Su Fu froze in front of the bronze mirror and tentatively reached out to touch the unfamiliar yet familiar face reflected within, her fingertips trembling slightly.
How to put it…
Shen Yan AI was surprisingly meticulous, using her own face as a template and demonizing it—it looked completely natural.
With this appearance, anyone who saw her wouldn’t hesitate to say, “Where do you think the monster can run?”
She understood that Shen Yan AI needed her to maintain a certain restraint and balance.
After all, this was a map based on the Chinese divine system, and she indeed knew more about Yaochi and the Peach Banquet than other examinees.
But that didn’t mean it was okay to just send her off to die, right?
This was the Peach Banquet at the Heavenly Court’s Yaochi—divine territory.
If a demon appeared here, it would be reduced to ashes in an instant.
Chances were, she’d be gone the moment she stepped outside.
Besides, these abnormalities didn’t consider themselves demons at all; they fancied themselves as various gods.
To gain divine authority, they acted exactly as gods would.
When it came to impersonation, they were masters of the craft.
And she, a demon sneaking into a gathering of immortals?
That wasn’t just like a lamb entering a tiger’s den—it was charging straight into the blade’s edge.
One slip-up and it was game over.
Su Fu sighed deeply.
Starting off with this identity meant the difficulty was cranked to the max.
What’s worse, it robbed her of the chance to play an immortal fairy—damn it.
Thinking about having to stealthily navigate a divine gathering as a demon made her shudder.
Su Fu said, “Shen Yan, are you there? Is this how you balance things?”
Shen Yan AI didn’t answer; it seemed intent on remaining silent.
Su Fu went numb but at this point, there was no other choice.
Complaining wouldn’t solve anything; she just had to accept this setup and figure out how to handle it.
The Peach Banquet was a grand celebration hosted by the Queen Mother of the West, inviting the immortals to feast.
Every three thousand years, the peaches matured, and the Queen Mother would invite the celestial host to taste these divine peaches.
It was said that eating them could prolong life, allow one to soar among the clouds, and even achieve immortality.
The Queen Mother of the West was no ordinary deity; in Chinese mythology, she held an exalted status as the head of all female immortals, master of the art of immortality, and mistress of Yaochi and the Peach Garden.
And the banquet was no small affair.
In addition to the numerous gods of Yaochi itself, guests came from all corners of the Heavenly Court, and even deities from the Three Realms would gather in one place.
“That’s the real trouble.”
“At that time, various abnormalities would appear here disguised as gods, surrounding all the examinees.”
“To be discovered here as a demon…”
Su Fu felt her vision darken; she didn’t dare imagine the consequences.
The biggest question was: what was the highest level of deity the abnormalities could imitate in this exam?
From her experience with the S-rank Underworld Test Paper, the strongest abnormalities could only mimic entities like Hei Bai Wuchang and Ox-Head and Horse-Face.
That was already the pinnacle of what abnormalities could replicate.
“So I guess this A-Class Paper won’t be any higher…” Su Fu felt a bit relieved.
“At the very least, the Queen Mother of the West definitely can’t be imitated by abnormalities, nor would her disciple, the Mysterious Lady of the Nine Heavens.”
“Like Chang’e or Taibai Jinxing, star lords and such, probably not either…?”
More or less.
Thinking like this, she tried to boost her confidence: “Stay calm, don’t panic! It’s difficult, but not an apocalypse start.”
She glanced at the main quest provided by Shen Yan: “Infiltrate the Peach Banquet without being discovered…”
Being “discovered” here obviously meant revealing her demon identity, but the problem was that even gods might not get an invitation.
“How am I supposed to get an invitation to the Peach Banquet?”
She felt like tearing her hair out.
The Peach Banquet wasn’t something any god could attend casually.
Usually, only Heavenly Court’s principal deities, various star lords, major immortals, and those with special merits qualified.
The difficulty was real; otherwise, the Great Sage wouldn’t have caused such a commotion for not being invited, eventually leading to the havoc in the Heavenly Palace.
“So first, I need to determine which grade of peaches this banquet is celebrating.”
According to legend, there were three types of peaches in the Peach Garden: the lower grade matured every 3,000 years and granted immortality; the middle grade matured every 6,000 years and reversed aging, enabling ascension in broad daylight; and the top grade matured every 9,000 years, granting life as long as heaven and earth, as enduring as the sun and moon.
The higher the grade of the banquet’s peaches, the higher the rank of attending immortals, and thus, the greater the danger.
“Hopefully, it’s just the ordinary 3,000-year peaches banquet… After all, this was only an A-Class Paper, right… Shen Yan?
But whatever the grade, seeing her demon self in the mirror, Su Fu sighed again: “Among all examinees, I probably have the lowest status—a demon that everyone wants to hunt down.”
If other examinees recognized her demon identity, they could easily use these abnormalities to take her out.
