“…?!”
One hundred and ninety?
Eating two hundred sweet potatoes in one night would kill someone, wouldn’t it?
“No way!”
Luo Qingyan refused outright.
“You’re the chief disciple of Ask-Immortal Sect. If you burst from overeating on my Joyful Peak, the Sect Master will definitely smack me to death!”
She’d be delighted to see this demon die, but she couldn’t let him die of overeating on her watch. Otherwise, when the sect came down on her, she’d lose her life too.
Seeing her firm stance, Mo Chenxue didn’t push further, not wanting to trigger a backlash.
After all, there were plenty of days ahead.
“Junior Sister, thank you for the midnight snack.”
Mo Chenxue rose, brushing off his robes, and said with a gentle smile: “It’s getting late. I’ll be heading back now.”
Luo Qingyan immediately waved happily: “Sure thing! Take care!”
“Rest early as well. I’ll come back tomorrow night for more sweet potatoes.”
“What?!”
Luo Qingyan’s eyes went wide.
Tomorrow night… he’s coming again?!
Without waiting for her reaction, Mo Chenxue smiled faintly and vanished in a beam of light.
Luo Qingyan stared at the spot where the white light had disappeared, frozen for a long time.
Then she turned woodenly and walked toward the kitchen.
She needed to count how many sweet potatoes she had left.
That guy could down ten in a single night!
If her stock wasn’t enough, she couldn’t keep up with the supply…
Luo Qingyan simply couldn’t figure out what bizarre plot she’d triggered after transmigrating into this book.
The Mystic Sword Peak had over a dozen dining halls, famous throughout the Cultivation World for their excellent food. Many disciples had tried to join Ask-Immortal Sect specifically because they’d heard about the Mystic Sword Peak’s cafeteria.
Mo Chenxue had spent years on Mystic Sword Peak and had tasted every delicacy imaginable—how could he possibly be this obsessed with sweet potatoes?
Luo Qingyan shook her head. A pervert’s way of thinking was truly incomprehensible.
…
Back on Mystic Sword Peak, Mo Chenxue was in high spirits.
His stomach was a bit bloated, but at least his favorability rating had recovered somewhat!
“Senior Brother.”
A pleasant female voice sounded as Huo Li walked over.
Her gaze landed on Mo Chenxue, and she keenly noticed something unusual. Surprised, she said: “You ate something?”
Mo Chenxue smiled: “I went to other peaks to inspect the junior disciples’ progress. When I saw them having a midnight snack, I joined in.”
Huo Li seemed to want to say something but held back.
Mo Chenxue had practiced Bigu fasting for years. Once, she had personally made pastries for him, and he hadn’t touched a single bite…
Why would he casually eat outside today?
This was highly abnormal!
Huo Li smiled, her words carrying a hidden meaning: “Senior Brother hasn’t eaten in a long time. What delicious thing did you see today that made you lose your composure?”
Mo Chenxue thought of the rising favorability rating, and a faint smile unconsciously curved at the corner of his lips. He said lightly: “Just some ordinary food.”
With that, he turned and went back to his room.
Having suddenly eaten ten sweet potatoes, he really wasn’t used to it. He needed to circulate his energy to digest them quickly. He also wanted to ponder the “flow state” she had mentioned.
Huo Li watched his retreating figure, her eyes flickering.
—This man was acting off. Something was definitely going on!
Over the years, the disciples had all assumed she and Mo Chenxue were a match made in heaven. Although Mo Chenxue had never expressed his feelings, she had long since unilaterally regarded him as hers for the taking.
After all, she had never failed to get what she wanted.
But now, Mo Chenxue wouldn’t eat what she made, yet he’d gone off to eat someone else’s cooking—and was even happy about being stuffed full… This made Huo Li feel an itch on her head, as if something green was about to sprout.
Not only that, she keenly noticed that Mo Chenxue carried a strange fragrance on him, indicating he’d had close contact with someone.
The scent was somewhat sweet, with a hint of burnt aroma—not quite like cosmetics…
Huo Li took a deep sniff and couldn’t help muttering: “It actually smells quite nice!”
Next, she sent Spirit Messages to disciples on the other peaks to inquire.
Soon, replies came back from all five peaks, saying that Senior Brother Chenxue hadn’t visited them tonight.
“Tsk, so he went to Joyful Peak again…”
Huo Li sneered.
It seemed she’d need to pay a visit to Joyful Peak herself, to see what kind of person dared to plant grass on her head!
…
The next evening.
Luo Qingyan and Dongfang Che were having dinner when a figure suddenly descended into the courtyard.
She was a standard beauty—gorgeous in appearance, her clothing and accessories clearly several grades above those of ordinary female disciples.
Luo Qingyan looked at her with confusion: “Senior Sister, you are?”
“I’m Huo Li.”
Huo Li!
Luo Qingyan was secretly startled.
Oh ho, the female lead is here!
As the main heroine of this novel, Huo Li combined beauty with cunning. Born into a prestigious family with the Heavenly Phoenix Bloodline, she had reached the Middle Golden Core Stage within ten years of joining the sect, and was considered the super genius most likely to break through to Nascent Soul among the disciples—second only to Mo Chenxue.
Moreover, her blood had miraculous life-saving properties—the standard protagonist cheat. When Mo Chenxue had gone mad after slaughtering the sect, it was Huo Li who had saved him with her Heavenly Phoenix blood.
Huo Li was ambitious, shrewd, and resourceful, treating everything as stepping stones on her path to success.
Luo Qingyan didn’t particularly like her personality, but she had to admit—Huo Li was truly formidable, the most dazzling presence wherever she went!
