"Quick! Runaway! Schneider has the master token of the group of abodes in this area!" Esvele instantly warned with all her strength.

She struggled while trying to break out of the formation, but it was to no avail.

"Tch!" Schneider clicked his tongue in annoyance.

Initially, he thought of playing dumb, working out his way while holding Esvele's family hostage, but now that it has been revealed that he possessed the master token, things had become messy.

'Now that it has come to this...' His eyes became ruthless as he activated another formation!

A light quickly enveloped Princess Shirley, trapping her in another sealing formation.

"Hahaha! So much for 'senior sister Shirley's intelligence'. Look at your senior sister, Esvele, my love. She stands there trapped, frozen like an ice fairy."

Esvele, who refused to shed tears for her own fallacy, finally cried as she miserably wailed. She was unable to stop her tears as she sobbed, "I'm sorry... It's all my fault. I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

Princess Shirley didn't have a change of expression. Only a breath of sigh escaped from her lips, "Why do you brutes always use such sinister methods to obtain us?"

"Trying to make my junior sister give into greed while making her sedate me, but it failed in the end. Now you're trying to make her submit using despicable and vile means."

"Heh!" Schneider sneered.

Now that his mask was exposed, he no longer acted like a gentleman.

"What do you mean sinister and vile means? The weak have to bend to the will of the strong! That's the natural course of things and the way the heavens have decided. Even if you're talented than me, so what? Are you stronger? No! Since you are not strong, then your fate is to become a powerful man's woman."

Schneider grinned, "My woman!"

"I swear that I'll treat you like my princess! As for this bitch who tried to drug you while falling prey to her own greed, I'll kill her for you."

Schneider revealed a greedy expression on his face, "How about that?"

If he were able to dual cultivate with a woman such as junior sister Shirley, then his prowess would increase by leaps and bounds. There were already rumors about how her talent in Fire Laws had crossed the usual top disciple's boundary, perhaps even exceeding it by a large margin.

Dual cultivating with such a woman would net him with immense benefits!

Esvele looked at her senior sister as she knelt in the sealing formation. She was still sobbing as if seeking forgiveness, weeping that she was sorry and that it was her fault. Looking at Schneider, who was approaching her, she didn't even care for her own life, still sobbing as she begged for forgiveness.

Princess Shirley's eyes flashed, "Stop!"

An object fell on her palm before it flashed with a crimson light.

"Impossible!" Schneider's eyes became wide, "It is not possible to use the spatial ring while trapped in that sealing formation!"

"Idiot," Princess Shirley imperceptibly sneered, "I already had it out, and although this sealing formation of effective, its killing formation is unable to harm me. I am an exceptional top disciple of the Burning Phoenix Ridge, and because of it, I possess the spatial talisman to summon the Sect Master to protect me."

"Even if you're the son of a Grand Elder, do you believe that the Sect Master will crush you without a question if I just asked?" Princess Shirley coldly spoke as she slowly clutched the talisman in her palm, trying to break it.

"W-Wa-" Schneider panicked, "Wait, wait, wait!"

"I lost! I accept my loss!!" He yelled.

Princess Shirley became angered on hearing that, her palm almost accidentally breaking the talisman.

A loss? A defeat?

Was this a simple game for him? Is that how men see it when they obtain women? A fucking game!? Her eyes flashed with killing intent, but she quickly suppressed as it arrived.

"Get lost!" She coldly spoke, "And hand over that master token to the Sect Master! Not to your father!"...

"Wait! If I did that I'll-"

"So what? It'll be just punishment, or do you prefer I break this life-saving talisman right now?"

Schneider grit his teeth, unable to retort. His clenched fists relaxed before he spat out, "Fine!"

He deactivated the master token and left the abode. When he crossed paths with Princess Shirley, his gaze became cold before he let out a harrumph and left. It was as if he gave her a warning not to possess a loose mouth and that he possessed numerous methods to make her live a life worse than death.

Once Princess Shirley confirmed that his presence left, she cast a glance at the kneeling Esvele.

Esvele kowtowed with her head, plastered to the ground. There was a puddle of blood, dripping from her forehead. Sounds of murmuring could still be heard as if she was asking for forgiveness. In truth, Esvele didn't have the courage to look at senior sister Shirley's expression.

Was it hateful? Was it indifferent?

She didn't want to see the person she initially came to envy but later came to adore and respect reveal such expressions as her heart constricted in pain. Everything that happened just a while ago was a result of her foolish actions.

Perhaps if senior sister Shirley didn't possess the Sect Master's spatial talisman, she would've already been killed, and senior sister Shirley might've met a fate worse than death.

She didn't possess the courage nor the face to lift her head.

"Stand up..."

Hearing that familiar voice that was still good to her, she shuddered.

"Stand up, Esvele."

Esvele hurriedly shook her head, "This lowly one isn't worthy."

"Stand up. We're returning to my palace.'

"This lo-" Esvele froze.

Her pupils incessantly shook before she slowly lifted up her head in disbelief, "Senior... sister?"

Looking at the gentle expression on senior sister Shirley's face, her eyelids quivered as tears ran down like a falling stream.

"Why? Why did senior sister save me?" Esvele demanded.

By this time, she had already figured out that senior sister Shirley used her to lure out the mastermind. However, it didn't warrant her to be saved.

She was the one who betrayed senior sister Shirley. Not the other way around.

"If I had to say," Princess Shirley's lips curved in as it became dreamy, "I like saving a damsel in distress?"

Esvele became stunned, "But... I betrayed my senior sister's trust. I'm worse than a beast... I'm worse than Schneider..."

"What are you saying?" Princess Shirley giggled, "I was eagerly waiting for you to drug me so that I can kill you, but you never did it, not even once."

"Even though you fell prey to your greed and accepted Schneider's scheme initially, you didn't act on it in the end. I saw you hesitating with my senses many times, trying to tell me about Schneider's evil scheme. You think I didn't notice all these and was just leaving my back to you?"

"Your senior sister isn't that naive." Princess Shirley shook her head, "At least, not anymore."

"Besides, you tried to use me to increase your cultivation base, and on the other hand, I tried to use you to bring out the mastermind. In the end, aren't we even?"

Esvele became tongue-tied for a moment as her chaotic mind tried to process it.

She shook her head, "No! Senior sister didn't use me..."

"You're placing me on a pedestal I don't deserve..." Shirley shook her head. She thought back to the two unique existences; two people in one body, Myria and Ellia.