Bai Ze spoke without expression, his voice so cold that it seemed to hold not a single shred of hope.
"Surely not... is it really as grave as you say?" Ji Meng asked uneasily, though his heart already believed it.
The current situation was dire; the Yao Race had been shattered and scattered to the winds. Experts as strong as Nuwa and Kunpeng were missing, leaving the race as a pile of loose sand.
"Whether it is or not, we cannot give up!" Bai Ze said with resonant strength.
With that, he stepped into the void and vanished into the distance, with Ji Meng following closely behind.
In a mountain range in the Southern Honghuang, a woman in palace attire sat upon a mountainside. Her brows were slightly furrowed like distant peaks, and her slender, jade-white fingers moved in a rhythmic pattern.
She was cycling through hand seals, tracking the movements of heaven to manifest the threads of the Dao.
"Where is my Sainthood Opportunity?" Nuwa's heart was anxious. Day and night, she performed her deductions, searching for the chance to achieve Sainthood.
The current crisis facing the Yao could only be resolved by a Saint. Even "slaying the three corpses" would not be enough; against the Witches' formation, one would still possess no chance of victory.
Since the Yao defeat, she had wandered the Honghuang World, eventually finding herself in the South.
The mountains where she had entered seclusion belonged to the South Bright Volcano region. Perpetual flames burned here, and ordinary Living Beings dared not approach. This was the site where the Phoenix Lord, Yuan Phoenix, had once perished.
Above Nuwa's head, within the Auspicious Clouds, a serpentine phantom coiled around her. Her Dao-resonance was flickering; she already possessed the aspect of a Hun Yuan (Primordial Origin) being, but it was not yet perfected or "rounded."
"The Wu Clan has already begun their move against the West and the South!"
Nuwa murmured under her breath. Her jade arms traced divine scripts in the Void Realm, drawing upon the Spiritual Qi to deduce the secrets of heaven. She already knew of the massive war erupting at the Western Mount Sumeru.
Though the Two Sages of the West were not weak, they could not possibly withstand the Wu Clan's full-scale assault. Their fall was only a matter of time.
She grew anxious. If this continued, the Yao Race would lose all hope of a comeback. Nuwa felt a mix of urgency and fury; in the dark, she could sense the connection, yet she could not break through the final puzzle.
With a sigh, Nuwa stood and stepped out of the mountain range to wander the world. The movement allowed the agitation in her heart to settle significantly.
She walked upon the earth step by step, feeling the temperature of the soil and the fragrance of nature.
Along her path, jade rabbits leaped, spiritual turtles exhaled essence, and golden fish jumped from the water. Everywhere she looked, auspicious Qi steamed, mists gathered, and Purple Qi pierced through the rainbows.
Seeing this, Nuwa's mind gradually became empty. The Primordial Violet Qi within her body began to merge even more deeply with her Primordial Spirit.
"I seem to feel the chance of achieving Sainthood..."
Nuwa gazed out over the boundless, ancient land, a sudden realization striking her. She felt that her opportunity was no longer far away.
Yujing Mountain.
Laozi, Yuanshi, and Tongtian awoke from their healing. The Dao-wounds they had suffered during the clash with the Ancestral Witches had not yet fully healed even to this day.
"The Ancestral Witches have reached Mount Sumeru," Laozi said plainly, his weathered, profound gaze directed toward the West.
"The Wu Clan grows increasingly reckless. Do they not fear offending every great power in the Great Desolation?"
"It is a pity our Teacher is still in the process of Merging with the Dao. Otherwise, how would the Witches dare to be so arrogant!" Yuanshi said coldly. He had temporarily set aside his thoughts of revenge.
Having witnessed the terrifying power of the Pangu phantom, Yuanshi had accepted reality: currently, they were truly no match for the Wu Clan.
"Let the Witches do as they please for now. We must focus on slaying our third corpses and achieving Sainthood!" Laozi said, withdrawing his gaze.
