Mo Qi felt completely at ease, continuing to use his Golden Light Shrinking Ground Technique, happily fleeing into the distance, only to circle back.
As for Elder Liang, he was gone for good!
He knew he couldn't harm Mo Qi and continuing to pester him would only lead to humiliation. It was better to escape under the guise of pursuit, the farther the better.
The crowd gradually dispersed.
Hall Master Zhao glanced at Mo Qi, giving him a look of disdain: "So what? You want me to beg you? I won't, and what can you do about it?"
Mo Qi snorted coldly and turned to leave: "We'll see!"
Elder Liang went straight to Ancestor Shen's cave dwelling, knelt down, and cried out loudly, "Uncle-Master, you must seek justice for me! I was bullied today."
Since his master, Ancestor Fei, was not in the sect, he had no choice but to go to Ancestor Shen to vent his grievances.
Ancestor Shen, hearing the commotion, came out, feeling bewildered. He frowned, "You're thousands of years old, crying like a child. What kind of behavior is this? Shut up immediately."
Elder Liang stopped crying, his face filled with grievance, "Uncle-Master, I was bullied."
Ancestor Shen, with his hands behind his back, appeared to understand everything. "Tell me, what happened."
Elder Liang started crying again, "That child named Mo Qi, I asked him to come in, but he refused. In front of so many people, he made me lose face. And when I wanted to chase him, he ran. As he ran, he turned around and chased me instead… It was simply too much of a bully!"
Ancestor Shen suppressed a smile and sighed heavily, "Alas, this child is indeed a bit of a bully. I'll go and teach him a lesson later. You go back first and get a good night's sleep. You don't need to go to Golden Lion Island tomorrow; let him go by himself. This child, if not properly disciplined and tempered, will surely cause trouble!"
Elder Liang was deeply grateful, kowtowed in thanks, and then left, still weeping.
After Elder Liang left, Ancestor Shen also went to bed.
At this time, everyone else went to queue outside the Demonic Beast Hall again.
A large group of demonic beasts lined up outside the hall. Some had wings, some were enormous, some were covered in spikes, all of them bizarre and ferocious.
The rules were simple: each person would step forward, and if they took a liking to each other and the beast was willing to follow them, it would be considered a successful pairing!
At this moment, Yang Zhi deliberately raised his voice and repeated, "Please pay attention, everyone. You must get it to follow you willingly, not by coercion."
Then, he rolled his eyes around the crowd.
Mo Qi naturally knew he was looking for him. He put on his mask again and said, "I'm here."
Yang Zhi smiled, "Have you understood all our rules?"
Mo Qi nodded, "Understood!"
People stepped forward one after another to try. Some had already succeeded during the training phase. At this point, they went to find their chosen demonic beasts one-on-one, and thus a group of demonic beasts were led away.
However, some people had not succeeded during the training phase. They came forward with a last-ditch effort, but still failed, and left in disappointment.
Most people led away low-level demonic beasts. The high-level ones were generally too proud to be easily controlled.
Those who could control creatures like the Kun Peng, as Linghu Xiaoxian did, were rare exceptions.
Jin Xichuan stepped forward and led away a Cloud-Piercing Beast. The surrounding people found it speechless, but he was quite pleased with himself.
Then, he happily left, leading the Cloud-Piercing Beast.
Ping Wu led away a Cracked-Patterned Leopard, which drew a round of applause. In the eyes of the crowd, leading away such a demonic beast was already quite good.
Chu Xiangling led away a Tyrant Lion, which amazed everyone even more. This was the first mid-level demonic beast subdued that day.
But after a brief period of glory, it quickly entered a slump.
Afterward, people could only subdue low-level demonic beasts.
And a little later, even the low-level demonic beasts were gone.
Mid-level and high-level demonic beasts remained standing there, completely unyielding.
A large group of people stepped forward one after another, but all returned empty-handed.
Later, people lost confidence. Some left without even trying.
Finally, it was Mo Qi's turn to step forward.
Yang Zhi reminded him again, "You must establish an emotional bond; coercion is not allowed."
Mo Qi was getting a little annoyed. He shrugged and said, "Don't worry, I won't be like last time."
Yang Zhi immediately showed a look of contempt, "Then you shouldn't even try. The low-level demonic beasts have all been taken. You should have come earlier."
Mo Qi sighed and said, "I admit I haven't learned your so-called 'mind-to-mind communication' stuff, but that doesn't mean I'm incapable. You wear fur coats to get through winter, and I wear padded jackets to get through winter just the same."
Yang Zhi smiled, "I'd like to see how you get through winter wearing a padded jacket?"
"I won't wear a padded jacket. How about I wear a short jacket and sit by the stove?" Mo Qi also smiled.
"No," Yang Zhi said with slight anger. "Stop the nonsense and try it quickly. Let me tell you, anything done without my method is unorthodox and cannot withstand the test of time."
Mo Qi snorted coldly, no longer bothering to argue with him.
After all, the verification was imminent, and no amount of words could beat a reality check!
Their argument attracted a large crowd, including some who had left earlier.
"Why are you back?"
"Nothing, we just wanted to see the excitement."
"And to see some people make fools of themselves."
