Drink Deep of Fiend Wine, Expose the Deep-Rooted Affliction

When they reached the front of the hall, Dijiang stopped and turned to Li Qingxiao, speaking with grave sincerity:

"Brother Qingxiao, to be honest, this main hall was formed from Father God's heart. None but those of Pangu's pure bloodline may enter by force."

"If outsiders force their way in, they will surely be slain by the lingering Dao aura of Father God within."

"Please, brother, proceed to the Ancestral Witches' council hall at the side. We brothers will surely entertain you well!"

Li Qingxiao cupped his hands and smiled.

"Ancestral Witch Dijiang, you flatter me. A guest follows the host's arrangements; this humble Daoist shall naturally comply."

He naturally understood the taboos of Pangu Temple. Such a sacred place of creation was indeed not somewhere he could force his way into at present.

Before long, the group entered the side hall.

The hall was furnished in an exceptionally rough and rugged style. Twelve enormous black stone-and-bone chairs stood along either side, with a massive stone table in the center.

The moment they took their seats, Zhurong, the Fire Ancestral Witch and the most impatient among them, swept his sleeve and eagerly brought out more than a dozen huge black earthenware jars from his storage artifact.

Bang!

The enormous jars slammed onto the stone table, splashing several drops of dark-red liquor.

The instant the clay seals were torn open, a dense, tyrannical blood-fiend aura surged toward the heavens,

condensing into the phantom image of a blood dragon baring its fangs and claws beneath the hall's dome!

Gonggong threw back his head and laughed.

"Brother Qingxiao! This is our Wu clan's specially brewed Nine Nether Blood-Spirit Fiend Wine!"

"It is refined from earth marrow from the depths of the Nine Netherworlds and the heart's blood of Primordial Ferocious Beasts!"

"If an ordinary immortal cultivator touches even half a drop, the violent fiendish aura will corrupt the foundation of their primordial spirit!"

"Do you dare drink a bowl with us?!"

Zhurong and Gonggong were both wild and uninhibited by nature. Though they acknowledged Li Qingxiao's character,

they still held a measure of the Wu clan's instinctive desire to test a Daoist Sect cultivator.

Houtu's delicate brows furrowed slightly. Just as she was about to dissuade her two elder brothers, Li Qingxiao let out a clear laugh.

"What is there to fear?"

Li Qingxiao held out one hand, and a jar of Blood Fiend Spirit Wine weighing a full hundred jin drifted lightly into his palm.

Tilting back his head, he swallowed the scorching liquor, thick as magma, in great gulps without the slightest hesitation!

Gulp! Gulp!

The instant the fierce liquor entered his throat, an incomparably violent ferocious fiendish aura exploded within Li Qingxiao's abdomen,

savagely tearing through his internal organs and extraordinary meridians.

Had an ordinary Great Luo cultivator dared to drink like this, his fleshly body would have rotted away in an instant,

and his primordial spirit would have been eroded into a demon by the fiendish aura.

Yet just as that fiendish aura was about to run rampant,

the Twelfth-Grade Purifying White Lotus deep within Li Qingxiao's Purple Residence trembled softly,

and a wisp of sacred, flawless Purifying White Light instantly coursed through his entire body.

The violent, frigid impurities of the fiendish aura were purified and broken apart the moment they touched the white light,

transforming directly into the purest Innate Essence Qi and vital blood energy, which merged into Li Qingxiao's fleshly body.

Smack!

Li Qingxiao heavily set down the empty jar. His complexion remained as flawless as jade, his expression radiant as he exhaled a faint breath of wine.

"Excellent wine! Truly fierce and invigorating!"

When they saw Li Qingxiao drain an entire jar of Nine Nether Blood-Fiend Wine without changing expression,

without even cracking the immortal aura protecting his body, the Twelve Ancestral Witches were struck dumb with shock.

Zhurong stared blankly for a moment, then clapped his hands and burst into wild laughter.

"Good! Good! Good!"

"What a mighty expert with an astonishing fleshly body! Brother Qingxiao, your stomach is sturdier than even ours, the great witches! I, Zhurong, am convinced!"

The atmosphere in the hall instantly grew lively.

The Ancestral Witches had always detested those affected and pretentious immortal cultivators from outside.

