That night, to welcome the two newly defected teammates, the Arcadia community held a grand banquet.
"The heavens are calling! The earth is calling! The people are calling! I have made my grand entrance!" At the center of the banquet, the ever-showboating Shiroyasha cheered from atop a champagne tower.
"Little Kurma has also made her grand entrance!" Kurma floated into the air, refusing to be outdone by Shiroyasha, and exuded an unignorable presence.
"Don't steal my lines, you husband-stealer!" Shiroyasha glared at her frenemy. Although their previous conflict had subsided, her woman's intuition had keenly sensed that Kurma's intentions had changed.
Naturally, she now saw the idiot as a rival.
"Who's a husband-stealer?!" Kurma pouted in dissatisfaction at the label.
"You and Su Mo aren't in an official relationship. Besides, can't we all just share? What's there to fight about?"
As a Pure-Blooded Dragon, Kurma's mindset was completely different from Shiroyasha's conservative style. Although she was fond of Su Mo, she didn't mind sharing the person she liked with her good friend.
It wasn't that her love and possessiveness were lacking; rather, the concept of monogamy simply didn't exist in Kurma's worldview. She naturally believed that she only needed to be responsible for her own feelings.
She only liked Su Mo, and as for how many people Su Mo liked, that was none of her business. If Su Mo reciprocated her feelings, she would be happy. If he rejected her, she would be sad, but that was all.
Although her performance just now had made it seem like she was infatuated with Su Mo's beauty, deep down, she was far more independent than the loneliness-fearing Shiroyasha.
Perhaps for this reason, she was much more carefree than her.
Faced with such a blatant NTR declaration, Shiroyasha was naturally unwilling to accept it. "Who wants to share with an idiot like you!"
"So you're backing out?" Kurma asked back, surprised.
"Who's backing out?" Shiroyasha immediately retorted.
"If you're not willing to share, doesn't that mean you're backing out? Or do you think you have the confidence to defeat me and the Queen?" Kurma asked with great seriousness.
She wasn't intentionally provoking her. It was just that, based on what Shiroyasha herself had said, it was impossible for her to have Su Mo all to herself. Otherwise, where would that leave the Halloween Queen?
Not to mention Kurma, who was also a 2-digit Full-Authority Domain being and didn't need the Divinity of a Human Last Embryo to unleash her full power. With them around, neither Shiroyasha nor anyone else could truly monopolize Su Mo.
Therefore…
"Just accept it, Shiroyasha. If you do, little Kurma can even put in a good word for you!" Kurma said, getting carried away.
Such arrogant words naturally provoked Shiroyasha's rebellious spirit. "Who needs you to do that for them! Stop right there! I'll show you who's the boss today!"
An unsatisfied Shiroyasha immediately chased after Kurma, and the two Full-Authority Domain beings came to blows once again, causing the onlooking Leticia sisters to hesitate, unsure of what to say.
"Wait, Lady Shiroyasha! Didn't we agree to serve His Excellency Su Mo together today?" Leticia reached out, trying to stop Shiroyasha, but it was too late. The two were already in a chaotic brawl.
"Let's just forget it this time. Today's plan is a failure. It's alright, we'll help Lady Shiroyasha next time!" Lamia shook her head and consoled her. "There will be plenty of opportunities later on."
"Besides, Lady Kurma was right. No one can monopolize Lord Su Mo, not even me and you together, Royal Sister." With that, Lamia took her sister's hand, a seductive, devilish smile on her lips. "In that case, why don't we sisters take advantage of the situation before the others react, and occupy as much of Lord Su Mo's time and energy as we can?"
"This..." Hearing this, the prim and proper Leticia's pretty face flushed, and she hesitated for a rare moment. What my sister said... seems to make sense!
"Don't feel burdened. We're also doing this to help the Master better understand the anatomy of vampires and contribute to his great cause." Seeing Leticia's wavering expression, Lamia glanced at Su Mo, who was talking with the golden-haired girl not far away. "Royal Sister, if we don't act fast, another girl might beat us to it!"
"The Great Sage..." Leticia subconsciously glanced at the golden-haired girl and immediately made up her mind.
"Ahem! Who gets there first isn't important. But Lord Su Mo changed the minds of two great figures today. He must be very tired. He definitely needs our help to relax!" The black-stockinged, blonde loli vampire made an insincere excuse. So, she was only taking the initiative to soothe Su Mo's spirit, definitely not for any lewd purposes.
"Mhm, mhm! Royal Sister is right. As a reward for today, you get to eat your fill first, Royal Sister. It doesn't matter where you start!" The barefooted, blonde loli vampire clapped her hands, generously ceding some strange kind of authority.
"Lamia!" Leticia glared at her sister, embarrassed and angry. Is that something you can say out here? Although Leticia wasn't burdened by a curse, under the tutelage of Su Mo and Lamia, she had also become proficient in this "skill."
"Hehe, I won't say any more, don't be angry, Royal Sister! Ah, it seems the Master has a task for me. I'll go over now!" Seeing her sister's flustered look, Lamia giggled and found an opportunity to run to Su Mo.
