1634 Thin Ice

Yi Yun felt a little relieved after hearing Jiang Xiaorou's recount. The grooming of Heaven Fey Ancient Ruins royalty was rather harsh, but Jiang Xiaorou was different. She was the daughter of a Fey Thearch and from the way she described it, the Blood King was not the ordinary Fey Thearch.

It was not easy for Fey with powerful bloodlines to have offspring. The other princes and princesses of the Heaven Fey Ancient Ruins were mostly grandchildren or great grandchildren of Fey Thearchs. As for Jiang Xiaorou, she was the daughter of a Fey Thearch.

That made things different!

Other royal offspring had to vie for resources, but Jiang Xiaorou had the Blood King providing her with whatever she needed. This was also why Jiang Xiaorou was able to vie for the spot of crown designate in a short few centuries.

"Sis Xiaorou, do you really want to win the spot?" asked Yi Yun.

"Yes." Jiang Xiaorou nodded. The martial path meant competition. As he was weak, her father was thrown into a mystic realm battlefield. Her mother failed to protect her in the lower realm, with the Jiang family nearly wiped out by the Shentu family clan, causing her to end up in the Cloud Wilderness. There, she and Yi Yun depended on each other and nearly starved to death.

It was because she was weak that she was implanted with a spiritual mark in the Tian Yuan world by the Black-armored Demon God. He wanted to possess her body, causing Yi Yun and the Desolate race to bring the fight to him in a life-and-death battle! Even though the Black-armored Demon God was later slain by Yi Yun, Jiang Xiaorou was unable to follow Yi Yun to the 12 Empyrean Heavens because of a lack of strength. It forced their separation.

"All these years, I have been cultivating arduously. I want to vie for it! Only with strength can one control one's fate. I wanted to seek you out, Yun'er, but in this vast sea of stars, I won't be able to leave the Chaos Heavens if I lack the strength!

"Besides, Father spent numerous resources to groom me, putting me in a position of criticism! My mother is a Fey from the lower realm with a terrible bloodline! In the words of my enemies, I'm 'of inferior birth,' and have the 'life of an ant.' Although Father tries his best to protect my mother, she is in an awkward and perilous position!

"In the Blood King's harem, the favor shown to my mother has caused dissatisfaction. Compounded with the envy people have of me, my mother has been treading on thin ice for years. She is blissful, but also worried! I can only be her pillar of support if I have sufficient strength."

When Jiang Xiaorou said this, Yi Yun was taken aback. "Your father has other concubines?"

"Yes…" Jiang Xiaorou nodded slowly. "He did not have any after returning to the Chaos Heavens, but after bringing Mother back, he still married a few concubines."

"The Heaven Fey Ancient Ruins is the leader of all Fey. According to our ancestors' rules, every Fey Thearch needs to have marriage alliances with other clans. In addition, it's difficult for royal blood to have children. It's considered a basic rule that a Fey Thearch has a few hundred in his harem; my father is already considered to have very few."

Yi Yun nodded. This was not Earth. Even Jiang Xiaorou and her mother did not entertain the concept of one husband one wife. Jiang Xiaorou's mother naturally did not have any qualms about the Blood King having concubines.

If a Fey Thearch did not marry more wives to produce more offspring, would that not be a waste of his bloodline?

If the Blood King really insisted on marrying Xiaorou's mother alone, that would result in greater pressure on her. Perhaps, she would even be criticized for being jealous.

"My father's concubines are mostly daughters of major clans. Their bloodline is precious, so who would be willing to be ranked under Mother? Besides, they have failed to produce offspring for Father after centuries. This is likely because Father did not leave them much of his bloodline essence.

"Which of these women would be willing to play second fiddle?

"My mother feels that her background is insufficient to be a Thearch's empress. She has brought the suggestion to Father that she give up her spot as empress and become a concubine. The pressure would be lessened if she's a concubine, but it aches my heart hearing that."

Jiang Xiaorou sighed. "In fact, as long as she receives enough love from Father and as long as Father spares no expense to groom me, it's impossible for Mother to not be the target of jealousy. This can only be prevented if I cultivate to become a Fey Thearch or even ascend to the throne as Ruins Empress!

"Father has not had another child and probably also wishes to groom me. Father has done a lot for Mother, so I can't just depend on him. What will happen if he loses his feelings for Mother?

"By becoming crown designate, the cultivation resources would be better. I naturally have to vie for it. I wish for Mother to live the rest of her life in peace. I wish to fight for my future and wanted to find you, Yun'er.

"But now… you actually found me first. I'm really… very happy!"

Jiang Xiaorou's eyes were wet when she said that. All these years in the Chaos Heavens, although she was an elite, the apple of the Blood King's eye, and enjoyed extremely high status, it all put immense pressure on her!

She could not show her weak side to her father or confide her troubles in her mother, afraid that it would only add to her mother's burden, making her compunctious.

She could only share these words with Yi Yun.

"I get it, Sis Xiaorou." Yi Yun understood her. "Sis Xiaorou, since I'm back, I'll help you. You do not need to shoulder the burden anymore."

"Yun'er, I'm already very happy that you have such thoughts," said Jiang Xiaorou with a smile. "However, the situation in Heaven Fey City is complicated. I have too many enemies here. Countless people wish for me to topple from my pedestal and reduce to nothingness. Besides, these people all have powerful background. I do not wish for you to be implicated…

"Yun'er, if you really wish to help me, cultivate hard. I can see that you are already a Royal Sealed Divine Lord and you have limitless potential ahead of you. When you become a Godly Monarch, you can help me with that power. I look forward to the day you become Godly Monarch!"

Jiang Xiaorou smiled happily when she finished her sentence. She still remembered Yi Yun's becoming of a Jing Long Wei in the Cloud Wilderness, of him wearing the attire of a Kingdom Knight during his return. Back then, there was uncertainty about her fate, so it was an unforgettable scene to her.

"By the way, I heard that you went to Treasure Fey Pagoda to seek treasures at the Godly Monarch level?" asked Jiang Xiaorou.

Rain Numinous had mentioned Yi Yun's background, including the fake name he used and his goal at Treasure Fey Pagoda when she reported the situation to Jiang Xiaorou.

Jiang Xiaorou naturally needed to know everything about a guest mercenary of Soft Clouds Mountain Manor.

"That's right. I do need some precious material." Yi Yun did not hide anything from Jiang Xiaorou. He immediately mentioned the materials needed for the Myriad Form Shura Pill.

"That many natural treasures and Fey cores of ancient Fey… are indeed difficult to find, especially Celestial blood… These things…" Jiang Xiaorou paused.

"Celestial blood is taboo in the Chaos Heavens. It will infuriate the Celestials, but my Father might still have some Celestial blood left. It just might be very difficult for me to get it."

Yi Yun said, "Don't worry about Senior Blood King's Celestial blood. Sis Xiaorou, I actually want to use these items to refine a pill named the Myriad Form Shura Pill. It's a body-tempering pill that will be very useful to me. However, I won't need the entire cauldron of pills when refined. The remaining can also be helpful for the condensation of your ancestral bloodline."