Chapter 59

Let's not talk about the battle between the Dragon Palace elder and the Xuanming Witch Ancestor for now, and turn our attention to Yuan Kui.

Under the combined efforts of many water lords, the altar was already swaying. The black-robed witches on the altar began to panic.

Seeing this, the witch god who resembled Gonggong broke free from Ao Yu's entanglement, flew back to the altar, and pulled out the Gonggong Black Banner. He swung it, and countless black waters surged out, splashing towards the various deities.

The deities did not know what the black water was, but out of caution, they would not let it near them. All the deities of the Golden Immortal and Divine Lord levels took out their spiritual treasures, cast spells, and blocked the black water.

However, the deities who were merely at the Heavenly Deity level could not do so. Some deities were splashed by the black water, which immediately corroded their divine bodies. The black water enveloped these deities and was then swallowed by the black banner.

Wei Qi, who could not dodge in time, was also splashed by the black water and hurriedly called for Yuan Kui's help. Yuan Kui unfurled the River Chart to protect Wei Qi. Seeing that Wei Qi was splashed by the black water, Yuan Kui originally intended to cut off Wei Qi's entire arm to save him.

However, to their surprise, the black water had no effect on Wei Qi's left hand. Wei Qi used a water-repelling spell to remove the black water. Unlike other deities, he was not completely consumed by the black water.

Yuan Kui's divine consciousness swept over the deities who had been consumed by the black water. His expression changed, and he suddenly realized, shouting, "Everyone, be careful! They are using this to gather Gonggong's essence. Any water deity who has absorbed Gonggong's essence, or any water deity who has been deified through it, should quickly move away. Do not let the black water near you, or your essence will be drawn away by the black banner. Those deities who have not been tainted by Gonggong's essence, let us quickly act to interrupt their spell. Otherwise, if they gather Gonggong's true form, a new Gonggong will be born!"

Hearing Yuan Kui's words, the deities' faces changed, especially Dragon King Ao Yu, who was now the main enemy of the Gonggong lineage. He could not allow his enemy to break through in front of him. A new Gonggong, even if not a Witch Ancestor, would at least be comparable to a Quasi-Saint. In Ao Yu's view, the great witch was already on par with him, and if he advanced further, Ao Yu might not be his match. Ao Yu let out a dragon's roar, gathered the Dragon Palace troops, and set up a killing formation to surround and attack the altar.

As Yuan Kui had said, the witch gods of the Gonggong lineage came to the East Sea for two reasons. One was to regain their divine positions, and the other was to gather Gonggong's true form, allowing the new leader of the Gonggong lineage to reach the Witch Ancestor level.

It should be noted that there were also disputes within the witch clans. Otherwise, there would not have been the battle between Zhurong and Gonggong.

Without a Witch Ancestor to suppress them, the Gonggong lineage might fall out of the twelve ancestral witch clans, even becoming weaker than the clans led by the peak great witches.

After all, Xingtian and Houyi, these two witch gods, were known as the closest to Witch Ancestors. The clans they led were only below the twelve ancestral witch clans. Now, although Hou Tu has transformed into the cycle of rebirth, her true spirit still exists, and she can remotely control the Hou Tu clan. Additionally, the Hou Tu clan is guarded by three top great witches, so they cannot be underestimated.

After all, when Hou Tu was alive, she was one of the strongest Witch Ancestors, the Earth Emperor. The Hou Tu clan was known as the leader of the twelve ancestral witch clans. Even Xingtian and Houyi were great witches who came from the Hou Tu clan. Although Xingtian and Houyi are now independent, their ties remain. Moreover, Hou Tu has chosen a new successor, Hou Ji, who is an extremely powerful great witch, just one step away from becoming a Witch Ancestor. Three great witches close to Witch Ancestors are enough to show the strength of the Hou Tu lineage.

However, the Gonggong lineage is different. Originally, Gonggong and Zhurong had a poor relationship, and their tribes often had conflicts. Now that Gonggong is dead and has no Witch Ancestor to rely on, how can they compete with the Zhurong lineage in the future? The remaining peak great witches are only two, Fuyou and Xiangliu, who were Gonggong's subordinates. Compared to the Zhurong clan, they are much weaker.

