Pan Xuan had only just recovered from his dizziness when everything before his eyes appeared as a blur of chaos.
He struggled to open his eyes, but felt as if he were wrapped in a layer of viscous, warm current, with no control over any of his limbs.
Before he could even think about where he was or what had happened, he sensed twelve terrifying auras, as deep as the abyss and as oppressive as a prison, closing in around him.
They were twelve colossal figures, towering between heaven and earth.
No, just as the thought rose in Pan Xuan's mind, an immense torrent of information, too vast to describe, crashed violently into his soul.
It felt as if all of chaos had exploded inside his mind, while the first great boom of heaven and earth opening echoed in the depths of his soul.
Inherited memories.
The creation of heaven and earth.
Pangu.
Countless images flashed past like scenes in a lantern show: chaos like an egg, a giant wielding a great axe, splitting the heavens with one strike and dividing the clear from the turbid;
The giant stood between heaven and earth, pushing the sky a zhang higher and the earth a zhang thicker each day, growing a zhang taller with every passing day;
The giant fell. His breath became wind and clouds, his voice thunder, his left eye the sun and his right eye the moon, his limbs and body the four extremities and five sacred mountains, and his blood the rivers.
His sinews became the lay of the land, his flesh the fields, his hair and beard the stars, his body hair the plants and trees, his teeth and bones metal and stone, his essence and marrow pearls and jade, and his sweat rain...
At last, the scene froze on a strand of primordial yellow energy.
When Father God Pangu fell, a mighty, righteous qi surged from his chest into the skies.
It entwined with the unseen merit of creating the world and drew upon the first strand of primordial yellow energy from when heaven and earth had first opened.
The three blended together, and after endless ages, gave rise to a living being—
the Nine-Clawed Golden Dragon.
It was him.
At that moment, Pan Xuan's consciousness fully awakened.
He understood.
He had transmigrated, arriving in this Primordial World.
He had transmigrated into this Nine-Clawed Golden Dragon, born from the fusion of Pangu's mighty righteous qi, the merit of creating the world, and the primordial yellow energy of heaven and earth.
And now, twelve terrifying beings were gathered around him, watching him.
Pan Xuan endured the throbbing pain in his soul brought on by his inherited memories. Through the layer of primordial yellow energy surrounding him, he cautiously sensed the world outside.
The moment he did, he nearly jumped out of his skin.
The ones surrounding him were none other than the legendary Twelve Ancestral Witches, twelve terrifying beings born from Pangu's blood essence!
In the east stood a godlike being shaped like a yellow sack, scarlet as cinnabar, with six legs and four wings. His face was featureless, yet he radiated a terrifying force that warped space. This was Di Jiang, Ancestral Witch of space and speed.
Beside Di Jiang stood a godlike being with a human face and a serpent's body, scarlet from head to toe and a thousand li long. As his eyes opened and closed, the power of the passing years seemed to stir within them. This was Zhu Jiuyin, Ancestral Witch of time.
In the south stood a godlike being with the head of a beast and the body of a man, clad in red scales, with fire snakes piercing his ears and fire dragons beneath his feet. Flames roared all around him. This was Zhu Rong, Ancestral Witch of fire.
Opposite Zhu Rong stood a godlike being with a serpent's head and a human body, clad in black scales, with a black dragon beneath his feet and a green serpent coiled around his hand. Water vapor swirled around him. This was Gong Gong, Ancestral Witch of water.
To the southwest stood a godlike being shaped like a hideous beast, with bone spikes growing backward all over his body. Frigid energy shrouded him, as if he could freeze all things. This was Xuan Ming, Ancestral Witch of rain.
There was also Jumang, green as emerald bamboo, with a bird's body and a human face, riding two dragons and brimming with vitality; and Rushou, with a human face and tiger's body, clad in golden scales, a pair of wings growing from his shoulders, a snake piercing his left ear, and two dragons beneath his feet, shining with dazzling golden light;
Qiangliang, with snakes in his mouth and hands, a tiger's head and human body, four hooved feet, and thunder roaring all around him; Xizi, with a human face and bird's body, green snakes hanging from his ears and red snakes in his hands, lightning serpents coiling around her; Shebishi, with a human face and beast's body, a snake in his mouth and another in his hand, a tiger's head and human body, four hooved feet, and poisonous mists billowing around him; and Tianwu, with eight human faces, a tiger's body, and ten tails, surrounded by howling gales.
