Duanqing Peak, inside the disciples’ dormitory.
At this moment, Gong Shangyu was gripping her brush tightly, head buried in the thick stack of Sect Rules, wrestling with them.
Her wrist was numb and aching, and her mood was as foul as could be.
Just as she was cursing her black-hearted junior sister, Gu Qingying, for the hundredth time, the door to Gong Shangyu’s dorm suddenly creaked open with a gentle sound.
Without even lifting her head, Gong Shangyu snapped irritably, “Didn’t I say not to bother me while I’m copying books? Get out!”
But Gu Qingying at the door didn’t leave at all.
Instead, she practically skipped in with unusually light steps, silently approaching the desk.
Immediately, a familiar, slightly cold fragrance, warm and refreshing, slowly drifted closer.
Then, a deliberately softened and drawn-out, sickeningly sweet voice sounded right by Gong Shangyu’s ear:
“Nee~ Second Senior Sister~~~”
The tip of Gong Shangyu’s brush shook, and a thick drop of ink nearly dripped onto the freshly copied xuan paper.
She snapped her head up, and sure enough, Gu Qingying’s pretty face with its fake smile was mere inches away.
“What are you doing?!”
Gong Shangyu recoiled like a cat with its tail stepped on, leaning back sharply to put distance between herself and Gu Qingying, her face full of wariness and disdain.
“Gu Qingying, did you take the wrong medicine? Or are you up to some new trick to mess with me again?”
Gu Qingying ignored her foul attitude, clasped her hands lightly behind her back, leaned forward slightly, and continued in that unbearably sweet voice.
“Hehe… Senior Sister~ You’ve been copying for so long, your wrist must be sore, right? Aren’t your eyes tired? Do you need me, your junior sister, to help you copy a few pages?”
Gu Qingying blinked her pair of violet eyes, trying hard to look like a pure and caring junior sister concerned for her hardworking senior.
Hmm?
Something’s wrong!
If something unusual happens, there must be a reason!
Gong Shangyu’s alertness shot up at once.
This black-hearted junior had just seized leverage on her, and now she was acting all attentive?
The weasel pays respects to the chicken, never with good intentions!
“Gu Qingying!”
Gong Shangyu put down her brush, crossed her arms, leaned against the chair back, and narrowed her rosy eyes to scrutinize her.
“Just say what you want to say! Stop pretending. What exactly do you want?”
Seeing that Gong Shangyu wasn’t buying it, Gu Qingying’s fake smile faded a bit, but she still spoke gently.
“Hehe, Senior Sister, why be so distant between us sisters?”
“Can’t I just have a sudden pang of conscience and want to care for you, who’s been working so hard copying those rules?”
“Conscience? You still have that thing?”
Gong Shangyu snorted, feeling goosebumps rise all over her body in an instant.
“Hurry up! If you’re not saying anything, get lost. Don’t waste my time copying!”
Seeing her roundabout approach failing, Gu Qingying had to clear her throat and cut to the chase, her tone returning to its usual indifference.
“Sigh~ Fine. Senior Sister, I came to ask you about the System Upgrade…”
Hmph!
As expected!
Gong Shangyu sneered inwardly.
She knew perfectly well that this black-hearted junior sister never came without an ulterior motive!
If she sought her out now, she definitely wanted something!
Now that she had regained the upper hand, Gong Shangyu sat up straighter at once.
She leisurely picked up her brush again, dabbed it in ink, and said in a slow, careless tone,
“Oh~ So you came to seek advice? You want to know?”
Gong Shangyu lifted her eyes and looked at Gu Qingying, a sly smile curling at the corners of her lips.
“Sure. Delete that video completely, all the backups too. Then I’ll consider telling you.”
“Gong Shangyu! Dream on!”
Gu Qingying refused without hesitation.
That was the hard-earned leverage she’d gotten on her senior sister—how could she just hand it over so easily?
“If that’s the case, then there’s nothing to talk about~”
Gong Shangyu shrugged, lowered her head as if to continue copying, and spoke lightly.
“After all, I’m not the one with questions~”
With Gong Shangyu refusing to budge, Gu Qingying was so angry she ground her teeth, but could do nothing about it.
