Chapter 408 Meeting

As the class bell rang, there was an commotion in the teaching block. Students began to rush out from the classrooms.
As more and more students poured out, Ren Baqian's gaze began to search within the crowd.
The place where the empress and Ren Baqian were standing had a good field of view. Other people could see the both of them too.
In particular, many people revealed a look of astonishment upon seeing the empress. They found her indescribably familiar.
After all, some of these students were Qi Jiayu's classmates.
"She's out," Ren Baqian spotted a face in the crowd and murmured faintly. Although she had practically the same face as the empress, his gaze was very cold toward her.
Following Ren Baqian's gaze, the empress looked over. At first glance, she saw a woman who resembled her. A strong desire to murder her emanated from the empress's heart. Her eyebrows rose, and her hair rippled even though there wasn't any wind. The surrounding temperature also fell by a lot.
"This is a very strange feeling," the empress said in an ice-cold voice. At this moment, she knew why Ren Baqian had to let her meet her doppelganger.
Ren Baqian could sense her desire to kill and wasn't surprised at all.
He said unenthusiastically, "This is exactly how I felt when I saw the Seventh Prince back then."
"Is there a connection?" The empress could sense his unspoken implication.
"Maybe there is something related that we don't know." Ren Baqian didn't know what was involved, but he knew this desire to kill didn't arise without a good reason.
While the both of them were chatting, Qi Jiayu sensed that something wasn't right. She then looked over in their direction.
Upon seeing the empress's face, she was instantly stunned. After that, a look of horror was shown on her face as she halted in her tracks.
After the classmates who were with her saw her reaction and noticed the empress, they were astounded.
As he could sense the killing intent of the empress growing stronger, Ren Baqian gently said, "Don't kill her now."
Back then, when he just came back from the battlefield, his desire to kill was so strong that it was as if he had been tempted by a demon. These days, the peaceful life helped to significantly reduce his killing intent. This time around, he could actually control himself and remembered what he had agreed upon.
Qi Jiayu walked toward the both of them. She took a glance at Ren Baqian and asked suspiciously, "This is?"
She always knew that she was very pretty, and even if she met someone who was prettier than herself, it was nothing surprising. What she didn't expect, however, was that she would meet a woman who was classier, but looked exactly like her.
Even though they resembled each other, compared to the other party, Qi Jiayu was like Cinderella while the empress was a princess.
Qi Jiayu had an urge inside her heart since she wanted to become someone like the empress. The aura of the empress, as well as the aloof vibe she emitted, made Qi Jiayu not only envious, but also jealous.
Ren Baqian cautiously stared into Qi Jiayu's eyes. As expected, he sensed hostility from her. However, an ordinary girl like her wouldn't have any desire to kill.
"She indeed resembles you. This world is really wonderful." Ren Baqian smiled, but people couldn't see that he was actually being indifferent.
"Are you all here just to find me?" Qi Jiayu hid her inner thoughts and smiled at the both of them.
"I guess so. She heard that there was someone who looks very much like her. Thus, out of curiosity, she came here to take a look," Ren Baqian said with a smile. "Now that she has met you, it's time for us to take our leave."
"Oh." Qi Jiayu didn't know how to respond to what Ren Baqian said. Plus, the empress's appearance made her feel uneasy. Just now, she even had to control herself in order to flash a smile.
"Let's go." Ren Baqian held the empress's hand.
Before he left, he turned around, nodded his head to send his regards, and said, "Goodbye."
He was afraid that a murder case would take place at the university if the empress continued to stay here.
Qi Jiayu stared blankly at the two of them as they held hands and left. She even forgot to ask about the issue that Ren Baqian had told her previously. He said that she would meet those certain few people, but a few months had already passed without her running into any of them. At first, she still wanted to casually ask him about it, but now, it was at the back of her mind.
"How do you feel?" After getting into the car, Ren Baqian sat in the seat and turned to look at the empress.
"Very weird. I feel like killing her." There was a hint of regret in the empress's eyes.
