Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

Chapter 233 Affection
Song Qingru's smile faded, and he said softly, "When Xue Lin and I left the secret realm of Dongxu Mountain, we were blocked by Qi Hong from Ziyang Sect. Fortunately, we were saved by Senior Brother Mo Jingchun."

"After leaving the secret realm, I wanted to wait for Senior Brother Chen to come out and thank him, but he was trapped in the secret realm. I had no choice but to give up."

"After returning to the sect, I exchanged two foundation-building pills from the sect and successfully built my foundation. Since then, I have been cultivating with peace of mind and running around for the sect's missions."

"It was not until ten years later that I learned from Senior Brother Mo that Senior Brother Chen had actually walked out of the secret realm of Dongxu Mountain alive and successfully established his foundation, thwarting the Ziyang Sect's conspiracy. So I wanted to pay him a visit."

"Unfortunately, my senior brother was in seclusion, so I never had the chance to see him. Today I finally have the chance to thank him."

"If Senior Brother Chen hadn't led us into the secret realm back then, I wouldn't have been able to harvest enough spiritual herbs to exchange for foundation-building pills..."

Song Qingru looked at Chen Yuan intently, and in a gentle voice, she recounted his experiences over the past ten years.

Chen Yuan felt a little strange in his heart. He had originally exchanged a few words with Song Qingru out of courtesy, but he did not expect that this woman would tell him every detail of her past experiences, as if she were pouring out her heart to a good friend, which caught him off guard.

But now that things have come to this, he can only continue: "Junior Sister Song, you don't have to be polite. If it weren't for the help of Junior Sister Song, Junior Brother Xue, Junior Brother He, and the three Taoist friends from the Tiangang Sword Sect, I would not have been able to enter the inner ring to search for spiritual herbs on my own. This is a mutually beneficial move."

"I just didn't expect that I actually knew Senior Brother Mo. He and I have been friends for many years. I just need to ask Senior Brother Mo to pass on a message, and I will come to visit you after I come out of seclusion."

Song Qingru smiled and said, "If we are destined to meet, we will naturally meet. Why force it?"

As she spoke, she kept looking at Chen Yuan with gentle eyes and a faint smile on her face.

Chen Yuan felt even more weird in his heart. Song Qingru's eyes gave him a feeling of familiarity and strangeness. Familiarity was because he had seen it before, and strangeness was because he had only seen it in his previous life.

Chen Yuan had had many women in his previous life. Some of them were casual relationships, but some were true lovers. This look clearly implied affection.

But now he is wholeheartedly pursuing the truth and doesn't care about matters between men and women at all. There are not many female cultivators around him, and he has never seen this kind of look again.

He was very puzzled. He had very little interaction with Song Qingru, so how could Song Qingru have feelings for him?
Chen Yuan's smile was a little stiff. He didn't know what to say, so he could only say, "This battle is extremely dangerous. Junior Sister Song must be more careful."

Song Qingru nodded slightly, but her eyes never left Chen Yuan: "Thank you for your reminder, Senior Brother. I will save you some trouble. Senior Brother, please be careful too."

Chen Yuan nodded and fell silent.

Song Qingru also fell silent. The atmosphere was a little awkward. After a while, she suddenly said, "Xue Lin died two years ago because of being possessed by the devil. Like me, he left the Dongxu Mountain Secret Realm and exchanged two foundation-building pills from the sect. He successfully built his foundation and received support from his family. Five years ago, he cultivated to the peak of the early stage of foundation-building."

"But he was stuck at the bottleneck of the middle stage. His state of mind was unstable. During his retreat, he became possessed and his soul was devoured by an external demon."

Chen Yuan didn't know why she suddenly brought this up, so he could only continue to follow her words: "Xue Lin has gone astray? What a pity..."

Song Qingru sighed softly: "This is also my fault. At that time, Xue Lin and I were almost engaged, but I required him to break through the bottleneck in the middle stage before I would become his Taoist partner."

"In his haste, he forced his way through the barrier, and when he failed, he attracted the foreign demons."

"If I hadn't made this request, maybe he wouldn't have forced his way through and gone astray."

"After this incident, the Xue family of Tuozhou was extremely dissatisfied with me. They only avoided causing trouble for me because they took into consideration my status as an elder in the family and my status as a disciple of the Lingyun Sect. However, they spread rumors behind my back, giving me a reputation as a woman who brings bad luck to her husband."

Chen Yuan frowned and said, "The path of cultivating immortals is to go against the will of heaven. Even if this incident had not happened, Junior Brother Xue would have reached the bottleneck in the middle stage. How can you blame Junior Sister?"

Song Qingru shook her head and said softly, "My engagement with Xue Lin is an alliance between the Song family of Yunzhou and the Xue family of Tuozhou. I just made a request to Xue Lin, and he went crazy in seclusion. It is inevitable that the Xue family will blame me."

