Chapter 44: Ascending Mount Buzhou

"Could it be that the Three Pure Ones rejected your plea for help?" Bai Jing asked.

"After making some divinations, Daoist Laozi said that I am in no danger of perishing, and told me to cultivate with peace of mind. Daoists Yuanshi and Tongtian deeply believed their elder brother's words, offered me a few comforting remarks, and then escorted me out of the Three Pure Ones' Palace."

Upon hearing Queen Mother of the West's words, Bai Jing was at a loss for words for a moment.

Laozi's divination arts truly possessed remarkable skill. His calculation was indeed correct; the demon clan had ultimately spared Queen Mother of the West, making her one of the few mighty figures who remained safe and sound throughout the numerous tribulation periods of the Primordial World.

After a moment, Bai Jing asked, "Does Daoist Queen Mother of the West feel that Daoist Laozi was merely brushing you off?"

Queen Mother of the West nodded.

Since the demon clan dared to kill the Eastern Wangong, there was no reason they would not dare to kill her. Her cultivation was on par with that of the Eastern Wangong, leaving her with little ability to resist when faced with the demon clan.

Bai Jing smiled and said, "Daoist Queen Mother of the West, the Wu clan can offer you protection, but we hope you will agree to one condition."

"What condition?"

"It is impossible to tell you explicitly just yet, but this matter will be entirely beneficial to you with no harm whatsoever. You might even use this opportunity to advance further. Even if you cannot catch a glimpse of the Great Dao, you will at least be guaranteed a carefree existence, completely free from the danger of perishing."

"There is such a good thing?"

"Whether you believe it or not, Daoist, is entirely up to you."

After pondering for a moment, Queen Mother of the West gritted her teeth and said, "I trust the Wu clan."

With that, Queen Mother of the West directly swore a Grand Dao oath, stating that as long as the condition proposed by the Wu clan did not threaten her life, she would willingly abide by it.

At Bai Jing's signal, Dijiang also swore a Grand Dao oath, declaring that the Wu clan was willing to protect Queen Mother of the West and shield her from harm by the demon clan.

Once Dijiang finished his oath, Queen Mother of the West let out a long breath of relief.

The stone that had weighed heavily upon her heart for so long finally landed.

After sending Queen Mother of the West away, Bai Jing and Dijiang returned to the inner hall of the Pangu Palace. Dijiang asked with some curiosity, "Daoist Bai Jing, in what way could our Wu clan possibly have need of Queen Mother of the West?"

"Not at this moment, but we will when we awaken the Netherworld Dao later."

Dijiang nodded and asked no further questions.

"By the way, Daoist Dijiang, how much of the earth's veins in the Western Continent has been restored now?" Bai Jing asked, changing the subject.

"Over eighty percent of it has already been repaired. According to the current progress, the restoration of the Western earth's veins will be completed in about twenty thousand years. By then, as the leader of the Wu clan, I will be most closely tied to the Wu clan's destiny, allowing me to break through to the peak of the Hunyuan Golden Immortal realm.

Aside from not participating in the restoration of the initial ten percent of the earth's veins, Little Sister has been present for all subsequent repairs. She should have received the greatest share of merit, and she too will be able to break through to the peak of the Hunyuan Golden Immortal realm.

Among our remaining brothers and sisters, Candle Nine Yin commands the Law of Time, while Xuanming commands both the Laws of Ice and Rain. They will undoubtedly break through to the peak of the Hunyuan Golden Immortal realm.

For some reason, Rushou has a high affinity with the merits of the Netherworld Dao. His efficiency in absorbing Netherworld Dao merits is only slightly inferior to Little Sister's. Although he has only mastered the Law of Metal, he should also be able to break through to the peak of the Hunyuan Golden Immortal realm.

As for the others, reaching the late stage of the Hunyuan Golden Immortal realm is not a problem. Whether they can advance further depends on their comprehension and fortuitous destiny."

Hearing this, Bai Jing's eyes lit up. Putting everything else aside, the cultivation realms of these Twelve Ancestral Witches were already stronger than they had been during the original Wu-Demon War.

Donghuang Taiyi, relying on the might of the Chaos Bell, was hailed as the undisputed foremost figure beneath the Saints, requiring four to five Ancestral Witches to fight him to a standstill.

Like Donghuang Taiyi, Bai Jing walked the path of proving the Dao through sheer force. Wielding the Primordial Measureless Heaven Ruler, which rivaled Supreme Spiritual Treasures, their combat prowess should be roughly comparable.

