Chapter 486

The Wu Clan went berserk——

The Twelve Ancestral Witches, nine great evil gods!

At this moment, their brilliance left Fengxi stunned; for a while he felt he needed to re‑understand the world—his teammates were truly not simple, showing a side he had never seen before.

However, after a moment's thought he relaxed—after all, he had always been merely a subordinate; even though Nüwa valued him greatly, it was hard for him to sit in the highest hall, and this face‑to‑face listening and communication gave him firsthand information.

Once they left the hall's door, this information would be packaged, embellished, then subcontracted to the direct lineages of each Ancestral Witch for processing; when results were ready, it would be vaguely beautified……

Besides those "in the know" who already understand, who else could know that the Ancestral Witches could have such a shameless side?

Evil.

Too evil!

But it is also.

In the Honghuang world, how many years have passed since the creation until today?

Anyone who manages to stand out—who hasn't gone through great storms and trials?

The naïve innocence is long gone; each one's eyelashes are empty, and when needed their bellies are full of dirty tricks…… The Honghuang road is slippery, divine hearts are too complicated!

They can be very good, and just as easily very bad.

At this moment, the nine Ancestral Witches plotting strategies— their true selves were once the pillars of the human way, commanding and managing today's demon ancestors, governing the ages; their merits and achievements are too many to count.

Houtu is Nüwa, mother of the human way's creation; she leads the diversity of species and contributes greatly to the building of civilization's factories.

Zhujiuyin is Zhulong; he regulates time, sets the four seasons, manipulates day and night, adjusts the flow of light and darkness throughout Honghuang, thereby obtaining the most efficient allocation of cultivation‑production time— you work while I rest, I work while you recuperate, achieving the optimal solution.

Emperor Jiang is the great spatial deity Jikong; he masters space, oversees logistics, drives material exchange in the Honghuang cosmos, preventing theoretically abundant goods from being hyped as "rare and valuable," striving to meet the needs of the vast human populace and raising the living happiness index.

Xuanming is the Queen Mother of the West, leader of the female immortals, protecting fertility. Men handle external affairs, women internal ones; being in charge of the interior, she ought to be a wise helper, employing the female cultivators' generally finer thought to be diligent and thrifty, budgeting carefully, living within means, consuming rationally.

Shebishi is the Dipper Mother Yuanjun; she governs the stars, expounds dreams, reflects in the hearts of the myriad peoples, making beautiful ideals shine like stars, spreading and instilling them, guiding toward the right path—she is a true mentor.

Xizi is the Xuansu Goddess; she daily collects various anecdotes, either provoking deep thought or moving the spirit, true stories, establishing special festivals, spreading the deeds, echoing in the human way, helping later generations set ideals…… This is to elevate the moral cultivation of all humanity; only a people that does not forget its past can have a bright future!

……

The nine great evil gods, the ancient deities behind them, once worked hard at being human, each without shame, possessing great divine stature worthy of reverence and worship by the myriad peoples of the human way.

Unfortunately today…… they have all turned bad together.

Emperor Jiang, who oversees resource transport, has pulled off a century‑scale scam, artificially promoting "spirit diamonds," attaching the so‑called eternal love to something truly worth little, in order to sell it at an astronomical price.

Following his lead, there's "buy clothes with a phrase," Xuanming sells wine, Houtu sells food, Zhujiuyin sells watches— all much the same.

Moreover, the Xuansu Goddess, though still doing the festival routine, has changed its flavor, discarding any thought‑provoking or moving spiritual content, merely creating hype to encourage splurging.

What "5.20," what Valentine's Day, this "double," that "double"…… as long as you spend money, it's fine!

As for the Dipper Mother Yuanjun, she no longer pursues dreams…… well, for the demon populace, she still does.

However, this youthful dream is pursued to an absurd extent—letting young demons not study well, but instead learn to fall in love…… you may date, but it's scheduled during the very ages they need to learn and grow; besides, there's fighting, tearing apart, scheming, one set of tricks after another, outrageous.

Fengxi furtively poked his head out and glanced at the Shebishi Ancestral Witch, who had suddenly begun to write furiously, inspiration bursting forth as she drafted a script on the spot.

After a few glances, Fengxi silently withdrew…… what gold‑digging girls, what lavish consumption, what tumultuous love…… all that aside, why is the backdrop a meticulously precise system where everything centers on cultivation—a top‑tier sect?

