# Chapter 3958: The Nine Great Witch Ancestors
Zen Bing and Zhang Ruochen already had a deep understanding of this world. Therefore, they were mentally prepared before A Fuya spoke these words.
Zhang Ruochen pondered, then said, "Then, who is the Immortal behind the First Queen?"
A Fuya gently shook her head, a hint of confusion in her eyes.
Zen Bing smiled playfully, "Does the First Queen not know, or is she unwilling to tell us? Or perhaps, among the awakened fragments of consciousness, there is no related memory?"
A Fuya said, "The First Queen may not necessarily know who the Immortal behind her is! I have always felt that Imperial Dust has been able to reach where he is today because there is also an Immortal orchestrating behind him, but does Imperial Dust know who that is?"
This rhetorical question made Zhang Ruochen fall into deep thought.
Then, he said solemnly, "If such a person truly exists, then this person must have had a profound and subtle influence on me, able to accomplish their desired goals without me noticing."
In Zhang Ruochen's mind, several figures flickered.
A Fuya said, "When their goal is achieved, when you lose your value, or when you become aware of their existence and your strength threatens them—that is when you will die."
"The Immovable Bright King Great Venerable back then might have sensed the existence of the Immortal and wanted to break free from the situation, which is why he met an unclear end, bringing disaster to his descendants."
"In the chess game of the mortal world, one schemes for the interests of a family or a nation, and gods can be the players."
"In the chess game of the present world, one schemes for the survival of a realm or a clan, and the Heavenly Venerables can be the players."
"In the chess game of the eternal river of time, one schemes for longevity, for eternity, for dominion over all—only Ancestors can glimpse one or two aspects of the chess game. Whether they can break free depends on their own mental fortitude and methods."
She continued, "Although I do not know who the Immortal is that secretly pushed me to reach the Ancestor realm, I do know the meaning of having me cultivate to the Ancestor realm."
"What meaning?" Zen Bing asked.
A Fuya said, "To find the Ancestor Realm of Chi for them."
Zhang Ruochen frowned, "I have a doubt. What exactly is the relationship between Ancestor 'Chi' and the Great Light 'Maer'? Are they the same person?"
In the Paradise Realm, besides the Radiant Divine Temple, the most sacred place was the Maer Temple.
And the Maer Temple was the entrance to the Ancestor Realm of the Thirty-Six Winged Angel "Chi."
A Fuya said, "Don't mention you—even the gods who have studied history in the Radiant Divine Temple throughout the ages probably can't give an accurate answer. The vast majority believe that Maer is Chi."
"Legends are like this. Those people, those events, are too distant. Many things have become blurred. Later generations can mix together the deeds of two completely different people. Some have changed form, some have disappeared, and some are difficult to distinguish between black and white, good and evil."
"Moreover, this was deliberately done by someone!"
Zhang Ruochen became increasingly curious, "It seems the First Queen knows the truth?"
A Fuya said, "The Ancestor Realm of Chi was found by A Fuya. How could I not know the truth?"
Clearly, she did not consider her current self to still be the Ancestor A Fuya of the past.
A remnant soul seizing a new body is a new life.
She said, "Actually, Ancestor Chi should be more accurately called Witch Ancestor Chi. He was the Witch Ancestor from the Primordial Era who refined the Cauldron of Light. Only he had this ability."
"As for Maer, he was a cultivator from the same era as A Fuya, separated from the era of Witch Ancestor Chi by who knows how many eons."
The era of A Fuya was only a little over a thousand eons ago. It was far, far too distant from the Primordial Era.
"I suspect that after A Fuya died, Maer altered history, erased everything about Witch Ancestor Chi, and attributed all of Witch Ancestor Chi's legends and relics to himself, claiming to be the greatest in the history of the Radiant Divine Temple."
"But some things cannot be covered up."
Zhang Ruochen said, "What cannot be covered up?"
A Fuya said, "The reason Maer, who was at the Half-Ancestor realm back then, could contend with A Fuya, who was at the Ancestor realm, was because he found the Cauldron of Light, and either by himself or with someone's help, forged it into the Crown of Victory. By relying on the Crown of Victory and the Divine Source of Witch Ancestor Chi embedded in the crown, he could mobilize the power of an Ancestor, thus gaining the qualification to contend with A Fuya."
Zen Bing did not fully believe A Fuya, "There are at least two flaws in the First Queen's words."
"First, with the cultivation of an Immortal, why would they need to rely on you to find Chi's Ancestor Realm? What is the point of specially cultivating an Ancestor just to find an Ancestor Realm?"
"Second, why did the Great Light Maer alter history? Why did he erase all information about Chi's existence? Or rather, why did he want later generations to believe that Chi was him and he was Chi? What is the point of this?"
A Fuya said, "I didn't understand either. It wasn't until the Nuwa Palace, Dragon Nest, and Demon Ancestor Ridge successively appeared in this era that I realized even Immortals are not all-powerful. At the very least, they cannot unravel the methods of the Nine Great Witch Ancestors."
