Su Fu marveled silently, ‘No wonder these were Queen Mother’s divine beasts—they were truly magnificent.’
A careful selection by the ancestors!
However, watching their silhouettes rise higher, Su Fu soon regained her composure.
At that moment, the Lingzhi Fairy standing nearby suddenly sensed a chilling murderous aura.
She looked around suspiciously, but saw no one except the Seven Fairies.
‘Could it be one of the Seven Fairies? Impossible’, she shook her head.
The Seven Fairies were known for their gentleness; how could one of them emit such killing intent?
She must be overtired from staying up late brewing for the Peach Banquet.
Just then, Su Fu turned and said farewell, “Lingzhi Fairy, I’ll be going first.”
“Alright.”
Su Fu’s expression was calm as she left the brewing place, followed by several maids in green.
They walked quietly along the path.
But just as she was about to turn a corner, Su Fu suddenly froze and swiftly dodged to the side.
“Swoosh!”
A longsword glinted coldly, flying straight through the spot where she had been standing, deeply embedding in the ground with a humming vibration, radiating sharp energy.
Had she been a second slower, the sword would have pierced right through her.
The blade shimmered with a ghostly blue light—it was clearly a divine skill.
“An ambush!” The maids screamed and scrambled back.
Soon, a woman in purple blocked the path.
She raised a hand, and the longsword returned to her grasp.
“You must be Su Fu, first place in the Fourth Star Ring exam?” The purple-robed woman sized her up, as if assessing her strength.
“You’re quite good at pretending.”
A cruel glint flashed in her eyes, “But I do like your fairy identity. What to do now?”
Su Fu: : “…..”
“What else can I do but give you my head?”
Just as she moved to act, several figures suddenly burst from the surrounding bushes and rocks, instantly encircling Su Fu.
Su Fu realized—they had been watching her all along.
No wonder she felt watched just now.
So Qingluan and Cai Feng had been deliberately lured away by them.
Quite the elaborate scheme.
But she certainly wouldn’t admit her identity.
She calmly asked, “Fairy, what do you mean? I don’t understand.”
Though she said she didn’t understand, she had already recognized the woman before her: Yun Tinglan, a candidate from the Second Star Ring and a disciple of the Indian gods.
Her exam area was a step below Yuelun Yuan’s group, situated in the second cantilever.
Upon hearing this, Yun Tinglan chuckled lightly, “No one else is here. Why continue pretending?”
She arrogantly raised her chin and said, “Chen Jing and his group have investigated you thoroughly and shared all the information with me.”
“Today is your death day!”
Before she finished, she suddenly shouted, “Attack!”
Su Fu sighed inwardly, ‘What a fool, trusting what that old dog Chen Jing said.’
Honestly, she had seen too many like this—it was no wonder she held such stereotypes against them.
At that moment, the encircling attackers struck simultaneously:
“Brahma Power, all things grow!”
Countless vines burst from the earth, writhing like giant serpents toward Su Fu.
“Light of Brahma, pierce all things!”
A golden beam shot straight at Su Fu’s heart.
Flames, frost, lightning… a torrent of attacks poured in from all directions, leaving almost no room for her to dodge.
Yun Tinglan stood a little distance away, watching with satisfaction.
She had carefully selected elites with diverse attacks to form a perfect killing formation—one against many.
Su Fu was only one person; facing such a joint attack, she was surely doomed.
Yet, she frowned slightly.
Su Fu’s face showed no hint of panic.
Instead, Su Fu suddenly sneered at her and spat out, “Fool.”
Yun Tinglan was furious—how dare this trash insult her?
Before she could respond, Su Fu suddenly raised her head and shouted:
“Qingluan! Cai Feng!”
In an instant, two sharp cries pierced the sky.
Two lightning-fast figures dove down from the clouds.
Completely unlike their usual obedient and beautiful forms, now they were filled with fury.
Who dared threaten their provider?
They were courting death!
“Boom!”
Qingluan was the first to crash into the crowd.
Wherever her sharp claws struck, the attackers were instantly torn to pieces.
