Chapter 206

The deities instinctively turned their heads, and all were stunned again!

"Nine, Jiu Ying?"

"Why are you calling me Ninth Granduncle?"

Although Jiu Ying is still young, he is full of spirit; facing the gazes of the whole hall, he shows not the slightest fear.

"Come here."

Shen Qingli called it.

"Okay~"

Jiu Ying immediately pitter-pattered over to Shen Qingli, being extremely fawning, with no trace of ferocity.

The deities found it hard to watch; this fierce god is an existence that can rival the Queen Mother of the West!

Now, how come it's like an octopus from the East Sea…

Utterly lacking in bloodlust, and even more lacking in backbone.

It was peeking around, letting Shen Qingli pet it, but Shen Qingli found it prickly, so after a single pat she stopped.

"I only got my head petted," Jiu Ying complained, dissatisfied—is it still not obedient enough?

Jiu Li immediately rebuked, "Enough already! So noisy!"

"Waa!" Jiu Ying burst into tears.

It naturally has a baby's voice, but when it cries it's like bringing the whole venue into a horror‑movie atmosphere.

Shen Qingli had a headache and had already put it away.

"Um, isn't Jiu Ying extinct?" the senior elder asked humbly.

"This is what our A Li hatched!" Jiu Li said.

Well, the deities were rather bewildered—does Shen Qingli even have the skill to hatch a ferocious beast's egg?

Moreover, Jiu Ying is extinct—how could any eggs still exist!

"Don't go off topic; the pill‑duel result should be out." Shen Qingli said.

"Oh, right." The senior elder slapped his forehead, "In my judgment, the Junior Master's top‑grade Soul‑Transforming Pill is far superior to Lou Guanxue's low‑grade Spirit‑Nourishing Pill."

"I second that." Tai Jin echoed.

The deities all looked toward the Queen Mother of the West, knowing there was no doubt about it.

"Hold on!" Lou Guanxue spoke up, "Who can prove this pill was refined by Shen Qingli?"

The deities present were stunned! But the White Benevolent God King said, "Indeed, no one has proven it; have any of you personally witnessed Junior Emperor Shen achieving pill formation?"

Indeed, no one had seen it.

Meanwhile, Lou Guanxue had formed the pill in full view of everyone.

But what does that matter?

Shen Qingli looked at Lou Guanxue, "If you doubt it, then produce evidence proving this pill wasn't refined by me; if you can't, you have twice slandered and humiliated me—aside from kowtowing to apologize, you must also get out of Kunlun!"

"You're twisting words! I'm merely raising a reasonable objection!" Lou Guanxue angrily retorted.

"You may question, but a baseless question is slander."

"Not bad!" Jin Wu chimed in, "If you can't afford to lose, don't duel; once you duel, you can't refuse to accept the result."

"There's simply no one else in the present age capable of refining such a pill!" the senior elder also angrily scolded, "Lou Guanxue, you truly disappoint me."

"I—" Lou Guanxue still wanted to make excuses.

"Enough." The Queen Mother of the West settled it with a single word: "In this pill‑duel, Shen Qingli wins."

"I—"

"Lou Guanxue, unless you have concrete evidence! Otherwise, if you dare again to slander and humiliate Junior Emperor Shen, I will strip your immortal rank!"

These words instantly turned Lou Guanxue's face ashen; she dared not keep spouting nonsense—once her immortal rank was stripped, she would become a mortal.

"You all are!" The Queen Mother of the West's gaze toward the deities was extremely sharp: "The ruler's closed‑door retreat doesn't mean he's dead! The Dao Palace's order still stands—don't act like a bunch of street‑market folk, taking the wind as rain!"

Disrespecting the heroic spirits! Not loving their descendants, and daring to insult the heroic spirits' army at will! Even the deities of Shen Ting? Even common folk are better than that.

Many deities were scolded into lowering their heads.

After the great calamity, the primordial gods either died or fell into silence;

Shen Ting is basically led in daily affairs by the god‑king and upper immortals, merely getting by.

