"Whatâs going on? Itâs already been several hours, why hasnât Su Ping come out yet?"
"Yeah, that foreigner totally looked like he came with bad intentions. Donât tell me something happened to Su Shen?"
"I heard from my wifeâs cousinâs husbandâs younger brother that he was at the Association then. He didnât have the qualifications to enter the press hall, but there was a huge commotion inside."
"Damn, donât scare me..."
"Su Shen! Wuwuwuwu..."
Obviously, with such a special livestream, plus Su Pingâs insane performance in the provincial exam earlier, this was exactly the kind of situation youâd expect with that kind of massive viewership.
Now, after several hours had passed, the officials still hadnât given any statement, which naturally made people suspicious and worried. Could it be that this genius Breeder, who had just revealed himself and already shocked the world, had really gotten into trouble?
Some people were doubtful, and some were furious:
"What the hell is our Dragon Nationâs border defense even doing? How can they just let that kind of guy in casually?"
"You canât really blame them for this, right? I just searched the foreign sitesâthis foreigner called Charles is insane! Heâs a top Undead Breeder, a Holy Spirit Level High Rank, maybe even Holy Spirit Peak Beastmaster, and heâs developed a bunch of Super-Rank Skills and evolution paths for various Pet Beasts."
"Sigh, what are we gonna do if something really happened to Su Shen?"
"Trust me, it should be fine. There was a Holy Spirit Level Beastmaster present at the scene. That foreign ghost might be strong, but thereâs no way he could go all out! Just believe!"
Right at that moment, a special thread popped up on the forum and shattered everyoneâs guesses:
"Stop making blind guesses, you lot. Su Ping is fine, heâs already shown up. Link:..."
Everyone clicked the link, and sure enough, it was a candid video shot from a passerbyâs perspective.
Su Pingâs figure walked out from the Beastmaster Association building, with that same woman from the previous video footage following behind him.
At the same time, there was also President Qin, smiling from ear to ear.
None of the three paid any attention to the passerbyâs phone camera, and President Qin even waved his hand:
"Donât forget tomorrow morningâs departure ceremony!"
You really couldnât make out Su Pingâs expression clearly in the video.
The conspiracy theorists insisted that Su Ping showing up at this moment was just to calm public opinion, and that something had definitely gone wrong with Su Ping himself.
Some went even further, speculating that the Su Ping appearing now might not even be "Su Ping" anymore.
Maybe it was some Pet Beast Ability disguising itself as Su Ping.
And the real Su Ping might be lying in some emergency room being rescued right now, or in some other messed-up place.
The internet has never been short on conspiracy theories of this sort.
Those who actually understood the situation also knew that Su Pingâs condition wasnât exactly great.
But only Su Ping himself knew that he really was totally fine.
Not only fine, he was in better shape than ever.
He had just advanced to Commandant Ninth Rank, and the surge of spiritual power and strength was so huge it even caused Xiao Qingâs Power to stir restlessly.
Fortunately, advancing from Commander Level to Monarch Level was way harder than just raising a Minor Realm.
And Su Ping had also taken the initiative to have Xiao Qing temporarily suppress her Realm.
As for the departure ceremony Old Qin mentioned, it was just the top ten from this provincial exam showing their faces, then getting ready to head to the Imperial Capital to take the final exam.
It wouldnât take much time, but the symbolic meaning was huge.
Just as he walked out of the Beastmaster Association building, Su Ping saw a pitchâblack, ordinary sedan already waiting by the roadside.
A white one-piece dress, long straight black hair, and the only familiar thingâthose oversized sunglasses.
Su Ping hurried over.
"Youâre okay, right?"
"Didnât I already say on the phone? Iâm fine, donât worry."
Su Ping waved his hand with a smile, then introduced Dong Muyun:
"This is Sister Long, assigned from above to protect me. Sheâs an Emperor Level Beastmaster. With Sister Long here, who could possibly hurt me?"
Looking at the grinning, unserious Su Ping, Dong Muyun finally seemed convinced that he was really fine. He let out a long breath and turned to look at Longâer:
"Hello. Sorry to trouble you."
Longâer nodded lightly and then shook her head. After a brief handshake, she fell silent again.
Dong Muyun didnât mind, got in the car, and had just opened his mouth to ask something when Su Pingâs private phone rang again.
One look at the caller ID, and he had no choice but to answer.
"Hey! Su Ping, youâre okay, right? I was worried to death over here. I was going to go to Linzhou, but the old lady stopped me, said I wouldnât be able to help anyway. After Grandpa called, I finally called you.
Who the hell was that guy? Did he do anything to you? Iâm going to Linzhou right now!"
Miss Qinâs words pelted over like raindrops, crackling nonstop.
Su Ping felt a bit helpless, but also a warm feeling in his heart. Even this carefree Miss Qin actually knew how to worry about people. Still, having someone worry about you was nice:
"No, no need. How about this: just stay at the academy, donât go anywhere. Iâll come see you in person tomorrow. Weâll go to the Imperial Capital together then. You can see for yourself tomorrow whether anything happened to me, okay?"
"Really? Okay, okay, hehehe, sounds like you really are fine, thatâs great, thatâs great. Donât worry, Su Pingâonce I get stronger in the future, Iâll definitely avenge you!"
When Miss Qin said that last line, the sound of grinding teeth came through the phoneâclick, clickâone could easily imagine Qin Xiaoxueâs expression at that moment.