Nine-Turn Mysterious Art

Di Jiang's "straightforwardness" left Bai Jing at a loss for how to respond.

Seeing this, Houtu hurriedly tried to smooth things over. "Fellow Daoist Bai Jing, my eldest brother is rather blunt by nature. Please don't take offense, he—"

"Little sister, don't speak yet. Zhu Jiuyin, you speak!" Di Jiang interrupted Houtu once again and called on Zhu Jiuyin to speak.

Zhu Jiuyin stepped forward and said, "Several tens of thousands of years ago, when those two feathered birds of the Demon Clan established that so-called Heavenly Court, eldest brother founded the Witch Clan shortly afterward. That very night, I saw fragments within the river of time.

"In those fragments, our Witch Clan was constantly fighting the Demon Clan. We appeared to be mortal enemies, and countless clansmen perished because of it."

"What! Those two feathered birds from the Heavenly Court dare attack us? Aren't they afraid we'll overturn their Heavenly Court?" Zhurong, the most hot-tempered of the Ancestral Witches, said viciously.

"Zhurong, shut up. Don't interrupt Zhu Jiuyin," Di Jiang rebuked.

It was clear that the other Ancestral Witches greatly respected Di Jiang as their eldest brother. After being scolded by Di Jiang, Zhurong obediently shut his mouth.

Zhu Jiuyin continued, "Later, whenever our clansmen went hunting, they were repeatedly attacked by the Demon Clan. Eldest brother and I both believed that the Demon Clan would be the Witch Clan's greatest enemy in the future.

"During this period, our Witch Clan has sent great witches to protect the weaker clansmen, partly to guard against the Demon Clan. But your appearance seems to have changed everything.

"Within the river of time, there are fewer scenes of us fighting the Demon Clan. In their place, our Witch Clan is planting the millet you mentioned, and far fewer clansmen are dying as a result."

After hearing Zhu Jiuyin's words, Bai Jing was greatly surprised. Everyone said that the Witch Clan had no primordial spirits and could not comprehend the workings of fate. It seemed the world had simply been ignorant.

The Witch Clan indeed had no primordial spirits and could not divine the future, but Zhu Jiuyin was the Ancestral Witch of Time! He could see fragments of the Witch Clan's future from within the river of time.

Of course, it was also possible that these fragments were merely what certain people wanted the Witch Clan to see. After all, the waters of the Primordial World ran far deeper than they appeared!

After Zhu Jiuyin finished speaking, Di Jiang continued, "Kid, regardless of why you helped our Witch Clan, your arrival has indeed reduced our clansmen's casualties. Our Witch Clan owes you a favor. Is there anything you need our Witch Clan to help you with?"

Hearing this, Bai Jing understood. Di Jiang had called him here because he wanted to repay the favor.

But he had helped the Witch Clan in the first place to repay the karmic debt he owed the great god Pangu. If he accepted the Witch Clan's gratitude, would that karmic debt be considered repaid or not?

But on second thought, a single inferior-grade innate spiritual root probably could not fully repay the karmic debt owed to the great god Pangu anyway. Moreover, while repairing his origin, he needed to strengthen his physical body to face all manner of crises. When it came to strengthening the body, the best cultivation art should be the Witch Clan's Nine-Turn Mysterious Art.

Thinking this, Bai Jing no longer hesitated. He said to Di Jiang, "Ancestral Witch Di Jiang, I want the Witch Clan's Nine-Turn Mysterious Art."

"Kid, do you think a favor from our Witch Clan is so cheap?" Xuanming asked with a cold expression.

"Fellow Daoist Bai Jing, the Nine-Turn Mysterious Art is not some secret within our Witch Clan. Every member of the Witch Clan can cultivate it," Houtu explained.

Only then did Bai Jing come to a realization. In some Primordial World novels from his previous life, the Nine-Turn Mysterious Art had carried immense weight. It seemed he had let those preconceptions influence him.

Everyone in the Witch Clan could cultivate it, so no matter how precious it was, it could not be that precious.

"Kid, you want the Nine-Turn Mysterious Art to temper your body, correct?" Di Jiang asked.

Bai Jing nodded.

"If that is the case, then in addition to the Nine-Turn Mysterious Art, I will give you a drop of my essence blood and a mass of blood from the blood pool. Let that repay the favor we owe you. How about it?"

