Undercurrents

Satisfied, Shen Gui glanced at the cave abode he had personally carved out. With a wave of his hand, a stone stele appeared outside its entrance.

Looking at the blank stele, Shen Gui pondered for a moment.

What should he call his cave abode to reflect his identity?

First, the name had to be connected to him. People had to know at a glance that this was his cave abode.

Second, it had to sound impressive. Otherwise, he might as well call it Turtle Cave.

So what should it be called?

After racking his brains for a while, Shen Gui's eyes lit up. With a flourish of his hand, two large characters appeared on the stele.

Guixu.

Mm, it sounded lofty and grand.

Of course, this Guixu was not that Guixu.

A xu originally referred to a place where people had once lived.

So Guixu naturally meant the place where I, Shen Gui, had lived.

After admiring the two words with satisfaction, Shen Gui walked into the cave abode.

Now that his cave abode was complete, he should keep a low profile for a while—pah, he should enter seclusion first.

Mm, he merely wanted to enter seclusion. He definitely was not afraid that Nuwa would come looking for trouble.

Thus, when Nuwa finished lecturing Qingluan and prepared to have a little talk with Shen Gui about life, she discovered that Shen Gui had already entered... seclusion!

Having just been scolded by Nuwa, the dejected Qingluan noticed that Nuwa's expression was somewhat off and could not help asking, "Empress, what is it?"

Nuwa's face darkened. With a wave of her hand, an image appeared before Qingluan. "See for yourself."

In the image, a stream of water had been diverted into a mountain cave, forming a small pond inside.

A turtle was curled up within its shell, lying silently at the bottom of the pond. From the looks of it, it was cultivating.

"I was just about to have another talk with that fellow, but he has already begun seclusion!"

Seeing Nuwa's depressed expression, Qingluan thought, Wasn't he frightened into hiding by you, Empress?

Naturally, she did not dare say that aloud.

Nuwa stared at the small turtle curled inside its shell in the image for a long while. Then she suddenly said, "This little turtle actually looks rather cute in its true form."

Qingluan froze at those words and took a closer look at the small turtle in the image. Eh, it really did seem rather adorable.

Mistress and servant commented on the little turtle in the image for a while before Nuwa suddenly felt that the atmosphere seemed somewhat strange.

With a light cough, Nuwa put away the image.

"Since he has entered seclusion, I'll let him off for now. We'll talk after he comes out."

It's not because I thought he was cute and went soft on him.

Northern Great Desolation.

A pair of enormous eyes slowly opened, then eventually closed again.

If his true body had been in danger, then even at the risk of suffering backlash from the earth veins, he would have forcibly acted.

But now, it seemed that although Nuwa appeared fierce, she did not actually bear any ill intent.

Still, was Nuwa actually such a goofball...

Though it was an incarnation, the Mystic Tortoise possessed the memories of Shen Gui's true body.

This Nuwa was rather different from the Nuwa of the legends from his previous life!

The Mystic Tortoise felt somewhat helpless.

So, if history ultimately remained unchanged, he would actually die at the hands of a goofball?

The Mystic Tortoise sank back into slumber.

And as long as the Mystic Tortoise did not move, Northern Kurukshetra Continent would remain as peaceful as ever.

In Central Continent, Heavenly Demon City, founded by Nuwa and Fuxi, sheltered the Demon Race. Since Nuwa and Fuxi had no ambition to expand their power, there would naturally be no great upheaval there.

In Western Ox Continent, Luohu and Hongjun's decisive battle had taken place there long ago. In that battle, the western spiritual veins had been destroyed, leaving Western Ox Continent impoverished in spiritual energy. Even though Jieyin and Zhunti were now vigorously developing the west from Spirit Mountain, they could not change the fact that the west still needed time to recuperate.

In other words, even if the west wanted to stir up trouble now, it could not accomplish much.

However, while those places were peaceful, the same could not necessarily be said for the rest.

In Southern Jambudvipa, the Demon Country established by Di Jun and Tai Yi had been silently expanding. As its strength grew, Di Jun and Tai Yi began preparing to strike at the great demons who ruled their own mountains throughout Southern Jambudvipa, hoping to unify the continent.

Though the Three Pure Ones of Eastern Divine Continent remained within their own small territory in the Sacred Realm of Kunlun, East King Gong's Immortal Court, founded upon Penglai Immortal Island, was no longer satisfied with dominating the overseas islands. It had begun coveting the fertile lands of Eastern Divine Continent.

To describe the lands of Eastern Divine Continent and Southern Jambudvipa as being rife with undercurrents would not be an exaggeration.

However, because of Hongjun's first lecture, nearly all the foremost great powers of the Primordial Wilderness were occupied digesting the teachings Hongjun had imparted, so the various conflicts had yet to erupt.

Besides, Hongjun still had two more lectures to give.

Yet although Hongjun's presence had temporarily restrained the ambitions of both Di Jun and Tai Yi's Demon Country and East King Gong's Immortal Court, it was foreseeable that once Hongjun's three lectures ended, the conflicts that had been temporarily suppressed would inevitably erupt with even greater violence.

Perhaps by then, these conflicts would no longer be confined to Eastern Divine Continent and Southern Jambudvipa. They might even spread throughout the entire Primordial Wilderness.

But what did any of that have to do with me, a cute little turtle who only knew how to sleep?