Release the Heroine, Let Me Handle This

Chapter 98: A Belated First

Ling Jue gave Ye Wenxin a dissatisfied glare. "What nonsense are you thinking? If I were to dual cultivate, it would only be with you!"

Ye Wenxin was so startled she took a half step back. Ling Jue felt a bit hurt seeing Ye Wenxin act so clueless despite her directness. Tugging Ye Wenxin closer, Ling Jue continued, "You have an icy physique. If not with you, then with whom?"

This reasoning was so logical that Ye Wenxin found herself speechless.

Seeing Ling Jue’s eyes, clear and without any hidden motives, Ye Wenxin felt her own thoughts were impure. How could someone as pure as Ling Jue have a romantic interest in her? To lighten the mood, she cracked a joke from her world, "Of course, you should pick me. I'm the best power bank around."

"Power bank? What's that?" Ling Jue, initially a bit angry, found her irritation dissipating at Ye Wenxin’s nonsense, and instead, she laughed.

"How to explain it..." Ye Wenxin hesitated. Before coming to this world, she wasn't particularly knowledgeable. If not for a serendipitous encounter with the Zanghua cultivation technique, she might not have survived. Now, she was at a loss to explain a joke that had slipped out.

"Is this another term from your mysterious cave?" Ling Jue recalled Ye Wenxin's frequent references to some cave and playfully offered an explanation.

"Yes, exactly," Ye Wenxin nodded, grateful for the easy out.

The four continued onward, with Ling Jue and Qian Bingxue making a striking pair. Luo Miaoyi seemed to fade in comparison to Qian Bingxue, while Ye Wenxin, wary of attracting attention, wore a veil today. Her exposed eyes only added to the mystery of what lay beneath.

"Are these folks also here for the alchemy assessment?"

"I haven't heard of them before. Those two look like they're from a painting."

Others participating in the alchemy assessment buzzed with gossip. There weren't many, just about a dozen, all seemingly familiar with each other after many attempts.

Ling Jue was used to the attention, and Qian Bingxue was lost in thought, leaving Luo Miaoyi to chatter excitedly. Perhaps she saw Ye Wenxin as an ordinary person like herself, fostering a sense of kinship.

Before long, three elderly men from the Alchemy Association emerged.

The first elder surveyed the crowd and calmly announced, "Those taking the advanced alchemist test, follow me."

No one moved, curious eyes scanning for the elusive advanced alchemist.

Ye Wenxin hesitated; she didn't want to draw attention. Standing out would invite scrutiny.

Ling Jue noticed but said nothing.

Seeing no response, the second elder called, "Those taking the intermediate alchemist test, follow me."

Three men and women in their forties or fifties stepped forward, pride evident on their faces.

The remaining crowd watched enviously; for many, becoming an intermediate alchemist was a formidable challenge.

Ye Wenxin was bewildered. She remembered being over fifty and mastering in months what others couldn't in a lifetime, making her feel unexpectedly brilliant.