Qingling and Jinyu

Qingling, who is usually mischievous and fearless, actually cried.

She cried so hard her face was streaked with tears, looking utterly pitiful.

She looked truly aggrieved.

However, despite feeling wronged, Jiang Chao still managed to catch a fleeting glimpse of a different emotion in the other person's pitiful expression.

That seems to be some kind of... expectation?

Jiang Chao was taken aback. Could it be that he had misread it?

How could a woman expect to be slapped in such a sensitive area?

Or perhaps... this mysterious maid with a quirky personality has some kind of strange, unknown fetish?

"Cough cough, crying won't help!"

Sensing the murderous gaze emanating from the side, Jiang Chao dared not think any further. He nonchalantly withdrew his wicked hand and, with a righteous expression, reprimanded the maid in green before him:

"As the saying goes, there is a proper order of rank and age. Since I am the young master and you are a maid, then we must follow the rules. A maid who dares to be disrespectful to the young master should be punished, understand?"

"I'll let it go this time. I'm magnanimous and won't hold it against you. But if you dare to do it again, I won't let you off easily."

After saying that, Jiang Chao waved his hand and said, "Go and do what you should do. Don't disturb my enjoyment with my friends."

"...This servant obeys."

To Jiang Chao's surprise, Qingling did not refute him, but instead bowed obediently and then withdrew.

Two lines of pitiful tears still clung to that delicate oval face.

After Qingling left the courtyard, the female knight-errant Chu let out two cold laughs and said sarcastically:

"What a magnificent display of power, Young Master Jiang! You truly live up to your reputation as a young master, your prestige is unmatched!"

Jiang Chao waved his hand, not wanting to argue with her further on this issue.

"So-so, third in the martial arts world... I mean, my maid is ill-mannered. If I don't discipline her for a day, she'll be climbing on the roof and tearing off the tiles. So, I have no choice but to do this."

Su E smiled and said, "Young Master Jiang, your maid is quite extraordinary. Judging from her demeanor, she must be an extremely skilled martial artist, right?"

The moment Qingling descended from the sky was so light that no one present noticed, demonstrating her exceptional skill in lightness of movement.

Jiang Chao nodded and said, "Indeed, her name is Qingling. She is my mother's personal maid. Her origins are unknown. She becomes stronger when facing stronger opponents. In short, she is very powerful."

After a pause, Jiang Chao added, "She's far more capable than I am now. Her older sister, Jin Yu, is the same; both were my mother's maids."

Hearing Jiang Chao's explanation, the three women present were finally relieved.

Since she was the personal maid of that female god of wealth, how could she be an ordinary person? That makes sense.

However, Jiang Chao has gone too far. She is your mother's maid, not yours. How can you treat her like this?

Aren't you afraid of incurring hatred?

Or……

Recalling Qingling's appearance just now, the women couldn't help but speculate among themselves.

Seeing that the three remained silent, Jiang Chao knew he couldn't let them speculate any longer, otherwise, who knew what kind of image he would have in their minds.

A word about a dissolute person is probably indispensable.

"Let's rest here for the next two days and see how things develop. If the group of men in black who injured the officials of the Imperial Observatory don't make any moves after two days, we'll leave this place as soon as possible."

After saying that, Jiang Chao turned around, lightly touched the ground with his toes, flew onto the roof, and disappeared in a flash.

By any measure, it seems like they're running away from something.

On the other side, after leaving the courtyard, Qingling did not go far, but came to a rather elegant courtyard next door.

"Sister~"

The woman in green, who had suffered a great injustice at the young master's hands, threw herself into her sister Jin Yu's arms.

"Young Master bullied me!"

Jin Yu remained calm and unmoved.

"You seemed to be enjoying it at the time, so how did I end up bullying you?"

"..."

Qingling lifted her head from her arms, looking at her older sister with disbelief.

"Sister, we've depended on each other since we were little, and now you're actually siding with him?"

Jin Yu shook his head. "I mean, you deserve it. Did you really think he wouldn't dare touch you?"

"You dare threaten him? Do you know what threats mean to someone like him?"

Qingling was stunned. "What?"

"It means being out of control. People like them, who are born with the bestowal of martial fortune on a particular place, are most afraid of being out of control. Once they lose control, their instinctive reaction is... destruction."

Qingling was surprised. "Really? I was just making a small threat, and he actually wants to kill me?"

Jin Yu sighed softly:

"Not quite, but your provocative probe was seen by him as a declaration of war. Don't you know our young master?"

"Back in the mountains, no matter how much we teased him, he would never really get angry. That's because he was still young and needed to be patient. Even under his parents' noses, he wouldn't show it."

At this point, Jin Yu paused, "Moreover, in my opinion, his trip down the mountain this time was not just a simple journey. He seems to have sensed something and is looking for something."

