Translated by Rachel of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
“We won’t be recognised after we changed clothes, will we?” You XiaoMo asked nervously. He never thought of this until he came out.
After all, they did train in the mountains. Most couldn’t be bothered to change their clothes during training, but that was not always the case.
“You think too much.” LingXiao replied.
When the moment came, no one would pay attention to how others dressed. Even if they were discovered, people would hardly mind.
I’m only being careful. You XiaoMo pursed his lips.
At the same time, the Bird of Pride had finally returned. Not only did he bring back a level nine magic herb, he also returned with a level ten magic herb that he had carefully guarded. If he was to surrender and pledge his allegiance, then he would have to show his earnesty.
You XiaoMo bagged the two magic herbs without hesitation. Little did he know that the level ten magic herb was something that Qiu Ran had been coveting for a while now. In his preparation of making a level ten magic pill, that was the only ingredient he was missing. Unfortunately, due to the Bird of Pride’s prowess, Qiu Ran could never get his hands on it time and time again, only leaving him defeated with wounded pride.
If only You XiaoMo knew of its value, he would probably have hidden it away so no one could find it.
After completing the task, all that was left was the Bird of Pride’s contract.
Ling Xiao motioned him over to You XiaoMo to establish the contract.
The Bird of Pride did a once over of You XiaoMo’s slight frame. He ultimately resisted the urge to say, “Weren’t there two options?” He would have preferred to become Ling Xiao’s servant. After all, a Seven Sins only submitted to the strongest.
However, seeing how much Ling Xiao cherished You XiaoMo, his instincts told him nothing good would come out of saying what was on his mind.
As the Bird of Pride showed no signs of resistance, he was very cooperative in fact, the contract was established smoothly despite the large difference in levels.
Next was the naming process.
For every demon beast that You XiaoMo had contracted, none had ever gotten away with it.
“I want to give you a name that’s easy to call and sounds nice.” You XiaoMo stared at the Bird of Pride and spoke solemnly.
“As you wish, master.” The Bird of Pride said in an attempt to prove his loyalty.
Upon hearing these words, You XiaoMo’s eyes lit up. “You’re so tall and strong, you’ll be great at playing basketball! How about calling you LanQiu? Man, this name fits you so well! It’s settled then!”
T/N: Lan = basket
“…” Could he retract his previous statement?
Ling Xiao was thoroughly amused. He released SheQiu from his dimension after a while.
You XiaoMo immediately shoved SheQiu in front of LanQiu as he introduced him. “This is my newly contracted demon beast. He’s your new partner, LanQiu.”
Another unfortunate comrade, SheQiu’s mouth twitched.
Said unfortunate comrade made a face.
“LanQiu, this is SheQiu. I have a few more Qius in my dimension, do get along well with each other.” You XiaoMo said to LanQiu.
Looks like I’m not the only unfortunate chap here. LanQiu instantly felt better.
After listening to this horrendous name again, SheQiu has learned to keep his cool and live with it. Should he not, he would only make life hard for himself. Yet, after seeing LanQiu seeming to be at peace with his situation, SheQiu couldn’t help the involuntary twitch on his face.
You XiaoMo placed them back into his dimension. Let personal issues be dealt with in there.
To be honest, SheQiu genuinely welcomed the new member. With the new addition, the workload in the dimension would be distributed among them.
On the other hand, LanQiu looked as if he had seen a ghost after hearing that You XiaoMo had a pocket dimension of his own.
It was impossible for a mage to create their own pocket dimension, unless they already had an independent one. Even in the higher Realms, there was not more than three people who had it. As rare as it may be, the price to pay seemed too great for one to travel from a high Realm to a mid Realm just for the sake of a pocket dimension.
LanQiu finally understood why as soon as he laid eyes on the spiritual lake within the pocket dimension. This dimension had the ability to accelerate the growth of magic herbs! Should news of this dimension be leaked, it would drive the strong ones in the high Realm crazy! It was to die for!
LanQiu wasn’t the only person who had guessed it.
After rounds of deduction, You XiaoMo and Ling Xiao could most definitely say that the other party was after the pocket dimension. Not many know about You XiaoMo’s pocket dimension. Only the two of them and the other demon beasts. They hadn’t told anyone about it and the other party still managed to track them to Dao Xin Academy.
There was only one person who knew where they were.
