Merit Appears, All Sides Stir

As the Merit Light hesitated, Nu Wa, who had already closed her eyes and prepared to receive the merit into her body, curiously opened them again...

[No way? No way? This thing is merit, right?]

[Why did it stop? Don't tell me it wants to enter my body? Don't come over here!]

Liu Mang had just seen a wisp of merit enter that person's body!

[Merit, every grievance has its culprit, every debt its debtor. Nu Wa was the one who brought you forth, so you should enter Nu Wa's body!]

The moment Liu Mang finished speaking, Nu Wa felt a crow fly across her forehead, leaving behind a string of...

Fine then.

When nothing was wrong, he called her Mother. When it was time to take the blame, he called her Nu Wa.

He truly was Mother's good, big son!

Watching the barrage-like voices in her mind, Nu Wa wanted nothing more than to strangle this dog of a thing.

Had she known, she should have smashed him against the stone platform the moment she molded him into being.

However, what concerned Nu Wa more now was Liu Mang's attitude toward merit. "Why is he so resistant to merit, something every living being in all of Hong Huang chases after?"

Perhaps because Liu Mang had been created by her own hand, she could clearly sense that the panic in his eyes was no act. He was truly afraid.

One had to know that in Hong Huang, merit was even more coveted than Spiritual Treasures. Yet when it came to Liu Mang, he avoided it as though it were a viper or scorpion.

"Could there be something wrong with merit?"

Nu Wa looked at the merit hanging above her head and fell into deep thought.

At this moment.

On Kunlun Mountain, the Three Pure Ones sat cross-legged within their cultivation grounds, their divine senses linked to Heaven and Earth as they endlessly comprehended the opportunity to attain the Dao.

The elder seated in the center was Taishang. Divine radiance was contained within his body, and if not for the divine power that occasionally leaked out, he would have looked no different from an ordinary old man.

The middle-aged man seated on the left was Yuanshi. His aura was round and full, his entire body seemingly flawless and without a single opening. From time to time, ripples of formations flashed and vanished.

The young man on the right was Tongtian. Sword intent surged around him as if it wished to slice apart Heaven and Earth, yet it was dissolved by the elder and the middle-aged man, unable to stir even the slightest ripple.

As Yuanshi slowly opened his eyes, Taishang and Tongtian gradually withdrew their auras as well.

Yuanshi looked at Taishang with a gloomy expression. "Senior Brother!"

Taishang gave Yuanshi a slight nod. "Junior Brother, you must understand that all things should follow their natural course. In the unseen, there is a destined order."

Yuanshi gave a bitter smile and sighed helplessly. "I only feel that we have disgraced Father God. We Three Pure Ones call ourselves the Orthodox Descendants of Pangu, yet not only have we fallen behind the Dao Ancestor in attaining the Dao, we can only gaze at Junior Sister Nu Wa's back."

"Hahaha, Second Senior Brother, Junior Sister Nu Wa is one of us. There's nothing shameful about it." Tongtian laughed heartily. "Junior Sister has such grand spirit and such fine fortune. She actually attained the Dao by evolving an entire race of living beings. Congratulations! Hong Huang will surely become lively from now on."

Taishang swept his whisk. "It is indeed cause for celebration! Two Junior Brothers, shall we accompany your senior brother to protect Junior Sister's Dao attainment and offer our congratulations while we are at it?"

Before Yuanshi could speak, the eager Tongtian took over. "Let's go, let's go! I wonder how strong Junior Sister will be after attaining the Dao?"

As soon as Tongtian finished speaking, he transformed into a streak of rosy light and departed. Yuanshi frowned slightly as he watched Tongtian leave, then cupped his hands toward Taishang. "Senior Brother, please go first."

Only after Taishang had left did Yuanshi transform into a stream of light and follow close behind.

Within the ancient Demon Court, everyone wore jubilant expressions. Eastern Emperor Tai Yi held the Eastern Emperor Bell as he excitedly looked at his Big Brother, Di Jun. "Our Demon Race is about to produce a Saint. How will those Wu Clan brutes contend against us then? It seems the time has come for our Demon Race to rise in greatness."

As they spoke, the two led a host of Demon Gods out of the Demon Court and headed toward Nu Wa.

In contrast to the festive atmosphere throughout the Demon Court, the Wu Clan was shrouded in gloom.

The Twelve Ancestral Witches gathered in the Ancestor Witch Hall. Gold Ancestral Witch Ru Shou looked anxiously at the others, who remained silent. "Big Brother, Second Brother, come up with something!"

"What's there to fret over? Before she attains the Dao, I'll just poison her once, and that'll be the end of it." Poison Ancestral Witch She Bishi said darkly.

"Right! Can the twelve of us really not defeat her alone?"

"Don't forget, she has five senior brothers! Hong Jun is definitely watching from the side!"

"So what if it's that brat Hong Jun? If he hadn't stolen Father God's merit, would he have what he has today? Shameless!"

"Enough, stop arguing!"

Listening to his siblings' increasingly heated quarrel, Space Ancestor Witch Di Jiang felt his head grow twice as large. He shouted and cut them off.

Di Jiang turned to Hou Tu and asked, "Sister Hou Tu, compared to rough fellows like us, you and Sister Xuan Ming are more meticulous. Tell us, what should we do?"

Hou Tu herself did not wish to become enemies with Nu Wa. Perhaps because both had human bodies and serpent tails, they felt closer to one another. But when it concerned matters of the race, this was no time for personal feelings.

