Chapter 219: Understanding Women

Kaelen was dumbstruck as he stared at the message floating in his vision.

He didn’t know what he was expecting when he teased her like that, but he certainly did not expect her reply to be so... meaningful.

Had she really fallen for him?

He began typing and paused. He started typing again, only to realise he had nothing in mind to reply to her message. To make matters worse, his heart was starting to behave funny. It was a feeling he couldn’t quite explain and hadn’t experienced in a very long time.

That was when it dawned on him; this was definitely how she felt after reading his messages, and her reply was definitely payback to make him feel the same way.

She couldn’t have meant it and was only teasing him back. The Emir he knew wouldn’t type that in her right senses.

That’s right.

He couldn’t fall for it.

His lips curled up in a mocking smile.

He was glad to have seen right through her.

"Now let’s see how long you can keep that act up," he sneered and began typing with intention now.

Me: You’re right. We shouldn’t jump into parenthood so soon and should focus on getting you back to full health so you’ll be strong enough to carry our baby. I’ll help massage your legs and feet every night before you go to bed, and I’ll move into your room to make sure you sleep soundly with your head on my chest.

Kaelen paused to stare at his message for a moment, feeling it was a bit cringe. But that was the purpose of the message: to be as shameless as ever and win this silent battle of teasing.

He clicked the send button and rubbed his hands together in anticipation—or rather, anxiously.

It wasn’t read immediately, but Kaelen remained in the chat for a few minutes until it finally displayed that his message had been read.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then the typing icon appeared once more and danced below the chat a few times, making Kaelen’s smile grow wider. Then it stopped, and even after another minute, nothing happened.

Huh?

Because they hadn’t added each other as friends yet after Kaelen unsent his friend request, there was no way to see if she was online or offline.

"I think I might’ve pushed her too hard... or is she simply ignoring me?"

Tch. He clicked his tongue in petty annoyance and closed the chat.

There was no way to check the time, but looking out the window and seeing faint light breaking through the night sky, he could tell it was close to sunrise, and he hadn’t slept a wink or cultivated. In his defence, he was acquiring vital information he might not have gotten from anyone else anytime soon. And with three quintillion and a few quadrillion in his balance, Kaelen felt for the first time that he could afford to slack off a bit.

At least until the Third Floor was off cooldown. Then it’d be a matter of how high he could climb before returning to the lobby again.

Planning on advancing all the way to Tier 100 before entering the Third Floor, he speculated that he could reach the ninth floor in one run. And while the others were still trying to catch up, he could spend a little while on the ninth floor and spoil himself a little before entering the tenth, discreetly selling the information to other lobbies through his untrustworthy Herald.

There was no other way around it, but he was certain they wouldn’t be able to pass up the offer after losing so much to him.

Switching to Emir’s lobby was now temporarily on hold because, from the looks of it, she didn’t need his help to keep advancing. The only thing that might change his mind would be if, on the ninth floor, her candidates left her lobby for other lobbies. And that was highly unlikely.

She was currently one of the best lobbies out there after the stunt on the Third Floor, and the fact that neither the audience nor the majority of the candidates knew her identity as the War Demon would only mean she’d be getting lots of recruitment requests from other candidates, including the outstanding ones who would want to be in a strong team where everyone could carry their own weight.

Aside from that, he was also certain she had convinced a few patrons to sponsor the party, which might explain the source of the unique lake.

If Kaelen joined her now, some patrons or potential sponsors might be displeased because of their perception of him. Not that he cared one bit, but his initial plan had been to assist Emir in reaching the top with him. If he wasn’t needed for that, then Kaelen was better off alone.

He didn’t want to dwell on that and pushed the thought to the back of his mind. He’d make the final decision when he arrived on the ninth floor.

To avoid spending any more time doing nothing, he decided to cultivate to speed up time until he could enter the Third Floor once more, when a message suddenly came in.

His first thought was that Emir had finally replied, and he swiftly navigated to his inbox, only to see that his last message was still left on read and that the new message was from Lysandra instead.

Lysandra Cross: Kaelen, we just found one of my party members who claims she was attacked inside her room and lost ten evolution realms after being killed ten times. Her name’s Melissa.

Kaelen swiftly sent a reply.

Me: Did she say I did it?

His reply was read immediately, but Lysandra took a moment to send her reply.

Lysandra: She hasn’t said much... but I want to ask if you did. Is that why you sent those items to me?

Kaelen stared at the message for a moment.

Me: Yeah. I ran out of health elixirs and couldn’t go any further without killing her for real. Do you have a problem with that?

She took a minute to reply.

Lysandra: No.

Huh?

Kaelen stared at her reply blankly before scratching the back of his head in exasperation.

She’d just said she didn’t have a problem with it, yet it did sound like she actually had a problem with it. The Lysandra he knew wouldn’t just leave a one-word reply to his message, and thinking about it, she’d been acting strangely lately.

What could she possibly be unhappy about? It couldn’t be because he’d nerfed Melissa by just ten evolution realms when the girl in question had constantly harassed her and also insulted his mother.

Kaelen inhaled sharply and tapped his chin thoughtfully, going through their interactions to see what he’d missed.

"Wait..."