The Protagonists of Heaven and Earth: The Witch Race? The Demon Race?

"There's no need for such courtesy. Gonggong, your breakthrough to Quasi-Sage was the result of your own arduous cultivation. It had little to do with me," Ao Changsheng said softly.

"However, I have a few questions I would like to ask you and your sister, if I may."

"Please ask, Senior Changsheng," Houtu said.

"Gonggong, several thousand years ago, you didn't come to my cultivation ground by chance, did you?" Ao Changsheng asked.

He had remained suspicious, after all. At the time, Hongjun had only been preaching the Dao for a little over a thousand years.

After returning from the Purple Firmament Palace, Gonggong had not gone back to the Witch Race. Instead, he had come to the East Sea and happened to find Ao Changsheng's cultivation ground.

How could there be such a coincidence?

"Dao Ancestor Hongjun directed me here, Senior," Gonggong replied without hesitation.

At his side, Houtu also told Ao Changsheng what had happened in the Purple Firmament Palace at the time.

"Hongjun?" Ao Changsheng narrowed his eyes slightly, though he was not particularly surprised.

After all, only Yangmei and Hongjun knew where his cultivation ground was. Hongjun had already attained the Dao, so Yangmei could not possibly still be in the Primordial World.

Thus, if anyone had revealed the location of his cultivation ground, it could only have been Hongjun.

Hearing Ao Changsheng call Hongjun by name, Gonggong and Houtu could not help exchanging a glance.

Sure enough... this Senior Changsheng is the one Dao Ancestor Hongjun called a fellow Daoist. At the very least, he must be an ancient old monster at the peak of the Quasi-Sage realm.

He might even be a Sage like Dao Ancestor Hongjun, a Sage living in seclusion.

Gonggong and Houtu thought this as they looked at Ao Changsheng, who stood before them, as unfathomable as Hongjun himself.

"Senior Changsheng, I have a matter on which I would venture to seek your guidance!" Houtu suddenly stepped forward and spoke in a solemn voice.

"What is it?" Ao Changsheng looked at Houtu.

"Back then, in the Purple Firmament Palace, I asked the Dao Ancestor to guide the Witch Race, because we could not cultivate the Hongjun Immortal Dao. But the Dao Ancestor told me that the Witch Race's fortuitous opportunity lay with you, Senior."

Houtu paused briefly before continuing, "So I would venture to ask you to guide my Witch Race on its path of cultivation."

Ao Changsheng paused when he heard Houtu's request.

Guide the Witch Race in cultivation?

Was she joking?!

The two of them were the only members of the Witch Race he had ever met. How could he guide them?

But when Ao Changsheng looked at the pile of Innate Spirit Treasures beside him, flickering with treasured light, he suddenly felt he ought to do right by these treasures!

The Innate Spirit Treasures were one thing; having more of them was not much use to him. But those Innate Spirit Roots were all treasures that could speed up his cultivation.

He pondered for a moment.

Then Ao Changsheng slowly said, "In the end, the Witch Race's path of cultivation must be opened up by the Witch Race, by the Twelve Ancestral Witches themselves. Only then will it be your Witch Race's Dao of cultivation."

Houtu was stunned when she heard Ao Changsheng's words, but soon fell into thought.

The more she thought about it, the more sense it made, and her eyes grew brighter and brighter.

That's right! Our Witch Race must walk and open up its own path of cultivation. If someone else points the way, how could it still be the Witch Race's Dao of cultivation?

Could it be that we Twelve Ancestral Witches and the hundreds of millions of our kin cannot open up a path of cultivation for the Witch Race?

"Thank you for your guidance, Senior. I understand now!" Houtu abruptly thanked Ao Changsheng.

"It's good that you understand!"

Ao Changsheng nodded gently at Houtu.

Though he had indeed meant to fob Houtu off just a tiny bit, what he had said was his genuine understanding.

The more Ao Changsheng cultivated, the more he felt the profound mysteries of cultivation.

Every breakthrough in cultivation, every insight into the Great Dao of the world, brought immense happiness and joy from the bottom of his heart.

But at the same time, Ao Changsheng increasingly felt just how personal a matter cultivation was.

Even the Divine Abilities and Secret Methods he obtained from the system, once he had cultivated them himself...

After millions upon millions of years of study and arduous cultivation, they would ultimately bear his own imprint.

Even with the Method of Opening Up an Inner World, which he had only recently obtained, Ao Changsheng would subconsciously make changes according to his own ideas as he cultivated it.

And not long ago, when Gonggong broke through and he recognized the distinction between merging with the Dao and proving the Dao, he had become even more certain of this.

From Daluo Golden Immortal to Primordial Daluo Golden Immortal, there was no specific path of cultivation for the Quasi-Sage realm in between.

