Pan Xuan's discovery, Hong Jun's schemes

Di Jiang said gravely, "Since Sister Houtu agrees as well, it is settled.

Hong Jun's preaching has nothing to do with our Witch Clan. We will remain in seclusion and continue Dao refining. There is no need to concern ourselves with outside affairs."

The Ancestral Witches all nodded.

Thus, the thirteen returned to Pangu Hall and resumed their cultivation.

The Ancestral Witches continued Dao refining, melding their manifestations and laws into their bodies.

Meanwhile, between sessions of Dao refining, Pan Xuan began to deepen his contemplation of the Heavenly Dao.

His cultivation had already reached the Daluo Golden Immortal Peak, but he was in no hurry to break through to the Primordial Origin Golden Immortal realm. Instead, he devoted more effort to perceiving and understanding the Heavenly Dao.

Pan Xuan sat cross-legged high within Pangu Hall. Closing his eyes and focusing his mind, he extended his divine sense and established contact with the power of the Heavenly Dao between heaven and earth.

The Heavenly Dao had neither form nor substance, yet it was everywhere. Like an immense net, it covered the entire Primordial World, encompassing everything between heaven and earth.

Pan Xuan's divine sense roamed through that net, sensing every vein, every node, every intersection.

At first, he had only wanted to understand the patterns by which the Heavenly Dao operated so that he could better develop the Martial Dao.

Gradually, however, he discovered something unusual.

The Heavenly Dao had gaps.

Those gaps varied in size and depth, scattered throughout every corner of the Heavenly Dao.

Some were tiny, no more than faint cracks;

others were enormous, like deep ravines.

Pan Xuan carefully sensed the positions and sizes of these gaps, and a thought that shocked him slowly arose in his mind.

He probed deeper, matching those gaps one by one to the laws wielded by the Twelve Ancestral Witches.

The gap in the power of space lay at the position corresponding to the law Di Jiang wielded.

The gap in the power of time lay at the position corresponding to the law Zhu Jiuyin wielded.

The gap in the power of fire lay at Zhu Rong's position; the gap in the power of water lay at Gong Gong's position;

the gap in the power of ice lay at Xuan Ming's position; the gap in the power of earth lay at Houtu's position...

It was not just the Twelve Ancestral Witches. Some other laws also had gaps, but those were far smaller than the ones corresponding to the Ancestral Witches.

Pan Xuan could sense that those gaps might correspond to certain other innate divinities.

Conversely, the most complete parts of the Heavenly Dao were the most basic, most universal laws: birth, aging, sickness, and death; the movements of the sun and moon; the changing of the seasons.

These laws required no particular innate divinity to wield them. They were the natural patterns by which heaven and earth operated, and anyone could comprehend them, anyone could use them.

Pan Xuan slowly withdrew his divine sense and opened his eyes, his gaze filled with shock.

What the Heavenly Dao lacked was primarily the laws represented by the Twelve Ancestral Witches.

What did that mean?

It meant that, for the Heavenly Dao to become complete, these laws had to be supplied.

And Pan Xuan could think of only two ways to supply them.

Either the Ancestral Witches would willingly merge their laws into the Heavenly Dao, or their laws would naturally return to heaven and earth after their deaths.

Either way, it would spell utter catastrophe for the Ancestral Witches.

Pan Xuan closed his eyes, comparing the memories of his previous life with the insights of this life one by one. A complete picture gradually took shape in his mind.

Hong Jun's preaching was by no means as simple as enlightening all living beings.

He meant to gather the fortune of the world and select those he could use.

As for those unwilling to serve him, or those who threatened him, he would have other means of dealing with them.

Pan Xuan thought of the Three Pure Ones again.

The Three Pure Ones had been born from Pangu's primordial spirit. By rights, after Pangu split heaven and earth apart, the duty of enlightening the Primordial World should have fallen to them.

They were the Pangu orthodox lineage, the heirs to Father God's primordial spirit. They should have become the mentors of the Primordial World, guiding all living beings in cultivation.

