The Rise of the Witch

Xing Yang thought for a moment and said, "That makes sense, but I still feel..."

Thinking of the six villages that were slaughtered, and the corpses that were roasted over fires as meat, Xing Yang hesitated to speak.

Nuwa frowned slightly, her tone complex: "You are a War Witch, not a Holy Mother... Do you know what the situation was like in the Nine Provinces before I established the Demon Suppression Division?"

Xing Yang was speechless and said, "You know perfectly well when I awakened."

Nuwa shook her head and said, "At that time, demons plagued the Nine Provinces, and human lives were as worthless as grass or ants, with no guarantee of survival. However, in contrast, experts of the human race in the Nine Provinces emerged one after another, and those who could draw spirits and form pills were everywhere."

Back then, I was just as short-sighted as you, only seeing the suffering of humanity, but not looking further ahead. After I became a shaman and established the Demon Suppression Division, I almost wiped out all the demons in the Nine Provinces, and even once invaded the Great Wilderness... and what was the result?"

Xing Yang asked curiously, "Is the Nine Provinces at peace? Is the human race at peace?"

"Indeed."

Nuwa nodded, but then sighed, "But correspondingly, the number of experts in the human race has begun to decline precipitously. Nowadays, the Cave Profound Realm is the face of small clans, and medium-sized clans can hold their positions with one or two Spirit Induction Realm experts. Only large clans produce Core Formation Realm experts, and their numbers are very scarce."

Unlike before, when powerful cultivators could emerge from small clans from time to time... What's the root cause? The scarcity of cultivation resources!

Xing Yang subconsciously asked, "Isn't there also the Great Wilderness Kunlun Mountain?"

Wa Xin sneered and said, "The five top clans have almost monopolized half of the resources of Kunlun Mountain. The remaining half is then distributed to the great cultivators of each mountain. Only the last remaining portion is distributed to the Nine Provinces."

  

Of this, the imperial family will take half, the thirteen pillar states will take the lion's share, and countless small and medium-sized clans will only get a small portion. The common people will get absolutely nothing.

Xing Yang: "..."

Wa Xin pointed outside and said, "This area below is what I led the Demon Suppression Division to conquer. Now it is used specifically to supply resources to the Demon Suppression Division. Otherwise, the Demon Suppression Division would not have been able to persist for so many years, nor would it have become a path for ordinary people to improve themselves."

But now the Demon Suppression Division has more and more people, and my resources are not enough. Do you think, with the current strength of the cultivation world in the Nine Provinces, we can muster a team to explore new territories in the Great Wilderness?

Xing Yang thought for a moment. Even Gui Ning, the most skilled sword immortal, couldn't fight against a Great Wilderness Demon King, while Jiang Bing, a Core Formation Realm expert, could only restrain the Great Wilderness Demon King.

If such a fighting force were brought to the Great Wilderness to fight for territory, they probably wouldn't be enough to kill them.

Taking it down isn't enough; we also need to be able to hold it, at least to be able to fight against the Demon Saint behind the Demon King, and even the Demon Lord...

Finally, Xing Yang honestly shook his head and said, "I'm afraid it's impossible."

Nuwa spread her hands and said, "Look, if you calculate it this way, putting the great demons into the Nine Provinces will solve all these problems. Besides, the human race, if it is peaceful for too long, will only fight among themselves."

"We've only had a few years of peace, and that Di Xin guy already dares to set his sights on me."

Xing Yang's gossipy nature was piqued, and he asked curiously, "Does Emperor Xin really have those kinds of feelings for you?"

Wa Xin sighed and said, "When you stand at a high place for a long time, you will think that you are the mountain peak, and you will forget that you can only stand so high by standing on the mountain peak. By the way, Ji Yu has recently had an idea that I think is very good. Just because of her idea, I have already represented Hua Xu Clan and Fu Xi Clan to support her in competing for the throne."

Xing Yang asked blankly, "Ji Yu...who is that?"

Wa Xin looked at him strangely for a moment, then slapped her forehead and said, "Ji Yu is her name in the Xuanyuan clan, and also her shamanic name. Although she was a shaman, she could not compete for the throne as a shaman, so she only took the name from the clan she was born into, which is Mi Xiaoling."

Xing Yang: "..."

So Mi Xiaoling also had another name, Ji Yu. It seems that the Xuanyuan clan's surname was Ji, and their pseudo-surname was Gongsun.

