Most importantly, Ye Xuan had befriended her in his previous life solely to obtain resources from her.
And she had to put on a deeply affectionate act, pretending to like Ye Xuan while helping him scheme against Xu Chen in every way. It was truly disgusting.
Xu Chen inwardly mused that the two of them were quite good actors. Full marks.
Ye Xuan, meanwhile, was dumbfounded on the spot. He was such a genius—shouldn't she have been shocked, gasped sharply, and shown approval in her eyes?
How had it ended with just "not bad"? Could it be that Jixia Academy was full of geniuses?
For a moment, he began to doubt his life.
His master, the Spirit Venerable, sent him a voice transmission. "Don't doubt yourself. Perhaps Li Ruoling has seen many geniuses, which is why she reacted this way."
Ye Xuan gritted his teeth. If that was the case, he would have to work even harder and make Li Ruoling see him in a new light.
In tomorrow's examination, he would take first place.
Unexpectedly, Elder Mingyou beside Li Ruoling exclaimed in delight, "What? At such a young age, you can already refine a third-grade Human Spirit Pill?"
Ye Xuan froze, then realized his chance had come. "Yes. If Elder does not believe me, you may test me."
Elder Mingyou burst into laughter. "Hahaha, wonderful! If it's true, you can enter Jixia Academy directly. Junior Brother Tianhuo will definitely like you."
Hearing this, Ye Xuan regained his confidence and inwardly thought that this elder at least knew quality when he saw it.
However, after thinking it over, he still said, "Elder, although I can enter the Academy without taking the assessment, I still wish to pass the combat assessment myself.
"After all, I hope to enter the Academy not merely through alchemy, but through my own combat strength as well.
"I, Ye Xuan, practice Dual Cultivation of Alchemy and Martial Arts!"
His words revealed an air of pride and confidence.
A trace of admiration flashed through Elder Mingyou's eyes. "Good. In tomorrow's assessment, regardless of success or failure, you will be able to enter Jixia Academy."
Ye Xuan cupped his hands. "Thank you, Elder."
After speaking, Ye Xuan glanced at Xu Chen as if to say, See that? Can you do it?
Xu Chen shrugged. Tsk, not bad. He had not expected the plot to return to its original track again.
The system had said that he only needed to complete the major plotline, so he would just go along with it.
Tomorrow, he would obediently play the villain, lose, and then enter Jixia Academy. What a wonderful life.
With that thought, Xu Chen followed his father, Xu Ming, straight back to the Xu Family.
What he had not expected was that Li Ruoling would follow him back to his home as well.
At some point, when Xu Chen returned to his courtyard, Li Ruoling appeared behind him too.
Her voice reached Xu Chen's ears. "Xu Chen, are you confident you can defeat Ye Xuan tomorrow?"
Xu Chen's head throbbed. Big sister, you're the heroine. Why are you constantly following a villain like me around?
When I was a simp in my previous life, I didn't even dare stalk you this closely, okay?
She was probably here for Ye Xuan, to probe for information.
He turned around with a pained expression. "Saintess, isn't it inappropriate for you to follow me like this?"
Li Ruoling's face reddened slightly, and she stamped her foot. "Oh, just tell me whether you can do it or not!"
Xu Chen: "..."
Could a man say that he could not do it?
He immediately spoke in the tone of a villain. "A mere Ye Xuan is only skilled at alchemy. What is there to fear?"
Li Ruoling smiled with narrowed eyes. "Not necessarily."
As far as she knew, Ye Xuan was sinister and cunning, pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger while concealing his cultivation and trump cards.
In the end, he had defeated Xu Chen and entered Jixia Academy in first place.
But Xu Chen had been extremely arrogant and had not concealed anything at all, so naturally, he lost.
Xu Chen was speechless. Of course I know I can't win.
But I never planned to win in the first place!
Big sister, I'm begging you, hurry up and leave. Don't disrupt my plot progression and make my heart pound in panic.
Yet on the surface, he snorted coldly. "If the Saintess thinks highly of Ye Xuan, then hurry up and leave. You and I are not familiar with each other anyway."
