Dijiang took a deep breath, stopped overthinking, immediately closed his eyes, and began focusing wholeheartedly on refining the innate restrictions within the Jade Disc.
Beside him, Houtu, Zhu Jiuyin, and the other eleven Ancestral Witches had witnessed their eldest brother successfully take form and felt the mystery and power of the Innate Dao Body. Their spirits were greatly lifted as well.
They all settled their minds and absorbed the spiritual energy within Pangu Hall with even greater desperation, striving to break free from their blood cocoons as soon as possible.
Within Pangu Hall, the passing years seemed to lose all meaning.
The first layer, the fifth layer, the tenth layer...
As time passed, Dijiang peeled away the restrictions within the Jade Disc layer by layer.
When he pushed forward in one burst and refined the restrictions to the thirty-sixth layer, his Primordial Spirit suddenly encountered an intense sense of obstruction, as though it had slammed into an insurmountable wall.
Dijiang slowly stopped and opened his eyes.
"Thirty-six layers... it seems this is already the limit of what a Daluo Golden Immortal can refine. To go any further, I fear I'll have to break through to the Quasi-Saint Realm."
He was not discouraged. He stored the Jade Disc within his Primordial Spirit to nourish it.
Then he swept his gaze across the Main Hall, only to freeze.
At some unknown point, the eleven enormous blood cocoons in the Main Hall had vanished. In their place stood eleven figures radiating formidable auras.
What left Dijiang both amused and helpless was that, with their elder brother as such a dazzling example before them, his younger siblings had all unconsciously used him as their model when taking form. They had abandoned the savage half-man, half-beast appearances from their inherited memories and all transformed into Innate Dao Bodies.
The men, such as Zhu Jiuyin and Zhu Rong, stood tall and upright, handsome and heroic youths. The women, such as Houtu and Xuanming, were slender and peerlessly beautiful, with the same aloofness and nobility between their brows as Dijiang.
Seeing Dijiang awaken, Zhu Rong, the most hot-tempered Ancestral Witch of Fire, was the first to lose his patience. He strode forward and complained at the top of his lungs, "Big Brother, you're finally awake! Every day in Pangu Hall, all we do is cultivate, cultivate, cultivate. My mouth's gotten so bland I could taste birds! How about we go out and have a look around?"
Dijiang did not answer immediately. Instead, he turned his gaze toward Zhu Jiuyin, the most steady and composed among them, as well as the others.
Although Zhu Jiuyin and the rest did not shout as Zhu Rong had, when they met Dijiang's gaze, every one of their eyes gleamed with intense curiosity, anticipation, and longing for the outside world.
Clearly, Zhu Rong was merely the one who had taken the lead.
Dijiang calculated silently.
He had never intended to keep his younger siblings cooped up in Pangu Hall as flowers raised in a greenhouse.
But the Primordial World was far from peaceful at present. The dragon, phoenix, and qilin clans were locked in a fierce struggle for supremacy over heaven and earth. The entire Primordial Wilderness was a battlefield, with Killing Intent soaring into the skies.
"But..." Dijiang's thoughts shifted. Troubled times breed opportunities. With the three clans vying for dominance, the Primordial Wilderness is littered with ownerless innate spiritual roots and Innate Spirit Treasures. If I wait until the three clans fall, and that old bastard Hongjun becomes a Saint and preaches the Dao at Violet Firmament Palace, I'm afraid he'll have swept every good thing in the Primordial World clean!
A sharp gleam flashed through Dijiang's eyes.
Not only did the Twelve Ancestral Witches now possess Primordial Spirits, but every one of them had the cultivation of a Daluo Golden Immortal and had been born with mastery over one complete Great Dao law.
As long as they did not have the misfortune of running into Ancestral Dragon, Origin Phoenix, Primordial Qilin, or the other old ancestors of the three clans, they would have more than enough strength to protect themselves in the Primordial Wilderness.
"You want to go out? Fine." Dijiang finally spoke, his voice echoing through the Main Hall.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Rong immediately broke into a grin and laughed excitedly. "Haha! I knew Big Brother understood me best!"
