It was particularly difficult to encounter any spirit creatures on the Chenyuan continent, and people could easily go their entire lives without finding one! She couldn’t believe that there actually was such a cute one in her bracelet.

“Then, what if I call you Qiuqiu [1]?” Yun Ruoyan smiled. “Do you like the name?”

“Qiu! Yes, I do!” Qiuqiu’s gaze brightened as it leapt up onto Yun Ruoyan’s body.

Perhaps because it jumped with so much force, Yun Ruoyan almost fell on the ground, and the shoulder that had been badly hurt by Yun Moyuan began to ache again.

Seeing Yun Ruoyan trying to hide a grimace, Qiuqiu immediately let go of her, its eyes opening wide with worry. “Mistress, are you hurt?!”

“It’s nothing, only a little wound.” Yun Ruoyan forced a smile.

Qiuqiu circled Yun Ruoyan a few times, and even its frown was surprisingly cute. “You’re not just wounded, Mistress, you’ve even been poisoned.”

Yun Ruoyan was very surprised that such a cute little creature could discern that with a single glance. “Qiuqiu, do you have a solution?”

“Qiuqiu can’t make antidotes,” Qiuqiu chirped, scratching at its ears and shaking its head. “But, mistress, just being here alone will advance your cultivation and help you recover spiritual energy rapidly! Mistress, as long as you meditate here, I’m sure your cultivation will rise immensely!”

Yun Ruoyan thought for a little. Qiuqiu wasn’t wrong: as soon as she had entered the space, she had immediately felt the potent spiritual energy contained within. If she were to meditate here, she really might be able to grow quickly despite the poison sapping away at her strength.

“Mistress, mistress, quick, try it!” Qiuqiu tugged at Yun Ruoyan’s hem with its mouth, forcing her to sit down.

“Alright.” Yun Ruoyan began to cycle qi on the spot, and energy poured into her from her surroundings. As far as she could tell, meditating here was at least ten times as efficient as it would be elsewhere!

In this case, if she were to continue cultivating in here, passing the entrance exam for Kongming Academy wouldn’t be a problem at all!

In the next few days, while Yun Ruoyan sent Peony and Xi Lan to clean up the cottage and surrounding areas, she locked herself in her room and forbade anyone from disturbing her. After that, she entered the pocket dimension contained within the bracelet and began to cultivate amidst Qiuqiu’s guidance.

Luckily, Yun Ruoyan had long since sent away the idle servants under her jurisdiction, and although Peony and Xi Lan were curious about what their mistress was doing, neither of them asked about it. All they thought was that she was trying to recover from her wounds in private.

But while Yun Ruoyan was taking a break, Qiuqiu piped up, “Mistress, even though this space will definitely speed up your cultivation, if you don’t find a way to get rid of that poison soon, your growth will still be stunted.”

“That I know.” Yun Ruoyan rubbed Qiuqiu’s fur. During this entire time, she too had been worrying about the condition of her body. Although Peony and Xi Lan were now on alert, and it would be difficult for Madam An to continue poisoning her, she still had to deal with the poison already within her body. Her grandfather had yet to find a solution, and she was worried that trying to cultivate might actually induce the poison to spread further throughout her body.

But at this point, she couldn’t worry about anything else—it was almost time for the recruitment trials for Kongming Academy. She’d missed the trials in her past life; she couldn’t miss it again!

Entering Kongming Academy would be the first, crucial step to changing her fate.

Each kingdom’s royalty and aristocracy were already preparing for the first trial of the selection process. Anyone aged between six and fifteen would be able to participate, and all the young misses of the Yun and Lin families were naturally on the roster.

As soon as news of the admissions exam spread, everyone from the Yun family began cultivating even more ferociously.

It was only Yun Ruoyan’s residence that was silent and quiet amidst the hubbub. Xi Lan was the first to speak up, “Miss, all the other young misses are already starting their preparation, and the master and matriarch are discussing the selection process in the great hall. They haven’t forgotten about us, have they?”

Yun Ruoyan smiled. “Don’t worry, someone’s going to come for us.”

Just as Yun Ruoyan finished speaking, one of the servants called out to her from outside, “Miss Ruoyan, the master and old madam are awaiting your presence!”

Xi Lan cried out in excitement, “Miss, you’re right on the mark!”

Of course she was; the same thing had happened in her past life, after all.

Yun Ruoyan smiled. “Let’s go.”

Peony was just about to follow Yun Ruoyan out when Xi Lan stopped her, shaking her head. “Peony, what’s going on with the young miss? I don’t see her smile or cry anymore, and I’m really not starting to understand her.”

Peony rubbed Xi Lan’s head. “Me too. But don’t worry, I’m sure our young miss is getting more and more talented by the day.”

Xi Lan didn’t really understand what Peony meant either, but all she could do was nod her head, half-dazed.

Yun Ruoyan had just entered the great hall when Madam An glanced at her, saying pointedly, “Look at our Ruoyan, only coming by when someone sends for her. She’s finally starting to put on airs befitting a wife-born daughter of a household.”

