Settling Scores After the Fact

Perhaps she had heard Shen Gui's heartfelt call, because before long, Nuwa, who knew where she had gone, finally returned.

But the instant they saw Nuwa, the nearly visible aura of resentment hanging over her head left all three who had come out to greet her stunned.

Shen Gui's heart began to pound even harder.

Though he had no idea where Nuwa's immense resentment had come from, she might as well have had "I'm in a terrible mood" written across her face.

Ignoring the three who had come out to greet her, Nuwa walked straight over to the stone table outside her cave dwelling and sat down.

Then...

"Ahhh! I'm furious! Di Jun and Tai Yi, those two bastards! Just let me catch an opportunity, and I'll make you two pay!"

Watching Nuwa suddenly lose her temper and wildly pound the table, Golden Phoenix could not help covering her face.

Even she felt embarrassed by Nuwa's behavior.

As for Shen Gui, he was already considering whether he ought to go back into seclusion.

Only Qingluan walked over when she saw Nuwa like this and asked, "Empress, what happened?"

Then Shen Gui watched as Nuwa, who had been smashing the table, grabbed Qingluan's arm and wailed, "Qing'er, I'm so miserable! I was clearly the first one to discover the Gourd Vine, but then the Three Pure Ones, Hong Yun, and those two bastards Di Jun and Tai Yi all came running over to get a share. Fine, sharing would have been acceptable. After all, the Gourd Vine bore seven gourds, exactly enough to divide among us. The problem was that one of the seven gourds had not matured yet. Those two bastards Di Jun and Tai Yi did not dare provoke the Three Pure Ones, and Hong Yun's gourd had a great karmic opportunity tied to it, so they bullied me instead! In the end, I, the one who discovered the Gourd Vine first, only got the one and only immature gourd."

As she spoke, Nuwa took out a blue gourd with a look of utter disdain and tossed it onto the stone table.

Yet despite Nuwa's disgusted expression, the blue gourd radiated spiritual energy and was clearly a mid-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure.

All one could say was that comparisons truly drove people mad.

Across the Primordial Wilderness, Innate Spiritual Treasures were exceedingly rare. They generally contained the power of laws, allowing cultivators to comprehend those laws more easily. They were immensely useful to cultivators at both the Taiyi and Daluo realms.

Sometimes, even a low-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure was enough to make a crowd of Daluo experts fight to the death.

Yet now, with such a mid-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure lying before her, Nuwa looked utterly disdainful...

After casually tossing the blue gourd onto the stone table, Nuwa continued clinging to Qingluan's arm and complained tearfully, "Qing'er, you have no idea. Those mature gourds were plump and round and absolutely adorable. Then look at this immature one—it's skinny and tiny, not cute at all. Why am I so pitiful? I did not get even one of those six adorable little gourds, yet I ended up with this ugly one! It's all Di Jun and Tai Yi's fault, those two bastards!"

Hearing Nuwa say that, both Shen Gui and Golden Phoenix were speechless.

So this Empress was not angry over the gourd's grade at all. She was only upset because the mature gourds were cuter...

Still, if even an immature gourd was a mid-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, then the mature gourds should have been high-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures at the very least, right?

Yet judging by Nuwa's attitude, all one could say was that being rich was wonderful.

With Nuwa acting like this, Qingluan could only try to comfort her first.

Seeing this, Golden Phoenix sighed helplessly and said, "Empress, please stop complaining for now. This person Sister Qing'er brought back earlier seems to have cultivated some sort of evil art. You should take a look at him first. Once you have helped him examine it, Sister Qing'er can comfort you properly."

At Golden Phoenix's words, Qingluan's little face, which had nearly turned into a bitter melon, brightened at once. "Right! Empress, hurry and take a look at him, so no hidden dangers are left behind."

Hearing Golden Phoenix and Qingluan play off each other, Shen Gui's face fell.

What was the meaning of pushing me out when Nuwa was obviously in a bad mood?

They had just said I was one of their own, and now they were selling out their teammate this thoroughly?

However, before he could say anything, Nuwa's gaze had already turned toward him with great interest.

"Evil art?"

Nuwa no longer looked full of resentment. Instead, she resembled a cat that had spotted a ball of yarn.

"You're the little turtle Qing'er brought back before you immediately went into seclusion, right? What, have you finally finished your seclusion?"

Facing Nuwa's teasing expression, Shen Gui looked at his nose, his nose at his mouth, and his mouth at his heart. I'll endure it, all right? "In reply to the Empress, I emerged from seclusion some days ago."

"Mm." Nuwa nodded, propped her cheek on one hand, and looked at Shen Gui. "You were in seclusion before, so that was one thing. But now that you have emerged, shouldn't we settle some scores?"

As soon as Nuwa said this, Qingluan naturally knew what she meant. But Golden Phoenix, who did not understand the inside story, could not help looking curious. Settle scores? What was going on? Did this guy have something going on with the Empress? Pah, pah, pah! I mean, had this guy offended the Empress before?