Herding One Sheep Is Herding, Herding a Flock Is Still Herding

When Houtu led a member of the Demon Race into the Ancestral Witch Hall, the other eleven Ancestral Witches could not help but frown.

Zhurong, the Ancestral Witch of Fire, spoke up directly and asked Houtu, "Little sister, why did you bring a member of the Demon Race into the Ancestral Witch Hall?"

Houtu pointed at Lu Xuan and said, "Brother Zhurong, he is not from the Demon Race. And he came to the Ancestral Witch Hall to help our Witch Race."

Then Houtu had Lu Xuan explain the purpose of his visit. Meanwhile, Houtu herself had already run over to Dijiang's side.

She whispered into Dijiang's ear, "Brother Dijiang, this monkey is rather foolish. I did not even need to ask him before he told me that the Human Race could help the Witch Race multiply and thrive."

Dijiang frowned when he heard this. The contempt in his gaze toward Lu Xuan turned into a measure of curiosity.

At last, he spoke directly. "You mean that you will resolve the first two matters for our Witch Race, and the Witch Race will pay you with Ancestral Witch Essence Blood?"

Lu Xuan nodded. "That is right. After all, there is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. If I had not promised someone else, then even if you drained yourselves dry of blood, I would not have been bothered to set foot in the Ancestral Witch Hall."

Hearing Lu Xuan speak so insolently, Zhurong immediately flew into a rage. With a casual wave of his hand, a fire dragon pounced toward Lu Xuan.

Lu Xuan did not believe Zhurong was merely fooling around, because the Pangu World-Opening Map had already issued him a warning.

Thus, without the slightest hesitation, Lu Xuan slipped into the Pangu World-Opening Map. Zhurong's fire dragon struck nothing but air and smashed into a stone pillar behind him.

Seeing Lu Xuan vanish so suddenly, even Dijiang frowned. As the Ancestral Witch of Space, he had sensed no spatial fluctuations, yet Lu Xuan had simply disappeared.

What was worse, Lu Xuan appeared behind Zhurong in the next instant. He reached out and patted Zhurong as he spoke.

"Did Great God Pangu not tell you that if you play with fire in the daytime, you will wet the bed at night?"

As he spoke, Zhurong, the Ancestral Witch of Fire, vanished from the Ancestral Witch Hall without a trace. Naturally, Lu Xuan vanished along with him.

The sudden turn of events made the other eleven Ancestral Witches rise to their feet at once. Even Houtu's eyes had widened so much that an egg could have fit in her mouth.

"How is that possible? How could he be this powerful? He actually captured Brother Zhurong right before our eyes?"

Unlike Houtu, who could scarcely believe it, the other Ancestral Witches turned their gazes toward Dijiang. Yet Dijiang merely shook his head.

"I did not sense any spatial fluctuations. I do not know where he is hiding either."

Meanwhile, Zhurong, who had been pulled into the Pangu World-Opening Map, was utterly dumbfounded. He stood frozen in place, scarcely daring to breathe.

"Great God Pangu, your son is far too outrageous. I am not handling the matter you entrusted to me anymore. Go deal with it yourself, or one day he may roast me alive."

No sooner had Lu Xuan finished speaking than Pangu, carrying the World-Opening Axe, strode toward Zhurong. He then treated Zhurong like a nail and drove him straight into Buzhou Mountain.

"This is a warning. If you dare disrespect your second uncle again, I will put out every flame on your body with a single stream of piss."

Lu Xuan hurriedly waved his hands. "Great God Pangu, how many times have I told you? I am not qualified to be your brother."

"Forget it. From now on, I will call you Uncle. I will reluctantly be the big brother to your useless sons."

Great God Pangu nodded upon hearing this. He pulled Zhurong out of Buzhou Mountain, then said, "Why are you not paying respects to your elder brother?"

Zhurong had long since been scared out of his wits. How could he dare refuse in the slightest? He hurriedly performed a deep bow to Lu Xuan and said, "Zhurong greets Elder Brother."

Of course, everything Zhurong had experienced was not real. The one who had acted against him was not truly Great God Pangu either. It had all been nothing more than an illusion.