Only when the Dao Lord revived did the various primordial gods and mighty divinities gradually revive one by one.

At this time, all sides are actually openly and covertly vying for the divine‑medicine resources left behind by the Kunlun God‑Lord.

They all want to gain greater influence before the other deities return to their posts—best of all, to step on their old rivals.

"If another calamity came now, let's see what use your past and present misdeeds have!"

The Queen Mother of the West coldly swept over those forces harboring various ulterior motives, and also looked toward the six revived primordial gods of the Dao Palace.

"As primordial gods, having revived, you ought to shoulder responsibility—at least until all deities fully recover, you should help maintain Shen Ting's order; what you are doing now differs how from merely occupying a post without doing any work?"

Including the senior elder, the six primordial gods of the Dao Palace also lowered their heads.

They were able to revive this early, but in fact their combat prowess isn't particularly strong; before the great calamity, they were accustomed to idleness.

During the great calamity they did expend everything to fight! But after returning to their posts, they reverted to 'degeneration'.

"With your utter inaction, have you ever considered? If it weren't for Shen Qingli's own strength, she wouldn't even have made it to the Dao Palace for us to see—she would have died." The Queen Mother of the West said again.

"I always thought your silence meant you all clearly felt that Shen Qingli and the Vermilion Bird Palace were indeed running roughshod—inaction is just framing." After the Queen Mother of the West returned to her post, she knew her duty was to guard the Dao Lord's closed‑door retreat.

So she would never leave the Dao Palace even half a step! She assumed the other deities tacitly allowed Lou Guanxue and them to act this way because they all approved of Lou Guanxue.

But today it turns out otherwise—they don't approve, yet they stay silent, merely being bystanders.

Compared to Lou Guanxue's petty, hustling demeanor, the six primordial gods of the Dao Palace make her feel even colder.

No wonder the ruler would rather entrust everything to a lowly immortal—a mere girl in her early twenties—than spare another glance at this bunch of good‑for‑nothings! And that bunch includes her as well.

Truly pitiful.

Your lord must be very disappointed.

No wonder only Tai Jin has seen the legendary young lord.

Only he remains somewhat clear-headed, but he's not much better.

Since even the primordial god has been reprimanded, Lou Guanxue naturally can't expect any good!

"You, kowtow and apologize to Shen Qingli." Xi Wangmu ordered.

Lou Guanxue's face turned ashen, yet she also understood she must admit this mistake.

She looked at Shen Qingli, about to kneel.

"Wait."

Shen Qingli stopped her.

Everyone still thought she would forgive Lou Guanxue.

Lou Guanxue thought so too, even secretly delighted!

However, that wasn't the case.

Shen Qingli returned to her seat, which was also the seat of the Zhu Que Nu Di.

"That's enough."

What Shen Qingli wants has never been merely her personal honor!

It is also to win due dignity for her empress mother and the entire Zhu Que palace's soldiers.

At this moment, accompanied by her Jin Wu, the speechless Xiao Yuying and other elite of the Zhu Que palace all had tears welling up.

Xi Wangmu watched her, feeling relieved for Zhong Minglan; this already makes her a qualified young emperor.

In fact, she didn't know that long before Shen Qingli arrived at the Zhu Que palace, having swiftly massacred Qin Bilian and single-handedly taken on Shaoguan Wu, Shen Qingli had already been regarded by everyone in the Zhu Que palace as—the most qualified young emperor!

At this moment, Lou Guanxue, trembling as she walked toward Shen Qingli, appeared utterly pathetic—even worse than an ordinary palace maid or attendant.

If Lou Guanxue could just kowtow and apologize decisively now, it would actually earn her some respect, but instead she puts on a look of having suffered utter humiliation, trying to evoke pity, which is nauseating.

"Lou Guanxue, remove your hairpin and take off your robes."

Xi Wangmu directly ordered the celestial attendants to strip Lou Guanxue of her garments and ornaments!

Lou Guanxue was stunned! This is even more humiliating than kowtowing and apologizing for a celestial being.

A hairpin is the honor of immortals; celestial robes are the dignity of immortals!