Zhunti, You Owe Me an Explanation
Ye Xuan looked at the figure that had suddenly appeared in the sky, incomparably enchanting, with a bewitching, heavenly visage and beauty that outshone the Primordial World.
His expression turned a little strange.
This doesn't seem to match the legends, does it? Why did Nuwa appear so openly?
And she's even invited me to go west with her?
Could Nuwa already know this was the work of that Western bastard?
Is she taking me west to confront that bastard Zhunti?
Ye Xuan chuckled inwardly. Things were really getting interesting.
He had been worrying about how to get west to complete his corpse-driving task. Whatever he needed seemed to appear right on time.
"The Holy Mother has invited me, so of course I accept!"
Seeing the Human Emperor agree, Nuwa waved her hand.
A cloud of auspicious mist lifted Ye Xuan up and carried him onto her own cloud.
The two stood side by side. Nuwa rode the cloud with Ye Xuan aboard, and they turned into a streak of light that vanished over the horizon.
Only the civil and military officials remained on the ground, staring at one another.
This was truly beyond their expectations.
The Human Emperor had not only profaned Nuwa, but had also cursed her to her face.
Why hadn't they seen Empress Nuwa get angry?
And she'd even taken His Majesty the Human Emperor away?
Could the Holy Mother and the Human Emperor have some secret between them that just had to be told?
By this time, the Human Emperor and Nuwa had long since crossed the skies heading west.
The vast, majestic power of a Saint emanating from Nuwa spread out as well.
All the beings of the Primordial World along their path felt their hearts tremble.
Countless beings prostrated themselves on the ground.
At that moment, the expressions of the great powers of the Primordial World all changed drastically.
Nuwa, who usually lived in seclusion and rarely showed herself, had unleashed a presence capable of destroying heaven and earth.
What on earth had enraged Nuwa?
And why was she taking the Human Emperor west with her?
Could there be some secret behind it?
Could it have something to do with a great power of the West?
Before anyone could react,
Nuwa released a divine treasure radiating immense might and sent it speeding ahead toward the West.
The great powers of the Primordial World were all but dumbstruck.
That was Nuwa's Red Embroidered Ball.
It wasn't enough for Nuwa to go west in person; she'd even brought out the Red Embroidered Ball.
Who was Nuwa going to attack?
Meanwhile,
Nuwa's incomparably clear voice rang out through heaven and earth.
"Zhunti, you owe me an explanation for what happened today!"
As those words rang out,
the many great powers hidden in the shadows immediately erupted in excitement.
Empress Nuwa had crossed over to the West this time for the Western Saints after all.
Had the Western Saints provoked Nuwa? Had she gone to collect a debt?
If things went badly, there could be a great battle between Saints.
At that moment, even the Three Pure Ones were alarmed.
At the summit of Great Mount Sumeru, the Western Ancestral Vein,
stood a sacred bodhi tree that blotted out the sky and sun.
The tree was incomparably vast, faintly shrouding the entire West.
Its branches were the Dao, its leaves were rules, and there was nowhere they did not reach.
It was truly powerful beyond measure.
Beneath the tree sat a bald old man with a haggard face.
This pair were the two Saints of the West,
Saint Zhunti and Saint Jieyin.
A flash of light appeared.
The bodhi tree that blotted out the sky and sun transformed into a stooped Daoist with his hair tied in a topknot.
He was none other than Saint Zhunti.
Having assumed human form, he gazed into the distant void, shock and anger on his face.
Nuwa was coming for him.
Saint Jieyin's expression turned somewhat bitter as well.
The great calamity of the Investiture of the Gods was close at hand, and the West had only made a small move.
Had Nuwa already discovered it?
Before long,
a vast pressure came bearing down on Great Mount Sumeru in the West from the depths of the void.
It was the Red Embroidered Ball that had crossed the skies.
Seeing the Red Embroidered Ball about to smash down on his head, Saint Zhunti's expression changed slightly.
He then took out the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree and gave a gentle swipe toward the Red Embroidered Ball.
In an instant, Seven-Colored Divine Light illuminated the heavens.
The Seven-Colored Divine Light looked nimble and ethereal, yet it contained a boundless, ancient might.
It went straight into a stalemate with the Red Embroidered Ball.
Only after a while did the two forces gradually dissipate.
The Red Embroidered Ball, its power spent, spun ceaselessly in the air.
Saint Zhunti stood ready for battle.
Before long,
an auspicious cloud of creation shot over from the ends of heaven and earth.
A figure stepped out of the cloud.
She was tall and slender, her immortal robes flowing with an ethereal grace.
Her visage was bewitching and heavenly, her beauty outshining the Primordial World.
It was the strange and stunning Nuwa.
Behind Nuwa,
another figure appeared.
It was a tall, slender young man, approximately 1.9 meters in height.
He was handsome, clad in a black imperial robe, and carried an extraordinary bearing.
Standing on the auspicious cloud, he gave off an air of majesty.
An invisible fortune also enveloped him.
He was Zi Shou, honored as Human Emperor Di Xin after ascending the throne.
Or rather, he was Ye Xuan.
After arriving, Ye Xuan merely observed in silence, saying nothing.
This was, after all, a clash between Saints.
It was better to be careful in word and deed.
Better still to find a chance to slip away and complete the corpse-driving task as soon as possible.
In the distance, Saint Zhunti looked coldly at Nuwa, who had appeared before him.
"Saint Nuwa, what is the meaning of this? You would slaughter the beings of my Western lands without cause? Do you take the West for an easy target?"
Zhunti knew this matter could not end peacefully, so he could only strike first.
The great powers of the Primordial World were all watching. If he showed weakness, he would have no face left to speak of.
Ye Xuan was immediately taken aback when he heard this.
Saint Zhunti really was shameless. He was truly brilliant at turning the tables and accusing the other party.
Nuwa had clearly come for him. When had she slaughtered the beings of the West?
Nuwa, however, was not good with words.
She could only say stiffly:
"I disdain to waste words on you. If you settle today's karma, I will let this matter rest. If not, I will never let you off!"
Nuwa was thin-skinned. Naturally, she could not bring herself to repeat the words Zhunti had used to tease her through the Human Emperor.
Naturally, Zhunti would not admit to it either.
Silver-tongued as he was, he hurried to argue his case with all his might.
"Saint Nuwa, what do you mean by this? When have I ever owed you any karma?"
"You, on the other hand, came to my Western lands and wreaked havoc, violating the Saints' code. How can you still come here and question me?"
He put on a blustering front, looking stern but timid inside and brimming with righteousness.
There were certain things he could never admit to.
Hearing Saint Zhunti turn the tables on her,
Nuwa was so furious that she laughed.
This fellow truly had a silver tongue.
Even after reaching their level, he still acted like a shameless rogue, trying to gain the upper hand with his words.
Nuwa was not good with words, and her oral skills were ordinary too, but fortunately she had come prepared.
She turned to look at the Human Emperor beside her, her meaning self-evident.
Seeing Nuwa's gaze,
Ye Xuan didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Nuwa brought me here to confront him after all?
She wants me to trade insults with Saint Zhunti like two shrews cursing in the street?
Still, Ye Xuan did want to give Zhunti a tongue-lashing.
That damned bastard.
He had only just been reborn, and this fellow had nearly done him in.
"I've long heard that Saint Zhunti has a silver tongue, a mouth exceptionally skilled at reversing yin and yang and muddling right and wrong. Now that I've seen you today, you truly live up to your reputation!"