Number One Connected Person in the Great Desolation

Dao Xuan stood atop the qilin's back, his Blue Gauze Headband fluttering slightly as Pure Qi flowed through his pale yellow cloud-patterned Daoist robe.

His face was like Mutton Fat Jade, his eyes bright and brows refined, yet he now carried an arrogant air that looked down upon the world.

The Twelve-petal Pure World White Lotus above his head shed divine radiance. The Myriad Treasures Nine Dragon Seal, Four Symbols Banana Fan, and Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Merit Ruler circled his body, their treasure light surging as they gathered power.

His gaze was like lightning as he fearlessly stared straight at the suddenly appearing Ancestral Witch Houtu.

He shouted,

"Ancestral Witch Houtu? Are you here to stop me as well?"

"Your clansmen slaughtered the affiliates of my Mystic Sect without restraint and even besieged me. They deserved to die!"

"Today, even if an Ancestral Witch comes in person, don't dream of stopping me from killing them!"

His words were resolute and incomparably domineering!

Ancestral Witch Houtu stood quietly by the shores of the East Sea.

She wore a long ochre hemp dress, her bare feet exposed, her long hair bound with a withered vine.

Her face was gentle as jade, her gaze deep and tranquil, as though it bore the weight of the entire Great Desolation's land.

After hearing Dao Xuan's exceedingly arrogant words, her expression showed neither joy nor sorrow, but her eyes narrowed slightly.

She said nothing.

She offered no response.

She merely raised her right hand gently.

It was a hand that appeared utterly ordinary, its skin bearing the color of earth.

However.

The instant she raised it!

The entire East Sea—no, the entire land of the Great Desolation—seemed to resonate with it!

Buzz—!

A vast, boundless aura that carried all things yet contained infinite power erupted!

This aura was not baleful energy, yet it was older and more primordial than baleful energy!

It was the pulse of the earth! The manifestation of the Law of Earth!

Houtu merely pressed vaguely in Dao Xuan's direction!

Boom!

Dao Xuan felt the sky above and sea beneath his feet vanish in an instant!

In their place was the boundless, incomparably heavy land of the Great Desolation!

It was as though the weight of the entire Great Desolation was crushing down upon him alone!

"Not good!"

Warning bells rang wildly in Dao Xuan's heart!

He instantly pushed his mana to its limit!

The Twelve-petal Pure World White Lotus above his head blazed with light, billions of rays of world-purifying divine radiance weaving into the strongest possible barrier!

The Myriad Treasures Nine Dragon Seal roared as it transformed into a mountain, attempting to hold up the heavens!

The Four Symbols Banana Fan whipped frantically, throwing Earth Water Fire Wind into chaos as it sought to tear apart this prison of earth!

Mysterious Yellow Qi and Merit Golden Light intertwined around the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Merit Ruler, measuring the heavens and stabilizing the earth!

However.

Before earth laws at the Ancestral Witch level, all this resistance appeared so feeble!

Houtu's press looked casual, yet it contained the ultimate profundity of the Law of Earth—bearing and suppressing!

First move!

The world-purifying divine radiance barrier twisted violently, releasing a groan of unbearable strain!

The Myriad Treasures Nine Dragon Seal let out a mournful cry, its treasure light dimming as it was forcibly crushed back to its original form!

The qilin beneath Dao Xuan wailed miserably, its four hooves sinking deep into the void as it nearly fell to its knees!

Second move!

Houtu turned her palm slightly and pressed down once more!

Boom!

The Four Symbols primordial storm unleashed by the Four Symbols Banana Fan struck Buzhou Mountain and instantly scattered!

The Mysterious Yellow barrier drawn by the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Merit Ruler shattered inch by inch!

Dao Xuan felt an irresistible force penetrate his body!

Pfft!

Sweetness rose in his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of Golden Blood!

The face that resembled Mutton Fat Jade instantly lost all color!

The Pure Qi around him became chaotic, his Daoist robe snapping wildly as though the boundless pressure would grind him apart!

Third move!

Houtu's gaze remained calm as her palm pressed down completely!

This press was like heaven collapsing and earth overturning!

The Twelve-petal Pure World White Lotus swayed violently, its lotus petals trembling as the descending divine radiance was compressed to its limit!

Dao Xuan felt even his primordial spirit about to be suppressed and ground away by this pure power of the earth!

Three moves!

Only three moves!

Dao Xuan, who had just overwhelmed three peak Great Witches with high spirits, was now on the verge of collapse. His treasures cried out, Golden Blood spilled from his lips, and he had no power to fight back!

