Nuwa, What Will You Choose?

Inside Empress Wa Palace.

Nuwa looked at Huang Tian.

Taishang had agreed to act once.

Even among Saints, a promise like that carried extraordinary weight.

Taishang had always favored noninterference.

His willingness to release the Human Sect's imprint was already enough to shake every faction in the Primordial Wilderness.

Yet he had also promised to act once for the Human Race on the day Huang Tian became a Saint.

That went beyond settling a debt of karma.

It was recognition.

Recognition that the Human Race's attempt to establish its own path was not arrogance.

Recognition that the Primordial Violet Qi in Huang Tian's hands should not be merely a chain leading to a Saint Position under the Heavenly Dao.

Nuwa spoke slowly. "Senior Brother Taishang is more decisive than I thought."

Huang Tian said nothing.

He knew any extra word now might make him seem impatient.

Nuwa was not Taishang.

Taishang weighed karma, Fortune, and the formal bond between the Human Sect and the Human Race.

Nuwa's view of the Human Race ran deeper.

She had created them.

She had watched the first humans open their eyes in the clay, watched their bewilderment and their worship of heaven and earth across the Primordial Wilderness Land. She had also watched them leave her protection, step by step, to face their own destiny.

That bond of karma was not as simple as a sect's imprint.

It was tied to their origin.

And to affection.

Outside the hall, Spirit Pearl Child held his breath.

Restless as he usually was, he did not dare move.

He could feel the atmosphere inside Empress Wa Palace changing.

It was not anger.

Nor was it refusal.

It was scrutiny of the deepest kind.

Nuwa said softly, "Huang Tian."

Huang Tian cupped his hands.

"Yes."

Nuwa asked, "Did