Chapter 34: Teaming Up, The Acting Moment

After hearing what Ye Qingning said, Bai Wei was stunned for a long while, but gradually, her mood shifted from sadness to indifference.

Ye Qingning’s words made so much sense that Bai Wei’s thoughts were instantly cleared up!

She had asked Qin Changsheng to swear, but he refused. If he had no ulterior motives, why wouldn’t he swear? If he truly only had Bai Wei as his partner, what was he afraid of? Was he afraid that breaking his oath would bring punishment from the heavens?

Bai Wei realized she shouldn’t be indecisive or overly concerned. She needed to assess how much Qin Changsheng truly cared for her.

“Master Ning is right. I haven’t been broad-minded enough. Now that he’s been eliminated, I have no more concerns. I can focus solely on winning. But I’m curious, what identity did you draw, and what’s your ranking now?”

Bai Wei seemed to suddenly be filled with energy, eager to take action and improve her rank.

Knowing that Bai Wei’s identity was “demon,” Ye Qingning didn’t hide the truth.

“My identity is a cultivator, and during the fourth watch, my ranking was 98th. By now, it’s the evening, so I’m not sure if I’m still in the top 100.”

Bai Wei was dumbfounded. Her mouth opened a few times, but no words came out.

She had thought that being in the top 150 would be lucky, and she hadn’t even dared to think about being in the top 100. After all, in the last trial, in a different secret realm, she only ranked in the 400s.

But Master Ning—Ye Qingning—had actually entered the top 100! And she was a cultivator!

It’s important to note that while cultivators seemed to have an advantage, they were also the easiest to expose. If others discovered that they were exterminating demons and evildoers, their cover would be blown, with no room for recovery.

On the other hand, Bai Wei, as the second daughter of the immortal sect, had the best chance of remaining unnoticed.

Yet, even though Ye Qingning was a cultivator—someone who could easily be exposed—she managed to rank in the top 100. This was extremely impressive! Especially considering that Ye Qingning was a first-time participant in the trial.

This showed that, in addition to verifying others’ identities, Ye Qingning must have exterminated a lot of evil spirits without anyone noticing. Bai Wei couldn’t help but admire her.

Although Bai Wei was also in the “demon” category, she was still about 40 places behind Ye Qingning in the rankings. Thankfully, there were still five days left after tonight, so they still had a chance.

Ye Qingning nodded and then pulled Bai Wei behind a tree, lowering her voice as she whispered, “Senior Sister, even though your identity is a demon and mine is a cultivator, the rules don’t prohibit us from teaming up.”

Bai Wei’s eyes lit up with excitement.

“A cultivator can team up with a demon?!” she asked, her enthusiasm palpable.

Ye Qingning grinned and said just two words, “Acting.”

Then, in the face of Bai Wei’s astonished gaze, she quietly explained her plan.

Not long after, the two of them left. Nearby, a figure appeared out of nowhere, clearly having just used an invisibility charm.

It was none other than Jiang Shaoling, a disciple responsible for monitoring the trial.

Since his cultivation was higher than both Ye Qingning and Bai Wei’s, and he had crossed a realm, they didn’t detect him.

As an overseer of the trial, Jiang Shaoling’s presence wasn’t strange. What was odd was that, with his anger from the previous night still burning, he was paying extra attention to Ye Qingning’s every move, hoping to catch her cheating.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead. The night air was cool, but he felt inexplicably hot.

It wasn’t his fault—when Ye Qingning had said, “Since you’ve come, why hide and not show yourself,” he had thought she was talking to him.

When another person appeared from behind a tree, Jiang Shaoling realized she wasn’t addressing him at all. He had been nervous for nothing!

No one had ever managed to detect him when he used the invisibility charm during a trial. If he had been exposed, he would have lost face. If the elders found out that he had been stalking the “sickly” disciple and got caught, he would be mocked for a hundred years!

But, thankfully, his cultivation was far superior, so Ye Qingning didn’t detect him—of course, she wouldn’t.

He had followed her this far, but hadn’t found any signs of cheating.

Still, he couldn’t figure out why Ye Qingning had been frantically drawing symbols before the trial, and why she was planting spirit herbs while also drawing on the ground as though she had become possessed. It just so happened that she drew a cultivator’s identity token.

Initially, he had been tracking her because of a bet with the elders, to check if she was involved in any cheating. But he had just received news that a disciple in charge of handing out identity tokens had secretly used a placement charm to swap identity tokens.

If this were true, every disciple participating in the trial would be suspected of collusion.

Any cheating would lead to the trial results being voided, and the sect would punish them severely.

But Ye Qingning hadn’t been doing anything suspicious. She had simply teamed up with another disciple. There was no rule against that.

He hadn’t expected this seemingly weak girl to be so clever. Despite drawing the cultivator token, she was plotting to make everyone think she was a demon.

What a schemer! The elders had really picked the wrong person for the task!

…

Later that night, just before dawn, Ye Qingning and Bai Wei reached the area where the tremors had been reported outside the city. The area was pitch-black, but they could still see the “ghostly lights” the old city lord had mentioned.

Colorless light flowed from the ground, as though something was about to break out from beneath the earth.

Bai Wei moved forward to investigate, while Ye Qingning hid nearby, waiting for her moment.

After a thorough investigation, Bai Wei was ecstatic.

Since she was skilled in both talisman and swordsmanship, she could easily tell that the light wasn’t just ordinary. Standing near the source of the light, she could feel spiritual power surging from beneath the ground.

It seemed that Master Ning had been right all along—the underground indeed held a treasure.

The treasure was the Nine-Turn Yin-Yang Bottle, a tool used to suppress evil spirits. No wonder there had been so many strange occurrences in the city.

The evil spirits were killing people in an attempt to gain power and break the underground seal.

Bai Wei had suspected this earlier when she was at the Yu residence, but now everything was clear.

If they could obtain the Nine-Turn Yin-Yang Bottle, not only would they gain 600 points, but their total points would double, putting them in the top 15.

Bai Wei had to help Ye Qingning secure it, both as a thank you for her plan and to ensure they both gained points.

Suddenly, Ye Qingning’s system shouted urgently in her mind, “Ning Ning! Someone’s coming this way, and it’s not just one person! The fish have taken the bait!”

Ye Qingning didn’t expect the moment for her act to come so soon. As several auras drew nearer, she seized the opportunity and leapt out.

She looked at Bai Wei and smiled with the malicious glee of an antagonist, “Senior Sister, I knew something was off from the moment you came to the Yu residence. You’re just like me, a trial disciple!”

“If that’s the case, hand over your identity token. I can let you leave the trial realm in peace.”

Her words echoed the lines of a certain sword cultivator from the previous night—thanks for the inspiration!

Bai Wei was startled. “What are you saying? If you want to verify my identity, do so. Why are you asking for my identity token?”

Ye Qingning laughed wickedly, deliberately acting in a sinister manner.

She arrogantly said, “Senior Sister, are you really this dim-witted? I want your identity token to take your points! After all, I’m a ‘demon!’ How else can I accumulate points if I don’t steal others’?”