After Transmigrating into a Book, I Was Entangled by a Crazy and Beautiful Villain - Chapter 40.2

Today would determine which twenty people would qualify to go to the Mirror Moon Secret Realm and would also decide the final rankings for the top ten. Thus, Qi Zhenghao made another appearance today.

It was still the familiar officer, but today, there were only a few bamboo slips remaining in the lot container. On the first day, there were ten containers, all filled with slips. Today, one was enough.

The officer reached out and drew two bamboo slips. Song Linlin also looked up at him. The officer read the contents of the slips and slowly announced, “The first match, Shen Wanyi…”

“Hey, this person is first!”

Song Linlin watched from below with her arms crossed. Being the first to go on stage would undoubtedly attract everyone’s attention. Later on, the audience would become numb to the spectacle and only remember the first match, the occasional exciting duel in between, and the last few matches.

This was especially true since the first person on stage would face not only the disciples but also the gaze of the elders. In the previous days’ competitions, the elders might have only watched perfunctorily, but today was the final, and they would definitely be watching seriously.

The first match today would definitely be more nerve-wracking; more importantly, this match was about qualifying for the Secret Realm. Song Linlin remembered clearly that Shen Wanyi, who cultivated on and off, also wanted to go to the Mirror Moon Secret Realm. Whether she could successfully qualify depended on this match.

Under Song Linlin’s curious gaze, the officer read out the second name: “Song Linlin.”

Song Linlin: ?!

Song Linlin was just wondering which unlucky person would have to fight Shen Wanyi, only to find the gossip directed at herself. She was the one who would duel Shen Wanyi!

She remained standing in place, a bit slow to react. Chi Qianning reached out and gently pushed Song Linlin, reminding her, “Go, it’s your turn to go on stage.”

Song Linlin then reluctantly moved her feet and slowly walked onto the stage. During the walk, Song Linlin and Shen Wanyi’s eyes met, and both were visibly bewildered.

Then Shen Wanyi really wanted to laugh, but in such a solemn setting with so many eyes watching her, she could only forcibly suppress the upward curve of her lips to prevent herself from bursting out laughing.

Shen Wanyi felt that her opponents yesterday were already very tough, and she didn’t have much confidence in today’s match. She had planned to rely on some unconventional means to secure a spot in the top twenty, but she couldn’t guarantee that her opponent would accept. It would be difficult if her opponent was righteous and inflexible.

But who knew her opponent today would be Song Linlin? In that case, she didn’t have to worry at all.

Song Linlin was still wondering why Shen Wanyi was smiling. Was it really that funny to be matched against her?

The two contestants took their places in the middle of the stage. Due to their standing positions, they were separated by a distance. This was the area defined by the sect; a certain distance had to be maintained before the formal match began.

Shen Wanyi was the first to draw her weapon and give a bow, but her tone was not serious; it held a hint of casualness. “Shen Wanyi, please grant me your guidance.”

“Song Linlin, please grant me your guidance,” Song Linlin said, also raising her hand.

It was the first match, and so many people were watching. Since she wasn’t facing an opponent with absolutely no hope of winning, Song Linlin felt embarrassed to just surrender immediately.

Once both parties had exchanged courtesies, the competition formally began.

To be honest, Song Linlin had no intention of fighting Shen Wanyi. Furthermore, she didn’t want to go to that Mirror Moon Secret Realm anyway, so she absolutely could not win this match. Thus, when Shen Wanyi advanced with her weapon, Song Linlin only symbolically raised her sword to block.

The sword blades met, forming a momentary deadlock. At this point, the two were very close. Shen Wanyi whispered, “Three thousand spirit stones. Let me win.”

Although her voice was very low, they were so close that Song Linlin heard her clearly. After hearing the offer, her eyes widened instantly, feeling somewhat surreal.

Three thousand spirit stones!

Song Linlin was almost knocked off her feet by the price. Even comparing these spirit stones to sect contributions, three thousand spirit stones would certainly be worth more than three thousand sect contributions. Song Linlin’s net worth was only a little over a thousand sect contributions, and that was after saving up and avoiding any major spending.

Song Linlin knew Shen Wanyi was rich, but she was still genuinely shocked by the offer. Shen Wanyi was too generous!

Seeing that Song Linlin hadn’t replied, Shen Wanyi thought the price was unsatisfactory. After another move, she whispered, “Five thousand spirit stones.”

Song Linlin was shocked by her again and immediately nodded, agreeing to the deal.

It wasn’t that Song Linlin didn’t want more; it was just that the money came too easily, and she felt a bit uneasy taking it. Moreover, she and Shen Wanyi were on good terms, and consistently scamming her would make Song Linlin feel bad.

Seeing Song Linlin nod in agreement, Shen Wanyi finally breathed a sigh of relief. At least her qualification for the Mirror Moon Secret Realm was secured. As for the fight for the top ten, she was somewhat interested, but that depended on whether her opponent was willing to surrender the spot.

Song Linlin cooperated with Shen Wanyi’s moves, and soon after, she was easily defeated, raising her hand to surrender.

