Longzang

Chapter 922 First, Smear Them (Bonus Chapter)
Faced with Kaguya's accusation, Nine Eyes laughed and said, "What does this have to do with me? I only came here after I saw you appear. These recording spheres recorded everything clearly. I already said that I was only responsible for recording and promised not to interfere. Even so, you don't dare to fight a mere Wild Witch, and instead you want to blame me?"

Kaguya's face was icy as she said, "Nine Eyes! How dare you speak to me like that! I now suspect that the human has escaped to the Desolate Realm and is currently hiding in the fortress! Otherwise, why would you go to such lengths to prevent me from coming to patrol?"

Normally, Wei Yuan thought Jiu Mu would retort with something like, "If we can't find it, then so be it," but Jiu Mu didn't play by the rules at all. Instead, she waved her hand and threw out another handful of image-recording balls, saying:

"Why are you babbling on and on? Stop this nonsense and go fight! The guy who deserves a beating is right in front of you. Weren't you just about to kill him? Go for it! If you're too scared, just say so. I won't laugh at you. As for what the other Heavenly Witches think, I have no idea. In short, if you don't fight, then you're just a lackey of the Power Witch!"

Kaguya narrowed her eyes slightly and said, "After I finish my inspection, I will teach him a lesson!"

"Strike first, then investigate!"

"No, inspect the area first!"

The two celestial witches were thus trapped in an endless cycle. The molten dragon could no longer bear it and blinked again.

The amber-colored full moon disappeared and reappeared. Even though he already knew what had happened, Wei Yuan was still quite shocked by what he saw. How big must this molten dragon's true form be? How could a sorcerer possess such a vast mental world?
The two celestial witches spoke at an extremely fast pace, repeating the same words tens of thousands of times in the blink of an eye. Finally, Kaguya coldly said, "Very well, you even dare to disobey the will of the ancestral witches and collude with the human race without authorization. You are not far from rebellion! Just wait to be punished!"

Nine Eyes ignored this and instead said, "Kaguya, you've been hiding outside the heavens for ten days, not daring to show yourself in battle. Not only are you afraid of the Flame Demon, but you've also watched as elite warriors are killed or wounded, which is a violation of military regulations! What use is such a cowardly, useless, and utterly ugly Heavenly Witch? You've truly disgraced the Nether Witches! Wait, you wouldn't be colluding with the Flame Demon, planning to come out at a crucial moment and deliver a fatal blow to us, would you?"

Kaguya roared in fury: "I just arrived in the Desolate Realm! Which eye of yours saw me hiding in the heavens, too afraid to fight?!"

Nine Eyes shouted, "I saw it with all nine eyes! You thought you hid it well enough, but you didn't expect you couldn't hide it from my innate supernatural power, did you? Fine, although we don't get along, for the sake of our acquaintance, if you help me beat the Molten Dragon half to death, I won't spread your shameful cowardice and avoidance of battle everywhere, how about that?"

Kaguya was so angry that she trembled all over, stopped talking, and turned to leave.

Nine Eyes called out to her retreating figure, "Hey, don't go! There's still one Wild Witch we haven't fought yet! Such an arrogant bug, aren't you going to step on it? I've already said all that to you, aren't you going to force me to kneel down and apologize? If you leave like this, I'll just hand out the memory orbs to everyone..."

The full moon in the sky finally disappeared, and the amber-colored full moon closed up as well. The molten dragon reappeared beside Wei Yuan.

Then, Nine Eyes appeared, transformed into the size of a normal person, and threw a memory ball to each of the Molten Dragon and Wei Yuan, saying, "Keep this as a souvenir. I'll give the rest to the other Heavenly Witches and the main Holy Witches and Spirit Witches."

Molten Dragon looked at Nine Eyes with wary eyes and said, "You've really offended Kaguya. She's notoriously vengeful."

Nine Eyes said indifferently, "So what if she holds a grudge? Can she remove me from my position as Heavenly Witch? I was handpicked by the Ancestral Witch as her lackey. For hundreds of years, I have been diligent and conscientious, completing all the tasks assigned to me without vying for anything or seeking promotion. Where else can you find such a useful lackey as me?"

She's just someone who has to constantly accumulate merit to keep her position. Does she really think she's superior to me? What a joke! If she had even the slightest standing in the eyes of the Ancestral Witch, would she be subject to a century-long merit assessment?

Wei Yuan was concerned about something else, and asked, "Was Kaguya really watching from beyond the heavens all along?"

To everyone's surprise, Nine Eyes said, "How would I know?"

Wei Yuan was stunned. You don't know, yet you say it with absolute certainty?

Nine Eyes spread his hands and said, "Fabricating charges and smearing people is a common tactic of the Netherworld Witches; I've seen it many times. Since we know she's going to smear us, the best way isn't to avoid her, but to slap her in the face first. I'll go back and report to the Ancestral Witch and the Netherworld Thunder Witch, and then hand over all the recording orbs. Hmph, the Netherworld Thunder Witch cares most about the safety of the Witch Domain. Although he has his flaws, he still has the big picture in mind."

