Among the Twelve Ancestral Witches, Di Jiang embodied the bloodline of Space Law, Qiang Liang that of Thunder Law, and Xi Zi that of Lightning Law. The other nine Ancestral Witches each had their own distinct bloodlines.
Xuanyuan and Tongtian were different from the Twelve Ancestral Witches—
Their bloodlines had been determined from the moment they were born, but Xuanyuan and Tongtian could choose the most suitable Great Dao Law Imprint for themselves from among the Three Thousand Great Daos, then engrave it into their flesh and blood.
Of course, this process was difficult, too. They needed some understanding of the corresponding law to engrave it successfully.
Xuanyuan's understanding of both Lightning Law and Yin Yang was sufficient, but he wasn't particularly keen on choosing either of them as the foundation of his Law bloodline.
"Bzz!"
At that moment, the Chaos Pearl within Xuanyuan's Nascent Soul suddenly trembled like thunder. Countless Chaos Runes were engraved across its surface, where mountains, rivers, the sun, the moon, and torrents of time and space flickered into view.
Ripples spread across the pearl's hazy gray surface. Countless strands of Chaos aura turned into chains and dragged Xuanyuan's consciousness into a vortex of time and space.
In a daze, Xuanyuan saw the scene of Chaos opening:
Great God Pangu, treading upon the Great Dao of Strength and wielding the Sky-Opening Axe, brought it crashing down upon a towering tree standing in the midst of Chaos. Boundless, profound light burst from the Axe Blade!
The entire tree was crystalline and translucent, yet an extraordinary spatial radiance flowed through its hollow trunk and branches.
In an instant, the void shattered into countless crystalline specks, and Chaos currents swept in every direction. Amid the verdant light scattering from the ancient tree, a beam of profound light imbued with Space Law pierced through the River of Time and entered Xuanyuan's brow!
"Could this be... a fragment of Pangu's memory from when he opened Heaven?!"
In the Pangu Marrow Pool, Xuanyuan suddenly opened his eyes. The phantom of a Willow Branch appeared on the Chaos Pearl's surface, resonating with the Yin-Yang Lightning World within it.
Then, an insight into the Great Dao Law flowed through his mind.
Xuanyuan vaguely realized that the Chaos Pearl was helping him choose the Law bloodline best suited to him.
Although he currently had the deepest understanding of Thunder and Yin Yang, in the long run, he possessed the Chaos Pearl, a Chaos Supreme Treasure. One day, he would open up a true world of his own, one no weaker than the Primordial World.
And Space was undoubtedly the foundation of a world, the foundation from which something came into being!
Among the Three Thousand Great Daos, Time was supreme, Space was king; if Destiny did not appear, Cause and Effect reigned.
In the knowledge Xuanyuan had gained from the Chaos Pearl, there was another, more complete formulation:
Space was the weave of ten thousand realms, and Time was the Eternal River;
Cause and Effect were the Chains of Destiny, and Yin Yang was the Origin of Taiji;
The Five Elements were the pillars of Heaven and Earth, while Life and Death were the Hub of Reincarnation;
Thunder was the Incarnation of Heavenly Might, and Creation was the Source of Vitality;
Destruction was the Flame of the End, and Fortune was the Trajectory of Heavenly Numbers.
Whichever way one put it, the importance of Space was beyond doubt.
"But if I do this, I'll inevitably enter a Dao Struggle with Yang Mei."
Xuanyuan sighed inwardly.
Old Ancestor Yang Mei was what remained of the Space Demon God after his fall. Although Luohu had killed him during the Demon Dao Struggle, he hadn't truly died. He had probably escaped into Chaos, and who knew when he might draw upon the foundation of a Great Dao Demon God and become a Primordial Grand Unity Golden Immortal?
Of the Three Thousand Great Daos, only one could ultimately reach the peak in each. That peak was neither the Primordial level nor the Heavenly Dao level, but the Dao level.
Given Old Ancestor Yang Mei's origins and Xuanyuan's ambitions, they were bound to clash in a Dao Struggle over the Space Great Dao.
Even those who pursued the Great Dao of Chaos and the Return of Ten Thousand Daos to One would enter a Dao Struggle with Xuanyuan if they sought to reach the peak of the Great Dao.
With the Chaos Pearl at his side, he could obscure the cause and effect of taking the Great Dao Law Imprint of the Hollow Willow to temper his Law bloodline, but a Dao Struggle was unavoidable.
Still, Xuanyuan had no regrets, and he was not afraid.
Cultivation was a struggle. Those who did not advance would fall behind.
With that, Xuanyuan cleared his mind and focused on engraving the Law Imprint and refining the essence of Pangu Jade Marrow, pushing his physical cultivation talent ever closer to that of the Twelve Ancestral Witches.
Time flowed like water. In the blink of an eye, another three thousand years passed.
While Xuanyuan and Tongtian were in seclusion within the Secret Realm Space, a treasure on Kunlun Mountain was about to emerge.
The Four Symbols Divine Tree had taken root in the Northern Foothills of Buzhou Mountain. Now that it was ready to emerge, the Innate Restrictions surrounding it dispersed, revealing the space around it.
The Four Symbols Divine Tree had formed through the nurturing and evolution of the Four Symbols of Heaven-Opening aura. Its trunk split into four branches, each a different color—azure, white, red, and black. Four-colored law radiance shimmered across the tree, dazzling as the colors revolved around one another.
One branch took the shape of a dragon, its head raised as if roaring at the sky. It was azure.
One branch took the shape of a tiger, like a fierce tiger descending a mountain. It was white.
