Chapter 2072: Young Aunt

After the high-level summit came to an end, Bi’an and Immortal Emperor Qinghua took their leave one after another.

The Lamp-Bearing Buddha was also hauled away by the Great Monkey of Destruction, who had casually slung an arm around his shoulders.

Meanwhile, the Great Sage of Demonic Heaven seemed to have something to discuss with Zenasus, the soul overmage of Magus World.

Nezha, the Third Princess, did not leave immediately. Instead, she made her way toward Lady Bev and the others.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Nezha’s gaze settled on Gongsun Wudi, who had remained relatively inconspicuous beside Lady Bev throughout the entire summit.

By this point, most of the other overlords had already departed, leaving only a handful of people behind.

Nezha pointed toward Gongsun Wudi and asked through divine consciousness, “Is she connected to the three people Locke took away from the Heavenly Prison back then?”

Before Lady Bev could answer, Gongsun Wudi stepped forward and answered for herself.

“The three people my sworn father took away back then were my elder brother and my two mothers.”

She paused briefly before adding, “I requested to attend this conference of my own accord. I would also like to thank you, Third Princess, for releasing my mothers and brother back then.”

One of the reasons Gongsun Wudi had insisted on coming to this summit was precisely because she wanted to see for herself just how powerful those who had once been enemies of her family had become.

In truth, Gongsun Wuji and Lady Bev had not seen each other in many years either. This gathering would have been a perfect opportunity for them to reunite and catch up.

However, for various reasons, Gongsun Wuji had refused to come to the Valthwain Star Domain.

Gongsun Wudi herself had not originally been supposed to attend either. It was only after she personally requested to come that Bev reconsidered the matter.

And after taking into account exactly who would be attending this summit, Bev ultimately agreed to the request of this younger sister whom she had never even met in person before.

A look of understanding appeared on Nezha’s face.

“I was merely doing Locke a favor back then. I never expected that all of you would...” Her voice trailed off before she finished the sentence.

After a brief pause, Nezha turned toward Bev. “The Martial Remnants won’t affect our cooperation this time, will they?”

At present, the Immortal Realm’s Chan Sect occupied much of the territory that had once belonged to the Martial Remnants.

Although the heavenly court established by Nezha herself was not located within that star domain, and Nezha personally bore no particular hostility toward the Martial Way Remnant, there were still certain matters she had to clarify on behalf of the Chan Sect.

“Absolutely not!” Lady Bev replied without hesitation.

Sometimes, keeping everything hidden was not necessarily the wisest choice. Revealing a little information to one’s allies at the right time could prevent needless suspicion from arising later.

Compared to grudges left behind by wars hundreds of thousands of years ago, what mattered far more was the relationship between these civilizations now.

After all, how much hatred from such a distant past could truly survive unchanged until the present day?

Gongsun Wudi herself was the clearest example. This was actually the first time she had ever personally met a cultivator from the Immortal Realm.

Those who fell behind were destined to suffer.

As for the foreign worlds that had been annexed and conquered by the Dawn Empire over the past tens of thousands of years, some might not even have the luxury of holding onto their hatred anymore.

Nezha, the Third Princess, did not dwell any further on Gongsun Wudi’s identity. After exchanging a few more words with Bev and Liese, she took her leave.

Nezha might have looked youthful and rather childish in her festive-looking red vest, but in truth, this Rank Eight overlord had once stood on equal footing with Liese and Bev’s father.

But the past was like smoke. Far too much had changed over the years.

Even Nezha, who had once been lively and full of youthful energy, had gradually become far more composed.

The Red Armillary Sash drifted and swirled around her arms as Nezha raised a hand toward those behind her, then turned and left the hall.

***

After the high-level summit came to an end, most of the participating overlords returned to their respective battlefields.

Liese and Gongsun Wudi, however, did not leave immediately. Instead, Bev brought them to another location, where three younger members of their family were already waiting.

“Auntie!”

The moment Hela saw Liese, she came forward and hugged the Empress of Blades.

Both Hela and Liese were tall and slender, with remarkably youthful and beautiful appearances.

Looking at them standing together, no one would have guessed that they were actually a generation apart.

The Empress of Blades had been away from the Magus Civilization for a long time, and Hela had not seen her aunt in many years.

Their joy at finally being reunited was genuine, and it was obvious how deeply they had missed each other.

Back then, Liese had always treated Hela exceptionally well.

Even many of the practical combat techniques Hela used as the “Goddess of Death” had been taught to her by Liese.

While the aunt and niece happily caught up with each other, Hela’s two rather useless younger brothers lingered behind her, hesitating to step forward.

This was Thor and Loki’s first time meeting their aunts.

They had no issue with Liese, as she was the Empress of Blades... a peerless Rank Eight overlord.

