Loving flowers is fine, but you can't plant just any flower

Seeing the pensive look on Lu Xuan's face, the Twelve Ancestral Witches all fell silent. A faint trace of worry even rose in their hearts.

In the end, Houtu spoke. "Brother, the remaining eleven drops of Pangu Jade Marrow aren't really inside the core of Buzhou Mountain, are they? If so, I'm afraid they truly can't be taken out."

Although the Twelve Ancestral Witches were all capable of toppling Buzhou Mountain, if given the choice, they would rather give up the Pangu Jade Marrow than destroy Buzhou Mountain.

For Buzhou Mountain was not merely an inheritance—it was also a symbol of Pangu. As Pangu Descendants, the Twelve Ancestral Witches would never allow Pangu's symbol to vanish from the Primordial World.

Lu Xuan naturally understood this reasoning. He immediately said, "Perhaps the Pangu Jade Marrow has not yet reached the time for its emergence. Once that time comes, no one will be able to stop it from appearing."

"So long as we plan properly when the time comes, one drop of Pangu Jade Marrow will surely belong to you. Even the Heavenly Dao can forget about taking it from your hands."

Lu Xuan did not directly mention that, someday in the future, Gong Gong would ram his head into Buzhou Mountain, causing it to collapse completely.

When Buzhou Mountain collapsed, that would be the best time to seize the Pangu Jade Marrow. Still, this matter would require careful planning before it could be accomplished.

Yet after hearing this, Zhu Rong spoke with great openness. "Brother, even if we brothers do not have Pangu Jade Marrow and cannot produce Primordial Spirits, our physical combat strength alone is enough to dominate the Primordial World."

"Besides, our Witch Race descendants have now found a way to produce Primordial Spirits. Whether old fellows like us have Primordial Spirits or not, what difference does it make?"

The other Ancestral Witches all nodded, expressing that they were not overly fixated on producing Primordial Spirits. As for whether they truly meant it or simply did not wish Lu Xuan to worry over the matter, Lu Xuan naturally understood.

Thus, he directly said, "Since I, Lu Xuan, am your elder brother, I will never stand by and watch you remain unable to produce Primordial Spirits."

"Even without that Pangu Jade Marrow, your brother will exhaust every possible means to find a way for you to produce Primordial Spirits."

Lu Xuan's promise moved everyone present. They promptly stopped discussing the matter of Pangu Jade Marrow.

With that oppressive subject gone, the atmosphere immediately became lively. They chatted about everything under the sun, and the conversation became exceedingly animated.

Several years later, the Ancestral Witches finally bade Lu Xuan farewell and returned to their respective tribes. Houtu, however, did not leave with them and instead chose to remain on Abbot Island.

She even claimed Lu Xuan's unused thatched cottage for herself. As for the interior, she naturally furnished it with a set of modern furniture according to Lu Xuan's standards.

Time was the cheapest thing in the Primordial World, and in the blink of an eye, ten thousand years had passed. During those ten thousand years, Lu Xuan finally completely refined the twelve Sea-Calming Pearls.

What puzzled Lu Xuan was that even after he refined the final Heavenly Dao restriction, the twelve Sea-Calming Pearls showed no sign of evolving into the heavens and worlds.

After sorting through his memories, Lu Xuan finally grasped the key point. In the original course of the Primordial World, Burning Lamp Daoist had evolved twenty-four Sea-Calming Pearls into the Twenty-Four Heavens, but he had also relied on an Innate Spirit Treasure called the Heaven-Earth Ruler.

"It seems the problem lies with the Heaven-Earth Ruler. Without its assistance, the Sea-Calming Pearls simply cannot evolve into the heavens and worlds."

"But the Heaven-Earth Ruler is in Burning Lamp Daoist's hands. By now, he should have already entered the Chan School. It seems this matter will require some planning."

After gathering his thoughts, Lu Xuan rose and left his thatched cottage. He had intended to see what Houtu was doing, only to have his eyes widen in shock at the sight before him.

As far as the eye could see, red flowers had been planted all around the thatched cottage. Most importantly, these flowers had blossoms but no leaves.

The natives of the Primordial World might not know what this meant, but as a transmigrator, Lu Xuan was all too familiar with these flowers.

"What is going on? Why has Houtu planted my entire place with Other Shore Flowers? Could she be planning to take Abbot Island with her to the Nine Netherworld?"

Blooming around the thatched cottage were precisely Other Shore Flowers. Though they looked exceptionally beautiful, they made the back of Lu Xuan's neck go cold.

He truly feared that after sunset, souls would drift above every one of these Other Shore Flowers. Just imagining that scene made Lu Xuan shudder.

"Wait, I'm already a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal. Why am I afraid of ghosts? No, I'm not afraid of ghosts—I simply don't like them."

Just then, Houtu ran in from outside and immediately spotted Lu Xuan standing there in a daze. Joy instantly appeared on her face.

She stepped forward and said, "Brother, you finally came out of seclusion. Are these flowers beautiful? I found them at the northernmost edge of Abbot Island. I named them Manjushaka."

"There were originally only two plants. After several thousand years of cultivation, I finally turned them into a sea of flowers."

Seeing the proud look on Houtu's face, Lu Xuan found it hard to say anything more. In any case, when Houtu transformed herself into the Six Paths of Reincarnation in the future, these Other Shore Flowers would go with her to the Nine Netherworlds.

At the same time, Lu Xuan vaguely sensed that the day Houtu transformed herself into reincarnation might not be far away. Thus, things related to the Nine Netherworld would gradually begin appearing around Houtu.

In the original course of the Primordial World, after Houtu transformed herself into the Six Paths of Reincarnation, Hongjun had plotted against her and effectively imprisoned her within reincarnation. Though she possessed cultivation equivalent to a Sage's, she could not take even half a step out of reincarnation.

At this thought, a resolute glint appeared in Lu Xuan's eyes as he muttered to himself inwardly.

"I don't care what the original course of the Primordial World was like. In the Primordial World where I, Lu Xuan, exist, no one will be able to plot against my little sister Houtu."

Lu Xuan had never intended to stop Houtu from transforming herself into the Six Paths of Reincarnation. That was Houtu's mission, and also Houtu's opportunity.

He immediately asked Houtu, "What realm has your Primordial Spirit cultivation reached now?"

Houtu answered without hesitation, "Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal. After reaching Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, it stopped advancing. No matter how hard I tried, I could not improve in the slightest."

This answer did not surprise Lu Xuan. After all, Houtu was one of the mighty Twelve Ancestral Witches. With her physical body alone, she could rival a late-stage Quasi-Sage.

Therefore, the realms before Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal had been as natural as water flowing into a channel for Houtu. But to break through the later realms, she would need a path to follow.

Although Houtu had attended the first lecture at Zixiao Palace, she had possessed no Primordial Spirit at the time and had been unable to understand what Hongjun taught.

Suddenly, Lu Xuan thought of the Three Pure Ones within the Pangu World-Opening Map. It seemed that only by seeking the Three Pure Ones' help could Houtu raise her Primordial Spirit cultivation to the Primordial Golden Immortal realm as well.

He immediately said to Houtu, "The Three Pure Ones are currently within the Pangu World-Opening Map. They will surely have a way to let you continue improving your Primordial Spirit cultivation."

As he spoke, Lu Xuan had already unfurled the Pangu World-Opening Map. Taking Houtu's hand, he vanished from the spot.