"If you think about it, that makes sense. If things really happened as the prehistoric novels say, with Houtu sacrificing herself to become Reincarnation, then as her body transformed into the Six Paths of Reincarnation, Houtu would have turned misfortune into fortune and completely escaped the Turbid Qi within her body.
"Once Houtu had escaped the Turbid Qi in her body, the Turbid Qi in her soul would have been a minor problem, easily resolved in its entirety with Great Dao Merit.
"Great Dao Merit! Forget Turbid Qi—even Chaos Karmic Fire would be nothing more than a paltry skill, a meager supernatural ability in its presence.
"Once all the Turbid Qi in Houtu's body and soul had been dispelled, wouldn't it follow naturally that she would give birth to a primordial spirit?
"Right. If Houtu hadn't had a primordial spirit, how could she have attained the honored position of Spokesperson of the Earthly Dao in the future?"
At this thought, Zhu Jiuyin couldn't help nodding repeatedly.
As her elder brother, he was sincerely happy that Houtu would achieve such greatness in the future.
But then Zhu Jiuyin realized there was another problem.
"Because the Six Paths of Reincarnation were transformed from an Ancestral Witch's body, they naturally had the ability to absorb the Turbid Qi in heaven and earth. Add to that the support of the Great Dao, the Heavenly Dao, and the Earthly Dao, which amplified the might of Reincarnation, and they could basically absorb Turbid Qi at the same rate as the Ancestral Witches.
"If I follow this line of reasoning, then in a certain sense, the Six Paths of Reincarnation are strikingly similar to the Witch Race's method of using the flesh and blood of spirit beasts and the demon race to wear away Turbid Qi!
"The Witch Race was simply too foolish and too blunt, so they made the reincarnation of living beings a bloody affair, all too direct.
"Looking at it the other way, the Six Paths of Reincarnation sound wonderful, but when you think about it carefully, aren't they also a way of using living beings' blood and souls to wear away Turbid Qi?
"After a living being dies, its flesh and blood return to the earth. That is the first way in which living beings wear away the Turbid Qi of the earth.
"The souls of the dead return to the Six Paths of Reincarnation. By then, after drinking Meng Po Soup, they are in a dazed state, numb and senseless, with no memories at all.
"In that state, even if a soul suffers excruciating pain from absorbing Turbid Qi within Reincarnation, it will basically be unable to feel it because it is numb.
"But that agony inflicted on the soul takes root in the true spirit of every living being caught in the cycle of Reincarnation. That is why living beings in this world cherish life and dread death so deeply.
"It isn't that they fear death. It's that deep in their true spirits, living beings instinctively revere the Six Paths of Reincarnation."
At this thought, Zhu Jiuyin was so furious that he slapped his thigh.
If he followed this line of reasoning, then perhaps a very, very long time ago—even before the Witch Race had appeared—the Heavenly Dao and Hongjun had already discovered a substitute for using the Ancestral Witches and the Witch Race to wear away the Primordial World's Turbid Qi. That was why the Six Paths of Reincarnation had come into being.
"So the Heavenly Dao and Hongjun have been scheming and laying plans from the very beginning!"
Once he understood, Zhu Jiuyin was both shocked and enraged.
He was shocked that the Heavenly Dao and Hongjun were far more powerful and terrifying than he had imagined.
He was enraged that the Ancestral Witches were of the Orthodox Pangu Lineage, among the rightful heirs to this world in theory, yet the Heavenly Dao and Hongjun had schemed against them to such an extent. How unjust!
"Thinking about it now, that Houtu younger sister's fate was truly tragic, even if she was called the Spokesperson of the Earthly Dao!"
Zhu Jiuyin thought again of the Houtu from the myths.
First of all, whether they were Spokespersons of the Heavenly Dao, the Earthly Dao, or even the Spokesperson of Humanity Dao, who never appeared in the myths of the Primordial World, their purpose was to suppress the Three Daos of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity and maintain their operation.
So, compared with Sages, the Spokespersons of the Three Daos of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity held exalted positions but had practically no freedom. Even Sages could exploit loopholes in the Three Daos of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity with their Three Corpses and clones, sneaking into the Primordial World.
But when it came to the Spokespersons of the Three Daos of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity, Hongjun at least had a loophole: he could only enter the world during a great tribulation.
When they said he could only enter the world during a great tribulation, didn't that mean that when a great tribulation came, Hongjun could emerge for a breath of fresh air?
But for Houtu, Spokesperson of the Earthly Dao, she could not leave the Underworld unless the Immeasurable Tribulation came to pass.
Wasn't that basically a life sentence?
Then Zhu Jiuyin thought of Houtu's temperament.
"Every day after the Ancestral Witches and the Witch Race were wiped out, she must have been consumed by endless regret and self-blame."
Knowing Houtu as he did, she would surely think that if she hadn't sacrificed herself to become Reincarnation, the Twelve Ancestral Witches would not have been incomplete, and the might of the Twelve Capital Divine Gods and Demons Formation would never have been greatly weakened. It would have completely crushed the demon race's Great Array of Heavenly Stars, rather than being reduced to the point of being suppressed by it.
More importantly, if the Twelve Capital Divine Gods and Demons Formation hadn't been suppressed by the demon race's Great Array of Heavenly Stars, the other Ancestral Witches wouldn't have been forced to blow themselves up during the Final War of Witch and Demon just to take Di Jun and Tai Yi down with them and grievously wound Fuxi, allowing Kunpeng to escape with his life.
If you tallied up the final losses, all twelve Ancestral Witches of the Witch Race were wiped out, and only a handful of Great Witches remained.
What about the demon race? Kunpeng survived. Fuxi even became the Human Sovereign. Baize, a veteran of the demon race who could match an Ancestral Witch in the later days, also survived. And four of the famed Ten Great Demon Gods were still alive.
By that reckoning, the Witch Race had taken a crushing loss.
Not to mention that the descendants of the Golden Crow pair, Di Jun and Tai Yi, survived. One of them was Lu Ya, who stirred up trouble even during the Tribulation of the Investiture of the Gods and eventually became Vairocana Buddha of Buddhism.
"The Heavenly Dao and Hongjun really are targeting our Witch Race!"
After analyzing the situation from every angle, Zhu Jiuyin could reach only that conclusion.
But then Zhu Jiuyin suddenly burst into laughter.
"But things are different now. Since we can't win no matter how we play, our Witch Race might as well flip the table. As long as we don't sit down at the gambling table, neither the Heavenly Dao and Hongjun above nor the myriad beings of the demon race below will be able to do a thing to us!"
"The world doesn't actually know that the greatest trump card of our Witch Race and the Ancestral Witches isn't the Twelve Capital Divine Gods and Demons Formation. It's this Pangu Hall where I'm standing.
"As long as our Witch Race doesn't leave Pangu Hall, even the Heavenly Dao and Hongjun wouldn't dare make the first move against it!"
Zhu Jiuyin wasn't being arrogant. Pangu Hall was a sacred treasure Pangu had left to the Witch Race, and it carried the will Pangu had left behind from the creation of heaven and earth to this very day.
Anyone who dared attack Pangu Hall would first face the Great Dao Thunder Punishment. Once that punishment descended, even Hongjun, Spokesperson of the Heavenly Dao, would be in danger of falling.
On top of that, disturbing Pangu Hall might even draw the attention of Pangu, who had passed away countless ages ago.
Surely nobody really thinks Pangu is completely dead?
Before you continue