“What do you mean he’s not trying?”
Gu Yan Feng’s expression darkened noticeably upon hearing this, clearly displeased with the Great Fairy’s attitude of taking things for granted.
But there was nothing he could do; after all, this was exactly what they had agreed upon from the start.
So he could only grit his teeth and say, “Soon.”
He paused for a moment before explaining, “A lot of fresh fertilizer has arrived recently, and it’s quite potent… I believe it won’t take much longer.”
Though he said this aloud, he was still somewhat confused in his heart.
Logically, with so much sudden rich ‘fertilizer’ bestowed by nature, the Peach of Immortality should have matured ahead of time—that was the very reason he had sneaked here today.
But unexpectedly, it still hadn’t matured?
Why did the Great Fairy ask that question?
Could she be suspecting him?
He suddenly looked up and sure enough, saw the Great Fairy staring at him with an expressionless face, which made his heart skip a beat.
His thoughts raced—things were not looking good, and he had to take control of the situation.
He absolutely could not let the Great Fairy sense anything wrong.
So he immediately spoke up, “Besides, I’ve come up with an excellent method that won’t be discovered by them. The new fertilizer is potent enough to cultivate another mature Peach of Immortality.”
“As long as you and I seize the opportunity…”
He trailed off but gave the Great Fairy a meaningful look.
By then, there might even be two chances to taste a mature Nine-Thousand-Year Peach.
Su Fu remained outwardly calm, but inside, waves of shock surged.
She hadn’t expected such a simple test to explode into such a startling result.
Sure enough, these anomalies had long targeted them Test Takers, intending to use them as ‘fertilizer’ to nourish the Peach.
What shocked her even more was that this General of the Celestial River was outrageously bold—he actually planned to deceive everyone and pull a fast one.
Now she was truly curious: who were these behind-the-scenes Third-party Bosses?
“Hmm.” Su Fu just nodded lightly.
The more you say, the more mistakes you make.
Let him guess for himself; after all, he’s the one feeling guilty.
The General of the Celestial River awkwardly cleared his throat, “Well, since it’s not mature yet, I’ll be going first.”
He awkwardly explained, “I was just here to check on the progress, really.”
Su Fu glanced up at him.
‘Do you think I believe that?’
Feeling embarrassed, he quickly turned and walked toward the Celestial River.
With a wave of his hands, the water instantly parted, forming a passage.
He then swiftly followed the current, disappearing at the end of the river, slipping away fast.
Once the general finally left, Su Fu relaxed.
She couldn’t help but rub her temples.
The amount of information she’d just gotten was overwhelming; all those words boiled down to one sentence: “This exam is insanely difficult.”
Suddenly, Su Fu recalled that Teacher Zhuge had once said the exam difficulty would dynamically adjust according to the Test Takers’ level.
Her expression turned somewhat complicated—did that mean this batch of Test Takers was too strong, so the system had to crank the difficulty up to this brutal level?
Well, that would include herself, and also Yuelun Yuan, who had actively joined the Celestial River’s water army…
Besides them, there must be other Test Takers secretly plotting behind the scenes.
“Phew—” Su Fu gasped.
This was a high-level game—there were still many people hiding in the shadows.
Looking down at the rushing water of the Celestial River, she suddenly realized something.
‘Wait a minute!’
Since the Water Army generals could enter the Peach Orchard via the Celestial River… could other Test Takers use the same method to sneak in?
She couldn’t underestimate these Test Takers.
To have pushed the exam difficulty to this point, they definitely shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Thinking of the Celestial River, a figure flashed through her mind—that Lou Jin Dog Star Lord who had broken into Yaochi only to be dragged into the Celestial River and fed upon.
‘Something felt off.’ Su Fu’s eyes narrowed.
Lin Xuanye from the Second Star Ring had been assigned the identity of one of the Twenty-Eight Mansions, meaning the system highly favored him.
But he died so casually?
Su Fu suddenly understood.
That guy… could he also be one of the Test Takers raising the exam difficulty?
In other words, he might already have arrived at the Peach Orchard.
At the very moment this thought crossed her mind, she saw a familiar figure appear in the surveillance birds’ view she had left behind in her own area.
The man wore a robe adorned with stars, and whose face was that but the Golden Dog Star Lord?
So it really was him—he hadn’t died after all.
Su Fu was stunned.
Goodness, these acts were so well performed; it was a shame if they didn’t become actors.
So his previous “stupid” intrusion into Yaochi was deliberate?
At that moment, the Golden Dog Star Lord was excitedly rushing toward the Peach Orchard she had already emptied.
Under the illusion, the orchard was lush and bountiful—peak harvest time.
Suddenly, Su Fu had a bold idea.
Her original plan was to let the Six Fairy Maiden attract everyone’s attention.
But this plan had a flaw: who stole the peaches?
Now…
Su Fu smiled, the loophole was filled.
The Six Fairy Maiden sensed something was wrong.
Half an hour had passed.
She had meticulously inspected nearly a hundred peach trees in the area, yet only three mature peaches lay in her bamboo basket.
That ratio was far too low.
Looking at the sparse harvest in the basket, she couldn’t understand it and muttered, “In previous years at this time, there were at least dozens of mature peaches. Why are there so few this year?”
Not only that, but as she looked around, a growing sense of dissonance crept over her.
