The Twelve Ancestral Witches all glared angrily at Haotian.
This left Haotian utterly bewildered.
What was going on?
He had only just arrived.
Why was everyone looking at him like they wanted to eat him alive?
Haotian hastily used a Daluo technique to look into the recent past, immediately understanding why the Twelve Ancestral Witches were glaring at him so furiously.
It turned out his arrival to take the final purple-black gourd meant they would end up with nothing at all.
But... this was Master Saint's decree!
“Fellow Daoists of the Ancestral Witches,” Haotian offered a helpless, bitter smile and cupped his hands respectfully toward the heavens. “This is the treasure Master Saint specifically requested. I am not trying to snatch your gourd.”
“Please, make things easy for us.”
Haotian was confident that as long as he brought up Master Saint's name, these Ancestral Witches would definitely back down.
After all, backing him was a Saint!
The only Saint in all of Honghuang!
Who would dare disobey a Saint's decree?
Not only Haotian, but even the surrounding Innate Sacred Beings thought so as well.
However...
The outcome caught them completely off guard.
“What bullshit Saint?! Our Wu tribe is taking this purple-black gourd, and even if the Heavenly Dao itself comes for it, my answer is no! That is Gonggong's word! Nobody steals from our Wu tribe!”
As soon as Gonggong spoke, shock rippled through the onlookers, and a dead silence fell over the entire area.
What had they just heard?
This Ancestral Witch, ignorant of Heaven's will, actually dared to insult a Saint in public?
Without even trying to hide it!
Were they really this reckless?
Even Taiqing Laozi, who was usually unflappable and composed, was shocked by Ancestral Witch Gonggong's words.
“The Ancestral Witches... are fierce indeed.”
Tongtian remarked with a sigh, “The Ancestral Witches have never witnessed the grand power of a Saint. It is only natural that they lack awe and reverence.”
Yuanshi Tianzun said, “In my view, given their ignorance, even if the Saint stood right before them, they would still remain fearless and openly defy him.”
Taiqing Laozi added meaningfully, “If they were afraid, they wouldn't be Ancestral Witches, nor would they be formed from Father God's essence blood.”
“True words.”
Dijiang stepped forward, his face terrifyingly dark. The rules of the Great Dao of Space surged around him, forging endless, unstoppable blades of spatial energy within the void. It looked as if Dijiang could slice Haotian into a thousand pieces in an instant if he so willed.
“You want the gourd?”
“Then have the Saint come down and take it himself!”
Although Dijiang's words contained no direct insults to the Saint, the message he conveyed was even wilder than Gonggong's.
Haotian's face twitched, clearly furious. Yet, seeing that group of demon-god-like Ancestral Witches glaring intently at him, he lost his nerve. “I... I shall report this truthfully to Master Saint! You Ancestral Witches better watch yourselves!”
With that, Haotian fled.
What else could he do besides run?
Was a mid-stage Daluo supposed to fight a group of Ancestral Witches?
What a joke!
Rushing back to inform Master Saint was his top priority.
Xuanjian did not care about Haotian's hasty departure.
The Heavenly Dao only cared about the dismantling of the Innate Gourd Vine; it did not care who ended up with the gourds.
With Haotian gone, this conflict over spiritual treasures finally drew to a close.
The good-natured Hongyun cupped his hands toward Xuanjian and said with a kindly smile, “Fellow Daoist Xuanjian, I, Hongyun, will remember this favor.”
The favor Hongyun mentioned naturally referred to Xuanjian's willingness to yield the six gourds.
This kind of goodwill was a form of karmic cause and effect.
“Fellow Daoist Xuanjian, I, Tongtian, acknowledge this goodwill as well. Should you ever need assistance in the future, feel free to ask.”
Taiqing Laozi added, “Indeed.”
Yuanshi Tianzun said, “My thanks, Fellow Daoist.”
Everyone who had received an Innate Gourd—including Dijun, Taiyi, Nuwa, and Fuxi—acknowledged Xuanjian's favor.
Only Zhunti and Jieyin were weeping.
Zhunti wailed in grief, tears streaming down his face. “How bitter is our West! After all this effort, not a single gourd went to us! Heaven does not favor the West!”
