"Qiu’er."

"Ahh!" Yun Jingqiu yelped as she jumped in surprise. "You startled me, Father."

Ling Yun raised an eyebrow as he saw a beast core in his daughter’s hand. "Is that a beast core? From its quality, I can guess it came from a powerful beast with strength in the Three Immortal Realms, so you couldn’t possibly have killed the beast yourself. Yue Lian is strong, but I doubt she can kill the beast with her current strength."

"Father, this beast core was a gift from Senior Brother Zhao Chengxuan." Yun Jingqiu replied haltingly. "He got it from his father, and he gave it to me as a gift."

"Hmm?" Ling Yun approached his daughter and took the beast core from her hand. "An Immortal Emperor Rank Beast, huh? Does Zhao Chengxuan know your identity as the dark phoenix?"

Yun Jingqiu shook her head. "He knew I was a female beast, but I never told him that I was a dark phoenix. You often told me not to tell others about my beast identity, so I kept it to myself."

"That’s good." Ling Yun felt relieved to hear that. "Qiu’er, the dark phoenix race has long been extinct from this universe, and I used my demon creation technique to transform your mother into a demon, but I didn’t expect that she would transform into a dark phoenix. If people find out your beast identity, they will do everything they can to capture you, and they will forcefully contract you, so you must carefully conceal your identity. Do you understand?"

"I understand, Father."

Ling Yun sat on the bed, pulling Yun Jingqiu to sit beside him. "Tell me about Zhao Chengxuan, Qiu’er. Is he a good man? Do you like him? What’s his Zhao Clan like?"

"Father, Senior Brother Zhao is actually a good man, and I’ve met his parents before. However, I never liked him, and I rejected him three times, but he never gave up and continued to court me." Yun Jinqiu pointed to the beast core. "He gave it to me when he confessed his feelings to me for the fourth time, but I rejected him again. I wanted to return it to him, but he refused and told me to keep it."

"Summon Yue Lian out now." Yun Jingqiu immediately carried out Ling Yun’s orders. "Have you met Zhao Chengxuan before?"

Yue Lian nodded. "Zhao Chengxuan’s cultivation is at the Immortal King Realm, and his two parents’s cultivation is at the Immortal Emperor Realm. His parents treated my master well, and they never showed any particular motives towards him. In fact, they once persuaded my master to accept their son, but she insisted on refusing him, and they did not force him."

"Show me their pictures." Yue Lian created a qi screen that showed a picture of Zhao Chengxuan and his parents. "Hmm? That man doesn’t look bad; instead, he’s quite handsome and polite. His parents don’t look arrogant, and they seem to adore Qiu’er very much."

Yun Jingqiu looked at Ling Yun. "Father, I have no feelings for Senior Brother Zhao, so you shouldn’t think about setting me up with him."

"Haha," Ling Yun rubbed his daughter’s head. "Do you think I’m that kind of father, Qiu’er?"

"No." Yun Jingqiu shook her head.

"In my opinion, Zhao Chengxuan isn’t bad, but I have no intention of setting you up with him. You’re an adult now, so you should determine your own future, and I will always respect your decision." Yun Jingqiu patted her chest in relief. "I won’t interfere in the romantic affairs of any of my children, and you guys can choose the right partners for yourselves."

"Thank you, Father."

Ling Yun nodded as he patted his daughter’s head. "Even though I will never interfere in your choices, I hope you will bring the man of your choice to our residence, and we will check whether his character is good or not."

"I will never bring any man into our residence, Father." Yun Jingqiu lowered her sad face. "I already have a man I love, but he never loved me, so I will never marry for the rest of my life."

Yue Lian didn’t say anything, but she had long known that the man Yun Jingqiu loved was Ling Yun, and she couldn’t look at any other man besides him.

Ling Yun could only sigh in his heart because he realized that Yun Jingqiu’s feelings for him were too deep, and he had a headache to change her feelings. His relationship had been chaotic for a long time, especially after he took Yi Mingxia and the others as his wives. However, he never thought about accepting his daughter’s feelings, let alone taking her as his wife. "Qiu’er-"

"Please don’t say anything, Father," Yun Jingqiu interrupted Ling Yun with teary eyes. "Rejecting me is your choice, but loving you is mine. I only love you, and my feelings for you will remain the same until the end of time. I will never regret my decision, and I choose to live in solitude rather than love another man."

