Struggle for the Role of Heaven and Earth's Protagonist

Before that old man Hongjun attained the Dao, someone had already attained it—and like the Father God, they had done so through strength. Yet after attaining the Dao, they had actually been expelled from the Primordial World!

Bai Jing's revelation left the Twelve Ancestral Witches somewhat stunned.

Di Jiang was the first to recover. If what Bai Jing said was true, did that not mean the current Primordial World simply could not accommodate anyone who attained the Dao through strength?

The Witch Clan had no primordial spirits. That old man Hongjun's method of becoming a Saint did not apply to them, and they could not attain the Dao through strength either, or they would be expelled from the Primordial World. This meant the Witch Clan would never be able to become Saints.

Thinking of this, Di Jiang turned to Bai Jing. "Brother Bai Jing, was that Yangmei truly expelled from the Primordial World by the Heavenly Dao?"

"Of course it is true. If Fellow Daoist Di Jiang does not believe me, I can swear an oath upon the Great Dao."

Bai Jing's answer plunged Di Jiang into silence once more.

At that moment, Houtu asked, "Fellow Daoist Bai Jing, was Yangmei expelled from the Primordial World by the Heavenly Dao because he was the reincarnation of a Chaos Demon God?"

Bai Jing did not dispute Houtu's words. Instead, he followed her line of thought. "That possibility cannot be ruled out. I only know that after Yangmei attained the Dao through strength and became a Hunyuan Golden Immortal, he was expelled from the Primordial World by the Heavenly Dao. I cannot be certain of any further details."

Houtu sighed. "It is already remarkable that you know so much, Fellow Daoist! After all, the realm occupied by Saints and the Heavenly Dao is far too distant from us!"

"No matter what, Yangmei's expulsion from the Primordial World is a fact. Since it is a fact, we must prepare for it," Di Jiang said solemnly.

The other Ancestral Witches all voiced their agreement.

"Fellow Daoist Bai Jing, you just mentioned the Earthly Dao and the Human Dao. Do you have a way to awaken them?"

Bai Jing put on a helpless tone. "Fellow Daoist Houtu, you think too highly of me. I only know that the Earthly Dao of the Primordial World should be connected to the earth veins and reincarnation, while the Human Dao is the Dao of all living beings."

Upon hearing the word reincarnation, Houtu felt her Dao heart tremble. She could sense that reincarnation was connected to her, perhaps even an opportunity for her to attain the Dao.

Was she meant to comprehend the Dao of Reincarnation? To take the place of the Reincarnation Demon God slain by the Father God and wield the Dao of Reincarnation?

While Houtu lowered her head in thought, the other Ancestral Witches began discussing the matter.

"Our Witch Clan is born with the duty of absorbing baleful qi and clearing the earth veins. Does that not mean the Earthly Dao aligns with our Witch Clan?" Qiangliang said.

"I think the Human Dao would be easier. Brother Bai Jing just said that the Human Dao is the Dao of all living beings. As long as our Witch Clan occupies the position of Heaven and Earth's protagonist, we may be able to awaken the Human Dao," Gonggong said.

"The Human Dao is indeed easier. When we took form, we absorbed vast amounts of baleful qi and cleared quite a few earth veins, yet the Earthly Dao gave us no response. Besides, our Witch Clan has no primordial spirits, so comprehending the Dao of Reincarnation would not be easy either," Jumang said.

"I think the Human Dao is unsuitable. To awaken it, we would most likely need to occupy the position of Heaven and Earth's protagonist in the Primordial World. Back then, the Dragon-Phoenix-Qilin Tribes created boundless karmic debts while fighting for that position. Even if our Witch Clan could claim it, we would pay an enormous price. The gains would not outweigh the losses," Zhu Jiuyin said.

After the Ancestral Witches argued for a while, Di Jiang said in a deep voice, "Enough! Let me consider this matter. We will discuss it another day."

"Fellow Daoist Di Jiang, I think your Witch Clan should make preparations early. The Demon Clan has established the Heavenly Court and is constantly expanding. I suspect they are also after the position of Heaven and Earth's protagonist. Your Witch Clan would never submit to the Demon Clan, would you?"

