One had to admit, Kunpeng was worthy of being the man who would one day be honored as the Demon Master.
When he spoke, he deliberately used great magical power, so his words reached the ears of living beings across half the Primordial World.
Of course, he didn't know that when Hongjun saw what Kunpeng was doing, he kept his expression blank but nodded inwardly in satisfaction, then quietly gave him a hand. As a result, without Kunpeng even realizing it, his words had spread throughout the entire Primordial World.
Not only that, Hongjun also put on an act and suddenly sighed. "The Ancestral Witches and the Witch Race were formed from Father God Pangu's blood essence fused with the Primordial World's Turbid Qi. They were born with great merit, and must not be rashly provoked."
Good heavens. Between Kunpeng and Hongjun's question and answer, the Witch Race's reputation throughout the Primordial World had been dragged through the mud. At the same time, all living beings had come to regard them as the source of chaos.
There was no helping it. The most immediate thought in the minds of most living beings was that no matter how reckless Kunpeng might be, he wouldn't dare lie in front of Hongjun, the "Dao Ancestor."
And as a Sage, Hongjun was the "Dao Ancestor" acknowledged by all living beings in the Primordial World. He was now the most powerful being in the world, capable of shattering the True Form of Pangu with a single palm. He had no reason to lie about this.
Since Kunpeng wouldn't dare lie, and Hongjun had no reason to lie, didn't that prove the claim that the Witch Race "fed on the living beings of the Primordial World" was true?
What living being would willingly be eaten?
At that moment, every living being who had heard those words was thinking the same thing: If the Witch Race kept growing stronger, would there be any hope of survival for them?
But no one could have guessed that Hongjun was smiling faintly to himself. I certainly haven't lied. The Ancestral Witches and the Witch Race really do possess great merit, and really must not be rashly provoked.
Having achieved his goal, Hongjun flashed away, leaving the Witch-Demon Battlefield in satisfaction.
But no one saw that, in the instant Hongjun departed, a strand of mystical light that he had condensed from the Jade Plate of Creation slipped unnoticed into Di Jun's River Map and Luo Scroll.
"Di Jun and Tai Yi were born from the Sun Star. In the Primordial World, they have the purest bloodline of Father God Pangu after the Three Pure Ones and the Ancestral Witches. Yet their strength is now far below the Ancestral Witches'. I'll seal the rudiments of the Great Array of Origin Heluo and the Great Array of Heavenly Stars inside the River Map and Luo Scroll. With Di Jun's aptitude, it shouldn't be difficult for him to comprehend both arrays within a Yuanhui."
"With the Great Array of Origin Heluo and the Great Array of Heavenly Stars, the next time the Demon Race and the Witch Race clash, they shouldn't be completely crushed."
Clearly, Hongjun was working to establish a balance between the Demon Race and the Witch Race.
Meanwhile, since the conversation between Hongjun and Kunpeng had been heard by all living beings throughout the Primordial World, the Ancestral Witches and the Witch Race had naturally heard it as well.
The Ancestral Witches simply lacked primordial spirits and couldn't discern the will of Heaven. That didn't mean they were fools.
So they understood exactly what Kunpeng and Hongjun's conversation meant for the Ancestral Witches and the Witch Race.
In that moment, they were struck by an unprecedented chill and a deep sense of crisis.
"My Witch Race will become the target of everyone from now on!"
That was Houtu's lament.
And so the scene at the very beginning of this book unfolded: the Ancestral Witch Hall rang with curses against Hongjun, beneath which lurked fear and confusion.
There was no helping it. The Witch Race might wage war against Heaven and Earth and revere Pangu rather than the Heavenly Dao, but how could any living being be without fear?
The situation was this: Hongjun's strength had already surpassed anything the Witch Race could hope to stand against. Meanwhile, Zhu Jiuyin, the Ancestral Witch who controlled the Law of Time, had made it nearly plain as day that he had no confidence in the Witch Race winning its struggle for supremacy against the Demon Race.
When Houtu once again drew every Ancestral Witch's gaze toward Zhu Jiuyin, he smiled.
He looked over the Ancestral Witches, who had reached a complete consensus and decided to hand him the highest decision-making authority, then asked, "Big Brother, little brothers and sisters, are you afraid?"
At that question, Zhurong, Qiangliang, and the others instinctively prepared to shout in defiance. But when they met Zhu Jiuyin's eyes, deep and still as the Primordial Starry Sky, their heated emotions were doused as if a basin of cold water had been thrown over them.
At that moment, silence filled all of Pangu Hall.
Clearly, the Ancestral Witches' silence had already answered the question.
Unexpectedly, Zhu Jiuyin burst into laughter. "If you're afraid, then you're afraid. It's nothing to be ashamed of!"
The Ancestral Witches looked at Zhu Jiuyin again, like lost travelers who had suddenly spotted the North Star hanging high in the sky.
Zhu Jiuyin smiled and said, "In fact, it's only natural to be afraid."
"In the past, we always thought that since we Ancestral Witches were formed from Father God's blood essence, we were Father God Pangu's closest bloodline, born noble. We believed that no one but us could rule and manage the entire Primordial World."
"But now, Hongjun and the Heavenly Dao have shown us the ironclad truth: we Ancestral Witches aren't as powerful or favored by Heaven as we imagined. Not only that, we've now reached the brink of utter despair."
"Think about it. Above us, we have the Heavenly Dao and Hongjun's wariness and suppression. Outside us, we have the Demon Race's resistance and opposition. And now, after Kunpeng and Hongjun's conversation, the living beings of the Primordial World have surely come to despise and oppose our Witch Race as well."
"In this situation, if we Ancestral Witches continue to fight the Demon Race for supremacy, do we have even the slightest chance of winning?"
"Or you can tell me this: with our Witch Race standing against the entire Primordial World, how are we supposed to win?"
This was the first time Zhu Jiuyin had laid out the Witch Race's dire situation in such brutally direct terms.
And that was precisely why even Houtu's expression changed dramatically.
After all, not even Houtu, the strategist, or Dijiang, the leader, had ever analyzed the Witch Race's plight to such an extent, then laid it out in words this blunt.
Now, Dijiang and Houtu understood a little better why Zhu Jiuyin hadn't explained all this before.
Just look: even now, several Ancestral Witches still wore expressions of disbelief, and even thought Zhu Jiuyin was exaggerating.
If they had been in this situation dozens of Yuanhui ago, before suffering that crushing defeat, even the two of them might have thought just like those Ancestral Witches.
What Ancestral Witch could—or would—believe that the Witch Race, born from Pangu's blood essence and supposed to be noble by birth, could have fallen so low?
What else was that but a tragedy?
Houtu was Houtu, after all. She asked the question that mattered most: "What do we do?"
Zhu Jiuyin swept his gaze across the Ancestral Witches, then said with extraordinary conviction, "I'll say it again: from now on, our Witch Race is going to lie low!"
Before you continue