Ascending Mount Buzhou

"Could it be that the Three Pure Ones refused to help you, Fellow Daoist?" Bai Jing asked.

"After Fellow Daoist Laozi performed a divination, he said that I was in no danger of falling and told me to cultivate in peace. Fellow Daoists Yuanshi and Tongtian had great faith in their elder brother's words as well. After offering me a few words of comfort, they sent me out of the Three Pure Ones Palace."

After hearing Xi Wangmu's words, Bai Jing did not know what to say for a moment.

Laozi's skill in divination truly had some substance. He had not calculated wrongly either. The Demon Race had indeed not touched Xi Wangmu, and she was one of the few great powers who remained safe and sound through the many calamities of the Primordial World.

After a moment, Bai Jing said, "Does Fellow Daoist Xi Wangmu think Fellow Daoist Laozi was merely brushing you off?"

Xi Wangmu nodded.

Since the Demon Race had dared to kill Dongwang Gong, there was no reason they would not dare to kill her. Her cultivation was evenly matched with Dongwang Gong's, and she had little ability to resist the Demon Race.

Bai Jing smiled. "Fellow Daoist Xi Wangmu, the Witch Clan can shelter you, but I hope you can agree to one condition."

"What condition?"

"I cannot explain it to you yet, Fellow Daoist Xi Wangmu, but this matter will bring you nothing but benefits and no harm. You may even use this opportunity to take another step forward. Even if you cannot glimpse the Great Dao, it will ensure that you remain carefree and at ease, with no further danger of falling."

"There is such a good thing?"

"Whether you believe it or not is entirely up to you."

After pondering for a moment, Xi Wangmu gritted her teeth and said, "I trust the Witch Clan."

Having said that, Xi Wangmu directly swore a Great Dao oath. So long as the condition proposed by the Witch Clan did not endanger her life, she would be willing to abide by it.

At Bai Jing's signal, Di Jiang also swore a Great Dao oath, declaring that the Witch Clan would shelter Xi Wangmu and not allow the Demon Race to harm her.

Once Di Jiang had finished his oath, Xi Wangmu let out a long breath.

The stone that had hung over her heart all this time had finally fallen to the ground.

After seeing Xi Wangmu off, Bai Jing and Di Jiang returned to the inner hall of Pangu Hall. Di Jiang asked curiously, "Fellow Daoist Bai Jing, what use could our Witch Clan possibly have for Xi Wangmu?"

"Not now. But once we awaken the Earth Dao, we will have one."

Di Jiang nodded and asked no further questions.

"By the way, Fellow Daoist Di Jiang, how much of the Western land's earth veins have been restored?" Bai Jing abruptly changed the subject.

"More than eighty percent have already been restored. At the current pace, the restoration of the Western earth veins will be complete in another twenty thousand years or so. At that time, as the leader of the Witch Clan, I am most closely connected to the Witch Clan's fortune, so I can break through to the peak of the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal realm.

"Other than the first ten percent of the earth vein restoration, which little sister did not participate in, she has been present for all the subsequent restoration work. She should receive the most merit and will likewise be able to break through to the peak of the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal realm.

"Among our remaining brothers and sisters, Zhu Jiuyin possesses the Law of Time, while Xuanming possesses the dual Laws of Rain and Ice. They will certainly be able to break through to the peak of the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal realm.

"For some reason, Ru Shou is quite compatible with Earth Dao merit. His efficiency in absorbing Earth Dao merit is only slightly inferior to little sister's. Though he has only grasped the Law of Metal, he should also be able to break through to the peak of the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal realm.

"The others will have no problem reaching the late stage of the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal realm. Whether they can take another step forward will depend on their comprehension and fortune."

Bai Jing's eyes lit up at those words. Setting aside everything else, the cultivation realms of these Twelve Ancestral Witches had already surpassed what they had been during the original Witch-Demon War.

Relying on the might of the Chaos Bell, Eastern Sovereign Taiyi had been known as the strongest beneath the saints. The Witch Clan needed four or five Ancestral Witches working together merely to fight him to a draw.

Like Eastern Sovereign Taiyi, Bai Jing had taken the path of proving the Dao through strength. With the Primordial Measure of Heaven Ruler in hand, which was comparable to a supreme innate treasure, their combat power should have been more or less equal.

