Exposure?

In the end, a woman's innate talent for gossip won out over reason.

Golden Phoenix quietly slipped over to Qingluan's side and asked in a low voice, "Sister Qing'er, what's going on?"

But no matter how careful Golden Phoenix was, how could she possibly hide it from Nuwa?

Thus, before Qing'er could speak, Golden Phoenix heard Nuwa shout, "Don't say it!"

After all, it was one thing for Qing'er to know about that incident. If Little Gold found out too, where would Nuwa's dignity be?

Nuwa's rebuke also gave Shen Gui, who had not known how to respond, an idea.

"May I ask what Empress means? I've been in seclusion for so long that I've forgotten many things."

Sure enough, upon hearing Shen Gui say this, Nuwa did not pursue the matter further. She merely snorted softly. "You'd better have truly forgotten."

Hearing this, Shen Gui felt greatly relieved.

However, before he could celebrate for more than a few seconds, Nuwa continued, "Then let's talk about the evil arts. What evil art have you been cultivating? Is it fun?"

Shen Gui froze. Fun?

Then he saw Golden Phoenix stamp her foot. "Empress!"

"Ahem." Nuwa smiled sheepishly and coughed twice in embarrassment. "I mean, why are you cultivating evil arts?"

The conversation had finally returned to the main issue. Yet, facing Nuwa's questioning gaze, Shen Gui helplessly shrugged. "To be honest, Empress, I don't know what evil art I've cultivated either."

"Hmm?" Nuwa's beautiful brows knit slightly as she turned to Qingluan and Golden Phoenix. What was going on?

Seeing this, Qingluan shot Shen Gui a glare before explaining, "Empress, look at his cultivation. He's already at the late Golden Immortal stage. When I brought him here, he was only at the early Golden Immortal stage. Yet in such a short time, he has reached the late Golden Immortal stage. His cultivation has advanced so quickly that I was worried he had unknowingly cultivated some evil art, so I wanted Empress to take a look."

"Oh?" Only after hearing Qingluan's explanation did Nuwa notice Shen Gui's cultivation.

Whether it was the early Golden Immortal stage or the late Golden Immortal stage, both were weak as chickens to her, so she had not paid much attention before. But now that Qingluan mentioned it, she recalled that it did indeed seem to be the case.

"His cultivation has progressed rather quickly, but that doesn't necessarily mean he has cultivated some evil art. Still, since Qing'er has spoken up, I shall take a look for you, lest some hidden danger truly remain."

Shen Gui cupped his hands. "Thank you for your concern, Empress."

Nuwa, now out of her foolish mode and back to normal, waved a hand lightly. "If you want to thank someone, thank Qing'er instead."

As she spoke, an immense divine sense spread out from Nuwa and swept toward Shen Gui.

Before Nuwa's immense Quasi-Saint-level divine sense, Shen Gui felt as though he were naked, thoroughly examined inside and out by Nuwa.

Instinctively, Shen Gui wanted to cover certain important parts of his body, but he ultimately held back.

He would definitely get beaten for that.

Then he heard Nuwa let out a soft sound of surprise.

"Interesting."

A pale yellow radiance emerged from Shen Gui's body, blocking Nuwa's divine sense outside.

Shen Gui was first startled, then secretly groaned.

He had forgotten about the restriction Houtu had placed on him.

If an ordinary person used divine sense to inspect his body, Houtu's restriction would likely ensure that they found nothing. But he was facing Nuwa now!

Even with Houtu's restriction, expecting it to stop Nuwa's inspection without exposing itself was wishful thinking.

Yet after her soft exclamation, Nuwa withdrew her divine sense.

Glancing at Shen Gui, Nuwa said, "It seems this little turtle of yours has quite a few secrets. Leaving aside everything else, the person who placed this restriction on you has cultivation no weaker than mine."

Seeing that Nuwa had actually stopped, Shen Gui was surprised but also relieved.

However, he was not surprised to hear Nuwa say that Houtu's cultivation was no weaker than hers.

After all, that was Houtu.

Across the entire Primordial Wilderness, if one were to find a female cultivator who could rival Nuwa, the only female Saint among the Six Saints, Houtu would unquestionably be the best choice.

"Since someone has placed a restriction on you, I won't meddle further. If there truly is some hidden danger within you, the person who placed the restriction will surely be able to discover it. However, I don't care who left that restriction on you. Now that you belong to me, you must remember your identity. Otherwise, I will be angry."

Looking at Nuwa's faintly smiling expression, Shen Gui could not tell whether she was serious or joking.

Still, he explained, "In reply to Empress, the restriction on me was merely placed by a mighty expert out of consideration for certain circumstances. Aside from that, I have no other connection with that expert. Please rest assured, Empress."

"So be it." Nuwa said flatly.

It was impossible to tell whether she believed Shen Gui or not.

However, hearing the exchange between Shen Gui and Nuwa, Qingluan could not help asking Shen Gui, "So you haven't cultivated any evil art at all?"

Shen Gui shrugged innocently. "I never said I had cultivated any evil art!"

Seeing Shen Gui's innocent expression, Qingluan could not help gritting her teeth.

But when I asked you, you never clearly said that you hadn't cultivated evil arts either!

You made me worry for nothing!

Hmph!