Gungun and Ao Yue were dragged backward toward Kunpeng by his spell. In his panic, Gungun was about to use his Heavy as Mount Tai divine ability to make his weight surge, preventing Kunpeng from drawing him in.
But just then, a bell tolled, severing the ages. Space and time froze, and Gungun instantly lost consciousness. A few seconds later, black and white light flashed across his body, restoring his awareness, but he still could not move. He remained trapped in this space, utterly immobilized, as did Ao Yue beside him.
"Hm? Eastern Emperor Taiyi!" With her feet planted on the earth, Houtu remained unaffected despite the frozen space and time. She raised her head toward the golden figure descending from the sky, her delicate brows furrowing as she spoke gravely.
At the same time, shock filled her heart. Just as she had heard in Gungun's thoughts, Eastern Emperor Taiyi had appeared and saved Ao Yue. Of course, this time he had saved Gungun as well.
My Gungun... how on earth did he know this would happen in the future?
Could he see the river of time, like my elder brother, the Time Ancestor Witch Zhu Jiuyin?
Houtu wondered to herself.
Meanwhile, the figure descended from the sky and landed on a massive rock at the foot of Mount Buzhou. He was a handsome young man with flowing dark-yellow hair that reached his waist, wearing the Primordial Heaven and Earth Crown, a Heavenly Dao Imperial Mark between his brows, and the Primordial Sun, Moon, and Stars Robe. Hearing Houtu's voice, he turned to glance at her. His sharply defined face betrayed no emotion as he said indifferently, "Houtu, I never expected you to save Ao Yue. However, he shares a destined connection with me. Today, I will take him back to the Heavenly Court."
Without giving Houtu a chance to answer, Eastern Emperor Taiyi turned directly toward Kunpeng and raised his arm.
Clang! The Chaos Bell suspended in the heavens trembled again, releasing another toll. Then...
"Pfft!" Kunpeng suffered a grievous blow and spat out another mouthful of blood. This time, it was the Chaos Bell that had injured him, damaging his very origin.
Realizing that Eastern Emperor Taiyi also intended to save Ao Yue, Kunpeng had no choice but to shoot Taiyi a resentful glare. Then he circulated the magical power throughout his body and unleashed it in a violent burst, forcibly breaking a sliver of the Chaos Bell's restraint. His figure flashed, turning into a streak of auroral light that sped toward the North Sea.
Kunpeng was so fast that even Taiyi could not catch him without going all out. And since he bore no deep-seated hatred toward Kunpeng, why should he expend all his strength pursuing him?
Thus, he simply let him leave.
Then Eastern Emperor Taiyi vanished from where he stood. A moment later, he appeared beside Gungun and Ao Yue, who were still immobilized by the Chaos Bell. Looking at Ao Yue, he nodded in satisfaction before shifting his gaze to Gungun.
"Taiyi, what are you trying to do?" Alarmed, Houtu hurried toward them with her feet on the earth. At the same time, she waved her arm, creating one stone spike after another that erupted from the ground and stabbed toward Taiyi.
Facing Taiyi, the sovereign of the Heavenly Court who wielded the Chaos Bell, she, the Ancestral Witch of Earth, dared not let her feet leave the ground. Otherwise, she might be instantly immobilized like Kunpeng, or even injured.
Boom! Eastern Emperor Taiyi casually struck a palm toward the ground, shattering every stone spike. Then he looked at Gungun and said, "The first iron-eating beast between heaven and earth. Your origins are indeed impressive, and you are blessed with profound fortune. Your cultivation has already reached the Mid-Stage Great Immortal, and you even possess a spiritual treasure such as the Vermilion Bird Banner. It is rather a waste for you to remain among the Witch Race as Houtu's mount. Would you join the Heavenly Court? I will grant you a seat as a Demon God."
Are you dreaming of eating shit? How could this baby possibly want to join your Demon Race!
Hearing Taiyi's question, Gungun cried out inwardly.
