Chapter 28: The Day of the Birthday Banquet, Guests from the Immortal Sect

Ye Qingning furrowed her brows in thought. Were there really twenty-nine evil spirits? Did she count wrong?

She had thought there were at least thirty or forty.

It seems her math and eyesight aren’t great after all.

Earlier, she had suspected that the points for exterminating evil spirits wouldn’t be too high, at least not more than those for identifying others’ identities.

But she didn’t expect it to only be ten points. Seriously, could they not at least give fifteen points? Must they be so stingy?

Currently, her total points were 440. Though her ranking had jumped 150 spots, reaching the top 100, she was still at exactly the 100th place—just a gatekeeper.

It seemed that to break into the top 15, she would need to win the trial assessment, and the only surefire way to do that was to find the secret treasure, the Nine-turn Reincarnation Bottle.

---

The next morning, the first light of dawn broke, and the sound of firecrackers echoed outside the Yu residence, filling the entire mansion with a festive atmosphere.

The main gate was wide open, and a red carpet stretched from the entrance to the inner courtyard. Guests arriving to wish the elder a happy birthday filled the air with congratulatory words.

The lively scene stood in stark contrast to the eerie atmosphere of last night. It seemed as if the recent trouble caused by evil spirits in the city had been completely forgotten.

Last night, Ye Qingning had replaced the talisman that summoned evil spirits in the mansion with a banishment talisman. As a result, the night passed peacefully.

The banishment talisman had indeed worked, exterminating a few unruly evil spirits. In the early hours of the morning, before dawn, the assessment notification sounded.

Ye Qingning gained thirty more points, bringing her total to 470. Her rank rose from 100th to 98th.

Thirty points only moved her up two spots, showing how fierce the competition was among the top 100.

---

Inside the mansion, Green Ivy was focused on helping Ye Qingning with her makeup.

Although Ye Qingning’s appearance in this secret realm wasn’t as beautiful as her original self, she was still quite striking.

A light touch of peach blossom-colored rouge was applied to her cheeks, resembling the first blooms of spring, delicate and vibrant.

A thin layer of lip balm was brushed on her lips, the color fresh and not too bold, giving her a look that was both dignified and youthful, sweet and refreshing.

She wore a dress of lake green, which shimmered with subtle waves of light as it caught the sunlight, just like a rippling lake, and it was simply breathtaking.

“Miss, you look absolutely stunning today! Even the eldest miss wouldn’t compare!”

“But I must remind you, miss, there will be many guests today, and it’s such a festive day. When the eldest miss returns, please don’t be like before and oppose her.”

“The dirt in our mansion still needs the eldest miss to clean up. Although your magical treasure is powerful, I’m afraid it won’t be enough for the truly formidable ghosts.”

“The eldest miss and the others are different. After all, they are from the Immortal Sect. Each one can call upon the wind and rain. You really shouldn’t offend the eldest miss again. You two are sisters, after all. Don’t let a man come between your sisterly bond.”

Ye Qingning and the system froze, both stunned.

The second miss of the Yu family and the eldest miss like the same man?!

And they’re at odds because of this man?

Did they really have to go with such a clichéd and dramatic plot? Couldn’t they just get rid of the man? Is every random trial assessment this melodramatic? Who came up with this idea?

“Alright, I don’t need you to teach me how to do things. But you’d better not say anything about last night to the legitimate eldest miss. And don’t tell anyone that I have a treasure that can deal with ghosts. Got it?”

When Green Ivy mentioned a magical treasure, Ye Qingning realized that Green Ivy had mistaken her identity card for a treasure capable of exorcising evil spirits.

If the girl kept saying things like this in front of others, her identity would be exposed—no one else would expose it for her. She had to stop this girl from talking recklessly.

“Don’t worry, miss, I understand! I won’t say a word! After all, you have no connection with the Immortal Sect, so you can’t enter the Sect like the eldest miss. That treasure of yours must have been hard to come by, and we can’t let others covet it!”

Ye Qingning silently gave the NPC a thumbs-up. Look at how sensible and thoughtful she was! No need for her to say anything.

“By the way, second miss, how about I change the medicine for your injury?”

“That servant was really bold! How dare he injure you! Now he’s nowhere to be found. Later, I’ll definitely find him and give him a good lesson!”

“Yes, yes! We must teach him a lesson! Let him know who he’s messing with! Then we’ll tie him up and send him to my room in the evening. Remember.”

Ye Qingning played the villain.

She was the head of the villainous faction forcing good women into prostitution.

If it really was Jiang Shaoling with his bad temper, she’d make sure to disgust him! If he couldn’t be disgusted to death, she’d disgust him to his limit.

If not, this was just maintaining her character, and it was no problem at all.

She suspected that the second miss of the Yu family had some romantic failures and couldn’t compete with the eldest miss. That’s why the old master had arranged for her two good-looking servants.

What a dad, how could he not be her biological father?

If one day, she could find the father she couldn’t find in her previous life, she would also ask him to wave his hand and give her two servants (not).

---

In the front courtyard of the Yu residence.

Ye Qingning quickly spotted her father from the secret realm among the crowd.

The bright red robe he wore made it impossible not to notice him.

In addition to her father from the secret realm, she also recognized her mother and the graceful second wife from the surrounding conversation and Green Ivy’s glance.

Last night, she had wanted to ask the second wife about the Taoist’s whereabouts, but in the middle of the night, she feared the second wife might mistake her for a vengeful spirit.

Also, she wasn’t sure if the second wife was a trial disciple, and even her father from the secret realm was still under suspicion. It wouldn’t be surprising if he, like her, was actually a male disciple.

And those guests in the courtyard, who knows, maybe they were all trial disciples like her.

Once she thought of it this way, it suddenly became much more fun.

Not only was there a competition of acting skills, but also a battle of observation.

As the guests chatted and laughed, a young servant hurried over to report: “Master, Madam, the eldest miss is back!”

As soon as the servant’s voice fell, a young woman stepped into the front courtyard.

She was graceful, her beauty outstanding, and her every movement radiated brilliance, like a fairy from the heavens. Behind her were several white-clad immortals from the Immortal Sect.

It really lived up to the saying—”To be charming, one must first be filial.”

She instantly became the center of attention among all the guests.

“Look! This is the eldest miss of the Yu family and the Immortal Sect disciples!”

“I heard that the eldest miss has come back not only to wish the elder a happy birthday but also to exorcise evil spirits from the city!”

“That’s wonderful! But those Immortal Sect disciples look so young, I wonder if they can deal with the evil spirits in the city?”

“You bookworm, what do you know? Which Immortal Sect disciple isn’t young? Don’t be fooled by their handsome looks, they might be hundreds or even thousands of years old! They’re older than your deceased old master! By seniority, you should be calling them ancestors!”

Ye Qingning couldn’t help but laugh. She was curious how these immortals would react if they heard others talking about them this way. Were they born without the desire to smile?

Speaking of expressions, Ye Qingning’s attention was drawn to the swordsman next to her legitimate sister.

It wasn’t because the swordsman’s looks were remarkable—in fact, his appearance was rather plain. But his presence and aura were hard to ignore, and he was the most expressionless among the group.

He was almost on par with Shen Xuanli.

It was precisely because of the resemblance to Shen Xuanli that he felt somewhat familiar.

She couldn’t help but wonder—since Shen Xuanli was the chief disciple and in charge of supervising this trial, could this swordsman, who resembled him so much, be Shen Xuanli’s identity in the secret realm?