Before Lan An and Yan Honglian stood twin visions of youthful perfection—faces mirror-identical, gazes tangled with complexity.
Sixteen, perhaps seventeen summers. Eyes like starlit jade, lashes curved as crescent moons, noses refined, lips rosebud-pink. Skin luminous as the full moon, chestnut hair cascading in playful waves—one long, one short, the only distinction.
Their figures lacked Yan Honglian's ripe allure yet rivaled Lian Hua or Lin'er. Crucially, at such tender age, mid-Spirit Transformation—prodigies, no doubt offspring of some elder.
"Big Brother…"
Tears welled as they whispered in unison.
Lan An and Yan Honglian exchanged baffled glances. Big Brother?
"Little sisters, mistaken identity?" Yan Honglian ruffled their hair gently, warmth blooming—she saw Qing'er's age in them.
"No mistake. Lan An is our Big Brother!" the long-haired girl declared, eyes fierce with certainty.
The short-haired nodded, sniffling.
Yan Honglian shook her head, assuming another fan ploy—Lan An's fame drew moths like flame.
"Names?" Lan An asked, an odd tremor in his soul.
"I'm Lan Xuan," the long-haired said, lips pursed.
"I'm Lan Li," the short-haired sobbed.
"Lan?" Lan An and Yan Honglian's faces shifted. Dread coiled.
"Exactly. Full-blood sisters—same father," they chorused.
"Not here." Lan An's voice turned grave. He strode away.
Yan Honglian, sensing his storm, followed anxiously, unsure how to face the twins.
Lan Xuan and Lan Li paled, hearts aching, yet trailed stubbornly.
Lan An's mind churned. The body's memories held no trace of Lan sisters. Oversight?
Back at Wife Legion, the women laughed—until Lan An returned grim, Yan Honglian worried, twins in tow.
"Husband, what happened?"
He sat silently at the round table. To the twins: "Sit."
They obeyed timidly, pulses racing.
Yan Ruoxue and Mu Ziyin pulled Yan Honglian aside. She transmitted the tale.
Shock rippled. The room held its breath.
"Speak. Why appear now? Why not flee with the Lan Clan? What do you want?" Lan An's tone was ice. He felt nothing for the Lans—especially after Lan Polie's recent assault on the Lius, and Liu Yuqing's torment.
Lan Li, ever tearful, broke into sobs at his coldness. Lan Xuan hugged her tight, eyes brimming. "We were infants when Third Elder of Sacred Spirit Academy took us as disciples, raising us here. We rarely visited the clan…"
Lan An understood. His former status: lower than a slave. Why inform trash of noble daughters? Taken by a powerhouse, their rank eclipsed even Lan Yu—no reason for a blind cripple to know.
Later, half-dead and blind, he never met them.
He had thought Lan Yu his only sibling.
"Sob… We never knew we had a Big Brother. The clan never spoke. How could we let you suffer?" Lan Xuan wept, staring at his eerie white eye.
Lan An smirked bitterly. A cripple? They'd have killed me sooner than claim me.
"Big Brother… forgive our ignorance, our absence. Will you accept us?" Lan Li pleaded, wiping tears.
The women's hearts softened. The twins were babes when tragedy struck—adrift between warring kin.
The true Big Brother was dead. Lan An held no hate—they were blameless. But accept them? Daughters of the man he vowed to slay?
"Go. We are strangers. I'll spare you when the Lan Clan falls." His voice was steel.
"Big Brother…"
Despair crashed. They staggered, faces bloodless, lips bitten raw.
Thud. Thud.
The women gasped—the twins knelt.
"What are you doing?" Lan An hauled them up with body cultivator strength, planting them on chairs. "That's my limit. Could you forgive if roles reversed?"
They shook heads miserably, words failing.
"Sob… Big Brother… if revenge comes, spare Father? Cripple him—let him live as mortal?" Lan Xuan begged.
The Lan Clan hid, but with Rear Palace's rise, vengeance loomed.
"Yes! Kill the rest—just spare Father and Mother?" Lan Li added.
Lan Polie was cruel—but their father. How could they watch him die?
The rest? Barely known, no attachment—especially those who tortured Lan An.
"No. Lan Polie dies. Your mother—depends on her sins." Lan An's verdict was iron. "Acknowledge me as brother? Abandon him. Else—strangers forever."
Hope shattered. Their hearts seized, breaths ragged—they fainted.
Liu Shiquan caught them, pity and regret warring. Even if Husband spared Lan Polie, I wouldn't. Elder Sister's pain demands blood.
"Husband…" The wives wanted to comfort—words failed.
"Here—Fusion Spirit Grass. Refine the Fire Fusion Pills." Lan An handed the herbs to Xiao Qingquan, forcing a smile, then vanished.
"Let him be," Mu Ziyin murmured, settling the twins. She sighed. "Husband suffers. The girls too. All because of that bastard Lan Polie."
"Want my hammer to split his skull?" Bing Lin'er huffed.
Spirit Realm Pearl – Palace Tree Summit
Lan An gazed into the void. He knew the twins hurt—yet Lan Polie had to die.
"Little An, brooding? Which wife misbehaved?" A gentle voice, orchid scent.
Liu Yuqing appeared in emerald mist, pulling her towering son into her embrace, stroking his hair tenderly. She would gift him the cosmos.
The sight was comical—yet soothing. Lan An recounted the twins.
Liu Yuqing pondered. She hated the Lans—but not these innocents. Sympathy stirred.
"Accept them—I fully support," she said softly. Your happiness is my law.
"I want them… but Lan Polie's life is mine," Lan An confessed.
She nodded—Lan Polie was her stain too. Then smiled slyly:
"He must die. But with power, countless ways exist without your blade. They'll grieve—but can't blame you."
"No. My hands," Lan An growled, eyes murderous.
"Fool. That severs ties forever. Step back—gain sisters. Which weighs more?" She劝ed.
She had tasted two decades of bitterness. Pragmatism above pride—results matter.
Lan Polie's death was the goal—method flexible.
"Lan Yu must die too. The twins didn't plead for him, yes?" She caressed his cheek.
Lan An nodded. Lan Yu—barely known to them.
"Listen. Kill Lan Yu. Let Lan Polie die indirectly. The twins are prodigies—Third Elder's disciples. Future Rear Palace assets. Treat them like Shiquan if you wish—I approve." She indulged.
Lan An gaped. "You know about Aunt and me?"
She laughed, ebony lips alluring. "Could Shiquan hide from me?"
"You don't object?"
"Idiot. I'd let you topple heavens. To dominate, master righteousness and cunning. Harm none of ours—that's all." She kissed his brow, fragrance intoxicating.
Her Apocalypse Poison Physique had warped her—gentle mother no more. She lived for Lan An: unconditional support, ruthless if needed, even sacrifice.
Jin'er warned: "Apocalypse Poison Physique forms when poison erases a world's life. Liu Yuqing is no longer the soft mother you imagine. Her future choices… expect darkness."
Lan An gripped her hand, resolve hardening.
"Mother… I know what to do."