The Witch Clan's Rise

"Ding! The host has seriously considered the Witch Clan's current situation and is determined to nurture the Witch Clan into the Primordial World's foremost race. A long-term mission has been issued: The Witch Clan's Rise."

"The Witch Clan's Rise—First-Stage Mission: Before the War Between the Wu and the Demons officially begins, the system will reward the host with one Innate Spiritual Treasure and a thousand years of cultivation for every member of the Witch Clan the host nurtures to the Daluo Golden Immortal Realm. There is no limit to this mission. It ends when the War Between the Wu and the Demons officially begins!"

Just as Xuanyuan was seriously considering how to improve the Witch Clan's overall strength, the system's cold, mechanical synthesized voice suddenly rang out in his mind.

The system had actually issued a mission at this moment.

The Witch Clan's Rise!

For every member of the Witch Clan he nurtured to the Daluo Golden Immortal Realm, the system would reward him with an Innate Spiritual Treasure and a thousand years of cultivation.

The rewards were generous!

The Innate Spiritual Treasures in particular came at the perfect time.

After all, once Hongjun gave his second lecture, the Three Corpses Severance method would become the mainstream cultivation method in the Primordial World.

And to sever a corpse, one needed an Innate Spiritual Treasure.

It was easy to imagine that by then, Innate Spiritual Treasures would be incredibly hard to find, and their value would soar.

As long as he nurtured more members of the Witch Clan to the Daluo Golden Immortal Realm, he could obtain a steady stream of Innate Spiritual Treasures.

He could keep them for his clansmen and disciples, or trade them with other powerful beings. Either way, they would come in handy.

Xuanyuan was quite pleased with the system's rewards.

Free stuff was the best!

"System, I've nurtured thirteen Daluo Golden Immortal Realm powerhouses for the Witch Clan in total: the Twelve Ancestor Witches and the great witch Jiu Feng. Shouldn't I be getting my rewards?"

"Sorry, host. They don't count!"

For the first time, the usually silent system offered Xuanyuan an explanation.

Xuanyuan furrowed his brow and said unhappily, "Why don't they count? Just tell me: weren't they nurtured by us, and didn't they all break through to the Daluo Golden Immortal Realm?"

"Only Daluo Golden Immortal Realm powerhouses nurtured after the mission was issued count!"

Xuanyuan flew into a rage. "Then all the resources we spent nurturing them before were wasted? Damn system, give me back the fruits of our labor!"

He was just being unreasonable, twisting the facts.

He was doing this to test the system's intelligence and limits.

After all, it had been over a million years since he transmigrated to the Primordial World and bound himself to the system.

Until now, the system in his mind had only ever checked him in, issued missions, and given out rewards. It had never spoken or communicated with him.

Xuanyuan had always thought the system was just a program, incapable of communication.

Now that he finally had the chance, he naturally wanted to milk it for all it was worth.

The system fell silent for a long time, as if it had crashed. Just as Xuanyuan was starting to feel uneasy, the notification finally sounded again. "The host's request is unreasonable. One warning. However, since the host did indeed expend resources to nurture members of the clan, the system will return ten thousand years of cultivation to the host and grant one basic draw!"

After hearing the system's notification, Xuanyuan grinned and laughed silently.

Clearly, he had won this clash with the system.

A complete victory!

As for the system's warning, it was no big deal. It hadn't even named a specific punishment, so Xuanyuan obviously wasn't going to take it to heart.

Ten thousand years of cultivation wasn't a lot, but it wasn't insignificant either. Judging by the ten thousand years of cultivation he had been rewarded when Six-Eared Macaque, Kong Xuan, and the others broke through to the Daluo Golden Immortal Realm, it was enough to help him make considerable progress before the early Quasi-Saint stage.

In any case, Xuanyuan was an Ancestor Witch of the Witch Clan, formed from Pangu's blood essence. His talent and origins ranked among the finest in the Primordial World.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him the chosen one of the Primordial World, the protagonist of his era.

For an ordinary cultivator, ten thousand years of cultivation might be enough to break through from the Taiyi Golden Immortal Realm to the Daluo Golden Immortal Realm, which would already be a sign of decent talent.

But for Xuanyuan, it would absolutely be enough to take him from the Taiyi Golden Immortal Realm all the way to the Daluo Golden Immortal Realm's peak, with some left over.

After all, advancing from the late Daluo Golden Immortal Realm to its peak only cost five thousand years of cultivation.

