Mount Buzhou, formed from the spine of Pangu, supported the heavens and the earth of the Primordial World, symbolizing the indomitable spirit of Pangu.
Just as Lin Fan was taking human form, twelve figures inside the Pangu Hall at the foot of Mount Buzhou suddenly wore expressions of shock and doubt, exchanging glances and remaining speechless for a long time.
These twelve were formed during the creation of the world when twelve drops of Pangu's heart blood merged with the primordial turbid qi to take human shape.
The first was Dijiang, shaped like a yellow sack, red as cinnabar fire, with a human face and a bird's body, six legs and four wings. He excelled in speed—a single flap of his four wings covered two hundred and eighty thousand miles. Covered in red scales and wielding the law of space, he was the Ancestral Witch of Space and Speed.
The second was Jumang, with a bird's face and a human body, colored entirely in green wood, stepping on two blue dragons, naturally controlling the law of wood. He was the Ancestral Witch of Wood of the East.
The third was Rushou, with a human face and a tiger's body, clad in golden scales, with wings growing from his shoulder blades, a golden snake pierced through his left ear, and stepping on two golden dragons. Wielding the law of metal, he was the Ancestral Witch of Metal of the West.
The fourth was Gonggong, with a python head and a human body, stepping on two black dragons, clad in black scales, and with a cyan python coiled around his arm. He excelled in controlling water currents and wielded the law of water. He was the Ancestral Witch of Water of the North.
The fifth was Zhurong, with a beast's head and a human body, two fire snakes pierced through his ears, and stepping on a fire dragon. Wielding the law of fire, he was the Ancestral Witch of Fire of the South.
The sixth was Tianwu, with eight heads and a human face, a tiger's body and ten tails, wielding the law of wind. He was the Ancestral Witch of Wind.
The seventh was Qiangliang, with a snake in his mouth and a snake in his hand, a tiger's head and a human body, four hooves and long elbows, wielding the law of thunder. He was the Ancestral Witch of Thunder.
The eighth was Jiaozhi, with a human face and a bird's body, a cyan snake hanging from his ear and a red snake in his hand, wielding the law of electricity. He was the Ancestral Witch of Electricity.
The ninth was Zhu Jiuyin, with a human face and a snake's body, entirely red, controlling the movement of the sun and moon and the law of time. He was the Ancestral Witch of Time.
The tenth was Shebishu, with a human face and a beast's body, ears like a dog, and a cyan snake hanging from his ear. Wielding the law of weather, he was the Ancestral Witch of Weather.
The eleventh was Xuanming, a ferocious giant beast covered in bone spines, wielding the laws of slaughter and rain. She was the Ancestral Witch of Rain.
The twelfth was Houtu, with a human face and a snake's body, seven hands on her back and two hands on her chest, holding two soaring snakes in her hands. Wielding the law of earth, she was the Ancestral Witch of Earth of the Center.
Upon taking human form, the Twelve Ancestral Witches possessed the cultivation level of Daluo Immortals, naturally capable of manipulating the laws of the Primordial World. They did not cultivate their primordial spirits, practicing only their physical bodies; they did not revere the Heavenly Dao, honoring only Pangu.
After a long silence, Dijiang, the eldest of the Twelve Ancestral Witches, spoke: "My younger brothers and sisters, did you feel that sense of bloodline connection just a moment ago?"
"Could it be that some of Father God's bloodline is still scattered outside?"
Everyone nodded. At that exact moment, they had not only felt a bloodline connection, but also a faint sense of suppression. Although it lasted only for a flash, it still startled the Ancestral Witches.
They were completely baffled. Even if some of Father God's bloodline had drifted outside, at most it should be on par with them. How could it possibly suppress them?
Yet how could they know that the single drop of blood belonging to Lin Fan was actually Pangu's heart blood? The heart was the master of the entire body, and Pangu's heart blood was simply incomparable to their ordinary bloodlines.
While the Twelve Ancestral Witches were filled with doubt, Lin Fan on the other side was looting the mountain where he had taken form. To say he scraped it three feet deep would be no exaggeration; any medicinal herbs over ten thousand years old were stashed straight into the Chaos Bead.
After all, Lin Fan knew very well how later-generation cultivators would fight to the death over a single thousand-year-old jade fruit, turning on their peers and falling out with their masters. Now that hundreds of thousands of years' worth of herbs were spread out across the mountains before him, Lin Fan felt that failing to dig them up would do a great disservice to his trip to the Primordial World.
Besides, the upcoming Three Clans Conflict and the Witch and Demon Cataclysm would shatter the Primordial Earth anyway, turning all these nameless little mountains into ash and nothingness.
Shamelessly convincing himself that he was doing a good deed—since everything was destined to be destroyed, it might as well benefit him—Lin Fan dug with even greater enthusiasm, leaving not a single blade of grass in his wake.
Just as Lin Fan was considering whether to pack up the entire mountain and take it with him, a Daoist stepping on a colorful auspicious cloud was watching him from tens of thousands of meters directly above, completely undetected by Lin Fan.
After all, stepping on a colorful auspicious cloud was the hallmark of a Daluo Golden Immortal. Lin Fan's realm was simply too low to notice.
