In an area blanketed entirely by snow and ice, a beautiful pale woman in pure white clothing walked slowly across the frozen landscape.

As she walked, she noticed an ice flower blooming and approached it. Despite its simple white color, the flower possessed extraordinary beauty. The woman’s face soured as she gazed at the flower. When she reached out to touch it, the flower instantly withered the moment her hand drew near. Her arm remained suspended in the air for a moment before she let out a deep sigh and continued walking.

She thought to herself that she had been forced to accelerate her plans as nothing was working as intended. She wondered why this was happening now. Her plans had been set for millions of years now and she had accounted for every possible reasonable outcome. Everything had been working as expected until just recently.

This was really frustrating. Every time she attempted divination, she encountered an entirely different reality than what she had foreseen.

“The pawn I had as a backup has awakened,” she thought, “but she still somehow hasn’t found Li Yao? What’s happening?”

She had even delayed the people from the immortal world from descending and dealing with the problem, yet nothing was happening as planned. How difficult could this simple task possibly be? From what she could observe, her pawn was actually refining the world. She wondered if she had somehow failed to notice that the Heavenly Dao body existed in this world.

She needed Li Yao to face this crisis for the seed she had planted to grow. This was the only path to overcome the rule of the Heavenly Dao and breakthrough to the next realm.

Finding a suitable ice block, she sat down in a meditative posture and closed her eyes. As she concentrated, she perceived the figure of an unknown man standing beside Li Yao. Her eyes snapped open.

“Just who are you?” she wondered aloud. She couldn’t get any reading on this mysterious figure at all.

She considered whether the Heavenly Dao itself had materialized as an avatar.

“Are you really that afraid?” she spoke with a smug smile.

“Fine, I’ll play along,” she thought, her face filling with determination.

She decided that since she couldn’t properly read the situation anymore, she would discard her previous calculations. With the Heavenly Dao’s involvement, certainty was no longer possible. Even so, the Heavenly Dao had its own rules it must follow, or it wouldn’t remain impartial and thus wouldn’t truly be the Heavenly Dao. After all, it was widely known that the Heavenly Way is impartial.

“From now on, I’m going to assume that Li Yao and the Heavenly Dao avatar have at least broken through to the Earth Immortal realm,” she concluded.

She rose from the ice block as stairs of ice materialized beneath her feet. “With this, I can safely assume that the mortal world plan is a dud. I should start preparing a stage in the immortal realm,” she thought.

In the immortal realm, she possessed much greater control over the situation. A smile spread across her face.

“You should be happy, after all, not everyone gets a welcoming party prepared by yours truly.”

…

Xi Wangmu perched precariously at the top of a massive tree, clutching a book tightly to her chest. Her face contorted with horror as tears appeared at the corner of her eyes.

“Please stop!” she cried out.

Below the towering tree stood another girl, her head tilted upward, watching her with a smug smile.

“Just come down here,” the girl called up mockingly. “It’s not like I’m going to eat you.”

Xi Wangmu only continued sobbing.

The girl at the base of the tree casually cleaned her ear with her pinky finger, utterly unimpressed.

“What a cry baby,” she said. “How is someone like you supposed to inherit the position of a god?”

Without warning, she delivered a powerful kick to the tree trunk, causing the entire tree to shake violently.

Xi Wangmu cried out in alarm, desperately clutching a branch for stability. In her panic, the book she had been holding slipped from her grasp, tumbling through the air before landing on the ground below.

The girl walked over and picked up the fallen book, observing it curiously. “Hmm, what’s this…” she mused aloud, flipping it open.

“Noooo, don’t read that!” Xi Wangmu screamed out desperately, but her pleas only seemed to intensify the girl’s interest.

“I grabbed his ****, feeling how it pulsed between my fingers,” she read aloud. “I then slowly guided my hand up and down. ’Yes, just like that’ he whispered…”

“Nooooo, please stop!” Xi Wangmu screamed.

The girl snapped the book closed, a deep blush spreading across her cheeks. “You…what kind of things are you writing?” She marched back to the tree and began kicking the trunk once again. “Come down here this instant! How dare you make me see this!”

As she continued her assault on the tree, she suddenly felt a sharp, stinging pain on her scalp. Wincing, she clutched her head. “Ouch! Dammit, which idiot dares to…” Her angry words died in her throat as she spun around, coming face to face with the person she least wanted to encounter.

“Ah, Senior Sister, it’s you,” she said, her tone immediately shifting to something more agreeable.

“Senior Sister? Don’t you mean ’idiot’?” the newcomer asked with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“What idiot? I meant me, I’m the idiot,” the girl quickly backpedaled.

“I see,” the senior sister said calmly, extending her hand toward the girl. The troublemaker flinched and attempted to evade, but was easily caught. The senior sister pinched her ear.

“It’s good that you’re self-aware,” she continued pleasantly. “What are your mistakes?”

“Umm, bullying others,” the girl responded reluctantly, wincing at the pressure on her ear.

“Why is it a mistake?” she pressed, maintaining her grip.

“Because it’s unbecoming of the successor of the Human Emperor,” the girl recited, it wasn’t her first time doing this.

“Good. Now apologize to the successor of the Love Goddess.” She instructed, leaving no room for argument.

The Human Princess hesitated visibly, seeming conflicted.

“What? You don’t want to?” The senior sister asked, her voice becoming a little less gentle than before.

“No, I want to!” the girl quickly responded. She turned toward the tree, bowing stiffly. “I’m sorry,” she called up to Xi Wangmu.

The senior sister then immediately dragged her away by the ear. “Now come with me. It’s time for training.”

As she was pulled away, the Human Princess cast one final glance back at Xi Wangmu. Her eyes narrowed dangerously, and she mouthed silently, “This isn’t over.”

…

The Love Goddess, Xi Wangmu, opened her eyes suddenly. Her expression furious. “Damn you, Human Empress. I can’t even sleep in peace without you haunting my dreams!”

As the words left her lips, she suddenly froze as she received information telepathically. Once she heard the news, her eyes widened in shock.

“The Human Empress has reincarnated?” she gasped, terror replacing her earlier anger. “I need to run!” She thought, standing up.

But after thinking about it more, she paused.

“Wait, why do I need to run? She’s not the Human Empress anymore, just a mortal.”

Her expression shifted once more, taking on a more menacing look.

“Kekeke, Human Empress, did you ever think that this day would come?” she cackled softly to herself.

She reached for a jade communication plank:

“Everyone, I have a mission for you…”

…

Author’s Corner

The queen mother of the west isn’t a love goddess per se, but she does have some similarities to this.