What does my ancestor's pregnancy have to do with me, a mere servant?

Li Lan screamed. Her voice was so sharp it cracked, echoing back and forth within the courtyard wall like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

Her body involuntarily took half a step back.

months ago.

Li Yang was still stuck in the early stage of the Golden Core realm. Her meridian injuries had flared up, making it difficult for her to circulate her magical power. She even had to rely on pills to barely maintain her daily cultivation. It was precisely because the Elders Council determined that she had no hope of breaking through in this lifetime that they did not hesitate to sell her off as a bargaining chip for a marriage alliance.

In less than half a year.

Leaping across two minor realms in one go?

How can one leap directly from the early stage of the Golden Core realm to the late stage?

How is that possible!

Li Lan's mind raced. She desperately tried to recall all the advancement records of genius cultivators she knew; very few could achieve such a leap in such a short time. Unless blessed by some extraordinary stroke of luck, it was simply inexplicable.

What terrified Li Lan even more was Li Yang's affinity for spiritual energy.

Ordinary cultivators, even those with exceptional talent, need to actively draw in spiritual energy through their cultivation techniques. The spiritual energy is "pulled" in by the cultivator, and each strand requires mental effort to control.

But Li Yang just sat there.

Breathe.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth rushed into her pores.

The spiritual energy seemed to come alive, automatically seeking out every entrance on her body and surging in, without needing any cultivation techniques or deliberate breathing exercises.

Li Lan had only ever seen descriptions of this strange phenomenon in the family's records.

She tried hard to recall, but fear and shock threw her thoughts into disarray, and she couldn't remember the specific details of that record for a moment.

Li Yang picked up the celadon teacup on the table, her slender fingers pinching the rim, slowly skimming off the tender leaves floating on the surface of the tea, and then brought it to her lips to take a sip.

"What? Is your sister disappointed to see me break through?"

Li Yang's gaze passed over the rim of the teacup and landed on Li Lan. Her eyes were calm without a ripple, but that calmness itself was a form of overwhelming power.

"So what if you...so what if you've broken through!"

Her voice was eight octaves higher than before, sharp and panicked, completely lacking the composure and arrogance she had displayed when she entered.

"The Elder Council has made its decision! Patriarch Sima is a Nascent Soul cultivator; the Li family cannot afford to offend him! The marriage contract has been signed! You must marry him!"

Li Yang put down her teacup.

The porcelain piece struck the stone table with a crisp sound.

"The Sima family's patriarch is nearing the end of his life. He wants me to marry into the family so that he can use the art of 'replenishing essence' to help Sima Duan, a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, advance to the Nascent Soul stage!"

"And... the benefit the Li family gained was the Taixu Secret Realm quota held by the Sima family?"

Li Lan's expression changed drastically.

The Secret Realm of the Great Void.

The largest ancient secret realm in the cultivation world of Chu Kingdom is jointly controlled by five top forces and opens once every hundred years.

Deep within the secret realm lies a great opportunity that can help people break through the bottleneck of the Nascent Soul stage, a ladder to heaven that countless late-stage Golden Core cultivators dream of.

The number of slots allocated within the Xuan Yin Sect was extremely limited, and those slots were almost entirely controlled by families with Nascent Soul Ancestors in charge.

The Li family.

It once had its glory days.

However, the ancestor of the Li family has been at the late stage of the Golden Core realm for over four hundred years.

His lifespan was nearing its end, his foundation in Dao was weakening, and he was unable to condense his nascent soul for a long time.

The only hope for breaking this deadlock lies in the Taixu Secret Realm.

The Li family wants a spot.

The bargaining chip offered by the Sima family was Li Yang.

A body of pure Yin. A supreme cauldron.

Trading a "crippled" eldest daughter of the family for the patriarch's hope of breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage—this deal was far too good to pass up to the elders' expectations.

"You know that much!" Li Lan gritted her teeth, trying to use anger to mask the growing fear deep within her heart. "If the Ancestor cannot break through to the Nascent Soul stage, the Li family is finished! Sacrificing you to save the entire family is your duty, your destiny!"

Her voice trembled slightly as she said the last two words, but she no longer cared about hiding it.

Li Yang smiled.

First, a slight upturn of the corners of her mouth.

Then the laughter grew louder and more unrestrained, as if they had heard the funniest joke of the year.

"Destiny?"

Li Yang slowly stopped smiling.

"That was before."

She slowly stood up.

Her movements were slow, even languid. But the instant she stood up—

A surge of immense, almost suffocating magical power erupted from her body.

