Reunion

She Bishi, the Weather Ancestral Witch, had a human head and beast's body as he stood at the very peak of the storm.

With a wave of his hands, fierce winds howled and poisonous rain poured down, turning every bird and beast that tried to approach Thunder Marsh to pick up scraps into puddles of pus.

The three of them controlled celestial phenomena and lightning, making them like fish in water within this Thunder Marsh.

Not only had they encountered no danger, but they had also tempered their bodies and Primordial Spirits to become increasingly powerful through the lightning filling the skies. Deep within Thunder Marsh, they had even discovered a Thunder Pool that nurtured innate thunder fluid!

"Xi Zi, She Bishi, we've absorbed nearly all of the Thunder Pool's origin."

"Should we continue our travels next, or...?"

Xi Zi opened her eyes, lightning blazing from her pupils. "Along the way, the three clans have been locked in endless war. One careless step, and we could be swept into it. At our current strength, we can at most ensure that we can self-destruct without harm. I think we should return to Pangu Hall, continue improving our cultivation, and only then resume our travels."

On an unnamed solitary peak in the center of the Primordial World.

Dijiang sat cross-legged. With the help of the Creation Jade Disk's power, he regulated his breathing for a moment, and his complexion finally regained some color.

He slowly opened his eyes and formed an ancient hand seal. Forcing out a drop of blood from his fingertip, he used his Great Firmament Realm Primordial Spirit to stir the resonance of Pangu's bloodline.

"Hummm—"

An invisible ripple of bloodline power spread from him, instantly crossing immeasurable distances of space and reaching the hearts of the Ancestral Witches throughout the Primordial World.

"Return to Pangu Hall at once!"

Having done all this, Dijiang rose to his feet. Looking at his younger brothers and sisters around him, whose faces were filled with concern, a weak yet reassured smile curved his lips.

"Let's go. They're all fine and are on their way back."

"Let's go home."

The return journey was unexpectedly smooth. Although they encountered the three clans fighting over territory, those cultivators were not particularly powerful, and they easily avoided them. As six Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals, no one blindly provoked them either.

They returned all the way to the foot of Mount Buzhou. Gazing at the towering peak, Dijiang saw the phantom of a palace within the mountain.

That was where they had been born—Pangu Hall!

Within the hall, the once-rampant World-Opening Turbid Qi and Earthly Killing Intent had been transformed into spiritual qi by the Creation Jade Disk. Now that Dijiang had taken the Creation Jade Disk away and left for many years, the hall was once more shrouded in turbid qi and killing intent.

Upon returning here, Dijiang's tightly wound nerves finally relaxed completely. He let out a long breath and sat cross-legged directly upon the jade platform in the center of the hall.

He activated the Creation Jade Disk, transforming the turbid qi and killing intent into spiritual qi once more.

Before long, two successive bursts of violent air-splitting sounds rang out from outside Pangu Hall.

"Big Brother!"

Accompanied by a rough shout, Gonggong, Ru Shou, Jumang, Qiang Liang, Xi Zi, and She Bishi rushed into the hall almost one after another.

They had originally been overjoyed and eager to show off the gains from their journey. Yet when they saw Dijiang on the jade platform, pale-faced and unsteady in aura, every smile froze on their faces.

"Big Brother! Who did this?!"

Gonggong, whose temper was equally fiery, instantly had bloodshot eyes. The trident condensed from Extreme Cold Heavy Water in his hand slammed into the ground, making the entire hall hum and tremble.

Lightning surged wildly over Qiang Liang's body as well. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Whoever dared hurt Big Brother, I'll go wipe out his entire clan right now!"

"Enough. All of you, quiet down."

Dijiang weakly waved a hand, suppressing the unrest among them.

Zhu Rong stepped forward with a face full of guilt and recounted everything from beginning to end: their encounter with a Phoenix Clan elder on the Southern Continent, and how Dijiang had burned his origin blood essence without hesitation to forcibly slay two Late Great Principals in order to save them.

After hearing Zhu Rong's account, the hall fell into deathly silence.

Gonggong clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his flesh. Though he had always been at odds with Zhu Rong, he did not utter a single mocking word now. He merely looked at Dijiang on the jade platform with reddened eyes.

The other Ancestral Witches were likewise filled with shock and emotion.

For his own brothers and sisters, he had burned his blood essence and instantly killed enemies above his realm!

That was their Big Brother!

"Alright, why are you all making such long faces as if we're parting in life and death? I'm not dead yet."

Seeing these younger brothers and sisters, usually so proud and unruly, now looking like children who had done something wrong, Dijiang felt warmth rise in his heart. He forced himself to smile.

"This journey was dangerous, but it also showed us the cruelty of the Primordial World. Strength is the foundation of everything."

With that, Dijiang waved his hand, and treasure light immediately shot into the sky from the empty ground before him.

Countless innate spirit roots, divine gold ores, and clumps of blood essence from the dragon, phoenix, and qilin clans radiating terrifying pressure piled into a small mountain.

"These are the gains from our journey. Jiu Yin, you are steady in your conduct, so you will distribute these materials. Use the blood essence and bones of the three clans to temper your bodies."

Then Dijiang flipped his palm. Three pearls radiating soft blue light, along with the clump of Seven-Colored Fire Li Stone, flew separately toward Gonggong and Zhu Rong.

"Gonggong, these three Sea-Calming Divine Pearls are components of a Supreme-Grade Innate Spirit Treasure. They contain an immense amount of Water Origin and are most compatible with you. Take them and refine them carefully."

"Zhu Rong, keep this Seven-Colored Fire Li Stone safe. Enter seclusion with it, and your Southern Bright Flame will surely transform."

Gonggong and Zhu Rong accepted the Spirit Treasures with trembling hands and nodded heavily.

The remaining Ancestral Witches also took out the gains from their own journeys and gathered them together.

The resources of the Twelve Ancestral Witches instantly reached an utterly terrifying level.

"Big Brother, you...?" Houtu looked at Dijiang worriedly.

"I need to enter seclusion in the depths of the blood pool."

Dijiang rose to his feet and swept his gaze across the eleven Ancestral Witches before him, his expression becoming more solemn than ever.

"While I am in seclusion, Pangu Hall will be completely sealed!"

"The war among the three clans has now reached its final stage, and the Tribulation Aura of the great calamity is about to reach its peak. Not only that, I have also sensed peerless mighty experts secretly fanning the flames."

"The Primordial World will become even more dangerous from here on."

Dijiang's voice echoed through the hall, his tone brooking no doubt. "Remember this: no matter how the outside world is shattered by battle, without my orders, no one is permitted to take even half a step out of Pangu Hall!"

"Do not leave seclusion until you reach the Late Great Principal realm!"

"We shall obey Big Brother's decree!" The eleven Ancestral Witches bowed in unison, their voices ringing like great bells.

Seeing that his younger brothers and sisters had taken his warning to heart, Dijiang said no more and turned toward the deepest part of Pangu Hall.

There lay the Pangu Blood Pool, formed from Pangu's heart.

Dijiang took a deep breath, removed his clothing, and stepped into the blood pool.

"Hummm—"

As he sank to the bottom of the pool, the Creation Jade Disk within his sea of consciousness flew out on its own and hovered above the blood pool. Streams of creation qi fell from it, working together with the blood and qi within the pool to help Dijiang repair the deficit and damage caused by burning his blood essence.

Outside, after witnessing the cruelty of the Primordial World, Zhu Jiuyin and the others did not immediately begin cultivating. Instead, they first shared the sights and experiences from their years of travel.