The might of an Ancestral Witch was terrifying indeed!

At last, a trace of coldness appeared on Houtu's jade-like face.

She looked at Dao Xuan, whose aura was weak and whose treasures had dimmed, and killing intent flashed through her eyes.

This child possessed extraordinary talent, many treasures, and the backing of the Mystic Sect. Having forged a mortal enmity today, if she allowed him to grow, he would surely become a great calamity for the Witch Clan!

She had to pull up the weeds by their roots!

Houtu no longer hesitated. Her palm, containing the power of the Great Desolation's earth, slowly rose, ready to deliver a fatal strike upon Dao Xuan!

Before the palm wind even arrived, that utterly pure Suppression Power made Dao Xuan's primordial spirit ache, as though it would collapse in the next instant!

At the brink of life and death!

Dao Xuan suddenly raised his head. Rather than fear, his eyes flashed with a nearly shameless madness!

He opened his throat and used every ounce of his strength to unleash a heaven-shaking roar at Houtu and the world itself:

"Houtu! You dare kill me?!"

"I am the Mystic Sect's foremost disciple of the third generation! Dao Ancestor Hongjun's most, most, most beloved disciple-grandson! Taiqing Dao De Tianzun's most, most, most valued Founding Disciple!"

"You dare touch even a hair on my head? Believe it or not, with a single thought, my grandmaster can level Buzhou Mountain, the nest of your Witch Clan?!

And have my master, Taiqing Daoist Venerable, stuff all Twelve Ancestral Witches into the Eight Trigrams Furnace and refine you into ash?!"

His voice was thunderous, carrying the ultimate arrogance of someone who feared no one because his backing was strong!

It echoed across the East Sea, even causing the waves to freeze for a moment!

Houtu, who was about to strike, suddenly furrowed her gentle jade-like brows!

Her raised killing palm also paused slightly.

The Mystic Sect's foremost disciple of the third generation!

Dao Ancestor Hongjun's favorite disciple-grandson!

Taiqing Dao De Tianzun's most valued disciple!

Each of those titles weighed more than ten thousand jun!

Especially the words "Dao Ancestor Hongjun's favorite disciple-grandson," which stirred stormy waves in Houtu's heart!

Dao Ancestor Hongjun!

A Saint Merging with the Dao!

He was an existence truly standing above all living beings of the Great Desolation!

During the first Witch-Demon War, the Dao Ancestor had intervened, dispersing Pangu's Phantom condensed by Pangu Hall in three moves and forcibly halting the battle!

That invincible figure, that majestic heavenly might, still hung over the hearts of every Ancestral Witch like a nightmare!

If this child truly was the Dao Ancestor's most beloved disciple-grandson... and she killed him...

The consequences would be unimaginable!

The killing intent in Houtu's heart receded like a tide, replaced by deep wariness and hesitation.

Just as Houtu's resolve wavered and her killing intent weakened slightly.

Dao Xuan's eyes shifted, immediately catching that sliver of hope!

He suddenly took a deep breath, then... opened his throat and let out a heart-rending cry for help toward the sky and beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens in an utterly exaggerated, utterly aggrieved, utterly loud tone:

"Grandmaster—! Look at this—!"

"The Witch Clan has no martial virtue—! Bullying the young with the old—!"

"Ancestral Witch Houtu, one of the mighty Twelve Ancestral Witches, has actually stepped in personally to bully your most, most, most beloved little disciple-grandson—!"

"She has no shame—! Relying on her age and higher cultivation to bully a junior like me, who has only cultivated for a few tens of thousands of years—!"

"Grandmaster, save me—! If you don't come soon, your most, most, most beloved little disciple-grandson will be slapped into a meat patty by this old woman... cough, cough... by this esteemed Ancestral Witch—!"

His voice was shrill and incomparably aggrieved, even carrying a sob.

It was as though he had suffered the greatest injustice in the world.

Especially the phrases "relying on her age and higher cultivation," "no shame," and "bullying a junior," which were like invisible slaps fiercely striking Houtu's face.

Houtu's gentle jade-like face instantly turned as dark as the bottom of a pot!

The veins at her temples faintly throbbed!

She had lived through countless epochs. As one of the Twelve Ancestral Witches, she held authority over the earth. How exalted was her status?

When had she ever been humiliated and belittled in public like this?!

And in such a vulgar, shameless manner at that!