Over these years, he had examined himself and realized he had spent too much thought competing with the Witches. He now understood that achieving Sainthood was their ultimate and only true goal.
Once they became Saints, neither the Witches nor the title of the "Orthodox Lineage of Pangu" would matter. They would all be mere drifting clouds.
"Big Brother is right. Strength is the only thing that matters," Tongtian echoed.
It was no exaggeration to say that if he hadn't spent so much time following his brothers into fights, he might have already slain his third corpse.
"Hmm... we have been the Dao Ancestor's disciples for countless eons. It is nearly time for us to achieve Sainthood."
Yuanshi nodded slightly, speaking with an air of relaxed confidence. The Sanqing were the "Chosen Ones" of the Dao Ancestor; they were destined to become Saints. For them, the process should not be difficult.
Wuzhuang Temple.
"Zhenyuan, the Witches have hit the West! Pack up and move out of here immediately!"
"If you move now, you can make it. If you wait, it'll be too late!"
Hongyun had learned of the siege on Mount Sumeru and immediately spoke to Zhenyuanzi.
"Move? Move where? At this rate, the entire Great Desolation will be overrun by Witches. Unless we move to the sky!" Zhenyuanzi said with a heavy expression.
"The sky? You mean moving to the Sun Star?" Hongyun asked, suddenly enlightened.
At this, Zhenyuanzi barked back in annoyance, "Get lost! If I move the Ginseng Fruit Tree to the Sun Star, will it even survive?"
"Then what do you propose? We just wait for the Witches to come and pull your tree up by the roots?" Hongyun frowned. He ate his fair share of those fruits and didn't want to see the tree suffer.
"We wait and see. The Great Desolation is boundless; I don't believe the Witches can step into every single corner!" Zhenyuanzi said stubbornly, his face resolute.
"Fine. I'll listen to you. If the Witches dare touch that tree, they'll have to step over our bodies," Hongyun said with deep determination.
"They'll step over your body. I'm not losing my life for a tree!" Zhenyuanzi shot back heartlessly. "Let's see how the Two Sages of the West fare first."
Hongyun didn't argue, turning his gaze toward Mount Sumeru.
In the West, Mount Sumeru was erupting with light. A boundless Power of Faith surged, and a gargantuan Dao-sound echoed from within the mountain.
Jieyin manifested his Dharma Image, radiating twelve colors of precious light that illuminated the cosmos to save all sentient beings.
A massive Dharma Body sat atop the mountain peak, its head touching the ancient blue sky. Within his halo, three thousand kingdoms were manifested, and boundless Divine Power was added to his form. He held a hand seal, protected by a brilliant radiance.
"Hmph! At Mount Sumeru, all authority under heaven and earth belongs to me!" Jieyin's voice was icy.
Over countless eons, he had practically refined Mount Sumeru into a part of his own body. He had accepted the worship and prostration of the Western masses, accumulating an infinite Power of Faith.
This had vastly increased his magic power. Jieyin was confident: in the vicinity of Mount Sumeru, he was the Dominator, possessing an invincible posture.
"Haha! You've lost your mind. You think you can speak such arrogance to us?" Candle Nine Nethers laughed, his Law of Time activating to warp the order of the environment around the mountain.
Simultaneously, the other Ancestral Witches unleashed their most ferocious momentum. Mount Sumeru began to tremble, appearing as if it might collapse under the immense weight!
"Power of Faith, empower my being!"
Jieyin let out a long roar, his voice echoing in the hearts of countless Living Beings across the West.
In an instant, a rain of golden light converged from every corner of the Western Honghuang toward Mount Sumeru. It transformed the area into a supreme Pure Land, filled with peaceful, auspicious Qi. It was a staggering sight.
"You dare come to my West to act wildly? Do you truly believe yourselves to be invincible?"
Jieyin, his Dharma Body now towering over a vast sea of stars, spoke slowly. He rebuked the Witches with a monumental, immeasurable pressure!