She stared at Gong Shangyu for a long moment, weighing the pros and cons in her mind.
The intel on System Upgrade was crucial to her, especially after confirming that Fourth Senior Sister, Mo Qingyou, most likely possessed an even higher-level System…
But if she handed over the video, she’d lose her greatest leverage against Gong Shangyu.
In the end, the desire for greater power and the sense of impending crisis outweighed her hesitation.
Gritting her teeth, as if making a great sacrifice, she finally spoke with difficulty.
“I can agree to delete that video, but you also have to agree to one more condition!”
“Oh?”
Gong Shangyu raised her brows, clearly interested.
“And what condition do you want?”
Gu Qingying took a deep breath and looked intently at Gong Shangyu.
“You stole Shizun’s Pillow from the master’s room earlier… Hand it over to me! If you do, I’ll agree to delete the video!”
Clearly, Gu Qingying had thought it through—since she would have to delete the video anyway, why not trade it for more benefits from Gong Shangyu?
For example, using the video as leverage to get that pillow, steeped in Lu Li’s scent, from Gong Shangyu was a pretty good deal!
Gong Shangyu clearly hadn’t expected her junior to raise such a condition.
She was dazed for a moment, then a hint of a mischievous smile surfaced on her face.
She stroked her chin, as if weighing the merits of Shizun’s Pillow versus getting rid of the video leverage, trying to determine which was more worthwhile.
“Alright! Deal!”
A moment later, Gong Shangyu readily agreed, then decisively took Lu Li’s pillow out of her storage pouch.
It still faintly carried that unusually clear and tranquil scent belonging to Lu Li, which put people at ease.
With some reluctance, Gong Shangyu gently stroked the pillow, but in the end, she handed it straight over to the eagerly waiting Gu Qingying.
Gu Qingying practically snatched the pillow and hugged it tightly to her chest, taking a deep breath, her face showing utter satisfaction and intoxication.
It was a long while before, under Gong Shangyu’s urging gaze, she unwillingly took out the Mechanical Wooden Owl from her arms and, right in front of Gong Shangyu, completely erased the recorded footage inside.
“There~ Deleted~”
Looking at the Mechanical Wooden Owl handed over by Gu Qingying, Gong Shangyu asked warily.
“Oh? What about the backups?”
“Relax, there’s only the one.”
Hugging the pillow, Gu Qingying was in a great mood, and for once told her senior the truth.
“The Transmission Array of the Gu Family isn’t that free.”
At this, Gong Shangyu finally breathed a deep sigh of relief, feeling as if the cursed talisman above her head had finally been removed.
She sat back down, and looked at the silly, happy Gu Qingying hugging the pillow, curiously asking,
“Hehe… Alright, deal’s done.”
“I’m a bit curious—why are you suddenly so interested in System Upgrade?”
Gu Qingying put away her silly smile, her expression suddenly turning grave, half-true and half-false as she explained,
“While I was cultivating just now, I vaguely recalled some fragments from Yangzhou Dungeon… The one who knocked me out was most likely Fourth Senior Sister, Mo Qingyou!”
Gong Shangyu’s pupils shrank.
“The fourth? So it really was her!”
“Mm… Not just that,” Gu Qingying went on, dropping another bombshell, “I could sense that her System authority seems higher than mine! The immunity rule we guessed about between System holders probably doesn’t apply to her! Her ability, at that time… it suddenly worked on me…”
Gong Shangyu immediately objected, “Impossible, my System has also upgraded!”
“My Time Stop used to only last for a quarter of an hour—now it can last two whole hours! If higher-level Systems can affect lower-level ones, why hasn’t my Time Stop worked on you?”
Gu Qingying had expected this question and responded solemnly, “Isn’t there a possibility… her System isn’t just Level Two, but… Level Three? Even more advanced than ours?”
“Huh? Level Three?”
Gong Shangyu suddenly stood up, her eyes full of disbelief.
“That’s impossible! System upgrades are tied to our cultivation realm! My System only advanced to Level Two after I reached Zhujishi!”
“If Mo Qingyou’s System is Level Three, doesn’t that mean she’s already reached Jindan cultivation?”