You XiaoMo didn’t believe that Ye Han-shishu would betray them. There must be something happening that they weren’t aware of. You XiaoMo felt uneasy. The Tian Xin Sect was a long distance away from where they were. Even if something were to happen, they wouldn’t catch wind of it.
“What do we do? What if something happened to the Tian Xin sect?” You XiaoMo looked towards Ling Xiao nervously.
“Probably not a major issue.” Ling Xiao’s words hadn’t meant to comfort him. The strongest in the Tian Xin Sect was Huang Jing. If anyone were to engage in a fight with him, no doubt would they lose unless they made a compromise. Given the current situation, chances were they most likely chose the latter option.
“You sure?” You XiaoMo asked hopefully.
“No.”
“…” Couldn’t you at least try to comfort me.
The two of them walked for a distance before meeting an elder looking for them. They had been informed that the competition was over and were to return to the area outside of the barrier to gather. With no reason stated, the elder left hurriedly.
It was as Ling Xiao said, the competition was cancelled.
The situation must have been serious to warrant such a drastic decision. Most likely another student had been killed.
According to Ling Xiao’s deductions, the person named Dong Shen probably knew they weren’t at Uneven Slope after hearing from the murdered students.
It took a three day journey to Uneven Slope and only half a day back to the gathering point. As they were informed later than the others, a few hundred people had already gathered at the meeting point when they arrived.
Most were discussing about the sudden change in events and from all their talk, You XiaoMo discovered that indeed, students were murdered. And it was more than two. The current death count was at six and all six were scattered along the path towards the north. No doubt the murderer was heading north.
Ling Xiao was speaking with You XiaoMo when he noticed someone shooting cold, unfriendly looks at him.
When he turned around, he couldn’t find the owner of those looks he got, only to find Tang MengCheng and Chai Zheng in his line of sight. While those two weren’t the most skilled, they still managed to take on the fifth task. It was a pity the task was completed by Teng ZiYe’s team first, which caused them to fail their mission.
“What are you looking at?” Curiosity had gotten the better of You XiaoMo.
“Nothing. Just two fleas.” Ling Xiao turned around and smirked.
What’s there to look at if it is two fleas, You XiaoMo thought.
A few more hours had passed, Yin Ge’s and An XinRui’s teams had also returned. The former looked no different than when they set off. Judging by the latter’s pathetic state, it seemed they had failed their mission.
You XiaoMo waved happily at Feng ChiYun when he saw him. Feng ChiYun, in response, notified Yin Ge before walking towards You XiaoMo.
“So, you got called back after all.” Seeing Feng ChiYun back in one piece, he let out the breath he had held for so long. It was almost immediately that You XiaoMo discovered something. “You’ve levelled up? Congratulations!”
“I’m just lucky.” Feng ChiYun gave a humble reply.
You XiaoMo greatly envied him. Ever since he knew about LingXiao’s history, he desperately wanted to level up.
At this instant, a mini cat-like demon beast hopped off the top of Feng ChiYun’s head onto his shoulder.
You XiaoMo blinked, “Is this your contract demon beast?”
Upon hearing that, Feng ChiYun gave him an odd look before saying, “It’s a type of demon beast called Flaming Lion. It’s the target of both Yin Ge’s and my mission. And yes, it is currently my contract demon beast.”
“Yin Ge gave this demon beast to you?”
“Mhmm, he said since he previously forced me to join the competition, this demon beast shall be my compensation.”
No wonder Yin Ge chose the third task! He wanted to catch this demon beast for Feng ChiYun.
Not long after, BaiLi TianYi, Gao Yang and the rest had also returned, accompanied by a few elders. Seemed like everyone had been found.
Other than the six unfortunate students, most came back unscathed with the exception of a few with light injuries.
After accounting for the people present, the elders brought them back within the barrier.
The deputy in-charge of the Dao Xin Academy, Yan Fa, was already waiting for them at the location where they had first set off. Everyone looked grim.
“Regarding the six murdered students, the academy will conduct a thorough investigation on this matter. Should anyone have information on the perpetrator, I hope you will speak to us…” Yan Fa directed his gaze towards You XiaoMo and Ling Xiao.
The killer’s target was in the north, and so was their mission. It was no surprise that they were the prime suspects.
Following that, Yan Fa did a quick debrief of the trials. While the competition was forced to stop midway, completed tasks were still considered valid and those incomplete would receive the appropriate compensation from the Academy.
Yan Fa then got an elder to keep a record of the extent of completion for each mission.