Li Qingxiao's bold manner completely dispelled the last barrier in their hearts.

After three rounds of wine and five courses of food,

Houtu, seated beside Li Qingxiao and slightly tipsy, slowly set down her wine cup.

A trace of unconcealed desolation and wistfulness appeared on her exquisite face.

Zhu Jiuyin, the Time Ancestral Witch, also put away his smile. His vertical eye, which governed the flow of years, was filled with solemnity.

Houtu let out a soft, forlorn sigh and said quietly:

"At this lecture at Purple Heaven Palace, everything the Dao Ancestor taught was a supreme truth of the Daoist Sect."

"He spoke of severing karma, using the primordial spirit to harmonize with the Heavenly Dao, and seeking an immortal Dao fruition."

"But our Wu clan has possessed no primordial spirits since our birth. We cannot sense the laws of the Heavenly Dao, much less entrust ourselves to the void."

"Watching the Three Thousand Guests of the Red Dust all gain something, where, in the end, does the Wu clan's path lie?"

The moment she said this, the previously boisterous hall fell silent.

Dijiang's large hand tightened slightly around his wine cup. Zhurong lowered his head as well, his expression suppressed.

Though they were proud by nature and considered themselves the Orthodox Lineage of Pangu,

when faced with the cruel reality that they could neither cultivate primordial spirits nor comprehend the Heavenly Dao's mysteries,

an inescapable confusion had always lingered deep within their hearts.

Just as the Ancestral Witches' hearts grew heavy, a clear voice sounded leisurely through the hall.

"Ancestral Witches, why belittle yourselves?"

Li Qingxiao set down his wine cup and faced the gazes of the Twelve Ancestral Witches, speaking with piercing directness.

"The Wu clan was born from Great God Pangu's essence blood. You command the laws of earth, and the strength of your fleshly bodies surpasses all in the Primordial World. You were born with peerless divine bodies blessed by heaven."

"The reason you cannot give birth to primordial spirits, and why your tempers become ever more violent and difficult to control as your cultivation deepens,"

"is not because your aptitude is lacking, but because you have been corroded by the deep-rooted affliction of Creation-Turbidity Fiendish Qi!"

"Creation-Turbidity Fiendish Qi?!"

Dijiang's entire body shook as he abruptly rose to his feet.

A terrifying light burst from Zhu Jiuyin's eyes, and his voice trembled slightly.

"Brother Qingxiao... you can actually see through this?"

Zhu Jiuyin closed his eyes, his tone suffused with endless sorrow and helplessness.

"Brother, every word you spoke is true. When Father God created the world, the clear qi rose to become heaven, while the turbid qi sank to become earth."

"We brothers and sisters were nurtured beneath the earth. Though our fleshly bodies inherited Father God's essence blood, we inevitably absorbed endless Creation-Turbidity Fiendish Qi as well."

"This turbid fiendish qi not only sealed off our possibility of developing divine souls and primordial spirits, but also accumulated deep within our marrow like maggots clinging to bone."

"Ordinarily, we can still suppress it. But once we fight to the death and the fiendish aura rises, it clouds our minds and turns us into monsters who know only slaughter..."

"We have tried countless methods. We even tempered our bodies with the true fire of Mount Buzhou's earth veins, yet we could not move this turbid fiendish qi in the slightest. This is a dead end decreed by fate!"

As his words fell, the hall sank into silence.

This was the greatest hidden pain the Wu clan had suffered since its birth, as well as the deepest despair buried in their hearts.

Yet in the face of the Ancestral Witches' despair, Li Qingxiao merely smiled calmly.

He brushed his moon-white Daoist robe and slowly rose to his feet, his gaze deep and confident.

"Under the Heavenly Dao, all things generate and restrain one another. How could there be an absolute dead end?"

"Others may be helpless, but this humble Daoist... may be able to give it a try for you."

"What did you say?!"

The hot-tempered Zhurong leaped to his feet. His bell-sized eyes were filled with disbelief, and his voice made the hall hum and tremble.

"Brother Qingxiao! Do not toy with us!"

"That is Creation-Turbidity Fiendish Qi, which even Supreme-Grade Innate Spirit Treasures cannot do anything about! Do you truly have a way?!"

Houtu's beautiful eyes widened as well, and she stared at Li Qingxiao with quickened breath.