Ling Yun pulled Yun Jingqiu into his arms, hugging her tightly. "Qiu’er, you are my daughter, and I will always love you. However, I will never be able to love you as a woman, so I apologize for my stubbornness."

"Sob." Tears welled up in Yun Jingqiu’s eyes as she hugged Ling Yun tightly. "Sob."

Yue Lian sighed inwardly and left the room, leaving Ling Yun and Yun Jingqiu alone. She hoped that he would accept his daughter’s feelings the same way he accepted his mother and the others as his wives, but his words just now made her realize it would never happen.

After she cried for some time, Yun Jingqiu broke free from Ling Yun’s embrace. "Please leave me alone, Father. I want to be alone for now."

"Alright."

After Ling Yun disappeared, Yun Jingqiu lay down on her bed, curled up, hugged her knees, and cried again. "Father, you know that I love you so much, but you won’t accept my feelings."

.

.

.

"Why is your expression like this?" Jin Nanyi asked Ling Yun, who had just entered the void walls.

"I’ve hurt my eldest daughter’s feelings." Jin Nanyi was shocked when Ling Yun said that. "Unlike my other daughters, Qiu’er and Xia’er love me very much, but they love me as a man. However, I cannot accept their feelings, and it is inevitable that I will hurt their feelings."

Jin Nanyi sat beside Ling Yun. "Why can’t you accept the feelings of your two daughters? After all, your grandmother, your mother, your big sister, and your two aunts are your wives, right?"

"Yeah," Ling Yun nodded to Jin Nanyi. "They are my wives, but there’s something inside me that makes me unable to accept my two daughters’ feelings."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I don’t know." Ling Yun shook his head slightly. "Every time I think about my two daughters’ feelings, there’s something inside me that pushes me to reject them."

"That’s weird." Jin Nanyi propped her chin. "Have you ever felt that way towards your mother and the others?"

Ling Yun shook his head again. "You know that I’ve loved my mother since I was little, so I didn’t experience that kind of feeling when I took her as my wife, and it didn’t arise when I took Ling’er and the others either."

"Are you going to let your two daughters’ feelings get hurt?"

"I had no other choice." Ling Yun looked at Jin Nanyi. "I knew they would be sad, but I really couldn’t accept their feelings. I wanted them to find the right men to be their husbands, but they chose to live in solitude. I didn’t want them to be like that, but I didn’t have a solution for them."

"Just accept their feelings."

"No," Ling Yun firmly refused. "I will never accept their feelings, even if they have to feel sad like that. They may not be able to accept my decision now, but they should be able to understand it when they’re older."

"Stupid!" Jin Nanyi cursed at Ling Yun. "Your two daughters are already over thirty years old, so they are already mature women. I’m not close to them, but I’m a woman like them. Since they’ve already said they love you, and they even chose to live in solitude because of your rejection, I’m sure their feelings for you will never change. Besides, I’ve experienced living in solitude before I met you, so I can understand their feelings. Do you really want them to live like that for the rest of their lives?"

Ling Yun released a heavy sigh. "If they choose that way, then let them be."

"Tch!" Jin Nanyi gritted her teeth. "Get lost! You are such an idiot! I don’t want to see you now!"

"Fine." Ling Yun immediately disappeared from Jin Nanyi’s sight.

Jin Nanyi was even angry because Ling Yun disappeared straight away. "He is so selfish and an idiot! He took his mother and others as his wives, but he chose to hurt the feelings of his two daughters!"

.

.

.

"Father," Yun Qingfeng and Yun Longhun called out in surprise.

Ling Yun nodded to his two sons. "How are your preparations for the competition? Are you guys ready to face the cultivators who will also be participating?"

"Hehe," Yun Qingfeng rubbed his nose. "Father, our opponents in the competition will be matched to our cultivation levels, and I’m sure we won’t lose to them."

"How about you accompany the two of us to practice, Father?" Yun Longhun asked.

"Let’s spar! I will test the progress of both of you myself."