The red veil fell.
What appeared before everyone was a breathtakingly beautiful face that could captivate the world.
The moment Xia Qingyan first saw Zhao Shuning in a red dress with a red veil covering her face, he was completely stunned.
When he saw those eyes, his heart suddenly started pounding wildly.
After Zhao Shuning finished speaking with a smile.
She gave a shallow curtsy to everyone.
Then she turned around, looked at Ling Ruo, and said, "Elder Ling Ruo, I'm late. I'll accept any punishment. But since this stick of incense hasn't burned out yet, it can't be counted as my leaving the academy for five days, and you can't expel me."
As the woman spoke, her eyes stared directly at Ling Ruo.
Every word, every syllable, was sonorous and powerful.
Ling Ruo actually somewhat admired this kind of arrogance.
It was much better than those little girls who only knew how to cry at every turn.
"Elder Zhou, go and check her lessons."
The white - haired elder stepped forward reluctantly.
Wasn't Elder Ling Ruo being deliberate? Everyone knew that the inner - sect disciple with the poorest aptitude was Luo Feiyan, yet she still asked him to pick someone for the check. In the end, he would just become a laughingstock.
Since Zhao Shuning's appearance, Wu Xuan's face had first shown surprise, then regret. When she saw the expression on Xia Qingyan's face as he looked at the woman on the stage, there was only hatred left in her heart.
Elder Zhou walked up to Zhao Shuning.
He said in a voice audible only to the two of them, "You'd better admit defeat early later. I'll pick Qing'er, the weakest inner - sect disciple in the academy, to compete with you. But you won't be a match for her. Later, I'll ask the other side to go easy on you so that you won't lose too badly."
Zhao Shuning was a bit stunned.
Then she nodded and said, "Okay."
It was better to hide her edge for the time being since she had just arrived at the inner - sect disciple area.
Seeing the two people on the stage whispering.
Wu Xuan could more or less guess what was going on. She lowered her head and said a few words to the woman beside her. Before long, the woman disappeared.
Then she came back.
She nodded at Wu Xuan.
It meant the matter was done.
Zhao Shuning didn't notice the tricks of these people. She was a person from five hundred years later, looking at things from an omniscient perspective.
She also had a powerful spiritual power. With just a glance, she could roughly understand the strength of these inner - sect disciples around her.
Not to mention these inner - sect disciples, even the personal - transmission disciples or those accompanying elders wouldn't be a match for Zhao Shuning.
After the white - haired elder read out the rules, he stepped down from the high platform.
Normally, before Qing'er went on stage, she had to receive the token from Elder Zhou before she could start the competition. But Qing'er seemed to be out of her mind.
After receiving the token, without waiting for Elder Zhou to speak, she suddenly bowed deeply to Elder Zhou and said loudly, "Elder Zhou, rest assured. Qing'er will definitely work hard. I won't show any mercy to Feiyan. I'll try my best to stimulate all her potential."
The loud voice naturally caught Elder Ling Ruo's attention.
"Not bad."
These two words were spoken by Ling Ruo.
She thought that although a student's talent was important, later - stage efforts were even more worthy of respect.
Zhao Shuning felt quite puzzled.
It was just a simple test of lessons.
Judging from Qing'er's stance, it seemed as if she was going to her death, so grand.
Elder Zhou's face turned green and then red. Under everyone's noses, he didn't dare to say anything more openly.
Qing'er stepped onto the stage.
She bowed to Zhao Shuning.
"Miss Luo, I won't go easy on you."
"Ah?"
"Don't blame me."
"It's okay. I won't blame you. Just do your best. I'll try, um, I'll try not to hurt you."
This Qing'er had no feud with her. She didn't need to be fierce to a little girl like this.
After a simple greeting and bowing, Qing'er started to attack.
Qing'er's spiritual power was not bad. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to become an inner - sect disciple. But compared with Zhao Shuning, the gap was huge.
Qing'er's offensive was swift and fierce.
Zhao Shuning easily dodged.
When she dodged, the airflow around her stirred up, and Qing'er almost was led off the high platform by this powerful airflow.
Zhao Shuning quickly reached out and grabbed her.
Qing'er looked back, and a sharp sword was slashing down from above.
Zhao Shuning frowned.
Why was this little lady not happy even though she had kindly saved her?
Although she was unhappy, she wasn't going to send this young girl to her death.
Zhao Shuning's hand slid smoothly, pulling Qing'er back onto the stage. Then she let go and flew back several meters.
After just one move, Qing'er was already struggling to hold on, gasping for breath.
On the contrary, Zhao Shuning was calm and composed, breathing steadily. It seemed that Qing'er's attack had no impact on her at all.
Wu Xuan beside them was stunned by this scene. She lowered her head and said, "Why is Qing'er so weak? And Luo Feiyan, how did she learn light - body skills?"
Although they had the same face, the performance of the woman on the stage at this moment was completely different from that of the previous Luo Feiyan.
"Something's wrong."
"What's the matter, Princess?"
"This person is not Luo Feiyan."
"Ah? But this face?"
"I don't know what's going on either. But this woman's aura, body movements when dodging, are completely different from the previous one. Also, she was so badly injured five days ago. Even if she had recovered from her injuries in these few days, there would surely be scars or marks left."
Wu Xuan clenched her fists tightly.
Before the last bit of incense burned out.
Zhao Shuning easily subdued Qing'er.
Pretending to be weak in front of everyone and acting out a play was even more tiring than a real fight for Zhao Shuning.
Qing'er was extremely angry and stepped down from the high platform.
Zhao Shuning smiled.
She looked around.
She saw the man she had met before sitting motionless in the VIP seats below, looking at her.
Zhao Shuning returned a smile.
Looking to the side, the gloomy - faced woman should be Princess Wu Xuan of Tianli Kingdom that Luo Qiu had mentioned.
Zhao Shuning leaped down from the stage, clasped her hands in front of her, and bowed to Ling Ruo on the main seat.
"Elder Ling Ruo."
"You've made quite rapid progress,"
Not long ago, it was said that this young girl couldn't practice. Now, although the moves she used were simple, she did seem to have some spiritual power.
Zhao Shuning flattered, "In these few days, I've been devoting myself to research, hoping to find a way to improve myself. I don't have much talent, but I think later - stage efforts can make me successful. So I was a bit late today. Please forgive me, Elder Ling Ruo."
"You have such perseverance. That's really not bad."
Zhao Shuning quickly said, "I was just lucky before. I didn't use much spiritual power before. Maybe Miss Qing'er doesn't know much about my actual strength, so I took advantage of the situation. This can't be counted as a real win."
"Neither overbearing nor humble, neither arrogant nor impatient. That's really good."
Zhao Shuning lowered her head.
The history books recorded the glorious past of Elder Ling Ruo. As long as she found the right way, there was no way she couldn't flatter successfully.
But it was also strange. She had mastered the art of flattering to perfection, so why couldn't she move her ice - cold master of ten thousand years?