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a thought directly resounded in Zhou Ming's mind from the unseen depths:
"Green Lotus of Creation. Bound to Destiny and Fortune, it must return to the Three Pure Ones." Simple, direct, and leaving no room for discussion.
"What?!" Zhou Ming sprang to his feet, wiped away his tears, and stamped his foot angrily. "Father God! Aren't you being too biased?"
"The Three Pure Ones transformed from your Primordial Spirit, while we transformed from your Essence Blood. We're all your flesh and blood. How can you favor one side over the other? Boo-hoo-hoo... We're so miserable... Nobody loves us, nobody cares about us..."
When Zhurong and Gonggong heard that they had no share of the good treasure, they began shouting as well. "Father God is biased! It's unfair!"
Houtu and Xuanming also sniffled, continuing to sob quietly with aggrieved expressions, their eyes full of accusations toward this "biased parent."
Zhou Ming once again slipped into his dramatic-actor persona and cried even more miserably than before.
"Then... then the Twenty-Fourth Grade Green Lotus of Creation won't do... Something else would be fine too!"
Zhou Ming's eyes shifted, and he continued his lament.
"Your Jade Tablet of Creation—isn't it broken? Just give us three or five fragments so we can comprehend the Great Dao and improve our strength a little."
"Or the Chaos Pearl would work too. I heard that thing can form its own Chaos and evolve a world. It would be perfect for leaving our Witch Clan a way out. If we can't survive in the Primordial Wilderness someday, we'd at least have somewhere to stay, wouldn't we?"
"And there's more! Father God, you were so mighty back then, defeating the Three Thousand Chaos Demon Gods. What happened to their treasures? Chaos spirit treasures, Chaos Supreme Treasures—just pick out a few pieces for us to protect ourselves. We're not picky."
"If nothing else, the Pure World White Lotus would do. I heard it's excellent at purifying baleful energy. It would surely benefit our Witch Clan greatly."
Zhou Ming listed every unclaimed top-tier treasure he could think of in one breath, looking as though he would cry himself to death right there if they did not give him something.
Zhurong, Gonggong, Xuanming, and Houtu were all dumbfounded.
Big Brother... you really dared to ask for all that? Those were legendary Innate Supreme Treasures and Chaos Supreme Treasures!
Perhaps Zhou Ming and the others were crying too miserably. Perhaps Pangu had truly left preparations behind. Or perhaps it was simply Father God's instinctive affection for his descendants by blood.
Suddenly, a stream of information surged into Zhou Ming's mind!
"A fragment of the Jade Tablet of Creation exists ten thousand zhang above this location."
"The Pure World White Lotus lies beyond the East Sea, on either Fangzhang or Yingzhou of the Three Immortal Islands. It cannot be found without the Earth Book."
Zhou Ming's eyes lit up.
A fragment of the Jade Tablet of Creation. Although it was only one fragment, it contained records of the Three Thousand Great Daos. Even a single fragment was an unimaginably precious treasure!
The Pure World White Lotus! One of the four Lotus Platforms. So it was on either Fangzhang or Yingzhou, and the Earth Book was needed to find it. No wonder no one in the Primordial Wilderness had obtained this treasure. After all, no one had ever found Fangzhang or Yingzhou. Now there was finally a lead!
"Thank you, Father God! You really are the one who loves us most!" Zhou Ming immediately changed his expression. Tear tracks still marked his face, but his smile was extraordinarily bright.
Although the other four Ancestral Witches did not directly receive the information, they could sense that Big Brother had apparently obtained some tremendous benefit. They all stopped crying and stared at Zhou Ming curiously.
Having gained an advantage, Zhou Ming still wanted to act modest. His eyes shifted as he tentatively asked, "Father God, is there anything else? For example, when you cut down the Three Thousand Chaos Demon Gods, did you leave behind any Chaos spirit treasures, Chaos Supreme Treasures, or anything like that...?"
"Since you have already condensed your Primordial Spirits, you should be able to open the depths of your bloodlines yourselves and obtain the inheritance imprint I left behind. Go."
With that, the Will that had communicated with Zhou Ming slowly fell silent, leaving only the vast pressure still shrouding the mountaintop.
The inheritance imprint? Pangu's inheritance left for the Ancestral Witches?
Zhou Ming froze for a moment. Then even brighter light erupted from his eyes!
This was the real prize. Treasures were certainly important, but one's own strength and potential were the foundation.
The inheritance left behind by Great God Pangu was definitely extraordinary.
"All right, stop crying." Zhou Ming wiped away his tears, stood up, and patted Houtu and Xuanming, who were still sobbing.
Zhurong and Gonggong also stopped wailing and looked at him blankly.
"Big Brother, how did it go? Did Father God... give us anything good?" Zhurong asked in his deep voice, two clear tear marks still hanging on his face, though he had only been dry-heaving his cries.
"More than just something good. Come on, let's go get that fragment of the Jade Tablet of Creation first." Zhou Ming's spirits soared. He waved to the four still-bewildered Ancestral Witches and headed toward the direction indicated by Father God's Will.