A warm, wet liquid stained her face. Ye Xiangli’s eyelashes fluttered slightly as she slowly opened her eyes.
The moment her vision cleared, she saw Ye Fengxu collapsing to the ground, coughing up a mouthful of blood, completely unable to get back up.
Not far away, two old men were walking over. Their very first impression was one of wretchedness—ugly in appearance, with facial features that seemed entirely uncoordinated and each going its own way.
Cultivators rarely looked this hideously ugly. In the world of immortal cultivation, they were practically a rare species, a true aberration.
"Hehe, kid, who gave you the nerve to lay a hand on our page boy? You look delicate enough, but this old man here has no taste for lads."
One of the old men walked up with a leering chuckle, slammed his foot down onto Ye Fengxu’s chest, and ground it in repeatedly. The heavy force caused Ye Fengxu to cough up another mouthful of blood.
Seeing this, the other two members of the Ye Family took a step back, minimizing their presence as much as possible. Even the head of the family treated these two with the utmost reverence, terrified of inadvertently provoking them.
The arrival of the two elders sent a wave of shock through the onlookers. Just by looking at their appearances, their identities were unmistakable, so distinct were their features.
The Elders of Qianshan, practitioners of the Dao of Dual Cultivation, known respectively as Qianjing and Qiandan.
Never did they expect that the person the Ye Family was trying to suck up to would turn out to be these two. Who in the Yanxu Kingdom didn't know that these two loved women above all else? It was simply a pity for Ye Xiangli.
Watching Ye Xiangli tremble all over at the appearance of the two elders, there were inevitably a few hot-blooded youths among the onlookers who longed to step forward, champion the beauty's cause, and rescue her.
Yet, considering their own strength, they could only clench their fists in bitter impotence, not daring to take a single step forward.
"The people of the Ye Family didn't lie after all. She truly is a beauty—far better-looking than any we've played with before. Hehehe, I can't wait anymore."
Qianjing's gaze was lecherous, the lust in his eyes as vast as the sea. A mere glance into them was enough to startle anyone with the sheer intensity of his desire.
Qiandan removed his foot from Ye Fengxu's chest and shifted his gaze to Ye Xiangli as well. He was thoroughly satisfied with what he saw.
At this, Ye Xiangli's face turned ashen. She knew that once she fell into the hands of these two, endless torment awaited her, and despair gradually swallowed her heart whole.
She understood that no one would come to save her. She was someone who had been abandoned.
Rather than suffer that fate, she might as well just end her own life right here...
Yet the probability of taking one's own life in front of two Foundation Establishment cultivators was practically zero. Even so, she had to try.
A dagger appeared in her hand, but before she could drive it into her own throat, her wrist was struck by a surge of spiritual energy.
The next second, Ye Xiangli felt her body slip entirely out of her control, and despair flooded her heart.
"Hehe, looking so soft and frail, yet you have such a fierce backbone—actually thinking of killing yourself. Wouldn't it be better to walk the great path of immortal cultivation together with us?"
Qianjing let out a lewd chuckle, eyeing Ye Xiangli's youthful face as a wave of heat surged in his chest. With that, he reached out to grope Ye Xiangli's body.
Powerless even to control her own limbs, Ye Xiangli squeezed her eyes shut, gritting her teeth as her body trembled uncontrollably.
And watching Ye Xiangli display such a posture only drove the Elders of Qianshan into an even greater frenzy.
Just as Ye Xiangli sank into utter despair, her mind even beginning to conjure hopeless fantasies, Shui Lianyue, watching from among the onlookers, decided the time was right.
And so... the pressure of the Golden Core stage descended upon the Elders of Qianshan like a massive mountain.
The so-called Elders of Qianshan couldn't muster even a shred of resistance. They crashed heavily onto their knees, causing the very ground beneath them to crack and splinter.
Indeed, Shui Lianyue had been observing from the sidelines all along. The progression of the plot was turning out to be identical to the original text, and the female protagonist had not displayed any anomalies.
It seemed her transmigration into the book had not caused any deviation in the plot's trajectory.
The sudden turn of events shocked everyone present, filling them with both inward terror and profound confusion.
One had to remember that the Elders of Qianshan were Foundation Establishment cultivators. To force Foundation Establishment cultivators to their knees without the slightest ability to resist—
That could only be the work of a Golden Core cultivator. In a nation where even Foundation Establishment cultivators were considered the pinnacle, Golden Core cultivators were practically figures of legend.
