As soon as he finished speaking, Axel sneered and grabbed the Star Lord of the Moon by her silver hair.
Lifting her effortlessly, he ignored the stunned look in her eyes and slowly looked her over from head to toe.
Then, with complete familiarity, he raised his free hand toward her chest.
"Gulp."
One of the Spider Sisters swallowed audibly from the side.
The sound made Axel pause.
He immediately pulled his hand back and clicked his tongue.
"Damn it, I almost forgot there are kids here."
After saying that, he casually swung the Star Lord of the Moon aside by her hair, making her stumble back onto the ground before pointing at her lazily.
"Stop acting pitiful and go stand over there properly.
If you're surrendering, at least look sincere about it.
If you were actually useful, that'd be one thing, but can you help me deal with the Jade Emperor's mother? No? Exactly.
So you're only half-useful. Learn some self-awareness."
After dismissing her with a wave of his hand, Axel returned to his seat, picked up a bowl of wine, and drank it in one gulp.
Fourth Sister glanced at Axel, then at the Star Lord of the Moon sitting nearby with disheveled hair, trembling lips, tear-stained cheeks, and ruined clothes.
She swallowed nervously before asking,
"Great Sage, what does 'underage' mean?"
"It means not yet eigh... wait."
Axel suddenly stopped mid-sentence and slowly turned toward Sixth Sister.
Meeting her frightened eyes, he narrowed his own slightly.
"Little girl, how old are you exactly?"
"R... replying to Uncle, I'm two hundred and eighty-three years old... and three months."
"Oh."
Axel nodded slowly.
Then he inhaled deeply.
Underage?
This girl was older than entire dynasties.
Forget being underage, if she were his mother, he'd still owe her over two hundred years of filial respect.
Thinking about it made Axel smack his lips awkwardly before reaching for the wine jar again.
But before he could pour another drink, the Star Lord of the Moon hurried over from the side.
"Zhenjun, allow me."
She gently took the wine jar from his hand and carefully filled his cup.
Afterward, she picked up the bowl herself and personally brought it to Axel's lips.
Seeing how attentive she was being, Axel patted her shoulder approvingly.
"As expected from someone raised in Heaven. Professional."
"Yes... which is exactly why I no longer long for Heaven anymore."
Third Sister sighed quietly from the side before turning toward Zi Zhuer.
"Mother... are you absolutely sure she's really the Star Lord of the Moon?"
Zi Zhuer gave a bitter smile.
"My foolish daughter, even if Mother turned to ash, I still wouldn't mistake her.
But Heaven truly is like this. There's barely any humanity left there.
Otherwise, why would I have willingly descended into the mortal world?"
"Enough of that!"
Pigsy suddenly clapped loudly, interrupting the conversation.
Then he waved everyone back toward the banquet table.
"With my Great Sage Brother here, you women should broaden your horizons already. Stop panicking over every little thing.
Across the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, there may still be powerful beings out there, but there's basically nobody left capable of dealing with my Great Sage Brother anymore!
Come on, sit down and drink.
Old Pig's greatest skill has always been making connections. If I hadn't met Great Sage Brother early, where would all of you find this kind of blessing?
Great Sage Brother, Old Pig offers you a toast!"
"Haha, well said. Drink!"
Axel laughed and clinked cups with Pigsy.
The moment Axel set his bowl down, the Star Lord of the Moon immediately leaned closer and refilled it.
Then she smoothly poured another cup for Pigsy as well.
Pigsy stared blankly at her bent figure for a moment before rubbing his eyes.
His expression became strangely emotional.
"Don't laugh at me, Great Sage Brother, but back in Heaven, Old Pig didn't even dare look at the Star Lord of the Moon for too long."
As he spoke, Pigsy raised his head and looked directly at her.
The Star Lord of the Moon seemed slightly surprised by the stare, but she showed no anger.
Instead, she smiled politely.
"Marshal, you flatter me too much. Back in the Heavenly Court, which immortal didn't admire the Marshal's bold spirit?"
"Haha, nice words."
Pigsy suddenly interrupted her with a loud laugh.
"But you know what? This is the first real conversation we've ever had. The first one."
He raised his wine bowl with a self-mocking smile.
"Nobody drink with me for this one.
This cup is for Old Pig himself.
For the fool who spent years chasing after something, only to realize it was never worth chasing in the first place."
After speaking, he emptied the bowl completely.
Then he watched the Star Lord of the Moon refill his cup again and slowly shook his head.
"Old Pig suddenly remembered something Monkey Brother once said during the Journey to the West.
Back then, he told me about the monk at the temple who coveted the kasaya robe.
Master said if he didn't wear the kasaya, how would the world know he had abandoned worldly desires and emptied his sea of gold?
At the time, I thought it sounded like complete nonsense.
But now... after seeing the Star Lord of the Moon standing here pouring wine for me, I finally understand what enlightenment feels like."
Pigsy burst into laughter after finishing.
Even while laughing, he kept shaking his head at the Star Lord of the Moon.
Axel scoffed beside him and tapped his wine bowl lightly.
"Nonsense."
He let out a cold laugh.
"Greed is greed. That has nothing to do with pursuit.
Only pursuit gives people satisfaction after reaching the end.
Greed never ends.
If you can't obtain what you think is best, you refuse to let go.
And if you do obtain it? You still refuse to let go.
Because there's always something better out there.
There are too many tempting things in this world, so greedy people never truly understand what they actually want.
Pursuit belongs to yourself.
Greed belongs to endless desire."
As he spoke, Axel slowly clenched his hand before looking toward Pigsy again.
"Idiot."
"Hey, Brother, I'm listening!"
Pigsy grinned shamelessly.
Axel laughed.
"You idiot, do you know why I'm always this happy?
Why I can act however the hell I want without worrying about anything?
Because I'm not greedy.
If I obsessed over power, then there'd always be another mountain to climb. Infinity means exactly what it sounds like, endless.
If I obsessed over victory, then every decision I made would revolve around winning.
That sounds exhausting.
So instead of chasing victory, I just make sure I don't lose.
Way more relaxing."
He leaned back lazily while holding his wine bowl.
"Right now I'm strong, so I live however I want.
If I were weak, I'd still survive just fine.
I'd loaf around, avoid trouble, stop competing with people, and if things got bad enough, I'd even go beg on the streets.
As long as I stayed alive, who cares?"
Then Axel suddenly looked toward Fourth Sister with a grin.
"Fourth Sister, if I ever ended up begging for food, would you come beg with me?"
"Ah?"
Fourth Sister froze instantly.
A deep blush spread across her face so quickly that even the dark makeup around her eyes failed to hide it.
Before she could answer, Second Sister suddenly leaned forward with a teasing smile.
"I wonder whether Great Sage likes Fourth Sister because of her tearful little face, or because she's always so restless.
Last time you came here, you said you wanted to save Fourth Sister.
And now after sitting down, every other sentence out of your mouth is still about her.
Looks like the rest of us sisters really are annoying in Great Sage's eyes."
As she spoke, Second Sister nudged Eldest Sister mischievously.
"Did you hear that, Eldest Sister?
You should hurry up and get married already.
If you keep delaying things, us younger sisters won't feel comfortable marrying either.
It wouldn't matter much if I had to wait, but delaying Fourth Sister and Great Sage's relationship would really be a shame, wouldn't it?"
"I don't believe food can't shut your mouth!"
Fourth Sister's face turned even redder as she grabbed a date pastry and stuffed it directly into Second Sister's mouth.