Primordial Era: The Dao Wasn't Finished, Yet the Ancestor Witches Became Saints

Six-Eared Macaque was startled—it hadn't caught that last part clearly.

But... Chaos, Purple Cloud Palace, safe, enter—those four words had indeed exploded loud and clear in its ears.

It felt as if it had gone deaf; its divine ears could hear nothing but a buzzing drone.

Even its head was ringing.

Six-Eared Macaque looked up at this somewhat young man, and understanding dawned: this person must have found it injured.

And in its hazy state, it had probably blurted out its wish to come hear the Dao.

This man took pity on it and brought it here.

On a small scale, this was a favor of fulfillment; on a large scale, this was its Dao-protector.

This was an immense karmic debt—how could it, Six-Eared Macaque, ever repay that?

Six-Eared Macaque racked its mind. Though it was born from the divided essence of the Chaos Demon Ape split four ways, it possessed nothing beyond its birth-attuned Magic Treasure, the Suixin Iron Rod.

Yet the grace of protecting its Dao could not go unrequited.

Six-Eared Macaque gritted its teeth, and at last pulled its birth-attuned Magic Treasure, the Suixin Iron Rod, from its ear.

It reached out and poked Li Hao, then raised the treasure.

"Great kindness, no way to repay... this... this... for... for you..."

Li Hao looked down at the object, no bigger than an embroidery needle, then at Six-Eared Macaque, whose eyes were full of reluctance and inner turmoil.

He couldn't help but want to laugh.

The scene was just like a little kid who, because someone said, "Can you spare me some candy?"

has no choice but to pull out their favorite lollipop and pretend to be generous about sharing.

The expression was full of reluctance, the eyes locked in struggle.

Exactly the same, wasn't it?

As for the Suixin Iron Rod? Li Hao didn't care.

Or rather, he couldn't be bothered.

After all, it wasn't a famous Magic Treasure—not even worth comparing to the Exquisite Pagoda.

Even against the Qingping Sword, it might not measure up.

The main issue was its lack of power.

The Suixin Iron Rod and the Ruyi Golden Cudgel were nearly equals.

Their functions and abilities were about the same.

That alone was enough for Li Hao to dismiss it.

The Ruyi Golden Cudgel was hyped up like something incredible, and it was indeed quite formidable.

But that "formidable" only applied to ordinary demons and common humans.

At the level of immortals and gods, that thing was as good as trash.

Call it the Ruyi Golden Cudgel if you like, but earlier on, it was just a tool Taishang Laojun—that is, Laozi's Good Corpse—casly bestowed to Da Yu to suppress the sea eye.

A casually given refining product.

So its origins weren't high-grade at all.

And its power? Even less worth mentioning.

Looking back over the entire Journey to the West, the only ones actually killed by the Golden Cudgel were the initial Six Thieves—six human bandits.

Everyone else? They fought for rounds upon rounds, took countless blows from the staff, and came out just fine.

That tells you all you need to know about its power.

Li Hao looked at Six-Eared Macaque and said with a smile, "I don't want it. Keep it for yourself."

"Besides, Little Monkey, your weapon's no good. What's a staff going to do?"

"You need a hammer. Get it? A hammer?"

Six-Eared Macaque heard this and nodded as if it understood, then immediately shook its head.

Li Hao sighed. Still a monkey?

Aren't monkeys supposed to be clever? How could it not get this?

So he drew a shape in the air with his hand, then looked at Six-Eared Macaque again.

"Get it? A hammer—use this kind of weapon!"

Six-Eared Macaque nodded decisively, summoned its Magic Treasure, and channeled its magic power.

The Suixin Iron Rod instantly lengthened and thickened, but instead of turning into a staff with thick ends and a narrow middle as before, it transformed into a shape with one end a huge, thick, spiky iron lump, while the other end stayed as it was.

When everything was finished, the Six-Eared Macaque raised his head and asked softly, "Is... is this right?"

Li Hao nodded.

"Yes, that's it! Now that's what I call power!"

Chapter 24: Isn't This the Primordial Era's Good Old Boy Hong Yun and His Bestie Zhen Yuanzi?

Li Hao was thoroughly satisfied with the change in the Six-Eared Macaque's weapon form.

A staff really didn't cut it. Hadn't you seen in Journey to the West how Monkey Sun would go hundreds of rounds with various opponents?

It couldn't be that in all those back-and-forth exchanges, he never landed a single blow with that staff, could it?

If that were the case, why even bother going to Western Heaven or fetching the Western Sutra?

Just find a sandpile, piss in it, and play with mud.

Even a grade-schooler would fight better than that.

Back to the fight—no matter how many times you whacked someone with that staff?

They definitely got hit, but hit as they were, they'd be just fine.

Not even fazed, right?

The staff just didn't work. But a hammer? Now that was a different story.

You'd go up and shout first: "Hey! Demon! Taste Old Sun's hammer!"

Listen! Just listen!

The whole vibe was different, wasn't it?

And if you smashed them a few times with that? No damage?

Don't make me laugh!

Even if their bones weren't broken, they'd be close to it.

Besides, you think those spikes on the hammer were just for show, decoration?

Three thousand years passed in the blink of an eye.

During that time, countless great powers from across the Primordial Era turned into streaks of light.

They crossed the chaos and headed for the Purple Cloud Palace.

Of course, whether famous or nameless, Li Hao didn't recognize a single one.

No help for it—nobody had ever seen what these great powers looked like.

Without something like a photo, who could tell who was who?

You could judge by aura, like when he'd recognized the Three Pure Ones back then.

But... these guys were all arrogant, looking down their noses at everyone. How the hell was he supposed to tell them apart?

Actually, the first to arrive, Li Hao did recognize.

Laozi, Yuanshi, Tongtian—the Three Pure Ones.

Old acquaintances, really. After that parting back then, he wondered if anything had happened to them since.

Li Hao couldn't help thinking about this, considering whether he should ask later.

Besides the Three Pure Ones, all the great powers of the Primordial Era were giving it their all, charging toward the Purple Cloud Palace.

No help for it—a saint was preaching the Dao.

This was a tremendous stroke of fortune. Even catching a sentence or two would surely bring immense benefit.

It would greatly aid their own cultivation.

How could they not be in a hurry?

Though aside from the Three Pure Ones, Li Hao didn't know any of them.

Still, those with distinctive appearances, he could guess roughly.

For instance, that man and woman with human torsos and serpent tails—they had to be Nuwa and Fuxi.

In the Primordial Era, besides Nuwa and Houtu, there were no other women with serpent tails.

As for those two birds glowing with golden light, they were probably those bird-men Di Jun and Tai Yi.

Hey? Was that bigger black bird Kunpeng? Slurp...

Watching the many great powers straining with all their might to get here.

Li Hao curled the corner of his mouth. After these people exhausted themselves to arrive and saw someone already waiting here early, he wondered how they'd feel.

Just then, Dijiang sidled over and asked in a low voice, "Thirteenth Brother, more and more people are showing up. What do we do?"

Li Hao smiled.