With a look of deep sorrow and anguish, Jieyin looked at the crowd who had obtained the gourds and said, “Fellow Daoists, the East and the West are one family. We are all part of Honghuang. Could you spare one Innate Gourd for the West?”
Everyone pretended not to hear him.
No one paid them any mind.
Zhunti and Jieyin departed in sorrow.
Xuanjian was very pleased with this outcome.
Earning goodwill was a great thing.
This karmic bond would eventually have to be repaid.
Right, Tongtian?
Xuanjian had long set his sights on the twenty-four Sea-Calming Pearls Tongtian would obtain in the future!
Once he acquired those twenty-four Sea-Calming Pearls and combined them with the twelve he had retrieved from the Dragon Clan's treasury to forge a full set, it would form yet another Innate Treasure!
Add to that the fully matured purple-black gourd...
...and the Grandmist Measuring Sky Ruler he obtained from the Wu tribe's treasury...
...he would possess three supreme treasures!
Just thinking about it made him feel delighted.
To their thanks, Xuanjian responded with a gentle smile, “No need to be polite. Just come support my business more in the future.”
Everyone: “???”
Support his business?
What business?
Seeing that Xuanjian had no intention of elaborating, the crowd did not press further.
When the time came, they would naturally find out.
“Fellow Daoist Xuanjian, Fellow Daoists of the Ancestral Witches, we shall take our leave.”
The Three Purities were the first to bid farewell and leave.
Then came Hongyun and Zhenyuanzi.
Chang'xi and Xihe had long since slipped away.
The many other Innate Sacred Beings departed one after another.
Having listened to the Saint preach the Dao for three thousand years in Zixiao Palace, they had benefited immensely and naturally needed to return to secluded cultivation to digest what they had learned.
In the end, only Xuanjian, the Twelve Ancestral Witches, Nuwa, and Fuxi remained.
“Fellow Daoist Nuwa? Is there something else?”
Xuanjian smiled as he looked at Nuwa, whose beauty was exquisite, her posture sacred and graceful, and her aura otherworldly.
Nuwa looked in the direction of the Innate Gourd Vine, hesitating slightly before saying, “Fellow Daoist Xuanjian, I feel a cosmic resonance with this gourd vine. It shares a destiny with me. Would you be willing to part with it? I am prepared to trade this mature Innate Gourd for it.”
Nuwa instinctively sensed that among the opportunities revealed today, the Innate Gourd was not what mattered most to her. The gourd vine and the Nine Heavens Soil it was rooted in were what truly mattered most.
If she did not claim them, she would surely regret it in the future.
“My apologies, Fellow Daoist Nuwa.” Xuanjian shook his head in refusal, explaining, “I currently need this gourd vine to nourish the purple-black gourd, so I cannot give it to you.”
“Ah?” Nuwa was somewhat disappointed, but she pressed on stubbornly, “What about the Nine Heavens Soil?”
Xuanjian shook his head once more. “The soil will not do either.”
Nuwa grew even more despondent. “It was rude of me to ask. Please forgive me, Fellow Daoist Xuanjian.”
Xuanjian replied, “Think nothing of it.”
Fuxi led the disappointed Nuwa away.
“Little Sister, are the gourd vine and Nine Heavens Soil that important to you?”
On the way, Fuxi could not help but ask.
Nuwa nodded and said solemnly, “My true self tells me those two items are vital to me! Even more important than this Innate Gourd, which is an embryo for a Top-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure.”
“Unfortunately, Fellow Daoist Xuanjian is unwilling to part with them.”
“No matter.”
Fuxi smiled gently, his demeanor as comforting as a spring breeze, as he reassured his sister, “Did Fellow Daoist Xuanjian not say that he needs the soil and vine to continue nourishing the purple-black gourd? Once the gourd no longer requires their nourishment, they will likely be of no use to him. It will not be too late to trade for them then.”
“That makes sense.”
Nuwa's mind brightened, and her gloom instantly dissipated.
...
Meanwhile, back with Xuanjian and the Twelve Ancestral Witches...
Xuanjian stored the Innate Gourd Vine along with the Nine Heavens Soil into the inner world of the Treasure-Gathering Gold Basin.
He then turned to the Twelve Ancestral Witches and proposed, “How about... since we happen to be halfway up the mountain, we climb straight to the peak and cry at the mountain?”
Rate on N.U.
