The spiritual beasts of the other disciples had all hatched. Those whose beasts were of good quality wore satisfied smiles.
After several elders went down to check, they gave corresponding scores. After getting their points, the disciples all fixed their eyes on the unhatched egg in Chu Lanqiu's hand.
The scorpion on Fei Fei's table twitched a few times, slowly opened its eyes, and looked around in a daze.
When it met Fei Fei's eyes, it nuzzled affectionately against Fei Fei's hand, but was disgustedly brushed away.
"What a so - called top - grade spiritual beast. You're just a useless waste now. You can't even form a contract."
The scorpion didn't understand what Fei Fei was saying, but it could feel the malice in Fei Fei's eyes. The tiny creature shrank fearfully into a ball.
The pain from its tail also gave it a bad first impression of the world. Since the person in front of it had no intention of treating its wound, the scorpion stopped trying to please and stared at Fei Fei warily.
The elder in charge of scoring came to Fei Fei's table and carefully examined the scorpion. The scorpion lay obediently in the elder's hand.
"It's really a pity. This is a top - grade hybrid scorpion. If its stinger hadn't fallen off, it would surely have made an excellent contract spiritual beast in the future."
"However, it's only been injured for a short time. If you bandage it, there might still be a chance to reattach it."
The elder kindly spoke and took out his own wound medicine, putting it on the table.
Every disciple in the Beast - Taming Sect knew how to use wound medicine to treat their spiritual beasts. So, after leaving the medicine, the elder sighed regretfully, shook his head, and left.
But Fei Fei put away the wound medicine without any intention of treating the scorpion.
The elder's sigh before leaving made him feel even more ashamed. He blamed all his anger on this scorpion.
He looked at the scorpion with disgust and said viciously, "It's all your fault! I really regret buying you!"
The scorpion was still very weak. Being stared at so disgustedly by Fei Fei, it curled up even tighter and closed its eyes, trying hard not to meet those malicious eyes directly.
Feeling the egg trembling more and more violently, Chu Lanqiu took a deep breath, knowing that the little spiritual beast inside was about to break out of the egg.
After two cracking sounds, the eggshell slowly fell off. The little spiritual beast inside let out a clear cry, revealing its true appearance.
And this appearance frightened everyone present.
"Is this... a demon beast?"
"How could it be..."
"Oh my god, how could the egg in her hand be a demon - beast egg?!"
The cultivators watching the competition around stood up one after another. Some even craned their necks to see clearly whether the creature that had hatched from Lanqiu's egg was really a demon beast.
Even True Person Kunshan was startled and stood up.
Neither the egg nor the demon beast in Chu Lanqiu's hand had revealed the slightest trace of demonic energy. So he hadn't noticed it before.
If it weren't for the extremely strange appearance of the demon beast in the egg, he would have thought it was just an ordinary spiritual beast.
But hatching a demon beast in full view of everyone, True Person Kunshan was more worried about Chu Lanqiu's reputation. If the public had different opinions, wouldn't the position of the young sect - master...
His face immediately turned serious. He told the elders to go down and take the demon beast from Chu Lanqiu's hand.
But Fei Fei knew True Person Kunshan's partiality. If the demon beast was taken away, and then True Person Kunshan came up with some excuse to exonerate Chu Lanqiu, all his previous efforts would be in vain.
So, before True Person Kunshan could send the elders down, he shouted loudly, "Chu Lanqiu, you must have secretly practiced some demonic arts, which caused this spiritual - beast egg to mutate into a demon beast!"
"Having a disciple like you in our Beast - Taming Sect is simply a disgrace. This demon - beast egg is irrefutable evidence. You, Chu Lanqiu, are simply unworthy of being a disciple of the Beast - Taming Sect!"
"Master! This disciple implores the master to handle this fairly and expel Chu Lanqiu from the Beast - Taming Sect!"
Fei Fei threw back the words Chu Lanqiu had said to him earlier word for word, feeling greatly relieved.
True Person Kunshan and True Person Huxiao's faces darkened. Amid the noisy discussions of the crowd, most were speculating whether Chu Lanqiu had really practiced demonic arts.
Shen Qing remembered her own situation in the Qingyun Sword Sect before. Although she knew Chu Lanqiu had a backup plan, she still couldn't help but worry about her.
In her nervousness, Li Xian covered Shen Qing's hand that was tightly clutching the corner of her clothes and said, "Don't be nervous. Trust her."
Shen Qing forced a smile, and her face turned a bit pale.
She had experienced the situation of being condemned by everyone and knew how much pressure it entailed. She hoped that Chu Lanqiu wouldn't be affected by the surrounding environment and just do what she wanted to do.
Although True Person Kunshan was partial to Chu Lanqiu, it was not appropriate for him to openly help her out in public.
He stared intently at Fei Fei, knowing that he must have played a part in this.
Fei Fei was stared at by True Person Kunshan's sharp eyes, and a thin layer of sweat broke out on his back. It was impossible for him not to be afraid.
But things had come to this point. Even if True Person Kunshan noticed that he had tampered with it, so what? He just wanted to make Chu Lanqiu lose face in front of everyone, ruin her reputation, and cut off her path to success.
Once he became the young sect - master and obtained the Ten Thousand Beasts' Call, True Person Kunshan would be helpless against him.
By then, he would be the one to decide the future of the Beast - Taming Sect.
Facing the accusations and doubts of the crowd, as well as Fei Fei's malicious words, Chu Lanqiu didn't show any sign of timidity. Instead, she calmly took out a dagger and stabbed it into the little demon beast's body.
Green blood spurted out. The little demon beast felt the pain and let out a howl. This sight made the cultivators present think of those huge, ferocious, man - eating demon beasts.
"Oh my god, what on earth is she doing? First, she hatches a demon beast, and then she kills it right in front of us!"
"Does she think this can prove her innocence? I think she's extremely cruel."
The surrounding cultivators were stunned by Chu Lanqiu's series of actions. They openly discussed loudly without any scruples and shifted their blaming looks to True Person Kunshan.
True Person Kunshan and True Person Huxiao didn't understand Chu Lanqiu's actions. Considering the people present, they could only try to stop her.
True Person Huxiao said anxiously, "Chu Lanqiu, what are you doing! Stop right now!"
Chu Lanqiu knew how crazy her actions seemed at the moment, but she couldn't stop. While digging out the demon beast's inner core, she explained, "Master, I'm doing this to save this little demon beast!"
"Arrogant! I think the Beast - Taming Sect is doomed with a disciple like this."
An elder from another sect who had always been at odds with the Beast - Taming Sect angrily spoke. Although it was a rebuke, his eyes were full of the desire to watch the show.
He wished that the disciples of the Beast - Taming Sect would make a huge fool of themselves so that the Beast - Taming Sect's reputation would be ruined.
But then, Chu Lanqiu gave him a sharp look and said firmly, "The outcome is not yet known. How can you be so sure that I'm being arrogant? You're an old man. Watch your mouth and just wait and see!"