Yue Zhiyin grew more and more annoyed as she thought about it. She rolled up her sleeves and walked over, "Sui You, what's your deal? You went to ask Junior Brother Qi Yu if he could team up with you, got rejected, and only then came to agree to me, making it seem like I'm the one begging."
"But Senior Brother, you are indeed begging in this situation," Ming Lou felt he had to be reasonable. "You were the one who actively went to ask Third Senior Brother."
Sui You looked innocent and well-behaved.
The others nodded.
Yue Zhiyin narrowed her eyes and scanned them.
Everyone immediately shut up and looked up at the sky.
After returning.
Qi Yu looked through the list of team invitation requests on the table and finally chose Sixth Senior Brother Ming Lou.
After she had chosen her team, so as not to delay others from finding partners, she immediately sent out the news.
Upon receiving the message, although some were disappointed, everyone immediately found other ways to team up.
Ming Lou jumped for joy. Before Qi Yu could even approach him, he happily trotted over. The first thing he did was grab Qi Yu and suggest, "Junior Brother Qi Yu, let's go try that swamp pit now?"
After assigning the task, Li Yu hadn't said that they couldn't go to the swamp pit before the Chen hour tomorrow.
However, he also hadn't said they could go.
Therefore, many disciples were still observing whether they could try the swamp pit early to practice their teamwork.
Now that they saw Ming Lou and Qi Yu heading over, they all followed.
Qi Yu walked to the edge of the swamp pit, casually picked up a pebble, and threw it in. The swamp instantly swallowed the pebble whole.
"This swamp pit is quite difficult," Qi Yu said with emotion. "Senior Brother Ming Lou, if I turn back into my original form and hide in your arms, are you sure you won't slip on the ice ladder?"
Ming Lou also pondered for a moment, "That depends on how you build the ladder."
He pointed to the protruding ground created by Yu Zhen's pearl earrings below. "This place is made of pearls, so not only is it surrounded by the swamp, but it's also very slippery. You need to figure out how to avoid that when building your ladder."
Qi Yu thought for a moment and simply released an ice pillar into the pit.
She initially just wanted to see if the swamp could be frozen, but unexpectedly, while it did freeze, the ice was not solid. A small pebble could smash through the thin ice.
Qi Nian's side was also not going smoothly.
She used wood-elemental magic to send branches down, and they were quickly swallowed by the swamp.
As a result, everyone by the swamp pit's expression turned serious.
Some tried to descend on their swords.
However, sword-riding spells were ineffective, likely due to restrictions.
Qi Yu looked at the deep pit, suddenly patted Ming Lou's shoulder, and whispered a few words in his ear. Ming Lou nodded, and the two suddenly combined their spiritual energy.
Indeed, after being covered by Ming Lou's metal-elemental magic, Qi Yu's ice ladder became exceptionally stable, adhering perfectly to the swamp wall.
Seeing that the ladder problem was solved, Ming Lou raised an eyebrow. Qi Yu pulled him, and they retracted their spells, happily slinging arms and running off to have fun.
They left the other disciples of the Bei Yuan Sect staring at the swamp pit with headaches.
The next day, at the Chen hour.
Qi Yu and Ming Lou both thought their first-place position was secure.
Unexpectedly, when they arrived at the pit, they found Yue Zhiyin and the others already waiting, all looking eager to try.
Everyone had figured it out?
No way.
Qi Yu pinched her chin, deep in thought. Had Senior Brother's water and wind elemental magic also found a solution?
As it turned out, Yue Zhiyin had indeed thought of an excellent method.
After Li Yu arrived, Yue Zhiyin and Sui You were the first to enter the swamp pit.
Qi Yu and the other junior brothers and sisters squatted beside them, watching.
Upon entering, Sui You first struck the ground with his palm. The original pearl-like protruding ground was instantly covered with a layer of metal.
Taking advantage of this moment, Yue Zhiyin suddenly used his water-elemental power to summon water spheres. He and Sui You stepped on the water spheres, using the wind to easily glide upwards.
Qi Yu couldn't help but applaud.
The next pair, Qi Nian and another junior sister, also leaped into the swamp pit.
Their method, in comparison, was… more complicated.
The two wood-elemental alchemy cultivators took out a pot of soil from their storage bags and began, bit by bit, to activate the seeds within, making them sprout.
They continued until the seeds grew into towering trees, and then they climbed up along the branches.
Ming Lou couldn't help but exclaim, "Second Senior Sister's group is truly amazing. They even thought of using tree-planting to escape."
Qi Yu nodded. Seeing that it was their turn, she and Ming Lou leaped down together.
After jumping into the swamp pit, Qi Yu was about to use their previous method. However, just as she was about to cast the spell, she heard Li Yu say from above the pit, "The scoring criteria for this round is that the simpler the method used by the group when they emerge, the higher their score will be."
Qi Yu immediately stopped her spell.
Ming Lou looked at her with confusion, "Junior Brother Qi Yu, aren't we starting?"
"I've thought of a simpler method. You're not very heavy, are you?" Qi Yu nudged him with her elbow.
Ming Lou let out an "Ah," nodded, still looking bewildered.
Qi Yu formed hand seals and chanted softly. Before long, her body began to glow.
Immediately, a beautiful celadon jade plate floated in mid-air.
Actually, Qi Yu's original form was pure white with a hint of jade green, but because Li Yu had encased her in a protective shell of cold ice steel, she appeared celadon.
Ming Lou gasped and lightly leaped onto it, as graceful as a cat.
Qi Yu slowly ascended.
