Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 293: Haotian’s Frustration

This is almost satisfactory, Jade Pool sighed in relief. Although purchasing through proxies was much more convenient, she feared that the proxy might offend Shopkeeper Chen. If because of that the impression Chen had of her was to decrease, it would truly be a loss not worth the gain.

"However..." Fairy Baihua was about to speak again.

"However what?" Jade Pool’s beautiful eyes stared intently at Fairy Baihua, her mind and spirit tensing.

Frightened by Jade Pool’s attitude, Fairy Baihua turned a bit pale and hesitantly said, "I, I wanted to have Shopkeeper Chen cook for me first, but that Gold Star Taibai actually used His Majesty’s name to pressure me, saying that since he was sent by His Majesty, he must go first!"

As Fairy Baihua spoke more, she became increasingly excited, a hint of smugness appearing on her face: "How could I tolerate this? I was sent by the Goddess as well! I directly mentioned your esteemed name, and that Gold Star Taibai beat a hasty retreat, and in the end, I was still the first to buy!"

"Not bad, you did very well," Jade Pool said with a smile, nodding in praise.

It seemed like a mere matter of who would buy first, but in reality, it was a contest of face and reputation between her and Haotian. Face is not only something that Saints emphasize—it’s equally significant for us Quasi-Saints!

Heavenly Court, Diligence Hall.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! The dish you ordered, I have brought it for you!" Taibai rushed in without stopping for a moment.

Haotian’s brows were tightly knitted, as he put down the memorial he was halfway through reviewing and regarded Taibai with an increased scrutiny: "Taibai? Why have you returned so late?"

With a hint of coldness in his eyes: "Look at the time! If you were any later, I would have been able to eat my midday meal directly!"

"Could it be that you went to eat at Shopkeeper Chen’s before coming back here?" Wu Tian asked accusingly.

Only this could explain it, clearly taking his words as nothing but wind.

He must be punished severely! Otherwise, where would his authority stand?!

Gold Star Taibai trembled like a leaf in the wind, frightened by Haotian’s words: "Your Majesty, I have been wronged! How could I dare to eat there first before bringing the meal to you?"

Wasn’t that a suicidal move? Even if he was highly trusted by His Majesty, he wouldn’t dare to do so—the idiom ’to serve the emperor is to serve a tiger’ was something he understood very well.

"Then why is that?" Wu Tian asked in a deep voice, clearly running out of patience.

Even the slowest dish should be ready by now, let alone hot pot, and besides, it seemed like it didn’t even need to be made.

He was eager to see what excuse Taibai could come up with!

Hearing this, Gold Star Taibai’s old face showed a look of deep sorrow, and he said in a mournful voice: "Your Majesty, you are not aware! They went too far!"

"They actually, cut in line! I could have come back much earlier, but was instead forcefully pushed back!"

"Then why didn’t you refuse them?!" Haotian did not ask who exactly it was, as that was fundamentally unimportant.

Looking at Gold Star Taibai, Wu Tian spoke with a sense of ’You disappoint me’: "Why are you so timid? You were sent by me! Didn’t you mention my name?!"

Gold Star Taibai shrank his neck slightly, carefully answering: "I did mention it, and then they mentioned some names too, and I just gave in."

Haotian: "???"

"I am the ruler of this Heavenly Court! They mentioned names, and so what? What are you afraid of?" Wu Tian slapped the desk authoritatively, displaying his commanding presence unwittingly.

The aura of the dragon coiled around him, merely gazing upon it made one feel compelled to worship, the reputation of the Jade Emperor of the Heavenly Court was indeed well-founded.

Gold Star Taibai looked at Wu Tian, who was accentuating his own authority, and his mouth twitched.

Afraid of what? Isn’t it because you can’t stand up to them?

"Your Majesty, the first one was the Goddess herself!" Taibai spoke carefully.

"Goddess? Which Goddess?!" Wu Tian failed to react at first.

"The Goddess of the Heavenly Court," Taibai softly reminded him.

"Jade Pool!" Wu Tian stood up abruptly, realization dawning upon him.