That trace of hesitation was instantly burned clean away by fury!

This child! He deserved death! He had to die!

To hell with his background! Even if she had to endure a Saint's wrath today, she would first kill this ox-nosed bastard who spewed filth from his mouth!

Killing intent surged in Houtu's eyes, more than ten times stronger than before!

Her raised killing palm no longer held the slightest hesitation. Carrying the fury and weight of the entire Great Desolation's earth, it tore through space and descended viciously toward Dao Xuan's head with the will to destroy everything!

Where the palm wind passed, space collapsed inch by inch, revealing black nothingness!

This palm contained Houtu's full strength after being utterly enraged!

Not to mention a Grand Unity Golden Immortal—even an early-stage Quasi-Saint would struggle to escape death!

Dao Xuan watched the enormous palm that blotted out the sky and destroyed all things, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints!

Had he gone too far?!

At that critical instant, just as Dao Xuan was about to be smashed into dust!

Buzz—!

An indescribable, irresistible, terrifying pressure, seemingly originating from the very source of the Heavenly Dao, suddenly descended!

It was utterly silent!

Yet it instantly enveloped the entire East Sea!

Time seemed to freeze!

Space seemed to solidify!

Houtu's world-destroying giant palm, less than three chi from Dao Xuan's head, was forcibly halted in midair!

It could not descend even the slightest bit further!

Houtu's entire body shook violently!

She felt as though an invisible hand had gripped her throat, as though the Heavenly Dao of the entire Great Desolation was pressing upon her spine!

An icy fear from the depths of her soul instantly drowned all her fury and killing intent!

This pressure... was vast! Supreme! Cold! Merciless!

It carried an undeniable, unbreakable will!

It was the Dao Ancestor!

It was absolutely Dao Ancestor Hongjun!

He was watching! He was warning her!

If she truly allowed this palm to fall, what awaited the Witch Clan would likely be genuine annihilation—a threat countless times more terrifying than the Demon Clan!

Houtu's heart turned cold. All her killing intent receded like a tide, leaving only endless fear and bitterness.

She understood.

Dao Xuan's outrageously arrogant and shameless words had not been empty threats.

He truly was Dao Ancestor Hongjun's "beloved" disciple-grandson!

This "affection" had even made the Dao Ancestor willing to lower Heavenly Dao Pressure and intervene personally!

This ox-nosed Daoist... could not be killed!

With great difficulty and extreme unwillingness, Houtu withdrew the killing palm that held all her power and had been only three chi from Dao Xuan's head.

The terrifying pressure enveloping her quietly dissipated as well.

It was as though it had never appeared.

But Houtu knew that warning had been real.

She stood where she was, barefoot upon the sea waves, her ochre hemp dress fluttering gently.

Her gentle jade-like face was now filled with complicated emotions.

There was resentment, fury, helplessness, and above all, an indescribable... frustration.

As one of the Twelve Ancestral Witches, holding authority over the earth, she had been pointed at and cursed as "shameless" and "bullying the young with the old" by a mere junior today, only to be forced to stop by the other party's powerful backing...

This pent-up anger clogged her chest, making her nearly cough up blood!

In the Great Desolation, Houtu, the ancestral witch known for her compassion, serenity, and few words, looked at Dao Xuan's face, still carrying a trace of "lingering fright" yet unable to conceal its "smugness." A nameless blaze of fury shot straight to her crown of the head!

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.

But when she saw Dao Xuan's punchable expression that seemed to say, "Hit me again if you dare," she finally could not endure it any longer!

Houtu raised a jade finger and pointed at Dao Xuan. Her gentle voice carried a rare tremble and suppressed anger:

"You... you shameless Taoist scoundrel! You little rogue!"

"Relying on a Saint's favor, you dare act so... so ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth! You speak without restraint! You infuriate me!"

"Consider yourself lucky today! Another day... hmph!"

Houtu's chest rose and fell with anger. She seemed to want to curse him a few more times, but she was ultimately at a loss for words and mindful of the Dao Ancestor's majesty, so she could only let out a heavy "Hmph!"

Where was even a trace of an ancestral witch's dignity in that appearance?

She looked more like a young wife who had been angered senseless by a scoundrel yet could do nothing about it!

With a fierce sweep of her sleeve, she gathered up Chi You and Kuafu, who lay heavily injured and unconscious below.

Then she shot another vicious glare at Hou Yi, who was equally shaken and staring dumbfoundedly.

"Go!"

Her voice was thick with pent-up frustration and unwillingness.