What interested Xuanyuan wasn't the ten thousand years of cultivation the system had returned, but the basic draw.

"System, how are the draw tiers divided?"

"The system's draws are currently divided into five tiers: basic, intermediate, advanced, top-tier, and supreme. The host can obtain draw chances by completing system missions or receiving specific system rewards. A basic draw corresponds to the Daluo Golden Immortal Realm, an intermediate draw to the Quasi-Saint Realm, an advanced draw to the Saint Realm, a top-tier draw to the Heavenly Dao Realm, and a supreme draw to the Great Dao Realm!"

"The host has obtained one basic draw chance. Would the host like to draw?"

"A basic draw only corresponds to the Daluo Golden Immortal Realm?"

Xuanyuan shook his head, immediately losing interest. "Go ahead and draw!"

"Ding! The host has used a basic draw. Congratulations! The host has obtained one bottle of Three Lights Divine Water!"

"Three Lights Divine Water?"

Xuanyuan pursed his lips. "Basic draws really are trash!"

Three Lights Divine Water was the Primordial World's greatest healing medicine. It could bring the dead back to life and restore flesh to bare bones. As long as a cultivator below the Saint Realm still had a breath left, a single drop of Three Lights Divine Water could heal them.

It was an extremely rare treasure throughout the entire Primordial World.

The appearance of even a single drop of Three Lights Divine Water could spark a great battle.

Unfortunately, Xuanyuan had far too many good things. He could easily produce more than a mere bottle of Three Lights Divine Water—even a hundred bottles would be no problem.

There was no helping it. He had been checking in for a full million years since transmigrating to the Primordial World, and the rare resources inside the Chaos Cauldron had long since piled up like mountains.

"Forget it. It's better than nothing!"

Honestly, Xuanyuan didn't care much about the system's rewards.

What mattered was that this clash had given him a clearer, more accurate understanding of the system.

That way, the next time something similar happened, he could get even more out of it.

Now that he had claimed his free rewards, Xuanyuan began making plans to improve the great witches' strength.

"Have Chi You oversee the tribes. Kuafu, Hou Yi, Xiang Liu, and the others should come to me!"

After thinking it over for a long time, Xuanyuan finally sent a telepathic message to Fei Lian. He named thirty great witches and told them to come to Qianyuan Mountain at once.

He was going to start improving the great witches' strength.

At that moment, in the Witch Clan's tribal lands,

the battle had ended. Chi You, Kuafu, Hou Yi, and a group of other great witches surrounded Fei Lian, listening to him describe what he had seen and heard at Qianyuan Mountain.

The Innate Spiritual Qi there was so dense it was almost liquid, and Innate Spiritual Roots and spirit fruits could be found everywhere.

The great witches had long yearned for Qianyuan Mountain and couldn't wait to go there and cultivate.

"Fei Lian, you lucky bastard. You got to know Ancestor Witch Xuanyuan this time. I don't ask for much, brother—just put in a good word for me with Ancestor Witch Xuanyuan. Tell him I want to go cultivate at Qianyuan Mountain!"

Chi You slapped Fei Lian on the shoulder, making it thump, and acted as if they were close.

"Brother Fei Lian, don't listen to Chi You's nonsense!"

Kuafu shoved Chi You aside and sidled up to Fei Lian with a flattering smile. "I've always treated you well. You can't forget about me when something this good comes along."

Chi You and Kuafu had started it, and the other great witches couldn't sit still any longer. They all chimed in, currying favor with Fei Lian and asking him to speak to Ancestor Witch Xuanyuan about letting them cultivate at Qianyuan Mountain.

This crisis had made them realize how inadequate their strength was. They were desperate to improve it.

But they had no good way to do so.

Xuanyuan's appearance had opened their eyes.

None of them had known that Ancestor Witch Xuanyuan was so powerful.

After all, Ancestor Witch Xuanyuan was so mysterious that he rarely appeared in the tribal lands.

Besides Dijiang and the other Ancestor Witches, as well as Jiu Feng and Xing Tian, no other member of the tribe had any connection to him.

Fei Lian was the only one who had ever been to Qianyuan Mountain.

Chi You, Kuafu, and the others knew that Fei Lian didn't really have any connection to Ancestor Witch Xuanyuan.

But he was the only one among them who had been to Qianyuan Mountain and spoken with Ancestor Witch Xuanyuan.

That had to count for something, right?

They had nothing to lose by trying!