And then there was Houtu, with a human face and serpent's body, seven hands growing from her back and two more clasping a flying serpent at her chest. Though her form was just as fearsome as the other Ancestral Witches', she was the only one whose aura was gentle and compassionate.
The Twelve Ancestral Witches were all showing their true forms!
Pan Xuan drew a sharp breath. These were the Twelve Ancestral Witches of legend, born from Pangu's blood essence—the rulers of the Witch Clan!
And right now, he was lying in Pangu Hall, surrounded by these twelve terrifying beings.
His memories continued to surface. Ancestral Witch Houtu had discovered him.
As Ancestral Witch Houtu climbed Mount Buzhou, she sensed an aura that shared his origin and followed it to its source.
She found him, still gestating, in a secluded place where primordial yellow energy had gathered, and brought him back to Pangu Hall.
A complicated feeling welled up inside Pan Xuan. Ancestral Witch Houtu, that compassionate and benevolent Ancestral Witch, was the first person he had to face upon awakening.
"Elder brothers, can you tell what it is?"
A gentle female voice rang out, tinged with concern and puzzlement. The voice had come from the terrifying godlike being with a human face and serpent's body, seven hands growing from her back.
Pan Xuan's heart stirred. So even in her true form, Ancestral Witch Houtu's voice was still so gentle.
"Strange." Di Jiang spoke, his voice seeming to come from an endless void. Though his featureless head had no mouth or nose, his words still reverberated through the air.
"This being clearly shares our origin, for we all came from Father God. But its aura... is far too pure. It doesn't seem to have been formed from blood essence."
"Elder Brother Di Jiang is right." Zhu Rong's enormous beast head nodded, flames flickering in his mouth.
"We were born from Father God's blood essence, and were born with his battle intent and murderous aura.
"But this little thing... its aura is peaceful and balanced, with a hint of Father God's compassion—the kind that teaches and nurtures all things."
"Zhu Rong, what the hell do you know!" Gong Gong tossed his serpentine head, his black scales glinting.
"What kind of compassion can that fire of yours possibly burn out? If you ask me, this little thing may have been born from some origin of Father God that we don't know."
"Gong Gong! Are you looking for a fight?" Zhu Rong roared in fury, flames leaping around him as fire dragons and fire serpents danced wildly.
"Enough."
Di Jiang spoke coolly. The power of space rippled, and he gave a light stomp with one of his six feet. Zhu Rong and Gong Gong immediately fell silent.
Clearly, Di Jiang held great authority among the Twelve Ancestral Witches.
"Zhu Jiuyin, can you tell anything?" Di Jiang turned toward the Ancestral Witch with a human face and serpent's body, whose aura distorted the flow of time.
Zhu Jiuyin opened eyes that seemed to contain the turning of the ages and gazed at Pan Xuan. After a long while, he slowly spoke:
"This being... is different from us. It has the power of time, yet also stands beyond time. All I can see is a blur of chaos. I can't make out its origins."
"Even you can't see through it?" Shebishi asked in surprise. In his tiger-headed, human-bodied true form, a snake in his mouth hissed and flicked its tongue.
The hideous beast Xuan Ming, covered in bone spikes, spoke coldly too, his voice like ice from the deepest reaches of the netherworld:
"The chill on its body is unlike my origin.
"My cold comes from slaughter and destruction; its aura... is as gentle as jade, without the slightest trace of murderous intent."
The Twelve Ancestral Witches discussed the matter at length, gathering around the Nine-Clawed Golden Dragon to study him.
Pan Xuan tensed up and curled within the primordial yellow energy, not daring to move.
He didn't dare move. He still had no idea how these Ancestral Witches felt about him.
If they discovered that he had gained sentience, would they mistake him for some wicked creature and refine him away?
This was the Primordial World, after all! A world where Saints schemed, mighty beings contended, and the strong preyed on the weak!
Although he had been born of no ordinary origins, he hadn't fully taken form yet, and his strength was pitifully weak. Any one of the Ancestral Witches could wipe him out with a puff of breath.
"Elder brothers," Houtu's voice rang out once more. "There's something I need to tell you."
Before you continue