Chapter 1: The Aura of Merit and Virtue

  Eternal and ancient, there is a mountain called Bu Zhou. In the majestic and awe-inspiring belly of this towering cloud-piercing mountain, twelve clusters of crimson essence mixed with threads of black killing energy quietly await within.

  These twelve groups of muscles contract and relax like a heart, with the largest group contracting most violently.

  "Where is this? Where are my hands? Where are my feet?"

  Li Hao let out a low growl in his heart. When he regained consciousness, he found that he couldn't move at all, and what's worse, he couldn't feel anything from his eyes, ears, mouth, or nose. His body was no longer distinguishable as hands and feet, but had become a round ball.

  Before Li Hao could investigate further, another wave of sharp pain like needles piercing his brain caused him to lose consciousness again.

  It was as if no time had passed at all, yet it felt like an eternity - a million years. Li Hao finally woke up.

  "Heavenly Dao Information, I've actually crossed over!" Li Hao's face was filled with shock, and he already knew his current situation.

  It turned out that the sharp pain just now was a vast heavenly message. Li Hao learned from this information that he had actually arrived in the Honghuang era!

  At this moment, it has only been a thousand years since Pangu opened up the sky and earth. And he unfortunately crossed over, becoming Di Jiang, the first of the twelve ancestral witches.

  At that moment, Li Hao's eyes welled up with tears. Although this Emperor Jiang was a top-notch figure in the Primordial Chaos, one of the twelve Pangu essence bloods transformed, possessing the merit of opening the sky. But thinking about his final outcome, Li Hao couldn't help but mourn silently in his heart.

  It's inexplicable that I was brought to Honghuang, but unexpectedly I became the ancestor witch emperor Jiang who is destined to be abandoned by the Heavenly Dao!

  Thinking of this, I couldn't help but feel a sense of being toyed with.

  No matter what, today I am the Emperor Jiang, and I must contend with Heaven itself. I will not be a abandoned son of the Heavenly Way! Such were Li Hao's thoughts in his heart, after all, who would willingly let others control their fate?

  With a plan in mind, Li Hao stopped wasting time and focused on cultivating his skills.

  In the vast and chaotic world, everything is respected for its strength. Although he was one of the first batch of pre-heavenly born spirits since the opening of the sky, and had the legacy of Pangu's father god, whether he could reach the height of his ancestral witch in memory, he still had no bottom line in his heart.

  Perhaps sensing Li Hao's desire to cultivate, a massive amount of information surged out from the depths of his mind once again. This time, the impact of the information was not enough to knock Li Hao unconscious, but rather gentle.

  Li Hao was overjoyed, this information actually came from Pangu's blood inheritance!

  The information contained most of the Pangu practice methods, although incomplete, but also much stronger than other innate spirits that could only absorb spiritual energy by instinct. This gave Li Hao some confidence.

  Cultivating one's spirit and refining one's body, after nine cycles of transformation, unknowingly six hundred thousand years have passed.

  At this time, in the belly of the Not-Weekly Mountain, the largest of the twelve groups of pure blood was contracting rhythmically, and the black killing energy wrapped around it slowly flowed into it.

  This evil energy was produced when Pangu opened the sky, and it is extremely cruel. This ball of essence blood can actually absorb and utilize it, if other pre-heavenly born spirits saw it, they would probably be amazed.

  The surface is infinite, but in reality it's unbearable. When Li Hao absorbed the spiritual energy to practice his body according to the ancient method of Pan Gu, the opening heavenly evil energy that was wrapped around him actually mixed with the spiritual energy and rushed in recklessly!

  Li Hao was shocked and lost his color, although his body was transformed from the essence of Pangu's blood and was not afraid of the heavenly evil energy, which even had benefits for his physical training, but his soul was still very weak and could not withstand it.

  Li Hao has already sensed that his soul is being assimilated by the evil energy and slowly merging with his body...

  No wonder the ancestral witch in my memory only refined her body and not her primordial spirit, it turned out that her soul had been invaded by the heavenly slaughter energy, and was sealed within her body. In this way, she naturally couldn't comprehend the Heavenly Way, nor could she cultivate her primordial spirit.

  Will I also fall into that embarrassing state where I can't cultivate my yuan spirit in the future?

  If you don't cultivate your true self, you won't know the way of heaven; can you still escape the fate of being reduced to nothing but ashes?

  The answer is definitely no, ignorant of the heavenly way, will be calculated by others until death!

