Crush's Cold Senior Sister is Actually Childhood Sweetheart - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: “After Saying That, She Held Her Hand Even Tighter.”

The first round of the promotion competition was officially held ten days after the registration day. And these ten days were the last chance for many.

An Jin, uncharacteristically, became extremely proactive. Every day, besides attending classes, she immersed herself in the training grounds, spending more than ten hours there without fail.

—The training ground, also known as the training ground illusion, is one of the standard facilities for all immortal sects in the Upper Realm, and the best choice for all immortal sect disciples who want to train and improve, aside from sparring with each other.

Chongguang Palace’s training ground is located behind the main hall. Every disciple entering the training ground’s range will enter their own individual illusion space. Unless a dual training ground is intentionally activated, they won’t encounter anyone else inside. The content of the illusion can also be freely set; whether it’s the environment or the opponent, there’s nothing you can’t set up, only what you can’t imagine.

The most popular illusion types have constantly changed, evolving from early apocalypse survival and zombie battles to today’s virtual world experiences as game characters, with a bewildering variety of choices. A while ago, the game-themed training ground illusion was even questioned, stemming from a disciple being directly killed by a game boss. Yes, people can die in the training ground illusion, but dying in the illusion only teleports them out of the training ground, causing no other harm besides some mental impact. Even so, that game illusion was complained about to Chongguang Palace’s management by the disciple. Finally, Ling Qi, with a flourish of her hand, canceled that disciple’s qualification to enter all game illusions, leaving only two: “Candy Crush” and “Bubble Bobble.” The justification was to “protect” the disciple.

So, sometimes, it’s understandable why rogue immortals harbor hostility towards immortal sect disciples. After all, while they’re fighting for their lives for an opportunity or to improve themselves, immortal sect disciples are playing pre-set games in the training ground illusion, and even being picky about these games.

An Jin, however, wasn’t very interested in games or zombies. She didn’t pick an illusion background; she just kept increasing the difficulty of her opponents, training from the day of registration until the day before the promotion competition began. She would often go in after class and train until night, finally emerging exhausted and collapsing on the ground, then repeating the same routine the next day. Even Liao Huan had a look of seeing a ghost; the previous An Jin, relying on her high talent, barely visited the training ground, but these past few days, she was like a different person.

But even after training to this extent, An Jin was still very nervous on the day of the promotion competition. She didn’t know the skill level of the others and felt a lack of confidence. It wasn’t until she stepped onto the first arena and knocked her opponent, Senior Brother, to the ground in a few moves without even drawing her sword that she realized she might have, perhaps, overthought things.

When An Jin was initially selected for the promotion competition, the other fellow disciples didn’t react much. After all, while not many people made it into the promotion competition shortly after starting, there were still two or three, including Liao Huan, whose ability was average but whose luck had been consistently good. The promotion competition was match-based; sometimes, good luck was more important than strong ability, but such people were almost always eliminated in the elimination round and weren’t worth much attention.

It wasn’t until two rounds of the elimination competition had passed, and only An Jin and the inner disciples remained on the field, that the other fellow disciples realized something was amiss. On the stage, sword shadows danced and silver light flashed. In a blink of an eye, An Jin and Senior Brother Lu, an inner disciple, had already exchanged several moves. On the arena, Senior Brother Lu’s forehead was already sweating, his footwork becoming increasingly chaotic, retreating step by step.

Just as it seemed he was about to fall off the stage, An Jin, seeing this, also relaxed slightly. Her sword light shifted, no longer pressing aggressively. Suddenly, a fierce glint flashed in Senior Brother Lu’s eyes. He feigned stumbling back a few steps, but in the next second, he sidestepped and thrust his sword straight at An Jin’s back. The turn of the battle was too swift, catching everyone off guard. No one expected anyone in an immortal sect competition to strike so viciously.

Liao Huan, below the stage, cried out anxiously, “Watch out!” But An Jin’s wrist flicked, her sword slicing through the air, directly striking Senior Brother Lu’s sword with a heavy blow. With a “clang,” Senior Brother Lu felt a numbness in his tiger’s mouth. Crack. The sword in his hand shattered directly into two halves, falling heavily to the ground. Everyone, both on and off the stage, was dumbfounded.

Not far from the high platform, beyond everyone’s sight, someone’s hand hovered in mid-air, pausing slightly. Then, as if nothing had happened, it retracted. Her taut shoulders slowly relaxed as she watched An Jin jump off the high platform and run directly towards her.

Other disciples below the stage turned back in unison, but they only nodded silently from a distance; no one dared to come directly to greet her.

“I got it!” Someone held up the golden ticket in her hand, embracing her like a little bird. So cute, even her fluttering eyelashes were like a bird’s wings. An Jin stood still in front of Ling Qi, looking straight up at her. Ling Qi gazed into her eyes, silent for a moment, wondering what she was thinking.

The air seemed to still for an instant. After a long while, Ling Qi heard her own voice, “Since you already have a ticket, you can deal with this one yourself.”

“…Huh?” An Jin stood stunned. It wasn’t until two identical golden tickets were stacked in her hand that she realized what had happened: “Why didn’t you say so earlier?!”

Ling Qi said airily, “Seeing you fight so seriously on stage, I really couldn’t bear to disturb you.”

An Jin: “???”