Whether it was Hongjun's Method of Severing the Three Corpses, the Dao of Hunyuan obtained from the Dragon Race's inheritance, or even his own Method of Opening Up an Inner World,

They were all paths of cultivation opened up by those who came before, leading to Hunyuan.

And deep down, Ao Changsheng had a vague conjecture: perhaps... only those who truly opened up a path could truly become Primordial Daluo Golden Immortals.

Of course... this was only Ao Changsheng's own conjecture, and he had no evidence for it.

"Right!" Ao Changsheng suddenly looked at Gonggong and Houtu. "Let me give you another warning!"

"This epoch is the age of the Witch and Demon Races. Your two races are destined to be the protagonists of this epoch."

"But just like the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Races of the previous epoch, your two races will also be the protagonists of this great calamity."

When Ao Changsheng first said they were the protagonists of this epoch, Gonggong and Houtu had been delighted. But his next words frightened them so badly that cold sweat immediately poured down their bodies.

The fact that he could make two Quasi-Sage Ancestral Witches break out in a cold sweat showed just how much weight Ao Changsheng's words carried.

"Senior Changsheng, do you mean..." Houtu's mouth went dry as she thought of the present state of the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Races in the Primordial World.

Though they could not be said to have been wiped out, they were certainly not much better off.

"Yes, I mean exactly what you're thinking," Ao Changsheng said with a nod.

"Senior Changsheng, the Demon Race only has two Quasi-Sages, Dijun and Taiyi. How can they compare to our Witch Race..." Gonggong said solemnly from the side.

He could not help recalling the chance he had had to wipe out the Demon Race before the world membrane, and a far deeper regret than before welled up in his heart.

"As the protagonists of this epoch, your two races possess most of the providence between heaven and earth. Even if one is weak now, it will soon grow strong," Ao Changsheng said, shaking his head slightly.

In the previous epoch, the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Races had not been powerful from the start either. They had continually fought for supremacy and grown stronger over the long years of an epoch.

By comparison, this epoch had only just begun, yet the Witch Race already had twelve Quasi-Sages in the Twelve Ancestral Witches, while the Demon Race had two, Dijun and Eastern Emperor Taiyi.

They were already far more fortunate than the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Races had been in the previous epoch.

"Senior Changsheng, is there no other way? Must our Witch Race flourish in this epoch, only to decline completely in the Primordial World afterward?" Houtu could not help asking.

"There is."

Under Houtu's delighted gaze, Ao Changsheng nodded with certainty.

"Even the Heavenly Dao leaves a thread of hope. Though you are the protagonists of the great calamity, there must still be a chance of survival for you," Ao Changsheng said with complete certainty.

"However, a thread of hope is only a thread, after all. Even if you grasp it, the Witch Race will not be as prosperous as it is now!"

"Senior, why..." Gonggong could not help wanting to ask, but Houtu cut him off.

"Please, Senior Changsheng, show us this thread of hope!"

Houtu bowed and made her request with great resolve.

Ao Changsheng gave Houtu a long look before saying softly, "This thread of hope still lies with your Witch Race itself. Observe and think more in your daily lives."

"If you want to rule the Primordial World, you must think more about what your Witch Race can bring to the Primordial World, rather than what the Primordial World can bring to you."

"What... can we bring to the Primordial World?" Houtu stood in a daze.

"All right, that's all I can tell you," Ao Changsheng said softly, looking at Houtu, who was lost in thought, and Gonggong, who wanted to speak but hesitated.

"Would you like to come sit in my cultivation ground?" Ao Changsheng invited them.

"No, Senior Changsheng," Houtu said, shaking her head.

"Thank you for your guidance this time, Senior. My brother and I must hurry back to the Witch Race to discuss this with our brothers."

"Then I wish you good luck." Ao Changsheng did not press them. He opened the passage between his cultivation ground and the Primordial World and let the two leave.

Standing on the shore, Ao Changsheng watched Houtu and Gonggong depart, sighing inwardly.

Sure enough, it was neither coincidence nor destiny that, in the future, Houtu was the only Ancestral Witch to survive and carry on the Witch Race in the Primordial World.

It was inevitable. Seemingly guileless Houtu had the same decisiveness as Gonggong at her side, deep in her bones.

Just like the thread of hope he had spoken of.

Both Houtu and Gonggong had understood what that so-called thread of hope for the Witch Race was as soon as Ao Changsheng explained it.

The Twelve Ancestral Witches were the Witch Race's heaven and, likewise, its roots.

As long as the Twelve Ancestral Witches did not fall, the Witch Race would not decline. As long as one Ancestral Witch lived, the Witch Race would always have a thread of hope.

Likewise, as long as either Dijun or Eastern Emperor Taiyi lived, the Demon Race would not decline either.

"Precisely because of that, the eternal protagonists of heaven and earth cannot be your Witch and Demon Races!"

Ao Changsheng spoke to himself as he watched the two witches recede into the distance. The instant his words faded, his avatar dispersed.