Fu Xi nodded as well. "But Little Sister and I can't get involved in this matter, so you'll have to make the trip yourself, Younger Brother."
Qing Xuan nodded, then bade Fu Xi and Nuwa farewell. He left Phoenix Perch Mountain and headed straight for the Ancestral Witch Hall.
Before long, Qing Xuan arrived outside the Ancestral Witch Hall. The twelve Ancestral Witches' true forms, which had been hovering above it, had disappeared.
He could hear laughter coming from inside. He didn't need to ask to know that the twelve Ancestral Witches were using Ancestral Witch Essence Blood to create Great Witches.
Without announcing himself, he strode straight into the hall. Perhaps because Pangu had acknowledged him, the Ancestral Witch Hall's barrier didn't repel him.
Qing Xuan soon reached the center of the hall. In the Blood Pool, waves of blood churned without pause.
Besides the twelve Ancestral Witches, several people Qing Xuan hadn't seen before stood watch on either side of the Blood Pool.
Qing Xuan knew they must be the Great Witches the twelve Ancestral Witches had created.
Seeing that they had only created Great Witches so far, and not ordinary members of the Witch Clan, Qing Xuan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Houtu had spotted Qing Xuan by then and hurriedly called out, "Elder Brother Di Jiang, Daoist Friend Qing Xuan is here."
Her words drew all twelve Ancestral Witches' gazes to Qing Xuan. Zhu Rong even stepped forward, clapped him on the shoulder, and said,
"Daoist Friend, did you hear that we'd founded the Witch Clan and come all the way to the Ancestral Witch Hall to congratulate us?"
Qing Xuan sighed helplessly, leaving Zhu Rong confused. He was straightforward and hot-tempered, the sort who couldn't keep anything bottled up.
Seeing Qing Xuan's expression, he asked at once, "Daoist Friend Qing Xuan, why do you look like that? Is there something wrong with us siblings founding the Witch Clan?"
To the Ancestral Witches' surprise, Qing Xuan actually nodded. Di Jiang and the others' expressions immediately turned grave.
Houtu came straight to Qing Xuan's side and asked, "Daoist Friend Qing Xuan, what's going on? You're no outsider. Please, speak freely."
Qing Xuan pointed at the Blood Pool in the center of the hall and asked Di Jiang, "Daoist Friend Di Jiang, you know what this Blood Pool is, don't you?"
Di Jiang nodded. "The Blood Pool holds Pangu Father God's Heart Blood. It was also the birthplace from which we twelve Ancestral Witches were nurtured."
Qing Xuan nodded, then asked, "Since you know it holds Pangu's Heart Blood, have you considered what will happen once it's all used up?"
His words left all twelve Ancestral Witches stunned. They truly hadn't considered that.
They had only just created seven Great Witches, yet they had already sensed that the amount of Pangu Heart Blood in the pool had decreased.
That was a negligible amount compared with the whole pool, but what about in the long run? The Pangu Heart Blood in the pool was finite.
And creating a race required more than a few dozen or a hundred members. So just as Qing Xuan had said, sooner or later the pool would run dry.
Di Jiang's face was solemn as he asked Qing Xuan, "After the first sermon at Zixiao Palace, those two feathered beasts on the Sun Star began founding the Yao Clan."
"The Primordial World was formed from Father God's body. How could we let those feathered beasts rule it? So we siblings came up with the idea of creating a race and having Father God govern the Primordial World."
"But we twelve Ancestral Witches are the only ones of our kind in the whole Primordial World. We have no way to gather members like those two feathered beasts."
"Fortunately, Father God solved the problem for us. The Blood Pool he left behind can create the Witch Clan. So we put Ancestral Witch Essence Blood into it, hoping to create a race of Pangu Descendants for the Primordial World."
"But from what you've said, Daoist Friend Qing Xuan, this isn't a long-term solution. It won't provide our Witch Clan with a steady stream of members, and it will use up the Blood Pool Father God left behind."
"Since you've come to tell us this, Daoist Friend Qing Xuan, you must have a way to solve the problem. Please show our Witch Clan the right path."
Qing Xuan sighed. "I'm not trying to stop you from founding the Witch Clan. I just don't want to stand by and watch you become pawns in someone else's hands."
"If you trust me, give up the idea of using the Blood Pool to create ordinary members of the clan. You can still create Great Witches, but you must keep their numbers under control."
"In the Primordial World, nine is the extreme number. So there absolutely cannot be more than eighty-one Great Witches. Otherwise, the Witch Clan won't have enough fortune to endure forever in the Primordial World."
"As for the claim that your Witch Clan must protect the Primordial World created by Pangu, that's utter nonsense."
"You are Pangu's legitimate sons, true enough. But are Di Jun and Tai Yi on the Sun Star not his sons as well? Don't forget that the Sun Star was formed from Pangu's left eye."
"And every blade of grass and every tree in the Primordial World is part of Pangu's body. Even the Dragon, Phoenix, and Kirin Three Clans, who once dominated the Primordial World, were descendants of Pangu."
"The Dragon Clan came from Pangu's meridians, the Phoenix Lord from his feathers, and the Kirin Clan from his fingernails."
"But so what? In the end, during the Dragon-Han Initial Tribulation, all three clans suffered together. Their leaders could only sacrifice their Nascent Souls to preserve a sliver of their legacies."
"So at most, you are Pangu's legitimate sons, while the other beings in the Primordial World are, at the very least, his illegitimate sons."
"If there's anyone in the Primordial World who has nothing to do with Pangu, it's probably The One Who Preached. He isn't a being of the Primordial World, but a surviving Chaos Demon God."
Qing Xuan didn't continue. He had no intention of explaining the nature of Hong Jun's ultimate goal to the twelve Ancestral Witches.
But he'd said enough. If the twelve Ancestral Witches still couldn't understand what he meant, then even if they turned to ashes one day, they'd have only themselves to blame.
Di Jiang had become the Witch Clan's leader and raised it into a Primordial Great Clan that could rival the Yao Clan. That alone showed he was no fool.
He nodded directly at Qing Xuan. "Then we'll do as you say, Daoist Friend Qing Xuan. We'll create only eighty-one Great Witches."
"But once these eighty-one Great Witches are born, how do you think we should arrange things for them?"
Qing Xuan answered without hesitation. "The Witch Clan are Pangu's legitimate sons, and the Ten Thousand Races of the Primordial World are his illegitimate sons. They are all Pangu's children."
"Di Jun and Tai Yi can build the Yao Clan on the foundation of the beings of the Ten Thousand Races. Why can't you create the Witch Clan on that same foundation?"
"Moreover, before long, a race with immense fortune will emerge in the Primordial World. That race will be the key to whether your Witch Clan can endure."
Before you continue