The divine attacks that landed on her seemed to have no effect at all, as her feathers transformed into the most impenetrable defense.Â
Meanwhile, Cai Feng spread her wings, her feathers shooting out like blades, swiftly taking down a large group in an instant.
Two divine beasts, defenses maxed out and ferocity unleashed—how could anyone possibly fight against that?
In just a few seconds, most of the attackers had fallen.
The remaining few were injured, faces filled with terror.
Yun Tinglan watched the scene, her complexion suddenly paling, “How is this possible? They were clearly lured away… so how come…”
At that moment, realization dawned on her, “You—you knew something was off all along! The divine beasts never actually left; they were pretending! She tricked me!”
She had thought she had succeeded.
If the divine beasts had truly been present… how could she have taken down Su Fu?
Most importantly, Yun Tinglan’s expression grew ugly.
Something wasn’t right.
How could Su Fu be so difficult to deal with?
This was nothing like what Chen Jing had described.
Su Fu ignored her speculations and took deliberate steps forward and asked, “Where is Chen Jing?”
Yun Tinglan froze upon hearing the question, disbelief creeping into her voice as she stammered, “I… I don’t know where he is.”
“You don’t know?” Su Fu’s expression shifted subtly.
“Aren’t you on his team?”
Yun Tinglan’s face showed no signs of lying.
She really had been used as a pawn.
Of course, how could these noble heirs of the Second Star Ring possibly team up with Third Star Ring candidates?
Su Fu’s gaze suddenly swept across the surroundings, then she shouted loudly: “Land Deity!”
The Land Deity immediately sprang into action.
The ground suddenly trembled, and a young man who had been observing was yanked out by the Land Deity.
The man blinked in confusion, wondering what was happening and why he had been pulled out so suddenly.
He soon realized the situation and panic flashed across his face.
He turned to escape.
Before he could move, the ground trembled again, and a large mound of earth floated up, forming a cage that tightly trapped him.
“This can’t be happening!” the man finally panicked.
His earth escape technique was rendered useless—he couldn’t get away!
Yun Tinglan watched in disbelief, “How is this possible… there are still people… wait…”
Her eyes widened in shock as she finally pieced it together, anger blazing in her voice, “Chen Jing lied to us! He deliberately used us to test Su Fu. Why didn’t he act himself?”
There was only one explanation: he must have suffered losses at Su Fu’s hands before, so he intentionally leaked information to them, telling them that the divine peaches were in the hands of the Seven Fairies, prompting them to test the waters.
Now, the truth had surfaced, but she was about to die.
“Chen Jing!” Yun Tinglan’s fury peaked, but it was already too late.
At that moment, Su Fu looked at the Land Deity coldly, “Finish him off.”
Without hesitation, the Land Deity tightened the earthen cage.
Accompanied by a piercing scream, the cage contracted to its limit.
Blood and soil sprayed everywhere, like a red rain of earth.
The man died decisively.
Only then did Yun Tinglan realize the true danger she was in.
Panic overtook her as she stared at the “Seven Fairies” before her.
But then she heard Su Fu chuckle softly, “Thank you for cooperating.”
“Next time, we’ll work together again.”
Yun Tinglan hadn’t yet understood what that meant when suddenly a flash of golden light appeared before her eyes.
“No!”
The screams abruptly cut off.
With the Golden Cudgel unleashed, defeat was inevitable.
Elsewhere, Qingluan and Cai Feng swiftly eliminated the remaining candidates.
In a blink, all lay in pools of blood.
Su Fu stood in the center, expertly using the corpse-collecting divine technique.
“Six Ding Divine Fire, ignite!”
The golden-red flames rapidly spread, engulfing every corpse, bloodstain, and trace in the vicinity.
Soon, only a fine layer of ash remained on the ground, drifting away with the gentle breeze.
From afar, the Land Deity watched, cold sweat streaming down his back, legs trembling slightly.
“It’s actually Taishang Laojun’s Six Ding Divine Fire…” he murmured in disbelief.
The Seven Fairies were indeed as terrifying as he had imagined.
