A tidal wave instantly surged in Xi Yan's heart!
Pre-decided?!
The position of Heavenly Alliance Leader was actually pre-decided?!
She couldn't believe her ears! This was the Sect Leader Competition of the Heavenly Alliance, the number one power in the Lower Realm!
It sounded like such a solemn, fair, and intense event! And yet... behind the scenes, there was such sordid backroom manipulation?
Her luck was just too good! She had barely infiltrated, hadn't done anything at all, and had almost died, yet she had so easily overheard such a shocking secret from a core member!
If this were leaked, it would surely cause an uproar throughout the Lower Realm, enough to shake the very foundation of the Heavenly Alliance, wouldn't it?
She could already imagine her Master's look of approval and surprise upon receiving this information.
Her undercover mission, though it had a perilous beginning, was already bearing fruit! Didn't this count as achieving a great merit?
Her little face flushed with extreme excitement and the thrill of having uncovered a heaven-defying secret.
She could feel her blood flowing faster. She had to hurry! She had to find a way to pass this information back! This was top priority!
However, this thought had barely surfaced when it was like a bucket of ice water poured over her head.
She suddenly realized an incredibly awkward and fatal problem—she, it seemed, had absolutely no way... to contact her Master?!
Her Master had only said "conceal the fate's design" and "let destiny guide the way," then just threw her down here!
Not to mention a messaging jade talisman or a cross-realm formation array, she hadn't even been given the most basic spirit bird to send a message to the Upper Realm!
To possess such an earth-shattering secret yet have no way to transmit it.
The feeling was like guarding a treasure no one could reach, yet finding no exit, not even a single person to share it with.
Great excitement and extreme frustration clashed violently in her heart, making her expression momentarily complex and strange, her eyes bright yet a little lost and helpless.
Just then, her ever-changing facial expressions seemed to be keenly captured by Chen Xingcai, who was right in front of her.
"Hm?" Chen Xingcai let out a soft hum of slight confusion.
Then, her beautiful and charming face suddenly and without warning closed in!
The distance between them instantly shrank to almost nose-to-nose.
Xi Yan could clearly see the flawless texture of her skin and feel the warm breath carrying a faint orchid fragrance that washed over her.
Xi Yan's heart was as if grabbed by an invisible hand and then began to pound wildly!
Extreme tension made her scalp tingle. Her body instinctively wanted to lean back, but she was pinned in place by some invisible pressure.
Her eyes flitted about in a panic, and her voice trembled noticeably. "W-what are you doing?! Getting so close all of a sudden!"
Could it be... Could it be that she got too excited earlier and accidentally revealed her thoughts? That her cover was blown?
It's over! It's over! Being an undercover agent is not as easy as it looks!
Was she about to be exposed on her very first day?! Would she be captured and tortured? Or directly purged?
In an instant, countless tragic scenarios flashed through her mind.
Her little face turned pale from fright, the flush from earlier completely vanished.
Chen Xingcai's large, expressive eyes stared unblinkingly at her, a probing and understanding smile on her lips.
She dragged out her words as she said, "I saw you acting all weird just now, excited yet frustrated... Could it be that..."
Xi Yan's heart was already in her throat, almost to the point of suffocation.
She could even feel her fingertips growing cold.
"W-what is it..." she swallowed hard, her voice a mere whisper.
She was already prepared for the next moment when her cover would be blown and she would have to fight to the death (though it was more likely she would die alone).
Chen Xingcai's mouth curved into a sly arc. In a tone that said "I saw through you long ago," she said definitively:
"It's that—you also want to participate in this Sect Leader Competition, don't you~?"
"Huh?!"
Xi Yan was stunned, her mind short-circuiting from this completely unexpected answer.
P-participate in the competition? Not that she saw through her cover as an undercover agent?
The huge contrast made her unable to react for a moment. She just stared blankly at Chen Xingcai.
Chen Xingcai took her dazed expression for the shock of having her thoughts guessed.
Nodding to herself as if confirming her suspicions, she said with a smile, "I saw your eyes light up when you heard about the competition earlier, and then you looked a bit disappointed."
"You must be worried you won't have recovered in time or that your cultivation isn't high enough, right?"
Only then did Xi Yan snap back to her senses, realizing the other person had completely misunderstood her.
But this was a perfect, perfect excuse to cover up her earlier slip-up! She immediately grabbed onto it like a lifeline and nodded along with Chen's words, even seeming a bit stammered from the excessive tension.
"Y-yes! That's exactly what I was thinking! It sounds so... so impressive..."
Hearing this, Chen Xingcai laughed even more heartily, apparently very satisfied with her "insight."
She patted Xi Yan's shoulder (the pat was very light, afraid of unsettling her) and said very generously, "It's fine! Registration still has plenty of time, enough for you to recover!"
"When the time comes, I'll personally take you to register! I guarantee no one will dare to give you trouble!"
Looking at Chen Xingcai's enthusiastic, guileless smiling face, Xi Yan felt a mix of emotions and could only manage a weak smile.
"O-okay... then... thank you, Sister Chen."
But in her heart, she was wailing: Master! Is this destiny's guidance a bit too off track?
To infiltrate on the first day, learn of a shocking secret but be unable to send it out, and now be dragged off to participate in some pre-decided Sect Leader Competition?!
How on earth is she supposed to live according to her own will?!
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