103: Great War
In a certain valley of Mount Buzhou.
Three figures stood silently there; the forms of an old man, a middle-aged man, and a youth were quite easy to identify—they were the Pangu Sanqing.
At this time, Taishang Laozi sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. Sensing the changes in the surrounding Qi, a small tower appeared, hovering above his head.
Yuqing Yuanshi remained silent, gazing at a Celestial Lotus ahead that was nurturing infinite Creation Qi.
Shangqing Tongtian was on guard, ready to respond to any situation that might arise.
All three had been guided by the Qi to find this place brimming with the vitality of creation.
And the Celestial Lotus before them was precisely the Twenty-Four-Grade Creation Green Lotus.
The Creation Green Lotus was blooming with its final brilliance.
The Chaos Qi flowing over the lotus petals had become thin, and fine cracks appeared on each jade-like petal.
The light of creation emanating from the lotus pedestal flickered, like the breath of a dying person.
The heart of the lotus, which should have been where the power of creation was most concentrated, was currently slowly collapsing.
Each collapse released scenes of the Dao's creation: the separation of the clear and the turbid, the first judgment of Yin and Yang, the evolution of the Five Elements... but these scenes were fleeting, quickly swallowed by the Void Realm.
The ground beneath the lotus stem had long since turned into a Chaos vortex, constantly eating away at the Green Lotus's final Foundation.
The Twenty-Four-Grade Creation Green Lotus had a Background that was too high; its birth meant its destruction.
Now, however, it had reached the final moment of its birth.
At this moment, Tongtian frowned slightly, looking at the two figures rushing toward them from below.
"They came after all."
"Only two of them. Third Brother, you and I shall block them together!"
Yuanshi and Tongtian exchanged a glance and stepped forward, appearing millions of miles away to block the two Great Ancestral Witches who were rushing up.
"You two, what business do you have with us?" Yuanshi said sternly.
The two Great Ancestral Witches did not stop; instead, they attacked directly without a word.
"Take a punch from me, Fire Spark!"
"And mine, Profound Water!"
Gonggong and Zhu Rong attacked almost simultaneously. Gonggong's fists were wrapped in Nine Serenity Profound Water, leaving black ice crystals in the Void Realm wherever they passed.
The Capital Deity Fire spewed from Zhu Rong's palms burned the air into distorted ripples.
The two diametrically opposed forces actually formed a wonderful resonance, flanking Yuanshi from the left and right.
Yuanshi hurriedly summoned a Spirit Treasure to block, but Gonggong suddenly changed his fist to a palm, and the Profound Water transformed into thousands of chains that entangled the light of the Spirit Treasure.
Zhu Rong took the opportunity to close in, the flames on his fist grazing Yuanshi's Daoist robe.
"Hahaha! I touched him first!" Zhu Rong laughed loudly, and the fire immediately subsided slightly, only forcing Yuanshi back.
"Bullshit! It was clearly my Profound Water that trapped him first!"
Gonggong roared, and the Nine Serenity Profound Water surged again, but it skillfully bypassed Yuanshi's vital points, forming a water prison around him.
The two Great Ancestral Witches seemed fierce, but in their competitiveness, they hadn't used their full strength, yet they already had Yuanshi struggling to cope.
Yuanshi's face turned ashen; relying solely on the Spirit Treasure in his hand, he simply couldn't withstand being toyed with by the two Great Ancestral Witches.
Each time Gonggong's water chains entangled him, they carried a bone-chilling cold that made his Primordial Spirit tremble.
Zhu Rong's flames specifically targeted gaps in his defense, burning his clothes and hair into disarray.
What was most stifling was that the opponents were clearly not using their full strength, yet he was like a mouse being toyed with by a cat, unable to fight back.
But Yuanshi also stalled for some time, allowing Tongtian to activate the Formation Restrictions.
"Second Brother, I've come to help you!"
Tongtian shouted, and Formation runes appeared in his hand, triggering the Formation beneath the two Great Ancestral Witches' feet.
"Restrict!"
