The Primordial World had no sense of time. Nine hundred years passed in the blink of an eye.
There were only one hundred years left until Hongjun's lecture.
Xuanyuan suddenly opened his eyes and rose from the reclining chair. He stretched his limbs and looked toward Qianyuan Palace, instantly delighted.
The Twelve Ancestor Witches had completely restored their Nascent Souls. They would emerge from seclusion in the next few days.
All these years, Xuanyuan hadn't gone anywhere. He'd spent them fast asleep on the reclining chair outside Qianyuan Palace.
Cultivating? Not a chance.
He wasn't going to cultivate in this lifetime.
He'd finally made it to the Primordial World and gotten a god-tier check-in system. Why would he work himself to the bone like everyone else?
What for?
Besides, with the system, he'd checked in every day, and the cultivation rewards had carried him to the early stage of the Daluo Golden Immortal realm.
Now that the system had changed its check-in rules, he hadn't checked in for nine hundred years.
Yet his cultivation was still shooting upward.
He'd advanced from the early stage to the middle stage of the Daluo Golden Immortal realm.
It might have been just one minor realm, but the difference in strength was enormous—no less than the leap from an ordinary mortal to a Golden Immortal.
His progress was unbelievably fast!
There were several reasons for this.
First, the meal he'd shared with the Twelve Ancestor Witches nine hundred years ago had benefited him enormously.
Second, the Innate Spiritual Qi in Qianyuan Mountain was so dense that Xuanyuan's strength grew rapidly even when he didn't cultivate deliberately.
It was no exaggeration to say that in an environment like this, even a pig that did nothing but eat and sleep all day would improve faster than the greatest prodigies who trained diligently.
Finally, the chair beneath Xuanyuan wasn't an ordinary one.
It was a treasure the system had rewarded him for checking in for two hundred thousand years.
The Supreme Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, the Enlightenment Chair, had been crafted from a complete Supreme Grade Innate Spiritual Root: the Enlightenment Tea Tree.
Anyone reclining on it remained in a state of enlightenment at every moment.
It would've been strange if his cultivation hadn't improved quickly.
Host: Xuanyuan
Race: Witch Clan Ancestor Witch
Cultivation: Middle Stage of the Daluo Golden Immortal Realm
Origin: Innate Demon God
Technique: Nine Revolutions Mysterious Origin Technique (Middle Stage of the Fourth Revolution)
Laws: Sword Law (30|100), Time Law (20|100), Pill Law (20|100), Lightning Law (15|100)
Treasures: Chaos Spiritual Treasure—Chaos Bead; Supreme Grade Innate Supreme Treasure—Kunwu Sword (damaged), Supreme Grade Innate Supreme Treasure—Taiji Diagram, Supreme Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure—Twelve-grade Pure World White Lotus, Supreme Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure—Enlightenment Chair...
A few days later, a series of booms rang out from inside Qianyuan Palace.
Xuanyuan's gaze pierced the tightly shut palace doors. Inside, he saw all Twelve Ancestor Witches manifest their true forms, each transformed into a giant a hundred zhang tall.
Behind each giant stood a towering phantom, reaching the heavens and standing upon the earth, even taller than the true form.
Those phantoms were the Twelve Ancestor Witches' Nascent Souls.
Before, the Ancestor Witches' Nascent Souls hadn't even been one percent as large as their true forms. Now, they were taller than the true forms themselves.
They'd grown more than a hundredfold.
"Hahaha!"
Laughter rang out inside Qianyuan Palace, full of unrestrained joy.
A moment later, the palace doors opened, and Dijiang and the other Ancestor Witches emerged one after another.
"Congratulations, congratulations!"
Xuanyuan stood outside Qianyuan Palace and looked over them all. A smile spread across his face.
Not only had the Twelve Ancestor Witches restored their Nascent Souls, but their strength had advanced as well. Every one of them had reached the Daluo Golden Immortal realm.
After some conversation, he learned that, as expected, all of them had achieved a Nine-Petal Bloom when their Three Flowers gathered at the Crown.
They had boundless potential!
Xuanyuan was already starting to worry for Dijun and Donghuang Taiyi.
How would they cope with the upcoming Lich Calamity against these upgraded Ancestor Witches?
After some brief pleasantries, Zhurong grabbed Xuanyuan and cried eagerly, "Brother Xuanyuan, hurry up and get me a bottle of Maozi to quench my thirst!"
"And Huazi, too. It's been nine hundred years! I've been craving a smoke!" Gonggong added.
"Hahaha..."
