With a bang, self-destruction ensued.
Feng Yan'er's eyes flashed with a hint of astonishment, then she transmitted a message to Ao Tian, "The plan succeeded, I shall return to the Phoenix Hall first! The rest is up to you!"
Affected by Huang Jing'er's self-destruction, Ao Tian, left with only half a body, nodded indifferently.
Feng Yan'er suddenly turned into a wisp of black smoke and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Lin Ming and the other person who had pursued Huang Jing'er were startled by this scene. After a long pause, Bai Shu said, "Prince Ao Tian, where did Feng Yan'er go?"
Ao Tian did not speak. His originally handsome face suddenly twisted into cruelty, his hands forming a Seal Technique that opened a black hole. He recited a True Yuan spell, and an arm extended from within the hole, grabbed both men, and pulled them into the void.
Ao Tian looked down below and, licking his lips with bloodthirst, said, "Heh heh, the banquet has begun!"
... After his journey past the Three Pure Ones that day, Li Qingming had been riding on a Flying Bear he humoristically named Xiong Da, heading south.
This day, he arrived at the foot of Buzhou Mountain once more. The mountain had just been ravaged by a great battle among the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Clans, leaving it scarred and marred.
Li Qingming frowned and thought to himself, "These Innate Three Clans really don't know what's good for them. Buzhou Mountain is a Primordial Sacred Land, and yet they've utterly desecrated it. It's utterly detestable!"
Shaking his head, Li Qingming formed a spell to produce rain clouds to wash over the area.
"That Daoist, what do you intend to do?" A muscular man over ten feet tall, with crimson hair suddenly shouted.
"I see this place is filthy, and as a Primordial Sacred Land, it should not suffer such defilement!" Li Qingming's Primordial Spirit swept over the robust man and found no response in True Yuan, deducing that he must be an Ancestor Witch, though he was unsure which one.
"Ha ha ha, Brother, you truly have a good and simple heart!" The man cupped his hands together, took stride towards Li Qingming, and slapped his shoulder with a hand as large as a fan, saying, "I'm Zhu Rong, living right here at the foot of Buzhou Mountain! A few days ago, a swarm of monsters descended here, turning the place into a wretched mess. Alas, the twelve of my brothers and I couldn't beat so many, so we had to let them do as they wished! In the end, haha, that lad was ruthless! Tsk tsk..."
Li Qingming was inwardly shaken, musing: "Who would have thought this guy was Zhu Rong, and such a dimwit at that, selling himself out so easily! But what does he mean by that youngster being ruthless?"
"Heh heh! Is that so? I simply didn't want to see Buzhou Mountain so befouled!" replied Li Qingming with a smile.
Without halting his work, soon dark clouds filled the sky and a heavy rain poured down. After flushing the mountain's foot for two hours, it finally looked clean and tidy again.
Zhu Rong had been watching Li Qingming at work. Once done, he approached and said, "Come, I see you're a good lad. Meeting means fate. Come and sit with us!" Without waiting, he grabbed Li Qingming's arm and started dragging him towards Ancestral Witch Hall.
Li Qingming didn't even have the chance to refuse before being hauled all the way to the Ancestral Witch Hall.
"Brothers, I'm back!" Letting go of Li Qingming's hand, Zhu Rong spread his arms and roared.
"I say, Little Fire, can you die from not yelling? Can't you keep it down?" Gonggong, with blue hair, unhappily picked his nose and flicked it away, his face expressing sheer laziness.
"Damn it, Xiao Shui. We've got guests here, can't you be a bit more civilized, a bit more hygienic!" Naz with orange hair exclaimed.
"I'm going to duel you, you flicked it onto me!" Shebi Corpse said, his face furious.
Li Qingming, speechless, watched the room full of burly men, thinking to himself: "Damn, my eyes are blinded! Are these Ancestor Witches, or are they just a bunch of ruffian thugs?"
"Brother Huo, who is this Daoist?" asked a woman dressed in a goose-yellow gown, gentle and charming, noticing Li Qingming for the first time.
