After casually tossing aside a mortal who had been trying to cause trouble, Huyan Yazhi suddenly felt the array radar above her head sound an alert. She quickly looked toward the spot where Lin Huanhuan had been standing just moments ago, but only saw an unfamiliar girl there.
“Was that just my imagination? Why did it feel like a powerful expert was there just now?”
Huyan Yazhi muttered to herself.
“Senior Sister, this light has already reached its maximum brightness. Does that mean my talent is extremely high?”
A young man in front of her asked excitedly. Huyan Yazhi lowered her gaze and gave him a faint glance before replying indifferently, “Maybe this thing malfunctioned. It’s fine, you pass. Just go stand somewhere.”
“What? But I thought this thing never makes mistakes?”
Huyan Yazhi sneered inwardly. ‘So what if you have some talent? Survive first. Every year, countless geniuses appear in the Lingyun Sect, but only a very few make it to the end.’
Further down the mountain gate—
Lin Huanhuan stood atop a tree, observing the surroundings and searching for someone who might be the second female lead, You Yuelan.
Most people had already completed their aptitude tests. Even those who passed had to return home first, pack their things, and come back in a few days.
By evening, most people left with their heads lowered in disappointment, completely different from their excitement in the morning. The cruelty of the cultivation world had already begun to show.
Lin Huanhuan watched their expressions for a moment before continuing her search with full focus.
According to the original story, You Yuelan would first appear here.
‘She arrives halfway through the entrance ceremony, which should be about now. The novel did describe her appearance a bit, but I’ve long forgotten it. And that’s just a novel—how could it compare to reality?’
‘The original story didn’t say I’d be this cute either. Otherwise, some readers might have shipped me with the male lead.’
‘Right now, all I know is that You Yuelan is a woman. That’s not exactly helpful.’
After thinking for a bit, Lin Huanhuan jumped down from the tree and decided to use the simplest method: asking around.
After questioning several unlucky passersby nearby, none of them had ever heard the name You Yuelan. Lin Huanhuan couldn’t help but feel a little discouraged.
‘There are so many people here. This is like finding a needle in the ocean. I need to think—what traits must a female lead have?’
Not far away, You Yuelan, dressed entirely in black, watched Lin Huanhuan with a strange expression. Her intuition told her that being targeted by Lin Huanhuan wouldn’t lead to anything good. If she didn’t deal with this, it might affect her plans.
So, after a brief moment of thought, she made her decision.
‘Change direction and leave. I don’t know this woman, yet she keeps asking for my name. She’s definitely trouble. Better not stir up unnecessary issues.’
But just as she took a wide detour and was about to leave, Lin Huanhuan called out from behind.
“Hey, little sister, wait a moment. I have something to ask you.”
Her body stiffened slightly. She thought she had already been discovered, but to avoid confirming it, she had no choice but to stop. Turning around, she looked at Lin Huanhuan with lifeless eyes and asked, “What is it?”
Lin Huanhuan looked her up and down. When she clearly saw her face, her eyes lit up slightly, but then she shook her head and made her judgment.
‘The second female lead shouldn’t be her. She’s quite pretty, but she feels lifeless, and her expression is as flat as a dead fish. How could readers like a female lead like that? So it definitely isn’t her.’
After a brief moment of thought, Lin Huanhuan had concluded that a female lead must have one key trait: good looks.
After all, this was a harem story. If a female lead wasn’t attractive, how could readers like her?
Of course, being good-looking alone wasn’t enough. She also needed some positive traits.
This reasoning helped Lin Huanhuan narrow down her targets. However, most of the mortals who came to seek apprenticeship were from wealthy families, so many of the girls were at least decent-looking.
So Lin Huanhuan knew she needed help—someone to search with her.
That was why she had approached this somewhat familiar-looking girl.
Thanks to her earlier conclusion, she had already decided that the girl in black was not the second female lead.
Lin Huanhuan quickly recalled where she had seen her before and said with a cheerful smile, “Little sister, we met a few days ago outside the Lingyun Sect’s mountain gate. Do you remember? I was going to talk to you, but you ran away. I didn’t expect to run into you again. Looks like we’re fated to meet.”
You Yuelan froze for a few seconds before remembering.
‘Oh, it’s her. That day she looked suspicious, so I thought she was trouble and ran away. I didn’t expect to meet her again. She really won’t go away.’
‘Why is she so persistent? What does she want? Can’t she just give up?’
Thinking this, You Yuelan forced a smile that looked worse than crying and said, “So, what exactly do you want? Could you summarize it in one sentence?”
“Ah… well…”
Lin Huanhuan laughed awkwardly. “I actually need a bit of help. I’m looking for a girl named You Yuelan. She’s quite pretty. It’s hard to find her alone, so I was hoping you could help me search.”
Afraid the girl might refuse, Lin Huanhuan quickly added, “Don’t worry, I won’t make you work for nothing. I’ll give you five spirit stones as a reward. It’s just helping find someone—not difficult, right? Life as an independent cultivator isn’t easy, and you probably don’t have many spirit stones saved up. It’s better not to refuse this kind of extra income.”
You Yuelan opened her mouth, her expression twitching slightly as she thought:
‘Why is she so persistent? This is such a hassle. If I refuse, will she get suspicious? Probably. Fine, I’ll just agree. I’ll search randomly anyway. Since I’m right here, there’s no way she’ll actually find me.’
With that thought, You Yuelan nodded in agreement. Lin Huanhuan immediately smiled.
“Oh, right, I forgot to ask earlier. What’s your name, little sister? I’m Lin Huanhuan.”
“…Mu Ying.”