Spirit Fruit in Thanks, Guest of the Ancestral Witches

Without another word, Zhen Yuanzi forcibly stuffed the treasure box into Li Qingxiao's hands and said solemnly:

"These are three freshly picked [Superior Ginseng Fruit], each containing ten thousand years of Dao essence!"

"Please accept them, fellow Daoist. Have them on the road to quench your thirst and nourish your body, or to stabilize your Dao foundation. Do not refuse!"

Since these were premium innate spirit fruits delivered right to his door, Li Qingxiao naturally would not put on airs. He accepted them calmly.

"In that case, I thank you, Fellow Daoist Zhen Yuanzi."

Then, Li Qingxiao used his Great Luo divine power to form two Communication Talismans carrying the aura of the White Lotus. He gave one to each of them and said seriously:

"The tides of the Primordial World are about to rise. Storms are gathering."

"If either of you encounters trouble in the future, crush this talisman. I will certainly come to your aid."

As he watched Hong Yun and Zhen Yuanzi accept the talismans with tearful gratitude, a profound gleam flashed through Li Qingxiao's eyes.

In the cruel and perilous Primordial World, one could never amount to much by fighting alone.

He had protected Hong Yun's cushion and driven back Kunpeng's killing intent, but he was hardly some softhearted saint acting out of charity!

Hong Yun carried the supreme fortune of the Purple Heaven Palace's fifth saintly seat, while Zhen Yuanzi controlled the premium Earth Book, whose defensive power could be called the greatest in the Primordial World.

By bestowing such immense karmic ties of enlightenment and salvation today, he had firmly bound these two future titans to his chariot.

Whether he faced the Witch-Serpent Calamity or contended against the Heavenly Saints in the future,

Li Qingxiao would hold two of the most steadfast and loyal trump cards in his hand!

After a reluctant farewell, Hong Yun and Zhen Yuanzi transformed into streaks of light and departed.

Once the two had gone far away, Li Qingxiao turned and looked toward Mount Buzhou before transforming into a rainbow streak that tore through the sky.

He had only just arrived at the foot of Mount Buzhou and had yet to explore deeper.

Rumble—!

A violent tremor suddenly rose from the depths of Mount Buzhou's earth veins.

Immediately afterward, twelve pillars of Pangu Blood Essence, vast enough to blot out the sky and sun,

mixed with berserk Primordial Fiendish Qi, shot straight into the heavens!

This savage and domineering aura belonged to the Twelve Ancestral Witches, who had just returned from hearing the Dao at the Purple Heaven Palace!

Li Qingxiao halted, about to conceal himself, when he saw that among those twelve enormous figures,

a gentle and dignified beauty had broken away from the group and flown gracefully toward him.

It was Houtu, the Ancestral Witch of Earth.

Houtu stopped several yards before Li Qingxiao, a grateful smile resting on her stunning face.

She gave him a graceful bow and spoke with earnest sincerity.

"Fellow Daoist, please wait."

"Outside the Purple Heaven Palace, amid the chaos, you secretly intervened and dispelled the deadly aftershock of Taiyi's Chaos Bell, saving my sisters and me."

"The situation was urgent then, and I did not have time to ask my benefactor's honored name."

"The Wu have always repaid kindness and vengeance in equal measure. I waited here specifically to thank you in person for saving our lives. May I know your name?"

Seeing Houtu's sincere and forthright attitude, Li Qingxiao returned her salute with a slight cupped-fist gesture and smiled warmly.

"It was merely a small effort. Ancestral Witch Houtu gives me too much credit. I am Li Qingxiao, nothing more than an independent cultivator."

As the two spoke, the other eleven Ancestral Witches surged over from behind them.

The hot-tempered Zhurong widened his bell-like eyes, sizing Li Qingxiao up and down before throwing back his head with a hearty laugh.

"Good lad! We saw it from afar just now—you beat that sinister bird from the Northern Underworld until he pissed himself!"

"That kind of direct, fierce temperament is exactly to the liking of us Wu!"

Gonggong also burst into laughter and thumped his chest in agreement.

The Wu had always rejected those Daoist Sect cultivators who constantly prattled on about Heavenly Dao and karmic fate.

