Brother Mo stepped into the training grounds, his eyes widening as he saw Zhou and Ye sparring.
"When did Brother Zhou get this strong?" he asked. Brother Gong patted his shoulders.
"Don't worry, in my heart, you will always be the strongest," Brother Gong said, a cheeky grin plastered on his face.
"Don't patronize me," Brother Mo grumbled, walking over to the pair.
"Hey Brother Mo, how are you feeling?" Zhou asked, narrowly dodging Ye jabbing a trident at Zhou's side.
"Aside from Brother Gong insisting on me taking a lot of medicinal pills, I'm fine. How about you? You seem to be working hard," he replied.
"You two are cool with each other after you both nearly killed each other?" Brother Gong asked.
"I mean, that's how we started dating," Brother Mo said. Zhou turned toward them, grunting as Ye's trident hit him.
"You two are dating?" Zhou asked, staring at them with wide eyes.
"You didn't know?" Brother Gong asked.
"I thought I told you when I told Ye,"
"You knew they were dating?" Zhou asked, turning to Ye.
"Yes, why?"
"That's so unfair, I wanted in on some secrets," Zhou complained.
"Oh, you were in here," the group turned and saw Brother Feng walking in.
"I'm so sorry about-"
"Save it, trashy-xian. I don't need to hear your condolences," he snarled.
"Um, is there anything we can help you with?" Brother Gong asked.
"No, I'm just walking around," Brother Feng replied.
"Woah, it's like he had a whole personality switch," Zhou whispered. They watched as Brother Feng walked around, stopping every couple of feet. After a couple of minutes, he left, leaving nothing but a faint memory of himself behind.
"That was weird," Brother Mo said, the rest of the group nodding in agreement.
~~ 1 week later
"Oi! Wake up!" Zhou groaned as he got up, rubbing his eyes.
"I'm awake, I'm awake! Stop banging on the door," Zhou complained. He went to open the door, letting in Brother Gong and Brother Mo.
"Sorry, were you sleeping?" Brother Mo asked. Zhou glared at him and nodded, scowling.
"Then it's good that I woke you up, or else you would never have woken up. Where's Ye?" Brother Gong asked, fixing the messy bed.
"He left an hour ago but he told me to just sleep," Zhou replied. He went over to the wardrobe, taking out his robes.
"Oh, you are already here," Ye said, walking into the room.
"Good morning," the trio said in unison. Zhou went into the bathroom, closing the door.
"Where did you go?" Brother Gong asked, smoothing out the sheets.
"I went to the blacksmith to see if she was done with my order," Ye replied. He put down a trident and a pole on the bed.
"Woah, nice. The blacksmith was clogged up with orders for the competition," Brother Mo said. He touched the trident, marveling at how pretty it was.
"The blacksmith is good at her job," Brother Gong said. Zhou came out of the bathroom, walking over and picking up his pole.
"Metal and wood, very classy," he said.
"You couldn't have gotten me something to carry this?" Zhou asked.
"Here, take this," Brother Mo said. He tossed a small pouch to Zhou.
"What is this?" Zhou asked. He opened the pouch, looking inside.
"It's a spatial pouch. Not as spacious as a spatial ring, but it'll do for now," Brother Mo explained. Zhou stuck a hand into the pouch, moving around his fingers in what felt like empty space.
"You didn't get one for Ye?" he asked, pulling his hand out.
"I already have a spatial ring, I don't wear it because the lower realm would riot for it," Ye said. He reached into his robe pocket and pulled out a small ring, a dark gem in the middle of it.
"Rich boy," Brother Mo muttered.
"What's the difference between a spatial pouch and a spatial ring?" Zhou asked, putting his pole into the pouch.
"A spatial pouch can easily be stolen and looted. A spatial ring is linked to the user, and it can only be used by the owner or by whoever the owner allows," Brother Gong explained. Zhou tied the pouch to his robe.
"Let's go to the forest. Our stuff is in my ring," Ye said. He put the sword into the scabbard on his hip, walking out. The rest followed.
