The daylight gradually faded, and the moonlight followed the travelers.
Clip-clop...
The crisp sound of hooves raised a handful of dust on the dirt road, scattering into the wild grass on both sides.
Inside the carriage, Mu Qinglan sat upright, her eyes curious.
Opposite her, Bai Yuyu shifted her body somewhat uncomfortably. Why was she being looked at like that?
Little did she know that Mu Qinglan merely found her pleasing to the eye and was rather curious if she might be a villain boss from the game.
—The bad woman found all pretty girls pleasing to the eye.
"So you're saying that the pursuer mentioned by the city lord isn't a ninth-rank demon, but an eighth-rank one?" Mu Qinglan thought for a moment and asked.
"Yes, even a ninth-rank demon known for physical prowess couldn't possibly withstand my 'Star-Plucking Branch' head-on."
The little girl's expression was serious as she explained:
"This is my family's ultimate technique. I'm very certain."
"But would an eighth-rank demon appear in the Human Gate test? How could anyone pass? Or is there another way to complete it?" Mu Qinglan asked.
Jiang He, listening outside, remained silent.
"I'm not sure what's going on either. Logically, since we're all ninth rank, there shouldn't be an eighth-rank pursuer. Could it be that the person in black has something extraordinary that has raised the difficulty of the ritual?"
The little girl was puzzled.
That person in black had never shown their face from beginning to end, making them the most suspicious. In comparison, she didn't suspect at all that there might be something unusual about the other two.
Hearing this, Mu Qinglan felt a momentary guilt.
Raised the ritual difficulty?
What raised difficulty? She didn't know anything!
"What about your injury? We don't have any medicine. Does it hurt?" Mu Qinglan quickly changed the subject.
"It's not a big issue, just affects my performance a bit!"
After saying this, the little girl puffed her cheeks and pouted:
"He only got the better of me because he's one rank higher. If we were the same rank, in five rounds—no, three rounds! I would break his legs in three rounds!"
Mu Qinglan found her quite amusing.
After all, all the pretty girls she had met since transmigrating had been the type to keep others at a thousand miles' distance.
Shen Yao was like that, Zhu Yan was like that, and Jiang Jiang was also like that.
Only this little girl, who introduced herself as "Bai," was much more lively.
It made her want to tease her a bit.
"But if you don't defeat him, how will you advance to the eighth rank?" Mu Qinglan asked sincerely.
"!"
The little girl's expression immediately froze, as did her movements.
"If the three of us join forces, we definitely have a chance... At worst, I can be the main force, and you two can assist from the side." The little girl proposed an alliance, somewhat embarrassed.
Mu Qinglan coughed lightly and cast an inquiring glance at Jiang Jiang.
Jiang He nodded coldly without speaking.
"Then we have no objections."
Mu Qinglan was also quite curious about this little girl's methods.
If there was an opportunity, and the identity was suitable, she could indeed try to recruit the talent she saw in the Human Gate test.
After all, the initial difficulties of transmigration had been temporarily resolved. Now, she only needed to expand her influence as quickly as possible to deal with the potential troubles from the Crown Prince's faction that might arise in a month.
That's why she didn't immediately try to solo clear.
Of course, no matter how much they allied, it couldn't affect her obtaining the highest mission evaluation. That was the bottom line.
"Then I'm happy to cooperate."
The little girl solemnly extended her right hand, which was missing half a sleeve, looking somewhat comical.
The white-haired girl also extended her hand and gently grasped it, unfortunately touching a bruised area, causing the little girl to wince with resentment.
"Does it hurt a lot?"
Jiang He turned back, looking at the bruise on her hand.
"Just a bit of weakness, it won't affect combat." The little girl said stubbornly.
"I can try to heal it."
Jiang He said softly, her eyes clear and bright with confidence as she spoke.
"A physician?" The little girl asked uncertainly, extending her right hand.
"A magician."
She learned healing arts? Mu Qinglan thought to herself.
It was indeed a good choice, after all, it was quite useful in daily life, instantly healing minor scratches and bruises.
But the healing arts of a ninth-rank magician couldn't heal an injury of this degree in the short term, could they?
She wasn't a physician after all.
Mu Qinglan felt that Jiang Jiang might not have much understanding of healing arts, but soon, she found herself proven wrong.
'This is...?'
She widened her eyes slightly.
She saw that across from her, the girl who called herself Jiang Jiang extended her hand and pressed it on the little girl's arm.
The next instant, a gentle, water-like, light blue radiance flowed from her palm, floating in the surrounding air like mist, hazy and somewhat dreamlike.
But the light points of healing arts should be green.
This blue radiance like mist...
"Water Spirit Healing."
Mu Qinglan silently murmured, simultaneously speaking the name with Jiang He.
She suddenly raised her head, and her gaze toward Jiang Jiang opposite her instantly became passionate.
No, perhaps she shouldn't be called Jiang Jiang.
Her real name was Jiang He.
She was the noble Ninth Princess of the Great Xia Dynasty, the possessor of the innate destiny trait [Tears of the Pearl in the Moonlit Sea], the strongest water magician in the late game! After leaving Great Xia, she even became the final boss of a major dungeon in version 4.0 of "Destiny"!
Praised for her beauty, power, and immortality.
In the plot, she once created a sea with a single thought, instantly destroying a military town with tens of thousands of soldiers stationed!
She even had the power to make the heavenly river flow backward!
As for how Mu Qinglan recognized her?
It could only be said that the "Water Spirit Healing" skill was too distinctive, allowing Jiang He to resurrect with full health several times in the dungeon, causing countless strategy group players to curse the dog company for designing yet another stupid boss!
As part of the strategy group, she had a deep memory of this special effect.
It was practically engraved in her DNA.
She had only been guessing before, after all, the dog company would never waste excess character art resources on an unimportant passerby; it made sense for it to be an important character.
But after learning the identity of her good friend, Mu Qinglan couldn't help but feel delighted.
Was her villain boss luck this good?
It felt like eating conveyor belt sushi, where cute and powerful villain bosses, before they had fully developed, peeled themselves and obediently delivered themselves to her mouth, then let her package them into what she wanted.
Haah...
Then it was necessary to establish a good relationship.
She might even be able to use her current friend status to do something.
"Oh? Thank you."
The little girl thanked her with surprise after seeing her injury had improved significantly.
"Mm."
Jiang He nodded coldly, happy inside but not showing it.
And just as Mu Qinglan was still in a daze.
Woowoo
A mournful, plaintive, and continuous suona sound simultaneously echoed in the ears of the three.
It sounded like funeral music.
"Someone has been eliminated. This is the notification sound."
The little girl said gravely. From her expression, it wasn't hard to see that she also felt this sound had a flavor of pleasantly seeing someone off.
But before Mu Qinglan could say anything.
In less than five seconds.
Woo~ The funeral music sounded again.
And just about ten seconds later, the suona sound played for the third time.
The three exchanged glances, waited half a minute without hearing a fourth sound, and then the little girl tentatively spoke:
"Those three people?"
No one in the carriage answered, but they all knew in their hearts that the hunting moment had begun.
Perhaps it would soon be their turn.
After all, the ninth rank was just the entry level of Transcendence. To fight across ranks, especially against demons with physical advantages and who were extremely powerful at lower ranks, they were indeed quite disadvantaged.
After all, they didn't have many methods yet.
Nor had they obtained the enhancements from the three gates' destiny traits.
For a moment, the mood of the other two in the carriage couldn't help but become heavy, but Mu Qinglan couldn't help but slightly curl the corner of her mouth.
An eighth-rank demon?
Just this?
She didn't even need Ah Qi; she could handle it by herself.