NOVPUB"If only back then...,"
He shook his head.
For some reason, the twinge of regret in his heart not only failed to fade with the passing of time but instead grew even more intense.
Especially when he saw Wang Ba, the feeling became particularly pronounced.
His gaze swept over the two Spirit Beast Bags in his hand without lingering, and he immediately flew towards Taihe Palace.
"Eh? Senior Brother Qi? You’re leaving the Beast Department at this time, aren’t you afraid of being seen by the higher-ups? There goes your hope of becoming Deputy Master of Earth Hall!"
A familiar Vice Minister of the Beast Department spotted Qi Yan leaving nonchalantly and hurriedly called out in a low voice.
Qi Yan’s figure paused slightly, then he slightly lifted his chin and sneered:
"Deputy Master of Earth Hall? Hah, not even fit for a dog!"
Vice Minister of Beast Department: "?"
Watching as Qi Yan unhesitatingly passed straight through the three halls and headed toward Taihe Palace, he couldn’t help mumbling:
"Has he taken the wrong Elixir?"
"Deputy Master of Earth Hall, not even fit for a dog? Then, what were you pretending to do all those rest days before?"
"Is it that you know you have no hope, so you’re just throwing in the towel?"
Meanwhile.
Qi Yan was knocking on the door of a side hall in Taihe Palace.
"Why have you come at this time? Didn’t I tell you, behave yourself, and I will talk to the acting sect master later."
Inside the side hall, a faint voice came through, reaching Qi Yan’s ears.
Although he said this, the door of the side hall still opened automatically without wind, slowly pushing open.
Soon, Qi Yan saw an elder feeding a majestic Five-Colored Divine Deer.
It was Elder Du Wei, approaching Immortal Ascension.
"Master."
Qi Yan quickly greeted with respect.
Du Wei, frustrated yet hopeful:
"Do you still want to ascend to Immortality or not?"
"The position of Deputy Master of Earth Hall has many benefits!"
Qi Yan said nothing.
He was used to being scolded anyway.
The more explanations, the more scolding, so he said nothing at all.
He took out a Spirit Beast Bag and handed it to Du Wei.
"What for?"
Although Du Wei was not pleased, he took it and with a sweep of his Spiritual Sense slightly frowned:
"Wang Ba’s Hybrid White Tiger? Why is it injured again? It’s even more serious than last time."
"Why are you giving this to me? Go heal it yourself."
Qi Yan muttered sullenly, "I need to retreat in seclusion, I don’t have time."
As expected, that immediately provoked another round of scolding from Du Wei:
"So, I have time if you don’t?"
"Disciples should be doing their duties; how come it’s on me to clean up after you?"
"You didn’t take in Wang Ba as your disciple back then, so what’s the use of favoring him now?"
"You can’t do the job yourself, and you just dump the mess on me, go stand aside..."
Angrily scolded, Qi Yan couldn’t take it anymore:
"Just because I’m not a master, does that make it useless? Am I not going to retreatin seclusion now?"
"Retreat in seclusion?"
The scolding from Du Wei suddenly stopped.
He eyed Qi Yan with suspicion, then frowned and said:
"You just mentioned you were going to retreat in seclusion… Are you confident you can condense the Dao Secret now?"
Hearing Du Wei’s skepticism, Qi Yan took out another Spirit Beast Bag and presented it to Du Wei.
"Please look, Master."
Du Wei took the bag, puzzled. Once his Spiritual Sense swept through it, his eyes suddenly widened!
"This, this is the nearly pureblood Stone Lizard?"
"And there are six of them?!"
Qi Yan said proudly:
"Just now, Wang Ba gave me these single-bloodline Stone Lizards. I had mentioned this to you before; with these lizards, my chances of condensing the Dao Secret increase significantly, and I am retreating in seclusion this time to verify that..."
But Du Wei suddenly frowned and interrupted:
"Wait, you said Wang Ba?"
"These single-bloodline Stone Lizards were given to you by him?"
Qi Yan was taken aback, his expression changed slightly, and he inwardly thought he was in trouble.
Sure enough, the next moment, Du Wei’s face showed a look of anger due to lack of competition:
"Look at this, look at this, isn’t this what I told you? If you had taken him as your disciple earlier, you might already have ascended!"
"How confused can you be!"
Hearing these familiar words, Qi Yan felt like his head was going to split in two.
After a lecture, Du Wei spoke up again:
"However, you’d better wait a few more days before going into seclusion."
Qi Yan heaved a silent sigh of relief, then asked with confusion:
"Wait a few more days before going into seclusion, why?"
Du Wei shook his head and said:
"As the peak master of Shou Peak, do you really take care of nothing at all?"
"With the position of Deputy Master of Earth Hall changing hands, the Minister of the Beast Department will also be vacated after your seclusion. Within Shou Peak, apart from you, no one else is qualified to be the Minister. If you don’t talk to the new Deputy Master beforehand, I fear even the Vice Minister’s position might not stay with Shou Peak..."
Qi Yan furrowed his brow, then nodded in agreement.
...
"Martial Uncle Song has returned from Taihe Palace?" 𝒏𝒐𝙫𝙥𝙪𝙗.𝒄𝙤𝙢
Wanfa Peak.
Because Bu Chan went to Yunguan Courtyard to take care of Wang Qingyang, and Wang Yi’an also left Wanfa Peak in a fit of pique, the peak was left with only Wang Ba.
He was content with the quiet.
However, a Sound Transmission Talisman from Song Dongyang broke his serene state.
After some thought, he quickly got ready and then flew towards Earth Hall.
Inside a grand hall in Earth Hall, he saw Song Dongyang, clad in a light yellow robe embroidered with immortal lingzhi and spirit cranes, the standard attire of Earth Hall.
He greeted respectfully: "Right Enforcer Wang Ba, greets Master Song."
"You lad, it hasn’t been a few days, why so formal?"
Song Dongyang approached with great warmth and friendliness.