Wei Yuan immediately realized what it meant and exclaimed, "A holographic projection ball! What a brilliant technique!"

Nine Eyes looked at Wei Yuan in surprise and said, "Little groundhog, you know a lot!"

Wei Yuan said modestly, "I'm ashamed to say that I'm still a level below you." "No, no, no! We're about the same, don't be modest."

The image displayed on the sphere wasn't evidence, but rather the carnage at the Edge Fortress. Any shaman with a sense of the bigger picture would be disgusted by Kaguya's behavior upon seeing this. After all, the frontline soldiers had fought to the bitter end, suffering heavy casualties, and finally won a victory, only to have an overseer come to find fault. Any normal shaman would instinctively want to kill that overseer.

Secondly, it's to show the Celestial Witches that Kaguya only dares to talk big but doesn't even dare to fight a mere Wild Witch. In the future, when the Witches encounter conflicts with Kaguya, many will choose to confront her head-on. The Witch Clan believes in the law of the jungle; only the mighty prevail.

Whether Kaguya is hiding in the heavens or not is unimportant.

Molten Dragon interrupted the two witches' mutual flattery, coldly saying, "Nine Eyes, what are your intentions in putting on such a show today?"

Nine Eyes said, "I have seen your true form and I am filled with fear."

The Molten Dragon frowned and said, "Didn't you already know when I shed my skin more than a hundred years ago? You were pretending to know last time."

Nine Eyes turned his gaze to the mountain of corpses of the Power Shamans and sighed, "Back then, I was just a minor Power Shaman. Do you really think I've completely forgotten the past? No matter the reason, the death of so many Power Shamans has shaken the very foundation of the Desolate Realm. It will take ten years to mend the breach. This time, they've crossed the line."

I'm just an honest and kind person who doesn't want trouble, but I'm not someone anyone can bully. As for those who try to use tricks on me, I'll repay them tenfold, a hundredfold. Hmph, if you push an honest shaman too far, nobody will get away with it.

Molten Dragon said, "If there's nothing else, I need to get to work. Remember to send over the replenished Power Witches as soon as possible. The Flame Demon still has some energy left; this wave of Flame Storm isn't over yet."

Nine Eyes said, "Are you still angry about the Flame Tiger? This is already the best outcome. The higher-ups are pressing me, and I need to give them an explanation. I can't go back empty-handed and try to negotiate with them, can I? If I don't do this, they'll do it themselves, and that will only make things worse. You don't want a Netherworld Witch to be the guardian of the Desolate Realm, do you?"

The dragon's expression finally softened somewhat.

Wei Yuan asked, "Why is the Netherworld Witch targeting the Power Witch?"

Ronglong said, "I am familiar with this question. Let him explain it."

Nine Eyes glanced at the Molten Dragon with one eye before saying, "This all starts with the seating system of the Heavenly Witches. The City of Heaven has twelve seats, plus four guardian seats in the Five Realms, making a total of sixteen. That's the total number of Heavenly Witches, then the four major clans divide them further. The Holy Witches are the strongest, occupying five seats—no dispute."

The Spirit Witches advance at an extremely rapid pace, with numerous powerful individuals, though they lack a supreme expert of the Heavenly Witch level. However, they have many candidates, and the Heavenly Witches are quite strong, making their four positions very secure.

Of the remaining seats, four are for the Netherworld Witches and three for the Power Witches. The Netherworld Witches have always wanted five seats, but their strength is insufficient. Previously, there was a candidate named Hongye who had the potential to compete for the title of First Heavenly Witch, but internal strife broke out, and Hongye surprisingly didn't want to become a Heavenly Witch. Since the Netherworld Witches can't defeat the Holy Witches and Spirit Witches, they can only try to take advantage of us Power Witches.”

"The Ghost Witch doesn't seem to be very strong, so why is she still confident that she can compete for another spot?"

Wei Yuan's question was not unfounded. In his entire life, apart from Hongye and Long Zhe who traveled in the Netherworld, the combat strength of other Netherworld Witches was quite ordinary. However, the Holy Heart of the Dao Witch had left a deep impression on Wei Yuan; they were evenly matched in their unscrupulous methods. For the Wild Witches, one Molten Dragon was enough. Someone like Tianyu was a disgrace to the Power Witches.

In comparison, the average combat strength of the Witches seems to be slightly inferior.

When Wei Yuan asked, Jiu Mu said, "Because the Ancestral Witches were originally from the Netherworld Witches. Many of the current Netherworld Witches have the blood of the Ancestral Witches flowing in their veins. Therefore, the Netherworld Witches feel that they should rightfully occupy the most seats."

Within the Netherworld, there are numerous candidates for Heavenly Witch. Anyone with the blood of the Ancestral Witch believes they are qualified for promotion. Apart from Red Leaf, who is undisputed, the other candidates are all fiercely competitive, even disregarding the Heavenly Witches of the main branch. After all, the Netherworld doesn't judge heroes solely by strength, unlike the other three branches. In the Netherworld, the amount of Ancestral Witch blood within one's body is more important than strength.

(End of this chapter)