Junior Uncle is too cunning.

However, seeing that the golden-armored warrior didn't seem to know either, and noticing they had already arrived at the lotus pond, Li Shun didn't ask any further questions.

"I also paid my respects to my master and mistress."

"Well, get up!"

Before the Jade Emperor could speak, the Queen Mother made Li Shundao get up immediately.

Li Shundao secretly glanced at the Jade Emperor, only to see that the Jade Emperor had a square face and was expressionless. Li Shundao knew in his heart that the Jade Emperor was angry. After all, Li Shundao's involvement in the matter of the Three Pure Ones and the Two Western Saints was also a troublesome matter for the Jade Emperor. If he was not careful, he would provoke the hostility of the saints. The price for the God of Wealth Cult was really too high.

Li Shundao flattered the Jade Emperor and Queen Mother, saying that leniency would be granted for those who confess and severity for those who resist. He recounted in detail how Fang Hui came to him for help, how he made his request, and how the Great Shang Imperial Court finally agreed. "Master, I was confused. Please punish me!"

"Hmph, you know you're foolish. Who are you? A mere Grand Luo Golden Immortal dares to make demands of a Sage. Even your master wouldn't dare. But you've managed to offend five Sages at once. No wonder you're the Heavenly Venerable of the Ministry of Finance; you're even more powerful than me, the Jade Emperor!"

Hearing the Jade Emperor's thunderous wrath, Li Shundao kept his head down the entire time and whispered, "This disciple dares not!"

"I wouldn't dare, I think..."

"Alright, Shundao knows he was wrong. Besides, Shundao's handling of this is not wrong. Otherwise, if we had agreed to the Great Shang Imperial Court, we would have offended Western Buddhism. The current situation has only strengthened our neutral position."

As the Jade Emperor listened to the Queen Mother's words, his anger gradually subsided. In truth, he was well aware of this principle, but Li Shundao had been far too audacious this time, attempting to elevate the God of Wealth Sect to the same level as the Three Pure Ones Sect without uttering a word.

Fortunately, they are currently in the midst of a great calamity, and the saints are reluctant to act in order to avoid karmic consequences. However, the Jade Emperor has finally caught Li Shundao making a mistake and wants to teach him a lesson so that he can curb his arrogance.

Although Li Shundao behaved the same as before, how could the Jade Emperor and Queen Mother not see that Li Shundao had gradually lost his sense of awe since advancing to the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm? Although the Jade Emperor did not say it, he knew it like a mirror. Even if he did not have this opportunity, he would find a time to teach Li Shundao a lesson to prevent him from endangering his life in the future.

The Queen Mother looked at the Jade Emperor, who was putting on airs, and Li Shundao, who was meek and submissive, and found it somewhat amusing. How could she not see what the Jade Emperor was thinking?

As for Li Shundao, don't be fooled by his current meek and submissive demeanor, like a little lamb. While part of it is certainly because he has genuinely listened, another part is to curry favor with the Jade Emperor. This master and disciple pair is truly... sigh!

The Queen Mother was reluctant to intervene in the situation, but the Jade Emperor and Li Shundao both needed a way out, so she had to provide one, otherwise things would get really messy.

"Alright, he's already realized his mistake, so you'd better keep quiet!"

Hearing the Queen Mother's words, the Jade Emperor knew they were just polite words, but he still felt a pang of sadness. He glared at Li Shundao, feeling that his status in the Queen Mother's eyes had been declining day by day ever since he took Li Shundao in.

Seeing that the Queen Mother of the West was pleading for him, Li Shundao hurriedly promised, "Master, I truly know I was wrong this time. I will definitely be more careful and cautious from now on."

"Humph!"

The Jade Emperor shook his head arrogantly, his expression finally softening a bit, but he still didn't say anything.

The Queen Mother was tired and annoyed by what she saw, and she was too lazy to care about the Jade Emperor anymore. She directly said to Li Shundao, "Shundao, you've come at the right time. The birthday of the Goddess Pingxin in the Underworld is coming soon. Take me and your master to the Underworld to present gifts to Goddess Pingxin." As she spoke, a storage ring appeared in her hand and she threw it to Li Shundao.

Li Shundao took the storage ring. He felt that the name Pingxin Niangniang sounded familiar. It took him a while to realize that this was Houtu Niangniang!

