Then let them offer their loyalty!

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Jasmine extended her slender, fair finger and pointed to Zhao Ji beside Qiu Tu.

"I need to talk to her alone for a while."

Her smile was sweet, and her voice was charming, but her clear eyes seemed to hold a lot of secrets.

Upon hearing this condition, Qiu Tu was taken aback. He then pondered quietly for two seconds before turning his head to look at Zhao Ji, seeking her opinion with his eyes.

Zhao Ji met his gaze with her beautiful eyes for a moment, then nodded slightly.

Seeing that Zhao Ji did not object, Qiu Tu had no more hesitation.

He looked back at Jasmine on the throne and said decisively, "Yes."

"Then you two can chat here."

"Perfect timing, I also need to go see Huiming and see what she thinks."

After saying that, Qiu Tu glanced at Zhao Ji again, mouthing the words "Call me anytime if you need anything," before turning around and walking out of the main hall with steady steps and without any hesitation.

As his figure disappeared, the heavy palace doors slowly closed, isolating the outside world from everything.

The entire hall gradually quieted down. Only the chaotic star map on the dome emitted a cold, eerie light.

Zhao Ji raised her head, her clear, cold eyes calmly looking at Jasmine on the throne.

And Jasmine was looking at her too.

Perhaps it was the atmosphere, but Jasmine, unusually, put away her playful and cynical demeanor and instead became serious.

She just stared at Zhao Ji for a long time. Finally, she slowly spoke, her voice...

"Xi Yue, you seem... to have changed."

"So... are you really sure you want to choose him?"

Upon hearing Jasmine's words, Zhao Ji's cool expression remained completely unchanged. She simply shook her head quietly.

Jasmine's eyes lit up slightly.

Then, the next second, she heard Zhao Ji say,

You're wrong.

Zhao Ji's voice remained cold, but it seemed to carry a hint of warmth, "I'm not sure if I'm going to choose him."

She paused, her deep eyes meeting Jasmine's, and said, word by word,

"Instead... I might have developed a little crush on him."

Jasmine was taken aback, perhaps not expecting that Zehime would express her attitude so frankly.

She even doubted whether she had misheard.

like?

It should be noted that given Zhao Ji's aloof personality, she would keep her feelings to herself.

So... liking someone a little is, in some ways, no different from "I love him".

More importantly, Zehime also specifically corrected Jasmine's choice of words.

"Choosing him" and "liking him" may have similar final results, but the meaning or attitude they represent are completely different.

"Choice" is rational; it's the optimal decision made after weighing the pros and cons. This aligns with Jasmine's understanding of Zhao Ji—an absolutely rational person who sees emotions as a burden and prioritizes her own spiritual path above all else.

But "liking" is emotional, irrational, and even... uncontrollable.

For a moment, Jasmine's brows furrowed deeply.

She recalled Zhao Ji's interactions with Qiu Tu over the years, then recalled the changes in Zhao Ji during this period, and then asked, puzzled,

"why?"

"Xi Yue, why has your attitude changed so much?"

As she spoke, she quickly descended the steps of the throne, walked to Zhao Ji's side, looked up at Zhao Ji, and asked with concern,

"Did... Qiu Tu cast a spell on you?!"

Despite hearing Jasmine's words, Zeji's expression remained calm.

She simply shook her head slightly, and a faint, unfamiliar smile appeared in her deep eyes.

Her gaze was distant, as if penetrating the palace walls and looking at Qiu Tu outside the palace, who was contacting Princess Huiming.

"of course not."

Her voice was soft, yet it carried an unprecedented certainty.

"I just... suddenly figured it out."

"You've figured it out?" Jasmine was even more puzzled. What kind of explanation was that?

Zehime nodded, seemingly lost in some kind of memory.

She said, "It happened very suddenly when I was advancing to the level of a high-level God-King and sorting through all my memories..."

"I suddenly realized that Qiu Tu is actually a very special person to me."

Her tone was calm, as if she were stating an objective fact.

"I found that he could make me happy or sad very easily."

“I would worry if he were injured or in danger.”

“I will unconsciously pay attention to his affairs, his strength and level, and the people around him.”

“I get angry when I see him flirting with other women. I also feel happy when I see him doing well.”

"Before, I didn't understand what was wrong with me. But after carefully sorting through all my memories and noticing the strangeness..."

"I've realized... I might have fallen for him."

Zhao Ji was indeed a straightforward person; she said what she thought.

But when Jasmine heard Zeki's self-righteous words, she was furious.

"You don't know anything about what I like!"

She looked at Zhao Ji with disappointment and felt her blood pressure soaring.

