Two hours have passed.
The beast tide was finally wiped out.
The entire Fortune Temple Village erupted in joyous roars.
They were initially thought to be unable to withstand the onslaught of the beast tide, but they managed to hold on despite being at such an extreme disadvantage.
The feeling of surviving a disaster made them cheer with joy.
Immediately, the villagers who were unable to fight all knelt down and bowed to Mu Shi and the others outside the fence.
It has nothing to do with seniority; it's simply an expression of gratitude.
"Little Zhao Ya, thank you for saving Fortune Temple Village!"
" Zhang He, don't keep stealing my cows from me. Just say so, and you can eat as much as you want!"
Zhao Ya did not react; her expression remained indifferent.
Zhang He, on the other hand, grinned.
As the burly men received treatment from Xiaoshu and Pharmacist Wang, they laughed loudly, " Xiaomeng, Xiaoshu, and of course the others, we have to thank you all for making Fortune Temple Village pull through this!"
Xu Meng nodded.
When Xiaoshu, who was tending to the wounded, heard the villagers' words, she blushed and quickly waved her hands, saying, "I didn't do anything..."
" Xiaoshuzi, don't be so modest with us." The burly man, who was being treated by the Xiaoshu, laughed through the pain, "If it weren't for you healing us, this fence would have collapsed long ago!"
Although it didn't sound like much, their words revealed whose side they favored more.
Ai Xue snorted coldly and turned to leave.
Niu Zhong and the other three exchanged glances and then quickly followed.
The plan failed, and someone else snatched it away; how could I possibly be in a good mood...?
At this moment, Ye Qiubai and Mu Fusheng also returned.
Seeing this, Hong Ying asked, "Oh? Senior Brother has broken through to the God Emperor Realm? It seems you've gained a lot this time."
Xiao Hei then asked from the side, "What about Xin Hongyi?"
Both Ye Qiubai and Mu Fusheng had somewhat solemn expressions.
Seeing that expression, the others guessed what was going on.
"Their strength is beyond our imagination." Ye Qiubai's tone was somewhat heavy.
Mu Fusheng nodded in agreement, "Her strength seems to come more from her bloodline power... She is currently at the Peak God Emperor Realm, but even if I unleash the power of the Half-Step Divine Lord Realm, I cannot defeat her smoothly; at most, I can only gain some advantage."
Upon hearing Mu Fusheng and Ye Qiubai's words, the expressions of the group changed slightly.
"In that case, the bloodline power of the Evil Devil Domain is extraordinary."
Ye Qiubai nodded. "At least that's how it seems based on the current intelligence."
"However, she doesn't seem to be targeting us right now, so let's wait and see."
After the battle against the beast tide.
The villagers' votes are basically settled.
This is common knowledge.
Therefore, in this final period of time, Ye Qiubai and the others no longer thought about how to help their disciples win votes, but instead devoted all their efforts to cultivating their disciples.
After all, they were the disciples they had chosen and accepted, and they would inevitably have to part ways after this period.
It's impossible to take these still-developing disciples everywhere with me now.
Naturally, we should teach them all the methods of cultivation at once.
From then on, they had to walk their own path.
As the saying goes, the master leads you through the door, but the practice is up to you.
Before you knew it, it was time to vote.
The villagers gathered in front of the four stone houses, and Ye Qiubai and his disciples also appeared there.
One of the elderly men stepped forward; he was the Fortune Temple Village.
The village chief smiled and said, "Alright, the positions of these four stone houses have been vacant for a long time. I'm sure everyone already has someone they want to choose this time."
"According to the rules, everyone has one vote, and as the village chief, I have three votes. You can write down your choices on a piece of paper and hand it to me."
The villagers chatted and laughed, but without much hesitation, they wrote down their names and handed in their ballots.
Clearly, they had already decided on their choice.
Ye Qiubai and the others watched this scene without any reaction.
On the contrary, Mu Shi and the others looked tense.
Niu Zhong and the other three on Ai Xue's side stared wide-eyed.
Not long after.
The votes had been tallied, and the papers were pasted on a board with the names of each person vying for the stone house written on them.
Fifth place: Mu Shi, 21 votes.
Fourth place: Zhao Ya, 24 votes.
Third place: Zhang He, 31 votes.
Second place, Xiaoshu, 67 votes.
Xu Meng came in first place, leading the entire competition with 104 votes!
These things were all predictable.
Xu Meng was, after all, a commander and a talented general. After that beast tide, everyone saw Xu Meng's leadership ability, so naturally, he received more votes.
But the most unexpected thing was actually the Xiaoshu.
Even the Xiaoshu itself looked stunned.
I don't know why I got so many votes!
Mu Wan'er, seeing through everything, smiled and explained, "This is only right. Don't think that healing the sick and saving lives is no different from going into battle and killing people."
"Sometimes, logistical support is the key to winning a war!"
"Besides, the villagers have all seen how many people you've saved."
The Xiaoshu said hurriedly, "But... but I'm not interested in this at all!"
Mu Wan'er shrugged and said, "Do whatever you want, or just abstain if you don't want to."
So, Xiaoshu nodded happily, then raised his hand and waved, saying, "Um... Village Chief, I want to abstain!"
The village chief was taken aback by what he heard.
Wang Dan, standing next to Ai Xue, also looked extremely unhappy.
She was originally recognized for her talent by Mu Wan'er and could have become Mu Wan'er's apprentice.
But now, they haven't even made it into the top eight, let alone the top four!
On the other hand, what about the Xiaoshu?
Not only did he achieve second place by training under Mu Wan'er, but he also forfeited Xiaoshu everyone else was pursuing simply by saying he wasn't interested?
At this moment, Wang Dan's heart was filled with regret.
If she hadn't switched allegiance to Ai Xue, wouldn't she be in second place right now?
But it was too late to say anything at this point, so Wang Dan had no choice but to accept her fate.
Because Xiaoshu withdrew, third and fourth place naturally went to Zhao Ya and Mu Shi.
Following closely behind was Niu Zhong.
Niu Zhong's vote count was only two votes behind Mu Shi's.
Niu Zhong stepped forward, looked at Mu Shi, and said with a gloomy face, "Why is it that I am so much stronger than you, yet you have two more votes than me?"
It's not just because of the difference of those two votes.
What Niu Zhong was even less willing to admit was that he had chosen Ai Xue Ye Qiubai Ai Xue.
But now Ye Qiubai's disciple Mu Shi, has two more votes than him!
This is a complete slap in the face!
"Village chief, don't you still have three votes left to cast?"
The village chief nodded.
Niu Zhong said in a deep voice, "I want to fight Mu Shi. If I win, the village chief will vote for me!"
The village chief had no objections, since he originally intended to vote for Xu Meng. Since Xu Meng came in first place without any pressure, he figured it was up to her.
Then she looked at Mu Shi and asked, " Mu Shi, do you agree?"
Mu Shi glanced at Ye Qiubai.
Ye Qiubai said, "You can decide for yourself."
Upon hearing this, Mu Shi nodded, then resolutely drew his Dark Demon Sword, pointing the tip at Niu Zhong, and said, "Since I lost to you before, I will defeat you in this sparring match."
========
P. S.: I've been stuck on this writer's block ever since, constantly revising and editing. These two chapters are from yesterday; I'll go get some sleep and write today's later, or I'll just collapse from exhaustion...