Yet to Zhurong, that illusion was real. After all, within the Pangu World-Opening Map, Lu Xuan's thoughts were the will of the Dao.

Lu Xuan had done this for only one reason: to give himself an identity that would allow him to discipline the Twelve Ancestral Witches.

In any case, he had already become Tongtian's elder brother, so becoming the elder brother of the Twelve Ancestral Witches as well made little difference. Herding one sheep was herding, and herding a flock was still herding.

Unfortunately, Zhurong knew none of this. Even after Lu Xuan released him, he continued bowing to Lu Xuan and calling him Elder Brother.

When they suddenly saw Zhurong reappear in the Ancestral Witch Hall, constantly bowing to Lu Xuan and calling him Elder Brother, the other eleven Ancestral Witches were utterly shocked.

Gonggong, the Ancestral Witch of Water, sneered and said, "Zhurong, you have thrown away the face of all Twelve Ancestral Witches by yourself."

Though Zhurong was utterly respectful toward Lu Xuan, it was different when he faced Gonggong. With rage surging to his crown, he snapped at Gonggong.

"You think you have not embarrassed yourself? Go meet Father God with Elder Brother, then see whether Father God drives you into Buzhou Mountain and pisses on you as though you were a urinal."

Gonggong naturally looked completely unconvinced, but before he could speak, Dijiang beat him to it. "Fellow Daoist, can you tell me what just happened?"

Dijiang did not believe Zhurong would casually acknowledge Lu Xuan as his elder brother. Especially the Father God Zhurong had mentioned—it left Dijiang even more puzzled.

Lu Xuan spoke with a helpless expression. "Even if I told you, you might not believe me. It is better to let your brother Zhurong explain it himself."

Dijiang turned his gaze toward Zhurong. Before he could say anything, Zhurong poured it all out like beans from a bamboo tube, vividly recounting everything that had happened.

The other eleven Ancestral Witches all revealed shocked expressions. The way they looked at Lu Xuan had changed somewhat as well.

Houtu ran directly to Lu Xuan's side and asked eagerly, "Can you truly take me to see Father God?"

Lu Xuan shook his head. "What Ancestral Witch Zhurong saw was not truly Uncle Pangu. It was merely a wisp of his divine consciousness."

"It can now only reside within a spiritual treasure. Every appearance is an enormous drain on Uncle Pangu."

"If Ancestral Witch Zhurong had not attacked me this time, Uncle Pangu would not have disregarded the cost in his rage just to teach that unfilial son a lesson."

Lu Xuan made it sound utterly convincing, wrapping everything up flawlessly. After all, the fact that Great God Pangu had fallen after opening the world was beyond dispute.

Seeing that Houtu still seemed somewhat doubtful, Zhurong immediately said, "Little sister Houtu, all of this is true."

"Father God even wanted to acknowledge Elder Brother as his brother and have me call Elder Brother Second Uncle. Later, Elder Brother firmly refused, so he began calling Father God Uncle and became our elder brother instead."

Although Dijiang did not believe Zhurong would deceive him about this, the thought of his own Father God wanting to take a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal as a younger brother was simply unbelievable.

If he had not feared that Lu Xuan's words were true, and that seeing Father God would consume a tremendous amount of his strength, Dijiang would have wanted to see his Father God with his own eyes.

Seeing the look in Dijiang's eyes, Lu Xuan naturally understood what he was thinking. He knew that Dijiang might not believe him unless he saw it for himself.

Lu Xuan immediately stepped before Dijiang and said, "Do not resist my will later. I will take you to see Uncle Pangu from afar."

Lu Xuan had been able to pull Zhurong into the Pangu World-Opening Map earlier only because Zhurong had underestimated him and had not regarded Lu Xuan as a threat at all.

Otherwise, Lu Xuan could never have directly pulled an Ancestral Witch into the Pangu World-Opening Map. Even if it were a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, Lu Xuan could not have succeeded if they were on guard.

Therefore, if he wanted to pull Dijiang into the Pangu World-Opening Map, he had to make Dijiang completely abandon resistance and wholly submit to his will.