After thinking for a moment, Hou Tu said, "Everything right now is merely our assumption. I suggest we wait until we arrive at the scene, then take it one step at a time."

After Hou Tu spoke, Xuan Ming nodded repeatedly as well.

Unlike her brother Fu Xi, Nu Wa rarely involved herself in the affairs of the Demon Race. To attack her without distinguishing black from white would indeed be improper for the straightforward Ancestral Witches.

Seeing that everyone agreed with Hou Tu's view, Di Jiang said, "Then we'll decide once we get there. Remember, from now on, everyone follows Sister Hou Tu's lead. If a fight truly breaks out, all of you will obey Sister Hou Tu's orders."

After Di Jiang finished giving his instructions, the group left the Ancestor Witch Hall. The moment they stepped outside, they found Great Witch Jiu Feng, who had been waiting for a long time.

It was not that she had not wanted to enter. Rather, once the Ancestor Witch Hall was closed, no one other than the Ancestral Witches could open it. Even she, a member of the Wu Clan with the purest Pangu bloodline aside from the Twelve Ancestral Witches, could not do so.

Jiu Feng had originally been nurtured alongside Ancestral Witch Qiang Liang. Yet after that mass of Pangu's Essence Blood finished nurturing Qiang Liang, its remaining energy could not transform her into an Ancestral Witch. It could only settle for the next best thing and make her a Great Witch.

Yet it was also a blessing in disguise. Jiu Feng gained fortune through misfortune and became the only member of the Wu Clan to possess a Primordial Spirit. If she could truly grow, it was not impossible for her to walk Pangu's path of Proving Dao by Force.

Although Jiu Feng was not an Ancestral Wu, the Ancestral Wu doted on her immensely. Qiang Liang spoke up. "Younger Sister, have you been waiting here all this time? Why didn't you return to the camp first?"

"Are my brothers and sisters going to fight? Take Jiu Feng with you, okay? Jiu Feng is very strong too!"

Jiu Feng looked at the twelve people emerging, her face full of excitement.

Everyone was utterly speechless. After great difficulty, the Wu Clan had produced someone with a Primordial Spirit, yet she had somehow been raised into a brute—ptui, a brute of a girl.

The way everyone looked at Xuan Ming turned unfriendly, especially Qiang Liang, who was even more furious.

When I handed my little sister over to you, she was a sweet, adorable girl like Younger Sister Hou Tu! Look what you taught her—thinking about fighting all day long.

"Ahem, Jiu Feng, didn't your master tell you that girls shouldn't always be thinking about fighting?" Xuan Ming broke out in goosebumps under their stares and hurriedly explained.

"Huh? Master, didn't you say that whoever has the harder fist has the reason? If your fist were hard enough, you could make Big Brother Di Jiang cry too!"

Jiu Feng stared at Xuan Ming in bewilderment. Why had she suddenly become different from what she taught me in private?

The moment Jiu Feng spoke, Xuan Ming inwardly cried that disaster was at hand. Sure enough, in the next instant, the space around her froze solid.

The others instantly retreated far away. If Di Jiang's gaze could kill, Xuan Ming felt she would already have been chopped into several pieces.

"Eleventh, now isn't the time. Once we return, Big Brother will make sure to see whether your fists can make Big Brother cry."

Xuan Ming felt like dying. "Jiu Feng, don't repeat the things Master tells you in private, okay? People will die~"

Seeing that Di Jiang had restrained himself from immediately attacking Xuan Ming, Hou Tu spoke. "Big Brother, if Jiu Feng wants to go, let's bring her along! The twelve of us can more than protect her. Besides, it would be good to let her see more."

Di Jiang thought it over. Seeing more would indeed be good. If something happened to the twelve of them, Jiu Feng would be the best candidate to lead the Wu Clan.

While they could still protect her, they should bring her out to see more.

Di Jiang looked at Hou Tu and nodded. "All right, then we'll go together."

With that, he led everyone away.

Mount Sumeru in The West.

Zhunti looked at Jieyin, who sat cross-legged atop the Twelve-Grade Merit Golden Lotus, and could not help but speak.

"Senior Brother, Junior Sister Nu Wa is about to attain the Dao. Aren't you anxious?"

"Why should I be anxious? Those three should be the anxious ones, shouldn't they?" Jieyin said slowly. "Still, we should go take a look. Perhaps we can draw some talented people to The West."

"Junior Brother, The West is poor~ Too poor!" Jieyin wore a face full of sorrow. When he turned to look at Zhunti, he nearly scared him ugly enough to cry.

"Senior Brother, there are no outsiders here, just the two of us. Don't put on that face~ I'm scared~"

"Ah, Junior Brother, that is where you are mistaken. If you can't even convince yourself, how can you convince others? Come, learn from Senior Brother. Put on a face!"

Under Jieyin's coercion, Zhunti could only force his face into a sorrowful expression.

"Yes, that's exactly it. Keep it up. Let's go take a look too."

After saying that, Jieyin led Zhunti as they slowly withdrew from this space.

At the same time, the land of Hong Huang was surging with wind and clouds.

From the Netherworld Blood Sea, a blood-red figure shot forth, wrapped from head to toe in towering blood qi. Any ordinary little demon who so much as glanced at it would become a tool of slaughter.

Deep within the North Sea, a shrill cry left great swathes of the North Sea's Sea Clan dead and wounded, while only a sky-draping feathered wing flashed past.

The various secret realms opened and closed; some shot out a streak of light, while others merely released a sigh before swiftly shutting again.

None of this had anything to do with Nu Wa.

Right now, she only wanted to kill someone!