Nuwa leaned forward, saying with great interest, "She is a Nuo shaman, in charge of all spirits, and can command all living beings. The Yellow Emperor was the same back then. Didn't she establish an academy and cultivate a bunch of talents?"

Xing Yang asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

Wa Xin chuckled and said, "A bunch of talented people gave her advice. With everyone's wisdom, there were almost no problems. However, most of these talented people lacked the aptitude for cultivation, or even had none at all. And since martial arts are so demanding and laborious, these people have limited lifespans."

Ji Yu was worried that he wouldn't have such useful talent in the future, so he came up with an idea: to forge a magical artifact to collect the true spirits of these people. As long as the artifact remained intact, the true spirits within would not perish...

Xing Yang exclaimed in surprise, "The Investiture of the Gods?!"

"Investiture of the Gods? That's a good name."

Nuwa nodded and said, "These true spirits who have entered the Investiture of the Gods can not only manage the Nine Provinces for her, but also collect the faith of all spirits, and finally gather them into that witch artifact... the Investiture of the Gods, from which she can draw upon them."

She gave ten slots to the Fuxi clan and twenty slots to the Huaxu clan in exchange for their support, and I have already agreed.

Xing Yang asked, puzzled, "What do you need this spot for?"

Wa Xin sighed and said, "No matter which clan, there are always younger generations who are not qualified but are intelligent and loved by others... In short, the Huaxu clan among the five major clans, and the Fuxi, Suiren, and Yanzi clans among the thirteen pillars of the state have all publicly supported her."

Among the chosen emperors, she stood out from the crowd, naturally becoming a target for the others. Since she couldn't act as a sorceress, her protective forces were somewhat insufficient.

Pointing to Yu Xi in Xing Yang's arms, Wa thought to herself, "Your disciple might have to be sent over to be her guard, so you need to train her as soon as possible!"

Xing Yang suddenly realized the purpose of his trip and hurriedly asked, "Right, I haven't asked how to solve my disciple's problem yet."

Nuwa casually said, "There are many ways. The simplest way is to use the innate spiritual objects of the Great Wilderness to recreate a body, and then ask the shaman for help to transfer the true spirit there."

Xing Yang: "...A lotus root body? Nezha?!"

Nuwa nodded and said, "Lotus roots are good too. I have some innate lotus roots in this pond. Would you like some?"

Xing Yang looked down at Yu Xi in his arms, thinking that Nezha would never grow taller in his entire life, and shook his head, saying, "Let's try another way."

Nuwa didn't delve into the details, saying, "There are too many things in the Great Wilderness that can restore one's foundation, but the most suitable one is none other than your essence blood."

Xing Yang was taken aback: "Essence blood?"

He has been focusing his energy on absorbing worldly energy and transforming into a witch spirit, so he has relaxed his efforts in condensing his essence blood. In the past few days, he has only condensed two drops.

Nuwa nodded and said, "The essence blood of the Great Witch is an unparalleled treasure for anyone. You can also infuse your own understanding of supernatural powers into the essence blood, and there is a certain chance that the person who receives the essence blood will comprehend a certain supernatural power."

Your disciple possesses the bloodline of double pupils and boundless strength. If he were to comprehend the divine power of the War Witch, he would likely be virtually invincible among those of the same cultivation level, unless he encountered a witch or an ancient demon!

Xing Yang thought for a moment, then raised his hand, held up one finger, and a golden light slowly appeared at the tip of his finger. A drop of thick, mercury-like golden blood appeared at the tip of his finger.

Wa Xin glanced at it and said with surprise, "The quality is quite high, but this child might not be able to handle it... Half a drop, half a drop should be enough."

Xing Yang withdrew half of his essence blood, then gently placed the now-shrunken portion on Yu Xi's brow.

The golden droplet of blood disappeared silently.

Immediately afterwards, Yu Xi radiated golden light.

Her withered body visibly plumped up, her straw-like hair became jet black and smooth, and her sallow face began to glow...

Special lines slowly appeared on her small face with her eyes tightly closed.

It wasn't the witch's mark, but the double pupil bloodline within Yu Xi's body that began to resonate with Xing Yang's battle witch essence blood... To be precise, it was Yu Xi's own will that triggered Xing Yang's battle intent when he was condensing his essence blood.

It should be considered... a battle rune!