Primordial Salted Fish: Starting from Refusing to Join the Demon Clan

The Three Pure Ones sat upright on their prayer mats, their bodies radiating a faint, precious light, clearly having received treasures from the Dao Ancestor, exuding an air of grandeur.

Only the two from the West were present. The Guide Daoist looked distressed, and his hempen clothes made him appear even more destitute. Although the Zhunti Daoist tried to remain calm, his eyes betrayed his anxiety.

Seeing others sitting on the same prayer mat, some being accepted as disciples and others protected by powerful treasures, while his own brother was empty-handed, how could he possibly survive in the perilous prehistoric world?

"We can't wait any longer!"

Jieyin sighed deeply, then suddenly stood up and, disregarding the emperor's imposing presence, knelt down with a thud.

His forehead slammed heavily against the gold brick, producing a dull thud. His voice was mournful, filled with endless pleading: "Dao Ancestor, have mercy!"

"My disciples and I have traveled countless miles from that barren land in the west, solely to seek the Great Way of the Sage and to revive the West."

"Alas, the western land veins are depleted, and spiritual energy is scarce. We earnestly beg the Dao Ancestor to have mercy on the billions of living beings in the west and grant them a glimmer of opportunity!"

Before the words were even finished, Zhunti, standing to the side and behind, immediately burst into tears, his wailing echoing throughout the hall. He kowtowed repeatedly, crying out, "Dao Ancestor! My Western Paradise is suffering! No natural treasures grow here, and spiritual roots have vanished. I beg you, Dao Ancestor, have mercy and save the Western Paradise..."

This tearful lament, delivered with tears streaming down my face, moved all who heard it to tears.

On the high platform, Hongjun Daoist frowned slightly, a hint of impatience flashing across his originally indifferent face, and his tone also turned colder: "The West is the land left behind after the fall of Rahu Demon Ancestor. It is the fate of heaven that it is filled with evil energy and lacks spiritual energy."

"However, considering that you have traveled hundreds of millions of miles to come here to hear the teachings, you truly have a heart that yearns for the Way."

His gaze swept over Jieyin, seemingly with a deeper meaning: "Jieyin, would you be willing to become my disciple, a nominal one?"

Jieyin abruptly looked up, his face still streaked with tears, but his eyes instantly blazed with wild joy, as if a drowning man had grasped a lifeline. He quickly kowtowed again, his forehead touching the ground: "Disciple is willing! Disciple greets Master!"

Hongjun nodded slightly, turned his palm over, and two innate spiritual treasures appeared out of thin air, their brilliance illuminating the entire hall.

"Now that you have entered the Xuanmen (mysterious sect), you should have spiritual treasures to protect you. The Twelve-Petaled Golden Lotus of Merit can suppress your fortune and prevent all evil from invading; the Azure Lotus Banner, with its radiant light of relics, can calm your mind and spirit. I will bestow these upon you together."

With trembling hands, Jieyin accepted the two treasures. Feeling their immense power, the pain on his face miraculously lessened, replaced by an indescribable sense of satisfaction.

He repeatedly kowtowed, saying, "Thank you, teacher! Thank you, teacher!"

However, the moment Jieyin grasped the Golden Lotus of Merit, a strange sense of cause and effect suddenly overwhelmed him.

His joyful expression froze instantly, the smile on his lips stiffened on his face, and he even twitched slightly.

What bad luck!

Having just acquired a top-grade innate spiritual treasure, I'm about to give it away to repay the karmic debt?

Jieyin stiffly turned his head to look at Kunpeng sitting on a futon not far away.

Jieyin looked at Kunpeng at that moment, and reluctantly handed over the Golden Lotus of Merit that he hadn't even warmed yet. He really didn't want to give it up.

According to Jieyin, even though Kunpeng lost his seat, he still obtained the Primordial Purple Qi, and he had to use the Golden Lotus of Merit he had just acquired to repay the karmic debt.

Jieyin's heart was bleeding; that was a twelve-petaled golden lotus!

He took a deep breath, forced out a smile that looked worse than a grimace, and painfully handed over the Golden Lotus of Merit, which he hadn't even warmed up yet.

