Di Jun wore a serious expression. He had suddenly realized that the problem was quite grave—the Ancestral Witches could summon Pangu. Who could possibly withstand that? Even if it was just a phantom, its majesty was peerless.
Upon hearing this, Tai Yi also fell into a momentary silence, his face clouded with contemplation.
Seeing this, Ling Xiao let out a faint smile and remarked casually, "It's simple. Just don't give them the chance to form the array."
This wasn't a movie where the villains stood around politely waiting for the protagonist to charge up a ultimate move. No matter how powerful the Twelve Capital Gods Fiend Formation was, if it couldn't be deployed, it was nothing but drifting clouds.
"Of course! Third Brother is right. Why didn't I think of that?" Di Jun's eyes lit up; it was a total moment of sudden enlightenment.
"Alright, let's head back," Ling Xiao laughed. He was carrying a mountain of treasures from the Dragon Clan and was eager to go back and digest his gains.
"Fine! I'm going back to enter seclusion and Cultivate as well." Di Jun nodded, his face solemn.
"I've gained a lot of insight on this trip. My Dao Heart is clear, making it a perfect time for a breakthrough. I'm going to use this momentum to reach... Hun Yuan Golden Immortal Perfection in one go!"
He had originally intended to say reach the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm, but he changed his mind at the last second to lower the "difficulty bar" for his next emergence.
"I feel the same. Hun Yuan Golden Immortal Perfection is a much more reliable goal!" Tai Yi echoed, nodding in agreement.
Ling Xiao, Di Jun, and Tai Yi returned to the Sun Star. This excursion had been incredibly lucrative, leaving them "dripping with oil" from their gains.
Ling Xiao was particularly satisfied. The treasures from the Dragon Clan's treasury were far superior to those on the Three Immortals Island. It was an unexpected windfall; he hadn't even planned to visit the dragons, yet they had delivered themselves to his door.
Ling Xiao offered to share some of the dragon treasures with his brothers, but they refused. Left with no choice, he tucked them into the Chaos Pearl to serve as rations for the Sky-Swallowing Gourd, keeping only a small portion he deemed personally useful.
Without another word, Di Jun and Tai Yi entered a long period of seclusion. Ling Xiao settled quietly into the Treasure Hall, refining his treasures and pushing toward the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm.
He had already refined over two thousand Restrictions of the Chaos Pearl. The further he went, the more difficult it became. According to his calculations, he would likely need to reach the Grand Unity Golden Immortal Realm before he could fully master the pearl.
"Good things take time. Treasures and Cultivation must advance together. Hopefully, this time no one will disturb me while I focus on this Breakthrough..."
With that thought, Ling Xiao slowly drifted into a deep state of meditation.
Meanwhile, Candle Nine Nethers, the God of Fire, and the other Witches fled back to Pangu Temple as if they wished their parents had given them two extra legs.
Qiang Liang was in the lead, dragging the God of Fire along. During the actual battle, he had shrunk to the back, but during the retreat, he was the fastest—his sense of "distance management" was impeccable.
It wasn't that he was a coward; rather, he had sensed before the battle even began that they did not hold the advantage. Knowing it was useless to argue with his brothers, he had taken the initiative to "minimize losses" by preserving his own body so he could drag his brothers out of the fire—which was exactly what he was doing now.
He was in perfect condition and full of energy. Even carrying the God of Fire, he could outrun the others. This was the power of foresight.
Qiang Liang didn't feel a shred of shame; instead, he felt a sense of superiority over the other Witches.
After all, Gonggong, Ju Mang, and the others who had been pummeled by the Crows didn't have this level of awareness. Putting strength aside, in terms of "wisdom," Qiang Liang felt he had already transcended the standard Witch category.
Thud!
Qiang Liang dumped the God of Fire onto the floor of the hall, startling Di Jiang and the other Witches who had stayed behind.
What is the situation? Why does this feel so familiar?
They had left in high spirits; how had they come back horizontal?
"What happened? Who beat you into this state?"
Di Jiang strode forward, shouting in a fit of rage. Aside from the unconscious God of Fire, Gonggong, Ju Mang, and the others were all sporting various degrees of injury.
Most absurdly, Candle Nine Nethers was carrying the East King Duke, who currently consisted of only half a body. The other half was simply gone, vanished into thin air.
"East King Duke, this is all your doing! Explain yourself to our Big Brother!"
Candle Nine Nethers threw the Duke onto the ground like a piece of trash. If he hadn't intended to bring him back to face judgment, he would have let the Crows finish him off on the spot. If this fool hadn't egged them on to take the Three Immortals Island, they wouldn't have been caught and nearly killed.
"What's going on?" Di Jiang demanded, glaring at the Duke. The "Little King" had been performing well recently; how had he messed up this badly?
The East King Duke, floating with his remaining half-body, explained with a bitter face.
"Fellow Daoist Di Jiang, please calm your anger! Let me explain. I intended to seize the Three Immortals Island as a springboard to take the East Sea. There was nothing wrong with that strategy, right?"
"The only problem was that we just happened to run into the Golden Crows, and then..."
"Everything I did was for the Wu Clan!"
"Even with our combined strength, we couldn't overcome the Crows and were forced to retreat!"
The Duke made his excuses, providing a seemingly logical chain of events. In truth, even he hadn't expected the Crows to be on the island. He had lost half his life because of it.
"The Golden Crows? You ran into them? Then it's no wonder you lost. Six Ancestral Witches weren't a match for Ling Xiao in the past; now seven of you fought three, and with the East King Duke acting as a non-entity, it would be a miracle if you had won!"
Di Jiang was shocked at first, then calmed down. It wasn't that surprising. Since six of them couldn't beat one in the past, losing now was perfectly normal. Winning would have been the weird part.
Hearing this, the Witches felt a surge of collective shame. Is this where we are now? Their Big Brother actually considered their defeat to be "normal." He was used to it!
"Big Brother! As embarrassing as it is, I must clarify... Ling Xiao wasn't even there! Di Jun and Tai Yi alone were enough to flatten us!" Candle Nine Nethers explained with a cold, haughty face that didn't quite match the humiliation of his words.
"What? Without Ling Xiao, you still couldn't beat Di Jun and Tai Yi?"
Di Jiang was staggered. It was inconceivable. He looked at them as if they were playing a prank. He could understand losing to Ling Xiao, but now they couldn't even beat his brothers?
By this math, the Twelve Ancestral Witches combined probably weren't enough to handle the Three Crows together!
Candle Nine Nethers and the others were buried in shame. This was the second time. The first time could be excused with various reasons—the weather was too cold, the ground was too slippery, the water was too chilly, or they weren't prepared. But the second time was purely a matter of capability. There were no excuses.
"Big Brother! Deploy the Twelve Capital Gods Fiend Formation! Avenge us!"
Suddenly, a dying, fragmented voice broke the awkward silence.
The God of Fire had spoken. He raised a hand with great effort, his indignation having literally shocked him back into consciousness.