Three days sounded tight, and it was indeed very tight.
If this were a new alt character in Mu Qinglan's game, she would feel that taking three days to advance to the eighth rank would be an insult to her gaming skills—who did they think they were looking down on?
But this wasn't a game.
The advancement process wasn't like in her previous life, where you just tap the keyboard, click the mouse, and then a burst of golden light would appear with a "level up" popup.
So even though Mu Qinglan had the uniquely advantageous player panel, she still felt a bit of pressure about experiencing crisis resolution, supernatural awakening, and even breaking through the Human Gate to create an unprecedented feat all within the short span of four days after transmigrating.
After all, to be fair, this was indeed her first contact with the transcendence.
It was normal to be a bit worried.
She was now like a female brat who had talked big online and was now forced to go offline to duel someone—you think the transcendence is simple, why don't you try it?
She really had to try.
The mastermind behind the scenes was still watching vigilantly; she couldn't relax now. Besides, she had the player panel, and with her gaming experience and understanding of the plot, Mu Qinglan felt she couldn't possibly lose.
Unless the advancement test was a one-on-one arena battle.
That seemed unlikely.
Moreover, she urgently needed a chip to firmly bind Shen Yao.
—The bad woman was working hard to GPU Miss Shen Yao, but unfortunately, her computing power was temporarily insufficient.
Her previously demonstrated methods and knowledge could indeed make Shen Yao look at her differently, but if she wanted to completely conquer her and make her submit, it still wasn't enough.
The great ice mountain Shen wasn't so easy to thaw.
But what if she broke through to the eighth rank in just three days?
The CPU from the frail scheming young lady wasn't very effective, but what if she was not only a frail girl but also a super schemer, a genius magician, and a princess of the empire?
This buff could only be described in one way—
Maxed out, she truly maxed it out!
"By the way," at this moment, Mu Qinglan suddenly took her hand and smiled: "Thank you for the tonic Miss Shen sent yesterday. I had the servants stew it last night to try, and my complexion has indeed improved a bit today."
Hmm?
Hearing this, Shen Yao involuntarily lowered her head and carefully examined the girl's delicate face.
This face is really tender...
No, wait, it did seem more rosy than yesterday.
"No need to thank me," Shen Yao said coldly: "These were just things we confiscated from Secretary Li's house yesterday. The Six Bureaus have regulations; not everything needs to be confiscated by the state. Seeing your poor health, I took the liberty of sending them to you."
Though she said this, Shen Yao silently noted that Mu Qinglan might need some medicinal supplements.
Mu Qinglan swung Shen Yao's hand, her eyes blinking, and giggled:
"I don't care, it's still from Miss Shen."
It's all Miss Shen's merit, she added.
Shen Yao blinked, feeling that Mu Qinglan seemed excited, so she didn't say anything.
At her side.
The bad woman, maintaining a sweet smile on her face, was indeed excited.
But her point of excitement was probably different from what the great ice mountain Shen was thinking.
This bad woman was just gloating that Miss Shen had fallen into her trap again.
Yes, Shen Yao had fallen for it again.
Actually, saying she fell for it isn't quite accurate. More precisely, Mu Qinglan had set a trap using Shen Yao's goodwill from yesterday, and today this ice mountain really stepped into it.
First, it must be clarified that Mu Qinglan wasn't actually as weak as when Shen Yao first met her.
She had used makeup to appear that way.
So her complexion was especially pale then.
And today her makeup was lighter, so her complexion suddenly looked much better.
These two things should have had no relationship, after all, it's normal for one's complexion to improve after a day's rest. But with Mu Qinglan's deliberate mention and her suggestive actions, Shen Yao would instinctively connect Mu Qinglan's physical improvement with the medicine she had sent.
—It was her medicine that quickly improved her complexion.
Shen Yao would think this way.
And this would give her a sense of nurturing.
It would make her feel that Mu Qinglan depended on her in some way, couldn't do without her.
As for why only her tonic worked and Prince Qi's mansion's tonics didn't, who knows? Anyway, that child's complexion had indeed improved.
Mu Qinglan observed Shen Yao's changing expressions from beginning to end, feeling quite proud of herself.
Now these were just small maneuvers, trying to gently awaken Miss Shen's frozen heart.
But when she formally began to PUA, when she started trying to subdue this world boss, her operations wouldn't be so plain and simple.
Using ambiguity, using language, using actions, in short, using every means possible.
This bad woman's ultimate goal was—
To add some spice.
She needed subordinates, she needed safety, and she needed spice—only then could it be considered complete.
