Xuanjian cupped his hands toward the Ancestral Witches and smiled, “Many thanks for your assistance, fellow Daoists. I, Xuanjian, will keep this karma in mind.”
“Aiya,” Zhurong said heartily, “You're being far too polite, Brother Xuanjian! We didn't help you just to make you owe us karma, hahaha!”
“Indeed,” Gonggong said, agreeing with Zhurong for once with a smile. “If anyone should be offering thanks, it's our Wu tribe thanking you, Brother Xuanjian.”
“Brother Xuanjian,” Dijiang stepped forward and said solemnly, “Whether it was teaching us the Sixth Revolution of the Mysterious Art or devising a plan to help us obtain Father's marrow, your assistance to our Wu tribe has been immense. I, Dijiang, will engrave this favor in my heart. If you are willing, you shall be the Thirteenth Ancestral Witch of our Wu tribe! Anyone who makes an enemy of you is an enemy of the Wu tribe!”
“Well said!” Zhujiuyin added. “Since Brother Xuanjian was able to obtain Father's Mysterious Art inheritance, we are true brothers. If you become an Ancestral Witch, no member of the Wu tribe will dare object!”
Houtu looked at Xuanjian with her watery, earth-brown eyes and said in a sweet, sincere voice, “Little Brother Xuanjian, please agree to it.”
Xuanming's expression and voice remained as cold as ice, yet she still spoke up: “Stay.”
Xuanjian fell into thought, not rushing to declare his stance.
As a transmigrator, Xuanjian naturally knew the trend of the future.
This tribulation was called the Wu-Demon Tribulation.
Looking across past, present, and future, which race deeply embroiled in a great tribulation ever came out well?
In the future of the Wu tribe, the Ten Great Ancestral Witches and the elite forces of the Demon Court would perish together. Houtu would sacrifice her body to become Samsara; although she would become a Great Dao Saint, she would be unable to leave the Netherworld until the Immeasurable Tribulation arrived. How was that any different from imprisonment?
Gonggong, who luckily survived, saw that his brothers and sisters were either dead or imprisoned, and ninety percent of the Wu tribe was wiped out. Under the influence of rage and tribulation qi, he directly triggered that famous filial scene.
Gonggong slammed into Mount Zhou in fury, snapping his old father's spine and breaking the sky-supporting pillar.
That made things great—the few Arch-Witches and sparse survivors of the Wu tribe directly inherited the immense karma of breaking the heavenly pillar due to Gonggong's outrageous action.
If Houtu, who had transformed into Samsara, hadn't intervened in time, the Wu tribe might have suffered total extinction because of Gonggong.
Even so, to protect the remaining bloodline of the Wu tribe, Houtu exhausted the Creation Merit inherited by the Twelve Ancestral Witches, and even used up more than half of the Great Dao Merit she obtained from becoming Samsara.
Only then did she barely settle the karmic debt.
Gonggong's actions had caused a colossal loss.
With a Wu tribe like this, if he became the Thirteenth Ancestral Witch, his own fate would become entangled with theirs.
The future tribulation would inevitably affect him, but... what did he have to fear?
By the time the final battle of the Wu-Demon Tribulation arrived, he would certainly have proven his Dao as a Hunyuan Golden Immortal. At that point, his divine skill 【Fifty-Fifty with Anyone】 would upgrade to version 2.0.
Its upper limit would reach the level of a Hunyuan Wuji Daluo Golden Immortal—the equivalent of a Dao Integration Realm Saint.
Unless the Heavenly Dao itself intervened, even if Dao Ancestor Hongjun personally entered the field, he wouldn't need to fear his divine light!
Besides... did the tribulation strictly have to play out according to the future script?
Not necessarily.
The essence of the Great Dao of Commerce was trade, circulation, balance, contracts, and mutual exchange of needs. To prosper the Dao of Commerce, it naturally depended on a stable environment, orderly living beings, and a continuous trading ecosystem.
Once a tribulation erupted, entire races would be wiped out batch by batch, and living beings throughout heaven and earth would grow scarce. Who would be left to buy, sell, and trade?
People would be running to hide.
Furthermore, there was no commerce in times of chaos—only plundering and slaughter.
Even fewer would pursue commerce.
Even if Xuanjian established his merchant association in the early stage, once the tribulation broke out, the Dao of Commerce would instantly regress and shrink even if it had already developed.