  So Li Hao stopped practicing abruptly.

  However, he was horrified to discover that this evil energy had stuck to him like chewing gum, and even if he stopped cultivating, it still rushed in frantically!

  If this continues, the soul's evil energy and physical body will completely merge into one entity, transforming into what is known in later generations as the Witch Tribe. The physical body becomes incredibly powerful, but unable to cultivate a primordial spirit.

  "It's like this, becoming a witch doesn't seem so bad after all." After a long period of cultivation, Li Hao had become somewhat tired and such thoughts suddenly emerged in his mind.

  But must I really make such a choice? Thinking of my own miserable fate in the future, an indignant emotion rises again.

  "Reborn in this life, I absolutely cannot give up like this. Otherwise, it's better to be a pig, eating and sleeping, sleeping and eating, then getting fat and waiting for others to slaughter!" Li Hao suddenly shouted loudly.

  Since we've decided to defy heaven and take our fate into our own hands, we must persevere. If we can't even get past the first step, how can we talk about transcending it later?

  Li Hao encouraged himself in his heart, and his divine consciousness moved around his soul, wanting to isolate the invasion of the evil energy.

  Unfortunately, the effect is not great, and the soul is still being assimilated. The barrier of divine consciousness is like a thin paper, which can be broken with just one poke.

  Li Hao's heart skipped a beat, if he couldn't resist, then he would abandon the part that was being eroded, at worst, he would die again!

  All that can be seen is that in the cluster of pure blood where Li Hao is located, a grayish soul is constantly merging with black evil energy. As soon as the evil energy merges into the soul, that part is immediately separated by him.

  The pain of splitting the soul is enormous. It's thousands of times more unbearable than cutting flesh from one's body. Li Hao thought of giving up several times, but in the end, he persisted. This willpower as hard as gold and stone can also be attributed to the dull cultivation of tens of thousands of years after rebirth.

  In just a moment, his soul was abandoned by one-third, and his consciousness began to become blurred. Now, he is completely relying on a kind of instinct to persist.

  As his soul was constantly being torn apart and reduced in size, the breath of life also grew weaker and weaker. Perhaps in the next second, he would thoroughly dissipate into nothingness.

  However, he did not intend to stop at all. Rather than being calculated to death later, it is better to die now and have no humiliation.

  This guy has no awareness of being too rigid and inflexible at all.

  Another short while passed, and his soul was reduced to just a small half. At this point, he was almost in despair. Could it be that the heavens were truly irreversible? Not even a soul that wanted to hold on to a thread of freedom could do so?

  But at this moment, a muffled sound suddenly came from the depths of his soul. The next moment, a thick golden light burst out from within, enveloping the entire cluster of essence blood that he was in.

  Li Hao only felt a refreshing sensation that instantly spread throughout his body, and his soul also quickly recovered under the nourishment of the golden light, even becoming stronger.

  In a short while, the golden light slowly formed a spherical shield, firmly protecting the soul in the middle, and the heavenly evil energy could no longer invade.

  Li Hao was overjoyed and couldn't help but want to shout loudly, and indeed, heaven would not cut off a man's path!

  Life's ups and downs are nothing more than this, having lost all hope only to turn things around again. This couldn't help but give him even more insight into the ways of heaven. The ways of heaven are just so infuriating, when you persevere it doesn't let you see any hope, but when you're at your wit's end, it suddenly gives you a glimmer of light in the darkness.

  It turned out that this golden light was the mysterious and profound merit of opening up heaven! Li Hao slightly sensed it, and he knew the origin of this golden light.

  It is said that when Pangu first opened up the sky and earth, he was in harmony with the Great Way, so countless merits of opening up the sky descended.

  One success combines the essence of Taiji, transforming into a pagoda, becoming the ultimate treasure of acquired virtues, the Tian Di Xuan Huang Ling Long Pagoda. Another success combines the essence of Hongmeng, transforming into a ruler, becoming the ultimate treasure of acquired virtues, the Hong Meng Liang Tian Chi.

  Then Pangu's primordial spirit transformed into the Three Pure Ones and departed after successfully completing his three virtues. The twelve portions of Pangu's essence blood also attained the three virtues.

  As for the last two successful virtues, they spread throughout the new world, nourishing its vast expanse.

  Li Hao's behavior, which was close to self-mutilation, forced the merits that had been stored in his soul to erupt, and thus helped him survive a disaster.

  "This is but a favor granted by this identity."

