Heartless Yet Feeling

[Ji Wuqing’s face flushed.]

[“Are you really that grateful to me?”]

[“Of course! Helping me break through was as good as giving me a new life!”]

[“Enough, enough. What do you mean, giving you a new life? I don’t want to be your mother. If you want to repay me, that’s easy—marry me!”]

[You hurriedly pushed Ji Wuqing out of your embrace.]

[“Miss Wuqing, I was being rather improper just now.”]

[“Why are you pretending to be so proper with me? When we went to the Dapan Hot Springs last time, didn’t we bathe in the same pool?”]

[“Hey, hey, Wuqing, it was fine because there was no one else around. You can’t say things like that outside! There were hundreds of people in that pool, and everyone was fully clothed!”]

[“Who knows whether you secretly peeked with your divine sense!”]

[“Then I really am covered in mud and can’t explain myself…”]

[You were curious why Ji Wuqing and Ji Baiming were always trying to make you marry into their family.]

[It could be said that, over the past century, this father and daughter had never given up on the idea.]

[Of course, Ji Baiming sometimes recommended his daughter to other promising young men as well. He wasn’t only keeping his eyes on you.]

[Ji Wuqing told you that she was the eldest daughter of the family head and a direct descendant of the main branch.]

[According to their ancestral laws, the position of family head should, in order of succession, be passed to a legitimate eldest child like her.]

[But she was a woman.]

[That had not originally been a problem. Legend had it that the Ji family’s ancestors had even gone through periods when the position was passed only to women and not men.]

[However, Ji Wuqing had always remained single. She had neither married nor had any children.]

[If the position of family head were passed to her in the future, then should anything happen to her, the succession of her branch would be severed. That could trigger a struggle for the position among the family’s core members.]

[After all, once the main line of the eldest legitimate branch ended, anyone could find an excuse to claim the position, regardless of how close or distant their relation was.]

[That was why the Ji family had strict rules: regardless of whether the successor was male or female, they had to be married, and preferably have children.]

[Even if they had no children, they could not remain single.]

[“Now you understand, right? To be honest, putting that factor aside, I do like you.”]

[“Uh… You really are straightforward.”]

[“What’s so strange about that? I, Ji Wuqing, never put on airs. If I like someone, I say so; if I dislike someone, I say that too!

You have a heroic spirit. You were willing to fight your way through an encirclement for a child you didn’t even know and race across the distant stars. I like that!

You also have a faint air of melancholy. You hide it very deeply, but I can see it. It’s incredibly captivating. I like that!

Your Dao heart is firm, and you’re tenacious, persistent, and of excellent character. I like that too!”]

[Ji Wuqing’s praise made you feel embarrassed.]

[“Am I really that good? Don’t flatter me to death… Speaking of which, do you really want to become family head?”]

[“Of course.”]

[“Who would have thought you were such a power fanatic?”]

[“Heh heh…”]

[Ji Wuqing tossed back her waterfall-like hair and began striding back and forth in front of you, one hand clasped behind her back, looking every inch like someone surveying the world and directing its affairs.]

[“You know that I’m an important member of the Kindling Society, but the Ji family isn’t. Every time I try to obtain some resources from the family, it’s a tremendous hassle.

And by ‘some resources,’ I mean vast quantities—not enough to supply just one or two people.

But if I became the Ji family’s head, just imagine how much more smoothly many of the Kindling Society’s operations and training programs would go!”]

[You were rather moved.]

[Ji Wuqing wanted to become family head not for herself, but for the Kindling Society, so that the human race’s talented youths could grow up safely and receive proper training.]

[She was doing something of immeasurable merit.]

[The voice in your heart told you that you ought to help her.]

[—Ji Wuqing could marry any man she wanted, of course, but she would rather find someone she truly liked. She had every right to that.]

[Whenever you wanted to agree to Ji Wuqing’s proposal, a certain name would flash before your eyes.]

[Li Lingyue.]

[Strange…]

[Clearly, you had not interacted with Li Lingyue at all in this life, and you had not inherited the feelings from your previous lives. Where had this inexplicable affection come from?]

[“Wuqing, you’ve helped me so much. It seems I can only repay you with my body—”]

[“Wait! An urgent message just came in. It’s from the Kindling Society. I need to receive it!”]

[Ji Wuqing suddenly left, looking extremely anxious.]

[Once she left, she was gone for nearly a year.]

Looking at the equipment bar, which now held as many as thirty-three slots, Chen Yi had never felt so well supplied.

He directly equipped fourteen golden Legendary items and six prismatic Mythic items.

That used only twenty slots.

The remaining thirteen slots were more than enough for the purple Epic and green Rare items.

So much so that Chen Yi even put the “Ageless Male God” title back on.

Although “Wolverine” meant that Chen Yi would no longer age, “Ageless Male God” directly restored him to the fresh-faced stage of eighteen, making him look even more handsome and full of youthful spirit.

“To think I’m almost two hundred years old. Times really have changed.”

Thinking back to his first five simulations, living to a hundred had been a luxury.

This time, he had effortlessly approached two hundred years of age.

[Year 169, age 193.]

[Although Ji Wuqing’s departure had been sudden, you did not sense anything unusual.]

[After all, she was an underground operative and often received sudden assignments.]

[Whenever something like this happened, she would immediately put aside whatever she was doing and rush to the scene.]

[Of course, she would not take you with her, since you had never formally sworn allegiance to the society.]

[Ji Wuqing had never invited you to join, either. She had only said that the Kindling Society did not recruit informants in that way.]

[If you particularly wanted to join, she could refer you. After that, you would need to undergo several years of observation and pass multiple trials.]

[You found it a little troublesome, so you did not apply on your own initiative. Besides, you had a good relationship with Ji Wuqing, and if the Kindling Society ever encountered serious trouble, you could always lend a hand.]

[You could sense that the organization did not have many members.]

[They were extremely cautious in everything they did.]

[Their advantage was that they had existed for an extraordinarily long time. Thus, even though their expansion was slow, they had established a presence on nearly all the major planets—at least within the Milky Way’s home galaxy.]

[This day, you were cultivating on Ancient Firmament Mountain.]

[—Ji Xiaosong had secretly helped you get up there.]

[Now that your cultivation bottleneck had been broken, you were in the stage of rapidly increasing your cultivation level, so you diligently cultivated day and night without pause.]

[Ji Xiaosong was nearby as well.]

[“Ah, it’s so nice with Cousin gone. My ears are finally at peace.”]

[You smiled and paused your circulation of energy.]

[“Xiaosong, your cousin actually likes you very much.”]

[“Give me a break. She just bullies me because I’m honest, making me act as her lackey and serve her tea and water all day. She keeps getting in the way of my cultivation.”]

[“She’ll become family head in the future and lead the entire Ji clan. Is serving as her lackey really beneath you?”]

[“When you put it that way… Sigh! The main thing is that Cousin never acts like a family head. I think Brother Xiaori has a better chance of becoming family head.”]

[Ji Xiaori, one of Ji Wuqing’s younger brothers, was also exceptionally talented in cultivation.]

[Ji Xiaori also possessed considerable leadership ability. He had already taken control of many of the Ji family’s businesses and held a certain amount of real power.]

【In this regard, Ji Wuqing was completely outmatched.】

【Ji Wuqing had done it deliberately. By refusing to involve herself in family affairs, she could deal with matters concerning the Tinder Society at any time.】