“Senior Sister Huo Li, what brings you to Joyful Peak?” Luo Qingyan asked.
“Nothing much. I heard from Senior Brother that the food at Joyful Peak is quite unique,” Huo Li said with a composed smile. “I was curious, so I thought I’d come take a look.”
A question mark appeared above Dongfang Che’s head. “The food at Joyful Peak… is it good?”
Huo Li’s gaze fell on the dining table.
There were two dishes on the table.
One was potatoes.
The other was also potatoes.
“Did you eat the same thing yesterday?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
Dongfang Che hugged the potatoes tightly, afraid she might try to snatch them.
Huo Li: “…?”
Such crude, coarse food—how could Mo Chenxue have been unable to resist trying it?
Her gaze swept across the room. The back kitchen was completely empty, though there was a pile of sweet potatoes in the corner of the outer courtyard, like something out of a farmhouse.
Utterly destitute—there was nothing good here at all!
Huo Li felt satisfied inwardly. This was right. After all, not everyone in the world could be on her level, living such an extravagantly wealthy life.
Having confirmed that Joyful Peak was indeed as poor as the rumors claimed, Huo Li came to a realization. Luo Qingyan’s earlier jump into the lake had indeed caused a bad impression. Mo Chenxue was probably worried about damage to his reputation, which was why he had come several times to placate Luo Qingyan. Eating together was also his way of showing closeness and care toward his useless junior disciples…
To verify her speculation, she looked at Luo Qingyan. “The trial in one month will punish unqualified disciples. Junior Sister Luo already knows this, right?”
Luo Qingyan nodded.
Huo Li smiled. “Then do you know that the trial rules are set jointly by the Sect Master and the Peak Masters? If you truly cannot pass, no one’s pleas on your behalf will do any good.”
Luo Qingyan understood.
So the female lead was here to knock some sense into her!
Warning her not to think she could pass the trial by currying favor with Mo Chenxue, and even less so to try to seduce him…
Did she really need Huo Li to tell her this? As someone who had seen the script, how could she not know what the Noble Consort was like?
He was hypocritical and cunning, willing to stop at nothing to achieve his goals. If someone like that could be relied upon, pigs could fly.
Huo Li said meaningfully, “So, don’t ever place your hopes on the wrong person. If you want to pass the trial, you can only rely on your own hard work in cultivation.”
Luo Qingyan immediately retorted with displeasure, “Senior Sister, aren’t you just trying to fool us by saying all this?”
Huo Li’s expression darkened slightly. “What do you mean by that?”
Luo Qingyan said, “People like us—what’s the point of working hard? We’re dead last and second to last! In this situation, why bother working hard? What good would it do? No matter how hard we try, we’ll never pass the trial!”
The more she spoke, the more agitated she became, slamming the table as she stood up. “But you, as Senior Sister, still want to trick us into cultivating diligently? Let me tell you, not a chance! I’ve already packed my bags, just waiting to go mine ore!”
Huo Li nearly laughed out loud upon hearing this.
This Luo Qingyan was quite self-aware, and what she said actually played right into Huo Li’s hands!
She also thought that with these two’s cultivation level, no amount of struggling would change their fate!
But as the Chief Senior Sister of the sect, she had to maintain her glorious image, so she naturally couldn’t show any schadenfreude.
Thus, her tone immediately turned gentle, and she offered Luo Qingyan several words of encouragement and comfort, urging her not to lose heart.
Before leaving, she even kindly left behind a bottle of alchemical pills.
The moment she left Joyful Peak, Huo Li’s heart truly settled. She felt the green tint above her head disappear.
—A useless waste who eats potatoes and sweet potatoes every day, who has already given up on herself—how could she possibly win Senior Brother’s favor!
With her meager cultivation and Joyful Peak’s barren resources, she would definitely rank last again in this trial and be sent to the desert to mine ore!
Such a person wasn’t worth the effort to deal with.
After Huo Li left.
Dongfang Che wore a puzzled expression. “Junior Sister, didn’t you say you had a way to pass the trial?”
Luo Qingyan asked in return, “Do you know what kind of person is the most detestable?”
Dongfang Che didn’t understand. “What kind?”
Luo Qingyan said, “Someone who announces before an exam that they won’t study, that studying is impossible, and then secretly studies like crazy behind everyone’s back.”
Dongfang Che: “…”
Luo Qingyan told him, “I’m not usually that kind of person, but right now, it’s the only way to make our opponents let their guard down and not come after us.”
Huo Li wasn’t the type of female lead who was a pure white lotus—she was genuinely capable. At present, whether in terms of cultivation, background, or resources, Luo Qingyan couldn’t compare to her. If she wanted to avoid being targeted, she had to hide her true abilities.
Dongfang Che only half understood. He said, “I still don’t get it. I heard Mystic Sword Peak has dozens of dining halls. Why would Senior Sister Huo Li come to Joyful Peak to check out our food?”
Luo Qingyan sighed. “Speaking of that, I have some bad news to tell you.”
Dongfang Che asked, “What bad news?”
Luo Qingyan said, “Last night, Senior Brother Chenxue came and ate ten of our roasted sweet potatoes.”
Dongfang Che was shocked. “What? Ten?!”
“Yes, and he wasn’t even full. He said he’s coming back tonight to eat more…”
Luo Qingyan said with melancholy, “He wants to eat, and I don’t dare refuse. He said it counts as payment for the alchemical pills.”
Dongfang Che sighed and comforted her, “Senior Brother Chenxue gave us precious alchemical pills, so it’s only fair that he eats a few of our sweet potatoes… The problem is, eating that many at once, won’t he get a stomachache?”