With Su Mo around, her Royal Sister couldn't discipline her.
"A task from Lord Su Mo?" Leticia wasn't truly angry at her sister's mischievousness. She was just thin-skinned and shy about discussing bedroom matters.
Though, after spending the past few days with Su Mo, she and her sister had seen each other in all sorts of states, so there was really no need to be so reserved.
Now that Lamia had left, her embarrassment subsided. She temporarily set aside her sister's suggestion and also walked quickly toward Su Mo to see if she could help. As she approached, she heard Sun Wukong's sincere apology to him.
"I'm sorry, Lord Su Mo. I really can't do this. I've let you down!"
Hearing this, the vampire sisters looked at each other in surprise. What could make the great and mighty Great Sage, Heaven's Equal, show such a troubled expression?
Given Sun Wukong's previous endorsement of Su Mo's path, she had just thumped her chest and solemnly promised him that if he had any command, she would not frown even if it meant going through a mountain of swords or a sea of fire. How could she have encountered something even she couldn't do so quickly?
Under the slightly surprised gazes of the vampire sisters and the guilty yet still determined look of the golden-haired girl, Su Mo nodded, not surprised at all. "So, you're refusing to fulfill your duty as a Half-Celestial Spirit and awaken as a true Celestial Spirit, no matter what?" Su Mo asked for confirmation.
"If the way to awaken as a Celestial Spirit is for me to vanquish the Demon King who was destined to be born as my stepping stone, then I refuse!" the golden-haired girl answered with utmost seriousness. "No one is born into this world just to be destroyed by others. If that is the mission of my birth, I refuse to accept it!"
Kurma had once asked Sun Wukong why she hadn't awakened as a complete Earth Celestial Spirit, and Sun Wukong had been vague.
But now, faced with Su Mo's proposal, she no longer concealed anything and stated her reasons in full.
As a Half-Celestial Spirit born of the planet, she, the stone monkey born from the depths of the earth, should have been a natural 2-digit being.
But due to an accident—a submarine volcanic eruption and tectonic movement—she was spewed from the earth's core to the surface, a premature, half-finished product.
This was the origin of the stone monkey's Divinity, and the reason she was born as only a Half-Celestial Spirit.
As a premature birth, the central hub of Little Garden had not denied her a chance to make up for it.
As long as Sun Wukong could pass the trial and kill the Demon King of Confusion, who was also born as a Half-Celestial Spirit, she could complete her Divinity and awaken as a true Earth Celestial Spirit.
Frankly, this trial was exceptionally simple, with extremely low difficulty.
Although he was also a Half-Celestial Spirit, compared to the top-tier 3-digit Sun Wukong, the Demon King of Confusion was clearly a shoddy, hastily made Demon King and an inferior Half-Celestial Spirit, with a power level of only a mere 5-digit.
The very reason for the Demon King of Confusion's existence was to help Sun Wukong complete the Divinity of an Earth Celestial Spirit.
Therefore, his strength and his life were unimportant. What was important was that he had to die at Sun Wukong's hands so that her Divinity could be completed.
It was the simplest, most natural thing in the world.
Sun Wukong didn't even need to exert herself; she could kill a weak Demon King of this level with a casual swing of her Golden-Hooped Rod.
However, it was precisely because the difficulty was so low, precisely because everything was planned out so neatly, that Sun Wukong refused to carry out this mission.
As she had said before, no one should be born as a sacrifice, not even a Demon King. Her Golden-Hooped Rod had claimed many lives, but she did not want to be stained with such blood.
To many, Sun Wukong's idea was too naive. What was the life of a mere Demon King compared to the safety of Little Garden?
However, Sun Wukong was just that kind of person. Even in the face of Little Garden's impending doom, she refused to sacrifice an innocent life for it.
After speaking, she looked at Su Mo without blinking, waiting for him to persuade or reprimand her. She knew full well the consequences of her willfulness, but she could absolutely not go against her nature.
The reason she had been wanted by the Jade Emperor, the reason she had betrayed the Seven Great Demon Kings alliance, and the reason she had joined the Buddhist faction were all related to this principle of hers.
If she had been willing to complete her mission, willing to kill the Demon King of Confusion, let alone stealing the Peaches of Immortality, no one would have dared to call her a demon monkey even if she had beaten up the Jade Emperor.
But she was just unwilling to do it. Even if it meant giving up her title of Great Sage, Heaven's Equal, and becoming an outlaw, she would never do anything against her conscience.
She just never expected that after all these years, the method to save Little Garden would still be related to her mission.
Just as Sun Wukong took a deep breath, a thousand plans forming in her mind to prove her resolve and stand by her will, Su Mo's next words completely exceeded her expectations.
"If you're not willing to fulfill your mission, then don't."
"However, would you mind transferring the Divinity of the Earth Celestial Spirit you've given up to someone else?"
Hearing this, Sun Wukong's brain instantly shut down.
"Huh?"
What are you talking about?