But Hong Jun had moved ahead of the Three Pure Ones.

He attained Sagehood, preached the Dao, and accepted disciples.

He would take the Three Pure Ones as disciples, bringing them under his tutelage.

From then on, the Three Pure Ones would no longer be Pangu's heirs, but Hong Jun's disciples.

Hong Jun had supplanted them in their duty of enlightenment.

Pan Xuan continued his deductions.

The purification of the Primordial World and the completion of the Heavenly Dao-by rights, these duties should have fallen to the Ancestral Witches.

The Ancestral Witches had been born from Pangu Essence Blood. They had inherited Father God's bodily power, as well as his duty to protect heaven and earth.

The Primordial World had been formed from Father God. Purifying it and preserving heaven and earth had always been the Ancestral Witches' ordained duty.

But Hong Jun had moved ahead of the Ancestral Witches as well.

By achieving unity with the Dao, he took their duties away too.

Taking the Three Pure Ones as disciples was a means of seizing the authority to enlighten;

plotting against the Ancestral Witches was a means of seizing the responsibility of Mending the Heavens.

Hong Jun's unity with the Dao was not for the sake of completing the Heavenly Dao at all. The Heavenly Dao was itself a product of the Great Dao's withdrawal, the result of heaven and earth's natural evolution. It needed no one to "complete" it.

Hong Jun sought unity with the Dao in order to take control of the entire Primordial World that Great God Pangu had opened up.

He wanted to become the ruler of the Primordial World.

Pan Xuan's eyes flew open, cold sweat streaming down his forehead.

At last, he understood.

Hong Jun, this being who had just attained Sagehood, this Dao Ancestor revered by countless living beings-his true face was that of a strategist stealing Pangu's legacy.

In the name of preaching the Dao, he gathered the fortune of the world;

in the name of unity with the Dao, he seized the authority of heaven and earth;

in the name of a measuring tribulation, he eliminated dissenters and completed the Heavenly Dao.

The Three Pure Ones would become his disciples, losing their independent standing from that point onward;

the Ancestral Witches would fall victim to his schemes, their clan nearly wiped out in the great tribulation to come;

and those he selected would become pieces in his hand, carrying out his plan to complete the Heavenly Dao.

He himself would become the sole ruler of the Primordial World, an existence that no tribulation could destroy.

Pan Xuan drew a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his shock.

He did not tell the Ancestral Witches about these conjectures. At the very least, now was not the time.

These were still only his conjectures, without conclusive evidence.

Besides, the Ancestral Witches were devoting all their efforts to Dao refining, and he did not want to distract them.

But Pan Xuan knew he had to do something.

He had to continue contemplating the Heavenly Dao, uncover more evidence, and find Hong Jun's weaknesses.

He had to help the Ancestral Witches grow stronger as quickly as possible, allowing their laws to merge completely with their bodies and thwarting Hong Jun's schemes.

He had to change the Witch Clan's fate.

Pan Xuan rose and walked into the main chamber of Pangu Hall.

The Twelve Ancestral Witches were each cultivating. Sensing his arrival, they opened their eyes.

"Brother Pan Xuan, what is it?" Di Jiang asked.

Pan Xuan smiled slightly. "Nothing. I merely gained some insights while contemplating the Heavenly Dao and wanted to share them with you, my brothers and sisters."

He told the Ancestral Witches some of his understanding of how the Heavenly Dao operated. All of it concerned the development of the Martial Dao and would help them with their Dao refining.

As for his conjectures about the gaps in the Heavenly Dao and Hong Jun's schemes, he did not mention a single word.

After listening, the Ancestral Witches all nodded, saying they had benefited greatly.

Zhu Rong laughed heartily. "Brother Pan Xuan, your understanding of the Heavenly Dao keeps growing deeper.

Perhaps in a little while, you will be able to break through to the Primordial Origin Golden Immortal realm!"

