"What’s wrong? Not happy?"
On the way back, Feng Yuan noticed that Xiao Ji seemed a bit down and dejected, so he ruffled Xiao Ji’s head and said
"You’re not upset because they didn’t notice you, are you?"
Xiao Ji glanced at Feng Yuan proudly raising his head. Noticing Xiao Ji’s darting gaze, Feng Yuan guessed correctly and gently poked Xiao Ji, laughing as he said
"They don’t know who you are, and besides, do you think this is fun? Believe it or not, they’ll look for opportunities to harass Agunas."
Seeing Xiao Ji’s confusion, Feng Yuan smiled and said
"Don’t believe me? Just wait and see."
Seeing Xiao Ji’s puzzled look, Feng Yuan tousled Xiao Ji’s fluff and said
"They’ll definitely take the chance when I’m separated from Agunas to harass him~"
"What do you mean by ’harass Agunas’? What trouble have you gone and caused now?"
"Eh? Qi Chen, you’re back to school so early?"
Feng Yuan turned his head and saw Qi Chen, looked up at the sky in surprise, and realized it was still early. It wasn’t until he saw Dou Yanlan following behind Qi Chen that Feng Yuan wore a strange smile and said
"Yo~ No wonder you’re back to school so early~"
"But what about this harassment of Agunas? What happened?"
After glancing at Agunas by his side, Feng Yuan spoke calmly
"Nothing much, just the people from Divine Beast Hall showing up."
"Eh? That’s true. Agunas is supposed to be a newly emerged Divine Beast. The Divine Beast Hall should indeed send someone to woo him."
"Is there a problem?"
Seeing the disdain on Feng Yuan’s face, Qi Chen looked puzzled. After thinking for a moment, Dou Yanlan said
"You don’t think much of Divine Beast Hall?"
"It’s not that I don’t respect them, but too much time has passed, and things change..."
"Hey! What do you mean by that?!"
Watching Feng Yuan walk away after speaking, Qi Chen shouted with dissatisfaction, while Dou Yanlan pondered for a moment and said
"It seems that the rumor might be true."
Seeing Qi Chen looking at her with explosive curiosity, Dou Yanlan thought for a moment and said
"It’s said that the Divine Beast Hall is on the brink of splitting internally..."
"Considering what he said, it’s indeed possible, given that Divine Beast Hall has been around for such a long time..."
"The strange building in the sky last night—it doesn’t have anything to do with you, does it?"
Back in the dorm at night, Qi Chen sat on the bed and asked Feng Yuan while playing with Xiao Ji. Feng Yuan, while cleaning the Greatsword, said
"You mean E Hua Temple? I didn’t do anything."
"That thing actually appeared!"
Glancing at Qi Chen, who seemed somewhat panicked, Feng Yuan calmly said
"My previous judgment was wrong. E Hua Temple is not only connected to the Transcend Sect but is also related to other strange things."
Recalling the black-clad woman Liang Ziqing mentioned, Feng Yuan narrowed his eyes and said
"That person is probably not as simple as they seem..."
Qi Chen scratched his head and looked at Feng Yuan, saying
"Even you can’t handle her?"
As Feng Yuan drew out his Greatsword and wiped it, he said
"It’s not that I can’t handle it, it’s just that I don’t know where the other party is, and besides..."
Recalling how he was unable to find any clues related to the other party even with his abilities, Feng Yuan shook his head and said
"Her methods are probably not as simple as just E Hua Temple, after all, creating a separate space and altering the rules... that’s a technique unique to Divine Beasts and outsiders..."
Glancing at Qi Chen without explaining, Feng Yuan played with Xiao Ji a bit and then said to Agunas
"Why don’t you go meet them? Otherwise, it’s pretty uncomfortable to think about someone watching this place all night long."
"Is someone watching us?"
Seeing Qi Chen peering out of the window, Feng Yuan brushed Xiao Ji’s silly fur and said,
"Those guys from the Divine Beast Hall, they’re in the grove. If Agunas doesn’t go and explain to them in person, they won’t give up."
"But... can Agunas communicate with them?"
