Volume 1, Chapter 159: Qin Bao Gets Promoted Again

Discussions suddenly broke out across the imperial court regarding the selection of the Junior Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

The post of Junior Vice Minister was of great importance. Previously, when the court was stable, factions from all sides had refrained from discussing it.

Household after household, village after village, grew slowly empty. Aside from those who died of starvation or illness, or were conscripted into military and corvée labor, every remaining family sought a path to survival. Whole households fled from famine and disaster, individuals and families merging into massive tides of refugees.

Zhan Xiao finished his breathing exercises and slowly opened his eyes to see Baili Yu sitting beside him with his eyes closed, regulating his breath through meditation.

When Annie and Viktor also attempted a sneak attack, they realized there was no space left around Old Nine for them to intervene. Thus, they could only watch from the periphery, awaiting the right moment to strike, determined to land a fatal blow with a single hit.

Kou Xu breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, she had asked on his behalf first; otherwise, the one bearing the master's wrath a moment later might well have been him.

Di He frowned slightly. Viewed in this light, someone had likely sealed off the mountain. News from within could not get out, nor could the turmoil affect the people below, which was why they remained completely safe and continued their lives as before.

The sect masters took their seats. By this time, the tournament had already progressed to the tenth match, which was officially Lin Dong's bout. His opponent was number thirty-one, a genius from the Symbol Master Sect whose entire body radiated fluctuations of spiritual energy that distorted the surrounding air.

As for the latter, he showed not the slightest intention of speaking. He gazed into the distant Demon-Slaying Cave, lost in thought.

Just as before, there was no need for Nan He to give any reply, for naturally someone else spoke up in her stead.

Old Nine's survival experience in the jungle was unquestionable. He was in no rush to hunt; instead, he first constructed a stable dwelling. The trunk of the giant tree where he perched was over a meter in diameter, and he had stripped away all the branches up to five meters off the ground, rendering it inaccessible to ordinary beasts.

After Wang Hao got up, the group chatted together for a long time. When Xiao Chen finally left, it was already afternoon. Looking at the time, leaving today was out of the question; they would simply have to wait until tomorrow to set off.

Yet on that day, when that mysterious and cold human appeared before her, Rain Shadow finally understood why humans pursued those beautiful creatures with such madness.

"We're outside; otherwise, do you think it would end with just this little nudge? Look at his state today." He found it utterly humiliating.

He had carried out this matter with the utmost secrecy, terrified that Xiao Jinyu and the others would discover it and eliminate him to root out future trouble. He never expected that the person before him would be entirely aware of every single detail.

"Indeed, the timing hasn't been chosen well, but I hope everyone can station more troops in the border cities adjacent to these two countries, while the military makes certain preparations as well. If nothing unexpected happens, the outbreak will occur before the feudal lords launch their campaign against Dong."

However, before Rudra could step forward, Florie beat him to it, throwing herself in terror into Jionali's arms and trembling violently.

"This..." Both of them looked bewildered, failing to understand why Miao Miao was asking such a question. Did they not usually have their own matters to attend to? Was it not normal for them to be out of sight?

"I could have changed it to Garfield for you! Waiter, bring us a business set meal, and for drinks, two glasses of freshly squeezed juice. What flavor do you want?" Tang Tang took charge and vetoed all the dishes Ye Zheng had carefully ordered just moments before.

As for Mother Sun standing behind them, her entire expression turned unsightly. Previously, she had put on airs with a faint smile on her face to avoid losing her dignity, but at this moment, her face was so dark water could practically drip from it.

Mother Chen began carefully selecting some of the food brought back from the farm, placing the rest into the refrigerator.

On the second morning, Chen Chuliang felt an urge strong enough to make him storm into Chen Ying's room, pick her up, and spank her fiercely.