“Shen Wanyi wins!” the referee loudly announced the result.

Shen Wanyi was very satisfied with this result, and Song Linlin was equally satisfied. Although Song Linlin lost, she didn’t show any sign of disappointment. She hadn’t planned to win, and the result was an unexpected bonus of encountering a cash cow like Shen Wanyi.

Song Linlin walked off the stage in a good mood, her steps light. If it weren’t for the fact that she couldn’t show too much happiness after losing a match, she would have hummed a tune to celebrate at that moment.

Song Linlin returned to Chi Qianning’s side. Chi Qianning narrowed her eyes slightly, looking at her and saying slowly, “What did you say to that person on stage?”

“Uh… nothing!”

It wouldn’t sound good if others found out that she took money to throw the match. Song Linlin instinctively wanted to hide it, not letting anyone else know.

However, the next second, Chi Qianning followed up with, “How much did she give you?”

Song Linlin: !!!

How did she know she took money?

Song Linlin looked at Chi Qianning in surprise. Chi Qianning, however, felt like giving her an eye-roll, saying, “The two of you were evenly matched, yet she won so easily. It’s simple to figure out. You definitely accepted a bribe from her.”

“You really sold the spot for the Mirror Moon Secret Realm.” Chi Qianning shook her head. Although she had known Song Linlin was unwilling to go, she still couldn’t help but feel it was a pity.

Song Linlin couldn’t hide it anymore and had to tell the truth. “Five thousand spirit stones…”

“That Shen Wanyi isn’t stingy, then,” Chi Qianning said. She strongly suspected that even if the other party had only offered a hundred spirit stones for the spot, Song Linlin would have agreed without hesitation and felt she had made a profit.

The fact that the girl gave five thousand seemed quite generous.

“There’s nothing to regret about not going to the Mirror Moon Secret Realm. Isn’t it nice for us to stay in the sect? It’s not worse than the outside world. Why go to such a dangerous place?” Song Linlin smiled at her friend.

“As long as you don’t regret it.” Chi Qianning didn’t insist. The spot was already gone, and she couldn’t force Song Linlin to go. That place had strength restrictions; even if Chi Qianning wanted to go, she wouldn’t be able to enter.

After so many days, Chi Qianning naturally had a rough understanding of Song Linlin’s personality. She had no grand ambition for cultivation, only wanting to muddle through every day, though she was easily interested in other things.

Song Linlin held Chi Qianning’s arm. Seeing the other party give in, she immediately said, “Of course I don’t regret it!”

Song Linlin didn’t go home to be lazy after watching the first half of the day’s matches as she had done before. This afternoon was the fight for the top ten. Song Linlin was quite curious about this, so she pulled Chi Qianning along to watch in the afternoon.

Ultimately, a senior brother from a generation older than Song Linlin won first place in this competition. He was already at the peak of the late Golden Core stage, only a small catalyst away from breaking through. Combined with his solid martial skills, he naturally secured the top spot this time.

Ye Tingran secured third place with her initial Golden Core stage strength, which was a very dazzling rank. After all, she had only recently been promoted. Since this sect competition was not a life-and-death struggle, her ability to defeat so many opponents who were potentially stronger than her to become third was something to be proud of.

As Qi Zhenghao, who was seated in the principal elder’s seat, personally presented awards to the top three and gave a few encouraging words to the disciples, the several-day-long competition finally came to a successful end.

The twenty disciples would travel to the Guanzhong region tomorrow morning with a sect elder leading the team. Song Linlin said goodbye to Ye Tingran, Zhiyu, and Shen Wanyi one by one. It must be mentioned that Shen Wanyi managed to squeeze into tenth place. Evidently, another opponent had been swayed by her lavish offer and chose to throw the match.

The next morning.

In front of the Xuan Yun Sect Inner Sect’s teleportation array, the person responsible for leading the team to Guanzhong this time was an elder with deep seniority within the sect. After all, this group could be said to be the cutting-edge force among the new disciples of the Xuan Yun Sect. If they developed well, the next pillars of the sect might be born from this group.

There was still some time before departure, but most of the disciples had arrived early at the assembly point to wait. Some people hadn’t even closed their eyes all night, but staying awake for one night wouldn’t have a big impact on cultivators.

The teleportation array suddenly lit up. The next moment, an old man appeared in the array, dressed in a blue Daoist robe, wearing a circular Daoist scarf on his head, with white eyebrows, white hair, and even a long white beard.

This old man had no outward leakage of power, yet anyone who saw him instantly felt that he was definitely an enlightened master, exuding an air of an immortal Daoist.

When the team-leading elder saw the old man, he immediately bowed respectfully, “Greetings, Daoist Zhang. Elder Qi is waiting for you in the Qingming Hall.”

“No need to be so polite. It is I who am suddenly visiting and disturbing everyone.” Daoist Zhang’s manner was amiable, and he nodded in response to the team-leading elder’s words.

After speaking, he continued, though his tone was somewhat helpless, “Alright, San’er, come out.”

Then, a young girl dressed in similar attire poked half of her head out from behind him, looking at the others with bright, watery eyes.

