Chapter 15: The Methods of Fuxi and Nuwa

The ancestral witch Jumang and the other eleven ancestral witches made their decision and immediately sprang into action.

First, all twelve ancestral witches joined forces. Together, they infused every bit of the precious Chaos Divine Soil they had painstakingly acquired into the godly earth before them. In an instant, the secret realm of chaos nurturing the primordial gourd vine expanded at an astonishing rate. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a grand world of immense vastness, seemingly brimming with infinite life, as if countless beings were on the verge of being born.

The ancestral witch Qiangliang brought forth the Thunder Divine Tree. Though it was merely a primordial spiritual root as tall as a man, its branches bore one hundred and eight leaves of thunder, each leaf inscribed with endless innate Dao patterns, combining into boundless mysteries and displaying unparalleled might.

Di Cang listened as the twelve ancestral witches spoke of this Thunder Divine Wood. Though it was but a primordial spiritual root, the one hundred and eight innate thunder leaves it produced contained the supreme essence of thunder. If one were to comprehend them, they could directly glimpse the primordial source of thunder in the prehistoric world—it was as if it were a tome of thunder Dao born from the very beginning, an incredibly precious treasure.

The ancestral witch Houtu produced the Four Symbols Plantain Tree. Though larger in appearance, it was still only about five zhang tall. It bore four Dao leaves—earth, water, wind, and fire—each shrouded in chaotic energy. It was evident that the four Dao leaves nurtured by this plantain tree were extraordinary. If they could truly give rise to four plantain fans representing earth, water, wind, and fire, each fan could reign supreme among the highest-grade innate spiritual treasures, their might rivaling even the very best of such treasures.

Fuxi and Nuwa had never imagined that, aside from the Twelve-Rank Creation Green Lotus, the Wu Clan possessed such deep reserves. Witnessing these two treasures with their own eyes left them both staring in awe.

Yet both were noble in character; though they felt deep admiration, no trace of greed appeared in their hearts.

Without delay, the twelve ancestral witches planted the two superior primordial spiritual roots into the newly expanded chaos secret realm. Jumang immediately used his divine powers to connect with the spiritual roots, drawing upon their innate power to attune to the Great Dao of Life. He gathered the endless essence of life they generated, and collected the life energy dispersed by the two supreme roots, nourishing the primordial gourd vine.

The condition of the gourd vine did improve somewhat, yet the change was visibly slight. The withered hue remained, and its life potential continued to drain away, albeit more slowly. The only advantage was that this slower depletion allowed the seven gourd fruits to mature for a longer period, enabling them to reach an even higher state of perfection.

All twelve ancestral witches frowned in silence.

Zhulong spoke, saying, "Our elder brothers Dijang and Zhujiuyin are adept in the powers of time and space. They can construct a grand temporal formation, helping the three primordial spiritual roots more rapidly absorb the chaos energy of the world to strengthen themselves. Shebishi, who is well-versed in medicinal lore, can also remain behind to assist."

"Furthermore, our younger sister Houtu possesses innate earth virtue and can use it to nurture all things," Zhulong continued. "With the four of them working together, they can provide further aid to the gourd vine."

"However," Zhulong surveyed those gathered, "the rest of us serve no purpose by staying here. Instead, the seven of us should immediately disperse in all directions to seek out other spiritual roots and plants that nurture powerful life force, transplanting them into the chaos secret realm. This will surely lend Jumang some support."

"Excellent!" All agreed, and the twelve ancestral witches split into two groups—one remaining in the chaos secret realm, the other venturing out to collect life-giving spiritual roots.

Fuxi considered for a moment, then said, "I cultivate earth's divine power, and use it to evolve the way of the Eight Trigrams. The Eight Trigrams encompasses birth and death, the cycle of life and transformation. I am willing to lend my strength to you, my friends."

Houtu was overjoyed and asked, "What means does Brother Fuxi possess?"

Fuxi pondered, then replied, "I have the Dragon-Turtle Longevity Score, a musical composition. Through its melody, one can enter the Dao, sustaining a strand of vital force within innate spiritual beings, ensuring their life force remains unextinguished and steadily grows."

At once, everyone watched as Fuxi produced a jade zither—none other than the Fuxi Zither, the finest innate spiritual treasure that had accompanied him since birth. Fuxi played the godly instrument, and as the music poured forth, endless harmonies and notes wove together, merging perfectly with the primordial gourd vine's fading vitality. In an instant, the music maintained the vine's remaining life force, and even used that sliver as a foundation to steadily increase the vine's vitality. With Jumang's powers of life, the effect was complementary, each enhancing the other, the result multiplied.

"A marvelous technique, my friend!" The twelve ancestral witches were astounded. None had expected Fuxi to possess such an ability.

Dijiang and Zhujiuyin exchanged glances, each deploying the laws of time and space to construct a primordial grand formation, anchoring it at the roots of the three primordial spiritual roots. This allowed the gourd vine and the other roots to absorb several times more chaotic energy, alleviating the pressure of nurturing the fruits. The situation indeed began to improve.

Houtu checked the earth veins, then gathered the innate ley lines of Buzhou Mountain, channeling their power to Xuanhuang Peak and greatly increasing the primordial energy within the chaos divine soil.

Di Cang was secretly awed. He could see it now: every person here was a peerless genius of the prehistoric world, conceived by heaven and earth, possessing boundless magic and unfathomable methods.

Di Cang had hoped to find the primordial gourd vine ahead of time—not to seize all the treasures it would produce, but at least to claim five of the peerless gourd treasures for himself. Yet, because he had arrived half a Kalpa early—about twenty thousand eras—the primordial gourd vine still had a chance to be saved.

Was this possible? It had come to this, and yet, the vine showed signs of revival under their hands.

"No," Di Cang thought to himself, "it’s not that the vine is about to be saved by everyone, but rather, it never truly reached the brink of death!"

At that moment, Fuxi maintained the vine's vitality, steadily strengthening its core essence. Jumang gathered the life force of heaven and earth to nourish it. Dijiang and Zhujiuyin relieved the pressure on the spiritual roots as they bore fruit. Houtu used the power of the earth veins to enrich the chaos divine soil, empowering the secret realm. The other seven ancestral witches each went out to collect all manner of spiritual woods, planting them in the chaos secret realm to further bolster Jumang's strength.

Even the seven peerless gourd treasures, defiant as they might be, gradually began to gather vitality under the combined efforts of these mighty beings, and the situation slowly improved.

Nuwa, after some consideration, suddenly spoke: "I possess the art of creation. I can mend the flaws of heaven and earth, rendering them perfect and whole. If a spiritual root is lacking, I can restore it as well!"