On the ground, Houtu heard Gungun's thoughts, and a look of relief appeared on her lovely face. This foolish fellow might be lazy and greedy, but all the kindness she had shown him over the years had not been wasted.
The next moment,
Houtu activated her Ancestral Witch power, summoning the other Ancestral Witches on Mount Buzhou. Noticing this, Taiyi cast her a composed glance and said, "Very well."
With that, he swept his sleeve and turned into a streak of golden light with Ao Yue, shooting into the clouds and leaving the area. The Chaos Bell suspended in the heavens then vanished as well. The instant it disappeared, the space around Gungun was released, and he fell from the air.
"Aaaah! I'm afraid of heights! Lady Ancestral Witch, catch me!" Gungun flailed his limbs and cried out in panic.
Hearing this, Houtu grew anxious and immediately leaped up, flying toward him. But just as she was about to catch him, she abruptly stopped, letting him finally hit the ground with a bang and leave a deep crater.
Hmph, putting on an act again. A Great Immortal afraid of heights? You really have the nerve to say it!
Inside the crater, Gungun was utterly dumbfounded. He had never expected Houtu to stop just before catching him, leaving him to crash into the ground.
In the past, if I did this, Houtu would always catch me. Then, once we got back, she would feed me spiritual fruit or fine spiritual bamboo to soothe my frightened nerves. Why was this time...
And earlier, she suddenly wanted to save Ao Yue. She even took back the great witch essence blood and gave me a drop of her own pureblood. This...
Gungun suddenly felt that something major he knew nothing about had happened recently, something that had seriously affected his life. But what exactly had happened to make Houtu do this whole string of things he never would have expected?
Gungun did not understand.
Hum... hum... hum... Just as Gungun was puzzling over this, several powerful presences suddenly appeared. The four Ancestral Witches-Dijiang, Ju Mang, Qiang Liang, and Xuanming-had arrived.
Dijiang asked Houtu, "Little sister, where is Taiyi? I sensed his presence. That fellow actually dared to appear in the Witch Race's territory. He truly thinks nothing of us!"
"Eldest brother, he has already left, and he took Ao Yue, the Ancestral Dragon's eldest legitimate son, with him." Houtu shifted her gaze away from Gungun and spoke to Dijiang.
"Ao Yue?" Hearing Houtu's words, Dijiang frowned. He had also seen Ao Yue's earlier battle with Kunpeng, but had thought little of it. He had even hoped they would kill each other, allowing the Witch Race to pick up a dragon corpse and a bird corpse for free. Yet he had never expected Eastern Emperor Taiyi to come here and rescue Ao Yue. What was he trying to do? Could it be...
Dijiang thought of one possibility: Taiyi wanted to subdue Ao Yue and use him to bring the Dragon Race under his control.
At this thought, his expression grew solemn. He then asked Houtu, "What about Kunpeng?"
"Taiyi injured him, and he fled."
"..." Dijiang fell silent for a while before finally saying, "Let's go. We'll return to Pangu Hall to discuss this."
"Yes." Houtu and the other Ancestral Witches nodded in acknowledgment. Then Houtu called down to Gungun, who was still sprawled in the crater, "Gungun, let's go. We're heading back."
Gungun still could not work out what had made Houtu suddenly do so many things that surprised him. True to his lazy-fish nature, he simply stopped thinking about it. In any case, he would absolutely never do anything as dangerous as today's events again, even if Houtu tempted him with spiritual fruit.
I was so close to Eastern Emperor Taiyi. If he had casually wiped me out, I would have had nowhere to cry for justice.
With that thought, Gungun raised his head and answered Houtu listlessly, "Oh."
Who would have thought that the moment he answered, the system's mechanical voice would sound again? However, since he had blocked it long ago, Gungun did not hear it.
[Ding! Detected that the host cannot be bothered to think about the enormous changes in Ancestral Witch Houtu, fully demonstrating what it means to be a lazy fish. Treasure Map +1, primordial spirit strength +3, magical power +3, lazy fish points +2,000.]
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