If the combat strength of the Twelve Ancestral Witches at the late stage of the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal realm was comparable to Di Jiang's, then while all were at the same realm, Bai Jing was confident that he could face two Ancestral Witches at once and defeat them. Three, however, would be too much.

If they were one realm lower, at least four Ancestral Witches would need to join forces to hold Bai Jing back, while five would be needed to defeat him.

By the same reasoning, to defeat Eastern Sovereign Taiyi, who possessed an innate supreme treasure, either three Ancestral Witches of the same realm would need to join forces, or five Ancestral Witches one realm lower would need to do so.

At the decisive battle of the original Witch-Demon War, fewer than five of the Witch Clan's Twelve Ancestral Witches had likely reached the peak of the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal realm. Otherwise, they would not have fought so bitterly.

Now that the Witch Clan's strength had risen another level, the Twelve Capitals Divine Fiend Formation they formed together afterward would become even more powerful. Even if the Demon Race deployed the Heavenly Stars Formation, they would no longer be a match for the Witch Clan.

Of course, in the original history, the Demon Race had not been a match for the Witch Clan either. It was simply that the Witch Clan's advantage had not been as great as it was now.

In the Witch-Demon Calamity, the word "Witch" came first. That alone explained many things.

The reason the Witch Clan and Demon Race had ended up mutually destroying one another was, on one hand, because Houtu transformed herself into reincarnation, leaving the Twelve Capitals Divine Fiend Formation one Ancestral Witch short. Although Chi You, who was added later, had obtained an Ancestral Witch's physique using Houtu's essence blood, he still fell somewhat short.

On the other hand, the Heavenly Dao had tipped the scales. That was also the main reason.

Originally, in order to prevent the Heavenly Dao from tipping the scales and bringing about the Witch Clan's destruction, the best method Bai Jing had thought of was to awaken the Earth Dao and leave the Witch Clan a way out.

But now that he had obtained Jianmu and the small world Yangmei had fixed in place with a formation, Bai Jing had a new idea.

Of course, the Earth Dao still had to be awakened. It never hurt to make preparations on two fronts!

Thinking this, Bai Jing said to Di Jiang, "Fellow Daoist Di Jiang, next I will climb Mount Buzhou. Call the other Ancestral Witches back! Once I come down from Mount Buzhou, we will help Fellow Daoist Houtu condense her Primordial Spirit together."

Di Jiang immediately agreed upon hearing this. Their Witch Clan had been waiting for this day all along.

Bai Jing then left the Witch Clan and began climbing Mount Buzhou.

With Bai Jing's current late-stage Primordial Unity Golden Immortal physique, the Great Dao pressure on the first half of Mount Buzhou no longer had any effect on him.

Before long, Bai Jing arrived at the place where he had previously found the Source-Yang Cauldron.

Bai Jing did not stop and continued climbing upward.

From the mountainside onward, the Great Dao pressure increased with every step Bai Jing took. By the time he reached the two-thirds mark, the Great Dao pressure could already crush a quasi-saint without a spiritual treasure protecting them into a pulp.

Yet to Bai Jing, pressure of this level was still nothing. He continued climbing. Only after reaching four-fifths of the way up did Bai Jing begin to sweat profusely, and his speed slowed. Still, the pressure here could not stop him from continuing upward. Bai Jing took out some ore and began gnawing on it, using the Great Dao pressure to temper his body as he climbed step by step. He wanted to see where his limits lay.

Without realizing it, a thousand years passed. Bai Jing was now less than one-thousandth of the way from the summit of Mount Buzhou, roughly one million zhang in height.

At this moment, Bai Jing had been pressed to his knees by the vast Great Dao pressure and could no longer take another step upward.

"Looks like this is my limit if I rely on my body alone," Bai Jing muttered. With a thought, he first brought out the Source-Yang Cauldron.

As soon as the Source-Yang Cauldron appeared, Bai Jing felt the Great Dao pressure lessen considerably. He was already able to stand again. He then continued climbing until the Great Dao pressure forced him to his knees once more, at which point he brought out the Primordial Measure of Heaven Ruler.

This time, the Great Dao pressure could no longer stop Bai Jing from reaching the summit. Step by step, Bai Jing climbed to the peak of Mount Buzhou.