The Arhat Panda elder spoke in human language.
It looked at the group of Bear King Mountain spirits. "You have five minutes to consider. Then, scratch the human pattern you approve of on the wooden board..."
Most of the spirits, of course, were illiterate and couldn't count either.
But behind Su Hao, there was a huge wooden board with a circular mark scratched into it by a bear claw.
It represented him.
Behind some contestants was a line, others an X.
Su Hao shook his head slightly.
The cultural level of the Bear King Mountain spirits seemed quite limited.
In comparison, even the dull-headed crow and the barely literate Erha Lin had more cultural refinement than those simple-minded bears.
At least they could count.
"Indeed, arranging nine years of basic education for the spirits was a very correct decision."
The Arhat Panda elder babbled on with a series of roars.
"...You can only scratch one pattern. Scratching two counts as invalid. You can also choose not to scratch. Alright, now each bear receives a wooden board..."
Several Arhat Pandas carried stacks of wooden boards, each half the size of a door panel, and handed them to the bears preparing to vote.
Compared to the bears present, the number of prepared boards seemed a bit scarce.
The Arhat Panda elder noticed.
Using its rich experience and rapid brain processing speed, it quickly counted the bears and boards on site and spoke up, "If you're just here to watch the fun and don't want to vote, stand aside and don't take a board."
But still, not many bears moved aside to watch.
The Arhat Panda elder found it strange.
"In previous years, having a hundred bears was already a lot."
The voting segment wasn't mandatory, and many bears simply ignored it.
Those playing games kept playing, those tinkering with food kept tinkering...
Some were so absorbed they didn't even know the humans had arrived.
"But why are so many bears out today?"
The Arhat Panda elder was puzzled. It hadn't prepared enough boards, so it had to send other bears down the mountain to chop down a few big trees and haul them up.
The ones on the mountain?
Those couldn't be chopped down, or the mountain would go bald.
The Bear King Mountain lineage also understood environmental protection!
The round trip took over ten minutes.
Bears with boards and those without muttered among themselves, their gazes occasionally drifting toward the contestants' position.
Su Hao felt they were looking at him.
He couldn't help rubbing his chin, thinking, "Am I really the most dazzling guy in the crowd?"
Taking advantage of the lull, he poked the Dream Butterfly again and asked about canvassing.
"Gu nuo~"
"What? You say you not only canvassed but also got other bears to help canvass?"
"Gu nuo~"
"And you say you've gained another batch of fangirls and fanboys?"
"Gu nuo~!"
It nodded, looking like it wanted praise.
But Su Hao found it hard to believe.
Where was this? Bear King Mountain!
Most bears were simple, but those elders who had lived for hundreds or thousands of years were no pushovers.
His self-made Su-style spirit cuisine had only earned praise from that Tyrant Bear chef.
With elder bears around, and many bear spirits at the transcendent level, how could they be won over by a little one?
"Whatever, twenty votes are definitely enough. Now I need to consider which spirit to contract."
Su Hao pondered.
He began checking spirit information one by one on his panel.
Unfortunately, there were too many spirits, and their aptitudes weren't clearly labeled with 'Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet' or 'SSS→E,' so he had to scrutinize carefully, making his eyes blurry.
Finally,
The Arhat Pandas on the other side used their claws to carve out boards and distributed them.
The Panda elder paused and spoke, "Start scratching the human you approve of, then hand in the boards."
A group of bear spirits of all sizes scratched away with their claws.
Moments later,
The Arhat Pandas collected all the boards and piled them in front of the elder.
The Arhat Panda elder looked at Bear Heavenly King and the others. "We'll start counting now. Please act as witnesses, Mr. Bear."
The burly Bear Heavenly King nodded and stepped forward.
He was very familiar with this process.
He knew he had to help with the counting to prevent the Bear King Mountain spirits' poor arithmetic from causing errors.
Su Hao and the other seven contestants stood on the other side.
Wu Hang glanced at him, a look of defiance in his eyes.
The sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl seemed a bit nervous, lacking confidence.
Three or four others were the same.
They hadn't managed to win over enough bears.
Staring at the Arhat Panda elder's spot, they swallowed nervously.
Finally...
The Arhat Panda elder picked up the first board, turned to look at the eight contestants, and compared the pattern.
It spoke, "One vote for Su Hao."
It picked up the second, glanced at it. "Two votes for Su Hao."
Then the third. "Three votes for Su Hao."
Wu Hang grew anxious.
He kept glancing at the bear crowd, desperate to know if the bears he'd played 'Is It a Spirit? Go Up a Hundred Floors' with had voted for him.
But there were too many bear spirits, all looking similar, and he couldn't recognize them.
Just then, the Arhat Panda elder picked up the fourth board, paused, and looked toward the contestants again.
Seeming to compare the pattern.
'It must be someone else's vote now,'
many thought.
They saw the Arhat Panda elder show the board to Bear Heavenly King, who also shook his head.