Fortunately, Gonggong's descendants are not fools and are ruthless enough. They thought of a way to regather Gonggong's essence. They directly killed all the other Gonggong bloodline members, using their blood as a sacrifice to gather Gonggong's true form, condense the Gonggong witch seal, and thus inherit Gonggong's position.

However, the new Gonggong was originally just an ordinary witch god, not even a great witch. Although he used the blood sacrifice to condense the great witch seal and become a peak great witch with Gonggong's true form, he was far from the Witch Ancestor Gonggong of old and still had a significant gap from the Witch Ancestor realm.

Thus, the Gonggong lineage conceived the idea of regathering Gonggong's essence. Although the primordial spirit is no longer present, the essence and blood can be regathered to form the ancestral witch seal, potentially making the new Gonggong a Witch Ancestor.

The other Witch Ancestors naturally welcomed this, as it could make up for the shortcomings of the Great Array of All Heavens. Even Zhurong understood the situation, knowing that the final battle between the witches and the demons was imminent. Any additional strength would be beneficial, so he did not hinder them.

For this, the witch clans sent the Witch Ancestor Xuanming to oversee the East Sea, while six Witch Ancestors went to the Heavenly Court to besiege Di Jun, buying time.

As for the Gonggong lineage, they have spared no effort.

Fuyou and Xiangliu, these two peak great witches, followed the Witch Ancestor Gonggong in the past. There is also the new Gonggong who inherited the name. In addition, there are over a dozen great witches and nearly a hundred witch gods at the Heavenly Deity level.

Basically, the Gonggong lineage, except for a few witch gods left to guard the base, has sent out all its elite forces.

The black-robed witches on the altar saw the Dragon Palace troops coming and the witch gods came out to meet them, leaving only some witches to continue the ritual.

Witches are the believers and followers of the witch gods, serving as diviners and priests, communicating with the witch gods, and extending the witch gods' rule over the tribes. They can borrow power from the witch gods they worship. If a witch is of a Witch Ancestor, the borrowed power may not be weaker than that of a witch god. However, borrowing power is not the right way, and there will be backlash. If the witch god they worship is killed, they will have no future. Their only options are to continue living in obscurity or to find a new path.

The structure of the witch clans can be divided into three categories: witches, witch gods, and witch masses.

Witch gods are the key to the witch clans' resistance against the Heavenly Court. Ordinary witch gods are at the same level as Heavenly Deities and Immortals, while more powerful witch gods, who have condensed the great witch seal, are on par with Divine Lords and Golden Immortals. With the witch seal, witch gods can control the elemental forces and govern the laws of the universe. The strongest great witches are comparable to Great Golden Immortals and Venerated Deities. If their combat power is strong enough, they can almost match Quasi-Saints.

Above the great witches are the Witch Ancestors. The twelve Witch Ancestors hold the ancestral witch seals, which are the core of their authority.

However, why did Gonggong make such a mistake! Due to the karma, the heavenly punishment descended, and the power of the great witch seal of the Gonggong lineage was reduced by thirty percent. Even Gonggong's ancestral witch seal was shattered and dissipated into the universe. If Gonggong's ancestral witch seal still existed, inheriting the position of the Witch Ancestor Gonggong would not be so troublesome. They could simply choose one of Gonggong's descendants and have them inherit the ancestral witch seal.

Speaking of this, we must mention Hou Ji of the Hou Tu clan. As the successor chosen by the Witch Ancestor Hou Tu, he refused to directly inherit Hou Tu's ancestral witch seal and decided to transform his great witch seal into an ancestral witch seal through his own strength.

In fact, he is indeed powerful, having reached the half-step Witch Ancestor realm and can already replace Hou Tu in the Great Array of All Heavens. He only needs to comprehend the Pangu imprint from Hou Tu's ancestral witch seal to advance to the Witch Ancestor level.

The Pangu imprint is the source of the twelve Witch Ancestors' power. In the past, the twelve Witch Ancestors obtained a Pangu imprint, which is why they call themselves descendants of Pangu. They divided this imprint into twelve parts, forming twelve ancestral witch seals, thus creating the twelve Witch Ancestors.

The Pangu imprint is a mark formed from fragments of Pangu's divine soul, containing Pangu's will. Obtaining a Pangu imprint means being part of the main lineage of the