"It's just about seeing the demon egg. What's so difficult about that? I'll go get it right now."
As Chu Lanqiu said this, she was about to get up and leave, but Shen Qing grabbed her hand.
"Wait a moment."
"Why?"
Chu Lanqiu was puzzled. Since this matter was so urgent, wasn't it better to act as quickly as possible?
"Fei Fei just swapped the egg. Someone has to go and confirm it, right?"
Shen Qing calmly put down the teacup in her hand and led Chu Lanqiu slowly towards her room.
The two of them suppressed their auras and walked softly.
Although Chu Lanqiu didn't know what Shen Qing was thinking, she always felt that Shen Qing must have her reasons for doing this, so she obediently cooperated.
The two of them waited outside the room for half an hour. Only then did Chu Lanqiu realize that so many people were eyeing her egg.
"Fairy Liji... Real Man Pengyue... What are they going in there for?"
Chu Lanqiu covered her mouth in surprise as she hid in the distance.
Shen Qing stood beside her with a strange expression on her face.
She had thought that Real Man Pengyue would be an upright person, but unexpectedly, in the end, he still helped his own disciple.
After the two of them left, Shen Qing and Chu Lanqiu walked into the room. Chu Lanqiu reopened the barrier.
Shen Qing pointed at the egg on the table and asked, "Is this still your original egg?"
Chu Lanqiu observed it carefully and found that although this egg was very similar to her previous one and almost indistinguishable to the naked eye, after Shen Qing's reminder, she remembered that she had made a small mark on the original egg.
Now that the mark was gone, the egg was naturally not the original one.
"No, it's not."
Chu Lanqiu felt a bit complicated. If it weren't for Shen Qing's reminder, she would never have thought that someone would swap the egg.
This time, she had deliberately left a loophole, but without any defense, she really couldn't guarantee that she wouldn't fall into other people's schemes.
Shen Qing casually found a stool and sat down, then began to recap: "Three people came to your room. Fei Fei swapped your egg. Real Man Pengyue came to confirm whether your egg had been swapped, and Fairy Liji came to tamper with your egg."
Chu Lanqiu was surprised and said, "I can understand Fei Fei and Real Man Pengyue. They're just master and disciple who want to win the competition. But why does Fairy Liji do this?"
Shen Qing pondered for a while and replied, "I've also told you that the relationship between the Main Shrine and the Demon Realm is different. I think this demon egg is also the work of the Main Shrine. When it was given to Fei Fei, the demon beast in the egg must not have been as demonized as it is now."
"Fairy Liji's move is to accelerate the complete demonization of the demon egg. By then, if you take this egg to the venue and the demon beast hatches out of the egg in full view, you're finished."
"So that's her intention..."
Chu Lanqiu sat down on the chair with a pale face.
Like Xian Shiyu, she had grown up in the Beast Taming Sect since she was a child. Most of the senior brothers and sisters in the Beast Taming Sect were simple - minded and innocent.
It could be said that all the scheming she had encountered in her life was not as much as what she had encountered in this selection.
Outsiders thought she was very shrewd, but in fact, her heart was as pure as a blank sheet of paper.
If a demon beast really hatched from her egg in full view, her reputation and that of Real Man Huxiao would probably be ruined.
But Shen Qing was thinking more.
If such a scandal happened in the disciple selection of the Beast Taming Sect, the Main Shrine would have an excuse to interfere in the internal affairs of the Beast Taming Sect.
By then, as long as they threatened Real Man Huxiao with Chu Lanqiu, they were not afraid that Real Man Huxiao would not support Fei Fei.
The position of the young sect - master would then be decided by the Main Shrine.
"Do they really have to go to such lengths just for a selection?" Chu Lanqiu's eyes were a bit red and her voice choked.
During this period, in order to win, she had heard a lot of things.
She just realized that the human heart was not as simple as it seemed on the surface.
"What should we do with this egg..."
Shen Qing stood up, picked up the demon egg, and said, "I'll take it to the Dark Wolf. It shouldn't be difficult for you to find another egg to hatch, right?"
She originally planned to take the egg to the Dark Wolf and let Chu Lanqiu find another spirit beast egg to participate in the selection. In this way, there would be no problem.
But Chu Lanqiu's eyes never left the demon egg, as if she had other ideas.
"Lanqiu?"
Chu Lanqiu stood up, her eyes shining with a strange light. She said in a trembling voice, "Since I have to hatch an egg anyway, why can't I hatch a demon beast egg?"
Shen Qing frowned and didn't understand what Chu Lanqiu meant.
"Are you crazy?"
Shen Qing took a step back, afraid that Chu Lanqiu would do something bad under the stimulation.
But Chu Lanqiu shook her head firmly: "I'm not crazy. I'll purify the demon egg and hatch it at the same time together with the Dark Wolf. Isn't this also a challenge for me?"
Shen Qing opened her eyes wide in surprise: "Are you... serious?"
Chu Lanqiu nodded: "I'm the most outstanding disciple of the Beast Taming Sect. If I can successfully purify and hatch the demon egg, it will prove that I'm capable of taking on responsibilities!"
Shen Qing was silent for a quarter of an hour. Seeing that Chu Lanqiu had made up her mind, she stopped persuading her.
She couldn't even say that because of Chu Lanqiu's high - spirited appearance, her heart also burned with enthusiasm.
But when the two of them told everyone about their decision, they got the same negative response.
Even the Dark Wolf refused disapprovingly.
"Do you think this is a game? If I didn't have a bit of confidence, I wouldn't have proposed this. But Chu Lanqiu, you're just an ordinary cultivator. What ability do you have to hatch a demon egg?!"
The Dark Wolf looked a bit angry, but Shen Qing knew that the Dark Wolf was just worried.
Xian Shiyu also pulled Chu Lanqiu's sleeve worriedly: "Senior Sister, isn't it better to hatch another spirit beast egg according to the original plan? Hatching a demon beast egg... is too dangerous."
He Xianyin and He Zhaoxue sat silently on one side without expressing their opinions.
Tuanyuan seemed to sense the demonic energy in the egg and began to bare its teeth and growl around it.
Seeing that so many people around her didn't think highly of her, Chu Lanqiu's heart wavered for a moment, but in an instant, she firmized her idea again.
"I know this is very difficult, which is why I have to insist on doing it. During this period, the demon beasts have been very active. As a disciple of the Beast Taming Sect, how can I turn a blind eye and stay out of it?"
"If the demon beasts spread across the Nine Wastelands Continent by then, Dark Wolf, can you save all those demon beasts by yourself? Don't you forget that some demon beasts weren't born as demon beasts. They were infected by the demonic energy and struggled to survive, which is why they became demon beasts."
"They were once ordinary living beings. Is it wrong for me to want to save them?"
"Shiyu, you're also a disciple of the Beast Taming Sect. Let me ask you, what was the first lesson taught in the Beast Taming Sect?"
Xian Shiyu lowered her head. Shen Qing thought she had forgotten, but then heard Xian Shiyu say in a low voice:
"All living beings are born and all living beings make sounds. We're also one of the living beings. When we feel compassion for all living beings, we're also feeling compassion for ourselves."