Pangu's Help

The thirteen made their way upward without encountering any obstacles.

The pressure Pangu had left on Mount Buzhou was an insurmountable chasm to other living beings, but to them, it was a path leading into their Father God's embrace.

They did not walk quickly, for every step brought a new insight, and with every step, they could draw their Father God's strength and wisdom from that pressure.

After an unknown length of time, the thirteen finally caught sight of the summit.

The summit of Mount Buzhou was a flat terrace spanning roughly ten thousand zhang.

At the center of the terrace stood a massive slab of bluestone, its surface smooth as a mirror and radiating a faint light of chaos.

Around the terrace stretched an endless sea of clouds and the vast heavens. Standing there, they felt as though they could reach out and touch the canopy of the sky.

"We're here!" Zhu Rong was the first to step onto the summit. He threw back his head and let out a long cry, his voice echoing across the mountaintop and spreading in every direction.

Gong Gong followed close behind. The moment he stepped onto the summit, he could not help drawing a deep breath. "It's... so high here. Heaven and earth lie beneath our feet. I've never felt anything like this."

Xuan Ming, Jumang, Rushou, Qiangliang, Xizi, Shebishi, Tianwu...

One Ancestral Witch after another stepped onto the summit. The instant each arrived, they could not help stopping to gaze into the distance, awestruck by the sight before them.

Houtu stepped onto the summit and stood beside Pan Xuan, saying softly, "Little Brother Pan Xuan, this is the top of Father God's spine. Standing here, it feels as though we could touch the world as it was when heaven and earth first opened."

Pan Xuan nodded, his gaze passing through the sea of clouds toward the distance.

From here, the whole expanse of the Primordial World lay before his eyes: the waves of the eastern sea, the fiery domain to the south, the desolation to the west, the frozen plains to the north, and the mountains, rivers, forests, and plains scattered across the land.

Everything lay beneath their feet. Everything seemed so small.

Di Jiang was the last to step onto the summit. Standing at the center of the terrace, he looked around, a rare expression of excitement appearing on his resolute face. "The summit of Mount Buzhou... we've finally arrived."

The thirteen stood shoulder to shoulder atop Mount Buzhou, looking down over the entire Primordial World.

Yet the very moment they all stood upon the summit, something unexpected happened.

Boom-

A chaos-colored beam of light shot skyward from the slab of bluestone at the center of the summit, enveloping the entire mountaintop.

Within that light lay an indescribable power.

It was Pangu's power, the power that had split heaven and earth apart, the power that had created all things.

Before the thirteen could react, the light of chaos swallowed them.

Within the light, space and time twisted. The thirteen figures gradually blurred, until at last-

They were separated.

The Twelve Ancestral Witches were swept into the same space by the light of chaos, while Pan Xuan was swept into an entirely different one.

The Twelve Ancestral Witches found themselves standing in a void.

Endless chaos surrounded them. There was no heaven or earth, no sun or moon, no stars-only vast, primordial chaos, as though heaven and earth had yet to be opened.

And within that chaos stood a figure.

That figure stood with his head against heaven and his feet upon the earth, countless tens of millions of li tall, his entire body radiating the mighty power that had split heaven and earth apart.

In his hands, he held an enormous axe, with the qi of chaos surging ceaselessly along its blade.

It was-Pangu.

The moment the Twelve Ancestral Witches saw that figure, their entire bodies began to tremble.

It was not fear, but excitement, awe, and a resonance from deep within their blood. They

could feel that the figure shared the most fundamental of bonds with them.

He was their Father God, the Father God who had created them, the Great God Pangu who had split heaven and earth apart.

"Father God..." Di Jiang's voice trembled, tears sliding silently down his resolute face. He had never cried before, but now, he could not hold them back.

Zhu Rong, Gong Gong, Xuan Ming, Houtu... every Ancestral Witch's eyes reddened.

They were Ancestral Witches nurtured beneath Mount Buzhou, born from Pangu's blood essence, yet they had never seen their Father God's true face.

Now, as they gazed upon that figure standing with his head against heaven and his feet upon the earth, the feelings surging in their hearts could not be put into words.

That figure, Pangu's lingering consciousness, slowly lowered his head and looked at the Twelve Ancestral Witches.

His eyes held the mighty power that had split heaven and earth apart, the compassion with which he had transformed his body into all things, and boundless love for all living beings between heaven and earth.

"My children."

Pangu's voice echoed through the void, vast, ancient, and deep, like the first peal of thunder when heaven and earth had opened, yet also like a mother's gentle call to her child.

That voice held boundless love, and boundless expectations as well.

The Twelve Ancestral Witches all fell to their knees, paying homage to their Father God with the utmost reverence.

Pangu's consciousness nodded slightly. His enormous hand slowly extended, and a vast power poured from his palm, enveloping the Twelve Ancestral Witches.

"You were born from my blood essence and inherited the strength of my flesh.

"But the strength of the flesh has its limits, in the end. Today, I shall impart the Great Dao of Strength to you."

As Pangu's words fell, a vast torrent of information surged into the minds of the Twelve Ancestral Witches.

It was the Great Dao of Strength, the most fundamental Great Dao Pangu had comprehended when splitting heaven and earth apart, the source of all power between heaven and earth.

The Great Dao of Strength was not merely a Dao of power, but the very origin of power.

It encompassed the essence of every power between heaven and earth.

The power of space, the power of time, the power of the five elements, the power of yin and yang, the power of destruction, the power of creation... all power originated from the Great Dao of Strength.