"Do you think Her Holiness the Holy Spirit knows it was Xia Yi who saved us?" Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan were fairly certain that when the Spirit Fox Douluo saved them, Xia Yi must have had something to do with it.
They just didn't know whether Yali knew or not.
"With Her Holiness's shrewdness, she must have suspected it long ago. I just don't know whether she ever confirmed it with Xia Yi." Ye Xinglan shook her head. If even they could guess the Spirit Fox Douluo's rescue had something to do with Xia Yi, Yali probably had a good sense of it too.
She had likely suspected it as soon as they returned to the Douluo Continent.
"Well, we'll just ask her tomorrow and find out." Yuanen Yehui smiled.
"True." Ye Xinglan smiled as well. Her gaze shifted back to Yuanen Yehui, and she asked tentatively, "Yehui-jie, back when so many people at Shrek Academy were at odds with Xia Yi, you got really close to him. Are you…?"
"Shut up!" Yuanen Yehui glared at her and explained, "I only asked him to forge battle armor for me. I admit Xia Yi is very talented, and any girl might be moved by that. But first, I know my own place. Second, before I resolve things with the Titan Family, I'm not putting my mind on relationships."
At the mention of the Titan Family, Yuanen Yehui's expression dimmed.
"Yehui-jie, what exactly is the conflict between you and your family? Every time you see someone from the Titan Family, you avoid them like the plague." Seeing her like this, Ye Xinglan couldn't help but ask.
"That's my personal business." Yuanen Yehui shook her head, turned to look at Ye Xinglan with a half-smile and said, "I've got some old scores with the Titan Family, that much is obvious. So it's perfectly normal for me to stay in Shrek City. But what about you? You're the heir to your family—why haven't you gone back to take over? Instead, you're hanging around Shrek all day. Tell me, what's your real goal?"
Yuanen Yehui knew a little about Ye Xinglan's family. Ever since Ye Xinglan awakened the Star God Sword martial soul, as long as she didn't die prematurely, she was 100% guaranteed to inherit the family head position.
"Even if I do inherit it, I still need to break through to Title Douluo first. Without that, how could I possibly control the clan? It's not that easy." Ye Xinglan shrugged and said lightly, "Even though our family isn't as strong as the Titan Family, we still have two Title Douluo elders. Although our family law states that once the Star God Sword appears, all clansmen must obey it unconditionally, the fact remains—I'm a woman. Without the strength of a Title Douluo, it's unrealistic to expect total obedience."
"Which is exactly why you should go back early and show them your potential," Yuanen Yehui said.
"If only it were that simple." Ye Xinglan gave a bitter smile. "Yes, if I go back and demonstrate my talent, I could win over a lot of people. But like I said, I'm a woman. There are plenty of ambitious people in the clan who want to use me to control the family."
She shook her head helplessly. Though the Sun Moon Federation no longer discriminated against women, it was still much harder for a woman to gain power than a man.
Ye Xinglan was sure that if she returned now, a stream of suitors would be lining up at her door.
She was the wielder of the Star God Sword, after all.
Anyone who married her would be half a clan leader already.
And if they could control her well enough to have her hand over full authority, it wasn't impossible.
Most importantly, Ye Xinglan's elders would likely support such a marriage.
After all, she was a woman, destined to inherit the clan.
Imagine if they didn't arrange her marriage before she inherited the leadership, and she fell in love with an outsider later—what if she made decisions that harmed the family?
Just thinking about returning to the clan and being bombarded with suitors, while her parents and elders pressured her to marry, gave Ye Xinglan a headache.
This was why she wanted to wait until she became a Title Douluo before going back.
Only with that level of strength could she resist the pressure from the clan's Title Douluo elders.
"Your situation is definitely complicated. Even if you become a Title Douluo, there will still be pressure. The only difference is that the elders won't be able to force you anymore," Yuanen Yehui said, curious. "In that case, have you ever considered giving up the position of clan head? With your personality, I can't imagine you being interested in managing a family."
"Some things aren't about interest." Ye Xinglan rolled her eyes. "Your situation is different. If your family had raised you as the next leader and given you all the best resources, could you really just walk away from it all for personal preference?"
"Fine, let me put it this way: if your parents gave you all their love and raised you carefully, would you break ties with them just because they want you to do something you don't like?" Ye Xinglan looked at her helplessly and continued, "Besides, the people in the clan aren't wrong—they're just thinking from the perspective of what's best for the clan."