"Don't celebrate just yet. Let me make this clear first." Dijiang's expression turned solemn as he cut off Zhu Rong's laughter. "The Primordial World is in the midst of the war between the three clans, and danger lurks everywhere. You may travel outside, but you must never act alone. Whenever you go out, there must be at least three of you together, and you must look out for one another!"
Seeing their eldest brother's stern expression, the Ancestral Witches all put away their playful smiles and answered in unison, "We shall obey Big Brother's command!"
Dijiang nodded in satisfaction and began assigning groups.
"She Bishi, Ancestral Witch of Weather; Qiang Liang, Ancestral Witch of Lightning; and Xi Zi, Ancestral Witch of Electricity—you three command celestial phenomena, thunder, and lightning. Your power will multiply when combined, so you will form one group."
"Zhu Jiuyin, you are the most steady in your conduct. You will lead Zhu Rong, and Tian Wu, the Ancestral Witch of Wind, will join you as well. Wind feeds fire, so you will form one group."
"Gonggong, along with Jumang, the Ancestral Witch of Wood, and Ru Shou, the Ancestral Witch of Metal—the three of you embody mutual generation and restraint among the Five Elements. You are balanced in both offense and defense, so you will form one group."
After assigning the brothers, Dijiang turned toward his two peerlessly beautiful, ethereal younger sisters beside him and smiled faintly. "As for Houtu and Xuanming, the two of you will stay by my side and form a group with me."
"Yes, Big Brother!"
The Twelve Ancestral Witches responded as one, every pair of eyes burning with blazing fighting spirit and excitement.
Outside Pangu Hall, the vast and boundless Primordial Wilderness spread out before the Ancestral Witches.
The heavens were lofty, seas of clouds churned, and though the air carried a faint trace of grimness and Tribulation Aura, the ancient wilderness and boundless vastness of the newly opened Primordial World still sent the hearts of the Ancestral Witches, stepping into the outside world for the first time, surging with emotion.
"Big Brother, then we'll be off first!"
Zhu Rong laughed loudly as crimson Southern Bright Flame ignited around his body. Unable to wait any longer, he grabbed Tian Wu and shot into the sky.
Zhu Jiuyin shook his head helplessly, cupped his hands toward Dijiang in salute, then transformed into a shadowy phantom of the River of Time and followed after them.
Gonggong, Jumang, and the others also bid farewell to Dijiang, transforming into streaks of light in various colors as they sped toward all corners of the Primordial Wilderness.
Watching his younger brothers vanish beyond the horizon, Dijiang withdrew his gaze and turned to Houtu and Xuanming beside him. "Let's go. We'll begin with Mount Buzhou beneath our feet."
Mount Buzhou had been formed from the spine of Great God Pangu. It supported heaven and earth, radiating a terrifying Pangu pressure that made all living things tremble.
For ordinary Daluo Golden Immortals, even flying here was extraordinarily difficult, and their Primordial Spirits could even be shaken by the pressure.
Yet for the Ancestral Witches, who had been formed from Pangu Essence Blood, this pressure was heavy but carried an incomparably warm sense of bloodline merging together.
Houtu stepped barefoot upon the thick earth and felt the pulse rising from the land. A look of tender yearning and tranquility appeared on her peerlessly beautiful face. "Big Brother, walking upon Mount Buzhou feels as if... Father God is still embracing us."
Xuanming wore a long black dress and carried a cold, aloof air. At this moment, she nodded slightly as a trace of gentleness flashed through her eyes.
"Father God transformed into all things, and this Primordial World is Father God's continuation." Dijiang smiled, though a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes. "Come on. The three clans are outside fighting to the death. We cannot afford to miss the opportunities on Mount Buzhou."
Relying on the affinity of Pangu's bloodline and Dijiang's Space Law, which saw through all illusions, the three of them moved across the perilous Mount Buzhou as though walking on level ground.
Over the course of several hundred years, they traveled and paused along the way. Through the senses of their Primordial Spirits, they truly gathered quite a few good things.
Immortal herbs, innate Geng Metal... as long as it caught his eye, Dijiang swept it all into his possession.
Before you continue