"Think about it—don't they want to find the Nuwa Palace, Dragon Nest, and Demon Ancestor Ridge? It's just like how some Immortals want to find Chi's Ancestor Realm but cannot."
Zhang Ruochen closed his eyes in contemplation, "This shows that the Nine Great Witch Ancestors, or rather the Ancestors of the Primordial Era, could achieve higher accomplishments and were not constrained by the Immortals. At the same time... hmm... could Nuwa, Ancestral Dragon, and Demon Ancestor have foreseen the future? Otherwise, why would they hide the Nuwa Palace, Dragon Nest, and Demon Ancestor Ridge after their fall, only to have them all appear in this era? What is the deep reason for this?"
"Wait!"
Zen Bing said, "Who can be certain that Dragon Ancestor and Demon Ancestor are two of the Nine Great Witch Ancestors?"
Zhang Ruochen felt A Fuya's words had some merit, "The *Complete Book of Ancient Witchcraft* records more than ten Ancestors who might be among the Nine Great Witch Ancestors. They are: the two disciples of the Space-Time Human Ancestor, Bai Yuan and Hei Qi, with Hei Qi suspected to be Xuanyuan Xuan Di."
"Third, the ancestor of the Witch God Civilization, Huangtian Great Emperor."
"Fourth, Houtu Empress."
"Fifth, Phoenix Demon Ancestor."
"Sixth, Ancestral Dragon."
"Seventh, Jiaye Buddha Ancestor."
"Eighth, Nuwa."
"Ninth, Pangu Chaos True Lord."
"Tenth, the Yama Clan ancestor, Life-Death Elder."
"Eleventh, the Holy Clan ancestor, Truth Great Emperor."
"Twelfth, Ancestor Yin."
"Thirteenth, Huangquan Great Emperor."
"... "
Zhang Ruochen said, "Since the Dragon Nest and Demon Ancestor Ridge appeared together with the Nuwa Palace and could evade the search of the Immortals, then Dragon Ancestor and Demon Ancestor should be two of the Witch Ancestors."
"Thus, the Witch Ancestors with confirmed identities are: Hei Qi, Bai Yuan, Dragon Ancestor, Demon Ancestor, Chi, Nuwa, and Huangtian Great Emperor."
A Fuya said, "Regarding the relationship between Huangtian Great Emperor, Yin, and Huangquan Great Emperor, I do know a strange tale, but I don't know if it's true."
Zen Bing said, "As expected of an Ancestor's memories! This is the first time I've heard of a strange tale involving these three."
A Fuya said, "Before telling this strange tale, I want to ask you two a question. Why do you think those world-destroyers in the current era want to destroy the world? Do they truly believe this world is dark, filthy, greedy, selfish... and want to destroy everything to rebuild a more perfect world?"
Zen Bing said, "Someone with such an ideal would only change the world, not destroy it. I think it must be because the Calamity of Quantities is truly approaching."
Zhang Ruochen said, "If the legend is true, that a great calamity that destroys the universe occurs every fifty thousand eons, then this node is truly approaching!"
A Fuya and Zen Bing both showed strange expressions, looking at Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen couldn't tell them the truth.
In fact, after reaching the Perfect Circle realm, with his powerful spiritual power, he had deduced backward from when he went to the past to cultivate the First-rank Sacred Intent.
And it was only a vague result.
Seeing that Zhang Ruochen was unwilling to speak, A Fuya didn't ask, "In fact, the universe has been destroyed at least twice, leaving traces that everyone knows."
"The first destruction left behind the Void World."
"The second destruction left behind Lihentian."
"What we are experiencing now is the Third Universe Era. And this era is about to reach its end. Lihentian and the Void World are the fate of the starry sky above our heads."
"I speculate that the destructive events that occurred in the past fifty thousand eons of this universe era were all initiated by the Immortals, to devour blood qi and souls, using this special method to extend their own lifespans. These man-made destructions are called Minor Calamities."
"Now that the Great Calamity is approaching, all Immortals want to collect as much blood qi and souls as possible to have a chance to survive."
"But the living beings in the universe are limited, so the struggle among the Immortals began. Starting from the Chaotic Era over ten million years ago, they began to orchestrate, cultivating Ancestors from their own camps as helpers or high-level fighters, all wanting to eliminate each other. The Great Demon God, Heavenly Demon, Second Confucian Ancestor, and Immovable Bright King Great Venerable thus appeared one after another!"
Zhang Ruochen thought of the words carved by the Second Confucian Ancestor in the Ten Thousand Beasts Treasure Mirror, "In this struggle, the Dark Weirdness should be the loser. He probably didn't cultivate an Ancestor who could help him, which is why he lost so miserably."
Zen Bing was a Heavenly Venerable-level powerhouse, so she only believed in ironclad evidence. Her interest in A Fuya's deductions was waning, "First Queen, why don't you talk about something more practical?"
