Parting

"Ding, Qian Renxue's favorability has changed. Current favorability: 567/1000."

Hearing the system's voice, Chen Qi nodded with satisfaction.

For the past two years, he'd told lie after lie with a straight face, slowly raising her favorability.

Chen Qi's Favor Points were now close to eight hundred. If her favorability didn't drop, he wasn't far from maxing it out.

Going by the strategies he'd used before, there might even be some special CG or something.

But with Qian Renxue's figure, a special CG wouldn't trigger anyway.

"Brother Chen Qi! What a coincidence!"

Hu Liena popped out of the shadows like a fox.

Chen Qi jumped back several steps, afraid Qian Renxue would find out he'd been faking things to raise her favorability.

"Hu Liena! Why are you here again?"

Qian Renxue shielded Chen Qi behind her, afraid this stinking fox would snatch him away if she let her guard down for even a moment.

"I came to see Brother Chen Qi. What's that got to do with you?"

Hu Liena wasn't about to back down. She shot back at her.

Over the past two years, Chen Qi's handsome face had taken root deep in her heart, haunting her day and night.

Even before she'd awakened her Martial Soul, she'd already developed feelings for him.

To get a few more words in with Chen Qi and see him more often, Hu Liena was always arranging all sorts of "chance" encounters.

She thought that would make Chen Qi fall for her.

Little did she know, he had absolutely no interest in her as she was now.

Even after she grew up, Chen Qi still wouldn't be interested in her.

With her shallow obsession with looks and love-addled brain, she'd been so bewitched by Tang San that she'd even betrayed Spirit Hall. That alone made her unworthy of Chen Qi's friendship.

Chen Qi looked at her and sighed helplessly. If he didn't say something soon, her favorability would drop again.

Whenever she showed up, there was a nine-in-ten chance his favorability would fall.

"Hu Liena, could you please stop coming to see me? I'm really tired."

"Brother Chen Qi, where are you tired? Want me to give you a rub?"

Chen Qi was utterly speechless. How could Hu Liena be so stubborn?

She'd been rejected for two years straight. Even Bibi Dong would've given up chasing Yu Xiaogang by now, but this weirdo only got more excited the more he rejected her.

"You hear that? My Chen Qi said he doesn't want you coming to see him. Come again and don't blame me for beating you up!"

"Hmph! My teacher is Her Majesty the Pope. If you hurt me, Her Majesty the Pope will kill you! And when did Chen Qi become yours?"

Hu Liena had no idea about the relationship between Qian Renxue and Bibi Dong.

All she knew was that Qian Renxue was Qian Daoliu's granddaughter and wasn't particularly close with Bibi Dong.

After hearing Hu Liena's words, Qian Renxue trembled with rage, wishing she could grab that fox's tail and crush it on the spot.

"Chen Qi is my Martial Soul, so he's mine!"

Hu Liena wasn't about to back down either.

"Brother Chen Qi is Brother Chen Qi. Even if he's your Martial Soul, that doesn't mean you can claim him as your property."

Was that even human language?

Chen Qi seriously wondered if Hu Liena was right in the head. Had she been starved stupid as a child? Was that any way for a person to talk?

"Hu Liena, you're asking for a beating!"

She raised her hand, ready to slap Hu Liena a few times and teach her a lesson.

Just then, a hand appeared out of nowhere and clamped around Qian Renxue's arm.

She looked over in confusion, then flushed red with anger.

"You again, Bibi Dong!"

Bibi Dong shot her a cold glare, then drew Hu Liena into her arms and gently comforted her.

"Nana, she didn't bully you, did she? Are you hurt?"

"Teacher, I'm fine. I was just playing with Brother Chen Qi."

Watching this, Qian Renxue ground her teeth in fury. Ever since Bibi Dong had taken Hu Liena as her disciple, she'd always gone out of her way to dote on her whenever Qian Renxue was around.

She'd given Hu Liena all the motherly love that should have belonged to Qian Renxue.

