After leaving Huo Yuhao's office, the smile that had consistently hung on the corners of Wang Donger's lips slowly faded away.
She stood at the doorway and paused for a moment, her gaze falling on the bright window at the end of the corridor, not knowing what she was thinking about.
A moment later, she took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, as if suppressing some kind of hesitation from her chest, before stepping forward and walking in the direction of the elevator.
She went to the seventh floor, her shoes making a slight sound as they stepped on the carpet of the corridor, and she stopped in front of a certain door.
She did not knock, nor did she leave, just standing quietly at the doorway with her gaze lowered, as if repeatedly weighing a thought that had not yet been decided.
Just as she finished standing still, the door in front of her suddenly opened on its own.
A tall figure was revealed behind the door, her golden-red long hair shimmering with a soft golden luster in the afternoon sunlight streaming in from outside the window; it was precisely Jin Li.
Her pair of golden pupils shifted slightly, falling upon Wang Donger.
The two looked at each other for a moment before Jin Li sidestepped and said, "If there's something the matter, come in and talk."
Wang Donger pursed her lips and stepped inside.
The two sat diagonally opposite each other on the sofa with a small tea table between them, and the sunlight from outside the window spilled in through the side glass, spreading a long patch of light across the wooden floor.
The room was extremely quiet, and neither of them spoke first, the atmosphere carrying an indescribable subtlety.
In the end, Jin Li broke the silence first.
Leaning against the back of the sofa with her hands crossed on her knees, she let her calm gaze fall on Wang Donger's face and asked, "You came to find me because of Huo Yuhao's matter?"
Hearing this, Wang Donger raised her head with a hint of surprise in her eyes, not expecting the other party to be so direct without even a word of prelude, laying out the purpose of her trip right away.
Wang Donger no longer hesitated thereafter; since Jin Li had already guessed it, there was no need to beat around the bush anymore.
She raised her gaze, directly meeting Jin Li's pair of golden pupils: "That's right, I came for Yuhao."
Jin Li's heroic, sword-like eyebrows frowned slightly, as if she had long anticipated that Wang Donger would bring up this topic.
She fell silent for an instant, then responded in a calm tone: "Rest assured, although I like Yuhao, I will not proactively insert myself between you two, nor will I cause any impact on your relationship."
According to Jin Li's understanding of human emotions, the rules within were extremely complex.
Polygamy was the norm among those nobles, but for many Spirit Masters, monogamy seemed to be the normal relational model.
Huo Yuhao and Wang Donger had clearly established their relationship first; if she proactively approached him at this moment, she could only be considered a third party.
Therefore, when facing Wang Donger, although she appeared calm and composed on the surface, deep down she always lacked confidence, constantly feeling that her sentiment was an unprescribed greed.
However, hearing this, Wang Donger slowly shook her head: "You misunderstood my meaning; I didn't come to make a show of force, nor did I come to display any ownership."
She paused here for a moment, as if organizing her language.
Then she slightly clenched her fists, as if gathering her final courage, and finally spoke those words: "I don't mind you being together with Yuhao."
"Ah?!"
Hearing this, Jin Li opened her mouth slightly in a daze as she looked at Wang Donger, her pair of golden pupils flashing with an incredulous radiance.
Weren't humans selfish when it came to affection?
The rules she had learned in human society over the years clearly told her that this kind of affection was exclusive, exclusionary, and could not tolerate the presence of a third person.
Yet at this moment, Wang Donger was sitting right in front of her, speaking words that completely subverted her cognition.
For a moment, Jin Li didn't know how to respond, only blankly looking at her and failing to snap out of it for a long time.
Perceiving the astonishment and shock in Jin Li's eyes, Wang Donger slightly pursed her lips and continued in a calm tone: "Previously at Qiankun Asking Love Valley, the fact that you could make a sacrifice for Yuhao shows that your love for him is not even a bit less than mine."
"Love is selfish, but it is also selfless. Others won't do, but you... I acknowledge you."
Regarding Jin Li, who was able to give her life for Huo Yuhao, Wang Donger felt she had no absolute reason to make her leave.
And if she were to make a huge fuss over this matter and force Huo Yuhao to make a choice between the two of them, she would feel that she was failing Huo Yuhao.
Therefore, she ultimately chose to compromise and accepted Jin Li's existence.
And at this moment, when she truly spoke these words aloud, she found that this outcome did not seem as difficult to accept as she had anticipated.
Even ever since returning from Qiankun Asking Love Valley, she would occasionally feel that an indescribable sense of intimacy had grown between herself and Jin Li.
It was as if something was quietly connecting them, though she herself couldn't explain what it actually was.
