The Heavenly Dao's Merit

Lu Tian paid his respects to Ancestor Witch Houtu. "You are...?"

Before he could finish speaking, the world seemed to spin, and Houtu had teleported him to the side of the Eight Treasures Merit Pool.

Amidst the floating lotus fragrance, the Dharma forms of Jieyin and Zhunti slowly materialized from the void.

"Greetings, Master."

As Lu Tian was about to bow, Houtu interrupted, "No need for formalities! Brother Dijiang sent me to ask, how has that major matter been decided?"

Jieyin and Zhunti exchanged glances, a flicker of surprise crossing their eyes simultaneously.

The two Sages were puzzled, "Why get involved with the Witch Clan's karma?" Lu Tian, however, was confused why his Master had specifically waited for him to make the decision.

"Fellow Daoist, please calm yourself." Jieyin fiddled with a Bodhi Bead, and in an instant, he, Lu Tian, and Zhunti vanished into the Mount Meru Secret Realm. Before they left, Buddha Pharmacist's figure quietly appeared, holding Sweet Dew and standing beside Houtu.

Within the Chaos Barrier, the River of Time and Space formed a vortex here.

"Foolish child, is the Witch Clan's murky water something you can easily wade into?" Zhunti lightly swept his fly whisk, and twelve-grade Golden Lotuses slowly bloomed beneath their feet.

The Chaos Bead in Lu Tian's embrace emitted a clear light, and he said calmly, "May I ask Master, who will win and who will lose in the conflict between the Witches and Demons?"

The two Sages exchanged wry smiles. "The Heavenly Secrets are chaotic during this tribulation; even Sages can hardly see the full picture."

"While traveling, I glimpsed a third of the profound mystery," Lu Tian said, condensing Dao Charm at his fingertips. "Now, the Heavenly Dao is evident, and the Human Dao is brilliant, but only the Earthly Dao remains hidden. The souls of the Primordial World have nowhere to go, thus their resentment is immense..."

"To be precise, it should be called all living beings, all beings in the Primordial World."

At this moment, both the Witch and Demon races were at their peak. Vitality flourished throughout the world, and the Human Dao's destiny grew prosperous in tandem.

Jieyin and Zhunti remained silent, awaiting Lu Tian's further explanation.

After much contemplation, I believe that to revitalize the West, we might be able to enlist the power of the Earthly Dao.

This led him to think of Ancestor Witch Houtu.

Houtu was naturally in charge of the Netherworld's authority. If we could establish a place for reincarnation in the West and draw upon the great power of the Earthly Dao, allowing wandering souls and resentful spirits to be reborn, it would be immense Merit...

Lu Tian concisely laid out his vision, a fleeting thought.

This kind of profound mystery was beyond the verification of others.

Jieyin and Zhunti exchanged a look, their eyes flashing with deep thought.

"According to your words..."

"It is indeed a profit that can be sought; we might as well try."

Lu Tian had clarified his plan, and the two immediately understood. Only by luring Houtu and some of the Witch Clan into the West could this plan be implemented. Regardless of whether the reincarnation proposal succeeded, Houtu's contribution to repairing the Earth Veins alone would be a great benefit to the West.

"This matter carries heavy Karma; you are already involved. Do not interfere further," Jieyin solemnly warned. "Let the two of us discuss it with Houtu."

In a flash.

Three figures reappeared before Houtu.

Houtu's eyes lit up. "Is there a result?"

Jieyin stroked his long beard, appearing profound. "The Western Teachings were previously plotted against by the Demon Race. We are willing to lend a hand to the Witch Clan."

His tone shifted. "However..."

"The time is not yet right!"

Seeing Houtu's expression change drastically, he quickly smiled, "When the time is ripe, my Junior Brother and I will naturally disrupt the Heavenly Court."

"At that time, the Witch Clan can not only destroy the Witch Slaying Sword but also launch a surprise attack on the Heavenly Court!"

As for how to disrupt it?

Jieyin was inscrutable, only instructing Houtu to focus on repairing the Western Earth Veins, promising to act within a Kalpa.

In his heart, he was calculating the ten Golden Crows on the Sun Star—if Di Jun lost his beloved son, how could he remain indifferent?

Under Jieyin and Zhunti's resolute stance of not revealing Heavenly Secrets, Houtu did not cause trouble on Spiritual Mountain and, as agreed, went to repair the Earth Veins. After all, the previous agreement was to exchange information about the Witch Slaying Sword for the repair of the Earth Veins; anything else was an extra gift.

