.
The battle between the creature and the prince lasted for four consecutive days, with the final victor:
Prince Jian.
They had been four long and anxious days for many, especially for those who knew what was happening.
During this ti, the Phoenix Kingdom remained on high alert, ready to act if the outco of the battle turned out poorly.
But in the end, that wasn't the case.
Ethan, Da Shu, and the rest of the disciples returned to the sect on the second day of the battle, together with the sect elder who had joined them in the forest.
Ethan and Da Shu knew that their troubles were far from over.
After all, they had broken the sect's rules by sneaking out at night without permission.
The punishnt for such actions could range from losing sect points to outright expulsion.
But to their relief, it didn't co to that.
The elder Léi, considering the situation, decided to go easy on them this ti, deducting 100 points each from both of them.
Normally, this would be troubleso for many disciples of the outer sect, but for Ethan, who had recently beco quite wealthy, and Da Shu, who had always been rich, the punishnt seed quite light.
However, neither could completely ignore the point deduction, as both were already down 100 points.
This deduction put them directly in the negative, making them indebted to the sect for several points.
Ethan was the unluckiest, as unlike Da Shu, who only owed the sect 10 points, he was now at -40, aning he would have to complete at least two dium-level missions for the sect.
The rescued disciples, upon seeing the punishnt, offered to share so of their own sect points with Ethan and Da Shu as thanks for saving them, but the sect elder forbade them from doing so.
But all this was only about the incident and the rule-breaking.
There was another problem awaiting them both.
"We're dood," said Ethan, utterly drained, collapsed on the ground, lost in his depressing thoughts.
"Well, it would be more accurate to say *you* are dood. I'm all set on that front," said Da Shu, sitting on one of the chairs in their small living room/kitchen.
Hearing this, Ethan wanted to strangle him, but he couldn't find the willpower to get up from the kitchen floor.
Oddly enough, that floor felt quite comfortable to him that day.
'Maybe I should bury myself here and spend ti in the minor dinsion, only coming out to cultivate.
Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,' he thought, and the more he thought about it, the more it seed like an excellent plan.
Bai Yu, who resided in his sea of consciousness, simply shook her head upon hearing these thoughts.
The reason Ethan was feeling so down today was that, having gone off to save the group of disciples, they had missed the annual test day.
The worst part was they missed it by just one day.
The annual test was the last chance for an outer sect disciple to prove they had made progress in their cultivation.
Normally, throughout the year, whenever soone advanced, they would take a test to show how much they had improved, informing the sect of their progress.
Everyone could take the test whenever they wanted, but they had a one-year deadline to do so.
If they didn't demonstrate any progress by the end of the year, they would be expelled from the sect without ceremony.
This was the fate outer sect disciples had to face.
For inner sect disciples, there was no such evaluation.
At most, if an inner disciple showed no progress after several years, they would be demoted and subjected to the sa process as outer sect disciples, with the exception that they had a much easier path to becoming inner disciples again compared to soone trying for the first ti.
Da Shu, having advanced several levels in his cultivation, had inford the sect long ago, so not only did he not have to take the annual test, but due to his great progress throughout the year, he could now apply to take the test to beco an inner disciple.
In this regard, things were going quite well for him.
However, Da Shu wasn't particularly enthusiastic about it.
After all, how could he be, knowing that his friend, who was now at risk of being expelled from the sect, had already surpassed him in terms of strength and cultivation, and by quite a lot too.
He thought about protesting for him at first, but had to reconsider when this morning, Ethan received a summons letter from the sect master.
Da Shu had no idea what the summons was for, so he could only pray for him.
This summons letter was also the reason why Ethan was feeling down at the mont.
"Surely they've called to tell about my expulsion," he said, still lying on the ground.
"I highly doubt the sect master would bother summoning soone just to tell them they're being expelled, especially when it cos to an outer disciple," Da Shu replied.
Ethan knew that too, but he didn't know what to think, as he hadn't interacted with the sect master since that ti at the slave auction.
The next day, in a run-down, three-story building.
On the top floor of the building, Ethan stood in front of a room's door, hand raised in a fist, as if to knock.
Though hesitant, he eventually gathered his courage and moved to knock.
Just as he was about to touch the door, a voice from within the room echoed.
"You may enter."
"..."
'If you knew I was already here, then why did you wait so long to speak?'
Ethan thought, embarrassed at the idea that the sect master had seen him standing outside for a full minute, deciding whether or not to knock.
Composing himself, he straightened his back and wiped the frustrated expression off his face, then stepped inside.
"With your permission."
Entering the spacious room, which was at least twice or three tis the size of his dorm room, the first thing he noticed was the large desk, seemingly made of redwood, adorned with various golden carvings.
Behind it sat an elegant woman dressed in red, with long, lustrous hair, half pinned up by a hairpin while the rest cascaded down her shoulders.
She had a refined face with delicate features, seemingly untouched by makeup, not that she needed any.
The woman wasn't alone in the room.
Next to her, standing quietly, was another girl, a little older than Ethan, at least from his impression.
Though she was beautiful as well, she paled in comparison when standing next to the woman at the desk.
From the expression on the girl's face, Ethan sensed a certain dissatisfaction directed at him, sothing that didn't show in her impassive face.
"Why does she seem to have a problem with ?"
Ethan was sure he had never seen this girl in his life, so he was puzzled by this hostility towards him.
.
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FRANK_LEE_JUNIOR:
Here's today's chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.
See you tomorrow with another chapter.
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