A Fuya said, "If there were Immortals leading their followers to survive into the Fourth Universe Era, what identity do you think they would claim?"
Zen Bing said, "Naturally, the rulers of the new era... Does the First Queen mean that there are also Immortals from the previous universe era in our current universe era?"
Zhang Ruochen's heart jumped, "The Five Prehistoric Civilization Ruins?"
Zen Bing shook her head, "If there truly were Immortals who lived from the previous era to this one, they should be Primordial Beings. And they must be among the three earliest clans of the Twelve Ancient Clans: the Hongmeng Clan, the Chaos Clan, and the Taichu Clan. No, that's wrong—Primordial Beings are all born from heaven and earth!"
Zhang Ruochen looked into A Fuya's deep eyes, "First Queen, if you know something, you might as well speak it."
A Fuya said, "Has Imperial Dust not noticed the commonality between the two prehistoric creatures, the Swastika Azure Dragon and the Burial Gold White Tiger, and the royal clans of the Twelve Ancient Clans?"
"Could it be... the mark on the forehead? But the marks are completely different." Zhang Ruochen said.
A Fuya said, "That's because the royal clans of the Twelve Ancient Clans have all transformed into human forms. In the Primordial Era, they were not like this."
"As far as I know, the father or mother of the Swastika Azure Dragon and the Burial Gold White Tiger were Immortals who survived from the prehistoric era."
"At the end of the Primordial Era, the rules of heaven and earth changed, making it difficult for Primordial Beings to continue reproducing, and the strength of the prehistoric Immortals also declined. On the other hand, multiple Witch Ancestors appeared one after another, finally suppressing the Primordial Beings beneath the Abyss of Darkness."
"It can be said that the entire Primordial Era, and even the later Qi Refining Era, was a struggle between the powerful beings of the various intelligent races and the Primordial Beings. The reason the Primordial Beings could not be eliminated was because of the existence of the Immortals."
"It wasn't until the Nether Ancestor appeared that all the Immortals among the Primordial Beings, or rather the Immortals who survived from the previous era, were completely killed. After that, the Primordial Beings could no longer rise."
"Speaking of this, the two of you should understand now! The paradox I mentioned at the beginning should have started from the Nether Era initiated by the Nether Ancestor."
"Before this, the reason Immortals like the Nether Ancestor did not suppress the emergence of Ancestors was because of the threat from the prehistoric Immortals in the Abyss of Darkness."
After a long silence, Zhang Ruochen asked, "This is still the First Queen's deduction, isn't it?"
"This is A Fuya's memory, her research findings as an Ancestor." A Fuya said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "The Hongmeng Clan might be the descendants of prehistoric Immortals?"
"This answer, Imperial Dust will have to find at the Shengu Nest. I think the Hongmeng Clan and the prehistoric civilization ruin Shengu Nest must have some connection." A Fuya said.
Zen Bing said, "I'm more interested in the strange tale you mentioned."
A Fuya said, "Legend has it that Houtu Empress was not a demon, nor even a cultivator of our universe era. She was an Immortal from the previous universe era who fell in love with one of the Witch Ancestors, Huangtian Great Emperor."
"After Huangtian Great Emperor died a natural death, Houtu Empress transformed into a patch of White Pale Blood Soil and was buried with him. After endless years, Ancestor Yin crawled out from that White Pale Blood Soil, becoming the first Undying Blood Clan."
"Another legend is that after Huangtian Great Emperor died, his shadow was collected by Houtu Empress and cultivated into the later Huangquan Great Emperor. Houtu Empress originally wanted to use the shadow to entrust her longing, but Huangquan Great Emperor was no longer the former Huangtian Great Emperor. Therefore, heartbroken, Houtu Empress came to Huangtian Great Emperor's burial ground, scattered all her cultivation, and transformed into that White Pale Blood Soil, hoping to give birth to a new Huangtian Great Emperor. That is, the later Ancestor Yin!"
Zhang Ruochen smiled knowingly. This legend was different from what he had heard about the birth of Ancestor Yin. But it seemed more credible.
Because back in the Abyss of Darkness, when passing by White Pale Ridge, Yuan Sheng had said that the White Pale Blood Soil was related to a certain supreme ancestor of the Primordial Beings.
"If heaven has feelings, heaven would grow old. Even an Immortal who falls in love must die."
Zen Bing snorted lightly, "The First Queen still hasn't told us why Maer wanted to cover up the existence of Witch Ancestor Chi."
"Covering up is to deceive later cultivators."
A Fuya looked at Zhang Ruochen, "I think Imperial Dust can go to the Nuwa Palace and Dragon Nest to find the answer. Since Nuwa and Dragon Ancestor foresaw the future and hid the Nuwa Palace and Dragon Nest from the Immortals, precisely sending them to this era, they should be telling us something. It's impossible to find the answer in Chi's Ancestor Realm anymore!"