The elite class of the sect's orthodoxy— isn't it supposed to be studying and cultivating all day long?

One must master 129,600 common Honghuang herbs, 3,600 basic pill formulas, 1,200 standard magical‑artifact structures, and remember the divine names behind each of the Three Thousand Great Daos that govern the sacred flow and often change, so as not to summon the wrong deity when praying— calling a boss's name wrong to his face could be fatal!

Either on the road of study or on the road of examination…… there should be no time for anything else.

The plot's tropes from the script are being broadcast, to show those demons who don't know the inside story— "Oh, so the disciples of the great sect are really like this?"

Happy education, enjoying a beautiful demon life…… tsk.

Fengxi already sensed that the demons' future amusement would be great.

Leading a large batch of young demons astray, casting a huge shadow over the originally wholesome Heavenly Court model.

Of course, this is not beyond salvation— if the Heavenly Court's Si Ming system is strong enough, acting swiftly to cut these worldview‑defective audiovisual works at the seed stage, then all problems would be gone.

However, the Grand Si Ming— Donghua Emperor— is now itching to try a reversal!

This undercover agent, as long as he doesn't stir chaos or randomly snip summer chickens, is not bad; but can we really expect him to get proper work done?

If the demon emperor really brings down the big board, it will mostly amount to ridiculous antics like changing the color of blood, with a seemingly legitimate excuse— listening to the opinion of a certain demon commoner's family head.

As for why he is usually blind and deaf, yet now he heeds a lunatic's brain‑dead suggestion— very populist, with none of his usual pomp, taking a chicken feather as a command arrow…… just routine, stay calm, stay calm.

Fengxi drew back his head and withdrew his gaze.

In short.

These nine ancient gods, who once treated the demons' progenitors so well, now plotting schemes and deceit— just how ruthless they can be!

Such seamless transition, effortless conversion, leaves Fengxi sighing in admiration.

"Mm, something seems off?"

Fengxi thought it over and found a blind spot.

——Gongong classmate!

"Hmm, this one has never been very kind."

"Back then, he dreamed of ruling Honghuang, achieving great unification, one lineage for all ages!"

"No pretense, a pure‑blood evil god!"

——I just want to be the emperor‑dad of all of you!

——Ruler and subject are like father and son; why don't you all kneel and shout 'Ancestor Dragon, awesome!'?

That was in the past.

Now.

The work of the Azure Dragon's great unification is still trudging forward; for now victory is still a bit distant…… thus, he pondered turning a side hustle, tricking the demon folk into dreaming of luxury cars.

In this regard, he plans to discuss with Emperor Jiang and Houtu, and has already begun the talks— Fengxi just sat nearby listening.

They agreed to jointly market to the opposite side, finalizing the three big items for marriage.

Male demons who want to marry must make three preparations——

Have a house!

Have a car!

Have a diamond ring!

Publicity must be in place.

Let the female demons of the Demon Race reach a consensus; only when all three standards are met is the other half truly loving them!

"Shared wealth…… we need shared wealth!"

Gonggong Ancestral Witch slapped the table and said to Houtu, "Add the female demons' names to the property deed!"

"Besides, how can a wedding lack grandeur? One only gets a few chances in a lifetime!"

"Without a luxurious motorcade to fill the scene, how could that work!"

"If you marry over, will you have face? You'll never be able to hold your head up in front of your girlfriends for a lifetime!"

"What? A poor demon?"

"Can't afford a car?"

"Just rent!"

"Rent a motorcade, and that's it, right!"

Gonggong said bluntly——business is set.

"Exactly, exactly, exactly!" Di Jiang nodded repeatedly, "These are the requirements at marriage…… they can't be lacking before marriage either."

"Before marrying over, love needs a sense of ceremony——how can it work without a proposal?"

"A proposal must involve giving a spirit diamond ring to manifest the sanctity and beauty of love!"

"And there's the betrothal gifts! Betrothal gifts!" Fengxi couldn't help but interject, seeing his stature diminish beside the Nine Great Evil Gods, as if he wanted to withdraw into a corner and draw circles, the three Ancestral Witches—Zhurong, Rushou, and Qiángliáng—sincerely intending to help out a bit, letting them join the collective activity.

Otherwise, such a huge gap would easily hurt their spirits——turns out, we're not the same?

How could this work!

Of course…… there's also a little hidden motive of Fengxi's in this.

——As far as known, ten out of the thirteen people present are scoundrels.

