Leng Yulai raised her hands as she spoke, conjuring up a pair of purplish-black swords of light that she slashed directly toward Leng Yaozhu.

Leng Yaozhu's heart was filled with grief and fury as she also conjured up a pair of fiery swords to meet her sister's attack.

In the instant the four swords clashed, tears began to gush out of Leng Yaozhu's eyes, instantly blurring her vision.

Looking at her own sister at such close proximity, her heart was in such agony that she was almost unable to breathe.

Indeed, she had one confessed to Yun Ming.

...... 

"Yun Ming." Leng Yaozhu looked at the man standing before her, and she became a little transfixed.

Ever since the first time she saw him, she was attracted by his indomitable spirit. The Leng Family had always been a major family in the Soul Master world, as well as one of the core families of the Spirit Pagoda.

Leng Yaozhu had always grown up under great care, and even before she turned six years of age, she had already displayed exceptional aptitude. At six years old, she awakened the family's martial soul, the Heavenly Phoenix, and she had innate full soul power, as well as a flame mutation that bestowed upon her extraordinary flame-wielding abilities.

Her cultivation had always been smooth and rapid, and she had always been one of the brightest young talents of her generation.

She had a younger sister by the name of Leng Yulai, and they were the most outstanding pair of their generation in the Leng Family.

Leng Yulai's Heavenly Phoenix martial soul also underwent a mutation in a positive direction during her martial soul awakening, except her mutation was of the darkness element.

The Leng Family didn't really care what element her martial soul turned out to be, and in fact, light, dark, and space were considered to be superior elements to water, fire, earth, and wind.

Furthermore, Leng Yulai's rate of cultivation wasn't inferior to her elder sister's by the slightest, and she was even beginning to close the gap between them, so she had always received special attention from the Leng Family.

According to the rules of the Leng Family, the position of family leader would be passed down to one of the two sisters in the future.

However, as time passed, both Leng Yaozhu and Leng Yulai displayed exceptional aptitude, and Leng Yaozhu was even outdoing her elder sister slightly in certain aspects. However, it soon came to light that Leng Yulai was developing some personality issues due to the darkness element of her martial soul.

To put it simply, Leng Yulai's personality was more extreme, and she was very competitive. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, competitiveness could be a driving factor behind a cultivator's growth. However, for the heir-apparent of a major family, it was not too good to be too extreme and unyielding. 

Thus, after both of them came of age, it was still Leng Yaozhu who was chosen to become heir to the family, and more of the resources were skewed toward her. After that, Leng Yaozhu became the vice-chairman of the Spirit Pagoda with the support of her family.

She and Leng Yulai had fallen in love with Yun Ming at around the same time.

Leng Yaozhu loved Yun Ming for his indomitable spirit and sense of justice, while Leng Yulai loved him for his handsome appearance and unmatched power.

Leng Yulai had always been more direct and immediately began aggressively pursuing Yun Ming, but Yun Ming didn't like that.

Not long after Leng Yulai was rejected, Leng Yaozhu came to see Yun Ming.

"Greetings," Yun Ming said with a polite nod. He had a lot of respect for Leng Yaozhu. They were both among the cream of the crop of the younger generation, and Leng Yaolai was very steadfast and conscientious.

Ever since she became the heir of the Leng Family, the family had been going from strength to strength.

Despite the fact that she was related to Leng Yulai by blood, their personalities were completely different. In contrast with Leng Yulai's invasive personality, Leng Yaozhu was more subdued and introverted.

Yun Ming's cultivation journey was far more extraordinary than theirs, and he was also slightly older than them. He held a lot of respect and perhaps even some fondness for both sisters, but it was still far away from love. Besides, he already had someone else in his heart.

Leng Yaozhu took a few deep breaths to try and steel herself, but she still couldn't bring herself to say what she had come here to say.

"What is it? Do you have something to say to me?" Yun Ming asked with a perplexed expression.

"Do you have any plans recently?" Leng Yaozhu asked.

Yun Ming smiled, "I might go on a long journey for a while. Gaining knowledge through reading is one thing, but experiencing the world is a different thing entirely. I plan to go to the Dou Spirit Continent and Star Luo Continent to see them for myself and to further my training."

Leng Yaozhu's heart jolted slightly upon hearing this. "How long will you be gone for?"

Yun Ming replied, "Who knows? Three years? Maybe five years? In any case, I'll be setting off in a few days."

Leng Yaozhu's breathing became slightly more ragged, and she knew that this was perhaps her last chance to say what she wanted to say.

She did her best to calm herself down, but she was still very hesitant.

"What's going on with you today, Ms. Leng?" Yun Ming asked.

A wry smile appeared on Leng Yaozhu's face. "Call me Yaozhu."

Yun Ming faltered slightly upon hearing this, but didn't say anything in response.

Leng Yaozhu lowered her head, not daring to look into his eyes, and she continued, "I've loved you for quite a few years now. Perhaps we won't have a chance to be together, but I hope to at least be on a first-name basis with you."

A surprised look appeared on Yun Ming's face. In his eyes, Leng Yaozhu had always been so steadfast and professional, yet now, she was looking like a little girl that had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"You..."

 Leng Yaozhu seemed to have finally worked up her courage as she raised her head again to look at Yun Ming. "That's right, I've loved you for a very long time. Yun Ming, I love you. I know I shouldn't have fallen in love with you considering the relationship between our Spirit Pagoda and your Shrek Academy. However, emotions are not so easy to control. I've loved you for many years already, and sometimes, I'm actually very envious of Yulai; at least she's able to express her feelings, but I can't.

"I didn't dare to say anything as I represent not just myself, but my entire family, but if I continued to keep quiet, perhaps I would never get another chance. Yun Ming, I..." 

Tears began to flow down her face as she spoke, and she stepped forward before locking him in a tight embrace, holding on with all her might as if she were afraid of being pushed away.

Yun Ming was completely rooted to the spot. Of course he wanted to push her away, but at this moment, he could sense that Leng Yaolai was trembling uncontrollably.

He couldn't bring himself to accept her feelings, but he didn't want to hurt her, either.

He heaved a faint sigh and gently stroked her long hair in an attempt to soothe her emotions.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, there was currently someone appraising them from afar with a furious gaze.

As she watched Leng Yaozhu throw her arms around Yun Ming, she was clenching her teeth together so hard that they were on the verge of cracking.

All of a sudden, she turned around like a madwoman and ran away toward the darkness...

That year, Leng Yaozhu was 29, while Leng Yulai was 27.

After a long while, Leng Yaozhu finally recomposed herself, but her face was as red as a tomato.

"Thank you for not pushing me away." She lowered her head, and she was blushing all the way down to her neck. However, during the time that she had been in his embrace, she had experienced a sense of warmth and security that she had never felt before. She had already become the supporting pillar of her family, yet just now, she seemed to have found her own supporting pillar.

She felt like all of the years she had spent loving Yun Ming in secret were worth it. She wanted to ask for more, but in the end, her rationality held her back.