"Master, what happened down there?" Bai Suzhen asked curiously when she saw Wudang suddenly look down, her expression shifting slightly.
"Nothing. I merely spotted someone unexpected entering your Martial Matchmaking Contest," Wudang answered.
"Someone unexpected? Who?"
"You don't know them. You'll meet them in the future."
"Oh."
Below, Xiong Meng, originally a female bear but now disguised as a male, strode up to enter the tournament with a swagger that acknowledged neither kin nor kinship. Looking around, she discovered that quite a crowd had gathered. Excellent! The mighty deity Xiong Meng loved lively occasions like this.
"Name?" It was her turn now. A Jiejiao disciple responsible for registering the contestants held a brush and a bamboo scroll as he questioned Xiong Meng.
At his question, Xiong Meng turned toward him and answered, "I'm Xiong Meng. Meng as in mighty."
"Age?"
"Ten thousand."
"You're only ten thousand years old?" The Jiejiao disciple handling registration looked doubtful.
"What's that supposed to mean? I'm a young bear! What about me doesn't look ten thousand years old?" Hearing him dare to question her, Xiong Meng planted her hands on her hips and stood on tiptoe to challenge him.
The Jiejiao disciple did not argue. Opening his palm, he conjured a jade stone and told her, "This is an Age-Discerning Stone. Hold it, and I'll be able to tell exactly how old you are."
"Hmph." Xiong Meng gave a soft snort and snatched the jade stone. It glittered, and a line of Demon Script appeared on its surface, meaning: ten thousand years old.
"You really are ten thousand. All right, what's your background?" Seeing the Age-Discerning Stone confirm the bear's age, the Jiejiao disciple dropped his suspicions and moved on to his next question.
Xiong Meng, who had long since mastered an age-altering spell,