Spirit Hall's Decree Stuns the Shui Family; Madam Liu's Greed and Jealousy Stir Up Trouble

Dusk deepened over the residence on Heart Lake Island at Skywater Academy.

The lake shimmered with rippling light, stretching the reflections of pavilions and towers into long, slender shadows. Damp mist filled the air, yet it could not dispel the heavy atmosphere in the Shui Family's main hall.

Shui Cang sat in the seat of honor, rubbing a smooth jade pendant in his hand. His brows were tightly knitted, his expression filled with barely concealed anxiety-ever since Bishop Salas's message arrived, he had been unable to sit still.

He hoped the olive branch of cooperation extended by Spirit Hall would lift the Shui Family to greater heights, yet he feared pressure from the family behind Madam Liu, afraid that one wrong step would drag his entire family down.

Madam Liu sat to one side, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her lavish dress. Her usual overbearing manner had vanished, replaced by a measure of unease.

She kept glancing toward the doorway, silently calculating. If Spirit Hall truly takes an interest in Yue'er, even an ordinary training place could send the Shui Family's standing in the Heaven Dou Empire soaring again. But whenever she thought of Shui Bing'er, whom she had mistreated at every turn, unease crept over her. She feared that if the girl prospered one day, she would turn around and take revenge.

"My lord, do you think Bishop Salas really came for Yue'er this time?"

Madam Liu could not help speaking, a barely perceptible tremor in her voice.

"That Shui Bing'er... surely she won't get to bask in Yue'er's reflected glory too?"

Shui Cang raised his eyes to look at her, his tone thick with impatience.

"You accomplish nothing and ruin everything! I told you back then to show Bing'er a little more tolerance, but you refused