As it turned out, the brotherly bond between the Ancestral Witches was the real deal.
If Zhu Jiuyin had said that among any other faction, it would have marked the beginning of an internal schism.
But in the Witch Race, after his initial surprise, Dijiang quickly understood.
Dijiang was a straightforward man. "Second Brother, are you saying I shouldn't hold the position of leader of the Witch Race?"
When Dijiang said this, there was no real suspicion or anger in his voice. He was sincerely asking.
In fact, Dijiang was now more and more certain that Zhu Jiuyin had seen something in the River of Time that was immensely unfavorable to the Witch Race—and that it had happened while he, Dijiang, was leading them.
Otherwise, there was no explaining why Zhu Jiuyin had changed so drastically in such a short time.
Dijiang even believed that the fact Zhu Jiuyin could glimpse something despite being only a Primordial Origin Golden Immortal might well have been Father God's arrangement.
Meanwhile, Zhu Jiuyin merely smiled faintly. Big Brother really is still the same as before!
Clearly, in the myths of the Primordial World, Dijiang had become leader of the Witch Race and won the recognition and loyalty of Ancestral Witches whose strength was not much inferior to his own—including Zhu Jiuyin and Houtu, as well as hot-tempered ones like Zhurong and Qiangliang—for good reason. He had qualities that set him apart.
Dijiang himself was calm, but Zhurong, Qiangliang, and the other Ancestral Witches who had always recognized and followed him were displeased. Even Houtu wore a trace of dissatisfaction.
As it happened, this was the period just before the first War of the Witches and Demons. The reason not only the Twelve Ancestral Witches but also hundreds of Great Witches had gathered at Pangu Hall was to plan for the coming war.
So, in the eyes of the other Ancestral Witches and the hundreds of Great Witches present, Zhu Jiuyin's move was no different from trying to force a change in leadership before the battle. It would have a very bad effect.
Only Zhu Jiuyin, who had already glimpsed the outcome of this war, understood that without a way to defeat Hongjun through overwhelming strength, the result of this War of the Witches and Demons had already been decided.
So, faced with everyone's dissatisfaction, Zhu Jiuyin understood that it was nearly time to lay everything on the table.
He waved his hand. "Everyone except the Ancestral Witches, leave."
Big matters have always been discussed in small meetings.
The hundreds of Great Witches present left Pangu Hall with almost no resistance.
Clearly, they understood that what Zhu Jiuyin was about to say must concern the Witch Race's future and fate.
Some of the sharper Great Witches had even realized that the outcome of this War of the Witches and Demons might not be good.
But they would never voice words that could shake the troops' resolve.
"Now, Second Brother, can you tell us the specific reason?"
Once all the Great Witches had left, Houtu stepped forward and spoke to Zhu Jiuyin with a cheerful smile.
Her words undoubtedly eased the tension in Pangu Hall considerably.
Under the gaze of his brothers and sisters, Zhu Jiuyin began. "I have only three things to say.
"First: We, the Witch Race, cannot win this battle. Even if we use the trump card our Father God bestowed upon us—the Great Array of the Twelve Divine Fiends—we still cannot win.
"Second: I don't want the position of leader of the Witch Race. I want the highest decision-making authority. I won't interfere in the Witch Race's affairs, big or small, in its daily operations.
"Third: The Witch Race has reached a point where it must change. If we don't change..."
In the end, Zhu Jiuyin did not say what came after "if we don't." But from those three statements, the Ancestral Witches present had already glimpsed the terrifying trials and hardships the Witch Race would face in the future.
At that moment, they could even understand what Zhu Jiuyin was so wary of that he had to speak in such veiled terms.
It wasn't that he wanted to act this way. Rather, the enemy the Witch Race would face in the future was so powerful that Zhu Jiuyin dared not show the slightest carelessness and had to be utterly cautious.
Even the clever Houtu and the astute Dijiang had already figured out who that enemy was.
Whoever stepped forward to stop the Witch Race at the most critical moment of the War of the Witches and Demons was the enemy, right?
Think about it: if the other side could even defeat the Great Array of the Twelve Divine Fiends left behind by Father God Pangu, then all the Witch Race's struggles and ambitions really would be a joke.
Still, they could never have imagined that the Witch Race's ultimate fate would be near-total extermination.
After all, not only the Ancestral Witches but even the most ordinary Witch soldiers had been born carrying the Merit of Opening the Heavens left behind by Pangu.
The Ancestral Witches might lack primordial spirits and be ignorant of the workings of fate, but that didn't mean they knew nothing about the wonders of merit.
Who could have imagined that the Witch Race, with nearly immeasurable Merit of Opening the Heavens, would meet such a miserable end?
In fact, by the era of Journey to the West, the Demon Race still rampaged through the Primordial World and even ate people from time to time. Hadn't the Golden-Winged Peng eaten everyone in the Lion Camel Kingdom?
And the Witch Race?
Apart from a few Great Witches in the Underworld who might have Houtu's protection, and a small number of other Witches, there were no traces of the Witch Race outside the Underworld, anywhere in the Primordial World.
How was that any different from being wiped out?
In the end, Dijiang made the final decision. "If that's the case, then let the outcome of this battle decide everything!"
"If the Witch Race wins, then we'll forget everything Second Brother said. But if we lose, then everything will be as Second Brother said. From this day forward, Second Brother will have the final say in all the Witch Race's decisions."
One could only say that Dijiang truly had the makings of a leader. The other Ancestral Witches truly trusted the blood bond between themselves and Zhu Jiuyin, because not once had they considered what would happen if Zhu Jiuyin caused trouble during the battle.
For example, joining forces with outsiders—or even the Demon Race—to attack his own brothers. Right, Yuanshi?
And so, the Witch Race's entire leadership went to war against the Demon Race, carrying a deep sorrow with them.
But once the fighting actually began, Dijiang and the other Ancestral Witches and Great Witches realized something was wrong.
Why was the Demon Race so weak?!
And it was true: at this point, the Demon Race was being crushed by the Witch Race in every regard.
There was no helping it. Including Di Jun and Tai Yi, along with Nuwa, Fuxi, and Kunpeng, the Demon Race had only five fighters at the level of an Ancestral Witch.
But Tai Yi had yet to reach his peak. Even with the Chaos Bell, he could barely hold his own against three opponents at once.
As Hongjun's disciple, Nuwa possessed Grandmist Violet Qi and could just barely fight two opponents at once.
On top of that, the Demon Race's foundation, the Great Array of Heavenly Stars and the Great Array of Origin Heluo, had yet to appear even on the horizon.
So, in terms of top-tier combat strength, the Demon Race's forces at most amounted to eight Ancestral-Witch-level fighters.
If the Demon Race was being crushed at the top tier, then at the next tier down, the gap between the two races wasn't smaller—it was even wider.
The Ten Great Demon Gods were only at the level of Great Witches, but the Witch Race had hundreds of Great Witches, while the Demon Race had only dozens of fighters at the level of Demon Gods.
If the Demon Race hadn't had hundreds or even thousands of times as many lower- and mid-level fighters as the Witch Race, it probably wouldn't have lasted even three days against them.
Before you continue