Of course, how could he forget that he had spoken to Jade Pool about granting proxy purchases from Chaos Residence? Although Taibai yielding was embarrassing, considering Jade Pool’s temperament...

Er...

Haotian’s eyelids twitched—never mind, never mind, a wise man does not fight with a woman. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"Then why did you yield the second time?" Haotian took in a deep breath and questioned.

Once and not twice! He had to regain his face.

Gold Star Taibai’s complexion changed and with a trembling voice he began

"Your Majesty, this... this one is even more untouchable!"

Haotian: "???"

With a cold laugh, Wu Tian was very disdainful, "Untouchable? Is there anyone whom I cannot provoke?"

Haotian’s Golden Dragon aura swirled about him, full of vitality. Now, with Saints hidden from the world, who else could compete with him?

He wouldn’t even flinch at the Tathagata.

Could it be... someone like Master Zhenyuan, an established Quasi-Saint? A hint of discernment flashed in Wu Tian’s eyes as he pondered silently.

"Male or female?" Wu Tian asked again.

Gold Star Taibai hesitated: "It is a Goddess."

Another Goddess, Wu Tian thought with a raised eyebrow. Apart from the Jade Pool, whom else should he fear? Today, he was determined to release his frustration.

"Speak, who exactly is it?!"

Gold Star Taibai hesitated, his voice respectful: "It is... Goddess Nuwa."

As the words fell, the previously arrogant aura of Golden Dragon around Wu Tian suddenly stalled and dissipated into nothingness.

"Who, who!" Wu Tian’s anger turned to astonishment.

Utterly baffled.

"It’s Goddess Nuwa!" replied Gold Star Taibai.

"The Goddess sent Fairy Xuan Feng, her mount, to make a proxy purchase. I should have been the first one there, but I was overtaken in the sky, ending up behind her."

"I didn’t know at first and thinking of the urgency of Your Majesty’s vegetables, I reported your name, intending to go first."

"But after learning of Fairy Xuan Feng’s identity, I immediately decided to give way, to demonstrate the magnanimity of our Heavenly Court."

Gold Star Taibai clasped his hands together, took two steps forward, and asked softly, "Your Majesty, do you think I did the right thing?"

"Ah!" Wu Tian wiped the cold sweat from his forehead discreetly, straightened his back, coughed lightly, and pretended to be calm, "Yes, yes!"

"Our grand Heavenly Court, how can we lack the capacity to accommodate others?"

Haotian paced back and forth, making excuses for his uneasiness.

"The Heavenly Court is a place of etiquette after all."

"Taibai."

Gold Star Taibai nodded: "Your servant is here."

"While fulfilling the task I entrusted to you, you have also exemplified the humility and demeanor of our Heavenly Court, well done, you deserve a reward," Wu Tian said shamelessly, without a change of expression.

Gold Star Taibai didn’t care about whether Wu Tian was speaking nonsense or not; he only caught the last part, "deserve a reward!"

His old face beamed like a daisy, and with a cheeky smile, Gold Star Taibai said, "Your Majesty, just now your account was insufficient."

Account insufficient?

Haotian was taken aback, hadn’t he deposited some money the last time he went? How could it have run out so quickly?

But upon further thought, Haotian realized why. After all, he had ordered ingredients for ten servings of hot pot!

Just these alone, when added up, amounted to the cost of eleven visits. No wonder.

"Did you not get enough?" Haotian asked.

Gold Star Taibai blurted out: "How could that be? Your Majesty, I would go through fire and water to fulfill your commands. I took money out of my own pocket and spent three Golden Immortal grade Magical Treasures to buy everything you required!"

"Mmm," Wu Tian nodded approvingly, a satisfied expression on his face: "Well done."

"Bring the things over."

"Yes." Seeing that Haotian didn’t offer the reward himself, Gold Star Taibai felt a bit disappointed, but he still responded.

With a flick of the horsetail whisk, piles of wrapped bags appeared on the floor of the great hall.

There were as many as eleven portions for each type of ingredient, stacked up quite full.