They came to a clearing before the forest. Many people were already there, including people who were coming out of the forest looking dirty and tired.
"Hello disciples, and welcome to this year's Monster Hunt Competition. As you can see, we are currently welcoming back disciples that entered the forest three years ago," a sect leader said.
"Please wait for us to count all the disciples who remain with us, those who died, and those who left. We will be with you shortly," another sect leader said.
"Woah, look, it's Chang Su. She was the strongest inner disciple three years ago. She looks a lot stronger now," Brother Mo said, pointing to a young female in the crowd. She had dirt and grime on her face, and her hair was oily and tangled. She had a clean robe wrapped around her shoulders, covering her body.
"And it's Khang Jia, the sword prodigy. She looks super intimidating," Brother Gong said, looking at a tan and buff girl. Her robes had been slashed at and ripped apart, a piece of bloodied cloth wrapped around her thigh.
"She cut her hair," he observed, admiring the choppy shoulder-length hair Khang Jia had.
"Where's Huo Lin?" Ye asked.
"Oh, the guy that challenged you to a battle but lost badly?" Zhou asked. He remembered that day. A year after they joined the sect, Huo Lin had challenged Ye to a fight. Although the fight was short-lived, it solidified Ye to be stronger than the third strongest inner disciple, granting him the title of genius.
"Do you think he's dead?" Zhou asked. Ye shrugged.
"Alright, here are the results as the disciples from three years ago come out. 7 disciples have died, 20 have left, and the remaining 53 disciples have come back. We will be sending you into the forest in a little bit, so please say goodbye to your friends and family as well as make sure you are prepared,"
"Do you want to travel as a group or are you guys going on your own?" Zhou asked, turning to Brother Gong and Brother Mo. Brother Gong shook his head.
"We have things to do during the competition, so we'll be traveling on our own. What about you two?" Brother Gong replied.
"Er gege said I needed real experience in fighting, so we're just going to be hunting," Zhou replied.
"You might get first place if you're just going to be hunting. But how are you going to kill the beasts with a pole, especially the ones with thicker skin? Beat them to death?" Brother Mo asked, snorting.
"There's a sword in er gege's ring, so I'll use that for a sharp weapon,"
"Ye is insufferably always prepared. I bet that if you were to ask him to make your clothes, he'd ask you what color you wanted while pulling out the material," Brother Gong said. Zhou snickered, earning him a soft smack on the back of his head.
"Ouch!" Zhou cried out, rubbing the back of his head. Ye rolled his eyes.
"Disciples, it is time. Remember, you can leave anytime by sending a spirit beacon into the air and a sect elder will come to pick you up but you will be disqualified. Whoever gains the most spirit beast cores will get benefits and prizes from the treasury. Good luck, and may the benefactors watch over you,"
With that, nearly a hundred disciples went into the forest, dispersing among the thick foliage.
"Hopefully we'll get to see you again," Brother Gong said. He waved goodbye to Zhou and Ye then pulled along Brother Mo, vanishing into the forest.
"Let's go," Ye said. Zhou followed Ye deeper into the forest, moving branches out of the way.
"What do we do now? Hunt for spirit beasts?" Zhou asked.
"First, we find a place to set up camp. I'd normally go and hunt first thing, but you're here so I have to take care of you," Ye replied. Zhou pouted.
"I'm not a child, I can take care of myself," Zhou argued back. Ye turned to him.
"Oh really?"
"Yes, really," Ye sighed and pointed into a small clearing in front of them.
"There's a spirit beast right there, go fight it," Ye ordered. Zhou looked and paled, seeing a huge boar-like beast. It was nearly 15 feet tall, large, and muscular. Its tusks were sharp and glinted in the sun.
"Nevermind," Zhou said, walking in a different direction than the beast. Ye chuckled, looking at the spirit beast, a mischievous light in his eyes. He turned and followed Zhou, discarding the idea of getting the spirit beast to chase them.