Three thousand years passed in the blink of an eye, and the process of refining the blood essence was nearing its end.
Since the blood essence had not been fully refined, and his original mid-stage Grand Unity Golden Immortal cultivation was masking his strength, even the Twelve Ancestral Witches nearby could not tell how powerful his physical body had become.
However, the faint pressure radiating from his body made some of the Ancestor Witches feel uneasy.
Gou Mang, the Wood Ancestral Witch, was only at the peak of the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm. He could tell that the pressure radiating from Randeng was already almost equal to his own.
"Could Randeng really have reached the peak of the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm in physical strength just by absorbing that mass of blood essence?"
Gou Mang wondered to himself. He had constantly excavated the power of his bloodline, and only just managed to reach the peak of the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm in physical strength. Could Randeng reach the same level just by absorbing the blood essence of the Twelve Ancestral Witches?
Granted, Randeng's original cultivation must have helped, but this was still ridiculous. It made the efforts Gou Mang had put in over several eras seem like a joke.
At the center of the Twelve Ancestral Witches, Randeng silently sensed the strength of his body. He wasn't surprised that it had reached the peak of the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm.
He had originally been a Supreme Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, giving him a natural advantage in physical strength. After absorbing the mass of blood formed from the Twelve Ancestral Witches' blood essence, his body had smoothly reached the peak of the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm.
He opened his eyes, a glint flashing in them. Slowly clenching his left hand, he caused cracks to appear in the space around his palm without using his Grand Unity Golden Immortal cultivation.
Randeng was very satisfied. Since he had now obtained the Witch Clan's Eight-Nine Arcane Arts, he naturally intended to make himself a well-rounded fighter with no weaknesses.
His magic power, Dao, and physical body—all of them had to reach the highest level.
"Fellow Daoist Randeng, you've finally finished refining it. How do you feel?"
Houtu asked, "Does anything feel wrong?"
Randeng shook his head. "After your blood essence was refined by the Pangu Blood Pool, I didn't detect any remnants of its laws or bloodline power when I refined it. It contained only the bloodline power of Great God Pangu."
"Then, fellow Daoist, do you think we could use this method to nurture new members of the Witch Clan?"
Dijiang eagerly asked Randeng. The main reason he had given Randeng that mass of blood essence was to test whether the Ancestor Witches' blood essence could improve the physical strength of ordinary members of the Witch Clan.
"Your blood essence could certainly be used to create an ordinary Witch Clan body. But have you forgotten that the most crucial thing in creating a living being is that spark of innate spiritual light?"
Randeng poured cold water on the Witches without mercy. He didn't know how the Ancestor Witches of later generations had used the blood pool to create members of the Witch Clan, but he made it clear that their blood essence could only nurture bodies, not complete living beings.
The Twelve Ancestral Witches were taken aback. They had only considered using the blood pool to create members of the Witch Clan, and wanted to test whether their blood essence could improve the process. But they had overlooked the most crucial point: the innate spiritual light essential to any living being.
The most fundamental basis for a being's existence in the Primordial World was that spark of innate spiritual light, which could be understood as the most essential substance that formed a soul or consciousness.
Even the Witches had no Primordial Spirits, yet each of them still possessed innate spiritual light.
The fundamental difference between ordinary beings in the Primordial World and Grand Unity Golden Immortals was that the latter had cultivated their innate spiritual light into Indestructible Spiritual Light, leaving their imprint in the river of time. Even if they died and their Dao dissipated, they could still return to the Primordial World through that imprint of Indestructible Spiritual Light.
The Twelve Ancestral Witches then followed the same method. They put their blood essence into the blood pool and condensed it into a mass of blood essence without any attributes, then used the pool's divine ability to turn it into a blood cocoon.
Moments later, the cocoon split open, revealing the figure of a member of the Witch Clan. But its eyes remained tightly shut. It had a strong body, yet its Spiritual Platform was utterly dark.
Zhurong, the most hot-tempered among the clan, slammed his fist into the floor of Pangu Hall.
"Damn it! All we can create this way are empty shells without consciousness."
Houtu stared intently at Randeng. For some reason, she felt that he would have a solution.
"Fellow Daoist Randeng, what do you think of us Ancestor Witches using the blood pool to create members of the Witch Clan?"
Randeng looked around at the other Ancestor Witches and thought for a moment. Zhurong had been rude to him at first, but the Witch Clan had given him the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts, raising his physical strength to the peak of the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm. He was deeply grateful to them.
"They're simply missing innate spiritual light. As long as you can find some, then use your Pangu Blood Pool to awaken it, you'll be able to create new Witches!"
Randeng chuckled as he made his suggestion. He knew exactly where they could find innate spiritual light.
Dijiang cupped his hands slightly, his attitude respectful.
"Fellow Daoist Randeng, do you have any suggestions for finding innate spiritual light?"
"At the summit of Buzhou Mountain, there is a spark of Innate Undying Spiritual Light. If you take it and place it in your blood pool, the pool should be able to nurture it and continuously use it to awaken the spiritual light in the bodies of newly created Witches."
He recalled how things had unfolded in later generations. The Witch Clan should find the Innate Undying Spiritual Light at the summit of Buzhou Mountain, use it to complete Houtu's Primordial Spirit, and then use it to create members of the Witch Clan continuously and expand their territory.
This Innate Undying Spiritual Light was also crucial to the Witch-Demon War.
However, Randeng didn't tell the Witch Clan that in addition to the Innate Undying Spiritual Light, there was another treasure atop Buzhou Mountain: Pangu Marrow, one of the greatest treasures in the Primordial World.
Since there was only one spark of Innate Undying Spiritual Light, the Witch Clan would have to choose between completing Houtu's Primordial Spirit and expanding their numbers.
Houtu was a special case. Since she had been born last and had absorbed the least, she was the most likely to develop a Primordial Spirit.
"What? There's a spark of Innate Undying Spiritual Light at the summit of Buzhou Mountain? How do you know about this, fellow Daoist Randeng?"
Dijiang was overcome with excitement. He had spent several eras agonizing over the fact that the Witch Clan had no Primordial Spirits. To reach the Hunyuan Grand Unity realm, the most important thing was to prove the Dao; and to comprehend the embryonic form of the Great Dao, a Primordial Spirit was essential.
"You should all know that I have some mysterious connection to Great God Pangu. This knowledge comes from my inherited memories. But you'll need to reach at least the Primordial Golden Immortal realm to climb to the summit of Buzhou Mountain."
Randeng used his inherited memories as a cover for how he knew about the Indestructible Spiritual Light.
"That's all right, fellow Daoist. We're already grateful that you shared this information with us. As for reaching the summit, we can go there once we've reached the Primordial Golden Immortal realm. Besides, for now, there are no other clans in the Primordial World that can threaten the Witch Clan."
Dijiang wasn't in a hurry. Deep down, he didn't consider the Demon Clan a threat, so they had no need to rush to claim the Innate Undying Spiritual Light.