"That thing could very well be the key to our escape from this place and our return to the Eternal Heaven!"

"Eternal Heaven... Sister, are we really going to go back to that place?"

Upon hearing the words "Eternal Heaven," Qingling's previously calm eyes revealed a hint of struggle.

She had been away from her homeland for so long that she had almost forgotten what it looked like, only remembering the terror and disarray of her escape.

That was a terrible nightmare that she would probably never forget for the rest of her long life.

"Of course we have to go back!"

A resolute glint flashed in Jin Yu's beautiful eyes, a determination that moved even Qing Ling. "We're not only going back, we're going to bring back a whole bunch of helpers and go back openly and honorably!"

Jin Yu raised her little fist.

"Only in this way can we avenge our parents and our people!"

"We will overthrow those arrogant fools who despise the rules and treat all living beings as ants and playthings! We will fight until our last drop of divine blood is shed!"

She looked at her younger sister, her eyes sparkling with dazzling golden light:

"Sister, I want you to remember that we are gods. Even if we fall to the mortal realm, the blood flowing in our veins is still the purest divine blood. We may be humble and subservient, we may endure humiliation and hardship, but we must never forget our identity and the mission we bear!"

Qingling was deeply moved by her sister's words. She had been in this mortal world where immortal magic was forbidden for too long, so long that she had almost forgotten that she was a descendant of the ancient gods of the Eternal Heaven.

"Sister, I've got it!" Qingling nodded her little head emphatically.

"Yes, that's right."

Jin Yu smiled with satisfaction:

"There is one more thing you must remember. If it weren't for the merits and virtues that our benefactor bestowed upon us, protecting us and helping us sisters through that most difficult period of chaos, even though we have the ancient divine blood of the Eternal Heaven flowing in our veins, we would have eventually been destroyed by this world."

"Therefore, you and I, sisters, must always remember this immense kindness."

"Young Master is a descendant of our benefactor, and he carries the noble bloodline of the ancient divine clan Xuanyuan. There is no difference in status or rank between him and us."

"We can tease him when he's young and naive, using it to toughen him up and help him grow up quickly, but we must never do anything to hurt him, understand?"

"Sister, I don't have any..."

At this point, Qingling suddenly blushed slightly and lowered her head, "I just... I just..."

"You just like him, right?"

Jin Yu smiled, then sighed.

"Although intermarriage is permitted among the various divine races of the Eternal Heaven, and there are precedents for it, but..."

"You must know that our Azure Phoenix Clan has always followed the monogamous system, and he will certainly not marry only you. Even if he goes to the Eternal Heaven and learns about your identity and origin, he will not be able to abandon the mortal wives and concubines he currently has."

"I understand..." Qingling said dejectedly.

"Alright, let's leave it at that for now."

Jin Yu patted his sister's head and comforted her with a smile:

"Let me tell you, every descendant of the gods, or every powerful being standing at the pinnacle of the mortal realm, must undergo many trials before they can open the Bridge of Immortality, ignite their soul fire, and ascend to the Heaven of Immortality. The road ahead is long."

"Perhaps if you wait and see, you'll outlive all of the young master's wives and concubines. Then it won't be too late for you to confess your feelings to him."

"...No way!" Qingling pouted. What do you mean by outlasting all my rivals and then I'll take their place?

How could I, Qingling, a descendant of an ancient god, possibly... do such a thing?

At worst, I'll just stop liking him!

He's just a callow brat, what's so special about him...

Thinking this, Qingling unconsciously recalled the boy's adorable appearance when he was young, the words he spoke, the stories he told, and the poems he wrote, all vividly remembered.

The Azure Phoenix Clan has a long lifespan. When she escaped from the Eternal Heaven to this mortal realm, she had only recently hatched.

If you think about it, she's probably only in her teens now.

Shaking her head to clear her mind of these far-fetched thoughts, Qingling reverted to her usual mischievous self and asked:

"Sister, if the Jiang family are descendants of the legendary Xuanyuan clan, why have they ended up in such a place?"

Jin Yu shook his head. "Who knows? After all, the Eternal Heaven was already in such a state of chaos before we escaped."

"Whether it was the ancient gods born of nature, or the powerful cultivators who rose to power from various mortal realms, they all turned the pure land of Changsheng Heaven upside down in their struggle for fortune and resources. Many ancient traditions were destroyed in the great war."

"Perhaps the Xuanyuan clan, who lived in Zhongtian, were also among the victims affected by the war."

"In order to continue the bloodline and preserve the flame, those young clansmen who could not bear it were deliberately sent to the mortal realm in some way."

"In short, these are not issues we should be thinking about right now; they are too far in the future."

Jin Yu rubbed his temples. "However, since someone has successfully traversed the path of physical immortality, then Young Master will surely be able to do the same to reach the Eternal Heaven. We can simply follow him then."