Pangu Jade Marrow

The instant Bai Jing reached the summit of Mount Buzhou, the omnipresent pressure of the Great Dao suddenly vanished, as if Mount Buzhou had never possessed any such pressure at all.

Bai Jing, whose entire body had been taut, abruptly relaxed. He dropped onto the ground on his backside and gulped down great breaths of air.

Only after quite a while did Bai Jing recover. Looking around, he found that, like the part of Mount Buzhou beyond its halfway point, the summit was utterly barren, not a blade of grass in sight.

At the very center of Mount Buzhou's summit stood an ancient hall, seventy percent similar in appearance to Pangu Hall, which had been transformed from Pangu's heart. Bai Jing slowly walked up to the ancient hall and gently pushed open its doors.

The doors of the ancient hall opened, and a peculiar Dao rhythm surged out from within.

The instant he came into contact with that Dao rhythm, Bai Jing's entire body trembled. He could not help recalling the scene from when he had first transmigrated, when he had seen Great God Pangu wield a giant axe to slay three thousand Chaos Demon Gods before cleaving open heaven and earth.

Bolstered by this Dao rhythm, the axe marks Pangu had left behind in Bai Jing's memories seemed to come alive.

"Boom—" A tremendous roar rang out from Bai Jing's sea of consciousness.

The next second, Bai Jing felt his awareness sink into chaos. When he came to his senses again, imprints of nine axe marks had appeared within his sea of consciousness.

Bai Jing instinctively tried to comprehend the axe marks, but he quickly discovered that forget comprehending them—he could not understand even the slightest bit of these nine axe marks.

For the first time, Bai Jing felt vexed and restless over his Primordial Spirit cultivation remaining at the peak of Taiyi Golden Immortal. His subconscious was on the verge of breaking through into Da Luo, and he could not resist the urge to advance his realm and comprehend the Dao rhythm upon those axe marks.

"Zha!"

Suddenly, a vast Dao sound exploded within Bai Jing's sea of consciousness. His breakthrough was interrupted, and his awareness completely returned.

At that moment, Bai Jing felt his spiritual platform become incomparably clear, as though even his Dao heart had undergone a cleansing.

The word "Zha" was the first sound between heaven and earth. It contained the supreme holy might of the Heavenly Dao, was the nemesis of all evil and wickedness, and possessed unmatched power.

The Dao rhythm that had surged forth when Bai Jing opened the hall doors had transformed the scene in his memories of Great God Pangu slaying three thousand Chaos Demon Gods and creating heaven and earth into nine axe marks that contained a Dao he was utterly incapable of understanding at present.

These nine axe marks were etched into Bai Jing's sea of consciousness, available for comprehension anytime and anywhere. Yet the Great Dao contained within them was far too profound; it would not be an exaggeration to say they contained the ultimate truths of heaven and earth. No seeker of the Dao could refuse them, and Bai Jing had instinctively wanted to comprehend them.

Yet with only one glance, Bai Jing had become thoroughly immersed in them. Had it not been for that cry of "Zha," Bai Jing would likely have already attained Da Luo by now, and all the restraint he had exercised since taking form would have vanished like bubbles.

As everyone knew, the one who had made that "Zha" sound was none other than Great God Pangu!

So Great God Pangu had helped me once again? Bai Jing thought.

Bai Jing took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. Now was not the time to think about such things. He stepped forward and entered the ancient hall.

The first thing that met his eyes was a flowing spirit light. Like a mischievous child, it darted and leaped about within the ancient hall.

Taking advantage of the spirit light darting near him, Bai Jing reached out and seized it.

The instant the spirit light entered his hand, the memories of an Innate Divine told him that this was the Innate Imperishable Spirit Light.

Bai Jing carefully sent the wisp of spirit light into the Source-Yang Cauldron, then turned his gaze toward the two jade-white drops of liquid floating at the center of the ancient hall.

In an instant, a ravenous thirst welled up from Bai Jing's physical body, as though it wished to devour those two drops of liquid immediately.

Without question, this was Pangu Jade Marrow.

