Neither Yuanshi nor Taiqing Laozi had expected Tongtian to utter such blasphemous words.
That was a Sage! How dared he?
"I asked, are Sages necessarily always right?" Tongtian repeated.
This time, Yuanshi fell silent—not because he agreed with Tongtian, but simply because he thought Tongtian had lost his mind.
"Sages deceive us too, and use us..."
"Enough."
It was Taiqing Laozi who spoke this time, frowning as he interrupted Tongtian. "Tongtian, you have fallen into delusion. You had better go into seclusion at once to calm your mind and vanquish your inner demons!"
Tongtian: "..."
How did you know I obtained the inheritance of the Ancestor of Demons, Luohu?
Seeing the reactions of Taiqing Laozi and Yuanshi, Tongtian knew he could not convince the two of them, so he simply dropped the subject.
"Big Brother, Second Brother, would you be willing to give me your Pangu Marks? I am willing to trade two top-tier Innate Spiritual Treasures for them."
As Tongtian finished speaking, two streams of light burst forth from his body. The first was a purple hammer wreathed in golden lightning—the top-tier Innate Spiritual Treasure, the Purple-Gold Hammer. The second was an ancient lamp burning with black and white flames—the top-tier Innate Spiritual Treasure, the Hunyuan Two-Instruments Lamp.
Tongtian frequently traveled across Honghuang, and coupled with his affinity for Pangu's fortune, he had managed to acquire these two top-tier Innate Spiritual Treasures. Yet these two treasures practically constituted his entire net worth.
Right now, in order to exchange them for the Pangu Marks of Taiqing Laozi and Yuanshi, Tongtian produced them without the slightest hesitation.
Yuanshi's gaze lingered back and forth on the two top-tier Innate Spiritual Treasures, feeling somewhat tempted; after all, a Pangu Mark was merely a symbolic token with no practical use. But beside him, Taiqing Laozi directly refused.
"The Pangu Mark is a symbol of the identity bestowed upon us by Pangu. How could we trade it?"
Though Taiqing Laozi had no idea what purpose Tongtian had for exchanging the Pangu Marks, he refused without the slightest hesitation. As for his true reason for refusing, only he himself knew.
Seeing this, Yuanshi opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
"Tongtian, go into seclusion! Contemplate well the Great Dao expounded by our Teacher and raise your cultivation realm," said Laozi.
"...Understood."
Seeing that Taiqing Laozi and Yuanshi were unwilling to make the trade, Tongtian let out a soft sigh of relief. He recalled the Purple-Gold Hammer and the Hunyuan Two-Instruments Lamp, and stepped into the Shangqing Palace within the Sanqing Palace.
Outside the Sanqing Palace, after a moment of silence, Yuanshi asked in puzzlement:
"Big Brother, those were two top-tier Innate Spiritual Treasures! The Pangu Mark is of no use to us whatsoever. Why not make the trade?"
"Why do you suppose Tongtian was willing to trade top-tier Innate Spiritual Treasures for the Pangu Mark? As far as I know, those two are the only Innate Spiritual Treasures Tongtian possesses. Do you really think he would stake his entire net worth to exchange for a useless Pangu Mark?"
"You mean the Pangu Mark is even more precious than top-tier Innate treasures?" Yuanshi's breathing grew slightly ragged.
"Indeed," Laozi nodded.
"Hmph! This Tongtian knew the true use of the Pangu Mark yet refused to tell us, and even tried to trade top-tier Innate Spiritual Treasures for it to monopolize the benefits, completely disregarding our fraternal bonds!" Yuanshi snorted coldly.
Elsewhere, inside the Shangqing Palace, a bitter smile appeared on Tongtian's face, followed by a long sigh.
Taiqing Laozi and Yuanshi did not know that having now comprehended the origin of the Law of the Sword, he was constantly breathing in and out the power of heaven and earth, his mind at all times merging with the surrounding cosmos. It was equivalent to possessing a god-like perspective.
Consequently, he had clearly overheard the conversation between Taiqing Laozi and Yuanshi, while neither of them had detected a thing.
Yet Tongtian had not expected Taiqing Laozi and Yuanshi to view him in such a light.
……
Ancestral Land of the Wu Clan.
"Houyi, what do you suppose the Wu Emperor has summoned us for? Could it be to distribute divine weapons? If only I could acquire a divine weapon like your Houyi Bow!"
