She blurted out, her voice carrying a confusion and wariness that even she hadn't noticed.
"Elder Sister, what... what are you doing?"
Why did it turn out like this?
For the first time, she had someone she liked.
She had resolved years of misunderstanding with her elder sister.
Two joyful events overlapped.
And these two joys brought her even more happiness.
What she obtained should have been a dreamlike, blissful time... But why did it become like this...
Having just achieved a Breakthrough to level fifty, her spirit power surging like a mighty river, Zhu Zhuqing should have been ecstatic. Yet, her heart was thrown into chaos by the scene before her.
Her elder sister, Zhu Zhuyun—always arrogant, always wearing her ambition openly, valuing dignity above life—was now standing with her hands lowered beside Li Yifei, her posture as humble as a maid awaiting her master's command.
Hearing her sister's questioning tone, Zhu Zhuyun slowly turned around.
She did not immediately straighten up, maintaining her respectful posture, but on her exquisitely beautiful face shimmered a light of almost fanatical 'hope'.
"What am I doing?" Zhu Zhuyun gazed at her sister, her voice calm yet containing the power of a thunderous storm.
"I am choosing the only path for myself, and for the entire Zhu Family, to survive and to live better!"
She slowly stood up straight, her gaze sweeping over the nearby woods ravaged by the Shadow-Stealth Scorpion-Tail Leopard, a hint of self-mockery and resolve in her tone.
"Sister, did you see that? That Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast. Our sisters combined couldn't even withstand a single blow from it. But before Lord Yi Fei, it didn't even have the right to struggle."
"Did you feel it? That fifteen-thousand-year spirit ring. The iron law of the Douluo Continent tells us that absorbing it is a dead end. But Lord Yi Fei merely moved a finger and suppressed its age limit to what we could bear."
"You were almost counter-attacked by the remnant Soul just now—that kind of danger on the Soul level is impossible for even an Immortal to save you from! But what did Lord Yi Fei do? He forcefully pulled that ferocious Soul out of your body and crushed it as if molding a piece of clay!"
With every sentence Zhu Zhuyun spoke, she took a step closer to Zhu Zhuqing. The flame in her eyes burned brighter and brighter, shaking Zhu Zhuqing's spirit profoundly.
"The Dai Family? The Star Luo Imperial Family? So-called destiny?"
Zhu Zhuyun's lips curved into an icy smile.
"In front of an existence that can casually manipulate time and the Soul, what are those things? Nothing!"
"Our sisters fought for over a decade, vying only for the position of Crown Princess, for a status as a plaything who could be abandoned by the Dai Family at any moment!"
"But now, a path that can crush the Dai Family, that can crush the entire Star Luo Empire underfoot, is laid out right before us!"
"Tell me, how should I choose?!"
In the last sentence, she almost roared it out.
The resentment, unwillingness, and despair accumulated over more than a decade burst forth at this moment, transforming into an infinite craving for a new beginning!
Zhu Zhuqing was utterly stunned.
Every word from her elder sister struck her heart like a heavy hammer, making her mind buzz.
She could not refute it.
Because every word her sister spoke was a fact she had witnessed and experienced firsthand.
She once thought that what Li Yifei brought her was 'freedom' from the shackles of destiny.
But her elder sister saw something deeper, farther—it wasn't about breaking free, but... completely shattering the cage called 'Destiny,' and then personally establishing a brand new order dominated by them!
This thought was too insane, too treasonous, yet it carried a fatal temptation.
The atmosphere in the woods became subtle due to the sisters' drastically different states of mind.
Just then, Li Yifei's calm voice broke the deadlock.
"Your ambitions, I permit them."
His voice carried no anger, yet it instantly made the fanatical flame in Zhu Zhuyun's eyes recede, transforming back into deep reverence.
Li Yifei shifted his gaze from Zhu Zhuyun to Zhu Zhuqing's unsettled face.
"However, you must understand who the ultimate helmsman is."
One sentence set the absolute tone for this nascent ambition.
You can strive, compete, and overthrow an Empire.
But everything you possess originates from Me.
Your glory is My grace.
Zhu Zhuyun and Zhu Zhuqing fell silent simultaneously. The absolute suppression originating from their plane of existence made them subconsciously slow their breathing.
Li Yifei looked at Zhu Zhuqing, whose cold pupils were now filled with confusion and struggle.
He spoke softly, his words possessing a magic that reached directly into the heart.
"Zhuqing, are you willing to become My 'Apostle' alongside your elder sister?"
"Go and take the Zhu Family to the place you truly wish to go, instead of merely being satisfied with getting rid of Dai Mubai."
His words precisely struck the softest place deep within Zhu Zhuqing's heart.
Did she truly only want to escape destiny?
No.
What she wanted was to no longer live in fear, to ensure her Family would no longer be a vassal of imperial power, and that every descendant of the Zhu Family would never have to endure the tragedy of infighting like her and her sister.
She looked at the man before her.
He gave her a new life.
He gave her strength.
He gave her an unprecedented sense of security.
Her elder sister chose to follow him out of ambition and opportunism.
What about me?
All the confusion and struggle in Zhu Zhuqing's cat-like eyes faded away at this moment.
She stepped forward, approached Li Yifei, bowed slightly, and replied in a voice that was gentle yet incomparably firm.
"I... I am willing to follow Brother Yi Fei."
There was no 'Lord,' nor 'Master.'
She used the most intimate form of address to declare her position.
What she followed was not just that unfathomable power, but the man standing before her.
Li Yifei looked at the clarity and attachment in her eyes and nodded with satisfaction.
"Very good."
He looked at the two sisters and announced, "Since that is the case, we will immediately return to the Sunset Forest, to the secluded residence of the Dugu Family. New arrangements await you there."
Zhu Zhuyun and Zhu Zhuqing responded in unison.
Li Yifei said no more and signaled for everyone to draw closer.
Xiao Wu skillfully took hold of his arm, and Zhu Zhuqing naturally took his hand, feeling a warm softness.
Her cheeks burned slightly, but she did not pull away.
Seeing this, a flash of complexity crossed Zhu Zhuyun's eyes, but she eventually reached out and placed her hand on her sister's shoulder.
The four people touched physically.
With a thought from Li Yifei, the surrounding space instantly rippled, like water disturbed by a thrown stone.
The next second, light and shadow distorted.
The figures of the four vanished from the clearing in the woods as if they had never been there.
...
The experience of spatial travel was still novel and shocking for the Zhu sisters.
Everything around them turned into streams of flowing, colorful lines, and the concepts of time and space blurred.