Primordial Era: The Dao Wasn't Finished, But the Ancestor Witches Had Already Become Saints

... Well, that last one isn't anything special.

Not only the Ancestor Witches, but even Li Hao and Dijiang were feeling quite regretful.

The reason was simple—the Gold Ancestor Witch, Ru Shou, hadn't come.

He had missed out on such a tremendous opportunity.

Dijiang thought to himself.

Li Hao felt the same way. Before this operation, to be honest, he had considered whether to swap in Ru Shou instead.

After all, he already knew there would be Geng Metal Qi in the West.

But it was just a passing thought.

To put it bluntly, he hadn't thought the so-called Geng Metal Qi would be all that impressive.

How could Li Hao have known that not only had the Geng Metal Qi not been absorbed by Zhunti, but its scale was actually quite substantial?

Such an incredibly dense mass of Geng Metal Qi existed.

If this Geng Metal Qi were fully absorbed and then refined back home, Ru Shou's Law of Gold would surely advance further.

It might even reach the point of being perfected—not an impossible outcome.

Even if he didn't refine it, using this vast Geng Metal Qi as a foundation to cultivate the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Origin Technique, it would likely only allow him to smoothly enter the Fifth Revolution.

Having missed such a colossal opportunity, how could Li Hao not be filled with regret?

The Ancestor Witches stared at each other, gathering together in animated discussion.

Qiang Liang looked at the extremely dense golden light swirling above the tree canopy and beat his chest again in anguish.

"Fourth Brother's luck is terrible—he simply has no fortune to enjoy this."

"Yes! Yes! This is a monumental opportunity; Old Fourth just doesn't have the fate for it!"

Zhu Rong chimed in from the side, his face full of dejection.

It wasn't an act—he genuinely felt sorry.

Ru Shou usually got along well with him.

Truth be told... among the twelve... thirteen Ancestor Witches, it was only Gong Gong and Zhu Rong who were at odds on a daily basis.

Aside from that, everyone else got along fairly well with Zhu Rong.

Ru Shou was just a bit closer.

Of course, Houtu was an exception.

The Ancestor Witches gazed at the Bodhi Treasure Tree before them.

A truly worthy treasure tree.

Not only did it hold a vast amount of Geng Metal Qi, but beneath the tree lay numerous Magic Treasures and various heavenly materials and earthly treasures.

Qiang Liang thought for a moment, then looked at the other Ancestor Witches.

"How about we pull this tree out and move it back to the Ancestral Land?"

The Ancestor Witches' eyes lit up—that was a great idea.

They all nodded in agreement.

Li Hao, however, shook his head.

"Not a good idea."

"This Geng Metal Qi is Western Yang Metal."

"It is naturally tied to the West. Setting aside whether this Bodhi Tree could survive the journey back to our Ancestral Land, the moment this Geng Metal Qi leaves the West, it will likely dissipate very quickly."

"Moreover, once we uproot the Bodhi Tree, Zhunti will surely notice."

Dijiang nodded at his words.

But Zhu Rong started shouting.

"So what if he notices? Worst case, we just throw down—who's afraid of that?"

"With so many good things here, we can't just stare at them and not take them, can we?"

Li Hao smiled bitterly and shook his head. "We're certainly not afraid of him, but once we become enemies, it'll be hard to interact with him in the future."

"Besides, who said we can only look and not take? We'll take what we should and what we can—this is Father God's legacy. We just won't pull up the tree."

Zhu Rong's face immediately lit up with joy, and he nodded repeatedly.

"Right! Right! Father God's legacy!"

"That's right! This is Father God's legacy—if we, his children, don't take it, who else deserves to?"

Zhu Rong wore a grave expression, delivering his words with utmost seriousness.

The Ancestor Witches all clapped in agreement, as if everything here was rightfully the Witch Tribe's from the start!

Then, without waiting for Li Hao to say a word, the Ancestor Witches rolled up their sleeves and charged in on their own initiative.

Ready to take what needed taking and move what needed moving.

Qiang Liang even called out to everyone.

"Come on, come on! Don't be shy! Grab whatever catches your eye!"

"Wasn't that what the fat guy said back then?"

Zhu Rong glanced at Qiang Liang and spat.

"Sixth Brother, what nonsense are you spouting? Do we need their permission?"

"This is all Father God's legacy left for our Witch Tribe—you make it sound like it belongs to someone else!"

Qiang Liang froze, then suddenly caught on.

"Right, right, right! Look at my mouth—Third Brother's spot on!"

"These are ownerless things, Father God's legacy!"

The two went back and forth in harmony.

Dijiang, listening nearby, grew more and more irritated and roared, "Shut up! Get to work!"

It wasn't that Dijiang was being unreasonable—think about it.

They were already acting like they were sneaking around.

And yet they kept bringing it up, over and over, as if afraid no one would remember what they were doing.

With Dijiang's shout, the Ancestor Witches reined in their excitement and got down to business.

Taking whatever they liked, grabbing whatever was easiest.

In short, they hauled everything away.

After all, their physical bodies were formidable—there was nothing they couldn't carry.

Even if they had to uproot the tree and drag it off, they'd manage just fine.

While the Ancestor Witches busied themselves, Li Hao rested his chin on his hand, carefully observing the Geng Metal Qi swirling through the tree canopy.

To be honest, with such a delicacy right at his lips, he couldn't bear not taking a bite.

But Ru Shou wasn't here, and no one else could absorb this stuff.

[Detected host discovering Innate Geng Metal Origin.]

Just as he was fretting, the system prompt rang out.

Li Hao's face lit up with joy—since it could name it, there had to be a solution.

He just didn't know how many Points it would cost.

Hopefully not too many.

As if reading his mind, the system replied cooperatively.

[Not much! System will preserve it for a thousand years—only ten thousand Points.]

Hearing this, Li Hao felt a wave of oddness!

Are you sure the Smart Component was removed?

Where in this does it look unintelligent?

Holy crap!

It can even answer questions!

And you're telling me this isn't smart?

But the next line made him drop that thought entirely.

[Ten thousand Points—you can't lose! Ten thousand Points—you can't be cheated! Ten thousand Points—it won't fill me up, but it won't starve you either!]

That line convinced him—this thing really wasn't smart; it was clearly a preset dialogue.

What just happened was pure coincidence.

With his mind clear, Li Hao didn't waste time. He chose to deduct the Points and preserve the Geng Metal Qi.

As the Points were deducted, a gust of wind kicked up.

In no time.

The Geng Metal essence in the canopy vanished without a trace.

At the same time.

Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, at the Purple Cloud Palace.