At the mention of the Houyi Bow, a look of envy flashed in Kuafu's eyes. Originally, Houyi's strength had been on par with his own, but after obtaining the Houyi Bow, Houyi's strength had crushed him utterly.
Like Houyi, he belonged to the Houtu Tribe among the Twelve Ancestral Witches. He deeply regretted why he had not stood guard for the Wu Emperor outside the Wu Clan Treasury back then.
"I don't know. I was merely acting on the Wu Emperor's orders to summon the Great Witches of the Twelve Ancestral Witches' tribes to the ancestral land of the Wu Clan. If you perform well, who knows, you might also obtain a divine weapon personally forged by the Wu Emperor, just like I did."
"Hehe... I will definitely put on a good performance."
Meanwhile, the Great Witches of the other tribes were also converging on the ancestral land of the Wu Clan.
Wu Clan Treasury.
"Wu Emperor, all the Great Witches of the Wu Clan have gathered at the ancestral land."
"Very well, I know. I still have a few divine weapons left to finish refining. Here, have all the Great Witches engage in a competition; I will reward the first-place winner with an extra divine weapon," Panshi's voice echoed out from within the Wu Clan.
"An extra divine weapon for first place... Could the Wu Emperor be planning to give every single Great Witch a divine weapon?" Houyi felt his mouth go dry at these words.
Although he had once fantasized about every Great Witch wielding a divine weapon—which would undoubtedly elevate their overall strength to a whole new level—he had only ever dared to dream of it.
After all, divine weapons were equivalent to Innate Spiritual Treasures; even if they were solely focused on offense, forging them was bound to be immensely difficult.
The Wu Clan currently had over two hundred Great Witches. To equip every single one with a divine weapon meant crafting over two hundred such items. That was as unimaginable as making Dijun of the Demon Clan casually pull out two hundred-odd Innate Spiritual Treasures all at once.
"Understood—"
Coming to his senses, Houyi immediately departed in high excitement.
Presumably, when the other Great Witches heard this news, they would be just as thrilled as he was.
In the blink of an eye, another hundred years passed.
"Done."
Looking at the virtually empty Wu Clan Treasury, a smile appeared on Panshi's face.
Though the treasury was empty, its contents would soon transform into the actual combat strength of the Wu Clan.
On the martial arts arena.
"Wu Emperor! Wu Emperor! Wu Emperor..."
A host of Great Witches gazed at the Wu Emperor in the firmament with burning eyes, their blood boiling with fervor.
Panshi raised a hand, and an invisible aura rippled outward, instantly silencing every sound.
"Which of you is in first place?" Panshi spoke slowly, his voice not loud, yet clearly entering the ears of every Wu Clan member present.
Hearing this, a burly, stalwart man stepped forward. An astonishing battle intent radiated from his entire body, as if he meant to challenge the heavens and battle the earth.
"Xingtian, Great Witch of the Dijiang Tribe, pays respects to the Wu Emperor."
"Xingtian."
Panshi briefly appraised Xingtian—yet another familiar name from later generations, revered in times to come as the God of War.
"That you managed to secure first place is within expectations. As I said before, whoever takes first place will be rewarded with an extra divine weapon. These are the Xingtian Axe and the Xingtian Shield, both top-tier divine weapons—one offensive, one defensive. I bestow them upon you."
Xingtian accepted the Xingtian Axe and the Xingtian Shield. His aura surged tremendously, the invisible battle intent nearly turning into a tangible substance.
"Xingtian thanks the Wu Emperor."
Panshi nodded and waved a hand. Over two hundred divine weapons materialized, radiating multicolored divine light in the void, their brilliance so intense that even the sun in the firmament seemed dim by comparison.
Below, the mass of Great Witches stared with burning eyes at the divine weapons hovering above.
"Go—"
As Panshi gave the command, the divine weapons flew toward the Great Witches below, exactly one for each person.
"Calm your minds, all of you. Next, I shall impart the Nine Axes of Opening the Heavens. Study and comprehend them carefully."
Pangu had used a total of eighty-one axes to split the heavens. However, given the cultivation levels of the Great Witches, they could at most comprehend up to the ninth axe. Even so, if they could grasp just these first nine axes of Opening the Heavens, their strength would still increase exponentially.
"Wu Emperor! Wu Emperor! Wu Emperor..."