Mo Qi walked with steady steps, straight to the demonic beasts, and then…
He released Little Dot.
A murmur of discussion arose from the surroundings: "What is this? It's so cute."
"He's not planning to use this little thing as bait, feed it to a demonic beast, and thereby gain the favor of some beasts? That's too cruel."
"Really, how could he bear to harm such a cute little animal?"
Mo Qi squatted on the ground and whispered to Little Dot, "Whoever you fancy, let it become our companion."
Some people nearby heard his words and thought he was going mad.
"Can it understand what you're saying?"
"Even if it understands, how will it carry out your intentions?"
"Isn't this a madman?"
"Are we spending so much time indulging a madman? This is truly infuriating."
Amidst these discussions, Little Dot chirped and scurried into the group of demonic beasts.
The demonic beast group stirred.
Yang Zhi and several other elders showed expressions of alarm, worried that the demonic beasts would become agitated.
However, as they looked up, they saw that all the demonic beasts' gazes followed Little Dot. There was a hint of fervor in their eyes, as if it were a look of worship.
Little Dot hopped around the heads of the demonic beasts, jumping from one beast's head to another, and then back again.
Throughout the entire process, the demonic beasts showed no sign of agitation or unease. Instead, they displayed an eager anticipation, wishing for Little Dot to jump onto their heads.
Once Little Dot jumped onto a beast's head, it would stick out its tongue, as if expecting something.
Little Dot seemed conflicted. Finally, it kept hopping between the head of a Kun Peng and a Qilin, appearing to have difficulty making a choice.
The Kun Peng and the Qilin displayed unprecedented excitement, as if they could feel that victory was only a step away!
Both demonic beasts let out low growls, their eyes blood-red, constantly wagging their heads and tails towards Little Dot.
The surrounding people were stunned to witness this scene!
This Little Dot wasn't going up as bait; it was going up as a lure!
It was equivalent to Mo Qi casting out a line, and whoever the line hooked would follow Mo Qi!
Finally, after a very difficult internal struggle, Little Dot opened its mouth and spat out a small pill, which landed in the mouth of the Kun Peng.
The Kun Peng's mouth moved slightly twice before swallowing the pill.
Then, led by Little Dot, the Kun Peng swam directly to Mo Qi's side and rubbed its massive head against Mo Qi's waist, looking extremely comical.
The people around were filled with envy. It seemed that wearing a padded jacket could indeed get one through winter!
Yang Zhi stood frozen, feeling utterly ridiculous!
He had just said that anything done without his method was unorthodox.
Those words still echoed in his ears, yet in the blink of an eye, they had become a sharp weapon piercing his heart.
The situation was so awkward that he couldn't even utter a word of congratulation to ease the atmosphere.
Mo Qi merely gave him a cold glance before leaving with the Kun Peng and Little Dot.
This Kun Peng was even larger than the one belonging to Linghu Xiaoxian.
It felt as if it could swallow Linghu Xiaoxian's Kun Peng in one gulp.
Its combat power could be imagined!
Mo Qi felt he had struck gold and was overjoyed. However, with such a large companion, he couldn't keep it with him all the time. So, he took the Kun Peng to a secluded place and began whistle training.
He taught it which whistle meant to leave and which whistle meant to come back for support.
After all, the Kun Peng was an ancient demonic beast and quickly understood.
Then, Mo Qi let it go.
The next day, just before the main force was about to depart for Golden Lion Island, everyone received orders: inner disciples were under Hong Jianxin's command, while outer disciples were under Linghu Xiaoxian's command. Linghu Xiaoxian and Hong Jianxin were under Mo Qi's command.
Linghu Xiaoxian quickly organized her troops and assembled them in the plaza.
However, Hong Jianxin was slow to gather his men.
The disciples of the Peach Blossom Sect were still angry about yesterday's events: Hall Master Zhao was biased, giving the outer disciples the excellent Thunderbolt Pills while giving the inner disciples mostly defective ones. Going into battle with defective items was undoubtedly a death sentence!
Mo Qi had no choice but to drag Hong Jianxin to the plaza and administer one hundred military strokes in front of everyone.
Then, he set a deadline for rectification!
Hong Jianxin, helpless, could only rub his sore backside and return to gather his men.
But those men refused to move. You couldn't kill everyone, could you?
If the root of the problem was unfair treatment, then the unfairness had to be resolved.
So, Hong Jianxin gathered his men and went to the Pill Hall. This time, he was met with enthusiastic support.
The people of the Peach Blossom Sect immediately surrounded the Pill Hall, making it impossible for anyone to get in or out.
Mo Qi's final deadline for Hong Jianxin was three quarters past noon!
Hong Jianxin's final deadline for Hall Master Zhao was to start refining at two quarters past the morning hour and to complete the refining by a quarter past noon.
As a result, Hall Master Zhao was frantically pacing in the hall.
Yesterday, he thought everything was over. Today, he realized the situation was still grim.
Hall Master Zhao could only summon the few capable individuals in the hall and, through a combination of threats and pleas, said, "You must refine them for me. If you don't, you're not allowed to eat."
Supervisor Tong and the others stood before their respective alchemy furnaces, working themselves to the bone, but still couldn't produce the pills.