A Will Eternal

Chapter 18: Drawing the Attention of the Crowd!

"Hahaha! Elder Sister Zhou did it! Didn't I say she would get another unprecedented first place spot!?"

"She definitely deserves to have that plants and vegetation spirit meridian. Her options for the future are endless!"

"Elder Sister Zhou, we'll be waiting for you to set another record. When you get first place in all ten, the Great Spirit Stream Bell will toll to notify the whole sect!" All of the surrounding Outer Sect disciples were cheering. Although there were a few disgruntled faces to be seen, and a few sharply spoken words, they were drowned out by the overwhelming applause. Zhou Xinqi's position among the disciples here was like the sun within the sky. In fact, she was well regarded by virtually everyone on Fragrant Cloud Peak.

Although she was normally quite cold, the applause of the surrounding disciples couldn't help but make her feel a bit pleased with herself, and she smiled slightly. That smile caused the cheering to grow even louder.

Bai Xiaochun stood there in the crowd, feeling quite envious of her. Muttering to himself, he looked back at the first stone stele and suddenly, his eyes went wide. Then he looked back down at the jade slip with the first volume of plants and vegetation, and after closer scrutiny, he realized that in addition to the original 10,000 types of plants and vegetation, another 10,000 had been added. His heart suddenly swelled with joy.

He then turned his head to look at the first stone stele, and saw that right above the magic bottle insignia was the image of a turtle. Suddenly, he felt wonderful.

He had originally planned to leave immediately. But now, filled with excitement, he waited to hear the audience begin to applaud his accomplishment. However, it quickly became apparent that everyone was only paying attention to Zhou Xinqi, and hadn't even noticed what had just occurred. In fact, even Zhou Xinqi was preparing to depart.

Bai Xiaochun immediately started getting nervous. Blinking, he suddenly called out in his most astonished voice: "Look! Elder Sister Zhou isn't in first place on the first stone stele anymore! Somebody else took her place! Weird! Now there's a really cool-looking turtle there. I wonder who drew that?"

His voice pierced through the cheering, and as people heard the shocking nature of his words, they started to turn around to look at the stone stele. Soon, faces fell, and cries of alarm rang out.

That in turn caused more people to spin around in shock. Expressions of disbelief could be seen as more and more people began to stare at the text on the first stone stele.

"Th-th... somebody actually passed up Elder Sister Zhou on the first stone stele!"

"That's impossible! Heavens! Somebody surpassed Elder Sister Zhou, and with that ugly-looking turtle. Who could it be?!"

"There's actually somebody who can pose a challenge to Elder Sister Zhou in terms of skill with plants and vegetation? This is ground-breaking!! Elder Sister Zhou just took first place on the ninth stone stele, but she still only has a total of eight first place positions!"

Everyone was in an uproar, and the sounds of discussion filled the air. Moments ago, everyone had been cheering Zhou Xinqi, and could not possibly have been prepared for something unexpected like this to happen.

Bai Xiaochun stood there in the crowd, so pleased with himself that he almost started laughing. However, he knew that doing so wouldn't be very appropriate, so he held himself back. Instead, he cried out in shock like everyone else around him.

Actually, he had never had even the slightest clue that he could actually take first place.

It was at this point that Zhou Xinqi, who had just been on the verge of leaving, suddenly trembled where she stood. After hearing the cries echoing out around her, her phoenix-like eyes turned to look at the first stone stele, and she saw the turtle in the first place spot.