Chapter 68: Houtu Enters the Sea of Blood

Over the next few days, Houtu Zuwu seemed to have figured something out, traveling through various Wu Clan tribes in the Yellow River Basin.

Huangtian Laozu also accompanied her the whole way, moving between the Wu Clan tribes that belonged to Houtu.

Until they arrived at a Human Witch tribe, a mix of human and Wu, and learned that this tribe was established by Chiyou, a descendant of the Great Witch Wuxian, who had gathered many Human Witches there.

Houtu Zuwu's eyes could not help but light up.

Afterward.

She summoned all the Wu Clan tribes under her, announcing that the hundreds of Wu Clan tribes and the Human Witch tribes would merge into nine super-tribes, to be jointly managed by Great Witches such as Wuxian and Xingtian.

At the same time, she also announced strong support for intermarriage with the Human Race.

Just as Houtu Zuwu was preparing to return to Pangu Hall, Huangtian Laozu heard her suddenly blurt out: "If only the souls of all living beings had a place to return to, how wonderful that would be~!"

This gave Huangtian Laozu a flash of inspiration, as if he had grasped something.

But he was just missing that one crucial opportunity.

This point also made Huangtian Laozu firmly believe that his opportunity for the Proof of Rice lay with Houtu.

This could not help but make him feel invigorated.

Just at this moment.

A massive pressure suddenly descended upon the world, followed by golden lotuses springing from the earth, auspicious clouds gathering, and purple mist stretching for three hundred billion miles.

"The Heavenly Rice is above. I am one of the Pangu Three Pure Ones, the second disciple under the Mysterious Gate Rice Ancestor, known as Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun. I declare: I, Yuqing Yuanshi, today establish a sect called the Chan Sect! 'Chan' means to clarify; to follow the heavens and uphold fate, to manifest the Heavenly Rice, for the Heavenly Rice is natural. I use the Innate Supreme Treasure Pangu Fan to suppress the Qi Luck of the Chan Sect. The Chan Sect is established!"

Boom~!

The Heavenly Rice responded instantly.

At the same time, vast amounts of mysterious yellow merit descended from the sky, falling into the Yellow River Basin.

At this moment, Yuanshi continued: "I decree: those among the Primordial Land with extraordinary innate spiritual essence may enter my sect and receive the authentic Yuqing teachings of my Mysterious Gate!"

Just as the gods of the Primordial Land were shocked, another massive aura erupted between heaven and earth, shaking the sky and severing the earth!

"The Heavenly Rice is above. I am one of the Pangu Three Pure Ones, the third disciple under the Mysterious Gate Rice Ancestor, known as Shangqing Lingbao Tianzun. I declare: I, Shangqing Tongtian, today establish a sect called the Jie Sect! 'Jie' means to intercept; to intercept a glimmer of Tianji for all living beings in the Primordial Land. I use the Immortal Execution Sword Array and the Immortal Execution Four Swords to suppress the Qi Luck of the Jie Sect. The Jie Sect is established!"

Boom~!

The Heavenly Rice responded to this as well.

Then, another large mass of mysterious yellow merit descended from the sky, falling into the Yellow River Basin.

This scene left the gods of the Primordial Land greatly astonished, sighing one after another that the Human Race was truly blessed, with such incredible luck to be so close to the Saints.

Then, the voice of Shangqing Tongtian echoed across the Primordial Land: "Heaven possesses the virtue of cherishing life. All living beings in the Primordial Land who have affinity may enter my Jie Sect and receive the authentic Shangqing teachings of my Mysterious Gate!"

As the words fell, the auras of two Heavenly Rice Saints spread across the Primordial Land.

Although the auras of Yuanshi and Tongtian were not as great as that of Laozi, they were stronger than when Nuwa achieved the Proof of Rice!

This made the gods of the Primordial Land sigh that Heaven truly favored the Pangu lineage immensely.

With the Mysterious Gate Three Pure Ones and Nuwa all having achieved the Proof of Rice and become Saints, the two from the West naturally sensed it, and their hearts were filled with extreme anxiety.

However, they had encountered a disaster at this time, forcing the two brothers to postpone their journey to establish their sect and achieve the Proof of Rice.

When these two waves of Saintly might dissipated, both Huangtian Laozu and Houtu Zuwu wore expressions of great solemnity.