The late-stage Golden Core cultivator's magical power surged forth like a tangible torrent, crushing in all directions. The entire array in the backyard shook violently, the spiritual light on the surface of the array patterns flickering.

Li Lan's legs went weak, and she almost knelt on the ground. She bit her lower lip tightly and used all her strength to barely steady herself.

"In the past, I was stuck at the early stage of the Golden Core realm, and my hidden injuries were difficult to heal. In the eyes of the elders, I was a commodity, so they sold me."

"But now, I'm in the late stage of the Golden Core realm."

Li Yang walked up to Li Lan and stopped.

She was half a head taller than Li Lan. She looked down at her twin sister, who had the same face as her.

In those full, bright eyes, there was no hatred, no resentment, only a cold indifference that seemed to have seen through everything.

"At my current cultivation speed, as long as I have enough resources, I am destined to reach the Nascent Soul stage."

She paused for a moment.

"Even go further."

Li Yang bent down slightly, stretched out her right hand, and pinched Li Lan's chin with her slender fingers. The pressure was neither too light nor too heavy, but it carried an irresistible force, forcing her to tilt her head back.

Eyes facing each other.

The same eyebrows and eyes, the same features, but at this moment one is the hunter and the other is the prey.

"Do you think a family would be willing to let someone with such qualities marry out?"

Li Yang's voice was light and airy, as if she were asking a question that didn't need an answer.

Li Lan's pupils contracted sharply.

fear.

It wasn't fear of Li Yang's overwhelming cultivation level.

Rather, it is a deeper fear concerning one's own destiny.

She's not stupid. Having navigated the treacherous waters of family power struggles for so many years, she knows all too well the true colors of those elders.

The essence of a family is the exchange of interests.

Li Yang used to be a useless player, so he was sold.

But now that Li Yang has demonstrated such incredible speed and talent in her breakthroughs, her family will definitely reassess her value.

How could a genius eldest daughter who was expected to enter the Nascent Soul stage be sent to Sima Duan as a furnace?

That's not a marriage alliance, that's self-destruction!

but……

The Sima family has already agreed.

Li Lan's face instantly drained of all color. It turned deathly pale.

"What Sima Duan wants is a top-grade cauldron."

Li Yang released his grip, his fingers slowly sliding down Li Lan's chin.

"We are twins. Your figure and appearance are exactly the same as mine. That old bastard Sima Duan is far away in the Sima family's ancestral land. How many times has he seen me? Can he even tell us sisters apart?"

Li Lan's lips trembled violently. She wanted to speak, but it was as if an invisible hand was gripping her throat, and she couldn't squeeze out a single word.

"Since the family needs a stepping stone, and since you, my sister, are so understanding and willing to sacrifice everything for the family."

Li Yang tilted her head, a half-smile playing on her lips.

That expression was exactly the same as the arrogance Li Lan had shown when she stood outside the courtyard gate.

But the irony was ten times stronger.

"So, on the third day of next month, the person getting into the bridal sedan chair—"

"It can only be you, sister."

"No!! I don't want to!!"

Li Lan completely broke down.

She screamed and tried to stand up, trying to escape the courtyard.

Li Yang looked down at her appearance.

There was no pity. There was no mercy.

Six months ago, when her hidden injury flared up and she was in unbearable pain, Li Lan was the first to raise his hand at the elders' meeting to support sending her to a marriage alliance.

The reason given was quite high-sounding: for the sake of the family, the elder sister should prioritize the overall situation.

Now the tables have turned.

It's her turn to experience this.

"Alright, I've finished speaking."

Li Yang withdrew her gaze, her tone returning to its previous languid and indifferent tone, as if everything that had just happened was merely a trivial interlude.

"Little sister, you can get out of here now."

Li Yang's eyes sharpened.

With a wave of his sleeve.

The powerful magic of the late-stage Golden Core cultivator condensed into a visible wave of energy, carrying a sharp gust of wind, and directly struck Li Lan's chest.

"puff--!"

Li Lan spat out a mouthful of blood. The blood droplets were scattered by the shockwave in mid-air, splashing into fine red mist. She flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily onto the bluestone slab outside the courtyard gate.

"Go back and tell the council of elders."

"I, Li Yang, will go to the Taixu Secret Realm myself."

"And I'll take it myself."

"There's no need to grovel and beg that old dog from the Sima family."

"Bang!"

The courtyard gate slammed shut.

The array patterns lit up again, their spiritual light flowing, sealing off the entire backyard once more completely.

The courtyard returned to its previous tranquility.