Houtu knew that if they were only comparing physical combat strength, she was indeed bullying Qing Xuan a little. Without hesitation, she said to Qing Xuan,
"Don't worry. I, Ancestral Witch Houtu, absolutely won't take advantage of you. You may use your Spiritual Treasure to fight me."
But what Houtu had not expected was for Qing Xuan to shake his head at her. "If I use a Spiritual Treasure, even if I win, I'm afraid Ancestral Witch Houtu may not be convinced."
"And if I don't use one, I have no chance of winning at all. So, for the sake of fairness, we can change the rules of this Bet Battle."
Houtu looked at Qing Xuan in confusion. "How do you plan to change them?"
Qing Xuan took out the Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler and stood it directly in front of himself. With a thought, the Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler grew to over three zhang tall.
"Fellow Daoist Houtu is the Earth Ancestral Witch among the Twelve Ancestral Witches, and was born with mastery over the Great Dao Earth Law. Today, I'll stand this ruler here. If Fellow Daoist Houtu can make it leave the earth, then I'll count it as my loss."
At that moment, Houtu looked at Qing Xuan as if she were looking at an idiot. Is this really a Bet Battle with me? You're clearly just looking for a beating.
"Fellow Daoist, you're really not joking? Let's not even discuss how heavy your ruler is or whether I can lift it."
"Just my control over the Earth Law is enough for me to withdraw the earth beneath the ruler in an instant and make it float in midair."
Qing Xuan shook his head with a smile. "I don't quite believe that Ancestral Witch Houtu has such ability."
A trace of displeasure appeared on Houtu's face. "Since you're looking for suffering, you can't blame me."
Houtu's hands then blossomed with earthy-yellow light, and she lightly slapped the earth beneath her feet.
With Houtu's cultivation, she could turn a mountain peak into flat ground in an instant. Likewise, she could turn flat ground into a mountain peak.
Even though this was Buzhou Mountain, making the earth split open into a ravine was merely a matter of a thought for Houtu.
Houtu then spread her hands apart, manipulating the Earth Law to move away the mountain beneath the Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler.
A crack immediately spread toward the Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler. In the blink of an eye, it had already reached the area beneath the ruler.
Just then, a dazzling light suddenly shone from the Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler. It forcibly stopped the ravine about one zhang in front of the ruler.
No matter how Houtu unleashed her Law Power, she could not make the ravine advance even half a step farther. Shock appeared on her face.
But this did not make Houtu give up. She formed a strange hand seal with both hands. The ravine actually split in two and began closing in around the Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler from both sides.
Moments later, beneath the Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler, only an isolated island with a radius of about one zhang remained. A ravine a hundred zhang deep had appeared all around it.
Houtu's idea was simple. Since she could not force her way through directly, she would peel it away bit by bit from the bottom, then use the Earth Law to lift it up.
But the result greatly shocked Houtu. The isolated island beneath the Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler seemed to have taken root. Even with her mastery of the Great Dao Earth Law, Houtu could not erode it in the slightest.
At this point, Houtu was enraged. She brought her hands together, and the ravine on the ground instantly closed. She then transformed into her Ancestral Witch True Body.
At that moment, Houtu had a human body and a snake tail, seven hands on her back, and two hands before her chest. Her hands gripped the Teng Snake. She stood a hundred zhang tall.
Before Houtu, the Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler was like a toothpick. It could not even be considered a toothpick.
Houtu transferred the Teng Snake to one hand, then reached directly toward the Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler, intending to pull it from the earth.
Just as Houtu's hand was about to touch the Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler, that dazzling light shone again.
The next moment, Houtu abruptly withdrew her hand, as if the Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler had stabbed her.
Although the Ancestral Witch True Body was incomparably powerful, she still felt a tearing pain. Moreover, that pain did not merely affect her physical body.
It even gave Houtu the feeling that she had done something wrong and was being punished. She did not feel the slightest resistance toward that pain.
More precisely, she knew it hurt terribly, but she simply did not want to dodge. She might as well have been too afraid to dodge at all.
That was right. Qing Xuan had activated the trace of Pangu Will within the Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler. That was why Houtu felt as if she had made a mistake and was being punished.
In the end, Houtu could no longer maintain her Ancestral Witch True Body. Even so, she still failed to break free from the Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler and remained bound to it.
The next moment, the Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler curved like a ribbon, drawing a strange arc before striking Houtu's buttocks with a ruler.
The force of that strike was incredibly precise. It made Houtu cry out repeatedly without injuring her physical body. Moreover, the other end of the ruler never left the ground.
If Houtu still did not understand what was happening, she would be no different from an idiot. Enduring the pain, she said to Qing Xuan,
"What relationship do you have with Father God? Why does this ruler possess Father God's will?"
Qing Xuan did not answer Houtu. Instead, he asked her, "What? Do you want to admit defeat?"
Houtu stubbornly shook her head. Then she gripped the Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler with both hands, intending to lift it through sheer brute force.
Qing Xuan would not indulge Houtu. Two more strikes immediately landed, each one hitting Houtu's buttocks.
In the end, tears filled Houtu's eyes, and she finally yielded to Qing Xuan. "Stop hitting me. I admit defeat. I'll take you to find the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil right now."
When Qing Xuan saw Houtu admit defeat, he waved his hand and summoned the Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler back into his grasp. Weighing it in his hand, he said to Houtu,
"Do you find it strange that such a small ruler possesses Pangu's will? And that it can even suppress your Law Power?"
Houtu nodded at Qing Xuan. Although she did not speak, her eyes had already told Qing Xuan that she very much wanted to know.
"This ruler is called the Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler. It evolved from the Merit of the creation of the heavens and earth. Pangu once used it to measure the height of heaven and earth."
"That is why this Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler possesses Pangu's imprint. Let alone you Twelve Ancestral Witches—even the Sanqing would be beaten by this Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler in front of me."
Seeing that Houtu was about to cry, Nuwa glared fiercely at Qing Xuan. After all, she and Houtu had fought for two hundred years. It was impossible for them not to have developed feelings.
"Houtu, Little Gourd Vine is terrible. He knew perfectly well that the Hongmeng Liangtian Ruler specifically countered the Pangu Descendants, yet he still took it out to bet against you."
"So you didn't lose to Little Gourd Vine. At most, you were tricked by him. If you insist on saying you lost to someone, then you lost to Pangu."
Qing Xuan looked at Nuwa helplessly. Is this girl an idiot? Why is she always siding with outsiders?