Chapter 214: Chapter 211: Jiang Ling Comes to Tianjiang_1
Fang Ren simply couldn't understand such a thing.
Bai Qi had only recently come into contact with him, right? It hadn't even been a month. How could she suddenly like him more than Song Mobei?
Confronted with this issue, Bai Qi claimed that her feelings had not been influenced by the Spiritual Root, something Fang Ren steadfastly refused to believe. However, the argument she just made was not entirely unreasonable.
If the impact of the Spiritual Root was really that significant, then she shouldn't be able to analyze her feelings for Song Mobei so rationally; instead, she should be unreasonably extracting her emotions.
But the two explanations were contradictory, and Fang Ren did not want to acknowledge either.
"This matter... I think you still need to seriously explore your own heart. Perhaps there are some aspects you've neglected," Fang Ren said.
Bai Qi nodded, did not continue speaking, and kept her eyes fixed on the table without raising her head again.
She had said too much just now, and each sentence was so sensitive.
She was well aware that by denying her feelings were influenced by the Spiritual Root, it also meant that she acknowledged the emotions she felt for Fang Ren possibly surpassed those she had for Song Mobei in some ways.
Of course, the scope of her feelings' definition was only on certain aspects. Like today's incident, she would definitely stand by Fang Ren's side, even if it led to a misunderstanding with Song Mobei.
By the end of the meal, Fang Ren became weighed down with cares, occasionally shaking his head and sighing, whereas Bai Qi seemed to have gained clarity and did not babble much with Fang Ren.
At two o'clock, the car departed the station bound for Tianjiang. As Fang Ren sat in the vehicle, looking at Bai Qi playing with her phone beside him, he had no inclination to close his eyes and cultivate.
Three hours later, upon their arrival in Tianjiang, how should he explain his relationship with Mu Huanqing to Bai Qi?
The development of events was completely different from what he had anticipated. He had assumed that once in Tianjiang, he would face the challenge head-on, and it wouldn't matter to him if Bai Qi ended up disliking him.
The whole situation made him feel like he had deceived someone who liked him, and in three hours, he was going to hurt her deeply... If Bai Qi had no feelings of affection towards him, then it would all be fine. But now, the problem was completely different.
"Sigh!"
As Fang Ren pondered, he let out another deep sigh.
No sooner had he sighed than Bai Qi, sitting beside him, rolled her eyes and looked over, "I really don't get it. Why the heck are you sighing?"
In her view, if Fang Ren liked her and now that she had made her feelings so clear, he should be feeling happy.
"I don't know," Fang Ren said, slapping his forehead in exasperation.
"Don't try to brush it off. How many times have you sighed on this journey?"
"I told you I really don't like you. Why don't you believe me?"
"Hey, I've made myself crystal clear, and you're still avoiding," Bai Qi protested.
Fang Ren fell into utter despair, "Please, just leave me be, let me have some peace."
"Playing coy after getting your way," Bai Qi pouted, then turned her face away, refusing to look at him again.
...
The three-hour drive felt so prolonged, an unprecedented sensation for Fang Ren. He had thought the journey would simply be passed with eyes closed, cultivating in tranquility, but now he realized that concentrating on cultivation was unrealistic. Experience tales on _emp _y,r.
"Ding dong~"
Suddenly, the ringtone of the cell phone sounded, and Fang Ren hastily took it out from his pocket to check— it was a message from Jian Qi'er.
"Why did you get into a conflict with the Tiandao Sword Sect? You didn't say anything that made them suspect your identity, did you?"
Fang Ren was stunned for a moment, realizing that the girl thought he had gotten into conflict with the Tiandao Sword Sect over organizational issues.
Without much thought, Fang Ren typed out a reply: "This has nothing to do with the organization; it's a personal issue I need to deal with."
Shortly after, another text arrived on his phone.
"Alright then, although I'm not clear on what issues you have with Xia Fu Lan, I hope you can keep an eye on their movements during the finals of the pill competition."
"Sure thing."
"Oh, one more thing— the leader might go to Tianjiang to find you in the next couple of days."
"Huh? Why is Leader Jiang Ling coming to find me?"
"Recently, the leader has had very unstable conditions in her Realm, her meridians are somewhat like breaking through but it's really strange. The Alchemists in the organization can't figure out her situation either, so they want you to help out."
"Alright, let me know when she arrives."
Jian Qi'er didn't send any more messages after that, and Fang Ren, staring at the phone screen, suddenly felt a bit of pressure. Jiang Ling was coming over, and for some reason, he had a bad premonition.
Mu Huanqing was here too, and the Qi Concealing Pills he provided were not very effective for a Xuanyang Realm early-stage powerhouse like Jiang Ling. If she were to be exposed and the Nine Heavens Corps swarmed in, it would be the end.
He could only hope she had some way to hide her identity.
The journey ahead was long and he was focused on cultivating, so Fang Ren pulled out little Qianye to chat with him. But just as he had taken the little guy out, Bai Qi snatched him away from the side.
In the end, Fang Ren could only check the news and chatted with messages from Jing Haichuan and Li Xingwang for a while to pass the remaining time.
"Hey, there's something I forgot to ask you."
Just as they were about to arrive at their destination, Bai Qi, who was toying with little Qianye, turned to Fang Ren.
"What?" Fang Ren set down his almost dead cell phone.
"When you took me flying before, it seemed like your Realm had broken through by a lot." Bai Qi spoke up.
"You're just noticing now?"
"It's mainly because things were too chaotic before, and I didn't get the chance to ask you." Bai Qi patted little Qianye's head, looking puzzled, and said, "Looking at you now, your Realm is at least at the Peak of the Chongshan Realm, right? I really don't understand how strong your cultivation talent is.
In less than a month, you've gone from the Peak of Intense Concentration Realm right to where you are now, basically averaging a breakthrough every three days."
"Early Stage of Xianyun Realm."
"..."
Bai Qi was stunned, blinking his large eyes, "Are you sure you're not exaggerating?"
"Have I ever lied to you?" Fang Ren said.
"..."
After a while, Bai Qi looked away, muttering to himself, "I really don't know what kind of monster you are. You're a freak when it comes to alchemy, and your cultivation is even scarier. If it weren't for the incident when I was a kid, you might even be breaking through the legendary Realm by now."