A Flick of the Finger Averts Peril, a Bond Forged with Houtu

Houtu was gentle and breathtakingly beautiful, dressed in a pale yellow gown.

Her temperament seemed utterly out of place among this group of violent demon gods.

As the Ancestral Witch of Earth, her physical defenses had originally been among the strongest of the Twelve Ancestral Witches.

But at this moment, the spatial rift torn open by the innate supreme treasure, the Chaos Bell,

contained an ultimate killing power that ignored physical defenses entirely!

Even more deadly, Houtu had taken on the task of covering the rear in order to protect the charging Zhurong and Gonggong.

At this moment, Xuanming, the Ancestral Witch at her side, had likewise been rocked by the backlash until her blood and qi churned, leaving her completely exposed!

Facing that sudden, violent spatial rift, if Houtu dodged to the side, Xuanming behind her would surely suffer grave injuries or even perish.

"Earth Shield!"

Houtu gritted her silver teeth, and a trace of determination flashed through her exquisite eyes.

Instead of retreating, she advanced, mobilizing every law of earth within her body and fiercely thrusting both hands forward,

attempting to use the Ancestral Witch body she took such pride in to withstand the aftershock of this supreme treasure, enough to tear apart a Daluo Golden Immortal.

"Sister Houtu!"

Dijiang and the others ahead noticed the danger, their eyes splitting with rage, but they were too far away to render aid in time.

At that critical moment.

Li Qingxiao, watching from tens of thousands of miles away, had a sharp gleam flash through his eyes.

"The Wu, especially Houtu, the future Lady Pingxin, are beings who will command the Six Paths of Reincarnation. The fortune and karma upon her are terrifyingly immense."

"Such a tremendous favor delivered in the nick of time would be wasted if I did not give it!"

Li Qingxiao neither brought out any treasure nor shouted aloud.

He merely tucked his hands into his sleeves, fixed his gaze in Houtu's direction, curled his fingertip slightly, and gave it a gentle flick.

A thread-thin yet incomparably pure Purifying White Light silently shot from his fingertip.

That white light ignored the distance of space and the raging chaos storm alike, like a meteor in the dark night, striking first despite being launched later!

"Buzz—"

Just as the black spatial rift was about to cleave into Houtu, the Purifying White Light landed with incomparable precision upon the rift's tip.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a mysterious subtlety that moistened all things without a sound.

The violent spatial power capable of severely injuring Houtu, the instant it came into contact with the Purifying White Light,

was completely purified, turning into a gentle breeze that dispersed before Houtu's face.

Houtu had already prepared herself for grievous injury, only to find the crisis inexplicably resolved.

She froze for a moment, then relied on an Ancestral Witch's keen instinct for auras,

following the faint residual fluctuations of that white light through the distant void as she turned to look.

At the end of her sight, Houtu saw a young man clad in a moon-white Daoist robe.

He stood atop an illusory White Lotus, his expression calm as water, as though casually saving an Ancestral Witch had been nothing worth mentioning.

A trace of surprise flashed through Houtu's autumn-water eyes.

She knew that if this man had not secretly intervened, even if she did not die, she would have been badly battered.

As an Ancestral Witch, she clearly distinguished gratitude from grudges.

Houtu did not speak. From afar, toward Li Qingxiao,

she gave a solemn, slight nod, casting him a gaze filled with gratitude and respect.

Facing the thanks of the future ruler of reincarnation, Li Qingxiao remained neither servile nor arrogant and likewise nodded slightly in return.

He then withdrew his gaze, clasped his hands behind his back, and continued quietly observing, making no move to step forward and claim credit or curry favor.

When the deed was done, he brushed off his sleeves and left, hiding both merit and fame!

This unfathomable, unreward-seeking bearing of a supreme expert instead caused Li Qingxiao's figure

to be deeply imprinted in Houtu's heart, leaving behind an excellent first impression.

Just as the Wu and demon sides were preparing to completely tear off all pretense and fight to the death over this clash,

a sudden change arose in the deepest reaches of chaos ahead!

"Rumble—!!!"

The endless Chaos Current seemed to have encountered an irresistible might of the Heavenly Dao,

rolling and retreating frantically to either side, forcefully tearing open an absolute vacuum within the chaos.

Immediately afterward, billions of zhang of purple qi surged forth from the void like an inverted galaxy,

dyeing the originally gray and dead chaos with incomparable nobility!

At the center of that boundless purple qi, an ancient and majestic purple-gold palace slowly emerged.

Around the palace, the three thousand Great Dao laws transformed into tangible chains that intertwined, while endless Dao chants resounded across billions of miles.

Before this absolute pressure belonging to a Saint,

even Taiyi, arrogant beyond measure with the Chaos Bell in hand, and even the Twelve Ancestral Witches, proud and unyielding as they battled heaven and earth,

felt their souls tremble at this moment and involuntarily halted their actions.

Everyone, including Li Qingxiao and Zhen Yuanzi, had their gazes firmly drawn to that palace.

The palace gates were tightly shut, and above them hung an enormous plaque flowing with Dao intent,

bearing three innate Dao characters that seemed condensed from the first ray of light at the beginning of heaven and earth:

Purple Heaven Palace!

At this moment, the Primordial World's great powers who had endured every hardship to pass through the chaos winds had finally reached their destination.

The Three Thousand Guests of the Red Dust gradually gathered upon the incomparably vast white jade plaza before the Purple Heaven Palace.

The Three Pure Ones, Nuwa, Fuxi, Kunpeng, Styx...

One mythical figure after another, each destined to leave behind endless legends in later ages, now held their breath in concentration.

After a brief deathly silence, the atmosphere across the plaza instantly became tense as drawn swords!

Everyone knew that once the palace gates opened, what awaited them inside would be a heaven-shaking opportunity capable of changing their fates.

Within the crowd, Li Qingxiao's gaze crossed countless great powers and fixed tightly upon those shut purple-gold gates, an intense fire blazing deep in his eyes.

"The true contest is about to begin!"

"Dong—!"

Suddenly, a resonant and ancient Dao bell rang out from deep within the Purple Heaven Palace.

The bell seemed to cross through ages of time, instantly soothing the restlessness in everyone's hearts.

Immediately afterward, the heavy purple-gold gates engraved with countless innate Dao patterns let out a deep "Rumble",

slowly opening to either side beneath the burning gazes of three thousand people!

"It's open!"

Someone in the crowd let out a low roar.

But before anyone could take a step, another sudden change erupted!

The instant the gates opened, a terrifying Saint's pressure more than ten times stronger than the one previously felt within the Primordial World

poured forth like the Nine Heavens' galaxy bursting through a broken dam!

This was Dao Ancestor Hongjun's final test for this group of Purple Heaven guests, and also the cruelest selection!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A series of dull impacts exploded across the plaza.

Those Taiyi Golden Immortals at the rear, who had only barely crossed the chaos through luck or the protection of others,

as well as some Early Great Encompassment Golden Immortals with unstable foundations,

did not even have time to scream before this nearly tangible Saint's might pressed them flat against the white jade tiles.