Chapter 38

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Temporary First

"Good, good!"

Xiao Ting suddenly shouted in approval amidst the astonishment of the Xiao family members. Then, he turned to Xiao Bai and said, "Xiao Bai, do you know why I have three demon beast heads behind me?"

Xiao Bai shook his head, "I don't know, Father."

Xiao Ting waved his arm, making the three bloody and terrifying demon beast heads even more visible to everyone.

"In fact, I am very pleased that the young members of our Xiao family have all grown up. Among your generation, some of you are calm in the face of events, good at analysis, and decisive—true men! His performance has made me realize that our Xiao family has a promising future!"

As Xiao Ting spoke these passionate words, he pointed to the three bloody demon beast heads behind him, "Do you see? These three demon beasts, and that one..."

Xiao Ting changed the direction of his hand, pointing to the seven to eight-meter-long row of demon beast heads that Xiao Bei had hung, moving to the massive head of the three-headed Swallowing Sky Python at the front, "This three-headed Swallowing Sky Python was also cut off by him, who dared to face the powerful aura of the demon beast!"

By this point, everyone understood that the person Xiao Ting was referring to was Xiao Bei.

Who would dare not believe what Xiao Ting said?

Xiao Ting was Xiao Bai's father, Xiao Qi's grandfather, and a patriarchal figure of the Xiao family, a generation of great-grandfathers!

Even those Xiao family members who were not deliberately targeting Xiao Bei could see that Xiao Ting was somewhat favoring Xiao Bei, and they couldn't help but feel jealous of Xiao Bei's luck, which had earned him the praise of this patriarchal figure of the Xiao family.

How much more so for those like Xiao Qi, Xiao Yun, and Xiao Bing, who had already wanted to humiliate Xiao Bei?

Hearing Xiao Ting's words, even the steady Xiao Qi's face only slightly changed, but his eyes were filled with intense hatred. On the other side, Xiao Yun and Xiao Bing were even worse, their eyes bursting with hatred and their faces turning ashen.

Xiao Bei took in all their expressions.

However, Xiao Bei knew that to be recognized as the first in the family trial for hunting demon beasts, he had to admit to these deeds.

Moreover, Xiao Bei could sense that Grandfather Xiao Ting was not intentionally pushing him to the forefront but simply wanted to see him become the first out of good intentions.

This was Xiao Bei's intuition from years of experience.

Furthermore, Xiao Bei knew that if Xiao Ting wanted to target him, he wouldn't need to use so many tactics.

"Grandfather..."

Xiao Qi first glared at Xiao Bei, then said to the smiling Xiao Ting, "Grandfather, how can there be so many good things in this world? I think..."

"What, do you doubt my words? Do you think I didn't see Xiao Bei cut off the heads of these severely injured demon beasts that had been fighting each other? Is that it?"

Xiao Ting's face turned serious, and the aura of a martial artist several levels higher than Xiao Qi made Xiao Qi's face turn meek. He hurriedly waved his hands, "No, no, Grandfather, that's not what I meant, it's just..."

"Just what!"

Xiao Ting's face turned angry, "You say 'I think' and 'it's just.' You are Xiao Qi, my grandson. How can you not believe your own grandfather?"

Xiao Qi shivered.

He then remembered that the grandfather standing before him was not a soft target but someone who, according to legend, had once fought a martial artist of the Imperial Zhou family, who was slightly more powerful than him, to protect his family.

Bending down, Xiao Qi meekly said to Xiao Ting, "Grandfather, I was wrong. These are all Xiao Bei's rightful achievements, no cheating involved."

Xiao Ting grunted, then said, "Continue the trial. There are no powerful demon beasts in a large area of this forest. As for the distant areas, don't go there; there are many demon beasts of the level I hunted."

Martial energy burst forth, and Xiao Ting's body rose into the air again.

"Xiao Bai, don't worry. I will return to oversee things. Hmph, some people should think twice before provoking our Xiao family... Xiao Bei, I believe you will continue to lead the way in this trial. Our Xiao family needs young talents like you, such geniuses..."

Xiao Ting's figure gradually faded away.

At this moment, the murmurs of the crowd began to spread.

"This time, the fact that I didn't cheat to get the demon beast heads can be confirmed, right?"

Xiao Bei looked at Xiao Qi and said, word by word.

Xiao Qi's face turned red. Xiao Bei's words and what had just happened made him lose face, even though his own grandfather had scolded him, he still felt a sense of humiliation, which he blamed on Xiao Bei!

At this moment, looking at Xiao Bei, Xiao Qi was angry, but he was much stronger than before and did not show much on his face, "It can be determined that all the demon beast heads you hunted were done by you personally, with no cheating."

"Um," Xiao Bei nodded, then, amidst the envious and jealous looks of those around him, asked Xiao Qi, "Then, I want to ask, so far, what is my ranking in the demon beast hunting trial?"

"Phew..."

Xiao Qi took a deep breath, then said to Xiao Bei, "Temporary first."

Xiao Bei nodded and then said no more. He glanced at the pile of bloody demon beast heads and turned to leave.

"Xiao Bei... Congratulations."

Xiao Butler moved closer to Xiao Bei and said.

Xiao Bei was taken aback; he hadn't expected Xiao Butler to say such things at this moment.

After all, among the surrounding crowd, according to Xiao Bei's prediction, it seemed everyone thought he had only achieved the temporary first in the family trial due to the favor of the patriarchal figure, Xiao Ting... Yet, Xiao Butler could still smile and congratulate him, which added a few points of goodwill for Xiao Bei.

"Thank you."

Xiao Bei nodded and then, amidst the various looks of the crowd, walked away.

This time, since he was almost certain he was the first in the family trial, Xiao Bei didn't need to think of ways to hunt more demon beast heads.

Therefore, Xiao Bei decided to continue researching the use of starstones... The performance of the starstones in the battle with the three demon beasts today was not satisfactory to Xiao Bei, so he wanted to continue his research. In fact, this was a project Xiao Bei had never given up on.

Xiao Bei always believed that starstones could not be so simple, and he must have missed something.

"Hmm."

Xiao Bei, who had walked a hundred meters from the tent, felt that Xiao Yun and others had also left the tent and were following him.

"Could it be that I have to deal with this trouble today?"

Xiao Bei's eyes turned cold as he muttered to himself.