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How could he possibly let this little girl threaten him!
"Qiaoqiao will definitely pass the trial." After a long stalemate, he yielded in humiliation.
"Deal."
With a hundred thousand Spirit Stones in hand, Qiaoqiao split them with her senior sister, the corners of her lips lifting even higher. "Your young lady really is generous."
With the spirit herb in hand, Xuan Sheng shot her a vicious glare. "You're certain to fail this trial!"
With that, he left without looking back.
Wen Zhi could not help worrying. Qiaoqiao already had a grudge with Yue Liuqin, and now she had offended Fairy Peilan for her sake, thoroughly alienating the entire Moonlight Peak faction.
Moonlight Peak was the strongest peak in the Flowing Cloud Sect. Offending them was hardly a good thing for their junior sister...
And why did Xuan Sheng sound so certain that their junior sister would fail?
As she was thinking this, someone tugged at her clothes. She looked down to find Qiaoqiao gazing at her pleadingly. "Third Senior Sister, do you actually have that... secret to passing every exam?"
Wen Zhi was just about to take it out when a clear, easy voice rang out. "So this is where you are."
They looked up. It was their eldest senior brother, Shen Ji.
He had just slain a fifth-tier demon wolf nearby, and blood still dripped from the tip of his sword.
"Qiaoqiao, starting today, I'll teach you how to hunt Demon Beasts every day from seven in the morning to three in the afternoon. From three in the afternoon to eleven at night, you'll follow your third senior sister to True Person Yao's medicinal fields on Medicine Peak to learn to identify spirit herbs. Elder Ning has already spoken to True Person Yao. I'll supervise you. No slacking off."
Qiaoqiao was stunned.
What kind of twisted schedule was this!
Was she not supposed to sleep?!
"Isn't this a bit much just to pass the trial?"
"The reward for placing first in points in this sect trial is a bottle of Spirit Wind Immortal Dew," Shen Ji said. "Taking it lets you reach Foundation Establishment without any side effects. If you still can't reach Foundation Establishment, you'll have to participate again next year even if you pass this time. So you must take first place in this trial."
Qiaoqiao was stunned all over again. From scraping a pass to getting full marks-wasn't that difficulty spike a little too steep?!
She was just a salted fish trying to flip herself upright. She did not want to become the grind king in one go!
But to stay on Ethereal Peak, she took a deep breath. "I... I'll do my best!"
Her eldest senior brother nodded in satisfaction. "Junior Sister, don't worry. In this month, I'll make sure you shed your old skin and change your bones."
Qiaoqiao understood his unspoken meaning: Don't even think about sleeping for the next month.
Looking at her eldest senior brother's grind-king face, she could not help whimpering inwardly. [Eldest Senior Brother is completely deranged!]
[How can he bear to torment such an adorable little girl as me?]
Shen Ji: ...
Was he really a villain in his junior sister's eyes?
A month passed in the blink of an eye. A sea of heads crowded the entrance to the secret realm trial.
Qi Refining disciples from every peak gathered here, and the scene was bustling as people saw them off for their exam.
In one corner, everyone from Ethereal Peak gathered together, surrounding their junior sister.
"Junior Sister Qiao, how do you feel?"
"I'll definitely pass this time!" Qiaoqiao answered with complete confidence.
Although she was confident, everyone from Elder Ning to her third senior sister wore tense expressions. Qiaoqiao was the one taking the exam, yet each of them was more worried than the last. Somehow, they felt even more nervous than if they were participating themselves.
Ning Shuang could not help asking Shen Ji, "Well? How good are her chances?"
Shen Ji wore a complicated expression. His lips moved, but no words came out.
Ning Shuang asked, "What's wrong?"
Had Qiaoqiao still been slacking off and fishing in troubled waters all this time?
"Qiaoqiao has been very diligent, but..."
Shen Ji recalled the past month's intensive training. He had released a second-tier rabbit demon. "This rabbit demon's defining trait is its speed, and its weakness is poor eyesight. You have to strike from its blind spot to kill it in one blow. Otherwise, it'll get away."
"Junior Sister, do you understand?"
"Yes!"
"Use the chrysanthemum sword more!"
Shen Ji: ...
Well, you're not wrong...
"Third-tier Nether Snakes are highly venomous and skilled at concealing themselves. Inside the secret realm, you must stay aware of your surroundings at all times to guard against their ambushes."
"Junior Sister, do you understand?"
"Yes."
"If it's sneaky, I have to be even sneakier and do my best to out-sneak it to death!"
Shen Ji: ...
"As for fourth-tier Demon Beasts-"
"I know. Fourth-tier Demon Beasts are beyond me, so I should run as soon as I see one," she answered obediently and earnestly.
[Running is out of the question. Better to find a few more people and gang up on it without a shred of martial honor!]
Shen Ji: ...
He cast a worried glance at his junior sister in the crowd, wishing he could take the trial in her place. "Elder, can someone take the exam for her?"
Ning Shuang said, "What do you think?"
Shen Ji: ...
He thought her chances looked shaky.
Xiao Tingyu took out a protective Law Treasure. "Junior Sister, this is a mystic-grade suit of protective armor. Take it."
Qiaoqiao said solemnly, "Second Senior Sister, after Eldest Senior Brother's guidance all this time, I've shed my old skin and changed my bones. I'm no longer the old Ah-Qiao of Wu! An expert like me doesn't need protective armor."
Her eldest senior brother looked as though he had nothing left to live for.
With inhuman extravagance, Xiao Tingyu pulled out ten suits in one go. "It's fine. Just wear them for fun. I have a whole warehouse of these."
Shen Ji turned to look at her. Law Treasures were divided into four grades: heaven, earth, mystic, and yellow. A single suit of mystic-grade armor cost at least ten thousand Spirit Stones, yet his second junior sister had pulled out ten at once!
How had he never known his second junior sister was so rich...
Ning Shuang said, "Your second junior sister is the second young lady of the Xiao Household. Didn't I tell you?"
The Xiao Household?
The Xiao Household that was the richest in the cultivation world?!
Shen Ji went numb. To think a rich woman has been right beside me all along!
Still, even having a rich woman for a second junior sister could not change the fact that Ethereal Peak was full of penniless sword cultivators. Shen Ji looked at his own patched sleeve, then at the ten suits of mystic-grade armor in his junior sister's hands, and once again felt the disparities of the world.
Who was jealous?
Oh, it was him.