[Galaxy Baseball Bat Hero: Your future... unfortunately, never escaped the cage of fate.]
Ye Qiong's very first words made Zhu Zhuqing's heart sink.
Unable to escape... fate?
[Galaxy Baseball Bat Hero: Although you eventually became a god, you were still bound by your family's rules and that man.]
[Galaxy Baseball Bat Hero: You became his appendage, a "wife" who existed purely to strengthen his combat power. Whether it was your Martial Soul Fusion Skill or the divine position you gained after becoming a god, you were nothing but his accessory.]
[Galaxy Baseball Bat Hero: Your talent and hard work could have taken you much higher, but in the end, fate still trapped you where you stood.]
An accessory... an appendage...
Those words chilled Zhu Zhuqing to the bone.
That wasn't the future she wanted.
She had fought her way forward, not to become someone else's shadow.
She was unwilling to accept it, but...
If fate was impossible to escape, how could she ever break free?
It left her feeling powerless.
[No Petting Cats: ...]
Just then, the other person's tone suddenly changed.
[Galaxy Baseball Bat Hero: But you're the hardest-working person I've ever met.]
[Galaxy Baseball Bat Hero: Your talent and character shouldn't be buried.]
The sudden encouragement left Zhu Zhuqing stunned.
She didn't know how to reply. Ever since she was little, she had lived under immense pressure and competition. No one had ever shown her the way.
This was the first time she had heard someone say something like that about her.
[Galaxy Baseball Bat Hero: What I told you is only one "possible" future. Even if changing it might be difficult, now that you know about it, and now that you're part of our chat group, there's still a chance to break free of that future, isn't there?]
Ye Qiong's words were like a beam of light shining into her gloomy heart.
That was right. Now that she knew the worst possible outcome, why not fight with everything she had to change it?
Perhaps this chat group was the chance she needed to truly change her future.
Zhu Zhuqing clenched her fists. Flames rekindled in her icy eyes.
[No Petting Cats: ...Thank you.]
After finishing his private chats with the two girls, Ye Qiong closed the interface, feeling thoroughly satisfied.
He leaned back against the soft waves of wheat at Aedes Elysiae, holding the sleeping Mimi in his arms as he basked in the warm afternoon sunlight.
The little one seemed to sense something. She nuzzled against him and murmured in her sleep.
"Mimi..."
Ye Qiong fondly stroked her little head, then opened the system panel.
[Total Emotion Points: 19028]
"Private messaging them earned me over four thousand Emotion Points. Great, I can start spending again."
A smile tugged at Ye Qiong's lips, and he got to work.
[Spent 3200 Emotion Points. Level increased to 33!] [Spent 3300 Emotion Points. Level increased to 34!]
In an instant, an immense surge of Soul Power flooded his body, drawing a satisfied groan from him.
After spending 6500 Emotion Points in total, Ye Qiong had reached level 34.
"Mimi?"
The Mimi in his arms was startled awake. She felt as if she had gotten a little stronger too, and excitedly wriggled free of Ye Qiong's embrace and floated into the air. She threw a couple of punches at nothing, as if showing off her newfound strength to him.
Ye Qiong smiled and ruffled her hair. "Don't rush. The best part is still to come."
His gaze settled on the Soul Rings in the shop.
"Add a thousand years to the First Soul Ring!"
[Spent 1000 Emotion Points. First Soul Ring (500 years) lifespan increased to 1500 years!]
"Add three thousand years to the Second Soul Ring!"
[Spent 3000 Emotion Points. Second Soul Ring (800 years) lifespan increased to 3800 years!]
"Add six thousand years to the Third Soul Ring!"
[Spent 6000 Emotion Points. Third Soul Ring (1000 years) lifespan increased to 7000 years!]
As his Emotion Points rapidly dwindled, the three Soul Rings around Ye Qiong flared with light.
Their original yellow, purple, and purple configuration instantly became purple, purple, and purple. Each ring was several shades darker than before, and the aura they gave off grew increasingly terrifying.
Ye Qiong could clearly feel that the effects of the Soul Skills from all three Soul Rings had improved tremendously.
"Mimi! Mimi!"
Mimi spun excitedly in the air. She felt like she had gotten a little stronger again.
Once he was done, Ye Qiong smiled with satisfaction and checked how many Emotion Points he had left.
[Total Emotion Points: 2528]
Hmm, I've still got some. How about saving 60 for emergencies and putting the rest into the Void Archives' seal?
He acted as soon as the thought occurred to him.
[Spent 2468 Emotion Points to解除 the Void Archives' seal...]
Ye Qiong held out his left hand, and a golden cube appeared in an instant.
Then he felt an immense surge of energy flood into his left arm.
[Ding! Fully解除 the Void Archives' seal requires 10000 Emotion Points. Current progress: 24.68%.]
"Tsk. Still a long way to go."
Ye Qiong clicked his tongue, but wasn't disappointed.
In his previous life, as one of the Pioneer Twin Stars, the Void Archives had been his signature weapon.
But his Void Archives wasn't quite the same as the one Uncle Yang knew.
That Void Archives had long since been marinated in Otto's influence, developing a new consciousness. His own, on the other hand, had no consciousness. It was simply an independent object.
Like the Divine Key Void Archives, his Void Archives could replicate things. In his previous life, in the Honkai Star Rail World, he had used it to replicate all sorts of weapons.
Like his younger sister Ye Xing's Flame Lance Charge, Uncle Yang's Star of Eden, and Uncle Blade's Zhili...
He was now curious to see what astonishing abilities the Void Archives would display in the world of Douluo Continent once its seal was fully lifted.
A moment later, Ye Qiong gathered his thoughts, caught Mimi as she flew back into his arms, and opened the chat group.
His Emotion Points were almost gone. It was time to start the next round of revelations.
This time, he'd do something a little different.
[Galaxy Baseball Bat Hero: @Everyone, the next round of revelations is about to begin.]
[Galaxy Baseball Bat Hero: But this time, the content will be a little different from before...]
Before you continue