After a hearty meal and plenty of wine, they sat smoking Huazi. Xuanyuan smiled and said, "There are only a hundred years left until Hongjun's lecture. We should head back and sort out our tribes. Then we can set off!"
Dijiang waved a hand. "No need to make things complicated. We can just send a message. It'll be quick!"
As Dijiang and the other Ancestor Witches sent messages to the great witches in their tribes and made the necessary arrangements, Xuanyuan shook his head with a wry smile.
He'd almost forgotten. The Twelve Ancestor Witches' Nascent Souls were now even stronger than their physical forms. Sending a message over ten thousand li was child's play for them.
A moment later, the Ancestor Witches all nodded.
Dijiang lit a Huazi, took a deep drag, and exhaled a cloud of smoke. Brimming with confidence, he declared, "All right, let's set off for Zixiao Palace!"
The other Ancestor Witches agreed, each one eager to go.
Hongjun's lecture would be their first battle on the road to fame in the Primordial World.
"Big Brother, wait!"
At this thrilling moment, an ill-timed voice rang out.
The Twelve Ancestor Witches frowned. What a mood-killer.
But when they saw that Xuanyuan had spoken, their frowns melted away.
Dijiang smiled. "Brother Xuanyuan, say whatever's on your mind."
Xuanyuan scratched his head awkwardly. Bringing up something else now really did spoil the mood.
But some things had to be said now.
He'd noticed that after all Twelve Ancestor Witches advanced to the Daluo Golden Immortal realm, they'd gotten a little carried away.
He was genuinely afraid these thickheaded fellows would reach Zixiao Palace and pick a fight with Hongjun over some disagreement.
Besides, this was the only place he could say certain things.
After all, Qianyuan Mountain had the Chaos Great Array, which could conceal them from the heavenly secrets. Not even Hongjun or the Heavenly Dao could see through it.
Once they left Qianyuan Mountain, Hongjun would be able to see through them with a single thought, given their current cultivation.
Xuanyuan took out twelve Heavenly Mystery Beads and handed one to each of them.
"These are Heavenly Mystery Beads, Supreme Grade Innate Spiritual Treasures. They have only one purpose: to shield you from the heavenly secrets. With one on you, not even a Saint will be able to spy on you!"
Dijiang turned the Heavenly Mystery Bead over in his hand and asked, puzzled, "Brother Xuanyuan, why do we need to carry this thing?"
Xuanyuan couldn't tell him that the Lich Calamity would begin after Hongjun's lecture, and that Hongjun and the Heavenly Dao would scheme against the Witch Clan.
He could only explain, "Big Brother, think about it. The Primordial World was created by Pangu Father God, but Hongjun has stolen it. Won't he feel guilty when he sees us, the Pangu Orthodox?"
"Of course he will!"
"Exactly. If we were a little weaker, we wouldn't threaten him, and that'd be one thing. But if we reveal all our strength, anyone with half a brain can see that Hongjun will target us."
"Let him target us! We're not pushovers. At worst, we'll fight to the death!"
Dijiang stiffened his neck and roared, looking ready to take on Hongjun head-on.
"I'm afraid the fish will die, but the net won't break!"
Xuanyuan patiently tried to persuade him. "Hongjun is the only Saint of the Heavenly Dao. He can draw upon its power. So long as the Heavenly Dao exists, Hongjun cannot die. With our strength right now, to put it bluntly, we aren't even worth one of his fingers crushing us."
"Everyone below the Saint realm is an ant—that's not just a saying!"
"Besides, now isn't the time to turn against Hongjun!"
Xuanyuan explained the power of Saints and the relationship between Hongjun and the Heavenly Dao in detail. He also taught the Twelve Ancestor Witches the survival strategies of later generations: keep your head down and don't act recklessly, develop quietly, and never take a risk, even if you're ninety-nine point nine percent certain...
There was just one core principle: on this trip to Zixiao Palace, they could offend anyone they liked. They could fight whoever they wanted.
But they absolutely could not openly provoke Hongjun.
It wasn't that Xuanyuan was a coward. They had no chance of winning against Hongjun right now.
The Twelve Ancestor Witches were all straightforward and stubborn. As the Pangu Orthodox, they commanded the vast Witch Clan, yet in the end, they'd nearly been wiped out. How tragic!
Since he'd transmigrated into the Witch Clan, he naturally didn't want them to suffer the same fate.
Dijiang's expression was displeased, but Xuanyuan eventually persuaded him. He nodded and said, "Fine. We'll do as you say, Brother Xuanyuan!"
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