Chapter 49: The Twelve Ancestral Witches Divide the Treasures

“Do you wish to obtain the Twelve Ancestral Wu Golden Pills?”

The twelve Ancestral Wus exchanged glances, each weighing their thoughts in silence.

Though the Twelve Ancestral Wu Golden Pills were developed from the Dragon Clan’s Transformative Dragon Golden Pills, the unique bloodline of the Ancestral Wus enabled their alchemical power to far surpass the original.

This was common knowledge among them.

A single Golden Pill could help a Gold Deity complete their transformation, ascending to the Taiyi Divine Demon realm, while vastly increasing their potential.

With a complete set of twelve Golden Pills, their combined power could trigger a qualitative leap through quantitative change, allowing a peak Taiyi Divine Demon to take another step forward and reach the Da Luo Divine Demon realm, while likewise amplifying their future prospects.

Moreover, this pill could assist a peak Da Luo Divine Demon to gain a ten percent greater chance of stepping into the Hunyuan Divine Demon realm—the realm of the Ancestral Wu.

Given such heaven-defying effects, it was naturally not something easily obtained!

According to the research of the Ancestral Wus, the main ingredient of these Golden Pills required not only the blood essence of all twelve Ancestral Wus, but in as large a quantity as possible.

Furthermore, even with the Creation Heavenly Diagram in Emperor Cang’s possession, he needed the assistance of Pangu’s blood essence for gradual enhancement.

Thus, at most, the Ancestral Wus could only refine a single batch of Golden Pills per cosmic era.

Sometimes, due to various affairs, refining treasures, cultivation, or seeking enlightenment, a complete set couldn’t be assembled.

For example, in the thousand cosmic eras before the Great Cataclysm of the Wu and Demon Clans, the Ancestral Wus were so occupied that they managed to produce only dozens of batches, which were consumed by the weaker among the one hundred and eight Great Wus, helping them ascend to the Taiyi Divine Demon realm.

Now, the Wu Clan’s treasury stood empty, without a single complete set of Ancestral Wu Golden Pills left.

...

Ancestral Wu Emperor Jiang sighed and said, “If Shebi Corpse urgently needs such a pill, we twelve Ancestral Wus can only do our utmost. In my future seclusion, I’ll do all I can to leave behind blood essence while I am conscious, perhaps aiding the divine creature in Shebi Corpse’s care to reach a higher level.”

Ancestral Wu Xuanming added, “Of the one hundred and nine Great Wus of our tribe, one hundred and eight have already achieved the Taiyi Divine Demon realm. Especially Xing Tian, who wields the Heaven-Opening Axe—his cultivation progresses as sharply as the axe’s edge itself, and he has even advanced to the middle Taiyi stage.”

“Only Emperor Cang remains.”

Xuanming smiled. “He is a late bloomer. After a thousand cosmic eras, he has only now advanced from the middle Profound Deity stage to the peak Gold Deity stage. If our tribe obtains a new batch of Ancestral Wu Golden Pills, Emperor Cang should have priority.”

“It’s no matter,” said Houtu. “While my elder brother is in seclusion, our set of Golden Pills will lack Emperor Jiang’s portion, but for Cang to advance, a single pill will suffice. I can refine a Houtu Golden Pill myself and help him take that step. There’s no need for concern.”

Shebi Corpse also spoke, “Though I refine gu insects, the path of gu is external. The core of our tribe’s strength lies in our collective potential. If Emperor Cang needs the pill, I will gladly step aside.”

Emperor Cang considered, then said, “If we are able to refine the Ancestral Wu Golden Pills in the future, perhaps we can divide them into ten portions, reserving one for Shebi Corpse to cultivate his divine insects.”

“Oh?”

The twelve Ancestral Wus were puzzled.

Shebi Corpse said in surprise, “As an Ancestral Wu, my own strength is crucial to the clan. If there are resources, they should be used to their fullest. Why hold anything back?”

Emperor Cang respectfully replied, “Please do not be anxious, Ancestral Wu. I mean no offense—there is a reason for my suggestion.”

He continued, “Earlier, we extracted the resentment of gods and demons from our bodies and refined it into three Ten Thousand Souls Banners. If these three treasures are merged, the chaotic divine and demonic remnants within may devour each other, potentially evolving into supreme post-heavenly spirit treasures.”

“However,” he added, “eight of the Ancestral Wus still have yet to purge their internal resentments. To merge the banners now is not ideal. Instead, using the Ancestral Wu Golden Pills to nourish the chaotic souls within the banners might be better. Chaotic remnants are akin to celestial ghosts—if ghosts draw on living blood, their power surges; so too with these souls. If they receive the power of Pangu’s blood essence, their strength will skyrocket.”

“In this way,” Emperor Cang concluded, “not only does Shebi Corpse need the Golden Pills to nurture his divine insects, but the three banners also require them. In the future, we Ancestral Wus may have further uses as well. Of course, if there’s currently no extra supply, Shebi Corpse should have priority.”

“Well said.” Emperor Jiang nodded thoughtfully. “At present, our tribe has three Ten Thousand Souls Banners—held by myself, Candle Jiuyin, and Jumang. I have the Four Symbols Banana Tree, so my banner is more trouble than it’s worth. I’ll give it to Shebi Corpse, so that he might obtain more Golden Pills in the future.”

“Agreed,” all the Ancestral Wus said in unison.

Thus, Shebi Corpse now possessed a superior post-heavenly spirit treasure, the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, along with his own crafted superior post-heavenly treasure—the Myriad Venom Cauldron—and the God-Eater Gu, which rivaled a perfected Da Luo Divine Demon.

...

Ancestral Wu Tianwu said, “I have the Wings of the Wind God, which harmonize with my essence and are my path to enlightenment. With these, plus the Wind Spear I forged, I have all I need.”

“Moreover,” he continued, “our tribe has the Four Symbols Banana Tree. Once it matures, the Wind Banana Fan will be mine. Why seek anything else?”

Xuanming said, “I shall refine a supreme post-heavenly spirit treasure from the Weak Water our tribe fortuitously acquired. I desire nothing more.”

Qiangliang declared, “I possess the Thunder God Wings, and have taken the Thunder God, transformed from the Divine Tree of Thunder, as my direct disciple. Through him, I may comprehend the mysteries of the Thunder God Tree. I, too, desire nothing else.”

Xizi said, “I lack the finest treasures. Since I am tasked with guarding the Wu Clan’s Thunder Domain in the Chaotic Secret Realm, I shall plant the Wind-Thunder Immortal Apricot there, hoping to gain insight into the birth of life through thunder’s might.”

By this, Xizi made it clear that he chose the Wind-Thunder Immortal Apricot, one of the three great spiritual roots.

...

After some thought, Roushou said, “I choose the Godslayer Bow.”

Jumang smiled, and a treasure appeared in each hand.

All eyes turned to him: in one hand was the Life Spirit Gourd, a superior post-heavenly spirit treasure; in the other, a low-grade post-heavenly spiritual root—the Ancient Life Vine.

Jumang explained, “As you all know, I devote myself to the Dao of Life. With the Life Spirit Gourd, I can harness the power of primordial yimu to condense Azure Spirit Marrow, which accelerates the growth of spiritual roots and supplies them with vital energy. This treasure cannot be improved further.”

“Therefore,” he went on, “I plan to use the grafting method, combining many primordial roots and drawing on the power of our tribe’s innate Gourd Vine, to cultivate a new spiritual root of my own design—the Ancient Life Vine.”

“If this succeeds, I may gain immense merit and dissolve the remaining karmic burdens upon me.”

“For this reason,” Jumang finished, “I choose the Innate Gourd Vine.”