Hearing Bai Jing's words, Di Jiang immediately recalled the scenes Zhu Jiuyin had witnessed within the river of time, where the Witch Clan and Demon Clan battled one another.

If they were fighting over the position of Heaven and Earth's protagonist, then the two clans truly would come to blows.

This was not merely a struggle for fortune, but a struggle over the Great Dao itself. The Witch Clan would never yield.

In truth, during this kalpa, friction between the Witch Clan and Demon Clan had been unceasing.

The Demon Clan wanted to expand, and the Demon Clan's Heavenly Court wanted to rule Heaven and Earth, so they needed vast numbers of demons to assist them.

Yet after many small and medium-sized races joined the Demon Clan's Heavenly Court, they would directly become cannon fodder. Some would even be exterminated during campaigns. Under such circumstances, they might as well seek the Witch Clan's protection.

The Witch Clan merely required them to provide some flesh and blood as food. They did not need them to go on campaigns. Once they gained the Witch Clan's protection, they could continue living as they had before. The only difference was that they had to hand over the corpses of clansmen who died for any reason to the Witch Clan.

Joining the Demon Clan could lead to extermination, while gaining the Witch Clan's protection only required giving up the corpses of some clansmen. Many small and medium-sized races with little ambition, who only wanted to ensure their survival, chose the Witch Clan.

The Demon Clan's Heavenly Court had long been dissatisfied with the Witch Clan's actions. They had even sent subordinates to harass the small and medium-sized races under the Witch Clan's protection.

Naturally, the Witch Clan would not stand by and ignore it. Back and forth it went, and conflict between the Witch Clan and Demon Clan arose.

For now, however, neither the Twelve Ancestral Witches nor the Demon Clan's two Demon Emperors had openly declared war on the other side.

The Witch Clan had no intention of competing with the Demon Clan. For the Witch Clan, their greatest survival problem—food—had already been resolved through millet and the flesh and blood provided by the races under their protection.

The Witch Clan was not looking for trouble. With no threat to their survival, why would they start a war?

As for fighting over the position of Heaven and Earth's protagonist, at least before Bai Jing spoke with the Twelve Ancestral Witches, the Witch Clan had never entertained such an idea.

Dijun had clearly seen this as well. He believed there was no direct conflict of interests between the Demon Clan and Witch Clan, and that the Witch Clan had no ambition to dominate. There was still room for reconciliation between the two sides.

Thus, Dijun still intended to win over the Witch Clan. He planned to speak with the Twelve Ancestral Witches after the third lecture at Zixiao Palace.

Although Taiyi was quite dissatisfied with the Witch Clan "snatching" small and medium-sized races, he deeply respected his elder brother. Since Dijun had decided to speak with the Twelve Ancestral Witches after the third lecture at Zixiao Palace, Taiyi naturally would not go against Dijun's wishes.

Afterward, Bai Jing stayed with the Witch Clan. The Twelve Ancestral Witches needed time to process what he had told them.

He stayed for a thousand years. During that time, Bai Jing did not remain in seclusion at the residence the Witch Clan had arranged for him.

Instead, he first made a trip to Mount Buzhou. With Bai Jing's current Hunyuan Golden Immortal-level physical body, he could already climb two-thirds of the way up Mount Buzhou.

Unfortunately, Bai Jing did not discover any innate spiritual treasures or innate spiritual roots. In fact, the higher he climbed, the more desolate Mount Buzhou appeared.

Bai Jing guessed this was likely because Mount Buzhou's pressure was too overwhelming.

After descending Mount Buzhou, Bai Jing would occasionally spar with the Witch Clan's Great Witches to improve his practical combat ability.

Of course, while it was called sparring, it was actually several Great Witches joining forces to fight Bai Jing.

The Great Witches were roughly at the level of Golden Immortals, while Bai Jing, though lacking combat experience, possessed genuine Hunyuan Golden Immortal battle prowess. Therefore, even with Bai Jing holding back, several Great Witches fighting together would still be beaten black and blue by him.