Seeing the conflict in Nuwa's eyes, he already had his answer.
He did not ask further. Closing his eyes, he continued comprehending the Great Dao with the aid of the Jade Disc of Creation.
This small Creation Jade Butterfly contained only a single Great Dao: the Sword Dao.
Lu Chen guessed that when Hongjun had given him this jade butterfly, he had likely intended for Lu Chen to pass it on to Tongtian.
Though he could not understand why Hongjun wanted to do this, why would he refuse a benefit delivered straight to his door?
Now, with the Jade Disc of Creation, Lu Chen had also knocked open the gates to the Sword Dao.
After a thousand years of comprehension, aided by the Creation Jade Butterfly, Lu Chen's understanding of the Sword Dao had reached five percent.
Seeing Lu Chen enter a cultivation state, Nuwa knew he clearly did not wish to hear her answer anymore.
For some reason, a surge of anger churned wildly within her heart.
Her mood, which had only just improved a little, instantly turned sour again.
"Humph!"
Nuwa did not interrupt Lu Chen's cultivation. With a light snort, she left the thatched hut.
The moment Nuwa returned to Wa Sovereign Palace, she sensed two familiar auras outside her dojo.
"Dijun, Elder Brother, what brings you here?"
Nuwa lifted the restrictions around her dojo and allowed Dijun and Fuxi to enter.
Fuxi, standing behind Dijun, spoke.
"It is like this, Little Sister. The Human Race you created is now in its infancy, and its development will inevitably encounter all manner of obstruction. You are the Wa Sovereign of the Demon Race, and since the Human Race was created by you, it is also the spirit of the Primordial World and counts as a part of our Demon Race. Therefore, if you agree, the Human Race may be brought under our command and share in the Demon Race's Fortune. Its future development will then proceed far more smoothly."
Upon hearing Fuxi's words, Nuwa's brows rose slightly. She looked at Dijun, and her gaze deepened.
The beads of this abacus were practically about to leap into her face. They had not come earlier or later; the instant Gu Chen caused a stir, they came calling without delaying even a moment, even bringing her elder brother along.
As for this scheme, even one's jade-smooth, pearl-round toes could guess that it was certainly Dijun's calculation. He wanted to trap a white wolf with empty hands and swallow the entire Human Race without spilling a drop of blood.
He had even specifically persuaded her elder brother, intending to play the sentiment card.
Lu Chen had only just questioned her, and they had already come knocking.
Could it be that Lu Chen had left no possibility unaccounted for and had already foreseen Dijun setting his sights on the Human Race, which was why he had deliberately asked?
She had indeed been torn over which side to support, but now, she thought, she had made up her mind.
"Humans are humans, demons are demons. How can humans and demons be mixed together? Moreover, the Human Race was created by me and reveres me as its Holy Mother, so it naturally receives my protection. With me sheltering them, why would they need the Demon Race?"
Nuwa did not look at Fuxi. Her gaze remained fixed on Dijun as she spoke in a deep voice.
"Yes. Since they have a Sage's protection, they naturally have no need for our Demon Race. This matter was the Demon Race overstepping its bounds."
Feeling the immense pressure upon him, Dijun nearly ground his back teeth to dust. He forced those words out through clenched teeth.
He had thought that having Fuxi speak would yield twice the result with half the effort, but why did it feel as though he had lifted a stone only to smash his own foot? It seemed he had achieved half the result with twice the effort instead.
Seeing Nuwa like this, Fuxi opened his mouth, then closed it again. When one's lord was humiliated, his minister would die.
Though he felt Nuwa's actions were somewhat too forceful, Nuwa was first a Sage, and only then his younger sister.
Nuwa could take the initiative to call him Elder Brother, but he could no longer speak to her as he once had, using his identity as her elder brother.
"Since the Sage is unwilling, the two of us shall take our leave first."
With his proposal rejected, Dijun naturally had no reason to remain in Wa Sovereign Palace. After cupping his hands in salute, he prepared to depart.
"Wait."
Dijun turned back, thinking Nuwa had changed her mind, only to hear words that tore his mind apart.
