Chapter 116: 114 Chapter: The So-called "By Any Means Necessary" (Additional Update)_1
Chapter 116: 114 Chapter: The So-called "By Any Means Necessary" (Additional Update)_1
With Mu Huanqing's departure, Fang Ren also had no desire to continue staying in the hotel. He quickly packed up, put on his school uniform, and checked out of the hotel.
It was just around four in the early morning, and the sky was still very dark, but the streets were beginning to see the occasional vehicle passing back and forth. Wearing a thin school uniform and walking on the street, the air was still quite chilly.
Fang Ren walked onto a large bridge that spanned a river, his short hair lightly swaying in the cold wind from the river, eyes following the meandering water as it stretched into the distance.
About a month ago, he had been a college student without much of a dream ahead or an abyss behind, just an average person without many worries.
Now, he had a glimmering dream to follow, and a looming abyss at his back. His mood had been consistently low and fearful. Even though he had high Cultivational Talent, even though he was from Qing'an, even though he could become very noble... none of these were enough to give him peace of mind.
In his heart now, only strength mattered.
Tap tap tap...
Soon, steady footsteps could be heard on the bridge.
Fang Ren glanced over and saw a middle-aged man in a white suit approaching him.
The man had a cigarette in his mouth, hands in the pockets of his suit pants, and the sound of his leather shoes echoed loudly in the night. He appeared to be around forty, with a resolute aura characteristic of a middle-aged man between his brows.
Thud!
When the man in the white suit was about a meter away from Fang Ren, he stopped, turned, took his hands out of his pockets, rested one hand on the railing of the bridge, gazed into the distant river, and flicked off some ash from his cigarette.
Fang Ren gave the man a look, then turned away without saying a word.
"Young Master Fang?" The man in the suit suddenly spoke up.
Fang Ren nodded, "From the right faction?"
The man in the suit glanced at him and said, "No."
"From the Bai Family?"
"Not from there either."
"Then you tell me."
"It seems in your eyes, only those from the Bai and Fang families would know your identity." The man in the suit said, "That's not the case. The Tianjiang Investigation Group and the Central District Command, they both regard you very highly."
"How highly are we talking?"
"On par with Madame Xuan, Song Mobei, and the princess herself."
"Because of the Cultivation Gene?" Fang Ren asked.
The man in the suit looked at him with some surprise, as he did not believe Young Master Fang's cultivation gene was that exceptional.
The man chuckled and said, "No, it's because of Princess Bai Xi."
Fang Ren said, "Back to what I was asking before, to whom do you belong?"
"The Tianjiang Investigation Group," the man answered.
Fang Ren still did not turn his head. He paused for a few seconds before asking, "There's something I've always been puzzled about, and I wonder if you can give me an answer."
"Go ahead," said the man.
"I'm just a worthless practitioner. Why does Old Master Bai insist on marrying his granddaughter, who has an exceptionally high Cultivational Talent, to me? Why let me ruin humanity's future?"
The man in the suit chuckled, "Old Master Bai values emotions deeply, of course, it's to let the princess repay you for saving her life."
Fang Ren looked at him coldly, "Are people from the Investigation Group so arrogant? Insulting someone's intelligence right from the get-go?"
Old Master Bai of the Bai Family values emotions? What a ridiculous international joke. Those who reach that status all adopt the proud stance that capable individuals must sacrifice themselves for humanity.
The man gave a resigned smile, waved his hand, and tossed away his cigarette, saying, "Why do you care so much? Is it that the princess isn't pretty, or that you actually like someone else?"
"Can't I just be simply curious?"
"You can," the man continued, "Since Young Master Fang likes to get to the bottom of things, I'll speak plainly. The Spiritual Root that was transplanted from you to Princess Bai Xi needs your help to evolve. It would, of course, be better if the two of you have children, as it would give the future an extra layer of security. But even if you don't, it's not a big problem.
As long as Princess Bai Xi cultivates her Dual Spiritual Roots to Peak, she will find a way to become a Shatter Space expert. Once the Void is shattered, humanity will no longer need to ensure the next generation has strong Cultivation Genes."
"You seem very confident about her shattering the Void," Fang Ren commented.
"Of course. Humanity has been struggling under the Void for over two hundred years, expending countless effort and lives. It's time to break it open," the man stated.
"But Bai Xi has someone else she likes."
"Is that a problem?" the man laughed.
Fang Ren turned back, his eyes looking down at the river below, "So to shatter the Void, you'll stop at nothing, right?"
"If Young Master Fang can see it that way, it would save the Command quite a bit of effort," the man stated.
"What if I don't see it that way? What then?"
The man's gaze turned serious, his mouth twitched slightly as he said with emphasis, "We'll stop at nothing."
"Would you force me to be with her?"
"Why do you always assume the worst, Young Master Fang?" the man replied.
"From what you're saying, forcing me to be with her is also part of 'stopping at nothing,'" Fang Ren stated expressionlessly.
As expected, everything Jian Qi'er had told him hadn't been wrong at all; everything could be expected from the Central Command. Twenty years ago, Jiang Ling had become the leader of the Nightfall Organization in just such a manner...
"Indeed," the man chuckled, "But that's the worst-case scenario. Why don't you consider making Princess Bai Xi fall in love with you? It would be much better for both of you to be in love."