What they did not know was.

Just as Yuanshi and Tongtian were achieving the Proof of Rice, Taiqing Laozi, under the guidance of Hongjun Daozu, had been released by Gu Changqing.

At this time.

The Pangu Three Pure Ones had all achieved the Proof of Rice and become Saints, and were in the Chaos Purple Heaven Palace with Nuwa, listening to Hongjun's arrangements regarding the star tribulation.

Three days later.

After Houtu Zuwu arranged the matters for the nine tribes, she bid farewell to Huangtian Laozu.

But even though Houtu Zuwu had left, Huangtian did not let go of his focus on her.

After parting ways with Huangtian Laozu, Houtu Zuwu did not return directly to Pangu Hall, but instead began to travel alone throughout the Primordial Land.

The Proof of Rice by merit through the Pangu Three Pure Ones establishing their Great Sects had given her great inspiration.

She thought to herself.

Since Heavenly Rice merit could allow the Pangu Three Pure Ones to achieve the Proof of Rice and become Saints, could their Wu Clan, or perhaps she herself, also rely on merit to achieve the Proof of Rice and become a Saint?

Thinking of this, Houtu Zuwu felt a surge of excitement, as if she had found a direction, and her whole body was filled with motivation.

However.

She soon felt discouraged again.

Because their Wu Clan lacked primordial spirits, they could not comprehend the Heavenly Rice, and thus could not link their true spirits to the Heavenly Rice.

And being unable to communicate with the Heavenly Rice meant that their Wu Clan could not achieve the Proof of Rice and become Saints!

Among the myriad races of the Primordial Land.

Except for their Wu Clan, all other races and living beings basically possessed primordial spirits.

Without a primordial spirit, it meant that Death was truly Death, and it was the kind that returned directly to the embrace of the Great God Pangu.

But the myriad races of the Primordial Land were different.

From the moment they were born, their baseline was the Immortal Realm, and their primordial spirits were self-generated.

Even if their physical bodies died, their primordial spirits could remain in the world, and those at the Golden Immortal Realm or above could even use their primordial spirits to regenerate flesh and blood out of thin air, thereby being reborn.

Of course.

At this time, each race had countermeasures, and in the midst of slaughter, it was hard to say whether a primordial spirit could remain in the world.

Especially for their Wu Clan.

They could be considered experts at obliterating primordial spirits.

Because their attacks were accompanied by monstrous baleful Qi with every move they made.

Therefore, any being killed by their baleful Qi would basically have their primordial spirit vanish instantly along with their physical body, leaving no possibility for the primordial spirit to emerge at all.

Perhaps it is a matter of the baleful aura inherent in their attacks, which is why the Wu Clan has never discovered the existence of souls until now.

But now.

Houtu Zuwu has discovered it.

The Human Race, a group consisting basically entirely of Acquired Living Beings.

After their Death, the souls that emerge cannot be reborn; they remain in the Primordial World, and under the influence of the baleful aura of heaven and earth, they actually evolve into fierce spirits specifically designed to restrain the Wu Clan.

Fierce spirits live off baleful aura, while the Witch Battle Body of the Wu Clan relies on baleful aura to grow stronger.

Moreover, they can devour the living souls of other beings, or even devour each other, thereby achieving promotion.

The Witch Battle Body of the Wu Clan is formed from baleful aura, and magical artifacts refined with fierce spirits can break the Witch Battle Body of the Wu Clan.

It is no wonder the Demon Race would use a large number of Human Race souls to refine the Witch-Slaying Sword, which can break their Ancestral Witch Battle Body.

If the Wu Clan wants to survive, they must eliminate this weakness.

Does this mean eliminating the Human Race to solve the Wu Clan's weakness at its root? For a moment, Houtu Zuwu's heart was in turmoil.

However, even if the Human Race were wiped out, there would still be Acquired Living Beings from other groups later on.

Once the souls of these Acquired Living Beings are utilized by those with ulterior motives, they will also pose a threat to their Witch Battle Body.

Therefore.

Eliminating the Human Race fundamentally cannot solve the Wu Clan's problem.

The bewildered Houtu Zuwu could not help but wander aimlessly across the Primordial Land.

Until a certain moment.

She discovered that she had arrived near the Sea of Blood.

When she drew closer, she saw a scene that shocked her to the core.