Chen Yuan's heart moved. Could it be that he had misunderstood, and Song Qingru just wanted to ask him for help?
But he had no friendship with the Xue family and could not help Song Qingru. Moreover, the decisive battle with the demon cultivator was imminent, so he had no time to be distracted and waste his energy on such things.

Chen Yuan was thinking about how to decline. Song Qingru suddenly smiled and said, "I'm sorry to make you laugh. These things have nothing to do with you. It's just that today the six major sects are fighting against the two major demon sects. I am not sure if I can survive this battle. I am worried that I will never have the chance to see you again, so I just want to speak out. If there is anything wrong, please forgive me."

She bowed to Chen Yuan, turned her head, looked at the blue sky in the distance, and said softly: "In fact, in the secret realm of Dongxu Mountain, I fell in love with my senior brother..."

Chen Yuan looked at Song Qingru with a surprised expression. Her cheeks were slightly red. Her hands were entangled in front of her. She kept looking into the distance and continued, "I am not very talented. I only have pseudo spiritual roots. Senior Brother Chen is a casual cultivator. He should know how precious cultivation resources are. A pseudo spiritual root cultivator like me needs at least two foundation-building pills to have a chance to succeed in building a foundation. Moreover, the chance of failure is not small. Even if I am a direct descendant of the Song family, I can't get a foundation-building pill."

"I can only enter the Lingyun Sect and have the opportunity to build my foundation after passing the Ascension Conference. Therefore, I have been practicing hard since I was a child. I have never entered the world of immortal cultivation, and I have never even walked in the mortal world. I only occasionally practice with the elders to accumulate experience in fighting."

"Fortunately, my grandfather gave me a fake talisman, and I successfully passed the Ascension Conference. However, the secret realm of Dongxu Mountain is even more dangerous than the Ascension Conference. I dare not be negligent in the slightest."

"I am unwilling to be just a Qi-refining cultivator, dying after a hundred years."

"But I'm not greedy. I don't have good aptitude, and it's as difficult as ascending to heaven to form a pill. As long as I can successfully build a foundation and live twice as long, I will be satisfied."

"At that time, Xue Lin had feelings for me, but I was focused on cultivation and didn't take it to heart. It was only after entering the secret realm that I joined him and searched for spiritual herbs together."

"But the spiritual herbs in the outer ring are scarce. If you want to get enough spiritual herbs, you can only enter the inner ring."

"When I received a call from Senior Brother Chen and learned that the disciples of Ziyang Sect and Guiyuan Sect had joined forces to block the inner ring passage, I was panicked and didn't know what to do. I just forced myself to stay calm and agreed to Senior Brother's proposal to join forces."

“After seeing the dozen or so disciples from Ziyang Sect and Guiyuan Sect, I never thought that it would be possible to break into the inner ring with just seven people.”

“But Senior Brother Chen displayed his divine power, fighting against eight people alone without losing the slightest advantage. He even killed one of them, shocking the disciples of the two sects and causing them to retreat…”

At this point, Song Qingru paused, the blush on her cheeks deepened a little, and a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth: "From then on, I fell in love with Senior Brother."

Chen Yuan opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Song Qingru: "Brother, can you let me finish?"

Chen Yuan closed his mouth. Song Qingru still looked into the distance and said softly, "I know, this kind of affection seems a little inexplicable."

"But since I was a child, besides practicing, I have loved reading mortal novels and legends, and I dreamed of marrying a powerful, handsome and elegant monk."

"Xue Lin treats me well, but he doesn't like me, but the legitimate daughter of the Song family in Yunzhou. I have never had any feelings for him." "But my senior brother has an extraordinary demeanor and great strength, and he stood up in a critical moment. How can I not be moved?"

"It's just that I was in a secret realm at the time, surrounded by dangers. I planned to confess my feelings to my senior brother after I left the secret realm, but I didn't expect that my senior brother was trapped in the secret realm and couldn't come out..."

Song Qingru blinked, with memories in his eyes: "After returning to the sect, I used the spiritual herbs to exchange for two foundation-building pills, and successfully built the foundation. For the next ten years, I concentrated on cultivation, and only occasionally thought of my brother."

"During this period, Xue Lin proposed to me several times to become my Taoist partner, but I refused. However, he persuaded the elders of my clan, and my father also put pressure on me, hoping that I would marry Xue Lin and form a marriage between our two families."

"My grandfather has always doted on me, but he also thinks Xue Lin is a good match, so I had no choice but to agree."

Song Qingru smiled bitterly: "I was able to join the sect because I enjoyed the cultivation resources of the clan. After I succeed in cultivation, I naturally need to give back to the clan. It is difficult to refuse the proposal of marriage."

"If my senior brother were still alive, I would definitely express my feelings to him and would never obey him even if I died."

"But I thought my senior brother had died in the secret realm of Dongxu Mountain, so I had no choice but to agree."