But you three, looking all pure and upright…… how could that work?

As the saying goes, when turbidity is the norm, purity becomes a crime.

No matter what, we have to drag you into the water!

Get dirty, everyone get dirty together!

Only when everyone's dirty are we true friends——at least we don't have to worry that, after the future war ends and we're wrapped up, you'll expose our dirt while we remain spotless like a lotus…… right?

Everyone holds each other's dark history; you expose, I expose, mutual deterrence…… thus we can happily whitewash together, pretending nothing happened.

——As long as we take care of that bastard Báizé!

"The betrothal gifts include the five metals!" Fengxi's eyes gleamed, "Metal Ancestral Witch Rushou, Fire Ancestral Witch Zhurong…… you two join forces, smelt gold with fire, that should work, right?"

"However, the design details here must cater to the females' tastes…… can you do it?"

Rushou and Zhurong exchanged a glance, then both nodded.

"No problem!"

"We can run an accessories shop, do various processing and design, build a brand."

"If necessary……" Zhurong Ancestral Witch mused, "I can help with some dangerous things."

"Using fake immortal gold as collateral…… although it's pretty shady, it works wonders in a pinch."

"That couldn't be better!"

Fengxi's face broke into a "plan succeeded" smile, genuine praise.

This Zhurong Ancestral Witch isn't simple either.

With a smile, he turned to Qiángliáng—Leize Great God—but in a fleeting instant, this Ancestral Witch's gaze was too perceptive, seeming to understand all his thoughts, including his dark, scheming tendencies to drag others down.

Fengxi startled.

But soon that gaze faded, and Qiángliáng Ancestral Witch awkwardly rubbed his head, looking simple and honest.

"Sigh…… I'm just an ordinary, honest male god, my scheming is clumsy; for a while I can't pull off intricate craftsmanship, nor can I engage in deceit."

He sighed with a long breath, yet Fengxi inexplicably felt——this great god seems to be wildly outputting to his teammates?

Before Fengxi could ponder it, Leize Great God leisurely continued, "I'm not needed for infiltrating male-female relations; I have nothing to add about luxury consumption."

"As for riskier side ventures, I rack my brains not because I can't think of them…… but doing so would surely draw a harsh crackdown from the Heavenly Court, especially the Grand Si Ming; even if they defect, they'd still uphold the lowest moral line, so they might very well come with swords to discuss harmony with me."

"So after thinking it over…… it's better to create a selling point and just do a scenic spot check-in."

Leize Great God said gently, "We mainly deceive the demon folk, not purely to make money…… merely hindering the accumulation of dividends is also good."

"Promote a bit—going to certain places and walking through them once can achieve how the soul ascends, how the spirit is purified, thereafter no longer mundane, able to mentally look down on those around..."

"I think this should be a spiritual marketing that's easier to pace than pure material consumption..."

"Aren't you afraid a demon might truly ascend and achieve great enlightenment?" Di Jiang laughed.

"Great enlightenment also requires sufficient experience accumulation and wisdom learning to give you insight." Leize said slowly, "Some demons haven't even figured out their own demonic lives; going to comprehend what?"

"From the moment they go with the flow, they've already lost."

"The Great Dao is right beside you; do well yourself and you can achieve it instantly."

"The Dao is cultivated, not pursued…… if you don't see this, even if you feel much insight temporarily and think you've ascended, in the end you'll just fall back to the original state, unchanged."

"In this regard, the Phoenix probably has the most say——without sufficient accumulation, how can it sustain rebirth through nirvana?"

"Perhaps the moment after ascension is self-destruction."

"Well said!" Goumang praised, then shifted tone, "However, going out to see the world, viewing different scenery, is also life accumulation…… your method seems somewhat not workable."

"Travel and checking in at scenic spots cost money…… especially when Honghuang is that big." Lei Ze said calmly, "Ordinary demons can't afford the expenses."

"So the question arises."

"Wanting to feel the soul's elevation, yet penniless…… what should we do?"

"What should we do?" Fengxi asked curiously, playing the loyal straight man.

"Of course."

"In fact, he already understood the meaning."

"After all……"

"He once was the——King of the Great Treasure Sword for those years!"

"Either body or spirit, one of them must be on the road."

Lei Ze smiled, "If you can't see your own life clearly, you ought to accept a lesson……"

Fengxi remained silent.

"Tourist check-in, Child-bearing God?"

"(End of chapter)"