The Ancestral Witches Visit Again

"Eastern King Duke, Western Queen Mother!" Hongjun suddenly looked at the two Quasi-Sages, a man and a woman, seated in the second row below.

Below him, Eastern King Duke and Western Queen Mother looked astonished. Clearly, they had not expected Hongjun to suddenly call their names.

Even so, they hurried to their feet and answered, "Dao Ancestor!"

"One of you attained the Dao through Pure Yang Qi, and the other through the essence of Supreme Yin. You two are destined to lead the male and female immortals of the Primordial World. Are you willing to govern its unaffiliated immortals?" Hongjun asked calmly.

"We respectfully obey the Dao Ancestor's decree!"

Eastern King Duke and Western Queen Mother bowed together.

The two felt entirely differently about Dao Ancestor Hongjun's words. Eastern King Duke was overjoyed, while Western Queen Mother was worried.

Hongjun paid no heed to their thoughts. With a casual turn of his hand, he produced a dragon-headed staff and a pure water alms bowl, both supreme-grade innate spirit treasures.

"These two supreme-grade innate spirit treasures are yours. I also grant you Penglai, Yingzhou, and Fangzhang as your cultivation grounds. These three islands are the heaven-ordained foundations of the unaffiliated immortals."

As Hongjun's words fell, three immortal islands slowly emerged somewhere in the East Sea of the Primordial World. Since the beginning of heaven and earth, no one had ever found them.

"Thank you, Dao Ancestor!"

Eastern King Duke and Western Queen Mother bowed and thanked Hongjun together.

By now, quite a few Daluo in the Purple Firmament Palace had bloodshot eyes. Even with their Daluo temperament, they could no longer control themselves in the face of so many innate supreme treasures and supreme-grade innate spirit treasures.

"Dao Ancestor, have mercy! We have nothing to our names. Please take pity on us and grant us treasures!" One Daluo could no longer contain his jealousy and cried out.

At once, many Daluo who had been on the verge of losing control joined in.

"Dao Ancestor, have mercy!"

"Please take pity on us, Dao Ancestor!"

Mournful cries rang throughout the Purple Firmament Palace.

Even Hongjun paused, somewhat taken aback by the sight of the whole hall crying and pleading.

After a long while, Hongjun slowly spoke.

"Very well. During my travels through the Primordial World, I collected some innate spirit treasures. They are of no use to me now, so I shall grant them to you!"

As Hongjun spoke, he turned his right hand over, and a hazy, chaotic stone appeared in it. He pointed casually.

It fell into the boundless Chaos outside the Purple Firmament Palace, growing to the size of a vast world as it rose and sank in the Chaos.

"The treasures are in the Treasure Distribution Rock. Go and take them, each according to your own fortuitous opportunities!"

As soon as Hongjun finished speaking, the mighty figures in the Purple Firmament Palace rushed into motion.

The Twelve Ancestral Witches, seated in the middle of the Purple Firmament Palace, were the fastest. They overtook a crowd of Daluo and charged straight out of the palace.

The Three Purities, Nüwa, Jieyin, Zhunti, Dijun, Taiyi, Minghe, Hongyun, and other mighty figures who had broken through to the Quasi-Sage realm followed close behind.

As for someone like Kunpeng, though he was extremely fast and considerably faster than ordinary Daluo, his unwillingness had kept him from severing a corpse and breaking through to the Quasi-Sage realm.

In the end, he could not match those who had already attained the lofty Quasi-Sage realm.

By the time he reached the Treasure Distribution Rock, a great number of spirit treasures had already been taken. Even after searching again and again, he found only a few middle- and lower-grade innate spirit treasures.

The Daluo who had cried and begged the Dao Ancestor for treasures in the Purple Firmament Palace fared even worse. With luck, they might find one or two spirit treasures, but more of them came away empty-handed.

Inside the Purple Firmament Palace, Hongjun watched everything happening on the Treasure Distribution Rock with a cold eye, his expression utterly unmoved.

