The carriage’s riders were given sufficient funds from Su Ran in order to pay the entrance tax which cost 1 gold coin. 1 gold coin was worth 100 silver coins and 1 silver coin was worth 100 copper coin. Su Qingcheng knew this already as she had made the assumption long ago, seeing as she was familiar with this denomination of coin from the myriad stories she’d read and written. So entering Bailing City was not actually very troublesome. By this time, Fang Li had already extracted the Snake Tianqi from the carriage of the cabin back into her person, so it no longer exuded that aura of death which repelled danger from being attracted to them.

However, that didn’t change the fact a powerful Tianqi Sage was on this very carriage. It attracted the attention of many people, who consisted of folks and fellows from all walks of life. Su Qingcheng could already hear the conversations erupting from the crowd outside as the carriage was making its way to a particular inn. Su Yanran had already briefed Su Qingcheng on this prior to the trip. They would be heading to the Golden State Inn which the Su family had always been to for every single time the White Spirit Competition had been held since its inception.

Su Yanran had already stayed here for a couple of years of the White Spirit Competition so she was familiar with how things went here. Su Qingcheng on the other hand was wet in the ears. When Fang Li asked Su Qingcheng if she needed any help (being much younger than Su Yanran), the younger girl decided not to take any risks of Fang Li trying anything funny and graciously declined the offer. Su Qingcheng had already gotten tired of the hustle and bustle by the time they reached Golden State Inn. Fang Li herself had disembarked from the carriage shortly after the Su sisters did.

“It was lovely accompanying you two youngsters to Bailing City,” Fang Li bowed. “I have things to take care of, so I’ll be seeing you around for the meantime. Good luck at the competition. I’ll be expecting a good show.” She grinned.

Su Qingcheng responded with a bow, as did Su Yanran. Both of them sighed when they watched the sexy, voluptuous woman walk away with hips swaying, eliciting the thirsty gazes of men and women nearby alike. Su Yanran looked to her younger sister and nodded with a smile. “Let’s get our accommodations settled then.”

Su Yanran did all the talking. Their attendant was a family acquaintance, a middle-aged man named Lin Getong. Lin Getong was happy to see Su Yanran, but was perplexed as he was expecting to see Su Mujian instead of the fourteen year-old next to her. Su Yanran explained succinctly that Su Mujian was unexpectedly ambushed and injured heavily, and had to stay behind to recuperate. Her younger sister, a monster at the age of fourteen, was eager to volunteer in his place. Lin Getong seemed a bit skeptical but his eyes bulged out momentarily when he saw Su Qingcheng’s hands, as if he recognized something.

He immediately became more respectful and quietened down. Su Yanran was wary of Lin Getong who immediately became more reserved; he was not usually like this in front of family friends. However, she did not pry further into it and reasoned out that he probably recognized Su Qingcheng’s monstrous talent and potential and respected her choice to come here despite the dangers of taking part in the competition.

Su Yanran and Su Qingcheng were taken into a suite of a particularly high level. But this was actually called the Revival Suite. It had only slightly inferior amenities to the highest level rooms but was only reserved for members of the Su clan, which shows the huge ties that the Golden State Inn had with the Su clan. Undoubtedly they also learned that the two people staying in this suite today were daughters of Su Ran, formerly Nie Ran who was the terrifying Tianqi Ghost Emperor. Su Yanran realized this when they found out the Revival Suite had a considerable upgrade.

“This is very impressive,” Su Qingcheng nodded in approval as she immediately collapsed on one of the royal beds. “I knew we had special treatment, but did our clan’s relationship with this inn go that far back?”

Su Yanran giggled as she sat next to Su Qingcheng who was lying on the bed. “That’s right. Apparently our great ancestors were one of this inn’s benefactors, so they were indebted to us for becoming this great. Did you know that the Revival Suite got its name because the word for our surname has a variant which means ‘resurrection’?”

Su Qingcheng gasped. “Wow, so it’s like that.” She feigned ignorance but she knew this also. Chinese and even Japanese wordplay was always interesting for Su Qingcheng, even back in her past life.

“The White Spirit Competition starts very soon. We should get ready to sign up after settling down here.”