"Fellow Daoist Kunpeng," Jieyin's voice was somewhat hoarse, "the karma of the past is settled today. This is the Golden Lotus of Merit, which I bestow upon you to sever the grievances between us."

Kunpeng looked at the treasure presented to him, his eyes flashing with a sharp light. He reached out and took it without any hesitation, a satisfied smile playing on his lips.

In his view, although one of the two Westerners had lost his holy position, the treasure-delivering boy had done a very good job.

Jieyin watched helplessly as Jinlian was taken from someone else, his heart aching so much he could hardly breathe, but he could only grit his teeth and swallow his pain.

At this moment, only Houtu and Kunpeng remained on the prayer mats in front of Zixiao Palace.

Compared to Jieyin's humble and subservient behavior, Houtu appeared unusually calm. She sat upright like a mountain, her expression indifferent, seemingly unconcerned about whether she would be accepted as a disciple.

As an ancestral witch formed from the essence of Pangu's blood, she was born with the pride of an ancestral witch.

She neither worships Heaven nor Earth, but only reveres the Father God Pangu. Even when facing the lofty Dao Ancestor, this pride etched in her blood does not allow her to abandon her dignity and grovel to beg for a title, like Jieyin did, for the sake of opportunity.

Hongjun on the high platform was also waiting.

He could forcibly establish a master-disciple relationship with the Three Pure Ones and Nuwa; however, he had no choice but to accept Jieyin because of his karmic debts to the Western Paradise.

Only Houtu could not be forcibly taken by Hongjun if she did not speak.

This is because Houtu is the key figure in completing the prehistoric world.

As for how to complete it, Hongjun has not yet attained the Dao, and the secrets of heaven are obscure and unclear. Even with the Jade Disc of Creation, Hongjun cannot deduce it.

But he intuitively felt that if he could take him under his wing, it would greatly benefit his future control over the primordial world.

A brief, deathly silence fell over the hall.

After a long while, Houtu finally slowly got up.

However, she did not step forward to become his disciple. Instead, she bowed to Hongjun, her voice clear and firm: "Dao Ancestor, this disciple has a question I wish to ask you to answer. Our Wu Clan was formed from the essence and blood of our Father God Pangu, possessing a powerful physical body, yet we do not cultivate our primordial spirit. Now, our path of cultivation is blocked. I wonder if there is any method to resolve the problem of our Wu Clan?"

Hongjun's gaze was deep as he fixed it on Houtu. His voice echoed in the hall, carrying the coldness and majesty of the Heavenly Dao: "The Great Dao is fifty, the Heavenly Evolution is forty-nine, and one is lost, which is the variable. Your Wu Clan was born with the essence and blood of Pangu, and your physical body has become a saint, capable of breaking all laws. This is your 'achievement'."

He paused, then changed the subject: "However, this is both its strength and its weakness. That incomparably powerful physical body is both a divinely bestowed armor and a cage of heaven and earth. It isolates the vital energy of heaven and earth and also locks away the opportunity for the primordial spirit to sprout. This is the balance of power imposed by the Way of Heaven."

"To resolve this difficulty, the only way is to completely abandon this innate physical body, remove the imprint of essence and blood, return to the origin, and rebuild the foundation of the Dao. Only then will there be a glimmer of hope."

Abandon the physical body?

Houtu's body trembled almost imperceptibly, and the glimmer of hope in her eyes quickly faded, replaced by endless disappointment and despair.

To abandon the body of the ancestral witch is tantamount to denying the very foundation of the entire witch clan! It is to betray the glory bestowed upon us by Father God Pangu!

How is that possible?

An overwhelming sense of sorrow washed over her. She pressed her lips together, remained silent for a moment, took a deep breath, and slowly raised her head.

Those eyes regained the calm and determination unique to the Ancestral Witch.

"Thank you for clearing up my doubts, Dao Ancestor."

Houtu bowed deeply to Hongjun, her voice clear and resounding: "However, the body of the Ancestral Witch is inherited from Father Pangu, the root of my race, and the source of my glory. To abandon the physical body is to betray the root, and Houtu... cannot do it."

"The path of the Witch Clan, though fraught with countless difficulties and dangers, shall be borne by our own people. We shall never entrust it to others, nor shall we abandon the legacy of our Father God."

"I am afraid I am not fortunate enough to be accepted as your disciple."