The medicinal ingredients used in this bottle of pills were extremely precious, and it was the only bottle she had.
But compared to her junior sister helping her see Fairy Peilan's true colors, even the most precious pills were nothing.
"Thank you, Senior Sister."
Watching her carefully put the pills into her Storage Bag, Wen Zhi couldn't help smiling. "Little Junior Sister, you came to see me about the secret realm trial, didn't you?"
At that, Qiaoqiao's head shot up. [Whether I get to stay on Ethereal Peak depends on you, Third Senior Sister!]
[Quick, teach me the secret to a guaranteed pass!]
Chapter 11: The Wager
Wen Zhi froze for a moment. What did her little junior sister mean by a secret to a guaranteed pass?
The sect's secret realm trial consisted of two parts: gathering spirit herbs and hunting Demon Beasts to earn points. Accumulating enough points counted as a pass.
If all one wanted was a passing score, it wasn't very difficult. Her little junior sister had failed so many times before entirely because she was too much of a salted fish. Once inside the secret realm, she would find somewhere to lie down and sleep until the exam ended and she was automatically teleported out, utterly carefree.
Could she be asking her to teach her some tricks for identifying spirit herbs?
After a moment's thought, she took out a book thicker than a brick and placed it in Qiaoqiao's hands.
"What's this?"
"The Complete Compendium of Spirit Herbs," Wen Zhi said earnestly. "Little Junior Sister, there's still a month left. As long as you memorize this Complete Compendium of Spirit Herbs, you'll definitely get a high score in this trial."
Holding the heavy brick in her hands, even the blindly confident Qiaoqiao was dumbfounded.
This book had to have tens of thousands of pages at least! Forget memorizing it-she couldn't even finish reading it!
She shook her head repeatedly. "Senior Sister, I can't."
Wen Zhi's voice was gentle but brooked no refusal. "Little Junior Sister, I believe you can do it."
[Boohoo.]
[Why do people have to take exams while they're alive?]
[Why can't all this just crawl into my brain on its own?]
Hearing her thoughts, Wen Zhi found them amusing. She really did have something that could help her little junior sister. Could that be what she meant?
While she was thinking, Qiaoqiao, whose head ached at the mere sight of the brick of a book, had already become distracted and started browsing her Jade Slip.
"Senior Sister, look! Fairy Peilan's post has blown up!"
Wen Zhi looked, and it really had.
"I admit that I deceived Wen Zhi. For the past hundred years, all the pills I sold were made by her, not by some master alchemist. I was also the one who spread those rumors about her being difficult to get along with..."
The comments below were bustling.
"Tsk, tsk! So Fairy Peilan was a despicable scoundrel!"
"And I even bought pills from her. Turns out she swindled them out of someone!"
"Am I seeing things? Why is the poster Fairy Peilan herself?"
"Looks like she grew a conscience? A fairy from Moonlight Peak actually did something like this. How embarrassing!"
"Senior Sister Wen was so unlucky to end up with such a black-hearted bestie."
"My heart goes out to Senior Sister Wen."
"My heart goes out to Senior Sister Wen +1."
"Does Senior Sister Wen still need friends? How about me? I have plenty of Spirit Stones. I won't swindle you, Senior Sister!"
"Me too! I want to get cozy with a pretty senior sister too!"
Seeing everyone on the forum scrambling to buy her pills and saying they wanted to be her friends, Wen Zhi couldn't help smiling. The knot in her heart completely dissolved. Perhaps she could try making more friends.
As she looked at the Jade Slip, a trending post below caught her attention. "Qiaoqiao, this post seems to be about you..."
Qiaoqiao backed out and browsed through the posts. The sect forum was buzzing. Elder Chen had originally been the hot topic these past few days, but now that had changed. Everyone was discussing her failed trials.
Her popularity had already surpassed Elder Chen's earlier peak, putting her at number one!
#Shocking! A disciple of our sect has actually failed the internal sect trial ten times!#
"I heard she's even Immortal Venerable Wanghan's personal disciple. Her name's Qiaoqiao."
"OMG, you mean Immortal Venerable Wanghan, the greatest swordsman under heaven and the pride of our Flowing Cloud Sect?!"
"Exactly! She's his final disciple. Just how terrible must her talent be if she hasn't reached Foundation Establishment in ten years?! Ten years! Even my grandma would have reached Foundation Establishment by now, right?"
"Hahaha!"
"How about a wager? I bet she'll still fail this time. I'll stake a high-grade sword manual!"
"I'll add ten thousand Spirit Stones. I bet she won't pass!"
"The poster above is loaded! I'll add three hundred!"
By the time she opened the thread, several hundred replies had already added to the stakes. Whether they were joining the fun or keeping the formation, people kept raising the stakes, all betting that she wouldn't pass. No one had taken the other side yet, so naturally, the wager couldn't stand.
She decisively infused her spiritual sense into it and replied beneath the latest post: @Everyone, I bet ten thousand Spirit Stones that Qiaoqiao will definitely pass the trial this time!
Her appearance in person stirred up another wave of discussion on the forum.
She had just put away her Jade Slip when she heard someone shout, "Qiaoqiao, so this is where you are!"
Two people approached aggressively from the roadside. The woman in front was strikingly beautiful, and the purple spirit hairpin at her temple shimmered with flowing light, looking exceptionally lavish.
Qiaoqiao knew her. This woman was Yue Liuqin, the daughter of Moonlight Peak's Peak Master and a famous second-generation cultivator young lady in the sect. Fairy Peilan from earlier was her martial aunt.
The fierce-looking man in black behind her, Xuan Sheng, was the Moonlight Peak Master's third disciple and Young Lady Yue's loyal simp.
She had never had any dealings with Yue Liuqin. What had she come looking for her for?
Had she come to win back face for Fairy Peilan?
"Were you the one who got Brother Wanqian expelled from the sect?" Yue Liuqin demanded.
Qiaoqiao paused before realizing who "Brother Wanqian" was. Wasn't that Elder Chen's fake son, Chen Wanqian?
"Yes," she said. "You're welcome."
Yue Liuqin: ?
"Who was thanking you?"
"Then you're-" Qiaoqiao looked bewildered. "Don't tell me you're Chen Wanqian's friend?"
Her expression all but said, "No way. Surely no one would be friends with someone like that?" It left Yue Liuqin's chest tight with frustration, unable to get her words out.