"I have to say..."

"This Ancestor Witch is truly straightforward."

Her efficiency in repairing the Earth Veins was astonishing, hundreds of times faster than Lu Tian's. A single day's work could match Lu Tian's thousand years of effort.

"What is an expert?"

"This is a true expert!"

Lu Tian watched for several days, unable to help but feel admiration.

"As expected of the future Empress Pingxin, Houtu's mastery in this area is indeed peak."

Coincidentally, Jieyin and Zhunti, the two Sages, also had some free time, so they assisted in repairing the Earth Veins.

With the combined efforts of the two Sages and Houtu, the repair progress of the Western Earth Veins surged forward, with large areas regaining vitality daily.

However, the Western territory was vast and boundless.

Even with the combined strength of the three, it would still take a long time.

Moreover, after the Earth Veins were repaired, it would take time to nurture Spiritual Energy and restore ecological balance.

Lu Tian no longer concerned himself with these subsequent matters.

He personally settled the Witch Clan tribes brought by Houtu, relocating them to a repaired area.

The environment here still appeared desolate.

But the Witch Clan possessed extreme adaptability and paid no mind to the harsh conditions, instead clamoring to find the Demon Race for a fight.

Lu Tian helplessly saw them settled before turning to leave.

These low-level Witch tribes could be left to live and reproduce here.

The Witch Clan's reproduction was difficult, and their population grew slowly.

Unlike the Human Race Lu Tian had settled earlier, whose population had doubled in just a few thousand years.

Fortunately, the spiritual energy in the west was not yet abundant, which limited the Human Race's cultivation. Coupled with internal conflicts that triggered several major wars, their population had drastically decreased. Otherwise, the territory initially designated would have long been unable to bear the burden.

The Human Race cultivators enlightened by Lu Tian back then still led their tribes today, guiding them through hardships and opening up new living spaces.

After settling the Witch Clan, Lu Tian went into seclusion within the Western Teachings to cultivate diligently.

He needed to adjust his state, preparing to obtain Rahu's inheritance.

Every time a cycle of the palace completed its rotation, golden light of merit would descend from the heavens and merge into Lu Tian's body.

Heavenly Dao merit descended almost daily, causing the Senior Brothers to look on with envy, privately regretting their lack of such an opportunity.

Although the merit gained each time was not much, it was quite substantial when accumulated over time.

This merit originated from the Heavenly Dao's reward for Houtu repairing the earth veins.

For the Witch Clan...

This item held no value.

The Witch Clan had no Primordial Spirit and did not cultivate the Heavenly Dao, naturally viewing merit as nothing.

Otherwise, when Houtu transformed into reincarnation and obtained immense merit, she wouldn't have been surprised to discover that merit could help her condense a Primordial Spirit and break through the Witch Clan's limitations.

Lu Tian naturally wouldn't point this out now.

After all, this continuous stream of merit was benefiting him greatly.

Houtu, this top-tier tool, was a godsend to Lu Tian!

After finishing his meditation that day, Lu Tian felt it was time to retrieve Rahu's second inheritance.

Rahu's inheritance was divided into three parts:

The first was the Demon Heart Swallowing Heaven Scripture he had obtained earlier, and that True Spirit even helped Lu Tian deduce the Demonic Heart Secret Method.

The remaining two parts required reaching the Taiyi and Grand Unity realms to be unlocked.

Now, Lu Tian had been consolidating his foundation in the Taiyi realm for a long time, his roots were stable, and it was the opportune moment to set off.

Before leaving, he specifically used a secret method to contact his Master to report--

Just in case something happened, at least there were the two Sages, Jieyin and Zhunti, to fall back on.

This journey was exceptionally smooth.

In the blink of an eye, Lu Tian stepped into the inheritance secret realm, which was filled with demonic energy.

Before him lay an endless abyss, with viscous, ink-like demonic waves churning beneath his feet.

Rahu's divine sense avatar sat within, sensing his aura and suddenly opening its eyes.

Your bone structure has actually improved to this extent?

Compared to my state after the heavens and earth were created, it's not much less.

Rahu, reincarnated from a Chaos Demon God, showed a rare look of surprise.

It was a stroke of luck with some opportunities. Lu Tian cupped his fists and smiled, thanks to the foundation laid by your Demonic Heart Secret Method.

He secretly probed and discovered that this divine sense was precisely at the peak of the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm.

I originally thought you would cultivate to the Taiyi peak before coming. Rahu tapped his finger on the demonic abyss, it seems you are quite confident in your combat power?