He looked at Su Fu again and asked the question he had repeated countless times to himself: “What exactly does she want?”
Of course, Su Fu did not answer.
His mind turned to a graver concern, and he swallowed nervously.
“The Seven Fairies… what about the group behind them?”
Clearly, the eavesdropper was backed by a profound, unfathomable organization.
Though he had eliminated the spy, the strange nature of the Seven Fairies was surely transmitted back to their patrons.
Wasn’t she afraid of being exposed?
Afraid her identity would be revealed?
Su Fu only smiled upon hearing this—a faint, calm smile that inexplicably chilled the Land Deity’s spine.
The ash left by the Six Ding Divine Fire gently dispersed on the breeze like a thin veil, drifting far away.
The sunlight shone on all living things, and on her, casting a soft halo around her figure that made him hesitant to look directly.
She said softly, “I want them to know.”
The man behind it all was obviously Chen Jing.
Surely, she wouldn’t be naive enough to let him go so easily?
Of course, he would be under surveillance.
Not just by the birds in the sky, but also by the underground Yin Soldiers—all monitoring his movements, including the play staged by Su Fu, Yun Tinglan, and Wen Ziheng.
Since he suspected her, she would help them out.
Did they really need to make such a complicated ruse just to discover her identity?
After all, using just one identity with the Transformation Technique would be too dull.
If so, why not turn the tables?
Su Fu trusted that someone as clever as Chen Jing would bring her an even greater surprise.
She thought it best to let him take the fall.
At that moment, the two divine birds approached her side, tilting their heads up as if asking for praise.
Su Fu didn’t hold back, stroking the feathers of each with a hand.
“Thank you for your hard work, saving your sister.”
“Today, you can eat as many apples as you want, alright?”
Qingluan and Cai Feng nuzzled her palm affectionately, letting out contented chirps, clearly pleased.
The Land Deity couldn’t understand Su Fu’s intentions.
‘What did she mean by wanting “those people” to know? Was she plotting something in secret?’
At that moment, Su Fu suddenly showed a troubled expression and sighed softly.
“This fairy sister wasn’t like this originally. It seems she’s been replaced by a demon.”
“Does that mean the Peach Banquet is actually infiltrated by many demons?”
Her tone was genuinely troubled, but the Land Deity’s heart skipped a beat, cold sweat breaking out.
‘Aren’t you the biggest demon?’ he thought bitterly.
‘And you even occupy the body of one of the Seven Fairies!’ He sighed inwardly.
Alas, he had no choice.
Since she had discovered him and was cooperating with him, he could only try to survive.
With that thought, he couldn’t help but glance at the Golden Cudgel.
Though it stood still, it seemed almost sentient, radiating an overwhelming aura of terror.
That fear went deep into his bones for no apparent reason.
Well, the faction was set.
His only choice was to submit.
‘Demons or immortals?’ He thought with a complicated expression, all of them were devourers.
Then he heard Su Fu’s soft voice: “Demons are rampant. If that’s the case, they must all be found.”
“And then… caught all at once.”
At those words, the Land Deity shivered uncontrollably, horrified inside.
The Seven Fairies were clearly planning something big!
While each faction schemed secretly, the day of the Peach Banquet finally arrived.
At dawn, the entire Yaochi was bustling with activity.
Su Fu arrived early, accompanied by Qingluan and Cai Feng, heading to the banquet site.
As the most auspicious representatives of the feast, they naturally occupied the best spot, not only overlooking the entire scene but also enjoying the grand spectacle of immortals arriving at Yaochi.
Su Fu was in a good mood.
She had to admit, the banquet was truly well prepared.
Pavilions and towers dotted the area, with clear waters as pure as jade, and faint auspicious clouds drifting throughout the venue.
The central area was filled with white jade tables laden with all kinds of celestial fruits and jade-like wines.
Above the banquet, countless colorful clouds wove together into a magnificent celestial canopy, shimmering and radiant.
The clouds occasionally formed shapes of birds and beasts, or blossomed like flowers.
It truly looked like a fairyland.