Early Preparations

Dijiang shook his head and said earnestly, "Brother Xuanyuan, as an Ancestor Witch, you know the Witch Clan's situation as well as we do. Aside from us and Jiu Feng, the rest of our people have no Nascent Souls and can't comprehend the laws. These things would be useless to them."

"That still won't do!"

Xuanyuan remained adamant.

Comprehension of the laws was tied to a person's very essence. If it were leaked, the consequences would be severe.

Though he trusted that the Golden-Winged Great Peng Bird wouldn't do such a thing, you could never be too careful.

If these things really were leaked, it would be easy for people with ulterior motives to target Dijiang.

As the foremost Ancestor Witch and the true leader of the Witch Clan, any accident involving Dijiang would be a devastating blow to the entire clan.

The risk was too great. Xuanyuan didn't dare take it.

"Let me finish!"

Dijiang cut Xuanyuan off and explained, "We may not seem very bright most of the time, but we understand what's going on. A great crisis is coming for the Witch Clan, and we won't be able to overcome it with just the few of us. Since they're your disciples, we'll naturally trust them."

He looked at the Six-Eared Macaque, the Golden-Winged Great Peng Bird, and the other two. "We don't expect you to risk your lives for the Witch Clan. There'd be no point. We only hope that, if that day really comes, you'll save as many of our people as you can, within your means, so that our vast clan won't be wiped out!"

Dijiang spoke with such sincerity that even Xuanyuan was moved.

As a transmigrator, he naturally knew more than Dijiang about what lay ahead.

If events followed their usual course, the War between the Witches and the Demons would leave both sides gravely weakened.

The two once-mighty races that had ruled the Primordial World would be nearly wiped out.

Only a small number of survivors from both the Witch Clan and the Demon Clan would leave the heart of the Primordial World, hide away, and eke out a meager existence.

He simply hadn't expected Dijiang, who always seemed carefree and guileless, to see all this coming and start planning an escape route for the Witch Clan already.

Since Dijiang had put it that way, Xuanyuan, as an Ancestor Witch of the same clan, wouldn't try to dissuade him.

He firmly believed that with him as the variable, the Witch Clan wouldn't repeat the tragedy of the past in this life.

Still, it was a good idea for Dijiang to make plans early.

"Since your martial uncle has put it that way, Great Peng, accept it."

Xuanyuan instructed the Golden-Winged Great Peng Bird to take the jade slip Dijiang had offered, then turned to the Six-Eared Macaque, Kong Xuan, the Golden-Winged Great Peng Bird, and Sihuxiang. He warned them, "Since you're our disciples, you're half members of the Witch Clan. Remember this from now on: no matter what happens, you must never do anything that betrays the clan. Understood?"

"Understood!"

The Six-Eared Macaque, Kong Xuan, and the others answered in unison. They had never seen their master so stern before.

"All right, relax!"

Zhujiuyin stepped in to smooth things over. Looking at Kong Xuan, he smiled and said, "Your innate divine ability is the Five-Colored Divine Light, said to be able to sweep up anything. It's certainly powerful, but it has a weakness too!"

"Please enlighten me, Martial Uncle!"

Kong Xuan bowed respectfully to Zhujiuyin and asked sincerely for his guidance.

Of the four, he was the proudest. If he hadn't taken so long to transform, and if he hadn't been burdened by the karmic debt of the Phoenix Clan, he wouldn't have needed Xuanyuan's help to enter Zixiao Palace and hear the Dao back then.

At first, he hadn't thought much of the Witch Clan. He had become Xuanyuan's disciple simply out of gratitude.

But after coming to Qianyuan Mountain, he realized that his former outlook had been too narrow and that he'd been far too arrogant.

Xuanyuan's power and resources were such that even the Phoenix Clan, once immensely powerful and the rulers of the entire Feathered Clan, might not have measured up.

And Zhujiuyin, whom Xuanyuan willingly called elder brother, was undoubtedly powerful too.

Zhujiuyin nodded and said, "What you fear most is an opponent with a way to escape. Am I right?"

"You're right, Martial Uncle!"

Kong Xuan was thoroughly convinced. Zhujiuyin had pinpointed the most fatal weakness of his innate divine ability.

He looked at Zhujiuyin, his eyes full of hope.

Since his martial uncle had identified the weakness of his innate divine ability so precisely, he surely had a way to address it.

Sure enough, Zhujiuyin didn't disappoint him.

"This jade slip contains my comprehension of the Great Dao of Time Law. Once you cultivate it to the utmost, you can freeze time. Unless your opponent is far stronger than you, they won't be able to escape. Take it as a gift from your martial uncle."

Zhujiuyin offered him a jade slip as well, containing all his insights into the Great Dao of Time Law.

"Thank you, Martial Uncle!"

Kong Xuan took the jade slip, his hands trembling.

The Great Dao of Time Law was exactly what he needed most.

There was a saying in the Primordial World:

"Time is supreme, space is king; when fate is absent, causality reigns."

The Great Dao of Time Law was said to be the foremost law beneath the Great Dao of Strength Law.

That showed just how powerful it was.

He had coveted the Great Dao of Time Law for a long time, but had never known where to seek guidance.

He hadn't expected Martial Uncle Zhujiuyin to give it to him as a welcoming gift.

The gift was far too precious.

It was even more precious than the Great Dao of Space Law the Golden-Winged Great Peng Bird had received.

Kong Xuan didn't even know how to express his gratitude.

After Zhujiuyin, Houtu passed the Great Dao of Earth Law to Sihuxiang.

The two Ancestor Witches, Qiangliang and Tianwu, passed the Great Dao of Thunder Law and the Great Dao of Wind Law to the Six-Eared Macaque.

They also gave the four of them some Solar Essence Stones they had seized from Dijun and Donghuang Taiyi.

That concluded all the disciples' gifts.

Jiu Feng and Xing Tian watched, green with envy.

Seeing this, Xuanming passed her comprehension of the Great Dao of Ice Law to Jiu Feng.

Xing Tian was the only one left. The Twelve Ancestor Witches truly had no idea what gift to give him.

They were all Xuanyuan's disciples, and he didn't want to favor one over another. He sent his Spiritual Sense into the Chaos Cauldron and searched through it. In the end, he found a cultivation method for the Great Dao of Strength and passed it on to Xing Tian.

The Great Dao of Strength Law was the law Great God Pangu had used to attain enlightenment.

It was known as the foremost Great Dao Law in the Primordial World.

Xing Tian's physical body was powerful, no weaker than an Ancestor Witch's.

He was the most suited to cultivating the Great Dao of Strength Law.

Xuanyuan also realized then that the Maozi was better than before not because the system's sign-in rewards had changed, but because of the Chaos Cauldron.

When he had taken the Six-Eared Macaque, Kong Xuan, and the other two as disciples, completing the mission had upgraded the Qiankun Cauldron into the Chaos Spiritual Treasure known as the Chaos Cauldron.

One of the Chaos Cauldron's functions was to improve the quantity and grade of items placed inside it.

Xuanyuan wasn't sure whether the quantity had increased.

He had simply put far too many things into the Chaos Cauldron.

But the improvement in grade was plain to see.

In just a few hundred years, the quality of the Maozi had improved by at least one grade.

"What a treasure!"

Xuanyuan marveled, glad he'd made the right decision back then.