“I wouldn’t dare to put on airs, Madam An. I simply don’t talk very much with my sisters, so I often find out about these gatherings rather late.”

Madam An turned towards Yun Lan. “Qianying’s right: since all the young ladies are going to participate in the selection process, there’s no reason to leave out Ruoyan. Even if she’s not talented, she still has to give it a try, doesn’t she? Otherwise, outsiders might say that we’re favoring everyone but her. Husband, don’t you agree?”

No one noticed the cold smile hanging by Yun Ruoyan’s lips.

As untalented as she was, Yun Ruoyan would be nothing more than a laughing stock even if she truly were to participate in the selection. Yun Lan surely wouldn’t want to make the Yun family lose face; if not for Yi Qianying and Madam An prodding at him, he would already have announced that Yun Ruoyan was forfeiting due to illness.

Yi Qianying and Madam An only nominated her because they wanted to shame her!

Yun Lan sat at the dais, his head bowed in contemplation. Finally, he looked toward Yun Ruoyan. “Do you want to participate?”

It was exactly the same question as in her past life. Back then, however, the timid and self-abasing Yun Ruoyan shied away from the proposal once and again, until her actions so infuriated Yun Lan that he forced her to participate. This had only widened the gulf between father and daughter, leaving her sisters to benefit.

This time, however, Yun Ruoyan was perfectly confident of her success. She raised her head and announced, “I’m perfectly willing to participate, Father, and I surely won’t let you down.” She knelt down in earnest. “Father, please give your daughter this chance. I’ll do my best to succeed.”

Madam An clearly wasn’t expecting Yun Ruoyan to agree, and she subconsciously looked toward Yun Ruoyao and Yi Qianying. She’d wanted to take the opportunity to create a rift between the two of them, but Yun Ruoyan had foiled her plans once more!

“The roster and matchups for the first trial will be coming out shortly. I’ll send someone over to add your name to the list; go back and start preparing,” Yun Lan said after sipping a mouthful of tea.

The first trial was a one-on-one match. In the past, Yun Ruoyan had lost this match to her cousin Lin Qingchen, and this was one of the reasons she had gradually begun distancing herself from the Lin family.

Now, although Yun Ruoyan wanted to get into Kongming Academy, she was unwilling to cause a dispute between her and the Lin sisters to do so.

The best method was to avoid having to fight either of them, which meant that she had to change her opponent before the roster was set in stone.

Thus, Yun Ruoyan took a few pearls out of her jewelry box and prepared to head toward the residence of the envoy from Kongming Academy.

Although Yun Ruoyan didn’t have many pretty ornaments or dresses, she wasn’t poor—despite never receiving an allowance from her family, even one of the jewelry boxes that her mother had left her would be worth more than a thousand taels of gold.

As Yun Ruoyan was about to enter the envoy’s inn, she stumbled across Yun Ruoyao, who had come with servants bearing a whole chest of silver.

Yun Ruoyan quickly hid behind a wall. Yun Ruoyao’s cultivation was high enough that she couldn’t fathom what need she would have to approach the envoy before the competition like her.

It was fifteen minutes before Yun Ruoyao came out, and only then did Yun Ruoyan creep in. “Envoy Ding, please wait!”

Envoy Ding was just about to close his door. “You are?”

“My name is Yun Ruoyan, and I’m here to discuss a matter with you, Envoy Ding.” Yun Ruoyan bowed.

He glanced critically at her before attempting to close the door once more. “I’m sure it can wait.”

“Envoy!” Yun Ruoyan strode forth and took out a dark pearl she’d been holding in her hand, bringing it to his eyes. “I have an urgent matter.”

Envoy Ding opened his eyes wide. This was a pearl unique to the northern seas, and just one pearl was easily worth twice or thrice the silver that Yun Ruoyao had brought over!

“Miss Yun, we can talk inside.” Envoy Ding opened the door once more, inviting Yun Ruoyan in.

“What request do you have, Miss?” Envoy Ding’s face was smiling, but his eyes were glued to her hand.

Yun Ruoyan spoke directly, “Simply that I not fight with the two misses from the Lin family.”

Envoy Ding smiled craftily. “You’re quite smart, Miss.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your sister came over just now in order to pit you against one of those sisters.” Envoy Ding smiled. “But before I could say anything, you’d already guessed what her plan was.”

This wasn’t something Yun Ruoyan had anticipated.

She had believed that her original opponent was Lin Qingchen, but it turned out that that was all because of Yun Ruoyao!

Just you wait, Yun Ruoyao! Oh, she was going to get her sister back for this!

“Envoy Ding, it’s simply that my sister didn’t want me to fail. It’s perfectly fine for you to assign me a talented opponent.” Yun Ruoyan smiled, taking out another pearl from her dress. “Yun Ruoyao would be a fine opponent, wouldn’t she?”

Envoy Ding accepted the pearl, looking skeptically at her back as she walked out.

Everyone knew that the second daughter of the Yun family was ugly and weak, worthless and untalented, but why was this Yun Ruoyan so different from what he’d expected?

1. Onomatopoeic for chirping.