For a moment, the surroundings fell terrifyingly silent. Ye Xiangli slowly opened her eyes to see the Elders of Qianshan, who had just moments ago worn lecherous grins, now kneeling before her in sheer terror.
This caused Ye Xiangli's mind to momentarily stall. What on earth had happened...?
How was it that she had just blinked her eyes shut and then opened them again, yet the entire situation had completely flipped?
"Ye Xiangli... right?"
Clear and bright like jade, her voice sounded like frost. It was the most beautiful voice Ye Xiangli had ever heard.
Hearing the call, she looked over to see a woman stepping out from the crowd. Though standing amidst a sea of people, she drew every single shred of attention to herself.
Like a bright moon hanging high in the midheaven sky, elegant and serene, dressed in a simple plain skirt, yet breathtakingly beautiful, like a goddess descending upon the mortal world.
Before Ye Xiangli could recover from her brief trance, Shui Lianyue had already arrived by her side. A faint, ethereal fragrance drifted with the movement of her plain skirt and hair, pure as a snow lotus, carrying an aloof, unapproachable chill.
At such close range, Ye Xiangli uncontrollably cast her gaze toward Shui Lianyue—with brows like distant spring hills, eyes bright and clear like autumn pools, a single turn of her gaze was enough to capture one's soul.
Locking eyes with Shui Lianyue, Ye Xiangli finally snapped out of it enough to answer the question she had been asked just moments before.
"Yes... I am Ye Xiangli. Might I ask who you are...?"
A woman of this caliber was undoubtedly extraordinary. Unless something went completely wrong, the Elders of Qianshan must have been suppressed by her.
The appearance of Shui Lianyue acted like the warmest ray of light, piercing through and scattering the despair within her heart, even though Shui Lianyue looked as cold and detached as the bright moon.
Meanwhile, Shui Lianyue was desperately fighting to suppress the turbulent stirring within her own heart. This strange reaction had first struck her the very moment she laid eyes on Ye Xiangli.
Like morning dew, tender as water, shy and delicate, paired with a youthful and exquisite visage, it had caused her heart, which had always been as tranquil as water, to stir inexplicably.
Especially upon hearing Ye Xiangli's soft, gentle voice, which felt as though a feather were teasing her very heartstrings, making her heart itch with curiosity. What would it feel like if she were to cry...
Shui Lianyue recalled her earlier thought that the girl surely wouldn't resemble the original protagonist, and now she felt as though she had just slapped herself across the face.
Fortunately, it was not beyond her control.
"My name is Shui Lianyue. I am taking you back to Yinxian Gate."
Brief and to the point, yet it sent a violent tremor through the minds of everyone around them, filling their eyes with sheer disbelief. And upon hearing the words "Yinxian Gate," the hearts of the Elders of Qianshan, still kneeling before them, finally died completely.
Yinxian Gate—a sect known to nearly all mortals and cultivators across the Divine Continent of Dongshu. It was the supreme sect of Dongshu, home to the Innately Sacred Being Shui Lianyue. Its renown extended not only throughout the Divine Continent of Dongshu, but across all four continents.
What shocked the crowd even more was that the woman before them had claimed to be Shui Lianyue herself—the Innately Sacred Being whose name shook the four continents, the leading figure of the younger generation at Yinxian Gate.
Yet, upon taking in Shui Lianyue's appearance and ethereal demeanor, they felt that Shui Lianyue ought to possess precisely this kind of transcendent bearing.
"Yinxian Gate...?"
Ye Xiangli found it impossible to believe. She was born with a crippled physique; how could Yinxian Gate possibly accept her as a disciple? If they had ulterior motives, what could she possibly offer...?
The only thing she had... was probably just her own body, wasn't it?
Ye Xiangli covertly glanced at Shui Lianyue. If it were someone like her, perhaps even that wouldn't be entirely unacceptable.
The next second, Ye Xiangli mentally spat at herself. Someone had come to save her, and yet here she was harboring such wicked thoughts in her mind—she really was utterly disgraceful.
Ye Xiangli knew very well that such a thing was impossible.
Besides, Shui Lianyue was far better-looking than she was.
"Yes. From this day forward, you are my junior sister. No one will ever dare to bully you at will again."
Of course, aside from herself.