All of it!
This was Ye Ming's choice!
And for him, making such a choice seemed like a matter of course.
Don't forget, Ye Ming was fundamentally different from ordinary people.
But the difference here wasn't his identity as an immortal cultivator.
It was... his experiences.
Before the age of ten, he lived with wolves. He had virtually no contact with human society.
So, let alone human morality and ethics.
After that, he obtained the inheritance of the immortal path.
This was also his first encounter with the concept of "civilization."
However, the civilization he learned about in the Immortal Law Record was not the rational civilization universally present in the current human world.
Instead, it was a civilization where strength reigned supreme and the strong preyed on the weak.
Under the influence of the knowledge from the Origin Era in the Immortal Law Record, Ye Ming gradually evolved from a "primitive man" into a cultivator of the Origin Era.
Although he later stepped into current human society and gained some understanding of the basic ethical laws of this world.
And slowly adapted to them.
However, the most profound influence on him was the Origin Civilization he first encountered.
Therefore, when Ye Chuan Kyoko asked him how he would choose between Ye Chuan Shagu and Nangong Qianyu, he could make his choice without hesitation and as a matter of course.
In his perception, as long as he was strong enough, whether it was Ye Chuan Shagu, Nangong Qianyu, Fang Junxue, or others, he was qualified to possess them.
Simply put, only the weak made choices.
The strong, however, could have it all.
This was what the Origin Civilization had given Ye Ming.
Hearing Ye Ming's words, both Ye Chuan Kyoko, as well as Ye Chuan Shagu and Nangong Qianyu, were taken aback.
The former was shocked by his natural tone.
Ye Chuan Kyoko never expected that he would be able to say such "shameless" words with such righteous indignation.
As for Nangong Qianyu and Ye Chuan Shagu, they were simply dazed by the domineering aura in his words.
After all, they were facing Ye Chuan Shagu's mother. Was it a bit... too arrogant to say something like this?
"All of it?"
Ye Chuan Kyoko looked at the astonishing young man before her, sneered, and said, "Young Master Ye, aren't you too greedy?"
No mother wants her child to share anything with others.
Let alone... people.
"Aunt! The matters between Shagu and I, can we resolve them ourselves!" Ye Ming did not pay attention to her cold laugh and said in a friendly tone, "If Shagu is unwilling, I will never force her, how about that?"
He understood Ye Chuan Kyoko's feelings as a mother, so Ye Ming did not feel dissatisfied with her because of this.
However, this matter was ultimately a personal emotional issue between him and Ye Chuan Shagu. And the one who could truly determine the direction of this matter was not Ye Chuan Kyoko.
It was Ye Chuan Shagu herself!
As long as she was willing, no one could stop her.
Even her mother.
"Never force her?"
Hearing this, Ye Chuan Kyoko shook her head directly, holding her daughter's hand, and said, "No one understands Shagu better than I do. The world fears her, and hence the title 'Blood Asura' was spread. However, apart from the path of killing, she is a blank slate in all other matters."
Saying this, Ye Chuan Kyoko looked at Ye Ming again, her eyes still filled with displeasure, and said, "Precisely because of this, after you saved her twice, her blank slate, untouched by any emotion, was easily colored by you. You say, for a woman who is ignorant and naive about matters of the heart, after experiencing those events, could she not fall for you?"
Could she not fall for him?
The answer was naturally no!
As the saying goes, a mother knows her daughter best. Judging from Ye Chuan Kyoko's words, this was indeed true.
Just as she said, after two events that could be considered romantic "hero saves the beauty" scenarios, would there be some emotional impact on Ye Chuan Shagu's heart, which had been sealed for many years?
If there was no impact, why did she offer no resistance to Ye Ming's out-of-control flames in that isolated space back then?
If she was unwilling, would Ye Ming truly have lost control?
The answer was, of course, no.
He could still maintain his composure even when faced with Ji Hongying's seductive provocations.
Let alone Ye Chuan Shagu at that time?
Therefore, at its core, it all depended on Ye Chuan Shagu's attitude.
After listening to Ye Chuan Kyoko's words, Ye Chuan Shagu also fell silent.
She asked herself, was she truly just experiencing her first stirrings of affection, giving her heart to the man beside her because of that momentary passion?
Ye Ming, standing beside her, also remained silent.
Some decisions ultimately had to be made by her herself.
However, Nangong Qianyu, standing nearby, slightly curved her lips. Through their interactions over the past two days, with her woman's innate intuition, she judged that some problems were not that difficult.
"Mother! You don't need to say anything more!"
Indeed, in less than a moment, Ye Chuan Shagu broke the silence.
She tightly clasped Ye Ming's hand and looked at him, her beautiful eyes shimmering with a tender, flowing light, saying, "If I had to judge my feelings for Ye Ming right now, I don't know. However..."
She gently touched her chest and smiled tenderly, "However, I am willing to believe the most direct response from my heart. My heart tells me that it wants to be with the man beside me."
"So! Mother... please bless me! Can you?"
She looked at the person closest to her in this world with a pleading gaze.
She didn't care what others thought of her. There was only one person in this world she truly cared about and needed a blessing from.
That was her mother.
She could ignore everything else.
"Shagu! You..."
Ye Chuan Kyoko opened her mouth, but when she met her daughter's hopeful gaze, all her words ultimately turned into a sigh.
"Alas! You, you!"
She shook her head helplessly, reached out to gently caress Ye Chuan Shagu's head, and smiled tenderly:
"Bless you, my daughter!"
At this point, there was nothing more to say.
Her daughter had grown up!
As a mother, it was time to let go.
Then, Ye Chuan Kyoko took the hands of these girls and looked at Ye Ming. The complex expression on her face was long gone.
"Ye Ming! I entrust Shagu to you!"
She placed Ye Chuan Shagu's hand into Ye Ming's palm and said with a hint of plea in her voice, "I couldn't give Shagu a happy life, only coldness and killing. So, from now on, please don't fail her, okay?"
Ye Chuan Kyoko did not say anything like "If you fail my daughter, I won't let you go even as a ghost."
Because she knew, she understood.
She had no right or ability to say such things.
Therefore, all she could do was to plead as a mother.
"Aunt! I have already promised you that no one will be able to harm Shagu in the slightest. Now, I promise you again..."
Ye Ming placed his fist over his chest:
"I, Ye Ming, would rather betray the heavens than betray her!"