The health of True Lord Kunshan was deteriorating rapidly, and the signs of his illness were clearly visible on his face.
Even though several elders of the Green Wood Sect took turns to diagnose True Lord Kunshan, they were still unable to do anything about it.
True Lord Kunshan himself knew that his days were numbered. All he wished for was that his body could hold out until the end of the third round so that he could personally hand over the token representing the position of the young sect master to Chu Lanqiu.
"Master, it's almost time. We should start," True Lord Pengyue said to True Lord Kunshan, who was sitting with his eyes closed, deep in meditation.
Although True Lord Kunshan had his eyes closed, he knew that Chu Lanqiu hadn't arrived yet. True Lord Pengyue had seemed nonchalant before, but now, as the selection was coming to an end, he was starting to scheme for his own disciple.
"Is there any disciple who hasn't come yet?"
True Lord Pengyue knew that True Lord Kunshan was concerned about Chu Lanqiu. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Surely, Master, you won't keep delaying things for such a disciple who has no sense of time, will you?"
True Lord Kunshan let out a sneer. "Of course not. But you're being a bit too impatient. When the time comes, I'll announce the start myself. You needn't worry about it."
True Lord Huxiao walked up to True Lord Kunshan, glared at True Lord Pengyue, and handed the medicine in his hand to True Lord Kunshan to drink.
When True Lord Pengyue saw True Lord Kunshan drink the medicine, an ambiguous look flashed in his eyes.
"Since senior brother is here, this disciple will take his leave."
After seeing True Lord Pengyue leave, True Lord Huxiao mumbled a few curses under his breath. Then he felt his wrist being tightly grasped.
"Your disciple still hasn't come?"
True Lord Huxiao was also anxious, but he didn't know what had delayed Chu Lanqiu.
"The time hasn't come yet. Maybe she's on her way here."
True Lord Kunshan tightened his grip on True Lord Huxiao's hand. "I hope so."
The surroundings were already filled with guests. Shen Qing and Li Xian had come early and sat beside Qi Nian and Hong Zhaoyang.
After not seeing each other for a while, there were a few little spirit beasts beside Hong Zhaoyang and Qi Nian.
"You've even made contract spirit beasts?"
Hong Zhaoyang stroked the fluffy spirit beast in her arms, looking completely entranced. "No. To strengthen the communication between sects, the Beast Taming Sect specifically let us outer - sect disciples temporarily adopt a spirit beast to experience the daily life of the disciples of the Beast Taming Sect."
Qi Nian also nodded. Her fair little face was full of smiles. "Senior Sister Hong and I each adopted one. But later we found that... we liked them so much that we couldn't help but go and adopt two more."
Seeing the two of them indulged in the little spirit beasts in their arms, Shen Qing couldn't bear to expose the truth.
It was obvious that the disciples of the Beast Taming Sect just wanted to be lazy and didn't want to take care of the spirit beasts. They were just finding an excuse to shift their responsibilities...
But never mind. One was willing to give and the other was willing to take. It was all good.
"By the way, why hasn't Lanqiu come yet? The competition is about to start."
Shen Qing remembered that when she left, Chu Lanqiu was still choosing inner cores. Estimating the time, she said, "It should be about time..."
"Hey, here she comes, here she comes!"
Chu Lanqiu came running from afar, holding an egg wrapped in cloth in her arms. Her forehead was covered in sweat, and the loose strands of hair were sticking to her cheeks, making her look a bit disheveled.
But there was a smile on her face, and her eyes reflected glints of light. A beautiful and bright woman showing such a straightforward smile stunned most of the male disciples present.
"I only thought Senior Sister Chu was too cold and gorgeous before, but I never knew she could smile so brightly..."
"Wait, is it normal for me to fall in love with a woman just because of a smile?"
"God! My heart can't take it. Why didn't I notice Senior Sister Chu's goodness before?"
The male disciples behind them were muttering stupidly. Shen Qing found it both helpless and amusing.
Chu Lanqiu's charm never really lay in her appearance, but others' impressions of her always remained on her looks.
But it didn't matter. After the disciple selection, Shen Qing believed that when Chu Lanqiu's name was mentioned by others again, it would be as the respected young sect master.
Chu Lanqiu placed her egg on the table and gasped slightly, slowly calming her breathing.
"I thought you weren't coming. But it's no use even if you're here," Fei Fei couldn't help but sneer.
Chu Lanqiu turned her head and looked at the spirit beast egg on Fei Fei's table. She immediately understood that this spirit beast egg was bought by him at a heavy price.
"An excellent - grade spirit beast egg. It seems you're quite rich."
"But I wonder... where did you get the money?"
Seeing Chu Lanqiu looking at him thoughtfully, Fei Fei felt a twinge of guilt, and his speech became a bit stuttered. "N - naturally, I earned it myself, with the subsidy from my master."
A smile appeared on the corner of Chu Lanqiu's mouth, but there was a hint of sarcasm in her eyes. "I hope what you said is true."
Fei Fei swallowed hard, and his eyes began to wander, as if all the darkness hidden in his heart had been seen through by Chu Lanqiu. But he still stubbornly retorted, "You should take care of yourself first!"
He panicked and turned his head back, trying hard to suppress the trembling of his fingertips.
Could it be that Chu Lanqiu knew about that matter?!
If his deeds of selling spirit beasts and sect resources on the black market were exposed to the sect master, he would be finished!
But he had done this extremely secretly. Even his master had turned a blind eye and covered it up for him after noticing it. How could Chu Lanqiu possibly know...
But Fei Fei calmed down quickly after a moment of panic. No matter whether Chu Lanqiu knew or not, this strengthened his determination to get rid of Chu Lanqiu.
He looked at Chu Lanqiu's egg and sneered.
Later, when Chu Lanqiu hatched a demonic beast in front of everyone, he would nail down the fact that Chu Lanqiu was practicing demonic arts.
By then, with the help of his master and the Main God's Hall, Chu Lanqiu would either die or be severely injured.
The champion of the second round must be his!
No, not just the second round!
The position of the young sect master must be his!
Chu Lanqiu noticed Fei Fei's sinister gaze but ignored it.
The spirit beast in the egg in her hand still looked like a demonic beast, but she and the Dark Wolf had worked out a feasible plan overnight.
When the demonic beast hatched, it would be time to verify whether this plan would work.
Since she had decided to hatch the demonic egg, she wouldn't regret her decision. If it failed, she would just plead for punishment. If it succeeded, it would prove her ability!
As for a clown like Fei Fei, he would surely ruin himself in the end.
When True Lord Kunshan saw Chu Lanqiu appear, he opened his eyes, coughed lightly twice, and said hoarsely, "The time has come. Please place the little spirit beasts you've hatched on the table."
"Those without an egg or a spirit beast on the table will be eliminated from the second round."
Those disciples whose spirit beast eggs had been destroyed left their seats dejectedly. Not getting any points in the second round meant that they had no hope in this disciple selection.
Even if they won the championship in the third round, it wouldn't help.
Fei Fei looked at Chu Lanqiu triumphantly and shouted in front of everyone, "I will hatch this egg on the spot. Please watch carefully!"
With that, he began to gather his spiritual power. The egg trembled a few times, and the spirit beast inside started to struggle to break out of the egg.