She and her sisters were of one mind; her sisters played mind games with her.

Like this…

Su Wanqing froze, her entire body breaking out in goosebumps, triggering her PTSD, as she inadvertently caught sight of a young girl.

The screen of the live broadcast artifact was locked onto a girl whose aura was clearly extraordinary.

Her golden hair and golden eyes stood out remarkably in the crowd, and her speed in overcoming obstacles was among the leaders.

Ning… Ning Yuer?

The moment Su Wanqing saw the girl’s appearance, she immediately thought of the female lead’s complete transformation in the original novel.

Similar… truly similar…

If Ning Yuer in her previous state was a delicate beauty in the making, then the golden-haired girl on the live screen was an absolute stunner.

From her current looks, it was evident that this girl’s beauty was absolutely no less than that of beauties like Chen Xueli and Shen Xianyue.

However, compared to Su Wanqing’s own looks, she was still slightly inferior, but only by a fraction, just like those two.

This wasn’t Su Wanqing’s narcissism; whether it was her personal experiences after coming to this world or the descriptions of Su Wanqing in the original novel, her beauty was undeniably paramount.

No, no, no!

Su Wanqing shook her head repeatedly, quickly dismissing this idea. After all, by time, Ning Yuer couldn’t have changed so much.

Moreover, hadn’t Li Ziyu just said so?

Ning Yuer was doing very well at Hongxiu, even displaying high talent.

Presumably, as long as Li Ziyu was a normal person, she wouldn’t let her leave.

What’s more, looking at this girl, she not only had golden hair and golden eyes but also wasn’t as thin as Ning Yuer.

For that girl to reach the level of the young woman in front of her, one month would definitely not be enough.

And Ning Yuer’s eyes probably hadn’t even fully turned golden yet, let alone her hair color, which took the longest to change.

However, although Su Wanqing thought this, she misunderstood one point: Li Ziyu had never said Ning Yuer was with her.

It was all just her own conjecture.

“Elder… Li, who are you optimistic about this time?”

To dispel the doubts in her heart, Su Wanqing decided to ask Li Ziyu beside her.

If the other party also focused on this girl, then things would be a little strange.

After all, although this girl was in the lead, she wasn’t so outstanding as to be overwhelmingly favored.

“Of course, I’m looking at the current first place.”

“Look at this youth; his sprinting pace is steady, he’s been leading since the start, and he shows no signs of faltering even now.”

“This shows how good his foundation is. If his talent isn’t bad either, he’ll probably be a disciple that all the elders will contend for later.”

“And a spot in the top three is definitely his.”

Li Ziyu spoke truthfully.

Although she felt it was highly unlikely Ning Yuer would fail, she indeed favored this youth with a good foundation, presuming his talent wouldn’t be bad either.

“What about the second-place girl?”

“Her foundation is decent, but far inferior to that youth. However, she’s also a good distance ahead of the group behind her.”

Listening to these words, Su Wanqing relaxed much more. It seemed she had indeed overthought it.

“Hoo—”

Soon, most of the people on the field had been eliminated, and Su Wanqing began to carefully observe the remaining twenty.

These twenty people would be the true disciples of the elders of this generation, and many of them were individuals Su Wanqing needed to avoid contacting.

Su Caijie, Ding Zhengxin, Diao Xueyi, Feng Tianrui, Wei Langli, Dong Qiushuang, Wu Xiuxiu, and Zheng Ningyue were the ones she needed to watch out for.

The youth at the very front should be “Mo Tianlin,” the most talented disciple of this generation.

As for the golden-haired girl in second place, she didn’t recognize her.

It seemed that no one of this appearance had ever appeared in the selection assembly in the original novel.

Moreover, this second place should have belonged to the female disciple named “Diao Xueyi,” but now she was in third place, her position taken by that unknown girl.

Could it be because she had sent the female lead away, which led to another proud daughter of heaven appearing to fill the vacant spot?

This was very possible.

Su Wanqing thought a lot and ultimately felt that only this idea was the most reasonable.

Otherwise, she couldn’t imagine how a proud daughter of heaven could appear out of thin air.

“Alright, the competition is over.”

As the twentieth disciple crossed the finish line and arrived at the plaza, Sect Leader Jiang Yi announced the end of the competition. The final results were largely similar to the beginning.

The top seventeen remained unchanged; only the last three disciples showed changes.

As the first youth, named Mo Tianlin, entered to have his spirit root tested, it was indeed an Earth-grade high-tier spirit root, just as Su Wanqing had thought.