“I’m going to be late! I’m going to be late!”

Song Linlin ran frantically through the sect. She hadn’t even had time to comb her hair, which was flying messily in the air. However, she couldn’t care less, because it was almost time for the morning lecture!

Due to the sect competition in the past few days, the morning lecture had been temporarily canceled. The time for the first match each day had been later than the morning lecture time. Additionally, because Ye Tingran and the others were leaving last night, Shen Wanyi insisted on dragging everyone to her residence for a meal. Song Linlin couldn’t resist having a couple of drinks, only to find that she was a total lightweight.

Ultimately, due to all these factors, she woke up late today. If Chi Qianning hadn’t woken her up, Song Linlin felt she could have slept until the afternoon.

This resulted in her only hastily washing up before immediately running toward the location of the morning lecture.

But bad things always seemed to happen together. Song Linlin had just turned a corner when she ran headlong into a person right behind the bend. Normally, Song Linlin would have been able to stop, but she was running too fast and couldn’t control herself. She immediately collided with the person.

“Watch out—ahhh…”

Song Linlin bumped into the person. Her feet involuntarily stumbled back several steps. The person she hit was shorter than her, only reaching her chest, and immediately fell to the ground.

“Oh my!”

Song Linlin was startled. The person had their hair tied up. At first glance, Song Linlin thought she had hit a little boy. She immediately knelt down and reached out to help the person up. Only upon closer inspection did she realize that the person was clearly a girl.

“Are you alright?!” Song Linlin was panicking now. This person looked several years younger than her. She had actually knocked over a child, which made her feel incredibly guilty.

The girl who had fallen clutched her lower back, whimpering in pain. This frightened Song Linlin, who quickly helped her up.

I hope I didn’t hurt her…

“It hurts…” the girl said.

Song Linlin scratched her head, feeling very awkward. Thankfully, she had received a generous sum of spirit stones from Shen Wanyi. Now, even if the other party asked for compensation, Song Linlin could afford it.

“Where were you going? Should I take you there?”

Song Linlin felt this might be a child of one of the elders in the sect, as she hadn’t seen this person among her own generation. The sect did not prohibit elders from marrying freely, and their children could be brought up by their side.

As for her morning lecture, there was no choice. She would just have to miss it. Since she was the one who hit the person, she should at least escort them back.

The girl shook her head. Her bright, watery eyes looked at Song Linlin with confusion. After thinking for a moment, she said, “Um… I don’t know either.”

Song Linlin: “Huh?”

No way, is this really that cliché? Did I hit her and make her lose her memory?

That shouldn’t be the case; Song Linlin remembered the girl hadn’t hit her head.

The girl blinked again, looked at Song Linlin, and asked, “Why are you in such a hurry? Where are you going?”

Song Linlin didn’t understand the situation and chose to tell the truth. Besides, it wasn’t something shameful. She honestly said, “I’m rushing to the morning lecture. I’m going to be late.”

“Can I go too?” the girl continued, looking at Song Linlin.

“That…” Song Linlin thought for a moment. The morning lecture didn’t restrict who could listen. It seemed like anyone who wanted to could attend, and those who didn’t want to could choose not to go. There were no rules about who couldn’t enter.

She looked down at the girl again. The girl had big, watery eyes, a bit of baby fat on her face, and looked fair and harmless. She didn’t look like a bad person. So, taking her along shouldn’t be an issue, right?

Song Linlin hesitated for two seconds, then immediately agreed. She nodded and said, “Of course you can go. The morning lecture doesn’t prohibit anyone.”

“Then I’ll go with you!”

“Okay!” Song Linlin accepted happily.

Song Linlin quietly sneaked into the location of the morning lecture with her. Since she was already almost late, and she had delayed a little more time on the way, the lecturer was already sitting in the main seat and had started teaching.

Song Linlin crouched low and slipped into the last row of seats. The girl sat right next to her, looking around curiously, interested in everything.

Of course, none of this prevented Song Linlin from falling asleep during the lecture. The person next to her was clearly full of energy, while Song Linlin felt like she hadn’t slept for centuries, feeling incredibly drowsy.

After struggling through the duration of the morning lecture, Song Linlin was nudged awake by the other person when class ended. The girl looked at Song Linlin and grumbled, “Didn’t you come to listen to the morning lecture? How come you were the only one sleeping through the whole class?”

Song Linlin’s face flushed with embarrassment at being questioned. She could only argue, “I was in secluded cultivation for the past few days and didn’t sleep for many days. It’s normal to feel sleepy now.”

“Oh, right.”

Song Linlin sized her up. The other person was wearing a loose blue Daoist robe, not the usual disciple uniform, and it was clear that her figure was petite. She couldn’t help but ask, “How old are you?”

“Fifteen.”

Song Linlin looked at her. No wonder she was a head shorter than herself. She really was a child. It was rare to see someone like this in the sect. Song Linlin continued, “My name is Song Linlin. What’s yours?”

The girl replied, “My name is Zhang San.”

Song Linlin: ???