Just look.

Within the boundless Sea of Blood, countless souls of Acquired Living Beings were struggling and wailing.

Among them, the monstrous resentment soared to the clouds; seeing this scene, she instantly felt a chill come from her body.

How could this Sea of Blood have so many souls?

Houtu Zuwu thought with some horror.

Just then, a portion of the Sea of Blood in front of her suddenly surged, and after a series of transformations before her, it formed a man in blood-colored robes.

"The Wu Clan?" the man muttered, then asked Houtu.

"Which Ancestral Witch of the Wu Clan are you?"

Houtu Zuwu looked him over with confusion, then asked doubtfully: "Minghe?"

"Yes, and no! This seat is formed from the Evil Corpse of Minghe Laozu, and I am an Ashura!" the Ashura explained.

Regarding the Great Supernatural Beings in the Primordial World and their methods of Proof of Rice by beheading corpses, she understood a fair amount.

Therefore.

She did not ask further about the issue between the Ashura and Minghe.

However, after observing him slightly for a while, she discovered the problem.

"This... is this the Ashura Zu you created?" Houtu Zuwu asked with a look of surprise.

"Haha~! Indeed, how does Houtu Zuwu think my Ashura Zu compares to the Human Race created by Nuwa?" the Ashura could not help but ask with a laugh.

Hearing this, Houtu smiled.

"I was wondering why your physical body felt strange; so you created them using the Human Race of Nuwa!"

Hearing this, the Ashura was immediately dissatisfied and asked with displeasure: "Hmph, Houtu Zuwu, you had better state your purpose for coming to my Sea of Blood!"

Houtu, who had originally been wandering aimlessly, asked curiously after seeing the countless resentful souls in the Sea of Blood.

"This seat wishes to know what is going on with those resentful souls?"

As Houtu said this, she could not help but look at the countless resentful souls in the Sea of Blood.

The Ashura followed her gaze and saw countless resentful souls struggling and wailing in the Sea of Blood, only to be swept up by the Sea of Blood and disappear into it.

Once the number of disappeared resentful souls reached a certain amount, a new member was born into his Shura Race.

"That was not taken by this seat; they came to the Sea of Blood on their own, it has nothing to do with me!" the Ashura said with a calm expression.

Hearing this, Houtu's eyes lit up.

She suddenly realized that since souls cannot achieve self-rebirth like the primordial spirit, why not help them be reborn?

The effect of one person might be limited, but if one could create a treasure land that could allow all souls in the Primordial World to undergo Reincarnation and rebirth, then its efficiency would surely change this world!

Thinking of this, the corners of Houtu Zuwu's mouth rose slightly.

"Ashura, if this seat were to open a treasure land here that could allow resentful souls to undergo Reincarnation and rebirth, what do you think?"

"Not much, this seat does not agree!"

The Ashura rejected Houtu's proposal without even thinking.

Are you kidding!

A significant portion of their Ashura Zu are formed by the combination of those resentful souls and the Sea of Blood.

Establishing a place that could give souls Reincarnation and rebirth is undoubtedly digging his own grave for his Ashura Zu.

Therefore, he would absolutely not agree with Houtu Zuwu's point of view.

Hearing this, Houtu could not help but feel a bit troubled.

Fight! She certainly could not win on her own.

Even if she called for help, Houtu estimated that she would not be able to do much about the Sea of Blood and Minghe.

One must know that Minghe is known as an existence where the Sea of Blood never dries and Minghe never dies!

Their Wu Clan already has a great enemy in the Demon Race; offending a top-tier Great Supernatural Being on top of that is undoubtedly not worth it.

Houtu thought for a moment, then finally said, "How about this: after these souls are reincarnated, I will allow a portion of them to be reincarnated into your Ashura Zu; what do you think?"

Hearing this, Ashura's eyes lit up.

He knew the flaws of the Ashura Race better than anyone; they simply could not compare to the Human Race.

Now that there was actually an opportunity to give birth to a Perfect World Ashura Race, he naturally cared about it a great deal.

However.

He still said with a calm expression on his face, "Not enough!"

Seeing this, Houtu could not help but frown.

She then glanced at Ashura with displeasure, and subsequently said helplessly, "I will add one more portion of Heavenly Rice Merit!"

(End of this chapter)