One branch took the shape of a sparrow, its wings shaking the Nine Heavens. It was red.
One branch took the shape of a tortoise, its four limbs bracing the sky. It was black.
The four great branches—the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise—each corresponded to one of the Four Seasons Cycle. They were natural Treasures for Proving the Dao:
When the Azure Dragon Branch sprouted in spring, the Primordial World's myriad things revived;
When the Vermilion Bird Branch blossomed in summer, Heaven and Earth's Fiery Aura surged;
When the White Tiger Branch shed its leaves in autumn, all trees withered, revealing slaughter;
When the Black Tortoise Branch lay dormant in winter, the four seas froze, revealing suppression!
The Four Symbols Divine Tree was a Top-grade Innate Spiritual Root, but it did not produce fruit. Instead, it nurtured Innate Spiritual Treasures. The first to emerge was the Azure Dragon Whip, which commanded myriad thunderbolts and governed the thunder arts of Heaven and Earth, containing Lightning Law and Lightning Punishment Aura.
It was obtained by Azure Dragon, who happened to be passing through Kunlun Mountain, and he renamed it the Thunder Dragon Whip.
Azure Dragon came from the Dragon Race, which had retreated to the four seas. He was one of the few powerful figures still remaining in the declining Dragon Race. He had also obtained a wisp of innate Azure Dragon Qi during the Fierce Beast Calamity, which was the fundamental reason he had emerged unscathed from the Dragon-Phoenix Calamity.
But every gain and loss had its own destined measure.
Having received the fortune of the Innate Divine Beast Azure Dragon and obtained the Azure Dragon Whip, he was destined to become the Azure Dragon Divine Lord Mengzhang. Yet in the future, he would also sever his ties with the Dragon Race.
Azure Dragon had obtained the Azure Dragon Whip, but he was still unsatisfied. He wanted to seize the other three treasures that had yet to emerge. However, after waiting a long time and receiving a response from the Four Symbols Divine Tree, he had no choice but to leave.
He was fated to obtain only the Azure Dragon Whip. The other three treasures would not emerge for him.
And with his cultivation, he couldn't shake the Four Symbols Divine Tree, rooted in Buzhou Mountain. If he tried to force it, he would even incur punishment from Pangu's Residual Might and Chaos Residual Qi.
After Azure Dragon left, two burly figures came rushing up from below Buzhou Mountain.
One had the body of a beast and a human face, rode two dragons, and burned with Southern Bright Leaving Fire. He could burn the sky and boil the sea, command the Nine Heavens Divine Fire, and wield flames hotter than the sun.
The other had a human face and a serpent's body, and rode two dragons.
They were Zhurong, the Fire Ancestral Witch ranked third among the Twelve Ancestral Witches, and Gonggong, the Water Ancestral Witch.
"Hahaha! Fourth Brother, this really is a stroke of fortune. Fifth Brother and Eighth Brother got lucky last time, and now it's finally our turn."
Zhurong fixed his gaze on the Vermilion Bird Banner that was taking shape, while Gonggong set his sights on the Black Tortoise Seal.
Among the Twelve Ancestral Witches, the two quarreled the most, but in truth, they were also the closest.
"Bzz!"
At the tip of the southern branch, nine petals ablaze with Southern Bright Leaving Fire suddenly came together. A flash of divine light, and they transformed into a crimson banner embroidered with the divine markings of a Vermilion Bird.
The banner rippled without any wind. Within its fiery patterns, the trajectories of the Starry Sky Array appeared. It was none other than the Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, the Vermilion Bird Banner!
At the same time, milky-white Spiritual Liquid seeped from the cracks in the tortoise shell at the base of the northern branch. At last, it fused with the tortoise-shaped branch whose limbs braced the sky, forming a pitch-black seal engraved with rivers, lakes, and seas. Water rippled across its face, revealing the power of the four seas' waterways.
The Vermilion Bird Banner commanded Myriad Fires and controlled the warmth and cold of the world. It contained Fire Law and Leaving Fire Aura.
The Black Tortoise Seal commanded Myriad Waters and controlled the Source of Life. It contained Water Law and Kui Water Aura.
The two treasures flew toward Gonggong and Zhurong, willingly acknowledging them as their masters.
Although Gonggong and Zhurong had powerful bodies with the potential to attain sainthood through their physical forms, and could withstand Innate Spiritual Treasures, they had no nascent souls and couldn't refine the treasures' restrictions or wield the treasures against their enemies.
But the Vermilion Bird Banner and Black Tortoise Seal were exceptions. They willingly acknowledged their masters and bore the True Spirit Imprints of the Ancestral Witches, allowing the two of them to use them.
"There's still one treasure that hasn't emerged, but we can't let this chance go to waste. Why don't we guard this place and wait for Sixth Brother to arrive?"
Gonggong spoke in a deep voice.
Sixth Brother was Tianwu, the Wind Ancestral Witch, whose powers matched the final treasure, the White Tiger Token, which commanded all winds.
Perhaps he was fated to obtain it.
"That makes sense. We can't let outsiders get their hands on such a fine treasure. We—"
"Hm? There are two more fellows over there. Should we go drive them away? Only we Ancestral Witches should get to use these treasures!"
Zhurong was about to nod, but suddenly his attention was drawn to the distant energies of profound clarity and supreme clarity.
"Let's go see who they are. If we can beat them, we'll drive them away. If we can't, we'll get our brothers and sisters to help!"
A dense Fierce Ominous Aura flashed in Gonggong's bell-like eyes.
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