Nuwa and the Queen Mother of the West's Contest

At the boundary between eastern and western Kunlun stood an ancient divine mountain.

It was known as the Ancestor of Ten Thousand Mountains.

Even before Buzhou Mountain, the tallest peak in the Primordial World, had been damaged, it could not shake this divine mountain's standing.

This divine mountain was Kunlun Mountain, also known as the Kunlun Ruins.

Kunlun's vast, rushing waterfalls made for a scene fit for immortals.

All manner of auspicious beasts roared among its mountains.

Immortal birds of every kind flew past from time to time.

Countless golden auspicious clouds gathered at Kunlun Mountain's summit.

Countless immortals of formidable magical power and cultivation resided there in the Primordial World.

At that moment, an honored guest had arrived at a mysterious place on Kunlun Mountain.

The Queen Mother of the West, the mistress of this place, was keeping the honored guest company.

In ancient times, the Queen Mother of the West and the King Father of the East had been known as the leaders of all the immortals under heaven.

Later, the King Father of the East had fallen at the hands of the Demon Court.

From that time onward, the Queen Mother of the West had lived in seclusion on Kunlun Mountain, never once venturing into the Primordial World in all those countless years.

Few people knew that the Queen Mother of the West lived there in seclusion.

The Queen Mother of the West was now keeping her honored visitor company.

The honored guest was none other than Empress Nuwa, a present-day Saint of merit.

The Queen Mother of the West, who had remained in seclusion, was playing a game of chess against the visiting Empress Nuwa.

The two had been close friends in ancient times, and their bond had remained unbreakable through the countless years since.

When Nuwa occasionally traveled through the Primordial World, she generally came to talk with this close friend of hers.

Now, spurred by the Human Emperor, Nuwa had developed a desire to contend in the world.

When she wanted to build a force of her own, the first person she thought of was this close friend.

And so she had journeyed a thousand miles to come here.

Beneath a pavilion, several auspicious beasts lay coiled up.

The Queen Mother of the West, a beautiful mature woman, sat half reclining on a spotted leopard lying prone on the ground. She looked utterly languid.

Empress Nuwa, whose beauty outshone all others in the Primordial World, sat atop another auspicious beast, a white serpent.

The white serpent's body was coiled into what looked like an enormous throne, and Nuwa sat upon it in complete comfort.

Her bare feet in particular swung back and forth, their translucent skin exceptionally beautiful in the sunlight.

Between the two was a giant old turtle.

The markings on the shell across the old turtle's back crisscrossed, as though they were divining the secrets of heaven.

The two played chess on the old turtle's back and chatted on and off, completely at ease.

Empress Nuwa reached out and tapped the turtle's back, then looked at the Queen Mother of the West opposite her:

"Holy Mother, could it be that you're going easy on me?"

As Nuwa made this move, wind and clouds immediately surged across the old turtle's back.

It was as though boundless power of laws leaped about, directly forming a vast force of heaven and earth.

The balance between the two energies locked in battle was broken in an instant.

Clearly, Nuwa held a commanding advantage in the game.

The Queen Mother of the West merely smiled upon hearing Nuwa's words.

Her gaze sharpened slightly as she looked at the battlefield on the old turtle's back, and then she too tapped it with a finger.

With that move, another vast force of heaven and earth abruptly rose up in an instant, seemingly forming a cage that immediately reversed the battle and bore down on Empress Nuwa's pieces with tremendous ferocity.

Empress Nuwa's pieces were now struggling desperately and would likely vanish into thin air in moments.

"Saint Nuwa, what do you think of this move?"

The Queen Mother of the West smiled faintly. It seemed she had won this game after all.

To gain a slight advantage over a Saint was naturally gratifying.

Empress Nuwa, sitting opposite her, could not help laughing:

"Holy Mother, isn't it a little too early to say that?"

As she spoke, she casually tapped the turtle's back.

