Opening the Mountain Gate Wide?

"You may rise."

Dijiang's voice was like the music of heaven, spreading to every corner of the formation.

"For these past tens of thousands of years, you have multiplied and lived here, and your cultivation has all progressed. This pleases me greatly."

"But remember this well: the Primordial World is perilous. Only by becoming strong yourselves can you gain a foothold. Though we shelter you, the path of cultivation is one you must walk on your own!"

"We obey the decree of the Ancestral Witches!" Tens of millions of living beings bowed once more.

Dijiang nodded slightly and led the eleven Ancestral Witches down before Pangu Hall.

"Big Brother, this power of fortune seems even stronger than before." Zhu Jiuyin sensed the increasingly active Time Law within him, and a gleam flashed through his eyes.

"Naturally."

Dijiang smiled. "The more they multiply and thrive here, and the stronger they become, the greater the fortune they gather."

"Come. Let us enter the hall."

The Twelve Ancestral Witches pushed open the heavy hall doors and returned to Pangu Hall.

"Now that the three races have withdrawn from the world and the War of Dao and Demons has ended, the Primordial World is about to welcome a new era."

Seated upon the jade dais, Dijiang swept his gaze over the others. "That old schemer Hongjun will likely take another step forward before long."

"Another step forward?"

Zhu Rong curled his lip. "Big Brother, so what if that old schemer takes another step forward? We have twelve Primordial Golden Immortals, along with the Twelve Capitals Divine Baleful Formation. Are we supposed to fear him?"

"Do not underestimate him."

Dijiang's expression turned grave. "The Twelve Capitals Formation is our trump card and may only be used at critical moments. Besides, relying on the power of a formation means we are ultimately a notch weaker. To forge iron, one must first be strong oneself."

"Only when our strength rises beyond the Primordial Golden Immortal realm, and we each possess the power to protect ourselves when facing Hongjun alone, can we truly be secure."

"Mm. We'll listen to Big Brother."

"Big Brother, since sheltering these living beings and teaching them cultivation allows us to receive the blessing of their fortune and increase the speed at which we comprehend laws, should we open the mountain gate wide and take in more living beings?"

Zhu Jiuyin spoke thoughtfully.

"Open the mountain gate wide and take in more living beings?"

Hearing this, Dijiang lightly tapped the jade dais with his fingers and sank into thought.

Zhu Jiuyin's proposal was indeed tempting.

In the Primordial World, fortune was practically a cure-all.

Not only could it accelerate cultivation and assist in comprehending laws, it could also avert calamities and resolve misfortunes in the unseen.

They had already tasted such enormous benefits from sheltering tens of millions of living beings. If they expanded that number tenfold or a hundredfold, how terrifying would the blessing of fortune become?

Yet Dijiang did not agree at once.

"Jiu Yin, your idea is good, but the timing is wrong."

Dijiang shook his head, his profound gaze turning toward the outside of the hall. "The three races have only just withdrawn, and the aftershocks of the War of Dao and Demons have yet to fully subside. The Primordial World is currently in an extremely sensitive vacuum period."

"Those reclusive mighty figures who survived the calamity by clinging to life, along with those ambitious innate sacred beings, are all lying in wait in the shadows."

"If we make a great fanfare of opening our mountain gate and frantically gather living beings at this time, we will inevitably become the target of public criticism."

Dijiang paused, and his tone turned cold. "A tree that stands out in the forest is sure to be destroyed by the wind. Though the twelve of us Primordial Golden Immortals fear no one, if we provoke the entire Primordial World into rising against us, the losses will outweigh the gains."

"Big Brother is right."

Houtu nodded in agreement. "Besides, once the number of living beings grows too large, they will be a mixed lot of good and bad, making them troublesome to manage. If someone causes trouble among them and ruins our reputation, it will instead damage our fortune."

"So we just sit here and watch?" Zhu Rong scratched his head, unwilling to accept it.

"Of course we will not merely watch."

A profound smile curved Dijiang's lips. "Not making a show of ourselves openly does not mean we cannot lay out plans in secret."

"These tens of millions of living beings are our finest seeds."

Dijiang rose to his feet and swept his gaze over the eleven Ancestral Witches. "From this day onward, aside from entering seclusion to cultivate, you must also take turns going into the formation to preach the Dao to these living beings!"

"Preach the Dao?" All the Ancestral Witches were stunned.

"Indeed, preach the Dao."

Wisdom gleamed in Dijiang's eyes. "We must not only shelter them, but enlighten them as well. We will turn our understanding of laws into simple, comprehensible Dao sounds and pass them on."

"In this way, their faith in us will take root even more deeply, and their fortune will become purer and more immense."

"More importantly..."

Dijiang lowered his voice. "Once some of them achieve success in cultivation and break through to the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal realm, or even the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm, we can have them leave Mount Buzhou and travel throughout the Primordial World."

"They bear the mark of our Pangu Orthodox Lineage. Wherever they go, our influence can extend there. Those living beings who seek the Dao will come toward Mount Buzhou. When that time comes, we may preach broadly, or select some with excellent temperament and aptitude for careful instruction. This is like nourishing all things with rain that falls silently—far more brilliant than making a great fanfare of recruiting living beings!"

"Wonderful!"

Zhu Jiuyin's eyes shone brilliantly, and he could not help clapping his hands in praise. "Big Brother's plan not only avoids the eyes of the Primordial World's mighty figures, but also allows our influence to spread across the entire Primordial World in secret."

"Hehe, I like this preaching-the-Dao business!"

Zhu Rong grinned. "I'll go tell them about the Flame Dao I've newly comprehended!"

"Oh, spare us!" Gonggong rolled his eyes. "With you, don't start preaching and end up roasting them all alive. I should teach the Water Dao instead."

"You watery fraud, are you looking for a beating?!"

"Come on! You think I'm afraid of you?!"

Watching the two resume their daily bickering, Dijiang helplessly rubbed his brow.

"Enough. Settle down, all of you."

With a wave of his hand, Dijiang suppressed the two of them. "Jiu Yin and Houtu will take the lead in preaching the Dao, while the rest of you assist them. Remember: do not pull up seedlings to help them grow. Proceed step by step."

"Yes, Big Brother!" The Ancestral Witches answered in unison.

In the years that followed, the Spirit-Gathering Formation at the foot of Mount Buzhou welcomed an unprecedented spectacle.

The Twelve Ancestral Witches took turns appearing in the air, preaching the Dao to the living beings within the formation and around Mount Buzhou.

Though the teachings were relatively simple, the tens of millions of living beings listened as though intoxicated, and their cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds.

In merely tens of thousands of years, several hundred Primordial Unity Golden Immortals emerged among those tens of millions of living beings. There were even several exceptionally gifted individuals who had faintly touched the threshold of the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm!

As the cultivation of these living beings rose, the Fortune Golden Dragons gathering around the Twelve Ancestral Witches also grew increasingly vast and solid.

Within Pangu Hall.

Dijiang sat cross-legged above the blood pool, silver Space Law flowing around him like rippling water.

The Space Dao Fruit at his brow had advanced another step under the nourishment of immense fortune, radiating an eternal, indestructible glow.

"Mid-Primordial Golden Immortal..."