'This young maiden has a strong monster beast as her mystical pet?' Ling Chunxi stared carefully at the maiden's surroundings to catch a glimpse of her pet, but she could not see such a creature anywhere around her.
Meanwhile, as Ling Chunxi was peering out the window at her, Lan Xinyu was making her way down the street on horseback looking very annoyed. She wasn't unhappy because there were many people watching her every move from the sidelines. After all, she'd always enjoyed the feeling of being worshipped by others. No, that wasn't it at all. Lan Xinyu's bad mood was the result of her being given a lecture by her grandfather before she left home this morning. He had told her there would be a young maiden with outstanding abilities participating in this year's examination. He said that her innate talent surpassed the levels possessed by ordinary people, and that even an assessment stone monument was unable to withstand her Qi Ocean. Lan Xinyu's grandfather hadn't stopped there. He went on to chide her against continuing to be so proud and full of herself. What a joke. Obviously, this incident Grandfather had heard of was simply exaggerated hearsay. How could it be that an assessment stone monument could not withstand someone's Qi Ocean? She didn't believe it!
From the window, Ling Chunxi continued sizing up the young maiden in blue. The maiden seemed to sense her gaze as she abruptly lifted her head to lock gazes with Ling Chunxi.
The both of them studied each other wordlessly. After some time, one turned away to continue eating her food and the other raised her whip to her horse to continue down the street at a faster pace.
Though it wasn't Ling Chunxi's intention, Lan Xinyu's heart stirred with unease. It was merely a passing look, but she saw well enough the peerless countenance and sharp gaze held by the clear eyes of the maiden in the window. Who was she? She had such a striking bearing and temperament.
...
"What is this? Are you also that concerned about her having a monster beast?" asked Ling Yichen offhandedly. He had observed her peering out at the streets below as Lan Xinyu rode by.
"Nope. My family pet is more than enough. Little White is truly one of a kind," chirped Ling Chunxi with a small satisfied laugh. She picked up a slice of beef and placed it on the plate in front of Little White.
Little White swept its fluffy tail lightly back and forth, expressing contentment with Ling Chunxi's words. It gently lowered its tiny head and began eating the piece of beef elegantly.
After they finished their meal, Ling Yichen brought Ling Chunxi around White Stone City to do some shopping. The last time they visited, they didn't walk around much and had only stopped to buy a weapon before leaving. This time, Ling Yichen made it a point to bring Ling Chunxi to all the popular shopping spots in the city. Or so it seemed. In actuality, that rationale was merely a palatable excuse Ling Yichen used in an effort to allow Ling Chunxi to remember the locations of all the shops in the city renowned for serving good food.
"Examinations will begin from tomorrow onwards. We will not necessarily be allotted to take it at the same time." Ling Yichen spoke solemnly to Ling Chunxi over dinner. "Though we won't be able to help one another during the exam period, I believe you will definitely pass and be accepted into White Stone Academy. All will be well as long as we team up once training starts."
"All right, all right. I got it. Let's have soup dumplings tomorrow morning before we go to the academy for the exam." Ling Chunxi waved her hand nonchalantly. She remembered passing by a soup dumpling restaurant located near the entrance of the White Stone Academy during their excursion of the city earlier. In her heart, she was already picturing a generous helping of succulent dumplings in a bowl of steaming hot soup.
"... Sure." Ling Yichen agreed while mustering a feeble smile.
...
The next morning saw Ling Chunxi eating her fill of delicious soup dumplings at the very restaurant she wanted to visit. Once she was done, she made her way to White Stone Academy with Ling Yichen in tow. She was ready to take on the exam. It wasn't yet late in the morning but there were already quite a number of people at the doorway of the academy. Some were entering, others were exiting. Those exiting wore upon their faces a look of dismay. It was clear they had been unable to pass the exam this time.
Ling Chunxi and Ling Yichen walked into White Stone Academy calmly. After they each showed their family tokens as proof they were within the stipulated age range for the exam, they entered the hall designated for the academy's innate talent assessment.
The hall was gapingly huge. It contained a total of ten stone monuments, with two examiners manning each one. There were many participants lining up at all of the monuments, but the lines moved briskly as the assessment was quick and simple. It only took a short while to tell if one had innate talent or not. Thus, Ling Chunxi and Ling Yichen were able to take their turns rather promptly. As expected, neither of them faced any problems during this assessment.
However, problems arose when it came to the next assessment.
Ling Chunxi was handed a slip of paper listing the name of the examiner in charge of the assessment she was to undertake next. When Ling Yichen looked over and caught a glimpse of the name written on the paper, his ever-constant calm and steady demeanor faded in an instant.