It made Qian Renxue want to kill the pair of them every waking moment.

"Qian Renxue, Nana was talking to Chen Qi. Why are you butting in? If you don't like it, just give Chen Qi to Nana."

Bibi Dong's words finally pushed Qian Renxue over the edge. To her, Chen Qi was everything.

Anyone who wanted to take him away would have to step over her dead body.

Golden light enveloped Chen Qi's body. Ten enormous golden wings unfurled behind him, and his long golden hair flowed down to his waist.

A powerful, sacred force erupted from him.

Qian Renxue clenched her fists and glared at Bibi Dong and Hu Liena, snarling each word through gritted teeth.

"You—say—that—again!"

Boom!

A massive Death Spider Emperor appeared behind Bibi Dong.

She was ready to go head-to-head with Qian Renxue today.

Power poured out of her, pressing down hard on Qian Renxue. It felt as if a mountain had been dropped on her.

Seeing this, Chen Qi hurriedly shielded Qian Renxue and pushed the pressure away. Otherwise, she would've been forced to kneel before Bibi Dong.

"Bibi Dong, are you trying to die?!"

Boom!

The Angel Phantom appeared, and an even more powerful force descended from above.

It crushed Bibi Dong's Death Poison Strain back into her. All color drained from her face, leaving her deathly pale.

Qian Daoliu, the Grand Elder, slowly descended from the sky, glaring at Bibi Dong, who'd been about to attack Qian Renxue.

"In broad daylight, under the clear sky, what do you think you're doing?"

Bibi Dong struggled to stay upright and gritted her teeth as she replied.

"I was just taking Nana for a stroll. Qian Renxue started this."

"Bullshit! You told me to give Chen Qi to that damned Hu Liena!"

Qian Renxue quickly retorted, instinctively grabbing hold of Chen Qi.

"That's enough! Bibi Dong, keep your disciple in line. If she stirs up trouble again, don't blame me for appointing a new Pope."

Though she was still deeply unhappy, she couldn't yet stand against Qian Daoliu. She could only back down for now and wait until she'd completed the divine trial to depose him.

"Nana, let's go!"

With that, she grabbed Hu Liena and hurried away in disgrace.

The golden light around Chen Qi faded, and he returned to normal.

He looked at Qian Daoliu. Had his appearance made the old man even more protective of his own?

"Xue'er, are you all right? Bibi Dong didn't hurt you, did she?"

Qian Daoliu went to Qian Renxue and carefully checked her over for injuries, asking with concern.

"Grandpa, I'm fine. I just don't want to lose Chen Qi."

Hearing this, Qian Daoliu finally relaxed and comforted her.

"Don't worry, Xue'er. Chen Qi will never leave you. He's your Martial Soul, and the two of you are one. No matter how much Bibi Dong wants him, there's nothing she can do."

Qian Renxue silently nodded. It was hard to tell whether she'd taken in a word of it.

"Ding, Qian Renxue's favorability has changed. Current favorability: 650/1000."

Chen Qi was stunned. He hadn't expected her favorability to rise by so much. What else had Qian Renxue been hiding?

The next morning, Qian Renxue woke up, pushed away Chen Qi, who had been holding her, and patted his face.

"Chen Qi, wake up. Today we're officially setting out for our trials."

Chen Qi looked at Qian Renxue with tear-filled eyes and pleaded.

"Can't we just call the whole thing off?"

"Hehe, of course not."

The future was pitch-black. Where could he find a glimmer of light?

Hu Liena, come back! I'll go with you. I'll go with you!

Chen Qi regretted not accepting Hu Liena's offer earlier. If he'd known things would turn out like this, he wouldn't have cared if his favorability dropped. Staying home was what mattered most.

When he opened the door, Snake Lance Douluo and Pufferfish Douluo had already been waiting for quite some time.

"Young Master, when shall we set out?"

"Now. Our first stop is the Heaven Dou Empire!"