This time, it was Jin Li's turn to be somewhat uneasy; she clearly had not expected such an outcome at all, and complex emotions surged within her golden pupils as she spoke with unprecedented stumbling: "Then I... You..."
After thinking for a long time, she still couldn't piece together a complete sentence.
Seeing this rare, flustered appearance of hers, Wang Donger couldn't even help but laugh out loud.
She suddenly felt that Jin Li looked rather cute like this; her usual flamboyant and radiant demeanor was now replaced by a clumsy cluelessness, which instead made it impossible to harbor any hostility toward her.
She then stood up, looked down at Jin Li from above, and said, "I've said all I wanted to say; as for what to do next, it's up to you yourself, Little Sister Jin Li."
On those last four words, Wang Donger noticeably increased her tone's weight.
Even if Jin Li was a transformed Spirit Beast whose age was unknown how much greater than hers, in this relationship, even if she accepted Jin Li, the other party could only be a younger sister—she, Wang Donger, was going to be the primary wife!
Sitting on the sofa, Jin Li looked at Wang Donger's retreating back as she turned and left, her mind still spinning.
She suddenly felt a bit homesick and wanted to go back to the Star Dou Great Forest to take a look.
She felt that the problem she was facing right now was far too complicated; those Vicious Beast elders who had lived for hundreds of thousands of years might be able to provide her with some useful advice.
...
Early the next morning, Huo Yuhao took Wang Donger and set off.
The two flew all the way, entering the territory of the Heavenly Soul Empire in less than a day.
The wind in the high altitude whistled past their ears, and the mountains and rivers beneath their feet unfolded and stretched out like a scroll.
Huo Yuhao couldn't help feeling a bit regretful in his heart; knowing earlier, he should have gotten a mecha in this era Ten Thousand Years later—the experience of flying and traveling while piloting a mecha would undoubtedly be much more comfortable.
About three hundred miles east of Heaven Dou City, a towering high mountain rose abruptly from the ground, standing among the rolling mountains like a silent giant.
Huo Yuhao and Wang Donger stopped right here, hovering in mid-air and looking down.
White mist shrouded the entire mountain range like a thick quilt, with only the sharp peaks of a few highest mountains poking out from the sea of clouds like isolated islands.
Huo Yuhao's mental force probed downward like invisible tentacles, and he immediately discovered that beneath that seemingly natural layer of cloud and mist, an extremely massive Formation was distinctly enshrouded.
He couldn't help murmuring inwardly, as expected of the number one Sect from Ten Thousand Years ago; its foundation was indeed profound.
He turned his head to glance at Wang Donger beside him and said, "Let's go down."
Although this trip of his was with "ill intentions," on the surface he was, after all, a son-in-law visiting, so the proper etiquette still had to be observed.
Therefore, he didn't land directly in the area of their Sect; after all, doing so would be altogether too discourteous.
The two passed through layers of clouds and mist, landing in front of a stone step halfway up the mountain, before walking upwards along the bluestone steps on foot.
Not long after, a dozen figures emerged from the white mist ahead.
Those people looked to be around twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with upright postures and steady strides, obviously all young Disciples of the Clear Sky Sect.
Huo Yuhao roughly sensed their Spirit Power fluctuations; they were either at the Spirit King or Spirit Emperor level.
When they saw Wang Donger, their steps paused slightly, and then they uniformly bowed in salute and shouted: "Young Sect Master!"
Initially, toward this external-surname Young Sect Master, these Disciples of the Clear Sky Sect harbored much dissatisfaction in their hearts.
A female surnamed Wang—by what right could she style herself as the Young Sect Master of the Clear Sky Sect?
But later on, the talent Wang Donger displayed during cultivation refreshed their cognition time and time again, and that dissatisfaction gradually faded away, having now transformed into a certain degree of recognition.
Wang Donger nodded to everyone and asked in her usual tone: "Are Big Dad and Second Dad in the Sect?"
Among the dozen or so people, the leading Disciple respectfully replied: "Both Sect Masters are in."
Wang Donger acknowledged and then said, "You guys continue patrolling."
Hearing this, the crowd did not stay any longer, dispersing respectively, and their figures quickly vanished into the white mist.
The further up they went, the denser the white mist became, almost reaching the point where one could not see one's hand before one's face.
Wang Donger naturally reached out to grab Huo Yuhao's wrist and said, "Follow me; although your mental force is strong, it's of no use here."
Sure enough, as the two continuously climbed upwards, Huo Yuhao clearly felt that his Spirit Domain Realm mental force was actually subjected to some kind of invisible suppression, compressing his perception range down to an extremely small radius.
He guessed in his heart that this was probably another means set up by Tang San.
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A/N:
I hope all of you are enjoying this story so far. I would appreciate some Power Stones if you can spare any. Leave a review if you like the story. Thank you.