The next day.
Hu Le met with the children, offered them a few kind words of encouragement, and then ordered his men to lead them to the back of the mountain.
At this time, the shamanic herbal soup had been brewed and poured into a pool in the back mountain, while a spiritual spring was drawn from the mountaintop.
After diluting to a certain ratio, the children lined up and began jumping into the pool one by one, using witchcraft to absorb the medicinal power and condense the witch seed.
As each child succeeds or fails, a tragicomedy unfolds.
The victors were overjoyed, while the losers were devastated...
After more than a hundred children had used it, the potency of the medicine in the pool gradually weakened, and then priests began to carry bronze cauldrons and add new witchcraft medicine to the pool...
And so, after more than half a year, the ceremony finally came to an end.
The results of this ceremony were quite good, with 20% more children successfully forming the witch seed compared to the last one.
This success rate would rank among the top even among all the witchcraft rituals performed over the years.
Hu Le summoned the children who had successfully condensed their witchcraft to the temple and led them in worshipping the Heavenly Dao and the Human Emperor.
Then, after offering them a few words of encouragement, the high priests and sorcerers passed on the secret arts of the witch clan to the children.
These young witches have just formed their witch seeds. Some of them may have some understanding of witchcraft cultivation due to their good backgrounds, but most of them are children from ordinary families who know nothing about witchcraft at all.
Therefore, they all need to study here for a year and thoroughly master the Wu tribe's cultivation methods before they can be released back to their original villages.
Fortunately, Kongfang Mountain is large enough that even if there were a hundred or a thousand times more children, they would only be a drop in the ocean compared to the entire Immortal Mountain Grotto Heaven...
After Hu Le finished presiding over the witchcraft ceremony, he stayed in the tribe for some time, thoroughly refined the Innate Pure Pearl, and temporarily handed over the affairs of the tribe to the Treasure Offering Heavenly Lord to preside over on his behalf. He then rode on auspicious clouds and left Buyou Kongfang Mountain.
After all, he had been away from Penglai for too long and needed to go back and take care of it.
On this day, Hu Le finally returned to the East Sea after a long absence, and then spent some time cultivating on Penglai Island.
In the past, Taiyi lent him the power of the Yuanhui. Although he had used it all up at the time, he still absorbed some of it as it circulated within his body, integrating it into his own power.
After this period of cultivation, that portion of his magical power was refined anew, allowing his cultivation to advance by leaps and bounds, reaching the thirty-fifth level of Qi Refining.
This unexpected gain surprised and delighted him; he never imagined there would be such a benefit, saving him tens of thousands of years.
Shortly after he left the pass, he prepared to go back to the Gonggong tribe to take a look, since he now held two positions and needed to take good care of both sides.
Before he could leave, Ao Qing, the Dragon King of the East Sea, suddenly came to see him.
Hu Le secretly guessed Ao Qing's purpose in coming and ordered someone to invite Ao Qing into the palace.
The Dragon King of the East Sea did not come empty-handed this time either. After paying his respects to Hu Le, he immediately presented his gifts.
Hu Le scanned the gift with his divine sense and was surprised to find that the gift Ao Qing had given him this time was extremely valuable. Even with the wealth of the East Sea Dragon Palace, it was still considered a huge expense.
But the more this is the case, the more it shows that what Ao Qing is asking for this time is definitely not simple.
Having traveled through the primordial world for so many years, his changed status and strength have made him no longer the insignificant person who couldn't stand good things.
Therefore, he did not accept the gift immediately, but pushed it back and asked with a frown, "What is the meaning of this, Fellow Daoist Ao Qing?"
He absolutely will not accept the gift unless the other party gives a clear explanation.
Seeing Hu Le's resolute expression, Ao Qing decided not to insist any further and let out a long sigh.
"Alas, to be honest, Your Majesty, I have come here with a request. I hope Your Majesty will show mercy and lend me a hand."
Hu Le was very curious upon hearing this.
In the entire East Sea, the East Sea Dragon Palace is considered a powerful force. For Ao Qing, the East Sea Dragon King, to come knocking on his door and beg for his help, things must be more than they seem.
Hu Le didn't agree immediately and continued to ask, "Fellow Daoist, please speak frankly. We've been neighbors for so many years. If I can help, I will certainly not refuse."
There was one more sentence he didn't say, but with the wisdom of the old Dragon King, he should have understood the unspoken meaning in his words.
The old Dragon King's courteous manners this time must indicate he has ulterior motives. I'll help if I can, but if I can't, then I'm afraid I, Hu, am powerless to help...
Ao Qing naturally understood the unspoken meaning in Hu Le's words, and his brows furrowed even more. He smiled bitterly and said, "To be honest, Divine Lord, this time I, the old dragon, really had no other choice but to come to you for help..."
"Alright! Fellow Daoist Ao Qing! What is it? Just tell me quickly. I have important matters to attend to and don't have time to listen to your rambling."
Seeing that Ao Qing kept rambling on and on, just pretending to be pitiful without getting to the point, Hu Le became impatient and stopped being so polite.
For a race like the Dragon Clan, which had gradually declined in the primordial world, Hu Le's previous politeness towards him, given his current status and position, was already an act of great civility...
Having met with a firm rebuff, Ao Qing didn't dare to lash out. With an awkward smile, he finally revealed what had happened...
It turns out that some time ago, Emperor Jun of the Demon Emperor sent Bai Ze to the East Sea Dragon Palace, hoping that Ao Qing could lead the East Sea aquatic creatures to join the Demon Clan and become a part of the Demon Clan.
Bai Ze appeared very polite in his words and actions, but Ao Qing knew perfectly well that his East Sea aquatic tribe had been targeted by the demon race, and if he refused, the demon race would definitely not let it go.
But he was reluctant to agree, after all, he had been living a carefree life in the East Sea for so long, why would he want to join the demon race and fight for Di Jun?
In the past, the three races of dragon, phoenix, and qilin fought for supremacy, vying for the position of protagonist in the prehistoric world. However, this resulted in all three being severely injured and suffering great losses. Instead, the innate gods seized the opportunity to rise to power, and the prehistoric world entered the era of the Three Sovereigns ruling over Heaven, Earth, and Man.
Thousands of years have passed, and the dragon race has yet to recover its strength. They have been keeping a low profile, fearing trouble from others, but they never expected to be targeted by the demon race...
Ao Qing was unaware that Di Jun had learned a lesson from his previous failed conquest of the human race.
While trying to subdue the Kunpeng, they also wanted to increase the strength of the demon race, so they quickly set their sights on the three races of dragon, phoenix, and qilin.
In Di Jun's view, the three races may have declined and lost their former strength, but even a broken ship has three nails. No matter how much the three races have declined, in terms of strength, they can still rank among the top ten among the Hundred Races of the Primordial World.
If he could truly subdue the three races and make them work for him, the strength of the demon race would inevitably increase greatly, and he could also use the three races to balance the power within the demon race.
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