Hongjun had been peerless in his scheming all his life. He usually could not be bothered to scheme against his juniors, yet they truly thought he had no temper.

With a sweep of his sleeve, the doors of the Purple Firmament Palace slammed shut before Hongjun. At the same time, a voice of the Dao rang in the ears of every guest of the palace.

"Ten thousand years from now, the third lecture in the Purple Firmament Palace shall impart the Dao of the Sages!"

Ao Changsheng stared blankly at the hundreds of innate spirit treasures and innate spirit roots piled before him, then looked up at Gonggong and Houtu.

The Primordial World... Could it be less dangerous than I imagined, with spirit treasures lying everywhere instead?

Ao Changsheng could not help wondering.

Otherwise, why did everyone who came to his cultivation grounds bring him plenty of treasures, whether friend or foe?

The first visitor had been Great Immortal Yangmei, who had given him a Jade Disc of Creation Fragment.

The second had been Dao Ancestor Hongjun, who had traded the innate supreme treasure Qiankun Cauldron, the innate spirit root Yellow Center Plum, and dozens of innate spirit treasures and innate spirit roots for the Jade Disc of Creation Fragment.

The third visitor had been Gonggong, who had not only shown him Pangu's power to split heaven and earth, paving his path of cultivation through the Daluo Golden Immortal realm.

He had also all but given him a great chiliocosm with enormous potential.

And now, on the fourth visit, Gonggong and Houtu had come together, bringing another hundred-odd innate spirit treasures and innate spirit roots.

Ao Changsheng was genuinely beginning to wonder whether the Primordial World was really like the legends said, with supreme treasures lying everywhere.

"Senior, I know you are a noble recluse who seeks nothing in return, but these things are of little use to us in the Witch Race. Please accept them without concern," Gonggong said respectfully.

Gonggong was not lying. Neither innate spirit treasures nor innate spirit roots were of much use to the Witch Race.

Precious spiritual items like innate spirit roots, which increased Law Power, were harmless to the Witch Race, but they were less beneficial than hunting down a member of the Demon Race for food.

As for innate spirit treasures, they were no different from somewhat sturdier weapons. If that were all, they would still have been of some use to the Witch Race.

But these innate spirit treasures were each stranger than the last: beads, flags, branches, paintings. They simply could not use such things to fight.

"This..."

Ao Changsheng blinked, somewhat baffled.

How had he become a noble recluse?

Besides, with so many spirit treasures laid out before him, why would he refuse them?

"The Witch Race will never forget the kindness of your guidance, Senior. Please accept these gifts of thanks!" Perhaps because Ao Changsheng had remained motionless for so long, Houtu also spoke up to persuade him.

"Ahem. There is no need to call me Senior. My Daoist name is Changsheng. We can address each other as fellow Daoists," Ao Changsheng said with two light coughs.

"As for these spirit treasures, since your generous offer is so hard to refuse, I shall reluctantly accept them."

Hearing Ao Changsheng's words, Gonggong and Houtu both smiled and exchanged a glance.

Their scramble for these spirit treasures on the Treasure Distribution Rock had not been in vain.

"You have shown us the kindness of your guidance, Senior. How could I address Senior Changsheng as a fellow Daoist?" Gonggong said firmly.

"Originally, all twelve of us brothers and sisters intended to come and thank you for your guidance. But considering that Senior Changsheng lives in seclusion and does not wish to attract attention, only the two of us came."

Beside them, Ao Changsheng also seemed to understand a little.

The kindness of his guidance!

This was clearly about Gonggong's breakthrough to the Quasi-Sage realm.

But...

Ao Changsheng thought about what he had done in regard to Gonggong's breakthrough to the Quasi-Sage realm.

Well, I did actually make quite a contribution.

After all, if he had not driven Gonggong into a desperate situation, the Power of Pangu within Gonggong could not have appeared, and he would not have broken through to the Quasi-Sage realm.

From that perspective, it was true that he had shown him the kindness of his guidance!