Both of them were quite shocked. In the past, Zhu Mingyan had always ranked among the top three, but after her accident, she had never placed this high again.
The two looked more closely at the number of beasts each participant had killed. Most of the current top ten had earned their rankings through sheer quantity, killing over fifty demon beasts in less than a day. In contrast, Zhu Mingyan had only killed six.
Zhu Mingyan said, “Was that Three-Tailed Fish Dragon really that powerful? Can killing it really give so many points?”
“Do you have any idea how terrifying you were this afternoon?” Ning Qiubai said speechlessly. “You almost collapsed the entire North Qiong Cave. No wonder Guan Congnan looked so shocked when he saw you.”
Zhu Mingyan was momentarily dazed. Before her accident in her previous life, she had already reached the middle stage of the Golden Core realm. Afterward, she lost all her cultivation and spent more than a year living with almost no spiritual power before starting over. By the time she died, she had only just reached the Foundation Establishment stage.
After experiencing such extreme highs and lows, she had become numb to the difference between strong and weak. No matter what, it was still far below the strength she once possessed.
Putting away the wooden token, Zhu Mingyan said, “It’s not because I’m strong. It’s because we worked well together, especially Fuchuan. If it hadn’t pinned down the Three-Tailed Fish Dragon, I wouldn’t have been able to finish it off so quickly.”
“Fuchuan?!” Ning Qiubai exclaimed in disbelief. “With its size, it can pin down a Three-Tailed Fish Dragon?”
Fuchuan was very unhappy with Ning Qiubai’s doubt. It also remembered her ridiculous claim that it was just a furnace-guarding spirit beast.
It immediately slammed a paw onto the ground. A powerful wind surrounded its body. With a loud boom, its figure rapidly expanded, becoming three to four times larger than before. It let out a proud roar and looked down at Ning Qiubai with an imposing glare.
“Wow, Fuchuan! You’re amazing! You can become this big!” Ning Qiubai praised sincerely.
Fuchuan proudly wagged its tail, secretly pleased with itself. It glanced triumphantly at Zhu Mingyan, only to notice Hong Zhui sitting on her shoulder.
Hong Zhui had been badly startled by Fuchuan’s sudden transformation. It instinctively ran toward Zhu Mingyan. She casually picked it up and placed it on her shoulder, gently stroking its fur.
At that moment, Ning Qiubai carelessly added, “You’re so big, your stride must be huge too. You’d make a great mount!”
Fuchuan exploded with anger.
It instantly shrank back to its original size. First, it bared its teeth threateningly at Ning Qiubai. Then it ran back to Zhu Mingyan and rudely nudged Hong Zhui twice with its snout.
Hong Zhui: ?
Zhu Mingyan looked confused.
“What are you doing?”
Fuchuan said nothing. It simply stared at Hong Zhui fiercely.
Hong Zhui looked puzzled.
“Does it… not like me?” it asked, unconsciously putting on a pitiful expression.
Seeing this only made Zhu Mingyan feel more sympathy toward it.
Fuchuan was horrified.
How shameless was this fox?
Not only was it clinging to Zhu Mingyan, it was even pretending to be bullied!
Both shocked and angry, Fuchuan immediately lay across Zhu Mingyan’s legs and rubbed its ears against her stomach.
Actually, that felt pretty nice.
Thinking so, Zhu Mingyan stopped supporting Hong Zhui and instead scratched Fuchuan under the chin.
Fuchuan immediately became smug. Its raised tail wagged so fast it was almost a blur.
After watching for a while, Ning Qiubai scratched her head and hesitantly said,
“I have a theory.”
“What theory?” Zhu Mingyan asked.
“Well… do you think Fuchuan might be jealous?”
Zhu Mingyan froze while petting the dog.
Her face was full of disbelief.
“Dogs can get jealous?”
Ning Qiubai shrugged.
“I’ve never raised a spirit beast, so I don’t know. But the way Fuchuan is acting reminds me of someone.”
“Who?” Zhu Mingyan asked curiously.
Ever since their first meeting, Ning Qiubai had said Fuchuan looked familiar. Had she finally figured it out?
“Elder Qi from the Alchemy Hall,” Ning Qiubai explained. “You know Elder Hua Qianyun from Spring Moon Peak, right?”
“Of course. She’s the only elder in our sect who entered the Dao through the Path of Dual Cultivation.”
“Exactly. Elder Qi has loved Elder Hua for years, but she never returned his feelings. Every time he makes pills, he complains to us about all the lovers around her.”
“One time, Elder Hua brought one of her lovers to the Alchemy Hall. That person was soft and delicate and kept clinging to her without wanting to separate. Elder Qi was so disgusted that he did something shocking.”
Ning Qiubai paused dramatically.
“What did he do? Hurry up and tell me!” Zhu Mingyan urged.
“He marched over, pushed the lover away, and viciously called them a fox spirit. Then he immediately put on a smile and went over to greet Elder Hua himself!”
Ning Qiubai spoke with exaggerated disbelief, and Zhu Mingyan could not help laughing.
The two continued gossiping quietly about various stories within the sect. The atmosphere became relaxed and cheerful.
…
Meanwhile, outside the secret realm, the peak masters and hall masters of the various peaks were discussing the current trial.
The most pleased person present was Yu Chunqiao.
Two of the top three participants were her disciples. The first-place contestant, Du Wenqing, was leading the second-place contestant by a full thirty points. His advantage was overwhelming.
As a result, Yu Chunqiao received plenty of praise from the others.
The second-place contestant was Guan You, the senior disciple of Peak Master Qin Yue from Chongyuan Peak.
Having grown up on Chongyuan Peak and immersed in its battle-loving culture year after year, Guan You had entered the secret realm and immediately started hunting demon beasts nonstop. So far, he had killed the largest number of beasts among all participants.
Qin Yue was also quite pleased and said sarcastically,
“Ah, this child was spoiled by all those brutes on Chongyuan Peak. He only knows how to kill demon beasts and doesn’t use his brain! If he focused on hunting high-scoring beasts like some others, first place might not be out of reach for him.”
Everyone understood the hidden meaning behind Qin Yue’s words.
However, with the vice sect leader present, no one wanted to openly respond. Instead, they pretended not to notice and offered polite compliments.
“For Chongyuan Peak to produce such a talented disciple, Peak Master Qin must have taught him well.”
“When I return, I’ll make those useless boys of mine learn from Guan You.”
Yu Chunqiao’s expression immediately darkened.
She was about to say something in response when another person seated at the head of the gathering suddenly spoke.
“The top three are always the same people every year. There’s nothing interesting about discussing them.”
He looked at the rankings.
“I think the most interesting person in this trial is the one currently in ninth place.”