"In that case, even if you become a Title Douluo, what can you change?" Yuanen Yehui said, thoughtful. "As long as you inherit the clan, even as a Title Douluo, if you want to marry an outsider, the elders will still oppose it—unless he agrees to marry into your family? But that won't be easy."
Marry in?
What a joke.
Any man worthy of Ye Xinglan would be a once-in-a-generation genius. How could someone like that agree to marry into her family?
"It's not as hopeless as you think. As long as the man doesn't have much background, even if I favor him, he won't be able to take any of the clan's interests, so I can suppress the elders' objections." Ye Xinglan shrugged. "Of course, there's another possibility—if the man's background is massive and our clan is insignificant in comparison, then those same elders will be thrilled that I brought in a powerful ally."
"Massive background? You mean someone like Xia Yi," Yuanen Yehui said with a soft laugh, covering her mouth.
"Someone like Xia Yi? On today's Douluo Continent, who has a bigger background than Xia Yi?" Ye Xinglan rolled her eyes. "Our family barely qualifies as influential. To someone like him, we're nothing—admiring him from afar isn't even an exaggeration."
"In that case, as future clan head, shouldn't you be making a move on Xia Yi to secure your family a powerful ally?" Yuanen Yehui teased.
"Get lost!" Ye Xinglan glared at her, then said slowly, "You think even if we threw ourselves at him, he'd be interested?"
"You're not wrong." Yuanen Yehui nodded, then sighed. She patted Ye Xinglan on the shoulder and said gently, "Over the years, plenty of young elites have fallen for you, but I've never seen you take any of them seriously. Xinglan, listen to me—every woman ends up marrying eventually. If you really like Xia Yi, go for it. If you don't, then stop comparing every guy who comes after to him."
"Forget it." Ye Xinglan shrugged. "You have self-awareness—don't you think I do too? As for everything else, I'll leave it to fate. And who said women have to marry?"
"Fine then. Grow old alone." Yuanen Yehui clapped her hands and turned to leave.
"Yehui-jie, wait for me!" Ye Xinglan chased after her. "Don't go—I haven't asked you something important yet!"
"What is it?" Yuanen Yehui asked coolly.
"At Xia Yi's wedding today, I saw a Titan Giant Ape among the soul beasts. Is it related to your family?" Ye Xinglan asked nosily.
"What could it have to do with us?" Yuanen Yehui looked at her like she was an idiot. "There are tons of beast martial souls among human soul masters—do they all have ties to soul beasts?"
"But I saw your family's Titan Douluo chatting with that Titan Giant Ape. They talked for a long time. I think I even heard them mention a 'Fallen Angel.' That should be about you, right?" Ye Xinglan said.
"There was something like that?" Yuanen Yehui stopped in her tracks.
"Yeah, it happened during the wedding. Lots of people saw it. You were avoiding Titan Douluo so you missed it. That's actually why I came to find you—got so caught up chatting that I almost forgot." Ye Xinglan explained.
"Where are they now?" All the laughter vanished from Yuanen Yehui's face, replaced by a serious expression.
"When I came to get you, they were still in the wedding hall. Not sure if they're still there now." Ye Xinglan said.
"Let's go check." Yuanen Yehui turned sharply and started walking quickly toward the hall.
"Hey! Aren't you supposed to be avoiding Titan Douluo?" Ye Xinglan called out while chasing after her.
Yuanen Yehui didn't respond. The garden they were in was still some distance from the hall. Once they exited the garden, she suddenly accelerated, leapt up onto a building, and raced forward across the rooftops.
Ye Xinglan followed behind her. One ahead, one behind, they sped toward the direction of Mingdu.
Soon, they returned to the wedding hall. Though the ceremony was long over, many guests still hadn't left. The hall was still packed with people.
Sure enough, as soon as Yuanen Yehui arrived, she spotted Titan Douluo Yuanen Zhentian chatting happily with the Titan Giant Ape in the crowd.
"Yuanen Yehui, you came after all." Ultimate Douluo's senses were terrifyingly sharp. Even without releasing his spiritual power, the moment Yuanen Yehui's hostile gaze landed on him, he noticed.
The people standing beside Yuanen Zhentian all turned to look at Yuanen Yehui as well, their expressions unfriendly.
(End of chapter)