Tongtian made a gesture with his sword fingers, and crisscrossing Formation runes immediately appeared in the Void Realm.
This was a Formation he had carefully arranged in advance. The moment it was completed, within its range, Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind all solidified, and even light was frozen within the cyan veins of the Formation.
"Ancestral Witches, can you break this Formation?" Tongtian's lips curled up slightly.
With this Formation, he was fully confident he could trap many Daluo Cultivators.
Making two brutes suffer a little would be a piece of cake.
However, in the next instant, Tongtian's smile froze.
Inside the Formation, Gonggong merely raised an eyebrow contemptuously and gave his muscular arm a casual shake.
The Formation runes that could restrict Daluo magic power actually began to shatter inch by inch like a mirror.
Zhu Rong laughed even louder: "Flashy but useless!"
With that, he slammed a punch into the ground. Pure Physical Body strength triggered spatial tremors, causing many Formation Foundations to shake and quiver.
Seeing this, the two Great Ancestral Witches punched the Formation one after another, quickly destroying it.
They didn't even use their Origin power during this process.
Gonggong shook his wrist, and his True Form of the Ancestral Witch of Water glowed slightly; the Profound Water that had been suppressed by the Formation began to surge once more.
Zhu Rong simply took a deep breath, and the blood Qi within his body roared, washing away all the Restriction power that had invaded his Meridians.
Tongtian's pupils shrank. The Formation he was so proud of was so fragile in the face of absolute power.
What shocked him even more was that the Ancestral Witches had displayed pure, primitive Physical Body strength when breaking the Formation.
No subtle Daoist magic, no Divine Ability transformations—just the most simple "One strength to break all laws."
"You fellow are quite interesting."
"Take a punch from me."
Seeing Tongtian, the two Great Ancestral Witches suddenly became excited and were about to attack him.
"Third Brother, watch out!" Yuanshi's cry of alarm pulled Tongtian back to reality.
Gonggong had already arrived, crushing the Void Realm. Before the fist even landed, the surging air pressure made Tongtian's robes flutter loudly.
Tongtian hurriedly dodged and returned to Yuanshi's side.
Zhu Rong's mind turned, and he watched with his arms crossed in a leisurely manner, his eyes full of mockery: "You Sanqing don't seem like much. You'd better give up the title of Pangus Legitimate Successors sooner rather than later."
"Do not insult Father God's prestige!"
Provoked like this, Tongtian's anger flared up. An Innate precious sword appeared, pointing at Zhu Rong.
"We shall see who is insulting Father God's prestige."
With that, he raised his sword and attacked Zhu Rong.
Amidst the flickering sword shadows, Tongtian already showed a hint of anger.
His name as one of the Pangu Sanqing was given by Father God and recognized by the Great Dao; it was not something to be casually toyed with.
Seeing the constantly dividing Sword Qi, Zhu Rong was delighted rather than surprised. Ten thousand feet of flames erupted around him as he transformed into his True Form of an Ancestral Witch with Three heads and six arms.
Six palms simultaneously channeled Law power, and the Capital Deity Fire condensed into nine fire Dragons, which crashed violently against the sword light.
The Void Realm was torn into cracks, and the scorching Sword Qi and violent waves of fire turned the surrounding space into a forbidden zone.
The two of them were locked in battle.
On the other side, Gonggong approached with a grin, treading on waves. The Nine Serenity Profound Water condensed into a coiling water snake behind him, which was grabbed by one hand of his manifested Ancestral Witch True Body, followed by a punch toward Yuanshi.
The punch was overwhelming and carried Law power, penetrating everywhere, making defenses seem non-existent before it.
Yuanshi summoned a few more Spirit Treasures this time, but he was still forced back step by step by the overwhelming waves.
Restricted by the lack of suitable Spirit Treasures in hand, when facing the Ancestral Witches with their powerful Physical Bodies, he and Tongtian could indeed only manage to hold their ground, unable to find any opportunity to strike back.
At this moment, the sound of the earth shaking and mountains swaying came from behind; the rest of the Ancestral Witches had also arrived.