After all, she didn't have a geass installed on her finger; she couldn't make her wholeheartedly loyal through spice alone, so she could only proceed step by step, gradually winning her over.
"After some time, when I go back, I'll continue to find similar herbs for you."
In the room, Shen Yao moved her beautiful eyes to look at the other party.
"Then thank you very much, Miss Shen. But where does Miss Shen plan to find these? This stuff probably isn't cheap, is it?" Mu Qinglan asked.
"Officials whose homes are to be searched never lack these," Shen Yao said simply.
"But there aren't many high officials in the court who would have such herbs, right? Although Secretary Li didn't have much influence, he was the official in charge of financial dispatch at the Revenue Bureau. There aren't many officials in Heyang City as wealthy as him."
Mu Qinglan smiled mischievously: "Otherwise, how about I recommend some candidates to Miss Shen?"
"..."
Recommending candidates for house searches? Why don't you just say you want to be the emperor?
"I won't recommend blindly. I'll give you a piece of paper later, and you can investigate those guys according to the clues on the paper. They will definitely be guilty as charged," Mu Qinglan said with a smile, but her tone carried a sense of certainty.
Hearing her speak like this, Shen Yao knew that this princess was about to make a move again.
Last time, she had brought down a fifth-rank official.
What about this time?
Even the perpetually ice-cold Miss Shen couldn't help but become curious about this.
And even though what Mu Qinglan was asking her to do this time was much more serious than last time, she didn't refuse.
Perhaps this was trust.
If it had been before yesterday, Shen Yao would definitely not have agreed to such an absurd request, but today, she was only thinking—
What kind of surprise would this mysterious princess bring her.
○
After Shen Yao left, Mu Qinglan used the system to learn two more skills.
One was "Essence Infusion," a support divine skill; the other was "Shadow Pierce," which could condense shadows to form needle-like projections and launch them.
Originally, her planned three main magician skills weren't these.
But she had the destiny trait called [Shadow Affinity], so she went with the flow and changed the other attack skill to the current "Shadow Pierce."
The effect was quite good.
"'Light Wisp' cost me 1 experience point, 'Essence Infusion' and 'Shadow Pierce' are simpler to learn, costing ten points each. Now, I have 43 experience points left.
Advancing to the eighth rank requires 30 experience points, so I'll have 13 points left.
Fortunately, Ning Shuyu is strong enough to help me save a lot of experience. If I had to learn by myself, I probably wouldn't have been able to meet the conditions for participating in the Human Gate test within three days.
It's just that the experience from killing a fifth-rank warrior is too little."
Mu Qinglan thought helplessly.
She had personally killed a fifth-rank warrior, but in the end, she only got 64 experience points, just enough to level up to the eighth rank.
But she didn't have much to complain about, because even though yesterday's events were all within her calculations, it wasn't her who did the work, but the extraordinarily capable Miss Shen Yao.
At most, she had taken the kill, and that was because others let her.
Being able to get some experience points, she was actually quite satisfied.
"But this way, I don't have enough experience for the second profession..." the girl sighed.
After mastering the transcendence, Mu Qinglan felt she had a 99% chance of success in challenging the Human Gate, after all, she was in a wheelchair, and her footwork couldn't compare to others. But if she could unlock her second profession, then her confidence would be 100%.
But now she didn't have enough experience.
She also didn't have the important item needed for her second profession.
Mu Qinglan had chosen [Mechanist] as her second profession, which specialized in domination, dispatch, and control, perfectly matching her "bad woman temperament".
It was also her highest-level profession in her previous life.
This profession was somewhat similar to summoners and beast tamers in other online games; in the early stages, a contract creature was required.
And now she was stuck on the contract creature.
If she wanted to contract an impressive creature with the potential to reach second or third rank, finding such a creature would take too much time; but if she just contracted anything randomly, Mu Qinglan was a bit reluctant. She didn't want to be too casual.
Why can't it be like in the game, where contract creatures deliver themselves to your door?
'If that's not possible, set up a pay-to-win lottery. When you reach a certain number of draws, you get a guaranteed SSR premium contract creature! I'm a rich lady now anyway.'
Mu Qinglan thought indignantly.
Reality is truly a garbage game.
Thinking this, she sighed and casually opened the apology gift from the Seventh Prince.
At this moment, the system screen popped up.
Mu Qinglan froze for a moment, looked up, and as she saw the text on the screen clearly, the white-haired girl's pupils contracted, and her eyes filled with almost unbelievable surprise and bewilderment.
"111, big bro really delivered it."