The Ancestral Witches were greatly shocked upon hearing this. Zhu Jiuyin hurriedly said, "Eldest brother, your essence blood is incomparably precious. You—"

"Say no more. Our Witch Clan has no habit of owing favors."

With Di Jiang putting it so firmly, the Ancestral Witches could say nothing further. As for Bai Jing, he naturally would not refuse. A drop of an Ancestral Witch's essence blood, along with the blood from the blood pool—his physical strength should rise by a great deal!

After leaving Pangu Hall, Bai Jing borrowed a place from Houtu to enter seclusion.

He planned to begin cultivating the Nine-Turn Mysterious Art and absorb Di Jiang's essence blood along with that large mass of blood from the blood pool.

With the Spirit Devouring Art, Bai Jing estimated that around ten thousand years would be enough for cultivation and conversion.

As for the second lecture at Zixiao Palace, there were still twenty thousand years remaining. Bai Jing also told Houtu that they could travel together when the time came.

Bai Jing had done the Witch Clan a great favor, and the Ancestral Witches had all stated that they would not attend the second lecture. Only Houtu would be going. Having a companion on the road would be a good thing for Houtu as well, so she gladly agreed.

After making the arrangement with Houtu, Bai Jing began cultivating the Nine-Turn Mysterious Art in seclusion.

The Nine-Turn Mysterious Art was part of the great god Pangu's Nine-Turn Profound Origin Art. The mysterious art had nine turns: the first turn gave one the body of a Heavenly Immortal, the second a True Immortal, the third a Golden Immortal, the fourth a Taiyi, the fifth a Great Luo, the sixth a Primordial Chaos Golden Immortal, the seventh a Primordial Chaos Great Luo Golden Immortal, the eighth a Primordial Chaos Supreme Great Luo Golden Immortal, and the ninth a Primordial Chaos Limitless Great Luo Golden Immortal—equivalent to attaining the Heavenly Dao realm through the physical body.

Bai Jing spent ten thousand years completing the fifth turn of the Nine-Turn Mysterious Art, tempering his physical body anew.

Previously, Bai Jing's Great Luo body had been built up by devouring all sorts of ores from Yingzhou Immortal Island. It had not been fully perfected, but under the tempering of the Nine-Turn Mysterious Art, all its hidden flaws were eliminated.

Bai Jing then directly swallowed that mass of blood from the blood pool and simultaneously operated the Spirit Devouring Art and the Nine-Turn Mysterious Art.

The Spirit Devouring Art refined the essence within the blood, while all impurities were purified by the World-Purifying White Lotus's innate Dao of purification. The essence from the blood was then absorbed by the Nine-Turn Mysterious Art, converted, and integrated into his body.

A thousand years passed in the blink of an eye. Bai Jing had completely absorbed the blood, and the strength of his physical body was now comparable to that of a mid-stage Great Luo Golden Immortal.

The first lecture at Zixiao Palace had expounded the Dao of Great Luo. In the current Primordial World, aside from Hongjun and the great powers who had survived the previous calamity, the peak of Great Luo was the highest realm.

With a physical body comparable to a mid-stage Great Luo Golden Immortal, Bai Jing was no longer at the bottom among the three thousand guests of Zixiao Palace.

Yet Bai Jing's cultivation did not stop there. With a turn of his right hand, a drop of blood radiating immense might appeared in his palm. It was precisely a drop of Di Jiang's essence blood.

Bai Jing swallowed the drop of essence blood. The vast energy instantly erupted, and Bai Jing felt as though his body were about to burst from the energy within Di Jiang's essence blood. He hurriedly operated his cultivation art, continuously digesting its energy through devouring and purification.

After two thousand years, Bai Jing had refined most of the essence within Di Jiang's essence blood. However, he discovered that it contained a thread of incomparably terrifying bloodline essence, and this thread was exceedingly difficult to refine.

Bai Jing guessed that this essence was likely a strand of the great god Pangu's essence blood. The Twelve Ancestral Witches had been formed from the great god Pangu's essence blood, so it was only natural that their own essence blood contained Pangu's legacy.

To refine this thread of essence, Bai Jing spent another two thousand-odd years.