She was different from Ren Baqian. She was the fifth most powerful expert in the other world, and her mental state was always under control.
It was really weird for her to have the desire to kill a stranger.
She wanted to investigate its cause even more than Ren Baqian.
"You said that you felt like this when you met the Seventh Prince?" the empress asked.
"That's right. I'm sure that the Seventh Prince felt the same way too," Ren Baqian replied coolly.
"Back then, when I saw her, the desire to kill rose in my heart. At that time, I didn't understand why I felt that way. Later on, I learned that there was a fraction of your soul in my body and understood that there was a connection between Qi Jiayu and you."
"Any thoughts?" the empress questioned Ren Baqian.
"A little." Ren Baqian nodded and talked about his opinion at that time, "In the past, there was a movie with a very interesting plot. There were many doppelgangers of the main character in a countless numbers of parallel universes. Everytime he killed one of the doppelgangers, he would grow a little stronger."
"Were there any changes to your body after the Seventh Prince died?" the empress asked.
"The period right after the Seventh Prince died was also the period when I entered the [Ruyi Visualization]. I'm unsure if there is any connection." Ren Baqian wasn't particularly clear about this matter, but in his opinion, there had probably been changes.
It just so happened that he was in the [Ruyi Visualization] when the Seventh Prince died.
The empress was silent for a long time before she said, "Leave her be, and don't kill her. She might be useful for when I want to break through the Cardinal Heaven stage. My intuition tells me so."
The empress was already at the peak of Cardinal Heaven. If she made a breakthrough, she would reach Longevity Heaven, which was equivalent to the strength of the first emperor of Dayao.
After attaining Longevity Heaven, the first emperor left with many officials and strong soldiers. He had never been seen again after that.
Upon hearing what the empress said, Ren Baqian was slightly worried.
"How long before you can break through Cardinal Heaven?"
"The fastest would be three to five years, while the slowest could take up to decades." The empress was unsure as well. She still had one more step to overcome, but was unsure how long it would take.
"Decades would mean over 100 years on Earth. I can't ensure that my bones would still be intact by then." Ren Baqian chuckled.
Soon after, he continued, "If you attain Longevity Heaven, will you leave Dayao? Just like the first emperor?"
The empress kept mum and only replied after some time, "I don't know what will happen. Perhaps I'll find out when I attain Longevity Heaven."
Ren Baqian held onto her hand and said in a delicate, soft, and sincere tone, "If you want to leave, remember to bring me along."
"The first emperor didn't come back, and I'm not sure if he's dead or alive. Not a single person who went with him came back. I'm afraid that there is danger lurking over there."
"I have said it before. Even if I'm in the underworld, I would still look up at the sky to see you." Ren Baqian placed his face on the empress's cheek, and the empress thought that he wanted to kiss her. She was moved by his words as he was extremely charismatic. Never did she expect that he only gently rubbed his face against hers.
Both of their cheeks came into contact and they were able to feel each other's warmth.
The empress's fragrance was also transmitted into Ren Baqian's nose.
A fuzzy feeling arose in their hearts.
"However, Your Majesty has to wait for me. Otherwise, if you make a breakthrough first, I'm afraid that we won't know when we can get married and have children." Ren Baqian retracted his head and grinned.
The empress felt a little humiliated. She then smacked his hand.
Pow.
Ren Baqian touched the back of his hand that was red and swollen. His hand got swollen so frequently that it had become a habit.
However, he had to increase his speed of cultivation. Otherwise, if the empress made a breakthrough before him…
Ren Baqian wondered how long it would take for Ning Caichen to deliver the xueke as it would be very effective toward his cultivation.
He not only had to attain the Earth Wheel level, but also the Spirit Wheel level. Otherwise, how could he catch up to the empress's pace.
He was hoping that the empress's pace would be slower since he had yet to build Dayao into the country that she envisioned. Yet, if her pace was too slow, then Qi Jiayu might have died by then.
He had to put in more effort.
After sitting for a while, he drove to the Messier 87 department. Previously, Yang Sen said that there was progress in the research. Now, it was time for him to check out the situation.