Lu Tian smiled but did not reply.

Although he had confidence, how could he dare to be careless in front of the Demon Ancestor?

To this day, he had not surpassed this legend in any aspect.

The condition for the last inheritance was to master the Swallowing Heaven Scripture.

This time it's simpler--Rahu suddenly leaped into the demonic waves, If you can defeat me in the Taiyi realm, the inheritance is all yours!

In the pitch-black demonic abyss, an overwhelming aura erupted.

Only then did Lu Tian discover that beneath Rahu was not churning demonic energy, but a twelve-petaled lotus platform stained with ink.

The Twelve-Grade World Destroying Black Lotus!

A cold glint flashed in his eyes.

So it's this item...

Among the supreme treasures in his hand, only the Chaos Bead could rival it, and among those of the same rank, only the Twelve-Grade Void Clarity Spiritual Lotus and the Plain Cloud Boundary Banner were comparable.

The rest were inferior by a significant margin.

What's more, this lotus was an anomaly among Twelve-Grade Lotus Platforms—

While ordinary lotus platforms primarily focused on defense and support, the World Destroying Black Lotus was a pure weapon of slaughter!

If he obtained this item, it would undoubtedly become the sharpest god-slaying blade in his possession!

Luohu, at the peak of the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm...

Lu Tian slowly clenched his five fingers, his battle intent surging like boiling water. He wanted to see just how much of a gap there was between himself and the Demon Ancestor at this level.

His Vajra Dharma Form manifested with a roar, and all his Magic Treasures, except for the Chaos Bead, floated in the air.

The immense pressure actually tore open a clear space within the ten-thousand-zhang demonic abyss.

"Please enlighten me."

Before the words even fell, the Moon Washing Blade slashed out, releasing blade light like a cascading galaxy!

A smile played on Luohu's lips as the demonic flames around him surged. The churning, murky mist instantly coalesced into a seven-foot demonic spear, which clashed head-on with the blade light—

Crack!

The residual shockwave from the exploding blade light churned the entire demonic abyss into chaos.

"Passable, but not enough to impress."

With a light chuckle, the Demon Ancestor conjured hundreds of demonic spears from the void.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

A rain of black spears blotted out the sun and obscured the sky, their might even surpassing the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation by three points!

Lu Tian's pupils constricted. The Plain Cloud Boundary Banner and the Kunyuan Dao Robe simultaneously emanated a brilliant glow. The Moon Washing Blade danced like a luminous wheel, its dazzling blade light creating a fierce rift with the eternal night-like demonic energy.

He blocked this strike flawlessly.

Luohu nodded slightly.

Suddenly, the World Destroying Black Lotus erupted with an eerie glow!

Just as Lu Tian prepared to defend, his mind was suddenly clouded.

The past events on Golden Ao Island clung to him like a persistent curse—

Zing!

His Divine Sense transformed into a blade, shattering the illusion.

Those past events were no longer worthy of being his mental obstacles!

By the time he regained his senses, he was completely trapped within the strange light domain emanating from the black lotus.

Lu Tian narrowed his eyes.

"What kind of bizarre divine ability is this now?"

The World Destroying Black Lotus was profound and unfathomable; what killing intent lay hidden within the eerie light before him?

Luohu let out a soft laugh.

The demonic energy around him was as black as ink, completely distinct from the black light enveloping his body. The boundary between the two darknesses was clear, and their auras were vastly different.

Suddenly, Luohu opened his mouth and inhaled—

Lu Tian's pupils contracted; he was all too familiar with this scene.

Demon Heart Swallowing Heaven Scripture!

Luohu was actually swallowing all the black light summoned by the Twelve-Grade World Destroying Black Lotus!

A sense of crisis suddenly struck. Without hesitation, Lu Tian burned his lifespan, his combat power surging fifteenfold.

Nine fire dragons soared into the sky, roaring furiously. The Samadhi True Fire ignited the surrounding demonic energy, transforming it into black flames that coiled around the dragons' bodies as they lunged to tear at Luohu. The Primordial Heavy Water from the Twelve-Grade Void Clarity Spiritual Lotus poured down like a waterfall, forming water dragons that broke through the demonic barrier. Their massive tails whipped up tsunamis that crashed down with a roar!

Simultaneously, the Moon Washing Blade slashed out a blade light as bright as the moon, scattering all demonic energy in its path.

Luohu merely condensed his demonic energy into a single spear.

As his fingertip brushed against the spear shaft and he thrust it forward—