“But not long after, I heard from others that my senior brother had walked out of the secret realm of Dongxu Mountain alive and successfully established his foundation, thwarting the plans of Ziyang and Guiyuan Sects.”

"I immediately found Senior Brother Mo and asked him about this matter. I was very happy to learn that he was indeed safe and sound. I wanted to meet him, but unfortunately he had already gone into seclusion and I had no chance to see him."

She smiled bitterly and shook her head. Chen Yuan sighed and said, "Why didn't Junior Sister leave me a sound transmission talisman?"

Song Qingru stared blankly into the distance, her eyes dimmed: "I had this thought too, but Xue Lin was advancing very fast at that time and had already reached the bottleneck of the middle stage. The clan had been putting pressure on me to make Xue Lin and I become a Taoist couple."

"Senior Brother is a casual cultivator, while Xue Lin is backed by the Xue family of Tuozhou. After much consideration, I didn't want to cause trouble for Senior Brother, so I didn't send the sound transmission talisman and didn't bother him. I just occasionally asked Senior Brother Mo about his situation, and I was satisfied."

"It was only because of my senior brother's appearance that I didn't want to marry Xue Lin anymore, so I asked him to break through the bottleneck in the middle stage first, and then become his Taoist partner. I didn't expect that he would go crazy because of this."

At this point, her voice became a little depressed: "Although Xue Lin's intentions were not pure, he was very good to me. I just wanted to delay for a while, but I didn't expect him to force his way through. In the end, I harmed him."

Chen Yuan said calmly: "Since the invasion of the demon cultivators, all the cultivators in Qi have been eager to improve their cultivation. In my opinion, Junior Brother Xue's move is not entirely for the marriage contract, so Junior Sister does not need to blame herself."

Song Qingru nodded, and suddenly smiled, turning to look at Chen Yuan, her beautiful eyes full of tenderness: "Later, I came to the Demon-Slaying Desert and learned that Senior Brother had killed seven demon cultivators in the first battle with the Demon Sect. I was very happy, but it was a pity that Senior Brother had already returned to the sect to recuperate, so I missed the chance to meet him."

"It was not until today that I finally met my senior brother. More than 20 years have passed, and he is still the same as he was back then, with an extraordinary demeanor and handsome appearance."

Chen Yuan lowered his eyes slightly, avoiding Song Qingru's gaze, and whispered: "Junior Sister Song, I..."

"I know that Senior Brother has no feelings for me." Song Qingru said with a smile, "Senior Brother and I have only met twice. Senior Brother is so brilliant, and I am just an ordinary fellow sister of Senior Brother. Senior Brother will naturally not notice me. I am just wishful thinking."

Chen Yuan fell silent. Song Qingru turned her head and looked at the white clouds floating in the sky in the distance. She said softly, "I have never wished to be a Taoist partner with my senior brother."

"Brother, I can tell at a glance that he is a hard-working monk with a firm heart for the Tao. He has great potential for the Tao, so why would he care about love?"

"I just want to express my feelings to you before the war, so as to avoid any regrets."

She turned around and smiled faintly: "Brother Chen, thank you for listening to me finish all these words."

After saying this, she bowed and turned to leave.

Chen Yuan did not say anything to try to keep her, but just silently looked at Song Qingru's graceful back.

It turned out that there was a cold woman who had liked him for more than 20 years and had been silently watching him.

Song Qingru was very beautiful, more beautiful than any woman he had ever seen in his previous life.

He was deeply touched and hesitated whether to accept Song Qingru's feelings.

He has never been a person of indifference, otherwise he would not have been so dissolute and wandered among flowers in his previous life.

But as soon as this thought arose, it was suppressed.

The road to becoming an immortal is long. He is just a small foundation-building cultivator with a lifespan of no more than 200 years. Immortality is a long way off, so he dare not be distracted by love affairs.

He can only keep this affection in his heart.

"Junior Brother Chen, you have a close relationship with this junior sister, right?" Shen Danmei walked over and said with a smile.

She, Lin Hao and Sun Congyao were standing aside, but when Song Qingru and Chen Yuan were talking, she took the initiative to avoid them. After she left, Shen Danmei came over.

Chen Yuan smiled and said, "I have met her several times. We once teamed up to explore the secret realm of Dongxu Mountain. I haven't seen her for more than 20 years. Today I finally met her and we exchanged a few words."

Shen Danmei nodded, but there was still some doubt in her eyes.

She saw all the changes in Song Qingru's expression just now, and always felt that something was wrong.

But since Chen Yuan said so, she naturally wouldn't ask any further questions.

At this time, Lin Hao and Sun Congyao also came over and talked about the upcoming decisive battle with serious expressions.

As the four people were talking in low voices, the seven giant boats flew in the air for half an hour, arrived at the center of the Demon-Slaying Desert, and slowly stopped.

(End of this chapter)