Yet Li Qingxiao's attitude in the chaos—if you can fight, don't waste breath—

had won the tremendous favor of this band of battle-mad warriors.

Dijiang, the eldest Ancestral Witch, strode forward and clasped his fists boldly.

"Brother Qingxiao! Since you showed kindness to Sister Houtu, you are an honored guest of the entire Wu!"

"If you do not mind, please come with us to the Wu ancestral grounds beneath Mount Buzhou as our guest."

"Let us fulfill our duties as hosts and drink a few jars of Blood Fiend Spirit Wine. What do you say?!"

At Dijiang's thunderous invitation, a glint flashed through Li Qingxiao's eyes.

Pangu Temple was the Wu's most sacred ancestral ground, holding the boundless legacy Pangu had left behind when he created heaven and earth!

Moreover, the world-opening fiendish aura accumulated within the Wu was fatal poison to others.

But for him, who possessed the World-Cleansing White Lotus, it was an immense opportunity that benefited both sides!

If he could help the Wu cleanse their fiendish aura and remove this hidden danger, he would not only forge a deep friendship with this dominant faction,

but the endless fiendish aura purified in the process would also become superb fuel for him to gain enormous merit and supreme fortune!

"Since Ancestral Witch Dijiang and the rest of you are so hospitable, I shall respectfully accept."

Li Qingxiao smiled faintly and readily agreed.

"Hahaha! Good! Splendid!"

Amid Dijiang's hearty laughter, Li Qingxiao's white robes fluttered.

Following the twelve Ancestral Witches amid their abyssal, oceanic pillars of blood essence,

he set off grandly toward the Wu ancestral grounds at the base of Mount Buzhou.

The sound of tearing air whistled past.

Twelve sky-blotting pillars of Pangu Blood Essence streaked like rainbows across the sky, carrying Li Qingxiao as they plunged into the deepest earth-vein ravine beneath Mount Buzhou.

The deeper they traveled underground, the dimmer the surrounding light became.

The ancient, desolate aura filling the air also grew several times stronger.

After passing through a natural barrier of Earth Fiend Astral Wind,

a boundless underground primordial world suddenly unfolded before Li Qingxiao's eyes.

As far as the eye could see, countless rugged stone dwellings, built from ten-thousand-year dark iron and ancient boulders, stood in orderly clusters.

Across this vast plain, millions of Wu clansmen trained bare-chested.

Those newly born Wu warriors stood several zhang tall, their muscles knotted like coiling dragons.

Every stomp of their feet made the earth rumble and quake.

At the center of the training ground, several especially ferocious ancient great witches stood bare-chested.

The great witch Xingtian held a Dark Iron Greatshield in his left hand and swung a Qianqi Great Axe in his right, hacking the void apart with shrill explosions of compressed air.

Not far away, the great witch Kuafu wielded a Peachwood Divine Staff. Each step he took crossed a thousand zhang of mountains and rivers, while fiendish aura billowed around him like smoke, presenting a terrifying spectacle.

Seeing the Twelve Ancestral Witches return, the millions of Wu warriors stamped their feet in unison and erupted in a frenzied roar that shook the nine heavens.

"Welcome home, Ancestral Witches!"

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

The surging torrent of blood essence they gathered shot straight toward the vault above. Even a cultivator at the Early Great Encompassment Golden Immortal realm would have their mind instantly overwhelmed here.

Yet Li Qingxiao stood in the clouds with his hands behind his back, his expression unchanged as his robes fluttered gently in the wind.

Seeing that this white-robed Daoist remained unflinching before the savage battle intent of millions of Wu,

Dijiang and Zhu Jiuyin exchanged a glance and nodded inwardly in approval.

After passing through the endless tribal camps, the group arrived before a towering, immense grayish-brown temple.

The temple rose into the clouds, its entire structure built from an unknown kind of dark-red divine jade.

Ancient heart veins faintly pulsed beneath its surface.

An indescribable pressure of Pangu enveloped the surroundings like a collapsing mountain range, making one instinctively want to kneel and worship.

It was the Wu's forbidden ground: [Pangu Temple].