Li Ruoling pursed her lips, saying aggrievedly, "Here, the pills I prepared for you—a Mystic Spirit Pill. After taking it, you'll definitely advance two levels.
"I originally wanted to give you a surprise, but who knew you would be so fierce to me and even try to drive me away.
"You really don't know a good heart when you see one. I hate you, I hate you to death."
After saying that, she stuffed the fourth-grade Mystic Spirit Pill into Xu Chen's hand, then pouted and refused to look at him.
Xu Chen was utterly disheveled in the wind.
Damn! You're infiltrating my side, and you're even giving me a Mystic Spirit Pill?
Could it be that Ye Xuan had one too, perhaps even a better one?
He examined it carefully and found that the Mystic Spirit Pill was genuine. Its spiritual energy was rich, with not the slightest problem.
He thought about it. If he consumed both the Human Spirit Pill and the Mystic Spirit Pill, he would certainly advance two levels, perhaps even three.
Of course, if Ye Xuan had taken them as well, he probably still would not be able to win.
"Fine, I'll accept it. You can leave now."
Xu Chen had originally intended to throw away the Mystic Spirit Pill, but he discovered that the system had not issued any warning.
Since that was the case, if the heroine wanted to give him a Mystic Spirit Pill, there was no reason for him, a villain, not to accept it.
But Li Ruoling could never move Xu Chen's heart. After all, she had stabbed him in the back who knew how many times.
Li Ruoling: "..."
What was going on? In this life, Xu Chen seemed not to like her at all!
She began to panic.
Li Ruoling felt incomparably wronged. "Do I... really make you dislike me that much?"
Upon hearing that, Xu Chen instinctively wanted to say yes.
Ninety-Nine Cycles of Reincarnation, stabbed in the back every single time—who could withstand that?
Although Li Ruoling had inexplicably changed in this life, those memories and impressions... emmmm, were hard to change!
Unless Li Ruoling could be as devotedly sycophantic toward him as he had once been toward her, perhaps then he would be moved.
He said aloud, "It's alright. I'm just used to being alone."
Li Ruoling secretly felt heartbroken at his words. In his previous life, he had also been alone. In this life, he still was. His life was so hard, and she had been so cruel before.
But it was alright. In this life, Ruoling would not hurt you again. Ruoling would help you, Brother Chen. She gritted her teeth and said, "Chen, you must take this Human Spirit Pill and Mystic Spirit Pill, or you will get hurt."
She truly did not want to see Xu Chen injured again. After all, when his body was hurt, her heart ached.
She would not allow even the slightest injury to happen to Xu Chen. Not even a little.
Xu Chen pretended to agree. "Alright, Saintess."
But inwardly, he spat. As a villain, he still had to lose when it was time to lose.
What if he won and the plot restarted? Then he would not even have a place to cry.
After playing the role for ninety-nine lives, he would not allow the slightest mistake in this life.
After thinking for a moment, Li Ruoling handed Xu Chen a Silver Ring. A faint trace of spiritual energy rippled across it, its glow subtly visible and quite extraordinary.
"This is a High-Grade Ring. Its capacity is dozens of times greater than the best Ring of Holding in Qingyang City."
"I'll give it to you. Don't refuse it—you will definitely have a use for it in the future."
Li Ruoling said with a smile.
Xu Chen clicked his tongue. How ruthless.
If a fourth-grade Mystic Spirit Pill was worth twenty thousand taels of silver, then this High-Grade Ring was worth at least one hundred thousand taels.
This thing was rare not only in Qingyang City, but even in Jixia Academy.
For the sake of making him fall for her, this heroine truly spared no expense.
But since it had been delivered right to his door, there was no reason for him not to accept it.
Thus, he put on a delighted expression. "Saintess, you are as beautiful as the moon hiding flowers and as generous as well. Xu Chen is deeply grateful."
Li Ruoling secretly rejoiced, her face flushing slightly. "I-I only gave one to you."
Xu Chen inwardly thought that not even a dog would believe that, but he cupped his hands and said, "Then many thanks to the Saintess."
Li Ruoling smiled. "Then I'll be leaving. Rest well. You will definitely win tomorrow's match. Keep it up."
After saying that, Li Ruoling leaped into the air and vanished from the spot.
Before you continue