It was said that after Pangu's spine transformed into Mount Buzhou, the remaining marrow fused with a portion of the merit from the creation of heaven and earth, then absorbed vast quantities of Chaos qi. After the transformations of who knew how many yuanhui, it had evolved into Pangu Jade Marrow. It was of immense aid to physical cultivation, extraordinarily effective, and a divine treasure no less precious than Pangu's essence blood.

Bai Jing walked closer and sensed the incomparably terrifying power contained within the Pangu Jade Marrow. Forget devouring two drops—even the power within a single drop would be enough for Bai Jing to break through to the peak of Hunyuan Golden Immortal.

Bai Jing forcefully suppressed his body's craving for the Pangu Jade Marrow. Now was not the time to devour it. Once he tempered his physical body to the peak of Hunyuan Golden Immortal, then consumed the Pangu Jade Marrow, Bai Jing was confident he could achieve the seventh transformation of the Mysterious Art in one stroke, becoming a saint in the flesh.

Moreover, no matter how extraordinary something was, its effect was always strongest upon the first consumption. If he consumed it now and relied on the Pangu Jade Marrow to break through to the peak of Hunyuan Golden Immortal, the effect of consuming the second drop later would be greatly diminished. Most likely, he would be unable to complete the seventh transformation of the Mysterious Art. It would be a pure waste.

With that thought, Bai Jing took a deep breath and stored the Pangu Jade Marrow in the Source-Yang Cauldron as well. Then, within the ancient hall, he gave a slight bow before turning and leaving.

To be honest, it was not as though Bai Jing had never considered taking this ancient hall away outright.

Unfortunately, the ancient hall did not seem to be a spirit treasure, and it contained Great God Pangu's Dao rhythm. Forget taking it away—even one below the Saint realm likely could not move this ancient hall.

Bai Jing then brought out the Source-Yang Cauldron and the Primordial Measure of Heaven Ruler and headed down the mountain.

Going up the mountain was easy; going down was hard. Bai Jing had spent more than two thousand years climbing to Mount Buzhou's summit, yet spent over three thousand years descending.

When Bai Jing returned to the Witch Clan's Pangu Hall, the Twelve Ancestral Witches had long been waiting for him.

At a glance, Bai Jing noticed that Houtu's temperament was completely different from what it had been tens of thousands of years ago.

Beyond her former gentle aura of embracing all things, she now possessed a somewhat ethereal, immortal air.

Bai Jing's eyes lit up as he asked, "Could it be that Fellow Daoist Houtu has already completed the replacement of the Acquired Restless Spirit with the true nature of a single spirit?"

Houtu nodded slightly. "I succeeded just a thousand years ago."

"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Houtu."

"I should be the one thanking Fellow Daoist Bai Jing. If Fellow Daoist Bai Jing had not proposed this method, our Witch Clan would likely never have found the true nature of our own single spirits, much less used it to replace the Acquired Restless Spirit."

"Fellow Daoist Houtu, that is not quite right. This poor Daoist merely proposed a method. It was because Fellow Daoist Houtu possesses profound blessings and astonishing comprehension that you achieved success so quickly.

"As it happens, this poor Daoist obtained this wisp of Innate Imperishable Spirit Light from Mount Buzhou. As long as Fellow Daoist Houtu uses this spirit light to strengthen the true nature of your single spirit, I believe you will soon give birth to a Primordial Spirit." As he spoke, Bai Jing removed the Innate Imperishable Spirit Light from the Source-Yang Cauldron, wrapped it in mana, and sent it before Houtu.

Yet Houtu did not accept the Innate Imperishable Spirit Light directly. After hesitating for a moment, she said, "Fellow Daoist Bai Jing, as long as I am given some time, I should be able to give birth to a Primordial Spirit on my own now. There is no need to use this Innate Imperishable Spirit Light."

"Fellow Daoist Houtu, what the Witch Clan lacks most now is time. Seeing that all Twelve Ancestral Witches have returned from the western lands, the Demon Race is likely already unable to sit still. I believe the Demon Race will soon invade. Time waits for no one!"