"What if she just doesn't like me?"
"Rest assured, the future of all Earth's humanity lies behind you, and everyone will support you two being together; there are no ifs and buts."
"..."
Fang Ren clenched his teeth fiercely inside; these people really did like to use "the future of humanity" as a kind of responsibility, forcibly pressing it onto others' shoulders.
Disgusting!
"Alright, I have answered Young Master Fang's doubts, now let's talk about what I want to ask." The man in the suit said, "I heard that Young Master Fang had a clash with someone from the Nightfall Organization when Princess Bai Xi was captured some days ago. Could you provide us with some clues?"
"What kind of clues do you want to know?"
"For example, the part of the body the culprit was injured, True Qi attributes, height, build, and any detailed features."
"I was nearly losing my life at that time; how could I have noticed these things?" Fang Ren looked at him and said, "I only remember that the person was at the mid-stage of the Ruoshui Realm with Wood attribute True Qi, I can't recall the rest."
The man looked at him for a while, then began speaking, "Young Master Fang doesn't seem like someone who panics easily."
"Then let me blurt out something too; you seem like someone who panics easily." Fang Ren said.
The man nodded and smiled, "Okay, let's just say I'm talking nonsense. I've been talking to Young Master Fang for so long without introducing myself, how rude of me. I am the leader of this investigation group, Yuan Guoyu, responsible for investigating the Nightfall Organization and protecting Princess Bai Xi, as well as facilitating the romance between Young Master Fang and the princess.
Of course, if the Fang Family right-wing comes over, we'll take care of them too."
"My safety is none of your concern, the Fang Family's left-wing hasn't fallen to that extent yet." Fang Ren said.
"Well then, I appreciate the clue Young Master Fang has provided me." The man in the suit smiled and said, "But that's not why I came here to talk to you."
"Go on."
The man took out a lighter and lit another cigarette, saying, "You'd better break it off with Madame Xuan as soon as possible, or the Central District Command will have to step in to help you."
"What do you mean?" Fang Ren asked coldly.
The man turned his head and walked away, saying as he left, "By any means necessary!"
With that, a sky-blue light emanated from the man and he vanished on the spot.
Fang Ren stared at the place where the man had left, his brows deeply furrowed.
Just a small team leader from the Tianjiang Investigation Group, and his Realm was already at the early stages of Yingyue Realm; what Realm then would the higher-ups of the investigation group be at?
And as for those higher still, the more terrifying Central Command, what kind of monsters lurked within?
It's said that the Commander-In-Chief is at the mid-stage of the Xuanyang Realm, and most of the other commanders are at the Xuanyang Realm mid-stage as well, but now it seems that could have just been a lie to cover up their true Realms. One person at Xuanyang Realm mid-stage leading such a massive system without any chaos; Fang Ren simply didn't believe it.
Crushing the Central Command would be far more difficult than he had imagined.
A month ago, everything in this world seemed to be arranged for him by others, and everything was under someone else's control.
But now, thankfully, he had connected with Jian Qi'er and also with the Nightfall Organization, and from now on, his fate would no longer be toyed with by the high and mighty rulers.
He must marry Mu Huanqing, he simply must.
No matter how tough the road to the Central Command is, he will take it.
"Old Lin!"
Fang Ren suddenly shouted while standing on the bridge.
In a moment, a white figure appeared in front of Fang Ren; Lin Bozhong's face still wore that usual kind smile, "What is it, Young Master?"
"Did you hear the conversation just now?" Fang Ren asked.
"I was three hundred meters away from Qianye just now, I couldn't hear anything," Lin Bozhong said, "But that man, I remember he should be Yuan Guoyu from the Tianjiang Investigation Group."
"He told me it's impossible to annul the engagement with Bai Xi." Fang Ren said.
"Ah? Why is that?" Lin Bozhong was stunned.
"It's Old Master Bai's arrangement."
"This... I've never heard of such a thing." Lin Bozhong frowned and said, "You were already preparing to break off the engagement, but Madame Xuan's strength suddenly recovered, and it became difficult for you to be together, so for the time being, you didn't go to the Bai Family to discuss the matter of breaking off the engagement. But why would Old Master Bai do such a thing?"
"Enforced engagement." Fang Ren said.
"Enforced..." Lin Bozhong's face showed shock, "Could it be... they concluded from their research that it's Young Master's Cultivation Gene and Princess Bai Xi that are the most compatible?"
"I don't know, but it irritates me."
Saying this, Fang Ren turned and started walking toward the other side of the bridge.
"This... Young Master, your marriage with Madame Xuan... might not be as simple as just surpassing Song Mobei, Old Master Bai's decision..."
"Does his decision directly represent the final say, is that it?" Fang Ren asked.
Lin Bozhong sighed and shook his head, "If Young Master and Princess Bai Xi are truly the most genetically compatible pair for Cultivation, then afraid the outcome really is just that..."
"Is that so."
Fang Ren continued walking, his face expressionless.
From Lin Bozhong, he learned that the Fang Family was also unaware of this additional shackle between him and Bai Xi.
This layer of hatred, for the time being, couldn't be attributed to the Fang Family.
After all, they were also uninformed.