Zhu Rong, coming back to his senses, laughed heartily and said, "Houtu sister, let me tell you! This little brother is way too honest. A bunch of baddies stirred up trouble at our doorstep few days ago, making the place filthy and filling the air with foul qi. This little brother just helped us clean it up!"
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Li Qingming listened, his head full of black lines, and he couldn't help feeling regret.
"Hehe!" Houtu covered her mouth and chuckled lightly, saying, "Please, Fellow Daoist, don't mind. Brother Huo has always been like this; it's just his nature!"
"Hehe, who would have thought that the main culprits who had all the Primordial All Living Beings thinking the end of the world was nigh just a short while ago were you guys!" Li Qingming laughed awkwardly.
"What end of the world?" Two massive heads squeezed over at this point.
"Ha! Little brother, let me introduce you! This is Naz, this is Gonggong, and that's our eldest brother, Di Jiang..." Zhu Rong finally took on the responsibility of a host and introduced everyone to Li Qingming in turn.
"My humble self is Li Qingming, known as Qingmingzi. I am honored to meet all the Fellow Daoists here!" Li Qingming gave a long and respectful salute.
"The little brother is really extraordinary!" Zhu Jiuyin, who had been sitting silently on the steps in front of the hall the whole time since Li Qingming entered, suddenly spoke.
Li Qingming looked at this silent and lean man, and after a moment, replied, "Oh? In what respect am I extraordinary?"
Zhu Jiuyin stood up from the steps, saying, "I am the Ancestor Witch of time, able to freely roam the long river of time! Among those in Primordial, there are only three whom I cannot find in this river of time. One is Hong Jun, one is Luo Hou, and the third is you! Your past is obscure and unseen while your future is equally chaotic and muddled!"
Li Qingming smiled knowingly, thinking to himself, "Even Hong Jun can't discern my future, let alone you!"
"Big Brother, is that really true?" Zhu Rong exclaimed in surprise.
"Indeed it is!" Zhu Jiuyin obviously possessed much more refinement than the other Ancestor Witches.
"Roar, little brother. I've noticed that your spells are indeed exceptional, but how about your close-combat skills?" Zhu Rong suddenly shook his hands, his expression revealing excitement.
Li Qingming looked around in amazement at the other Ancestor Witches. Aside from Houtu and Xuanming, who were the two female entities, all the other Ancestor Witches looked excited and eager to try. It seems this room full of Ancestor Witches are all warlike creatures.
Li Qingming thought for a moment, considering the Ancestor Witches had just come into being and at most had just entered the early stages of Daluo. Although his physical strength was not as great as that of the Ancestor Witches, his True Yuan was profound. Moreover, Li Qingming was from the future, and the naturally active Li Qingming had practiced military boxing, Xingyi Boxing, Tai Chi, and the like in his past life. Even if he couldn't win, he could still put up some resistance, right?
"I know a little!" Li Qingming, resolved to test his skills, nodded in agreement.
"That's fantastic, little brother! Fighting with the brothers every day, it's always the same few moves until we're bored to tears! Come, let's have a bout!" Saying so, he was the first to run outside the hall, ready in stance.
Li Qingming shook his head helplessly and followed.
"Little Fire, you're too sly! Why do you get to fight Brother Li first?" Gonggong, just as hot-tempered as Zhu Rong, was jumping up and down, complaining to Zhu Rong, who was already in a fighting pose.
"Damn, Brother Li was brought here by me, so I have the first choice!" Zhu Rong replied unyieldingly, his red eyebrows twitching.
"Fine, looking for a beating, huh!" Saying this, Gonggong threw a Direct Punch straight at Zhu Rong's face.
"Dishonorable!" Zhu Rong ducked low, dodging the punch. Then he raised his hand, aiming a palm strike at Gonggong's abdomen.
"Damn, watch the kick!" Gonggong didn't wait for Zhu Rong's palm strike before kicking out, hitting Zhu Rong squarely in the face.
"Whoosh"
A shake of the earth followed by a tremor of the mountains—poor Zhu Rong flew straight out!
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