As soon as the sun rose, mount Skyhowl was no longer peaceful.

The grand hall was quiet, the elders seated on both sides while Xiao Pei and Lu Yi stood in the center like criminals awaiting judgment. Next to the two was a little girl, the reason for the abrupt meeting today.

Meanwhile, Lin Zhaoyue sat directly on Fang Yuan’s lap, arms wrapped tightly around his waist with obvious possessiveness.

Her face looked slightly annoyed, chin resting against his shoulder as though daring anyone in the hall to comment on it.

Everyone present hold their breath as they waited for Fang Yuan to commence the meeting.

In the meantime, Fang Yuan was staring at the little kid that had prompted a response from the system.

[ A new variable has occurred. ]

[ Kill and refine the world essense and become a star master. ]

[ Reward: Control over the Tianxun realm ]

Or...

[ Adopt the world essense into the Fang family. ]

[ Reward: partial control over the Tianxun realm ]

Wow, you’re so kind, giving me multiple choice quests now.

Meanwhile, as he tap the second quest, the little girl tilted her head curiously and pointed at Lin Zhaoyue while at the same time looking towards where Xiao Pei and Lu Yi stood.

"Is that the big sister you two were talking about?"

The entire hall froze while several elders sucked in cold breaths.

Xiao Pei’s face instantly turned pale and Lu Yi quietly took half a step backward.

And as for Lin Zhaoyue... She slowly narrowed her eyes to look at the little girl.

Big sister.

The words echoed inside her head without stopping.

These two idiots called Fang Yuan their sword brother. So if they introduced me as "big sister". Then that meant, they didn’t acknowledge me as wife of Fang Yuan.

Not even his lover.

I’m just a... sister.

Lin Zhaoyue’s arms loosened slightly around Fang Yuan.

The movement alone made the atmosphere in the hall tighten.

Then suddenly, she smiled, her signature sweet and gentle smile.

It was beautiful enough to make people lower their guard.

"Oh, sweetheart," she said softly, tilting her head. "That’s such a kind thing to say. Do you think I’m beautiful?"

The little girl nodded eagerly.

"Uh-huh! Really beautiful!" She pointed at Fang Yuan again. "Are you that big brother’s big sister?"

The smile on Lin Zhaoyue’s face remained unchanged.

But several elders suddenly felt a chill crawl up their spines.

Lin Zhaoyue slowly lifted her gaze toward Fang Yuan.

It was a simple glance but Fang Yuan immediately understood what was going through her head, she was irritated, very irritated.

The child had made a mistake calling her his sister.

And in Lin Zhaoyue’s eyes, mistakes needed to be corrected, no matter how small.

"I’m not his sister," she said softly.

Her voice was still warm and sweet, almost affectionate.

She slowly rose from Fang Yuan’s lap and walked toward the little girl.

Every step was graceful and elegant, like a loving older sister approaching a child.

Then she crouched down slightly and gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind the little girl’s ear.

Her fingers were cold.

"I," she whispered with a smile, "am the one who loves him the most in this world."

The hall became deathly silent.

"The one who will stay beside him forever."

Her voice remained tender, soft enough to soothe nightmares yet obsessive enough to create them.

Then she turned her head slightly to the right as her eyes landed directly on Zhu Huan.

And then she with a slow, terrifying smile she began,

"The one and only person who’ll be with him forever."

Zhu Huan’s body instantly stiffened and cold sweat erupted down her back.

For a split second, grievance surged inside her chest.

I saved your life, you ungrateful lunatic!

Oh how bad she wanted to scream at Fang Yuan, but the moment she tried to even look towards where Fang Yuan was seated.

She froze in place as she felt an intense killing intent coming directly from Lin Zhaoyue, she didn’t have an intent to hide it either.

Zhu Huan immediately lowered her head and returned to wiping the tables holding back her tears and complaints.

The terrifying pressure filling the hall vanished the instant Zhu Huan lowered her head.

Lin Zhaoyue’s smile softened once more, as though nothing had happened at all.

Then she turned toward the little girl.

"You’re the world essence, right?"

The child nodded eagerly.

"Yes!" she said excitedly. "For the past hundred years, I’ve been watching all of you! I always wanted to meet everyone!"

Her eyes sparkled with pure innocence, completely unaware of danger.

Lin Zhaoyue’s smile remained gentle yet before Lin Zhaoyue could even speak again.

Space rippled in place and the child vanished.

And just as everyone wondered where she has dissapeared to, she reappeared directly in front of Fang Yuan and threw herself into his arms.

"I always wanted to do this!" she said happily while hugging him tightly. "Big sister always looked so happy whenever you do it! I wanna feel it too!"

In an instant the place that had already been silent suddenly felt even more quieter now.

As if the wind itself refused to blew past the place for the time being.

Crack.

The air in the hall seemed to plummet several degrees.

A suffocating pressure spread silently from Lin Zhaoyue’s figure, swallowing the entire room in an instant.

The elders stiffened where they sat.

Their breathing slowed unconsciously as a chilling sensation crawled up their spines, despite knowing that killing intent was not directed at them.

Even the atmosphere itself felt heavy, as though the hall had suddenly fallen into the depths of winter.

Xiao Pei immediately dragged Lu Yi backward.

"Not good," he whispered in horror.

Lu Yi’s face twitched violently. "That kid is definitely dead."

Lin Zhaoyue stood there motionlessly while still smiling.

But her eyes had gone completely dark.

The little girl also noticed something was wrong and slowly looked back.

"...Big sister?"

Lin Zhaoyue slowly walked forward and she took one step at a time.

"Thats my place," she said softly.

With another step she added, "His arms is only for me."

And then one last step as she stood right in front of Fang Yuan.

"He’s my Fang Yuan."

The hall trembled faintly.

Spiritual qi began distorting around her like a storm on the verge of collapse.