Even if their own father, Odin, were standing here, he would have to respectfully address her as “big sister”.

But what exactly was going on with the extremely young-looking Rank Six woman standing beside her?

In recent years, Thor had deliberately grown himself a brown beard, mostly because he thought it made him look cooler when courting goddesses from other foreign worlds.

As a result, he somehow looked even older than Gongsun Wudi!

Yet he was still supposed to call her “Auntie”!

Faced with this situation for the first time, Thor was clearly reluctant.

After all, he had already advanced to Rank Six, and his performance on the Civilization battlefield had only grown more impressive in recent years.

“What are you standing there for? Come greet your aunts! Where are your manners?” Hela turned around and scolded her two good-for-nothing younger brothers. “Don’t think that just because you’ve made a little progress in recent years, you’re suddenly something special. Either one of these two aunts could take you down with one hand!”

On this point, Hela and Liese were surprisingly alike. One simply couldn’t be too lenient with younger brothers!

After being scolded by his older sister, Thor looked as dejected as a wilted tomato.

Still, he could not help muttering under his breath, “What about you, then? Aren’t you supposed to call Wudi Auntie too?”

Hela froze. Apparently, she had only just realized that little problem herself, because a trace of embarrassment immediately appeared on her face.

Faced with such a young-looking aunt, even Hela—who commanded a legion of billions of Titans—suddenly found herself unsure of how to address her naturally.

Loki, on the other hand, had no such burden. He stepped forward and respectfully greeted both of his aunts.

Loki was still only at Rank Five, while both Gongsun Wudi and Liese were far stronger than him. Calling them “Auntie” did not bother him in the slightest.

Besides, his behavior at that moment perfectly demonstrated why, despite all the trouble he caused, the elders of the family still doted on him so much. He knew exactly when to behave.

Seeing Loki take the lead so naturally, Gongsun Wudi, despite still feeling somewhat awkward herself, took out the gifts she had prepared before leaving the Dawn Empire.

Liese’s gifts, however, were on an entirely different level.

The Empress of Blades directly handed Loki a dagger capable of effortlessly slicing through space. It was a world-class secret treasure!

Thor’s eyes immediately widened. The reluctance from just moments ago vanished almost instantly. Putting on a sheepish smile, he stepped forward and obediently called out, “Auntie.”

This was also Liese’s first time meeting her two nephews, so naturally, she had no intention of being stingy.

She already knew that Thor wielded Mjolnir, so rather than giving him another weapon, she had prepared a set of armor instead.

It was a special set of electro-attribute armor that bore roughly a sixty-percent resemblance to the armor worn by Odin.

However, this set was considerably lighter, and its design did a much better job of showing off Thor’s powerful physique.

Whether in terms of attributes or appearance, the armor suited him perfectly.

Thor loved it so much that he happily thanked his “Auntie”.

With her two younger brothers already leading the way, Hela could no longer avoid the matter either.

Despite feeling rather awkward, she still turned toward Gongsun Wudi and called her “Auntie” as well.

Gongsun Wudi, however, did not possess nearly as many precious treasures to hand out to the three of them. After all, the Dawn Empire was nowhere near as wealthy as the Insectoids.

The gifts Gongsun Wudi gave were all items unique to the Dawn Empire.

For Thor and Loki, she gifted each of them a set of martial arts cultivation techniques.

Thor received a set of “inner arts” that could help calm his violent temper and rein in his impatient nature.

Loki, meanwhile, received a set of movement techniques that suited someone as agile as him perfectly.

As for Hela, Gongsun Wudi genuinely had no idea what she could possibly give her.

Hela was far stronger than she was. In fact, even her own elder brother, the Dawn Emperor, was probably not as powerful as Hela.

Although Gongsun Wuji possess an overlord-level dragon mount, Hela also had Jormungandr, an overlord-level giant serpent, as her pet...

Fortunately, Hela had never lacked for treasures in the first place and did not care much about such things.

She happily accepted the cosmetics Gongsun Wudi had brought from the Dawn Empire and said, “If you have time, Auntie, you should come visit Titan World.”

“As it happens, the fighting hasn’t been too intense lately. I can have the boys show you around,” Hela added, kicking her two younger brothers who were still busy admiring their new gifts.

“No, that won’t be necessary. Once everything here is settled, I’ll have to return to the Divine Descendants Star Domain,” Gongsun Wudi politely declined. “There’s still a great deal I need to handle regarding the Dawn Empire’s upcoming war preparations.”

Compared to everyone else, Gongsun Wudi had remained noticeably reserved throughout the reunion.

Whether it was because of what had happened in the Immortal Realm all those years ago, or because something else was weighing on her mind, no one could quite tell.

Bev and Liese exchanged a glance. For a moment, neither of them knew what to say to this extremely young sister of theirs.

Gongsun Wudi turned toward the window.