Do You Know How to Capture a Villain?

Her First Gift (1)

After hearing Ji Qingzhou’s assumption, the system felt like punching her.

“This should be a simple spiritual leash. Shen Rongyu had written a spell for harnessing spiritual beasts into the talisman. Your donkey is too stupid, and he told you to control it,” the system explained to Ji Qingzhou.

Perhaps making a spiritual leash was just a matter of moving his fingers for Shen Rongyu, but this was the first gift Ji Qingzhou had received after coming to this world.

She did not tie the old donkey with the spiritual leash. Although the guy was too stubborn, it has been blindfolded and roped to work during its lifetime. Ji Qingzhou couldn’t do anything like tying it up again.

Ji Qingzhou put away the spiritual leash that Shen Rongyu gave her, and stuffed it in the small purse she carried with her. The purse also contained the money she had saved since she came to this world. She spent two silver coins on the donkey and still had three  left.

She wandered towards the crowd with the old donkey, carrying the luggage she brought along the way. The woman and the donkey stood out in the crowd.

In Yunshui Peak, the bristly green pine canopy was painted a dark green hue. It was brimming with vitality under the bright sunlight. The mountains and rocks were randomly positioned, and many waterfalls were flowing down from the top of the mountain and converging in the broad lake below the mountains. The sunlight was like sprinkling gold, casting a dazzling outline on the lake’s surface.

The Immortal Ascension Conference was a ceremony for the Xuanyun Sect to select new disciples every 50 years. At the conference, the disciples who were both good in character and roots would be screened out to cross the threshold.

Ji Qingzhou had no idea who gave the system the confidence to believe that she could pass this Immortal Ascension Conference.

But if she failed to pass the Immortal Ascension Conference, she couldn’t enter the Xuanyun Sect, she couldn’t approach Shen Rongyu and the system’s energy would be depleted. By then, she and the system would be finished together.

Ji Qingzhou was left with no choice but to find a way to work hard helplessly.

The place where she was standing was not far from the crowd, neither blending into the throng of people nor straying from them. The immortality seekers here were automatically divided into two groups. The immortality seekers who took the cloud boat were naturally the lower group, while those who arrived at the Yunshui Peak first were the descendants of some immortal cultivator families.

If the immortality seekers she just saw on the cloud cliff were clustered together resembling brilliant jewels, and the other group consisted of real immortals, akin to the bright moon hanging in the sky, and in the center of those well-known immortal cultivator descendants, was one person who was notably dazzling.

She stood there, as if she could attract everyone’s attention, just like the blazing sun, with a burning beauty. Meng Yaolan stood in the center of the crowd, green silk tied behind her head, without a trace of superfluousness. Her red and white attire set her figure neatly. She was not afraid of people’s prying eyes. For her, their inquisitive gazes and envy made her a fish in the water, and she bathed in it comfortably.

Ji Qingzhou lifted her feet lazily. She wasn’t at all interested in others. Instead, she was wondering when she could sit down and take a break, as her feet were going numb from standing in place.

After welcoming the immortality seekers to Yunshui Peak, Shen Rongyu returned to the clan elders. Xuanyun Sect only sent two elders to preside over this immortality conference. It was because of Shen Rongyu’s special status that made him stand in front of the two elders of Yunshui Peak, his posture neither subservient nor arrogant.

One of the elders in charge of the Yunshui Peak, Jiang Qianke, said to Shen Rongyu jokingly, “That girl didn’t use your spiritual harness.”

“Hmm,” Shen Rongyu readily responded, his voice still distant and reserved, as he handed the cloud boat back to Jiang Qianke.

“There is a problem with the protective array on the cloud boat. That girl was also unlucky. In my opinion, she does not have a single thread of immortal fate. She’s as foolish as a piece of wood. Her arrival here might really have been due to her donkey,” Jiang Qianke smilingly said while fiddling with the cloud boat in his hand.

The place they were located was a large-scale array suspended above Yunshui Peak. This formation was identical to a huge disc, relying on the upper space of Yunshui Peak. Nonetheless, when the immortality seekers looked up, under the array, all they could see were white clouds in the sky.

“Rongyu, you should go too,” Jiang Qianke said to Shen Rongyu, “Back then, you brought the token of Perfected Yuan Wu, proving that you are his disciple. On top of that, you are the only descendant of the Dongshan Royal Family, so the Xuanyun Sect temporarily kept you within the sect. However, there are rules within the sect that cannot be violated. In other words, you still have to go through this Immortality Seeking Conference.”

Shen Rongyu restrained his gaze and bowed in response. He was a special existence in Xuanyun Sect. In those years, he came to Xuanyun Sect with the token of Perfected Yuan Wu, the status of being his disciple. Perfected Yuan Wu was a mysterious and reclusive powerhouse with a high seniority in Xuanyun sect. Therefore, even the sect master of Xuanyun Sect should call him Shixiong.

He flew down with his sword, landing somewhat close to where Ji Qingzhou was, and both wandered away from the crowd.

Shen Rongyu didn’t have to stand near Ji Qingzhou. The main reason was that the position was too precise, neither far nor near, just enough to observe their movements without blending in.

At this time, Ji Qingzhou was studying the texture of the pebbles on the lakeshore. Shen Rongyu landed lightly, but his tall shadow shrouded her.

Ji Qingzhou did not raise her head, only politely sidestepped to give him more space.

What kind of person was Shen Rongyu? The immortality seekers present who knew the inside story all knew that he entered Xuanyun Sect more than 30 years before, but had not yet gone through the Immortality Seeking Conference process. Hence, knowing that he would be walking with them on the road to immortality, everyone turned their attention to him.

Ji Qingzhou keenly raised her head. The hair under her black hood was blown off a little by the wind and fluttered on her cheek, tickling her.

Although she knew that those people were looking at Shen Rongyu, she took the old donkey backward. She was not quite used to the sight of so many people. It was as if they were in a spotlight, bright and shiny, pricking her till it hurt.

Where could she hide? She only had one cover.