Only a peaceful and stable environment provided fertile soil for commerce to flourish.
Establish the Dao through commerce; flourish commerce through peace.
If Xuanjian wanted to walk the path of proving Hunyuan through commerce, changing the course of the tribulation was imperative.
In that case, there was no need to worry about being tainted by karma.
Besides, the essence of a tribulation was the metabolic system of heaven and earth, designed to maintain balance, clean away the karma and evil qi accumulated over endless ages by countless beings, and eliminate corruption.
As long as he made Honghuang harmonious and orderly, wouldn't that delay or mitigate the arrival of the tribulation?
As these thoughts crossed his mind, the system screen flashed, popping up lines of prompts.
【Ding! It has been detected that the Twelve Ancestral Witches are inviting the host to become the Thirteenth Ancestral Witch of the Wu tribe. However, the Wu tribe is the protagonist race of this tribulation. Once the host chooses to become an Ancestral Witch, you will inevitably be embroiled in the tribulation. Your choices are as follows:】
【Choice 1: Agree to the Twelve Ancestral Witches and become the Thirteenth Ancestral Witch of the Wu tribe, helping them avoid the calamity of extinction in the future. Reward: 3 drops of Pangu Essence Blood.】
【Choice 2: Reject the Twelve Ancestral Witches and state: “Your Wu tribe is nothing but a sinking, broken ship in the future. You want to drag me down with you? Don't even think about it.” Reward: 3 random Top-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasures.】
Looking at the choices presented by the system, Xuanjian's lips twitched uncontrollably.
Leaving aside which option to pick for a moment...
Was Choice 2's line for real?
If he actually said that, wouldn't he immediately fall out with the Ancestral Witches?
“I choose Choice 1.”
With a helpless smile in his heart, Xuanjian made his choice. At the same time, he looked at the twelve expectant faces of the Ancestral Witches and smiled, “Since you all trust me so much, fellow Ancestral Witches, I won't refuse.”
The moment those words were spoken...
The Ancestral Witches' cheers arrived even before the system's notification.
“Oh-ho-ho!”
“Brother Xuanjian really is loyal! Hahaha!”
“Don't worry, Brother Xuanjian! We all know you have a good head on your shoulders. From now on, wherever you point, we'll strike!”
“Little Brother Xuanjian, it's so good to have you.”
And so...
Xuanjian officially became the Thirteenth Ancestral Witch of the Wu tribe: the Ancestral Witch of Commerce.
...
The Wu tribe's mountain search continued.
Especially after learning that Xuanjian had become an Ancestral Witch of their tribe, the Wu tribe brats worked with even greater vigor.
Before parting ways, Xuanjian instructed the Ancestral Witches to restrain the tribe in the near future, telling them not to be too high-profile or hunt the myriad races recklessly. After a while, he would have his own way to solve the Wu tribe's survival issues.
To this...
All Twelve Ancestral Witches trusted Xuanjian completely.
Even if they didn't fully understand, they agreed directly.
In truth, the Wu tribe didn't have time to hunt recently anyway, as most of the tribe members were busy searching the mountains for Xuanjian.
After parting, the Ancestral Witches went inside Pangu Hall for seclusion, swearing not to emerge until they had cultivated Essence Souls.
As all the Ancestral Witches entered seclusion, the Wu tribe adopted a contraction strategy across the entire tribe, only moving around and hunting in the vicinity of Mount Zhou.
On Xuanjian's side, he returned to Mount Wuyi.
He also needed to enter seclusion to make up for his innate deficiencies and elevate his aptitude using Pangu Marrow!
There were also the three drops of Pangu Essence Blood rewarded by the system, which could be used to temper his physical body!
Perhaps his physical body could reach the realm of Hunyuan Golden Immortal even before his cultivation base did!
“Time to get to work!”
...
Meanwhile...
In Beyond-Heaven, Zixiao Palace.
“Why did Great God Pangu's will suddenly revive...?”
Inside the palace, Dao Ancestor Hongjun was utterly perplexed.
Just earlier, when Pangu's will froze the world of Honghuang, the timeline for all living beings had been paused.
Even Hongjun, a Saint, was no exception.
The only reason he knew about it now was that the Heavenly Dao had informed him.
Yet Hongjun could not understand.
Why on earth did that happen?
“Could it be related to that little fellow who shouldn't exist in this era, or even have taken form at all?”
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