If the late-stage Hunyuan Golden Immortal combat prowess of all Twelve Ancestral Witches was similar to Dijiang's, then against two Ancestral Witches at the same late Hunyuan Golden Immortal stage simultaneously, Bai Jing was confident he could fight and emerge victorious. Against three Ancestral Witches, however, he would not be able to win.

Conversely, if they were a realm lower, it would take at least four Ancestral Witches joining forces to halt Bai Jing, and five Ancestral Witches joining forces to defeat him.

By the same token, to defeat Donghuang Taiyi, who possessed a Supreme Spiritual Treasure, would require either three Ancestral Witches of the same realm fighting together, or five Ancestral Witches of a lower realm joining forces.

Back when the decisive battle of the Wu-Demon War took place, probably not even five of the Wu clan's Twelve Ancestral Witches had reached the peak of the Hunyuan Golden Immortal realm; otherwise, the fighting would not have been so arduous.

Now that the Wu clan's strength had reached a new height, the power of the Twelve Capital Heavenly Godsfiend Formation that they would subsequently deploy together would be even greater. Even if the demon clan deployed the Zhou Tian Star Formation, they would no longer be a match for the Wu clan in a single encounter.

Of course, in the original history, the demon clan was no match for the Wu clan either; it was just that the Wu clan's advantage was not as overwhelming as it was now.

In the Wu-Demon Tribulation, with the Wu clan mentioned first, it already spoke volumes.

The reason the Wu clan and the demon clan suffered mutual destruction was, on one hand, because Houtu transformed into the Reincarnation cycle, leaving the Twelve Capital Heavenly Godsfiend Formation short of one Ancestral Witch. Although Chi You, who later filled the vacancy, possessed the physique of an Ancestral Witch by borrowing Houtu's primordial blood, he still fell somewhat short.

On the other hand, it was because the Heavenly Dao tilted the scales in favor of the other side, which was the primary reason.

Originally, to prevent the Heavenly Dao from tilting the scales and leading to the annihilation of the Wu clan, the best method Bai Jing could think of was to awaken the Netherworld Dao, leaving a retreat route for the Wu clan.

Now, having obtained the Jianmu tree and the small world secured by Grandmaster Yangmei's formation, Bai Jing had conceived a new idea.

Naturally, the Netherworld Dao still had to be awakened; preparing for both contingencies would never result in a loss!

Thinking of this, Bai Jing said to Dijiang, "Daoist Dijiang, I am now going to ascend Mount Buzhou. Please call back all the other Ancestral Witches! When I come down from Mount Buzhou, we will together help Daoist Houtu condense her primordial spirit."

Hearing this, Dijiang immediately agreed, as their Wu clan had been eagerly awaiting this very day.

Subsequently, Bai Jing left the Wu clan and began his ascent of Mount Buzhou.

With Bai Jing's current physique at the late Hunyuan Golden Immortal stage, the Grand Dao pressure on the lower half of Mount Buzhou no longer had any effect on him.

Soon, Bai Jing arrived at the location where he had previously found the Origin Sun Tripod.

Without pausing his footsteps, Bai Jing continued to climb upward.

Starting from the halfway point of the mountain, with every single step Bai Jing took upward, the Grand Dao pressure increased by a fraction. By the time he reached two-thirds of the way up, the Grand Dao pressure alone was strong enough to crush a Quasi-Sovereign lacking spiritual treasure protection into a pulp of flesh and mud.

However, to Bai Jing, this level of pressure was still of little consequence. He continued his ascent. Upon reaching four-fifths of the way up, Bai Jing finally began to sweat profusely, and his pace slowed down. Yet the pressure here was still unable to stop him from pressing onward. Bai Jing took out some mineral ores and began chewing on them, utilizing the Grand Dao pressure to temper his physical body while stepping upward one footprint at a time. He wanted to see where his absolute limit lay.

Unwittingly, a thousand years passed. By now, Bai Jing was less than a thousandth of the way—roughly a million zhang in height—away from the summit of Mount Buzhou.

At this moment, Bai Jing had been forced to his knees by the overwhelming Grand Dao pressure and could not take another step upward.

"It seems that relying solely on my physical body, this is my limit," Bai Jing muttered to himself, a thought flashing through his mind as he first summoned the Origin Sun Tripod.

As soon as the Origin Sun Tripod appeared, Bai Jing felt the Grand Dao pressure diminish considerably, allowing him to stand upright once more. Following that, Bai Jing continued his climb until he was once again forced to his knees by the Grand Dao pressure, at which point he summoned the Primordial Measureless Heaven Ruler.

This time, the Grand Dao pressure could no longer stop Bai Jing from reaching the summit. Step by step, Bai Jing climbed all the way to the peak of Mount Buzhou.