"From this day forth, Fuxi shall leave the Demon Race and no longer be the Demon Race's Xi Sovereign!"
"This..."
After saying this, Nuwa used great divine power to restrain Fuxi, rendering him unable to move or speak.
Dijun looked at Fuxi. Seeing that Fuxi would not even spare him a glance, he turned around with a smile and cupped his hands in salute.
"Dijun shall obey the Sage's decree."
"Heavenly Dao above, Fuxi is no longer a member of the Demon Race, nor is he any longer the Demon Race's Xi Sovereign!"
As his words fell, Dijun sensed the Fortune belonging to Fuxi separate from the Demon Race's Fortune and flow away. His heart ached unbearably, yet he did not dare reveal it.
Fuxi too sensed the change in his own Fortune. Though he could neither speak nor move, the fury in his eyes blazed fiercely. If it took substance, it seemed it would set Wa Sovereign Palace ablaze.
At this moment, if Fuxi sat down to comprehend the Dao of Fire, he would surely achieve twice the result with half the effort.
Dijun left, and Nuwa did not try to keep him. She also pretended not to see Fuxi's gaze.
Once Dijun had departed, Nuwa released her restraint on Fuxi.
"Why did you force me to leave the Demon Race?!"
Fuxi furiously questioned Nuwa.
"You are skilled in divination. Could it be that you cannot calculate your own future and destiny?"
"This..."
Fuxi fell silent.
Naturally, he could calculate it. But this was his path. Even if ten deaths and no life awaited him ahead, he would still press onward without hesitation.
To gamble on that illusory, drifting thread of opportunity.
My affairs are none of your concern.
That heartless sentence flashed through Fuxi's mind, but he did not say it aloud.
Because Nuwa's intentions had also been for his own good.
And even if he returned to the Heavenly Court now, Dijun might overlook past grievances and accept him once more.
Yet Dijun would ultimately take Nuwa's attitude into account, and a rift would arise between them.
Spilled water could not be gathered again. He could no longer return to the Heavenly Court.
"Alas!"
Fuxi let out a long sigh, his face filled with dejection and confusion.
Knowing that the road ahead was cut off, where should his future go from here?
Should he spend the rest of his life safely beneath his younger sister's protection?
"Elder Brother, you can go take a look at the Human Race."
"The Human Race? Very well. I shall go see the new race you created."
Fuxi nodded.
"Little... Sage, I shall leave first."
"Mhm."
Nuwa nodded. Watching Fuxi's receding figure, she let out a quiet sigh.
An indescribable barrier had arisen between her and Fuxi. They were no longer as close as before.
Yet she did not regret it. Rather than sit by and watch Fuxi perish in body and Dao, even if a barrier now stood between brother and sister, she accepted it.
It was still better than being separated by yin and yang. Barriers would someday dissolve, but once a person had died, there was no turning back—not even for a Sage.
"Mmgh!"
Nuwa gave a muffled groan. Her aura suddenly plummeted, and a drop of golden blood radiating divine light flowed from the corner of her lips and fell upon the jade throne, spreading across it.
In the Heavenly Dao's calculations, Fuxi's death was a foregone conclusion. Nuwa had publicly and forcibly pulled Fuxi out of the tribulation, so she naturally could not avoid the Heavenly Dao's punishment.
"Is destiny truly impossible to change?"
Nuwa sat upon the jade chair, her gaze passing through Chaos and settling upon that figure's back...
On the Shores of the East Sea, men, women, and children sat upon the ground, their chests rising and falling in accordance with a certain rhythm.
With every inhalation and exhalation, spiritual energy entered their bodies while mortal breath left them.
An old man with white hair, riding a green ox, slowly approached.
"Using spiritual energy to temper one's own qi and blood, strengthening the physical body—this Human Race Martial Dao is somewhat similar to the Witch Clan's path of tempering the body with Killing Intent."
Divine light flickered in the old man's eyes. After watching for a moment, he saw through its principles.
"I shall go meet this Martial Ancestor."
Before you continue