Chapter 624

Pangu Hall.

The atmosphere was so oppressive it seemed about to condense into something tangible.

When Zhu Rong and Gonggong returned to the great hall, carrying dejection and disarray, what greeted them was Di Jiang's gaze, cold to the extreme.

"Now, are you satisfied?"

Di Jiang's voice was hoarse, carrying a deep weariness.

Zhu Rong and Gonggong hung their heads, not uttering a word.

However impulsive they were, they knew they had stirred up a catastrophe of monstrous proportions this time.

They had fallen into a trap.

That formation called the 【Tianwang Array】 was not meant to trap them at all; its sole purpose was to lure them to that position, and then let all living beings of the entire Great Wasteland see the scene of them attacking scattered cultivators.

Now, the Wu Clan's charge of "harboring evil demons" was considered thoroughly nailed down.

"Older Brother, what do we do now?" Xuanming asked anxiously.

Outside the hall, the clamor of countless scattered cultivators had already reached the foot of Mount Buzhou.

They had formed a so-called "Demon Extermination Alliance," flying the banner of "Replace Heaven and Walk the Dao," and launched an even more frantic assault on the Wu Clan's vassal tribes.

The Wu Clan's prestige plummeted.

Di Jiang remained silent; he walked before that enormous Great Wasteland map, looking at those areas on the map that had once belonged to the Wu Clan's sphere of influence, now riddled with holes.

He knew he had no way out anymore.

If this continued, without waiting for the Yao Clan to move, the Wu Clan would be isolated by all living beings of the entire Great Wasteland, and eventually exhausted to death.

"Pass down my order."

After a long while, Di Jiang spoke slowly, his voice terrifyingly calm.

"All Great Witches, heed my command."

"Abandon all peripheral tribes."

"For those vassal tribes on the 【Demon-Slaying Ranking】 with conclusive evidence of guilt, who cultivate Blood Sacrifice, and against whom public resentment reaches the heavens... launch a purge."

"Not a single one left."

"What?!"

The moment these words fell, the entire Pangu Hall fell deathly silent.

Zhu Rong abruptly lifted his head, eyes full of disbelief: "Older Brother! Have you gone mad?! Those are all our people!"

"They are no longer so." Di Jiang turned, his gaze like a blade sweeping across every Ancestral Witch, "From the moment they began cultivating that evil Blood Sacrifice method, they became a malignant tumor on my Wu Clan!"

"This is a death trap that Donghuang Taiyi set for us. If we protect them, we become enemies of the entire Great Wasteland. If we don't protect them, we can only watch helplessly as they are nibbled away to nothing."

"Since that is the case..." A flash of ruthless decisiveness like a formidable hero flickered in Di Jiang's eyes.

"Rather than let them die at others' hands, becoming a weapon for enemies to denounce us. Better that we personally act!"

"I will let the entire Great Wasteland see that my Wu Clan stands utterly opposed to evil demons! My Primordial Orthodoxy tolerates no stain!"

"This is called... Sever Arm to Seek Survival."

Every word from Di Jiang was like a heavy hammer, striking hard on the hearts of all the Ancestral Witches.

They finally understood Di Jiang's intent.

How ruthless! How decisive!

Using their own people's blood to wash clean the infamy on their own bodies.

"I... I agree with Older Brother's decision."

Zhu Jiuyin, who had been silent all along, spoke first.

"I agree as well."

In the end, this resolution, which could be called tragic, was passed within Pangu Hall.

That day, several Wu Clan Battle Teams led by top-tier Great Witches set out from Mount Buzhou, heading to all corners of the Great Wasteland.

They did not go to attack scattered cultivators, but turned their butcher knives toward those who were once their own people.

A bloody internal purge thus unfolded.

This move once again shocked the Great Wasteland.

Countless scattered cultivator experts were stunned; they could not understand why the Wu Clan would suddenly turn such a ruthless hand on their own.

But regardless, the Wu Clan's action did indeed salvage, to a certain extent, their reputation which was on the verge of collapse.

However, the atmosphere inside Pangu Hall grew increasingly cold.

Although the situation was temporarily stabilized, all Ancestral Witches knew the Wu Clan had already suffered severe damage to its vitality.

More importantly, hearts within were beginning to waver.

Even their own people could be discarded without hesitation; who would dare truly pledge allegiance to such a Wu Clan?

Hou Tu looked at those blood-colored light spots on the map that had been erased by their own hands; the last glimmer of light in those eyes always filled with compassion also gradually dimmed.

She stood up, silently, and walked out of Pangu Hall.

She did not tell anyone where she was going.

She merely wandered aimlessly, walking on the Great Wasteland land, scarred and devastated.

She saw countless souls of living beings with nowhere to go after death, transforming into souls of the dead, wandering between heaven and earth, filled with resentment and unwillingness.

A portion of these Yuan Hun were drawn to the Blood Sea, becoming nourishment for the Asura.

Another portion were converted by the Heavenly Ranking, becoming merit for scattered cultivators.

Death is not the end, but the beginning of another endless suffering.

As the Wu Clan Ancestral Witch of Earth, Mother of the Earth, Hou Tu could clearly sense the pain this land was enduring, could hear the silent wails of those hundreds of millions of dead souls.

Her heart felt as if it were tightly clenched by an invisible giant hand, aching so she could not breathe.

The war between the Wu and the Yao, they contended for the Heaven's Chosen Protagonists.

But if this heaven and earth all became a purgatory where souls had nowhere to return, then what meaning did the protagonist's position hold?

She lifted her head, gazing toward the Nine Heavens above at that resplendent and glorious Yao Clan Heavenly Court, then looked again at the Pangu Hall beneath Mount Buzhou where killing qi soared to the sky.

Heavenly Dao, Earthly Dao.

Elder brothers said, this is destiny.

Yet she felt that between this heaven and earth, something was still missing.

Missing a place that could let all departed living beings find rest.

Missing an order that could let good and evil be repaid, cause and effect cycle.

Just as her mind was in a trance, a faint yet incomparably clear sensation came from the depths of the distant Youming Blood Sea.

That was not slaughter, not resentment.

It was a kind of... longing.

A grand prayer formed by the devotions of countless fallen living beings over hundreds of millions of years, yearning for an end, for peace, for order.

This will was weak, yet resilient.

It was like a single candle flame swaying in the darkness, guiding lost travelers.

Hou Tu's footsteps abruptly halted.

Those eyes of hers that always brimmed with compassion, in this moment seemed to pierce through endless time and space, seeing beneath the blood sea that stretch of dead silence, emptiness, chaos awaiting to be opened up.

"So... it is like this."

She murmured to herself, the bewilderment in her eyes completely fading in this moment, replaced by an unprecedented resolve and clarity.

Elder brothers want to contend for hegemony, want to use slaughter to prove the Primordial Orthodoxy's glory.

And she, would go to seek a true destination for this great earth, for the myriad spirits of the Great Wasteland.

Even if this journey would run counter to elder brothers' paths.

Even if the price this journey demanded was herself.

Hou Tu hesitated no longer, she set her direction, step by step, firmly walking toward that filthy, evil Youming Blood Sea.

Her whole body emitted a gentle great earth radiance; wherever she passed, those wandering Yuan Hun seemed to sense a mother's call, actually temporarily calming their restlessness, quietly following behind her.

A grand vow was slowly fermenting in her heart.