The Panda elder spoke, "Who scratched this? A mess, invalid vote!"
Wu Hang: "???"
Board after board was counted.
Su Hao's vote count rose from single digits to double digits, then to triple digits.
The other contestants were dumbfounded.
Especially Wu Hang and Chen Ming.
They had been very confident. Those bears had sworn one by one that they'd vote for them.
And the result? What was the result!
Su Hao had over a hundred votes.
Wu Hang had three.
Chen Ming had four.
Why, why did it turn out like this?
They were all a bunch of lying bears!
Even the several Heavenly Kings and quasi-Heavenly King big shots were stunned.
Bear Heavenly King was too.
They double-checked repeatedly and found the count was indeed correct.
Su Hao's pattern wasn't the easiest to draw either.
So why was there such a huge gap?
Even Wu Heavenly King couldn't understand.
He thought he knew Su Hao well, but at this moment, he still felt that his junior brother was shrouded in a veil of mystery.
Simply... awesome.
Wu Heavenly King was very satisfied. He didn't care about the rest; being awesome was enough.
At that moment,
Su Hao was also a bit puzzled.
"The bears I've fed should only be about seventy or eighty, right?
"Many bears I'm seeing for the first time."
Su Hao thought for a long time.
He concluded.
These bears must have been attracted by my irresistible charm.
After all, I'm this handsome, so it's perfectly reasonable for my charm to cross species!
Besides, those bears kept glancing this way!
Case closed!
"Gu nuo~?"
Die Xiaodie slowly typed a question mark and tugged at his hair.
Su Hao then realized he had a butterfly on his head.
His mind blanked for a moment before suddenly snapping back.
"Wait..."
"Masaka..."
He looked up.
Glanced at the Dream Butterfly, then at the distant bears.
Stared straight for a long time before reaching a conclusion he found hard to accept.
Those bears were actually...
looking at the Dream Butterfly!
"But butterflies and bears aren't the same species, are they?
"Could the cuteness tactic be more effective than the handsome tactic?
"Or maybe it's because the little one is a spirit."
"Gu nuo~!"
Die Xiaodie called out discontentedly.
It emphasized that it relied on skill!
It didn't need to act cute, gu nuo~!
...
The voting results were hard for many to accept.
Su Hao: 349 votes.
The others... totaled just over twenty votes.
Why so few?
Su Hao had already figured it out.
The key was the ten-plus minutes before voting.
Most of the "fangirl and fanboy" bears had directly assimilated the few bears who originally planned to vote for others.
After all, it was just voting.
They'd only known the humans for a day—could that bond be stronger than their bear clan siblings?
Of course, they'd do each other a favor.
...
Wu Hang, Chen Ming, and the others were still in shock.
A nameless contestant suddenly said, "I... I think I saw his Dream Butterfly surrounded by a huge crowd of bears while it was playing games."
At that, Wu Hang also recalled.
He'd seen a place ringed by circles of bears like a wall, but he hadn't seen what spirit was inside at the time.
He hadn't paid it any mind.
Later, passing a large room, he'd seen many bears sitting in rows again.
"Could it be..."
He looked over.
Chen Ming also looked at Su Hao, his eyes full of shock and disbelief, as he too pondered.
A moment later,
"So that's it, I understand!"
He said, "Mixing the spirit meals was just Su Hao's diversion. His real goal was to cover for that spirit."
"Very likely," Wu Hang took over. "I saw Su Hao's Fire Fluff Crow and Water Cloud Horse following along, and I wondered where the Dream Butterfly had gone. Turns out the Dream Butterfly was his trump card."
"Impressive..."
The others sighed.
Among the eight, Su Hao was indeed the most watched.
Many had noticed Su Hao's actions.
Chen Ming had even tried to avoid Su Hao when feeding the spirits, but he never expected...
...
"This junior brother of yours is indeed... extraordinary."
Lu Heavenly King remarked with admiration. "Much better than you were back then."
Wu Heavenly King: "???"
He snorted and said, "I already anticipated this. In the challenge segment at the start of Whale Island University's semester, Xiao Su used a similar strategy. Everything now is going according to his plan. Even if something unexpected happens, Xiao Su has countless backup plans to compensate.
"He's worthy of being my junior brother. I won't deny it—he is indeed a little better than I was back then."
Bear Heavenly King kept glancing at Su Hao.
"Strong, but not reckless. He achieves the best results with minimal cost. Nurture him well, and in time, he'll be a pillar of the Alliance. Moreover...
"Even with an overwhelming victory, he doesn't get complacent. He still wears that calm yet confident expression."
"He's very good. I appreciate him."
The Arhat Panda elder nodded as well.
Whether human or bear, these big shots didn't hold back their praise.
After praising, Bear Heavenly King faced a dilemma. He looked at the Arhat Panda. "Elder, Su Hao has passed the trial, but what about the others?"
Never in any year had only one person contracted a spirit.