119: Crying for the wrong reason

"I think I've seen you before... Ah! I remember now! It was on the snack street before the competition started. I bought a demon beast egg that you guys didn't want and had it roasted to eat!" Among the three gazes, Qi Lin spoke first.

Su Ze was stunned by this. He had thought the other party didn't remember him at all, as that encounter was merely a brush past, so he was surprised by his excellent memory.

"How was it? Are you drooling just thinking about my barbecue from that night? Since you helped me cultivate this time, as repayment, come to my place after the grand competition ends, and I'll personally make a Barbecue Feast for you!" Qi Lin said with a smile.

Su Ze was somewhat surprised. This Qi Lin, who also came from one of the Four Great Families, seemed very easy to talk to. Was this a common trait among Foodies?

He nodded, "No problem, but you don't need to bother with the ingredients; I can bring my own."

Su Ze truly admired the other person's cooking skills; after all, he had tried to replicate it the next day.

However, he only managed to barely match the taste by using a Silver grade demon beast egg, which had better ingredients, so he really wanted to try some of Qi Lin's cooking.

In Su Ze's opinion, only a diamond rank demon beast egg would do justice to the other person's culinary skills; the bronze grade demon beast egg from that night was simply unworthy.

Hearing Su Ze's words, Qi Lin frowned, "Bringing your own ingredients... You saw that night, my standards for ingredients are very high."

"Don't worry, I won't disappoint you!" Su Ze patted his chest confidently.

Qi Lin laughed, "Great, then I look forward to you bringing ingredients that will Astound me!"

In contrast to Qi Lin's friendliness, the other person shot Su Ze a hostile glance.

"You are Su Ze? The one who caused trouble for Grandpa Jiang Liu's family? Although I'm not from Grandpa Jiang Liu's lineage, we all share the surname Jiang, so be careful around me during the Elimination Rounds!"

Su Ze showed a playful smile upon hearing this. It seemed this person was from the Jiang Family, but because he had been Meditating and Cultivating here these past few days, he was unaware that Jiang Liu's lineage was now down to just one person.

The other two had already passed the Seven-Day Mourning Period.

Qi Lin walked to Su Ze's side and whispered to him, "He is the top genius of the Jiang Family's current generation, Jiang Ren, and also the number one seed from our Imperial Capital Beast Taming University. You need to be careful if he targets you, but the Elimination Rounds are a Free-for-all, so you can ask me for help then."

"Although I rank second, my strength isn't necessarily inferior to his."

Su Ze nodded and smiled, "Don't worry, I won't be scared off by this."

The last person among the three spoke up, "Qi Lin, no matter what, we are all from the Imperial Capital Beast Taming University. How can you engage in Internal Conflict to help an outsider?"

"Our school already lost face badly in the group stage; the Azure Dragon Beast Taming University stole all the glory. We can't let them shine again in the Elimination Rounds!"

This was a short woman, but she had a Curvaceous Figure and an excellent appearance.

She didn't show the same malice toward Su Ze as Jiang Ren, but she wasn't exactly friendly either.

It seemed she stood on the side of the Imperial Capital Beast Taming University, rejecting people from other schools, including Su Ze.

"Xue Yuhe, the only reason you talk like that is because your grandfather is the principal of the Imperial Capital Beast Taming University, which is why you always bring up the school," Qi Lin exposed her without mercy.

He continued, "But the Elimination Rounds are different from the group stage. Everyone is only fighting for themselves; it has nothing to do with the school."

The attitudes of these three toward Su Ze were all different, and they seemed to be At Odds With Each Other.

Moreover, Su Ze knew that although they were ranked as the first, second, and third seeds of the Imperial Capital Beast Taming University, there wasn't much difference in their actual strength.

During the previous fifteen days, because Su Ze was the one controlling that massive Vortex, he was well aware of how much power each of them had absorbed.

These three were comparable, and their own Spiritual Power levels hadn't increased much; like Su Ze, they had transferred most of their power to their Contracted Beasts.

Judging by the intensity of the power they absorbed, it was very likely that all three of them possessed a diamond rank demon beast!

That made sense; after all, they were all members of the Four Great Families, so possessing a diamond rank demon beast wasn't surprising.

There were actually quite a few people in this world who possessed diamond rank demon beasts; it was just rare for anyone to advance all the way to Level 100.

What surprised Su Ze the most was that two other people, Kuang Yi and Luo Xingyu, had absorbed nearly as much power as them.

"Could it be... they also all have diamond rank demon beasts?"

Thinking of this, Su Ze felt inexplicably depressed. When others had diamond rank demon beasts, they kept a low profile, and no one knew. But because his beast was rumored about from the start, he had been schemed against several times.

In reality, this was also related to his beast being a Phoenix Bird. Beasts possessing Dragon Blood and Phoenix Blood were universally recognized as top-tier demonic beasts.

If contracting any other diamond rank demon beast offered a chance to cultivate into a Level 100 War God, then contracting a beast with these two bloodlines was equivalent to taking an Express Train.

"Alright, you all have two more days to Rest. Everyone should head back now."

Upon hearing this, everyone began returning to their respective teams and leaving.

They indeed needed time to Rest and digest the power surging within their bodies.

Once fully digested, they would probably advance another level or so.

Returning to the hotel, Su Ze immediately saw Xu Yao and her stomach, which had already deflated.

Xu Yao waved and greeted him with a smile, "Brother Su Ze, you're finally back! How do you feel?"

"Not bad. Has your beast hatched yet?" Su Ze walked over and asked.

Xu Yao nodded, her face beaming.

"Come on, let me see what kind of beast required you to incubate it with body heat for so long. I didn't even get that treatment,"

Su Ze joked, only to be lightly punched by Xu Yao, "You're annoying!"

But she still obediently summoned her beast.

As light flickered, a shimmering, pale blue water sphere floated in the air.

Inside the water sphere was a small mermaid, half-human in the upper body and fish-tailed below, about half a person's height.

"Merfolk?" Su Ze focused on the upper body, as he wasn't like Teacher Chen Xin, who specialized in Breeding, so he couldn't tell much from the fish tail.

Seeing the two Small Shells slightly pushed up, Su Ze breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew, thank goodness..."

Then, he was pinched on the flesh of his arm by Xu Yao, "Where are you looking? This is still a little mermaid! A Fish Fry!"

Su Ze quickly apologized with a smile, "Misunderstanding, misunderstanding..."

...At the same time, Jiang Ren, who had returned to the Jiang Family, froze when he saw the Funeral Decorations that hadn't been completely cleared away at the entrance.

His mind raced, and the first thought was of his family's Ancestor.

He cried out loud, "Ancestor! Why didn't you wait for me!"

And then he rushed inside, but his facial expression couldn't reveal whether he was happy or sad.

It wasn't until he saw the Ancestor walking out of his garden while holding a water kettle with a Dark Expression.

It was known that the Jiang Family Ancestor, who had lived the longest, was most averse to death. That was the reason he hadn't allowed Jiang Liu to bring the corpse before him earlier.

Jiang Ren realized: Damn it, I cried for the wrong person! It wasn't the Ancestor!

"Ancestor... so it wasn't you after all..."

"You little brat, you were hoping it was me, weren't you! Get in here!"

Jiang Ren immediately Put on a Sorrowful Face and followed the Ancestor inside with his head bowed.