And not only were the elders present moved, but even the Sect Leader, who was sitting next to Elder Li Ziyu, was moved.

Judging by her expression, she seemed to have taken a liking to Mo Tianlin, but out of respect for her position as Sect Leader, having once declared Qiao Jinxi as her direct disciple, she ultimately held back.

Because Mo Tianlin was not only one of the top three in this assembly but also the first place, and basically the most talented and best-foundationed disciple of this generation.

So all the elders remained silent, holding their breath like courtesans waiting to be chosen, anticipating his decision.

After surveying the crowd, Mo Tianlin ultimately chose Elder Ye, the strongest among sword cultivators and the signboard of Tianjian Pavilion’s sword cultivation path, as his master.

“Ye Hai, Elder Ye!”

“Disciple Mo Tianlin pays his respects to Master!”

With Mo Tianlin’s kowtow, the already white-haired old man immediately beamed.

He stroked his goatee, enjoying the envious, jealous, and hateful gazes of the crowd, and led the youth to his side.

In his joy, he even directly announced Mo Tianlin as his direct disciple, who would inherit his great responsibilities in the future.

No one present doubted this.

After all, Mo Tianlin’s talent would be coveted by elders even in a major sect like Hongxiu, let alone in Tianjian Pavilion.

He even surpassed Qiao Jinxi, the Sect Leader’s direct disciple.

However, just as Elder Ye was beaming with pride, he would soon regret announcing this decision.

“Next.”

Because with a call of “Next,” the golden-haired girl’s test, revealing a Heavenly-grade mid-tier talent, instantly silenced everyone present. All were shocked by this talent.

However, compared to the shock of the others, Li Ziyu seemed out of place; she was very calm, as if she had expected it all along.

In contrast, although Su Wanqing was also quite surprised, she wasn’t overly excited.

She wasn’t taking on a disciple anyway, so it had nothing to do with her.

However, upon seeing this girl’s talent, she became even more certain of her inner conjecture: this was definitely that dog-like Heavenly Dao’s obsessive-compulsive disorder acting up.

This girl’s appearance must be because the Heavenly Dao couldn’t interfere with the female lead’s choice, so to keep the plot from deviating too much, it forcibly inserted a genius to make up for the loophole in Tianjian Pavilion.

Even the golden hair and golden eyes were the same; how meticulous—

So, thinking from a reciprocal perspective, with the female lead joining Hongxiu, would they also lose a prodigy?

Never mind, this was not something Su Wanqing needed to consider; it had nothing to do with her.

“……”

Having figured everything out, Su Wanqing began to savor the familiar tea.

It had been nearly two months since she last drank this tea, and she really missed it.

“…I…”

Meanwhile, upon seeing the golden-haired girl’s talent, even Sect Leader Jiang Yi immediately broke her own bottom line. But just as she was about to speak and recruit her—

The girl’s gaze unequivocally turned towards Su Wanqing, and she knelt on the ground before her, kowtowing with a loud thud.

Without giving Jiang Yi a chance, she loudly proclaimed:

“Su Wanqing, Elder Su.”

“Disciple Ning Yuer pays her respects to Master!”

“Pfft—!!!”

Su Wanqing had just taken a sip of tea and instantly spat it out.

What did she hear? “Ning… Ning Yuer?” Wasn’t this girl cultivating in Hongxiu?

Why did she suddenly appear at the Tianjian Pavilion new disciple selection assembly?

Why had this girl changed so much?

Shouldn’t her complete transformation wait until she reached Foundation Establishment, a full two years later?

Why was she now this beautiful golden-haired, golden-eyed appearance?

And in just one month, she was completely free of her previous thinness. This… this was a completely different person!

Moreover, she should have been in fifteenth place; how did she suddenly jump to second place?

Top three?

There had never been a precedent of a top three disciple being rejected when seeking a master.

Could she consider setting this precedent?

What exactly did Ning Yuer go through in this past month?

Could it be Li Ziyu’s doing?

The ten thousand “whys” in Su Wanqing’s mind condensed into one sentence:

How could this be?

Until she subconsciously looked at Elder Li Ziyu beside her, who unreservedly winked her right eye at Su Wanqing, as if saying, “Don’t thank me.”

Upon seeing this, even Su Wanqing, no matter how foolish, understood exactly what was going on.

Now, she had only one thought:

She had been backstabbed again, and again, and again!

She and her sister were of one heart, but her sister played tricks on her!