Across the Western world, every corner was erupting with light. Infinite Power of Faith was converging from all directions, blanketing the sky!
Auspicious Qi steamed, and ten thousand rays of dawn-light flickered. This immeasurable Power of Faith surged more violently than any ocean, sweeping across the Western firmament until it permeated everything.
Such a manifestation of holiness was rare throughout the eons—practically unique in the world.
The great powers observing the battle were stunned. None of them had expected Jieyin to possess such a hidden hand.
With the Power of Faith added to his being, Jieyin's magic power grew exponentially. He sat atop Mount Sumeru, his Dharma Body reflecting across the entire cosmos. No matter how far away a living being was in the West, they could look up and see a supreme, majestic silhouette sitting at the very edge of the earth—vast and boundless.
Rumble!
Jieyin formed a law-seal, and his seated form suddenly lunged upward, releasing a world-shaking pressure that left even the nearby Zhunti staring in open-mouthed shock.
Carrying the infinite Power of Faith, Jieyin attacked the Witches. His Aura was monumental, his magic power reaching the very vaults of heaven.
In that instant, the entire world vibrated, reaching a boiling point. Candle Nine Nethers, Qiang Liang, and Gonggong felt their expressions shift as they unleashed their full strength to meet the blow!
The battle immediately entered a white-hot phase. The Void Realm crumbled, and infinite destructive energy saturated the Western sky. Even the Silver River of stars trembled, its light growing dim and faint.
"Jieyin is truly extraordinary. He seems to have carved out his own Dao!" the observing great powers lamented.
At this moment, Jieyin was incredibly powerful. Facing six Ancestral Witches simultaneously, he did not fall into the slightest disadvantage, fighting them to a standstill.
"The West may be impoverished, but once unified, it is still terrifying. I doubt even the Witches expected Jieyin to have such a card to play!"
"Of the Dao Ancestor's six disciples, aside from Zhunti, not one is simple. There is a reason he took them as students."
Yujing Mountain.
Yuanshi, viewing the scene through a Divine Ability, could no longer sit still.
Seeing Jieyin grow stronger felt more painful to him than becoming weaker himself!
Despite his immense pride and his typical disdain for the Western Duo, he had to admit in this moment: Jieyin was currently stronger than him.
"Jieyin is condensing the Power of Faith and walking his own path. He will likely establish his own sect in the future. However, this path... it wouldn't work in our East," Laozi said peacefully.
Jieyin's current method of Cultivation was already fundamentally different from theirs. It showed the signs of a founder; if he continued, he had the potential to become a Daoist Progenitor of his own line.
"Junior Brothers, do you see now? I have said it again and again—do not underestimate the great powers of this world!"
Laozi looked toward Yuanshi and Tongtian, his expression solemn and full of admonition.
Yuanshi nodded, calming his slightly turbulent Dao Heart.
Tongtian, however, was confused. "When did Senior Brother ever say that?"
He honestly couldn't recall!
Pangu Temple.
Di Jiang stood up from his throne, raising a hand to use his spatial power to tear open a tunnel.
"Candle Nine Nethers and the others have hit a snag. Who will go to reinforce them?"
He was somewhat speechless, his words tinged with dissatisfaction. He could understand failing against the Crows at the Three Immortals Island. But to hit a wall at Mount Sumeru? He began to deeply suspect that his younger brothers had some serious competency issues.
"Let me go." Xuan Ming's face was cold, a murderous intent surging between her brows.
"Ru Shou, Ancestral Witch of Wind—go with her. Flatten Mount Sumeru!"
Di Jiang nodded, his words dripping with a boundless, savage malevolence.
"Understood, Big Brother!"
Immediately, the three Ancestral Witches departed, racing toward the Western battlefield.
Only Houtu, Di Jiang, and the God of Fire (who was currently slacking off in the blood pool) remained at Pangu Temple. Houtu was the most beloved younger sister of the clan; unless she personally requested it, they generally didn't let her onto the battlefield.
Houtu watched Xuan Ming and the others depart. After a moment of silence, she spoke softly. "Big Brother... is acting this way perhaps a bit too much?"
She was worried. She felt that if they continued like this, something terrible would eventually happen.
"What is 'too much' about it?"
Di Jiang turned to look at his sister, his face indifferent. "Heaven and earth were formed from our Father's body. We Witches are his descendants. What is there to be 'too much' about?"
He spoke as if it were the natural order of things. He might have had a sliver of doubt before, but since the debut of the Twelve Capital Gods Fiend Formation, his conviction was absolute.
Even the phantom of Father Pangu had come out to fight for them. What was left to doubt? If they didn't unify the Honghuang World, they would be failing their Father!
"But, the world is not just us. There are Saints above."
"If we anger the Saints, what then?"
Houtu frowned. She had listened to the Dao at Zixiao Palace, and her vision was broader than that of the other Witches. Between heaven and earth, Yin and Yang must balance; when the sun is at its peak, the decline begins. She felt the Wu Clan's current momentum was reaching that tipping point.
"It is for that very reason that we must unify the world. Only then can our clan produce a Saint of its own."
"The fate of the Wu Clan must be held in our own hands!" Di Jiang said with a domineering finality, showing no sign of retreat.
They weren't "spineless" like the Sanqing, who bowed to the Dao Ancestor and became disciples, utterly disregarding Pangu's dignity. The Witches would use their own fists to carve out their own world.
Houtu fell silent. she knew she couldn't sway Di Jiang. Despite being the beloved sister, she would not be heard on matters of grand strategy. She could only pray in her heart that her premonitions of disaster were merely overthinking.
Mount Sumeru.
The battle was cataclysmic. With Jieyin and Zhunti working together, they had actually begun to suppress the six Ancestral Witches, gaining the upper hand.
The East King Duke was hopping around the periphery, offering a symbolic "observation" but doing very little. He was missing half his body, and it had yet to grow back due to a mysterious energy restriction. His strength was heavily reduced, and he didn't dare charge in.
The fight raged on for a long time.
Suddenly, the expressions of the Two Sages of the West shifted. They sensed three powerful Auras descending upon Mount Sumeru, accompanied by a suffocating, bloody Evil Qi.
Xuan Ming, Ru Shou, and the Ancestral Witch of Wind had arrived.
"Hmph! How despicable—six of you fighting two, and you still call for help?" Zhunti shouted, trying to use morality to pressure the Witches.
Unfortunately, the Witches didn't care for such things.
"Go to hell! Anyone who blocks the path of the Wu Clan shall be annihilated!" Xuan Ming arrived and struck with overwhelming force, her hand appearing as a sky-blotting shadow that grasped toward the mountain.
Her combat power was the absolute peak of the field. With a single move, Jieyin and Zhunti felt a massive sense of dread. Xuan Ming's entry instantly flipped the script.
Rumble!
Under the combined assault of the Witches, the Two Sages' Dharma Bodies shattered, and they were sent flying for hundreds of millions of miles.
Xuan Ming's hand was unstoppable. It shattered the firmament and grasped the roots of the Bodhi Tree atop Mount Sumeru, pulling it out of the ground with brute force.
Then, she closed her fist, crushing it into splinters.
Seeing this, the Two Sages' eyes turned blood-red with a mountain of rage.
The West was already impoverished to begin with, and now, it was even more so.
"Ah! My tree!" Zhunti roared in agonizing fury.