The Resonance of Pangu's Aura!

Empress Pingxin.

In the Primeval World of today, few among the younger generation of immortals and gods knew that title.

But in the hearts of the old monsters who had survived from the ancient Primeval World, those four words represented a taboo, a legend, an existence supreme above all.

During the War of the Witches and Demons, Ancestral Witch Houtu, one of the Twelve Ancestral Witches, saw countless lives perish across the Primeval World. Their souls had nowhere to go, becoming vengeful ghosts that wreaked havoc among the living.

Her heart filled with great compassion, she used her body as an Ancestral Witch to emulate Great God Pangu and transform herself into the Six Paths of Reincarnation!

Only then did the living beings of the Primeval World have a place to be reborn, and the order of Heaven and Earth was finally made whole.

Moved by her immense merit, the Great Dao sent down boundless streams of mysterious yellow merit energy, helping her achieve the fruit of the Primordial Dao.

She was no Heavenly Dao Saint, but a Merit Saint who had attained enlightenment through supreme merit. She was known as "Empress Pingxin."

As the price, she was bound forever within the Six Paths of Reincarnation, which had been formed from her own body, and could never leave the Underworld.

One could say that she was the Underworld, and the Underworld was her.

In this Netherworld, she was the one and only ruler!

When her voice rang out, the entire Underworld fell into absolute silence.

"Hmm?"

A soft, surprised murmur sounded in the depths of every being's soul.

She sensed an incredibly familiar bloodline aura coming from the little girl.

That was...

Pangu's aura!

Though it was weak and impure, that primordial aura, originating from the deepest reaches of the bloodline, the source of creation and all things, could not possibly be mistaken!

How could this be?

Empress Houtu felt more bewildered than ever before.

After Great God Pangu transformed into all things, his primordial spirit split into three, becoming the Three Pure Ones.

Most of his blood essence became them, the Twelve Ancestral Witches, while the rest scattered across the Primeval World and became the countless members of the Wu Clan.

Apart from these, the only things Great God Pangu left behind were Mount Buzhou, formed from his pillar-like backbone, and the sun, moon, and stars, formed from his eyes that had seen through chaos.

This little girl was neither one of the Three Pure Ones nor a member of the Wu Clan.

Where had the Pangu aura within her come from?

And that aura seemed to be resonating with something within Houtu herself.

The space around Xiruan began to ripple like water, as gentle ochre-gold halos spread out from the void.

The halos gathered together, sketching out the figure of a woman before her.

The woman wore palace robes and looked to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight. Her features were stunning, and she had a gentle, dignified grace.

A hint of unshakable sorrow and compassion lingered between her brows, as if she bore all the grief of Heaven and Earth.

Yet the moment she saw Xiruan, her eyes revealed a trace of indulgence and affection.

She stood there in silence, seeming to become the center of the entire world.

The instant Holy Mother Wudang saw this woman, her pupils contracted. She felt as though she'd been struck by lightning.

Houtu!

Ancestral Witch Houtu!

She had actually... appeared in person!

"Who... are you?"

Xiruan gazed at the beautiful auntie before her and asked curiously in her childish voice.

She thought this auntie looked much nicer than all the bad guys she'd met before.

And she smelled so sweet and warm, just like... just like Daddy's embrace.

Houtu gazed at the adorable little girl, and the corners of her mouth lifted into a smile.

She didn't answer Xiruan's question.

She reached out a slender, jade-like finger and pointed it toward Xiruan's forehead.

"Senior, be careful!"

Holy Mother Wudang was horrified. She tried to step forward and stop her, only to find that she couldn't move a muscle.

All she could do was watch as that finger drew closer and closer to Xiruan.

Xiruan watched the approaching finger with curiosity. She didn't sense any malice.

At last, the finger gently touched Xiruan's smooth forehead.

"Vmmm—!"

The instant they touched,

an ancient, primordial gray current erupted uncontrollably from Xiruan!

A boundless, weighty ochre-gold divine radiance surged from Houtu as well!

One gray, one gold—two supreme powers, born from the same source yet utterly different, seemed to meet across the endless reaches of time and space.

They neither repelled nor devoured each other.

Like relatives reunited after a long separation, they mingled and twined together, giving off waves of joyful humming!

A vast, majestic aura centered on the two of them and swept across the entire Netherworld!

As the aura washed over them,

everyone seemed to see that towering figure from the dawn of creation, holding a giant axe and standing atop chaos!

In that moment, they couldn't help but prostrate themselves before the two figures, whose auras had merged.

The resonance of Pangu's aura came and went in a flash.

Empress Houtu withdrew the finger she'd touched to Xiruan's forehead. Her eyes, long undisturbed, now brimmed with profound shock and complicated emotions.

A storm unlike any she'd ever known raged through her heart.

She looked at the little girl, who was rubbing her forehead in confusion, and her gaze grew ever more profound.

"Auntie, what did you do to me just now?"

Xiruan felt as if she'd just had a very, very long dream. In it, a really, really tall giant had been chopping things nonstop. It had been so noisy.

"Nothing."

Houtu suppressed the countless thoughts in her heart and smiled warmly once more.

"I just thought you were very cute and wanted to give you a little pat."

She could now be fairly certain that this little girl had a deep connection to Great God Pangu.

As one of Pangu's descendants, Houtu couldn't mistake the closeness she felt through their shared bloodline.

"Oh."

Xiruan nodded. She felt close to this auntie too, so she didn't mind a little pat.

"Little one, what's your name?" Houtu asked gently.

"My name is Xiruan! My daddy is Tongtian!" Xiruan puffed out her little chest and proudly announced her family.

"Xiruan..." Houtu repeated the name silently to herself, her smile growing warmer. "That's a lovely name."

Then, though she already knew the answer, she asked,

"So why did you come to my Underworld and turn everything upside down?"

"You even shattered Ksitigarbha's Dao Heart. You really are a mischievous little thing."

There wasn't the slightest hint of blame in her voice. She sounded more like an elder affectionately teasing a naughty child in her family.

At the question, Xiruan's little face fell, and she looked indignant.

"Auntie, you have to help me set things right!"

"My daddy's so pitiful! He's locked up in the Small Dark Room, and he owes a whole lot of money outside!"

"And then that shady company called the Underworld, and that bald-headed manager—they took advantage of him when he was down!"

"They caught all the employees from my daddy's company and brought them here, making them work even after they died! And they don't even pay them!"

"I came to get justice for my daddy and bring all his employees home!"

"Auntie, don't you think they've gone too far?"

She waved her little fists, her face full of hurt and indignation.

Empress Houtu was taken aback, then burst out laughing.

Her laughter was like a spring rain, making flowers bloom all around.

The gloomy Underworld itself seemed to brighten a little.

"That's right, that's right!" Seeing her laugh, Xiruan thought she didn't believe her and hurriedly nodded. "It's all true! They're so bad!"

"All right, all right. I believe you."

Houtu finally managed to stop laughing and affectionately tapped Xiruan on the nose.

"They really are bad. It's wrong of them to bully our Xiruan."

Though it sounded as if she were merely comforting a child, the weight of her words was enough to shake the entire Primeval World!

"Then... Auntie, can you help me?"

Xiruan seized her chance, tugging at Houtu's sleeve and pleading sweetly.

"There are still lots of employees I don't know where they've been locked up. You're so powerful, you must know where they are, right?"

She thought this beautiful auntie, who looked even lovelier when she smiled, had to be a good person.

There was no way she could go wrong by asking her for help!

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