A flash of earthy yellow divine light wrapped around the three great witches and vanished from the shore of the East Sea in an instant.

All that remained were the rolling waves and... a battlefield steeped in deathly silence.

Ao Guang and the surviving dragons and aquatic clans had long been dumbstruck.

From Houtu's arrival, to Dao Xuan being beaten until he coughed blood after three moves, to Dao Xuan shamelessly crying for help, and finally to Houtu being angered into cursing before leaving in frustration...

The twists and turns, the ending...

It was... far too thrilling!

Seeing that Houtu had truly left, Dao Xuan finally let out a long breath and wiped at the nonexistent cold sweat on his forehead.

Patting his chest, he muttered with lingering fear:

"Whew... that was close, that was close. When an ancestral witch lost her temper, she really was terrifying... I nearly overplayed my hand..."

Then he straightened his back, cleared his throat, and loudly added in the direction Houtu had vanished:

"Take care, Ancestral Witch Houtu! If you visit the East Sea again next time, remember to let me know in advance. I'll have the Dragon Palace prepare tea and snacks for you. I definitely won't call you 'shameless' again!"

His voice carried far into the distance.

Already fleeing tens of millions of miles away, Houtu suddenly stumbled and nearly fell out of her escape light!

Her face, gentle as polished jade, instantly flushed red!

"Scoundrel! Rogue!!"

A roar of fury, suppressed to the utmost limit, faintly echoed through the depths of the Great Desolation.

At the shore of the East Sea.

Ao Guang finally came back to his senses.

He scrambled and crawled before Dao Xuan's qilin, kowtowing deeply. His voice trembled with excitement, filled with unprecedented fanaticism and flattery:

"Immortal! Your divine might is unmatched! Even an ancestral witch... even she... showed you due deference!

"The might of the Mystic Sect surpasses all in the Great Desolation! This little dragon's... this little dragon's admiration for the Mystic Sect, for you, Immortal, is like the waters of the East Sea—endless and unceasing..."

Dao Xuan looked at Ao Guang's fawning expression, as though the Dragon King wanted to dig out his own heart and offer it up, and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

He waved a hand, cutting off Ao Guang's endless stream of praise.

Yet his gaze turned toward the depths of the East Sea Dragon Palace, toward the place where the sea eye was suppressed.

After Houtu left, the stirring of the Chaos Bead deep within his primordial spirit became even clearer.

"Dragon King."

"This little dragon is here!"

"Take me to see the sea eye."

"Yes! Yes! This way, Immortal! This little dragon will personally guide you!"

Ao Guang hurriedly agreed, his posture humble to the dust.

In today's battle, Dao Xuan had overwhelmed three great witches, endured the ancestral witch head-on, and ultimately forced her to retreat in humiliation...

Such might, such backing...

For the East Sea Dragon Palace—no, for the dragon clans of the Four Seas—to cling to such a powerful thigh was practically like their ancestral graves emitting chaotic azure smoke!

Riding the Five Spirit Qilin, Dao Xuan once again parted the jade-blue waves and entered the deep-sea Dragon Palace, surrounded by the reverent and fanatical gazes of Ao Guang and the aquatic clans.

His destination—the depths of the sea eye, where an opportunity possibly connected to the Chaos Bead awaited!

And the earth-shattering news that "Dao Xuan, the foremost disciple of the Mystic Sect's third generation, had battled three great witches at the shore of the East Sea, survived three attacks from Ancestral Witch Houtu, and then forced her to curse and retreat through shameless tactics"...

Spread through the Entire Great Desolation like a winged storm, sweeping across it at an unbelievable speed!

The divine senses of countless great powers intertwined as discussion erupted everywhere.

"Hiss... That Dao Xuan of the Mystic Sect is actually this formidable?"

"Formidable? Have you not heard? He angered Ancestral Witch Houtu into cursing! In the end, she did not even dare attack him!"

"Dao Ancestor Hongjun's most beloved grand-disciple... Taiqing Saint's most valued disciple... That backing is tough enough to smash apart Buzhou Mountain!"

"Number One Connected Person in the Great Desolation—he truly deserved the title!"

"Best not provoke him, best not provoke him..."

For a time, Dao Xuan's name resounded throughout the Great Desolation.

His title as the Number One Connected Person in the Great Desolation became known to all.

He became the object of envy, jealousy, and hatred among countless low-level cultivators, as well as an absolute taboo in the hearts of great powers—someone not to be provoked lightly!