What a Profound Sisterly Bond

"Oh? Is that your sister?" Gu Qingfeng watched with interest as Shangguan Qing gracefully descended from the celestial bridge, looking like a goddess.

"Indeed, she is my sister, Shangguan Qing!" Shangguan Wan'er said through gritted teeth, her eyes filled with hostility.

Gu Qingfeng wasn’t the least bit surprised by Shangguan Wan'er’s reaction. This woman was no saint—petty, venomous, and full of schemes. The only redeeming quality she had was her heavenly beauty, a gift from the heavens.

A gilded exterior hiding rotten insides—that was Shangguan Wan'er.

Given her nature, it was no wonder she harbored such jealousy and resentment toward a sister who outshone her in every way. Being born into royalty only made matters worse—there was no room for sentimentality.

Shangguan Qing, who had descended from the celestial bridge, carried herself with grace. She returned the greetings of the lesser factions with courtesy, never looking down on others despite her noble status.

Her refined manners and ethereal demeanor left everyone feeling as if bathed in a warm breeze, their hearts comforted.

Naturally, this led them to compare the two sisters. Compared to Shangguan Wan'er’s arrogance, Shangguan Qing was undoubtedly more likable.

Some even remarked, "How can two sisters be so different?"

As Shangguan Qing exchanged pleasantries, her gaze suddenly caught Shangguan Wan'er in the crowd. A flicker of joy flashed in her eyes. After excusing herself, she approached with the black-robed man in tow.

"Wan'er, you’re here too! Had I known you were coming to the Taiyi Secret Realm, I would have traveled with you," Shangguan Qing said with a doting smile.

"Hmph!" Shangguan Wan'er wasn’t having any of it. "Stop pretending. If you were coming here, why didn’t you tell me beforehand? Now that you’ve seen me, you’re blaming me for not informing you?"

Shangguan Qing took her sister’s outburst as mere tantrums and explained, "I know you prefer excitement over quiet, so I assumed you’d want to venture out. I went to look for you before setting off, but the guards told me you’d left the palace half a year ago."

Shangguan Wan'er’s expression darkened. To her, Shangguan Qing’s words were a veiled accusation—that she was the selfish one who had left without a word.

"Who knows if you’re telling the truth? Maybe you made that up on the spot after seeing me," Shangguan Wan'er scoffed.

Shangguan Qing’s expression dimmed, her sorrowful look enough to tug at anyone’s heartstrings.

"Wan'er, do you resent me so deeply because of that incident? Do you still blame me?"

Shangguan Wan'er stiffened slightly but remained silent.

Shangguan Qing continued mournfully, "Do you know how much I miss the days when I taught you to play the flute? Back then—"

"Enough!" Shangguan Wan'er suddenly exploded in rage. "Stop bringing up the past! It was all an act! You just wanted to impress Father, to make him think you were the perfect sister so you could win his favor!

"If it weren’t for you, the chance to ascend to the upper realms would have been mine! You hypocritical snake!"

"Silence!" The black-robed man beside Shangguan Qing snapped coldly.

"She’s still your sister. How can you speak to her like that?"

Shangguan Wan'er, now like a furious little beast, spat, "Who do you think you are? Just some lowly—"

She was about to say "lowly mortal," but her gaze flickered to Gu Qingfeng standing nearby, and she swallowed the words.

Shangguan Qing quickly intervened.

"Brother Chu, let’s not argue. The secret realm is about to open. We should go."

The man surnamed Chu nodded and said nothing more as they walked away.

Shangguan Wan'er glared at her sister’s retreating figure, grinding her teeth, her eyes flickering with dark emotions.

Suddenly, she turned to Gu Qingfeng and said, "By the way, Master, it was my sister who taught me to play the flute. She’s far better than me—renowned as the foremost master of music in the Feather Transformation Immortal Dynasty."

Shangguan Wan'er seemed to be scheming something, praising her sister in front of Gu Qingfeng.

Her thoughts were simple: Why should you remain pure and untouched, standing above the chaos? You should fall from your pedestal!

Someone as good as you should be as tainted as me!

You should be a slave too—playing the flute for Master!

"Oh? Is that so?" Gu Qingfeng mused, watching the two depart. "Then I must hear your sister’s flute music someday."

Shangguan Qing and the man surnamed Chu arrived at a secluded spot.

"Your sister seems to have some misunderstanding about you?" Chu Fengyang remarked.

"Brother Chu, how do you know it’s a misunderstanding and not the truth?" Shangguan Qing replied, her expression somber.

Chu Fengyang smiled faintly. "Because I know your character. You’re the kind of person who would rather suffer yourself than hurt others."

Shangguan Qing looked up, her clear eyes shimmering with emotion.

"Thank you, Brother Chu."

"No need for thanks. Just call me by my name."

"Then... thank you, Feng... Fengyang," Shangguan Qing said shyly.

"Would you like to talk about what happened between you and your sister?"

Shangguan Qing nodded. After glancing around, she cast a soundproofing barrier before beginning her tale.

Little did she know, walls had ears. Against Gu Qingfeng’s trillion-year cultivation, her barrier was as flimsy as air—he heard everything as clearly as if she were whispering in his ear.

After listening for a while, Gu Qingfeng understood the root of the sisters’ rift.

In the beginning, they had been close—cultivating together, playing instruments, with Shangguan Qing teaching her sister the flute.

As they grew older, their lives became busier, and though they weren’t as inseparable as in childhood, their bond remained strong.

Yet their personalities were worlds apart. The elder sister was kind and serene, while the younger was vain, ruthless, petty, and temperamental.

The more Shangguan Qing excelled, the more praise she received, fueling Shangguan Wan'er’s jealousy.

But their relationship didn’t shatter until one incident.

The Feather Transformation Immortal Dynasty had secured ties with a powerful upper-realm faction. A mighty figure from the upper realms offered to take one of the dynasty’s princesses as a concubine—a political marriage. This man was not only immensely powerful but also strikingly handsome.

When the news broke, Shangguan Wan'er was ecstatic. As someone obsessed with status, she had long dreamed of ascending to the upper realms. She immediately begged her father to let her be the one to marry into the upper realm.

Her father agreed.

But not long after, Shangguan Qing spoke with him in private. After their conversation, the emperor changed his mind—Shangguan Qing would be the one sent in marriage instead.

Shangguan Wan'er was utterly enraged and completely severed ties with Shangguan Qing, outright calling her a scheming, deceitful bitch, claiming all their sisterly affection had been nothing but an act.

But what was the truth?

Shangguan Qing had sought to replace her younger sister to protect her. Through friends, she had investigated the deeds of that powerful figure upstream—words like "appalling" didn’t even begin to cover it; "heinous" was more fitting.

He cultivated sinister techniques, draining the vitality of women to fuel his own power. What he called "concubines" were, in reality, nothing more than cauldrons for his cultivation. And if they displeased him? Death.

Marrying into that upstream family meant stepping into a living hell.

To shield her sister, Shangguan Qing resolutely chose to take her place. She had even tried to relay these warnings to Shangguan Wan'er through intermediaries, but her sister dismissed it all as lies, refusing to believe a word.

After hearing this dramatic tale, Gu Qingfeng could only exclaim, "How melodramatic! What a touching sisterly bond."