I woke up to find myself as the villain's older sister.

Is this first test really that difficult?

Yun Qingyi questioned the meaning of life. With each step she took, the pressure on her body increased. Some people around her could no longer lift their feet and had to crawl.

Fortunately, she and Yun Qingrou were in relatively good condition, not quite as disheveled, but they weren't much better off. To be precise, she wasn't in much better shape. Her clothes were completely soaked with sweat, and feeling the sticky sensation on her body, Yun Qingyi felt utterly overwhelmed.

Perhaps it was because Yun Qingrou had been trained since childhood, but compared to the disheveled crowd on the steps, she was incredibly relaxed and even had the strength to help Yun Qingyi.

Looking at Yun Qingrou, who wasn't sweating at all and was still supporting her, Yun Qingyi couldn't help but laugh at her own weakness.

"Sister, save your energy, don't laugh."

……

Oh.

With Yun Qingrou supporting and helping him all the way, he finally made it down the steps, whether it counts as cheating or not.

Above the steps, the ground is open, and not far away, a magnificent stone gate made of floating cloud stone rises high from the ground, majestic and awe-inspiring.

Yun Qingyi slumped to the ground, looking back at the steps that stretched all the way to the bottom of the mountain. There were still many people struggling to climb up the steps, even if it took half an hour to climb one step, they did not have the slightest thought of giving up.

Yun Qingyi knew that they carried no less burden than she did. Those who had the courage to give up the Ascension Ceremony at Xianyue Valley and come to Xuanmiao Sect were no ordinary people.

They came from all over the mainland, full of lofty ambitions and high spirits, wanting to stand out from the crowd as the pride of the times and overlook the top of the world.

They started climbing at dawn, and now it was evening. Yun Qingyi felt the mountain breeze and watched the radiant sunset on the horizon, which dyed the clean sky a bright orange-red, beautiful and splendid.

Yun Qingyi gazed at the horizon, while Yun Qingrou sat silently beside her elder sister until night fell and the sky began to twinkle with stars.

The clock chimed then, its sound melodious and ancient.

An old man, stepping on golden light, slowly approached from a distance.

"The first test is over. For those young friends who haven't finished climbing the steps, I regret that you haven't passed the test. I'll take you down the mountain for free."

After saying that, the old man waved his whisk, and the boys who were still climbing the steps were forced to fly down the mountain.

At this moment, there were only a handful of people, less than twenty, on the large, flat square in front of the sect. When she arrived, Yun Qingyi had specifically counted the number of people, and there were at least 1,500.

It was even worse than one in ten surviving, but in the end only three people could make it to the top, and even if they made it, there would still be a lot of competition.

The old man, with his white hair and beard, held a whisk in one hand and stroked his long, white beard with the other, and stepped into the air to stand before the twenty people.

"Congratulations, young friends, on completing the first test. My name is Fohan, and you may call me Elder Fohan. Next, I will conduct the second test for you—Questioning the Heart."

Ask your heart? Before Yun Qingyi could even process what the old man had said, everything went black. When Yun Qingyi slowly woke up, she found that the scenery around her had changed from the stone gate entrance to... her modern home.

She seemed to have been woken up by the fireworks. Yun Qingyi glanced at her phone; it was exactly 12:00.

Yun Qingyi looked around her former "room." Although she knew it was an illusion, everything was arranged so realistically. She lay on the bed, staring blankly at the fireworks outside the window—one, two, dazzling and brilliant, like the sunset.

Huh? Sunset, what sunset? How did she just think of that word? She glanced at her phone at 12:01. When she made this gesture, Yun Qingyi was slightly taken aback. This gesture seemed familiar to her.

The fireworks outside the window were in full bloom, filling the entire sky like dancing sprites.

But for some reason, the more she looked at the fireworks, the more uneasy she felt, and she even found them creepy.

At this time, there was a knock on the door.

"Yiyi, are you asleep? Grandma cooked some dumplings, eat them while they're hot."

It was her grandmother. Yun Qingyi looked at the door but didn't open it. Instead, she looked wary. Then she paused, feeling a pang of guilt. How could she have such feelings for her grandmother?

That was her grandmother who loved and protected her since she was little, who fried dough twists for her and sang nursery rhymes to lull her to sleep.

Thinking of this, he hurriedly got up to open the door.

Outside the door, an old man carrying a bowl walked in with a trembling smile.

"Grandma, you seem to have aged a lot?" Yun Qingyi was puzzled. She had only not seen her grandma for two or three hours, so how could her grandma have changed so much?

"Come on, Yiyi, finish this bowl of dumplings quickly, or you'll miss it." The old man still looked at her with a smile.

"What do you mean you can't make it? Grandma, what are you talking about?" Although Yun Qingyi was puzzled, she still obediently picked up her bowl and started eating dumplings.

While eating, she praised, "No wonder she's my grandma; all her dumplings are so delicious."

"As long as it tastes good, as long as it tastes good." The old man looked at the girl in front of him with kindness, reached out and ruffled the girl's fluffy hair, his eyes full of affection.

"I hope Yiyi is happy over there, okay? Grandma is content just to see you one last time."

"Grandma, what are you saying? Grandma, why are you crying? Did Grandpa make you angry again? Come on, let's go teach him a lesson."

After finishing her dumplings, Yun Qingyi took the old man's hand and was about to leave the room when she suddenly found herself floating away from the old man. The fireworks outside the window suddenly turned into tentacles and reached out to her.

The old man picked up the bowl Yun Qingyi had finished eating dumplings from and angrily smashed it against his hand—"Bang!" The bowl shattered into countless pieces.

The tentacles recoiled frantically as if they had suffered immense pain. Yun Qingyi flew further and further away, looking down at the room, which was surrounded by complete darkness.

Yun Qingyi was stunned. Why was this happening? She glanced at another place that the tentacles were trying to pull her into, where a girl was standing, staring at her angrily from the street.

Her mouth kept moving, as if she was saying something. At first, Yun Qingyi couldn't hear her clearly, but as the voice grew louder, the girl repeated over and over, "Why don't you come here? Why don't you come here? Why don't you come here!"

Yun Qingyi felt a strange chill run down her spine. Just then, a soft white light enveloped her, and when she opened her eyes again, she found herself in a grand hall.

"Sister, you're awake too?"

"Hmm?" Yun Qingyi looked at the enthusiastic and bright girl in front of her, her expression confused and somewhat at a loss.

She had just... when suddenly a sharp pain shot through her head, and memories flooded back, clearing her eyes.

"Hmm, it's nothing." Yun Qingyi smiled at Yun Qingrou and said nothing more.

The illusion she just experienced didn't seem simple, and her grandmother's words were quite intriguing. Did her grandmother know that she had come to this world?

Or something else?

And the girl in the illusion, it seems she was originally going to that girl's place, but for some reason she ended up in her modern room.

Is this because of my grandmother?

The more Yun Qingyi thought about it, the more her head ached. She shook her head and decided to stop thinking about it and sort it out properly later.

She raised her eyes and looked around. There were more than a dozen people lying on the ground, but it seemed that only Yun Qingrou and she were awake.