Pan Xuan shook his head with a smile. "It is still too early. On the path of the Martial Dao, the foundation matters most. I am in no hurry."

Houtu said softly, "Pan Xuan's younger brother, you just said that the Heavenly Dao has its own patterns of operation, unlike the Great Dao. Then is it the Heavenly Dao that Hong Jun will be preaching?"

Pan Xuan considered this before replying, "It should be. In attaining Sagehood, Hong Jun comprehended the Heavenly Dao. Naturally, that is what he will preach."

Houtu looked thoughtful. "Then his Dao is indeed different from our Martial Dao.

We use our bodies to bear the Great Dao and our will to commune with heaven and earth;

he uses his primordial spirit to bear the Heavenly Dao and laws to commune with heaven and earth.

Two roads leading to the same destination, yet the journeys themselves are entirely different."

Pan Xuan nodded. "You are right, Sister Houtu.

Precisely because they are different, we have all the more reason not to listen. Listening would only throw our own path into disorder."

Houtu smiled slightly. "Pan Xuan's younger brother, you are right. I will not go, and I will not bring it up again."

As Pan Xuan looked at Houtu, warmth surged through his heart.

He knew that Houtu wanted to hear the preaching not because she distrusted the Witch Clan's Martial Dao, but because she possessed a primordial spirit and felt a natural affinity for the Heavenly Dao.

This was both her strength and her weakness.

All he could do was use his own judgment to help her avoid those potential dangers.

As for his conjectures about the gaps in the Heavenly Dao and Hong Jun's schemes, Pan Xuan would continue his deductions and continue verifying them.

When the time was ripe, he would tell the Ancestral Witches, letting them know that an invisible net was closing around them in this Primordial World.

And the only thing they could do was grow stronger-so strong that the net could no longer hold them.

Afterward, Pan Xuan returned to his meditation chamber and sat cross-legged again, extending his divine sense into the Heavenly Dao once more.

He had to uncover more of the truth.

The Heavenly Dao had gaps, and those gaps corresponded not only to the Ancestral Witches' laws, but to certain other laws as well.

Pan Xuan carefully sensed the distribution of those gaps, committing each one to memory.

Some gaps corresponded to the power of the sun and the power of the stars.

Pan Xuan knew those should correspond to Di Jun and Taiyi, the future Heavenly Emperors of the Demon Clan.

Some gaps corresponded to the power of creation. Those should correspond to Nuwa, who would become a Sage in the future.

Some gaps corresponded to a certain special power of the west.

Those should correspond to Jieyin and Zhunti, the future leaders of the Western Teachings.

Pan Xuan noted all this information, and the picture in his mind grew ever clearer.

Hong Jun's game covered the entire Primordial World.

Every innate divinity stood upon his chessboard.

Some would become his pieces, some his discarded pawns, and some his opponents.

And the Witch Clan were discarded pawns he had to eliminate.

For the laws the Witch Clan wielded were the most central gaps in the Heavenly Dao.

Only when the Witch Clan perished could these laws return to heaven and earth, allowing the Heavenly Dao to become complete.

Pan Xuan clenched his fists.

He would not let any of this happen.

The Witch Clan had their own Dao, their own path. They did not need to depend on anyone or become anyone's pieces.

They were the descendants of Father God Pangu, the masters of this heaven and earth.

Pan Xuan closed his eyes and continued contemplating the Heavenly Dao.

He had to find Hong Jun's weaknesses, find a way to break his schemes, and find a path by which the Witch Clan could survive.

Within Pangu Hall, the golden light gradually receded.

The auras of the thirteen reverberated through the hall, resonating with Pangu Hall's vast, ancient aura.

The three-thousand-year deadline for the preaching at Zixiao Palace drew closer with each passing day.

Countless cultivators hurried from every direction toward Beyond Chaos, hoping to hear the words of a Sage.

Yet within Pangu Hall, all was silent.

Of the thirteen, not one went.