In the next second, Yinzhi's small face wore a polite, professional smile.
“Excuse me, Miss Hat whom I've never seen before, but I am no mere errand runner. I am a personal handmaiden deeply trusted by the Spirit Lord. As for you... hehe, with such vulgar demon elements mixed into your body, how dare you address the Spirit Lord as Master? How utterly shameless.”
“Shameless?”
Morona looked as if she had just heard the joke of the century. Tilting her chin up, she let out a nasty sneer.
“Ignorant long-ears, Master is this deity's mother! She is destined to rule the world and destroy all existence as the supreme Demon King! A temp worker like you, fit only for carrying bricks and running errands, dares to order the firstborn daughter around?”
“M-Mother?! And... Demon King?!”
Yinzhi's eye twitched.
This newcomer Demon Mushroom had actually used such a privileged, forbidden form of address, and even unilaterally slapped such bizarre settings onto the Spirit Lord!
And... damn it, what was with this feeling of bloodline suppression coming from her? Was she really cultivated using the Spirit Lord's own blood?!
No, she could not lose to anyone when it came to the exclusive right to worship the Spirit Lord!
“Hmph, what arrogant, monstrous ambition.”
Yinzhi snorted coldly and tossed her scrolls aside. Resting one hand on her hip, her silver hair fluttered in the wind like a stage actress in her element.
“Listen well, lost lamb! The Spirit Lord is not some crude Demon King like you claim! She is the pure and flawless 【Forest Goddess】 who scatters miracles and saves the forest from fire and water! And I, Yinzhi, am destined to enhance the Goddess's glory and become the great First Divine Chosen under Her Majesty!”
“Ha? Forest Goddess?”
Morona stared at Yinzhi as if looking at an absolute idiot, a blue vein throbbing on her forehead.
“What kind of fever dream are you having, you foolish long-ears?! Mother is destined to rule the world and govern with fear as the 【Demon King】! As her firstborn daughter, I have already drawn up the blueprints for her skull throne! Your flimsy, saintly nonsense is an insult to Mother's grand reputation!”
“She is a Goddess! My natural doctrines absolutely forbid the use of villainous props like skeleton frames!”
Yinzhi struggled to maintain the elegance of the First Divine Chosen, keeping an impeccable, trademark smile on her face while executing a sneaky sweep kick under her skirt.
“She is a Demon King! You heretical long-ears!”
Morona sidestepped the kick and reached out, grabbing Yinzhi's long elf ears.
Even though Yinzhi wanted to remain composed, she was facing a brain-rotting Demon Mushroom who had zero sense of martial honor, and their argument quickly devolved into a physical brawl.
After all, they were a whole rank apart. Once they actually started fighting, Morona was clearly at a disadvantage.
Before they could claw each other's eyes out, several pure white roots swept them up and tossed them straight into the Tree Court, where they tumbled into a heap right before Qimeng's throne.
“Have you two had enough?”
A faint, ghostly voice drifted down from above.
The two little troublemakers froze.
Turning their heads in unison, they saw Qimeng looking down at them. At some point, a large green pointer had appeared in her hand, and she was lightly tapping it against the armrest of her throne.
Tap! Tap!
The oppressive aura was dialed up to the maximum.
“M-My Lord... Spirit Lord...”
Yinzhi let go at lightning speed and immediately stood up straight, eager to file a complaint first.
“It is this new vassal... her faith in you is not pure enough—”
“Master, this long-ears wants to brainwash you with heretical cult beliefs. This deity was merely purging a rebel for you.”
Morona smoothly slid to her knees and clung tightly to Qimeng's thigh.
Qimeng rubbed her temples.
Just as she was about to teach these two a lesson, the sound of fluttering wings echoed from outside the Tree Court.
Xiaomi, who hadn't shown her face for several days, flew in with a smug look on her face, holding a jar of freshly brewed honey in her hands.
“Hmph! Master! My closed-door cultivation was a massive success... I've advanced to the Intermediate Rank! Well? Have you noticed any changes in me? Did I get prettier? Eh... what are you guys doing?”
Qimeng glanced over at Xiaomi.
After breaking through to the Intermediate Rank, the silly bee girl's appearance had undergone a noticeable evolution.
Her childish bee skirt had transformed into a sleeker, form-fitting set of light armor. The translucent wings behind her not only shimmered with golden light, but their edges had also become razor-sharp. Even her messy blonde hair was now much smoother.
She faintly carried the budding silhouette of a swarm queen.
Of course, that was only if she kept her mouth shut.
“Oh my! Manipulative mushroom! You finally got what was coming to you!”
Having just shown off her new skin, Xiaomi looked down and saw Morona tangled up with someone else. She immediately seized the opportunity to gloat.
“Weren't you acting all smug in front of me, the First Lieutenant, just a few days ago because of your species rank? Why did you lose a fight to someone else today, looking like a pitiful stray about to be punished by Master? Hehe, look at my beautiful golden wings, and then look at that dark, gloomy mushroom cap on your head. You look so... lame~”
Morona's dead-fish eyes narrowed into a thin slit of pure disgust.
As for Yinzhi, who had been treated as a mere prop in this squabble, she offered a moment of silent prayer for this fluttering bee who had just stepped perfectly onto a landmine, looking at her with eyes reserved for a complete idiot.
Qimeng glanced at the foolish bee girl who had managed to draw the aggro of the entire room the moment she stepped out of seclusion. Her temples throbbed twice more.
Very well. Now that everyone was here, she could deal with them all at once.
Without another word, she commanded her vines to rise. This time, however, she wasn't just giving them a smack on the head.
The emerald vines wrapped around Yinzhi's and Morona's ankles, and didn't spare Xiaomi either, who was still basking in her sweet revenge.
The vines snaked up Xiaomi's ankles and, amidst the shrieks of the three lolis, hung them upside down from the rafters of the Tree Court pavilion—one on the left, one in the middle, and one on the right.
“Waaaaah?! What does this have to do with me?! I only came to deliver honey!!”
Xiaomi, who had been gloating just a second ago, almost dropped her honey jar. She struggled wildly in midair, tears practically spurting from her eyes.
“Waaah?!”
Yinzhi's hard-won composure shattered completely. Her silver hair fell over her face, and she frantically clutched her skirt to keep it from falling down.
“All the blood is rushing to my head, Mother. On a side note, the microorganism next to me who just ranked up is screaming too loudly. Morona's eardrums are about to rupture.”
Morona swung in the air like a pendulum, her top hat hanging upside down. Her expression remained a blank, dead-fish stare as she casually threw her teammate under the bus.
“It seems all of your brains need a little cooling down.”
Qimeng gave a humorless smile and leaned back into her throne.
She casually picked up a skewer of roast meat and took a bite, then frowned.
“You'll stay up there until you learn to get along and realize that I am a lord who values a peaceful, leisurely life. Xiaomeng, this skewer is too bland. Sprinkle some more Sichuan pepper powder on it.”
For a moment, only the aroma of roast meat and spicy seasoning filled the pavilion.
Qimeng leisurely ate her skewers, the vine whip in her hand gently swaying back and forth in the air.
Hanging upside down from the rafters, the three little girls swayed along with the rhythm of the whip.
Their eyes were glued to the roast meat. Inhaling the mouth-watering aroma, they swallowed hard, unable to eat despite wanting to. They were practically crying from the sheer temptation.
Rate on N.U.
