Flower

"Tell me."

Shi Wenyang's passionate gaze burnt Han Ganxing's back. He was tired of her endless pleas.

"Tell. Me. How'd you do it, honestly?"

"I already told you! I'm just a natural genius. What more do you want?"

"I don't believe it!" Shi Wenyang crossed her arms. It wasn't that she couldn't believe it, it was that she didn't want to.

"It's up to you to believe it or not." Han Ganxing stopped himself from smiling. He was getting more shameless by the day.

"Anyway, it's getting late, let's talk tomorrow."

"...Hmph!"

Shi Wenyang stormed out of his room, leaving him alone inside.

The chaos that happened after the banquet tired Han Ganxing out. Well, not actually since his stamina was based on the amount of qi he had, and he had a crap ton of qi.

He was mentally unable to talk to Shi Wenyang properly this night.

"Ugh, but why did I have to do that?"

The affection bar was something that always discouraged Han Ganxing.

Affection: 0%

It was at a solid 0.

Previously, before she left the room, it was at 1%. Her storming out meant that she was kind of mad at him, resulting in the decrease of affection.

"Eh, what was I supposed to do? Tell her about the system? That's not an option!

...What do I do? What if this falls further... back into the friendzone?"

Han Ganxing feared the color blue now. It gave him nightmares, so to speak.

"...It's all because of me showing off!"

He looked at his self info page.

Cultivation Level: Red Centera (5th Stage), Level 10

In those two days, he had broken through straight to the 5th stage. If he so liked, he could probably break through the 6th stage in a day.

"Maybe I should just adjust this lower, and pretend that the Worldly Sphere had malfunctioned..."

When Han Ganxing read web novels in his previous life, he would always hate it when the protagonist decided to be low-profile for no reason other than to faceslap. So, he resolved himself that he would never do that and he would show his true strength in every opportunity.

"It seems like I've made a mistake doing so. If I had just pretended to be in the second centera, I wouldn't have gotten all this attention, and I can focus on capturing Wenwen's heart.

...Hai, I'll be low profile starting today..."

.....

Morning.

Han Liqi sat down, his secretary opening the curtains in his office.

"Shi Caiqing, why must you always enter here quietly?"

Shi Caiqing maintained his indifferent look as he sat down directly in front of Han Liqi.

"Tell me seriously. Was the sphere rigged?"

Han Liqi's eyes turned serious.

Shi Caiqing was also a guest in the banquet, much to Han Liqi's surprise. He witnessed the unbelievable declaration of the Worldly Sphere last night.

"Shi Caiqing, I might sell everything, but I will never sell my dignity."

"...You don't seem to be lying. However, that doesn't explain the ridiculousness of your son reaching such a high level in just a week."

"It hasn't been a week yet. I've just come back here 3 days ago. Only then did I give him my cultivation technique."

Shi Caiqing slammed the table. His agitation reached its limits. "That's even more incredulous! He had cultivated for what, 3 days? And he is already close to catching up to my daughter!"

Han Liqi massaged his forehead. He knew that Shi Caiqing took pride in his daughter's fast cultivation speed. After all, it was unprecedented for a 14 year old to have a cultivation of Yellow Centera, the 6th stage.

"...Listen. He's going to be your son-in-law soon anyway."

"Hmm... You're right. I've let my pride get the best of me." Shi Caiqing returned to his usual tranquil state. "By the way, I plan to announce the two's engagement on my daughter's 15th birthday."

"Next year? Might be too soon."

"Don't worry. Any dissenters... will be suppressed. Do not underestimate the Shi clan's influence."

.....

Han Ganxing woke up early in the morning. He had planned to start his heart capturing process after a bit more preparation, but this threw a wrench in his plans.

Heading towards Shi Wenyang's room, he held a small flower in his hands. This flower was known as the black lilia. Han Ganxing had once been to a flower garden with her, and he saw her eyes shining when they arrived at the black lilias.

The flower looked like a rose and a carnation hybrid, with black streaks around the predominantly pink and red petals. It was one of the more niche flowers so it was relatively rare, but he had a secret stash of these black lilias in the hidden corners of the courtyard. That way, whenever Shi Wenyang was mad, he would have something to appease her. Well, he had never used it before, so he had no idea if it would work.

Before long, he found himself in front of the guest room, the one where Shi Wenyang was staying. He sighed and prepared to knock.

.....

Shi Wenyang pouted on her bed. She was proud of her status as the fastest cultivator in history. But now, Han Ganxing appeared, having a much faster cultivation speed than her.

She wasn't mad or jealous. In fact, she was extremely happy for her friend. Her curiosity, however, couldn't be contained. She had to know how he did it.

When she asked him, all he said was that he was a natural genius. It wasn't that she wouldn't believe him, but as his friend of 8 years, she could tell whether he was lying or not. The smug yet guilty look on his face told her everything.

"Pfft. What natural genius. It might be true to some extent, but your expression that night told me it wasn't the full truth."

She stretched her arms and legs and got off the bed. For now, she needed to interrogate him further.

As she was about to open her door, she heard a quiet mumbling.

"Uhh, how do I say this... Wenwen, this is for you? Um, isn't that too awkward? Er, how about, Wenwen, I'm giving you this... Doesn't that seem too egotistical? Hmm..."

The familiar voice interested Shi Wenyang.

'What could Han Ganxing be planning on giving me? Why doee he need to prepare for it? Isn't he too conscious of me now... What, what am I thinking!'

She shook her head and directly opened the door.

Han Ganxing, who was hesitating too much on the other side, stared eyes wide open at Shi Wenyang. Her scruffy bedhead became a sort of beautiful sight for him.

"Whatever it is you're giving me, I'll accept it." With a sly smile, Shi Wenyang took the initiative.

"Ah?" Now that he was about to do it, Han Ganxing's face turned red. He dared not let Shi Wenyang see his embarrassed expression, so he looked down as he brought out the flower behind his back. "Well, here..."

"A Black Lilia..." Shi Wenyang's eyes sparkled once more. 'How does he know that this is my favorite flower?

Ah, could it be on that time we wandered off and ended up in the flower garden, when I stared at the Black Lilias for a bit longer than the others?

Does he... pay attention to me that much? That subtle detail, how else could he remember it?'

As her thoughts went deeper and deeper, a faint blush appeared on her face. Before she could respond, Han Ganxing ran off.

'Ahh, this is way too embarrassing for my heart!'

Shi Wenyang followed Han Ganxing's figure as he darted into the distance. She then turned her attention towards the flower, a gentle smile slowly forming.