When talking about Houtu Niangniang, one cannot help but mention her great deeds. If Pangu is considered the father of the primordial world, without him there would be no primordial world as we know it today, then Houtu Niangniang can be said to be the mother of all things in the primordial world.

The story goes that Houtu, the Goddess of the Earth, once passed by Buzhou Mountain and saw the dead suffering greatly. Overwhelmed with sorrow, she wondered why these souls, after enduring some torment, couldn't be allowed to reincarnate and be reborn as humans. Her heart was compassionate, but her thoughts wandered, and after much contemplation, she conceived of the Six Paths of Reincarnation! At that moment, she forgot that she was still a great deity of the Wu tribe, and that she should strive for the survival of her people! Her only thought was how to save more people from suffering and how to free these dead souls from torment!

Although Houtu Niangniang is a woman, she inherited the straightforwardness of the Wu tribe, and the Six Paths of Reincarnation was a method she came up with with great difficulty, so she certainly wouldn't give it up.

Houtu Niangniang did as she pleased, ultimately transforming herself into the Six Paths of Reincarnation, allowing the souls of all the dead to reincarnate again within a certain timeframe! She established her own Underworld, never to emerge again, forever suppressing the Underworld! When she had accomplished all this, great merit descended from Heaven, and Houtu Niangniang actually became a saint!

It should be noted that all the Wu tribes cultivate their physical bodies, especially the Ancestral Wu, whose physical bodies are so powerful that they cannot generate a primordial spirit. This is why, during the Wu-Yao calamity, although the Wu tribe had twelve Quasi-Saints at the Ancestral Wu level, they fought a stalemate against the five Quasi-Saints of the Yao tribe: Di Jun, Donghuang Taiyi, Nuwa, Fuxi, and the Demon Master Kunpeng. In the end, both the Wu and Yao tribes suffered heavy losses.

It was because the Wu tribe lacked a primordial spirit and was ignorant of the laws of heaven and earth that they were able to be ambushed by saints such as Zhunti and Jieyin, and all of them perished in the Wu-Yao calamity.

However, as the saying goes, fortune and misfortune are intertwined. Houtu, the Ancestral Witch, transformed her physical body into the Six Paths of Reincarnation. Once she succeeded, she would surely perish, and it would be a death in which her body and soul would be completely destroyed, leaving not even a trace of her true spirit.

However, the impartiality of Heaven is not just a saying. It was because of the sacrifice of the Goddess Houtu that the prehistoric world was able to complete the way of life and death transformation, so that the souls of all living beings could have a place to rest. Heaven would not let such a selfless person as the Goddess Houtu sacrifice in vain.

Houtu Niangniang (Goddess Houtu) found a home for those suffering souls and a path to reincarnation for those who didn't know where to go! All of this was due to her compassionate heart. For this, she sacrificed herself to establish the Six Paths of Reincarnation, forever unable to escape and eternally suppressing the underworld. This is why Houtu Niangniang did this—it was because of her compassionate heart! But Heaven would not let her down. When she sacrificed herself to establish the Six Paths of Reincarnation, finding a way out for suffering souls, she also left a glimmer of hope for herself and the Wu tribe.

Because of Houtu Niangniang's great achievement, the Heavenly Dao directly preserved a trace of her true spirit. With the enormous merit bestowed by the Heavenly Dao, Houtu Niangniang was able to transform her true spirit into a primordial spirit, directly enabling her to achieve the path of a sage. From then on, the human race and other races were born and died, forever living and dying in an orderly manner within the Six Paths of Reincarnation established by Houtu Niangniang!

As the descendants of Houtu Niangniang in her previous life, the Wu tribe would certainly receive the favor and merit of the Heavenly Dao. However, the Wu tribe was already too deeply entangled with both the Wu and Yao tribes. Therefore, even if Houtu Niangniang knew the consequences of the Wu and Yao tribes, she could only leave some embers and a glimmer of hope for the Wu tribe.

Of course, Houtu Niangniang... or rather Pingxin Niangniang, although she became a saint, she is still somewhat different from the other saints. Her restrictions are relatively large because the Six Paths of Reincarnation is an important mechanism in the operation of heaven and earth, and it is certainly not allowed to fail. Pingxin Niangniang became the best master and supervisor of the underworld. She can basically not appear in the prehistoric world on weekdays, unlike the other saints who are so free.