Remembering that Agunas had never made a sound while following Feng Yuan, Qi Chen couldn’t help but worry. Glancing at Qi Chen, Agunas tore a piece of paper from the book in his hands and quickly wrote something to show Qi Chen,
"Textual communication."
"Uh... Agunas can write?"
"What else? If he hadn’t been born so recently, not only mental communication, but speaking wouldn’t be a problem."
"All Divine Beasts can learn to communicate with humans if they’re willing to put in the time. Ordinary Spirit Beasts might not necessarily do so; they only learn if they live long enough and have enough contact with humans."
"But isn’t the White Wolf Deity..."
Feng Yuan glanced at Qi Chen and said impatiently,
"The White Wolf Deity is just too lazy to talk, not that he can’t. Agunas, I’ll leave it to you to get rid of them then~ Of course, if you’re willing to join the Divine Beast Hall, that’s also an option."
Agunas shook his head and floated to the window, opened it, and drifted out. Looking at Feng Yuan, Qi Chen hesitated and said,
"Isn’t that not quite right? After all, Agunas has been with you doing so much, and you’re letting him handle this by himself..."
"It’s the Divine Beast Hall inviting Agunas. How else can I deal with it? Don’t worry, they’re just going to ask for his opinion; they won’t harm him."
After a while, Agunas floated back. Feng Yuan didn’t ask about Agunas’s final decision, and after dragging a screaming Xiao Ji to take a bath, he lay in bed and said,
"Have you thought it over?"
Qi Chen sat up, puzzled, looking at Feng Yuan, who touched Xiao Ji sitting on his stomach and said,
"The Beast Taming competition. Are you guys participating?"
Seeing Xiao Ji’s eyes gleaming at him, Qi Chen thought for a moment and said,
"Can we still sign up? Shouldn’t the registration deadline have passed?"
"It should not have yet. If not, I’ll ask Elder Li to help add your names in, right? After doing them such a big favor, they should be able to help out with this small thing."
"Right, what exactly happened with E Hua Temple? Wasn’t it already gone? How did it reappear?"
Lying on the bed, Feng Yuan slowly explained the events of the previous day to Qi Chen. After hearing Feng Yuan’s story, Qi Chen said with some surprise,
"I had no idea it was like that. But who is that strange woman really?"
"Don’t know, but she’s likely from outside; otherwise, she wouldn’t have such bizarre abilities."
"I’ll ask Teacher Yan tomorrow if we can still sign up. If not..."
Seeing that Feng Yuan didn’t continue, Qi Chen fell silent for a moment and said, glancing at Qi Chen, Feng Yuan said,
"If not, I’ll ask Elder Li if we can still add people."
The next afternoon, after Qi Chen had asked Teacher Yan, Feng Yuan glanced at the hard-training Xiao Ji and asked,
"How did it go? Can you still sign up?"
"We can. I don’t know why but this year’s registration period has been extended to this week, and the quota for each school has also increased a lot."
"Isn’t it because of Elder Li suddenly presiding over the contest? Although it’s not officially announced, the news has probably spread, right?"
Seeing Qi Chen somewhat puzzled, Feng Yuan smiled and said,
"Don’t forget, it wasn’t announced in advance that Elder Li would be presiding over the contest this year. Instead of waiting to be criticized by those who didn’t get to participate, it’s better to extend the registration period right from the start. As for the number of participants... with the current format of the contest, doesn’t it make no difference whether there are more or fewer participants?"
Thinking about the contest format, Qi Chen couldn’t help but agree with Feng Yuan’s words. At that moment, a boy who had been eavesdropping on their conversation excitedly said,
"Is Elder Li really presiding over this year’s Beast Taming competition?"
Glancing at the boy, Feng Yuan noticed that not just him, many other classmates had gathered around without him noticing. Sighing, Feng Yuan said,
"Of course, hasn’t that already spread everywhere?"
"But... those are all just rumors. You work with the special service team, right? They should have the most accurate information, shouldn’t they?"
Seeing everyone looking at him expectantly, Feng Yuan scratched his head and said,
"This year’s Maomu City Beast Taming competition is indeed presided over by Elder Li himself..."
After hearing Feng Yuan explain the process for this year’s competition, the crowd that had surrounded Feng Yuan quickly thanked him and turned to go find Teacher Yan.