Su Qingcheng nodded as Su Yanran reminded her of their purpose for being here in the first place. She could enjoy the inn later on after they signed up. They quickly got ready and left the suite. There was a mystical array lock on it which Su Yanran operated and taught Su Qingcheng to use, who learned quickly. Apparently it was only operable by members of the Su clan, and it could lock the door at will and was nigh impossible for anyone under the level of a Tianqi Sage to break down.

After leaving the inn and thanking Ling Getong for his help, they began to travel to the Bailing City’s Empire Square, situated on the northern side of the city in front of a giant palatial structure. Though this wasn’t considered the imperial castle, it was still a city hall that rivalled it in terms of importance. It was here that all the hopeful participants of the White Spirit Competition would sign up. Su Qingcheng and Su Yanran finally made their entrance which attracted quite a few gazes. They were less surprised at Su Yanran and instead looked at the young Su Qingcheng, who had looks befitting of a blossoming girl who looked more at home as a scholar than a fighter.

Immediately some boys around her age looked at her with attracted looks. However they were driven away the moment Su Yanran glared at them. “Looks like this place has a lot of people around my age participating also. But I don’t see many girls…” Su Qingcheng sighed.

“Don’t feel bad,” Su Yanran gave Su Qingcheng a pet on the head. “It’s hard to find them here, they’re probably in our situation also, taking our time and not rushing. We have to watch each other’s backs in this situation. Fights have broken out here in the past.” Su Yanran sighed.

Su Qingcheng nodded. In a giant place like this with many people trying to sign up as quickly as possible so they can have time to prepare, it was possible that fights could break out. She didn’t want to get exposed in a place like this either. Su Qingcheng also noticed that Yao Meiyue was very quiet. Hopefully she was deliberately suppressing her presence or sleeping because Su Qingcheng could really use her help on how to deal with Fang Li, who definitely didn’t seem simple.

Su Yanran may not have been able to see it, but how could Su Qingcheng, with her past life experiences, not see it? A very attractive, pretty woman trying to coax a young person like her to be friends? Someone like that who was also incredibly powerful must definitely have their own reasons to do it. Su Qingcheng tried not to worry about it too much as in the short term, she could use this to her advantage but after the White Spirit Competition, it was all free game.

Su Qingcheng and Su Yanran were able to get into one of the many long queues. Fortunately the one they were in was very peaceful compared to some of the others and Su Qingcheng inwardly sighed in relief, hoping there wouldn’t be any trouble. Smiling and waiting patiently. Su Yanran also noticed that things were unusually very smooth this time around. “Do you think something happened?” Su Yanran asked Su Qingcheng.

Su Yanran trusted Su Qingcheng’s opinion because since young, she discovered that Su Qingcheng’s intuition was abnormal for a kid. She seemed to be able to recognize things that no young child should ever realize. Su Qingcheng’s brows furrowed and she scratched her head in thought. This was true; everything in their lane seemed too easy. Even some of the other queues had less in-fighting. Could it have been related to Fang Li? She said she had things to take care of…

“If my intuition is right, Senior Snake Empress probably helped us from the shadows. She has a business relationship with the imperial family, as she told us from her story. It would make sense if she deliberately pulled some strings to make things easier on us. She wanted us to give a good show after all,” Su Qingcheng explained. Su Yanran kicked herself mentally for not realizing this earlier. “Anyway, we shouldn’t worry about that. We should be able to sign up soon, ah, wait, it’s our turn now.”

Su Yanran and Su Qingcheng stood before a stone table where a young scholarly woman sitting behind it looked up at them. There was a scroll on it with a lot of tabulated data. Su Qingcheng surmised this must be the list of people who signed up. The woman then sized up Su Yanran before nodding. Then she turned to face Su Qingcheng.

“May I know your age?” she asked.

“Fourteen years old,” Su Qingcheng nodded. “Third rank Tianqi User.”

“Uh… Really?”

“Do I need to show some proof?”

Su Qingcheng sighed. But before the woman before her could elaborate, Su Qingcheng heard a loud voice. This was a voice she not only didn’t think she’d hear, but she definitely didn’t want to hear it.

“What’s a weakling like you doing here?!”

“You… what are you doing here?!” Su Qingcheng growled as she looked at a different queue, where a young man was signing up. It was, naturally, Xiao Tie.

Su Yanran’s expression darkened.