From the Heavens Descended an Immortal Sister

Clatter—

Fang Ren's chopsticks suddenly fell onto the table as he forced a smile, "That is… Bai Qi, you mustn't act impulsively, the emotions you're feeling right now definitely aren't your own, stay steady, don't let them influence you!"

"Huh?"

This time, it was Bai Qi's turn to be stunned. The things she just said did have a bit of the meaning Fang Ren was thinking of, but her feelings were in chaos right now, and her main purpose for saying those words was to comfort Fang Ren.

After all, Fang Ren had said he hadn't thought about pursuing her, yet he had done so much for her.

She thought he should be feeling down, so how did he suddenly look as if he had been struck by something?

Holding his forehead with one hand, Fang Ren spoke, "Just remember that the person you like is Song Mobei, and make sure not to mistake these complex emotions in your heart as feelings for me."

"You, why have you suddenly become so narcissistic?" Bai Qi's face flushed as she frowned, "When did I ever say I liked you? And the idea that a Spiritual Root can influence emotions, that's just not realistic. If you were a villain who had done many evil deeds, I'd rather ruin my own cultivation level than associate with you!"

"But…" Fang Ren said with a troubled expression, "if the Spiritual Root isn't influencing you, then why did you grab my hand as soon as you came on stage? And you didn't explain to your Brother Song, if he misunderstands, how will you pursue him?"

"This…" Bai Qi blinked blankly before immediately responding, "But you yourself said it, that was just to give me face."

In truth, Bai Qi herself was unclear about why she had acted that way at the time. Somehow, when she saw Xia Fu Lan ridiculing Fang Ren as worthless and suggesting that she wouldn't fancy Fang Ren, she had instinctively rushed up and grabbed Fang Ren's hand.

"But Song Mobei is bound to misunderstand, why didn't you explain?"

"I…" Bai Qi's words got stuck for a moment before she said, "As I said, my feelings of affection for him are still under consideration. Maybe, just like the words my grandfather once told me, I am too naive, with no experience in love, not understanding the difference between like and love."

"That's the Spiritual Root's influence!" Fang Ren hit his forehead with his palm, exasperated, "If you hadn't met me, you definitely wouldn't overthink like this. No, that's wrong, it's if you didn't have my Spiritual Root within you, then you wouldn't have these emotions."

Bai Qi frowned, her eyes fixed on the table, her expression growing serious, "If I hadn't met you, I indeed wouldn't think so much. Because if I hadn't met you, I wouldn't be here today, I wouldn't have had a conflict with Sister Furong, and I wouldn't have asked Brother Song to help you reconcile with Sister Furong. But these have nothing to do with the Spiritual Root.

Even if you hadn't saved my life with the Spiritual Root, you would still be my fiancé, and I've kept all the kindness you showed me when I had no cultivation in my heart. It's because of these reasons that I am willing to do all these things for you today, unrelated to the Spiritual Root."

Resigned, Fang Ren said, "Alright, alright, whatever you say. Whether the Spiritual Root is influencing you or not, you should come to know gradually."

"Of course, I know myself," Bai Qi continued, "And have I ever said I must pursue Brother Song? Anyway, I don't remember such a thing."

"This… hurry up and eat," Fang Ren replied as he took another pair of chopsticks from a nearby table.

Watching Bai Qi's earnest face in front of him, he made a firm resolution in his heart. He resolved to find a way to remove the Spiritual Root from Bai Qi's body. Even if he couldn't remove the Spiritual Root, at least he had to eradicate the attached emotions completely.

"I'm full," Bai Qi said.

Bai Qi casually placed the chicken leg in his hand aside and continued with that same serious expression, "Do you know why the words I'm saying to you now seem like I don't like Brother Song that much?"

"Clearly, it's because of the Spiritual Root," Fang Ren said.