"You've just never been in contact with the opposite sex before, and suddenly you encounter someone who's persistently clinging to you, so you find it a bit novel and strange! That's not liking someone!"

She circled around Zehime twice, like an anxious cat.

"Moreover... Qiu Tu has character issues!"

"Think about it carefully! He's only with you to take advantage of you!"

"If you can sense people's emotions, you should have noticed his problem long ago, right?"

Upon hearing Jasmine's words, Zeji's expression remained completely calm.

She said calmly, "You're right."

"At first, he did want to depend on me and take advantage of me."

Zhao Ji's gaze was frank, without the slightest concealment.

"But later... as we became more and more familiar with each other, from strangers to friends, and then to comrades-in-arms, his attitude towards me changed."

Her voice paused, as if she were recalling something.

"He started to treat me simply, and he began to help me without expecting anything in return."

Upon hearing Zhao Ji's words, Jasmine slapped her hand and covered her face, letting out a desperate groan.

"My silly Xiyue! He was faking it all! He was lying to you! He just wanted to get you!"

She lowered her hand, her delicate oval face filled with the pain of "you've been manipulated."

"I've seen plenty of men! What kind of act won't they pull off to get a woman?"

"Don't even mention not expecting anything in return. Even if you asked him to swear an oath or promise to give you everything, he would be willing! But if something really serious happens, see if he can still keep it up!"

However, upon hearing Jasmine's words, Zehime simply looked at her quietly.

Then... he laughed.

It wasn't a polite, perfunctory smile, nor was it a cold, mocking one. Rather, it was a genuine, warm smile, like the first melting of snow and the blooming of spring flowers.

That smile, in an instant, seemed to brighten up the entire cold and dark hall.

Jasmine was completely stunned.

This was the first time she had ever seen Zhao Ji smile like this since she met her, whether in her past life or this one.

That smile was pure, clean, and without a trace of impurity. It was breathtakingly beautiful, so beautiful that even this chaotic witch felt a moment of disorientation.

In the instant she was lost in thought, Zhao Ji's voice rang in her ears.

You're wrong.

Zhao Ji looked at her and gently shook her head.

“He wasn’t faking it, nor was he lying to me.”

She paused, the smile on her face slowly fading, replaced by an unprecedented seriousness.

"Actually, I used to think the same way you did."

Zhao Ji did not hide anything at all.

"I also suspected that all the kindness he showed me was just an act, a way to gain my trust and thus gain greater benefits."

"But... something that happened recently completely changed my mind."

Upon hearing this, Jasmine instinctively asked, "What is it?"

Zhao Ji said quietly, "It's just that... after I came out of seclusion, I found the world in chaos."

"You kidnapped the God-King Lu Yao, and Princess Huiming changed her path from 'Destruction Path' to 'Mystic Path.' The Tyrant of Destruction fought her fiercely, ultimately leading to the collapse of the entire Destruction Royal Court."

Zhao Ji's gaze slowly shifted back, landing on Jasmine's face, whose expression had subtly changed.

"And all of this started because God-King Lu Yao wanted to sell my position to the Tyrant of Destruction in exchange for the possibility of her stepping onto the path to the supreme."

"Therefore, in order to help me hide the location of my advancement and to protect me from being disturbed, someone did not hesitate to stir up the winds and clouds of the entire world."

"And that person is Qiu Tu..."

Upon hearing this, Jasmine's brows furrowed slightly involuntarily.

The hall was silent for a few seconds.

Zhao Ji then looked at Jasmine again and said calmly,

"Jasmine, you don't understand him."

"He is not a person who likes adventure, much less a person who likes chaos."

"What he enjoys is scheming, manipulating the rules within the established framework of order, and seeking the greatest benefit for himself."

"He enjoys the feeling of being in control of everything, rather than being in a state of chaos and out of control."

"But for my sake, he broke his habits and put himself in danger."

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Requesting monthly votes.

Chapter 978 Jasmine: I feel like I'm being ostracized (Seeking monthly votes)

Upon hearing Zhao Ji's words, Jasmine frowned deeply. She instinctively wanted to retort, saying that Zhao Ji hadn't actually experienced the whole thing at all.

Just then, as if guessing her thoughts, Zhao Ji spoke up.

"Indeed... I didn't experience this firsthand. And... before he went into seclusion, he didn't leave me any message to tell me what he had done for me."

"But... Jasmine, I'm actually quite smart too."

"Besides... I know you very well, and I know him very well too."

"I only captured a few god-kings and learned the general outline of what happened, and that's enough to figure out the whole thing clearly."

Zehime spoke slowly, but every word clearly touched Jasmine's heart.