She easily carried Ming Lou out.
"The simplest method possible," Qi Yu said, walking to the edge of the swamp pit and lightly dusting herself off.
Li Yu's mouth twitched, "Qi Yu, transforming back into your original form like this is not allowed!"
"You didn't say that," Qi Yu and Ming Lou said in unison.
Li Yu put his hand to his forehead.
Qi Yu and Ming Lou raised their chins together and huffed, walking to the side.
Because the ranking of direct disciples and inner court disciples was different, Qi Yu and her group received a separate list from Li Yu after their competition.
Qi Yu and Ming Lou's escape method was the simplest, so they ranked first.
Yue Zhiyin and Sui You were second.
Qi Nian's group was third.
Qi Nian stood with her hands on her hips, looking at the leaderboard, "Fourth Junior Sister and Fifth Junior Brother are not here, Master. This ranking has no reference value."
"It's just a casual ranking for fun, what reference value does it need?" Li Yu said, waving his hand. "Actually, the main purpose of setting up this swamp pit was to hope you would use your ingenuity. Only then can you learn more."
"Alright, everyone, rest and regroup. Go back and practice your cultivation methods. When Fourth and Fifth return, your assessments for this year will begin."
Li Yu walked away with his hands behind his back.
Upon hearing the word "assessment," Ming Lou couldn't help but sigh. He nimbly climbed a nearby tree, hooked his legs around a branch, and hung upside down, lamenting, "Junior Brother Qi Yu, you're much luckier. You can participate in this year's disciple assessment without being ranked."
"We're the unfortunate ones. If we fail the assessment, it will be very troublesome."
"What happens if you fail?" Qi Yu leaned against the tree, watching Ming Lou's hair hang down due to his inverted position, and casually braided a small pigtail for him.
Ming Lou opened his mouth, about to speak, when Qi Nian, who was walking over from not far away, preempted him.
"If you fail, Master will throw you into the dead man's pit to pick poisonous herbs."
Yue Zhiyin walked over, placing a hand on Qi Yu's shoulder. "That's right. That dead man's pit is also called the rotten pit. It's full of dead low-level demonic beasts and fierce ghost clan beasts, and the smell is particularly pungent."
Sui You walked over and saw them trying to scare Qi Yu, so he joined in, "Yes, when I go on missions, I pass by there. Nothing grows there, it's full of maggots and mud, it's disgusting."
Qi Yu was silent. "Then failing really is miserable."
After she finished speaking, she was about to say more when the token of the Jade Qing Pavilion Master in her pocket suddenly moved.
Qi Yu subtly touched it, then said she needed to use the restroom and slipped away to her room. Through the mirror in her room, she quickly appeared in her Jade Qing Pavilion Master's chamber.
Then she changed into a moon-white gradient Luo skirt, styled her Cloud Top bun, concealed the cracks on her body, and gracefully walked over. "Steward Yin, you were looking for me?"
"Pavilion Master, a distinguished guest has arrived and specifically asked for you," Steward Yin said with a troubled expression, gesturing towards the Heaven-class room. "I have a feeling they're not here with good intentions."
Qi Yu nodded and gently knocked on the door.
The door to the Heaven-class room opened automatically.
Inside, Yu Zhen, dressed in a trailing black long skirt, with alluring, upturned eye makeup, and dressed as a female demon lord, was leaning lazily to the side, filing her nails and asking, "Little Pavilion Master, why are you so late? This Venerable has been waiting for you for a long time."
Qi Yu pursed her lips. Despite trying to convince herself many times, she still couldn't get used to the gentle Yu Zhen, her master's wife, suddenly transforming into a female demon lord.
She couldn't even consider them the same person.
"Little Pavilion Master, what are you thinking about?" Yu Zhen's black long sleeves gently swept, pulling the small and frail Qi Yu into her embrace. She pinched Qi Yu's chin. "Where is the thing I want? Have you not obtained it yet? If you don't get it soon, I'll start punishing you."
"Demon Lord, this matter hasn't been settled yet. Please let me explain," Qi Yu struggled to climb out of Yu Zhen's embrace.
Yu Zhen pulled her back into her arms. "Why are you running? Although I am the Demon Lord, I don't eat you."
She reached out and grasped Qi Yu's nape, squeezing it. Then, her fingertips tapped the table, and an envelope appeared out of thin air.
"As for explanations, you don't need to explain. I have an opportunity here. You will act as my maid and deliver a birthday gift to the Dragon Prince of the North Sea in my stead."
"The North Sea Dragon Prince's birthday?" Qi Yu pursed her lips and was silent for a moment. "Demon Lord, are there any other conditions? I don't really want to go..."
What if she went and was retaliated against by Yuan Cang, the second prince of the North Sea Dragon Clan?!
This was no laughing matter!
"You don't want to go?" Yu Zhen's hand on Qi Yu's neck tightened slightly. "Do you still want your life?"
"...Yes, yes, yes!" Qi Yu tremblingly picked up the envelope on the table. "I'll go now, I'll go immediately!"
Yu Zhen withdrew her hand with satisfaction. "Go quickly. You must get me the thing I want today, or there won't be a next time."
With that, Yu Zhen, a shadow of darkness, flashed away.
At the same time, at the Bei Yuan Sect.
Yue Zhiyin sat in his room and removed a jade bead from a seabird's leg, throwing it into the air.
Immediately, several lines of text appeared in mid-air:
"Your Highness the Crown Prince, His Majesty has ordered you to return quickly for the Dragon Palace banquet today."