"Don't talk nonsense," Bai Qi continued. "Just before, when you and Xia Fu Lan set the appointment to compete in Sword Dao tomorrow, I was afraid you would lose face, so I sought help from Brother Song, hoping he could make things right and downplay the incident. But I didn't expect him to refuse me with reasons that sounded so justifiable and yet left me at a loss for words.

It was the first time I saw Brother Song refuse someone's reasonable request. My request was very sensible, solely intended to preserve harmony. Yet, when he refused, it was as if it had been carefully considered, allowing this face-losing competition to continue and gaining everyone's acknowledgment of its validity."

Fang Ren was stunned for a moment, realizing that this girl was not dumb at all, but rather clever.

Bai Qi looked at the table and continued, "This incident made me understand that at the Orchid Bamboo Alchemist Meeting Place earlier, and in certain matters, he is ultimately the big brother of the Tiandao Sword Sect, while I am your fiancée, Fang Ren. The person I must help is you, and the person he must help is Xia Fu Lan.

I have no doubts about Brother Song's integrity; it's just that our positions are different, and we should act accordingly. He believes Xia Fu Lan should find her way back from losing face on her own, and that's not wrong. Even I think he's right, after all, it was you who spoke of Sword Dao in the meeting, and they simply went with the flow."

"And then what?"

Fang Ren suddenly found that Bai Qi, when she talked without being foolish, was actually quite pleasant to listen to.

"And then..." Bai Qi paused for a bit, "I still chose to help you, I still spoke up hoping he would assist you in canceling the competition. It was your arrogance that caused this trouble when you claimed superiority over Xia Fu Lan in Sword Dao, just like her arrogance in Alchemy at that time."

"But that's not the main point I want to talk about," Bai Qi pinched her fingers and continued. "The main point is, this incident made me acutely aware that Brother Song will not always support me. He doesn't consider me as special as I had imagined.

Back when I was in the Tiandao Sword Sect, he took great care of me, assisting me almost all the time, and I believed I held a special place in his eyes, which is why he was so kind to me. That was when I began to develop feelings for him. But now I see that my behavior at that time could only be summed up in two words, the two words you often attribute to me: 'overthinking'." Join us at mp _yr now.

"So, to put it all together, you're admitting that you can't differentiate between liking someone and being in love, which this incident made you realize might also be the case with your feelings for Song Mobei?" Fang Ren pondered for a moment and asked.

"Yes," Bai Qi nodded. "I'm feeling very confused right now, and my words are all jumbled, but luckily you understand them."

"But this issue has nothing to do with 'your mood being affected by the Spiritual Root'," Fang Ren said. "We were talking about whether the Spiritual Root was good or not."

"It does relate," Bai Qi replied. "I think the fact that I'm able to distinguish my feelings for Brother Song at the moment also indirectly proves that I haven't been influenced by the Spiritual Root. If I were influenced by it, then I would have no reason to feel like I like Brother Song, hence I should have liked you without reason as well."

After hearing her words, Fang Ren fell silent, finding there was some sense in that.

But if it wasn't the influence of the Spiritual Root, it still didn't explain why Bai Qi grabbed his hand on stage because, at that time, Bai Qi's feelings towards Song Mobei hadn't changed, and she hadn't asked him for help yet.

How should one interpret this hand-holding?

In the absence of influence from the Spiritual Root, and even without any change in her feelings towards Song Mobei, she was holding his hand in front of thousands of people at the meeting place...

If that was really the case, there was only one explanation: Bai Qi didn't like Song Mobei as much as she claimed she did; she merely had a good impression of him.

Furthermore, if her emotions were not influenced by the Spiritual Root... it meant that it was due to her own feelings for Fang Ren that she acted that way, not for any other reason.

With this realization, Fang Ren was bewildered.

If everything Bai Qi did at the meeting place today was driven by her most genuine inner emotions, could it mean that...

Bai Qi... her liking, or fondness for him, had surpassed that for Song Mobei?!