…

An Jin walked silently at the very front, her face sullen, her lips tightly pressed together, not saying a word to Ling Qi until they stood at the entrance of the Wuxu Secret Realm. Ling Qi hesitated several times to speak, but finally rubbed her nose awkwardly, silently following behind.

Liao Huan walked beside An Jin, frequently looking back, very nervous: “Can I really go?”

“Yes.”

“Will I really not be kicked out?”

“No.”

“What if Senior Sister Ling suddenly finds out I’m useless in the Secret Realm and abandons me?”

“Impossible.” An Jin’s expression was very cool, unwilling to say another word. Among everyone in Chongguang Palace, the only person she was slightly familiar with besides Ling Qi was Liao Huan, so the last ticket to the Wuxu Secret Realm undoubtedly fell into Liao Huan’s hands. But Liao Huan, besides feeling an unreality like a pie suddenly falling from the sky, was more filled with trepidation: “But those who can enter Wuxu must be very powerful, right? I feel like I’ll only be a burden…”

“It’s fine.” Liao Huan stopped. The one who said this wasn’t An Jin, but Ling Qi, who was walking behind them. “Just follow my arrangements. There are many traps inside, but they all have tricks; nothing will happen.” Although she was speaking to Liao Huan, Ling Qi’s eyes weren’t looking at her. An Jin knew these words were for her. She “hmph”-ed, still ignoring her.

Ling Qi smiled, unbothered.

Upon reaching the entrance of the Wuxu Secret Realm, An Jin discovered many familiar faces. Besides the Vermilion Bird Lord whom she had seen last time, there was also Senior Ying Baizang, whom she had met in the Demon Realm, a disciple under True God Youhan, and supposedly a former student of the academy.

Seeing the Vermilion Bird Lord, An Jin remembered the divine bone she had promised the Demon Lord earlier. That little black snake was quite pitiful… But the divine bone was no longer in their hands, and the Vermilion Bird Lord didn’t seem likely to easily return it to them… An Jin frowned slightly, looking at Ling Qi. Ling Qi caught her gaze, knowing what she was worried about, and only returned a “don’t worry” expression, then turned to look at the person in the purple robe at the very front of the crowd.

This seemed to be an unwritten rule: no matter what the mission was, no matter which immortal sect initially advocated taking the lead, if Ying Baizang was present, she would definitely be the one leading the team and commanding. Not only were the immortal sect disciples who already knew Ying Baizang listening intently to her speak, but even the rogue immortals who had obtained tickets also gathered around. They were reluctant to converse with other immortal sect disciples, always maintaining a significant distance, yet they still listened solemnly as Ying Baizang explained the rules.

“This Wuxu expedition will, as usual, be divided into two teams. I will lead a team from the East Gate and head directly towards the Sword Mound. Ling Qi will lead a team from the Northwest, and we will rendezvous at the Sword Mound after passing through the Illusion Gate.”

“The East Gate might encounter dirty things, making it high-risk. The Illusion Gate in the Northwest attacks the mind, neither is easy.” Ying Baizang never spoke unnecessary words. After a brief introduction, she let others choose for themselves. An Jin didn’t know what the Sword Mound and Illusion Gate referred to, but since she would definitely be with Ling Qi, she didn’t ask and stayed put with Liao Huan. Yang Anping and the other two fellow disciples were coming for the first time and also stood still. Most of the others had been there more than once; as soon as Ying Baizang finished speaking, many had already formed their teams.

The people present divided into two groups, with roughly equal numbers on both sides. An Jin was a little surprised; she had expected those rogue immortals, who clearly trusted Ying Baizang, would surely prefer the East Gate route. As the Vermilion Bird Lord slowly ambled towards the tail end of the front team, the two teams were completely separated.

Senior Ying, however, did not choose to depart immediately. Instead, she turned to their side and asked, “What about you?”

Who? An Jin looked around, only to realize that everyone’s eyes were on her. Her gaze shifted forward, then she unexpectedly met Ying Baizang’s eyes.

…No way? An Jin was a little surprised. “Me?” Seeing the person in purple in front nod, she paused for a moment before saying, “I’m definitely staying with my Senior Sister!” Did she even need to ask? Although it was said to be voluntary team formation, none of their Chongguang Palace members went to the front team, and similarly, no one from Youhan Palace came to Ling Qi’s side. People generally felt that choosing someone they trusted to lead was safer than choosing a suitable route. An Jin didn’t understand why, with so many people present, Senior Ying specifically asked her.

But Ying Baizang didn’t see An Jin’s confused gaze. After getting her reply, she turned her head away, her expression still calm: “Then let’s go.”

All the golden tickets in everyone’s hands instantly turned to dust the moment they entered the Wuxu Secret Realm. The entrance to Wuxu was a cave, and the opening wasn’t high, requiring a slight stoop to proceed. The cave was pitch dark; there wasn’t even a single lamp, and everyone moved forward in the dark.

In the darkness, a slightly cool hand gently rested on An Jin’s fingertips, then enveloped her entire hand in its palm. It was a very familiar touch. An Jin’s vision was still completely black; she couldn’t see anything, but the sensation in her palm was very real. Her heartbeat was exceptionally clear at that moment. An Jin didn’t pull away, nor did she speak.

But she didn’t ask. The person beside her, however, began to explain: “It’s too dark here, and there will be many traps later. I… I’m afraid you’ll get hurt.” After saying that, she held her hand even tighter.