The Three Pure Ones Who Waste Resources, The Ancestral Witches Who Grow Brains

That was Pangu.

Pangu, whose strength ranked above the three thousand Chaos Demon Gods, a being who stood only a hair's breadth away from the Great Dao Realm.

To put it simply, any random Chaos Demon God, if plucked from the void, could easily erase the current Heavenly Dao of the Primordial World.

The Dao Ancestor Hongjun, who now strikes terror across the Primordial World, was originally nothing more than a Chaos Earthworm.

Just as the Primordial World distinguishes between Innate Demon Gods and Innate Beings, Hongjun's origin was merely that of a Chaos Being.

Those Innate Demon Gods, even the lowest-grade ones, were beings capable of attaining the Golden Immortal realm the moment they were born.

As for those Innate Beings, fewer than one in a million could ever hope to cultivate to the Golden Immortal realm.

More importantly, the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm was the absolute limit for an Innate Being, whereas an Innate Demon God, provided they did not fall and possessed a modicum of luck, could eventually grind their way to the Quasi-Sage realm simply through the passage of time.

That is the chasm between an Innate Demon God and an Innate Being.

And the gap between a Chaos Being and a Chaos Demon God is even wider.

A Chaos Demon God is born with the strength of a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal of the Origin, while Hongjun had to toil for countless ages, surviving innumerable great calamities, just to barely attain the status of a Sage.

How can one compete when another's starting line is the very destination you have spent countless ages and endured endless calamities to reach?

Consider further that these Chaos Demon Gods were like mere vegetables before Pangu, essentially lying flat after a few swings of his axe. The sheer terror of Pangu's strength is enough to make one shudder; it is truly unfathomable.

Conversely, even a Great Luo Golden Immortal, upon death, has the chance to reincarnate and cultivate again. A Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal of the Origin has even bound their past, present, and future across all timelines; even if slain, they continue to live on in the countless ages preceding their death—a form of near-immortality.

What of Pangu?

Regardless, the current Zhu Jiuyin did not believe for a second that Pangu had simply perished in the great calamity of opening the heavens.

If nothing else, from the dawn of creation to the present, there are still many remnants of Chaos Demon Gods or those who inherited their legacies active in the Primordial World.

If these Chaos Demon Gods still have contingency plans, how much more so for Pangu, who was far more powerful than them?

Therefore, whether out of absolute reverence for his Father God or absolute recognition of Pangu's strength, Zhu Jiuyin did not believe that Pangu was truly dead.

Returning to the Pangu Hall.

As an Ancestral Witch, Zhu Jiuyin knew clearly that the Pangu Hall, being a spiritual treasure refined by Pangu himself, contained a sliver of his divine sense and will.

That alone was terrifying, but what was even more so was that this sliver of sense and will was vaguely connected to the perception of Pangu from countless ages past.

So, setting aside the fact that because it was refined by Pangu's own hand, the Pangu Hall was essentially a complete Chaos Spiritual Treasure.

A Chaos Spiritual Treasure—even if it were just sitting there, it could not be shaken in the slightest by Sages or Hongjun. Zhu Jiuyin even suspected that not even the Heavenly Dao could do anything about the Pangu Hall.

Taking a step back, even if one could breach the defenses of the Pangu Hall, the moment it drew the attention of the Pangu from countless ages ago, a single glance would be enough to render Hongjun, the Heavenly Dao, and all else as fleeting clouds.

Conversely, this is precisely why the Ancestral Witches and the Witch Race held Pangu in such high esteem.

However, activating the Pangu Hall required the combined effort of all twelve Ancestral Witches. Thus, ever since the Ancestral Witches fell and Houtu transformed into the cycle of reincarnation, the Pangu Hall had gradually faded into the depths of the Primordial World.

This Chaos Spiritual Treasure slowly faded from memory.

At this thought, Zhu Jiuyin could not help but sneer.

He suddenly thought of the Three Pure Ones.

In truth, as fellow members of the Orthodox Pangu Lineage, it was impossible for Pangu to have left the ultimate trump card for the Ancestral Witches without leaving anything for the Three Pure Ones.

Anyone familiar with the myths of the Primordial World would know that, in the earliest days, the Three Pure Ones did indeed possess a Chaos Spiritual Treasure—the 24th-Grade Creation Green Lotus.

Yes, that was the very treasure that the Three Pure Ones split into three: the lotus flower became the Coiling Dragon Staff, the lotus root became the Three Treasures Jade Ruyi, and the lotus leaves became the Qingping Sword.

Unlike what is described in Primordial World novels, in the memories inherited by Zhu Jiuyin, this treasure was actually a Chaos Spiritual Treasure refined by Pangu, modeled after the 36th-Grade Chaos Green Lotus and fused with a seed from it.

"What a pity for the Three Pure Ones. I imagine that since your birth, you have never truly worshipped Father God with a sincere heart."

It was precisely because they worshipped Pangu and received his recognition that the Ancestral Witches were granted the right to use the Pangu Hall and could make it the foundation of their existence.

But the Three Pure Ones likely never worshipped Pangu with sincerity, which is why the 24th-Grade Creation Green Lotus never displayed its true power in their hands.

Furthermore, because there was far less trust among the Three Pure Ones than among the Ancestral Witches, this Chaos Spiritual Treasure was ultimately split into three by the brothers.

From that moment on, a perfectly good Chaos Spiritual Treasure was ruined, reduced to three Top-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasures.

Honestly, for a Chaos Spiritual Treasure to be split into three and still yield three Top-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasures, they had already been incredibly lucky.

One only needs to consider that the Pangu Axe, a Chaos Supreme Treasure, only evolved into the Chaos Bell, the Taiji Diagram, and the Pangu Banner—three Innate Supreme Treasures—after being split into three.

It is a simple truth: for an object that was once perfectly intact to be split into three and still retain a portion of its power is already a rare feat.

Immersed in his insights and reflections, Zhu Jiuyin was unaware of how he appeared to those outside: laughing aloud, then sobbing uncontrollably, sighing toward the heavens, then sneering, his expressions complex, shifting between joy, sorrow, shock, and rage.

It can be said that if not for the knowledge that Zhu Jiuyin possessed the Merit of Opening the Heavens, and that no demon or monster would dare to bewitch the mind of an Ancestral Witch, the other Ancestral Witches in the hall might have thought he had suffered a cultivation deviation.

But precisely because they knew Zhu Jiuyin could not be invaded by external demons, the other Ancestral Witches, including Zhurong and Qiangliang, felt a genuine sense of heartache.

"Looking at Second Brother like this, I fear he has seen something again within the River of Time."

"Sigh, they all say I, Gonggong, have no brains, but ever since I stopped absorbing the Turbid Qi, I've found my mind is much sharper. Now I can finally understand how difficult and agonizing it must have been for Second Brother all this time."

"Damn it! I, Qiangliang, am a scoundrel. To think I actually dared to raise a hand against Second Brother back then—I truly deserve to die!"

"I really don't know why Hongjun and the Heavenly Dao are so hostile toward our Witch Race. No, on what grounds?"

"On the grounds that we only revere Father God and do not bow to the Heavenly Dao! We refuse to be managed, so naturally, the Heavenly Dao cannot tolerate our existence, which defies the heavens!"

"Exactly. Second Brother is right. The best course of action for us Ancestral Witches and the Witch Race now is to stop meddling in the affairs of the Primordial World. In Second Brother's words, we should just lie flat!"

"Big Brother is right. These past thirty thousand years have been the most comfortable thirty thousand years since I first gained sentience. Most importantly, I feel like I, Shebishi, have actually grown a brain!"