The orchard looked lush and verdant, with heavy fruit.
Yet these peaches… seemed deceptive.
From afar, the peaches looked plump and red—clearly ripe.
But when she looked closer, they were unmistakably unripe green peaches.
“Strange… Why do I keep seeing it wrong?”
Once or twice might be an optical illusion, but this was happening repeatedly.
She couldn’t be mistaken every time, could she?
If it wasn’t a mistake?
Her eyes suddenly sharpened as she considered a possibility.
“Could it be…”
The Six Fairy Maiden’s expression turned grim as she hurried to inspect the orchard.
No matter how many peaches looked richly colored and mature, she didn’t stop.
She couldn’t be fooled; something was definitely wrong.
After several breaths, she finally found the problem.
The scene before her was a mess.
Several crushed peaches lay trampled on the ground.
Branches were forcibly broken, and leaves were scattered disorderly everywhere.
“Someone’s been here? No wonder there are no mature peaches…”
She finally realized, “How outrageous, someone actually dared to steal peaches! This is serious, I must inform Eldest Sister immediately.”
She quickly pulled out a small communication mirror and anxiously called out, “Eldest Sister, something’s wrong in the Peach District!”
The mirror rippled, and soon the Great Fairy’s face appeared.
Six Fairy Maiden: “Eldest Sister! I found a thief—someone is stealing peaches in my area!”
“What?!” The Great Fairy’s expression changed drastically.
“You’re serious? Someone actually got into the Peach Orchard? I’m coming right away!”
Before she finished speaking, the communication cut off.
But within moments, a radiant light appeared on the horizon.
The Great Fairy descended from the air and immediately saw the chaotic scene.
“What audacity!” she said deliberately, voice dripping with cold fury, “Daring to trespass into Yaochi’s Peach Orchard and steal the greatest treasure of Yaochi!”
Seeing Eldest Sister like this, the Six Fairy Maiden trembled inside.
She had never seen her so furious before.
…Could this affect her too?
At that moment, the Great Fairy’s sharp gaze turned to her.
“What’s the situation? Tell me everything clearly!”
The Six Fairy Maiden trembled but quickly recounted the entire incident in detail.
“…That’s how it happened, Eldest Sister. The thief not only stole peaches but used illusions to mock me. It was utterly despicable! Stealing is bad enough, but to make me look like a fool searching for half an hour—”
“If she finds out who it is, she’ll make sure to give them a lesson.”
Hearing this, the Great Fairy’s expression turned stern.
She looked coldly at the Six Fairy Maiden.
“You fool, it took you this long to realize this area was wiped clean? This thief probably fled long ago, maybe already left the Peach Orchard!”
“Useless!” The Great Fairy grew angrier the more she thought about it, “How could you not see such an obvious illusion? Where has your cultivation been?”
Faced with the harsh scolding, the Six Fairy Maiden felt wronged.
“I… I didn’t expect a thief could get into the Peach Orchard.”
“It never happened in all these years before. Can you really blame me?”
The Great Fairy was stunned.
That’s right—besides the Seven Fairies, who else could enter the orchard so freely?
When she wasn’t around, no thief appeared.
And now suddenly there is one?
The Great Fairy’s expression flickered with uncertainty.
Just then, a sharp shout rang out.
“Eldest Sister! Eldest Sister!”
Both looked up to see a purple figure descending from the sky—it was the Seventh Fairy Maiden.
She looked as if being chased by something, panicked and nearly stumbling upon landing; her golden hairpin was askew.
Upon seeing the Great Fairy, her eyes lit up with joy.
“Eldest Sister, I finally found you! Bad news, I just found a thief stealing peaches—come with me quickly!”
“What?!” Hearing this, the Great Fairy’s face darkened.
The thief hadn’t only stolen one area, but was still continuing?
They clearly didn’t take her seriously.
She snapped at the Seventh Fairy Maiden, “Lead the way immediately!”
The three quickly rushed toward the thief’s location.
The Great Fairy didn’t stop scolding them along the way.
“You two useless fools! All you do is play around, you don’t even have basic alertness! If you’d trained more seriously, you wouldn’t have been fooled by a petty thief like this!”
***
The Six Fairy Maiden and Su Fu exchanged glances, both feeling wronged but not daring to argue.
Su Fu quietly approached the Six Fairy Maiden and lowered her voice, “Six Sister, your area was stolen from too?”
She gasped, shock evident on her face.
“That thief is way too bold!” The Six Fairy Maiden sighed bitterly.
“Tell me about it.”
“How could there be such a daring thief, breaking into the Peach Orchard?”
“And why did they choose only us two? Just our bad luck…”
She stopped mid-sentence as realization struck.
Why?
Because they were the weakest among the Seven Fairies.
Great, that was even worse.
But soon, she heard the Great Fairy start yelling at the Seventh Fairy Maiden.
“You’re even more useless! You saw the thief but didn’t catch them? Had to go around half the orchard to find me? If that thief gets away…”
How to put it?
The Six Fairy Maiden looked at the scolded Seventh Fairy Maiden and felt a subtle sense of balance.
She secretly glanced at Su Fu, thinking, thankfully the Seventh Fairy Maiden was caught stealing alongside her; otherwise, she alone would have been thoroughly scolded.