After all, in the eyes of the abnormalities, she was an intruding demon in the Heavenly Court and should be exterminated.
And to the other examinees, she was a rival to be eliminated.
Great, just her alone against the entire crowd.
Other examinees only needed to play their godly roles well, while she had to conceal her demon nature at a banquet full of gods.
Yet those abnormalities were the real demons—how infuriating.
No, Su Fu thought, she had to guard her cover with all her might.
Next, she had to find a way to get the invitation and sneak into the banquet.
Most importantly, she needed to find out what level of gods the abnormalities could replicate here.
Once the maximum level was confirmed, she could gauge the difficulty cap of this exam.
After settling on a direction, Su Fu looked around to confirm her surroundings.
She must be somewhere inside one of Yaochi Palace’s halls; through the window, she vaguely saw the azure waves of the immortal pool, swirling clouds, and distant faint celestial music.
Birds sang softly somewhere.
The room’s furnishings were simple yet exquisitely refined.
So, what was the identity of this ‘demon’ she was playing—the Qionghua Fairy?
At that moment, a voice suddenly came from outside the door.
“Qionghua? Are you in there?”
Su Fu stiffened, every hair standing on end, ‘Wait, why was that person walking so silently?’
She whipped around, and a shadow at the door slowly took shape, as if it had just appeared there out of nowhere.
The voice whispered again, as if right next to her ear—
“Qionghua, what are you doing?”
Su Fu’s scalp tingled, ‘Who was this? And why were they looking for “Qionghua”?’
Before she could figure out how to answer, the person outside lost patience.
There was a loud bang as the door was flung open.
A fairy dressed in light purple robes appeared in the doorway.
Her hair was elegantly pinned up, her features delicate and serene—truly beautiful.
The fairy’s steps visibly faltered when she saw Su Fu, her brows knitting slightly as she appraised her from head to toe.
Su Fu’s heart skipped a beat.
She had already used the Thirty-Six Transformations to hide her demon eyebrows and shape, morphing into a normal fairy’s appearance.
It should be… fine, right?
Could there still be something wrong?
Unless… the original Qionghua didn’t look like this?
That would be frustrating—she had no idea what the real Qionghua looked like.
Just as she prepared to summon the Golden Cudgel with her hand behind her back, the purple-robed fairy suddenly smiled.
“You look pretty good, don’t you?” The fairy stepped forward a few paces, her tone light.
“Before, you were always so mysterious, wearing that veil.”
Su Fu breathed a tiny sigh of relief.
So the other hadn’t seen Qionghua’s true face either.
That made things easier.
“I… don’t really like people seeing my face,” Su Fu answered softly.
She lowered her gaze but was actually looking at the white silk scarf on the nearby table.
She had wondered what it was for—it turned out to be a face veil, but something seemed hidden beneath it.
At that moment, the purple-robed fairy took a few more steps closer.
Su Fu instinctively straightened her back.
Up close, this fairy was even more stunning.
Her pale purple robes floated lightly like smoke and clouds, embroidered with swirling cloud patterns that danced with her steps.
Her eyebrows were like distant mountains, her eyes like hazy violet glass, and her hair was neatly pinned, a few strands cascading beside her ears.
Su Fu admired inwardly—this was a true celestial fairy.
The purple-robed fairy suddenly spoke: “Why haven’t you gone yet?”
Su Fu blinked, “???”
‘Gone? Gone where? For what?’
She kept calm on the surface, but her mind raced.
The fairy frowned slightly as Su Fu remained silent, “You haven’t forgotten, have you?”
She eyed Su Fu suspiciously.
Su Fu was stunned.
Couldn’t anyone be straightforward?
This damn riddle of an identity—how was she supposed to know what her version of Qionghua was supposed to be doing now?
Seeing the deepening suspicion in the fairy’s eyes, Su Fu forced a polite smile.
“Of course not,” Su Fu replied.
“Are you here to remind me? Or…?”
At her words, the fairy’s expression shifted slightly, becoming somewhat awkward, but successfully diverted her attention.
She said, “You’re used to being alone, but you should try to integrate more with everyone.”
“This time, I’ll go with you.”
With that, the purple-robed fairy turned, clearly intent on accompanying her.
Su Fu, who had no clue where or why they were going, thought: Fairy sister, don’t leave me hanging like that.
But clearly, the purple-robed fairy wasn’t going to say more, so Su Fu’s mind spun rapidly.
The Qionghua she was playing seemed to be a mysterious fairy who liked solitude, wasn’t good at socializing, and often wore a veil.
“Solitary,” “integrate with everyone”—why did that sound like a conversation between coworkers?
Could it be that she, or rather Qionghua, wasn’t just a fairy… but a servant?
Su Fu’s vision darkened—heaven was falling; even fairies had to work.
Then the question arose—what kind of work did she have to do?
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