Seeing Lin Fan working away with such diligent and back-breaking effort, the Daoist's cheek twitched and his brow furrowed. With a flash of his figure, he silently appeared right behind Lin Fan.
"Little friend, why are you collecting these useless things?" In the eyes of the Daoist, medicinal herbs aged anywhere from several hundred thousand to over a million years were completely commonplace everywhere in the Primordial World right now; he simply could not understand why Lin Fan would bother gathering such ubiquitous trinkets.
The sudden voice startled Lin Fan so badly that his mouth reacted faster than his brain. Five thousand years of Huaxia's national essence blurted straight out: "What the hell? Which shameless bastard is sneaking up to scare Grandpa? Do you know people can be scared to death? Are you out of your damn mind, or what?"
Lin Fan's words made the Daoist's face instantly turn as dark as ink, veins throbbing violently on his forehead as he felt a powerful urge to strike Lin Fan dead on the spot.
The moment the words left his mouth, Lin Fan regretted it so deeply he wanted to slap himself across the face.
After all, for someone to appear silently right behind him without his knowledge proved that the newcomer's cultivation and magic power were far superior to his own.
If he got himself killed by some expert just because his mouth ran away with him, where on earth would he go to reason about it? Wouldn't that completely shame his transmigrator predecessors?
Cursing his own loose tongue for offending such a powerhouse, and watching the young Daoist opposite him look ready to explode into a rage, Lin Fan broke out in an awkward, cold sweat of sheer terror.
Forgetting all else in his panic, he scrambled in front of the Daoist, hurriedly bowing respectfully with cupped hands: "This junior greets Senior! My words were rash just now, and I have caused offense. I sincerely beg Senior to forgive me."
The Daoist was none other than Master Shangqing, one of the Three Pure Ones. Having cultivated on Mount Kunlun for countless eons to reach the peak of the Daluo Golden Immortal realm, he had been traveling through the Primordial World and was just about to return to the mountain when a sudden premonition struck him. Guided by this spiritual connection, he had arrived at the place where Lin Fan took form.
In fact, not only Master Shangqing, but even Taiqing and the Daoist of Jade Clarity far away on Mount Kunlun millions of miles distant had felt it as well, since Lin Fan also possessed Pangu's bloodline, sharing the same origin and naturally triggering a resonance.
One had to remember that Daluo Golden Immortals were already outside the Three Realms and beyond the Five Elements, having leapt free of the cycle of life and death, their states of mind calm and unruffled. A sudden premonition could only mean one thing: karmic ties.
The very instant he laid eyes on Lin Fan, Master Shangqing recognized Lin Fan's origin as Pangu's bloodline, and he knew at once that he shared karmic ties with Lin Fan, as well as the affinity of master and disciple.
Furthermore, Lin Fan's innate constitution was top-tier. Having been formed from Pangu's blood essence, his Qi Fortune was boundless, promising limitless fortune and destiny ahead.
Master Shangqing had been quite pleased up there on the cloud, but seeing the bizarre behavior of his destined disciple, he had been utterly baffled and simply wanted to step forward to say hello while taking in a disciple of the Three Pure Ones.
Never had he imagined that the moment his voice fell, what awaited him was a head-on scolding from his new disciple. The awkwardness was indescribable.
"Damn it, who could possibly endure this?" Master Shangqing's anger instantly hit maximum capacity, and he prepared to strike and teach Lin Fan a lesson.
Yet who would have thought that the brat, upon seeing him, would instantly switch faces and offer a sincere apology, leaving Master Shangqing's pent-up rage stuck halfway—neither able to go up nor down, feeling utterly miserable.
The crucial point was that he was in the wrong; he had snuck up behind someone and spoken first, leaving him with no place to vent his anger.
Watching the obedient and well-behaved Lin Fan standing before him, Master Shangqing forcefully swallowed his fury. After calming down for a long time, he no longer had the heart to ask anything else and cut straight to the point.
"Little friend," he said immediately, "I was formed from Pangu's primordial spirit, and I am Master Shangqing. Seeing that you and I share the fate of master and disciple, I wish to take you as my pupil. What say you, little friend?"
Lin Fan's heart leapt with joy. This truly was being handed a pillow right as he dozed off; he had been looking for a safe place to turtle up and avoid the Three Clans Conflict.
Where in the Primordial World could possibly be safer than Mount Kunlun? Even if the Three Clans were given several hundred extra guts, none of them would dare run wild on Mount Kunlun.
Without even waiting for Master Shangqing to react, Lin Fan hit the ground kneeling faster than anyone could blink! He promptly executed three kowtows and nine knockings, excitedly crying out "Master!" with a speed that left Master Shangqing dumbfounded and utterly flabbergasted, mentally wailing: "What on earth have I adopted here?"
No matter what, the master-disciple bond was now sealed. From this moment on, Lin Fan and Master Shangqing were bound by shared Qi Fortune—rising together, falling together, utterly inseparable.
With the apprenticeship settled, Master Shangqing immediately took Lin Fan along to continue their journey back to Kunlun.
Yet what Master Shangqing had not anticipated was that this entire trip would turn into sheer torture for him, making him deeply regret ever taking on such an embarrassing wretch of a disciple.