  After the calamity, Li Hao felt a hint of gratitude towards his identity as Emperor Jiang. He thought for a moment and sighed: "Forget it, Li Hao is already dead. From now on, in the vast expanse of the Hongyuan, there will only be Zu Wu Emperor Jiang, no more Li Hao!"

  As soon as the words fell, a message came from the avenue, which acknowledged his words and deeds. If not, he feared that he would not be able to repay this karma. (The protagonist of the following text is written as Emperor Jiang)

  Di Jiang used his divine consciousness to take a closer look at the golden halo formed by the merits of opening up the sky, and he couldn't help but feel great joy, indeed worthy of being transformed from the merits of opening up the sky!

  Although the merits on his body are not too terrifying, this halo is extremely useful. With its protection, those attacks on the soul that follow will likely be unable to harm him.

  Moreover, this golden light halo also has some helpful effects on understanding the Tao, and it will be of great benefit to future cultivation.

  "This is indeed a great fortune!" Emperor Jiang was overjoyed in his heart.

  But thinking of Pangu's creation merit being used up like this, I don't know if it's worth it or not.

  "From now on, I'll call you Golden Light Shield, and consider it my first life-bound divine ability." Emperor Jiang was self-satisfied, having already forgotten the life-and-death situation from earlier.

  Just as Emperor Jiang was overjoyed, a golden light cut through space and entered his round body, the powerful impact almost stunning him.

  Just as I was about to burst into a loud scolding, but in the next moment, I was shocked by something that had entered my body.

  "The ultimate treasure of merit and virtue, the Hongmeng Quantian Chi!" Emperor Jiang felt a response within his body, as if something shaped like a ruler was stirring. His whole person was stunned. This object was none other than the Hongmeng Quantian Chi transformed from the merit and virtue of opening up the heavens!

  Out of the blue, a treasure fell from the sky, and Emperor Jiang felt that it was somewhat unreal.

  But then he thought again and felt at ease, "As the first of the twelve ancestral witches transformed by Pangu, Laozi, the leader of the Three Purities, has the Heaven and Earth Jade Tower born with him, how could I, the first of the twelve ancestral witches, not have a supreme treasure born with me?"

  Di Jiang didn't know that the Great Way is impartial and would never favor one over another. However, to obtain a precious object born with him, he needs to undergo a test.

  The trials of Emperor Jiang are those heavenly calamities. If he fails to withstand the invasion of these calamities, this Heaven Measuring Ruler will not automatically appear in the world and become his congenital treasure.

  Of course, Laozi and others can also get the congenital treasure, and there will be some twists and turns.

  Overjoyed, Emperor Jiang forgot to control his body shape, and his small mountain-sized spherical body kept shaking in sync with the laughter in his heart, very rhythmic.

  This caused the eleven slightly smaller blood clots beside him to hastily roll backward, fearing that something dangerous would happen and they would be injured by him.

  "What's wrong with this big guy today, usually he doesn't move at all, and when called, he doesn't respond. Today is really strange." A weak message came from one of the blood clots, but it was a mental communication.

  "He will move to prove he has consciousness like us." Another blood clan asserted...

  Needless to say, their exchanges did not escape Di Jiang's perception. What surprised him was that these eleven future great gods had also produced divine consciousness!

  It seems that I was too deeply invested in my six million years of cultivation and didn't even notice.

  Before he could continue to be surprised, these blood groups started discussing again.

  "Is he really conscious? I thought he was a stillbirth created by God's mistake."

  "Don't spout nonsense, Father God wouldn't make mistakes. This guy was originally motionless and must have eaten something poisonous, so he fainted. Hmph, I had already guessed that he's a glutton, otherwise how could his body be so much bigger than ours?"

  "This guy is too evil, he doesn't leave anything for us. No wonder there's nothing here except stones and mud."

  After a series of discussions, Emperor Jiang was labeled as a greedy and lazy, selfish and self-serving bad person. These discussions were all conducted in front of him, completely ignoring him.

  Finally, Emperor Jiang couldn't help but interrupt these future great gods who were still in their youth.

  "Shut up!" Emperor Jiang shouted loudly. "Haven't you received the cultivation method of Pan Gu, the Father God? Do you still have the leisure to chat here?"

  The other eleven blood clans all trembled slightly, clearly frightened.

  "This guy is so fierce." A weak message was sent out.

  "Hmm, he won't eat us because he has nothing else to eat, will he?"

  Dì Jiāng let out a sigh and finally gave up communicating with them.