With that single move, Empress Nuwa's flagging momentum suddenly jolted.

When the piece landed, the other forces all came to life and gathered together, as though they had found their mainstay.

They seemed to form an immense hand that covered the heavens, crushing every one of the Queen Mother of the West's pieces in its grasp in an instant.

The vast force of heaven and earth that had been at its peak only moments before was crushed by Nuwa in an instant, utterly wiped out without a trace.

Seeing this, the Queen Mother of the West could not help laughing.

"Sister Nuwa, I never expected your play to be so sharp today. You really caught me off guard. I'm not playing anymore, not playing anymore."

Wasn't Nuwa just bullying her by coming here today?

Playing like that, who would still be willing to play chess with her?

The Queen Mother of the West sounded somewhat annoyed, but her face was wreathed in smiles. How was there the slightest sign of irritation?

Nuwa stepped down from the white serpent, walked a few paces beneath the pavilion, and then looked out at the sea of flowers.

"These seas of flowers are still blooming as brilliantly as ever this year, but we've lived far too long, after all. No matter how much we like these things, we've already grown a little tired of them."

The Queen Mother of the West could tell something from Nuwa's words.

Nuwa was a little lonely.

Indeed, Nuwa had always lived in seclusion and rarely gone out. She was simple by nature and disliked the many complicated affairs of the Primordial World.

In the past, she had at least had her elder brother Fuxi for company.

But after Fuxi had fallen in a calamity and become the Heavenly Emperor of the human race,

Nuwa had been left all alone. She had remained in seclusion, rarely going out, and even on the few occasions she traveled through the Primordial World, she merely went to the Fire Cloud Palace to see her elder brother or came to Kunlun to play chess with her.

Living like that for a long time was indeed rather dull.

The Queen Mother of the West naturally understood that better than anyone.

With a slight sigh, the Queen Mother of the West also stepped down from the spotted leopard and swayed gently over to Empress Nuwa's side.

She smiled at Nuwa, giving the impression of being bathed in a spring breeze.

"Isn't that so?"

"But if we don't devote ourselves to these mountains and waters, what else can we do?"

It was not just Nuwa who was bored. Wasn't she the same?

Empress Nuwa walked a few more steps forward, gazing at the flowers covering the mountains and plains, and could not help becoming somewhat entranced.

There were no such beautiful sights in her Wa Huang Palace. She raised a flawless jade hand, gently plucked a plum blossom, and brought it close to her face for a gentle sniff.

The fragrance left Nuwa somewhat intoxicated.

Behind her, the Queen Mother of the West chuckled:

"Sister Nuwa, you truly have refined tastes. Even though you've grown somewhat tired of looking at them, you can still lose yourself in them. Others can only envy you."

Nuwa took another sniff, as though she wanted to drink in every last trace of the flower's fragrance.

Then her jade hand opened, and the peach blossom drifted gently away, giving off light before reappearing intact where it had grown.

Everything was unharmed.

Nuwa sighed softly:

"I've been an immortal and a Saint for so long that I've actually begun to find it somewhat tedious."

"Instead, I've come to envy those mortal beings. Though their lives last only a dozen or so years, and they have the troubles of birth, aging, sickness, and death, as well as partings in life and death, they can fully experience the elusive seven emotions and six desires and lose themselves in them. Others can only envy them."

No one would have expected such words to come from Nuwa's mouth.

After all, Nuwa was the most exalted woman cultivator of the present age.

She was Nuwa, who remained undestroyed through ten thousand calamities, lived undying through the ages, and had accumulated merit to become a Saint.

And yet she was here lamenting spring and mourning autumn?

If anyone else saw this, their jaws would probably drop in shock.

The Queen Mother of the West was also taken aback:

"Sister Nuwa, don't speak so recklessly. You and I have both attained the Dao. Those words go a little too far."

Hearing the Queen Mother of the West's words, Nuwa scoffed.