"Have you prepared everything in your storage ring?" Elder Jing asked as she tidied her clothes.
Yang Wei nodded his head.
"I got everything prepared already." He then said as he tried to peck her on the cheek.
However, he was pushed away by Elder Jing as she glared at him. "Stop trying to be flirty and focus."
"The test difficulty has increased compared to the previous one so it's not time for you to act carefree." She added.
Sometime later, they arrived back at the gathering area and as usual, Elder Jing headed off to the center stage.
Elder Jing cleared her throat and started speaking once she got everyone's attention.
"I hope you all had abundant rest yesterday because today is the start of a gruesome test." Elder Jing announced.
"Are there any outer disciples here that want to leave the test now?" She then asked.
The disciples became agitated as they shook their heads and were ready for any test being thrown at them. None of them were willing to give up after managing to pass the willpower test.
Elder Jing nodded her head when nobody raised their hand to give up this opportunity to become an inner disciple.
"Great, it would be a shame if I saw any disciple giving up halfway." Elder Jing gave a rare smile, shocking the disciples with her majestic aura.
Even the elders standing on the sideline were dumbfounded when they saw Elder Jing smiling.
She was always ice-cold toward others and was only friendly to a few people so it was a rare occurrence to see Elder Jing's smile.
Unbeknownst to everyone, Elder Jing was smiling because of Yang Wei's cheeky expression.
'Stop distracting me, Yang Wei.' Elder Jing warned Yang Wei through mental transmission.
Yang Wei curled his lips upward as he shook his head. 'How can I be distracting you when your appearance is blinding me? I can't even concentrate when I look at you.'
Elder Jing was rendered speechless by his constant flirting.
Ever since their relationship had changed for the better, Yang Wei had stopped being timid toward her and treated her like a family member.
However, she didn't hate this feeling at all and was happy inside.
Elder Jing quickly regained her composure as she changed back to her ice-cold expression. "Cough, for this test, we will be conducting it in the Misty Forest."
"The Misty Forest- isn't that a place filled with magical beasts in the Foundation Core realm and above."
"Wouldn't we be sitting ducks if we were sent there?"
The outer disciples held a gawking expression by the location of their next test.
Most of them were in the Qi Condensation realm with only a few among them being in the Foundation Core realm.
"Silence!" Elder Kun suddenly shouted.
The outer disciples quickly shut their mouths upon hearing Elder Kun's stern tone.
Elder Kun glanced at the outer disciples briefly before turning around to look at Elder Jing.
Elder Jing nodded her head to give her thanks to Elder Kun for silencing the crowd.
"If you are afraid of the mere mention of Misty Forest then I shall say this right now. None of you are qualified to become a cultivator." Elder Jing then said in a clear voice.
"As cultivators, we are known to strive through dangers to break through and achieve an unfathomable dao in our cultivation path. Hence, no one can be a true cultivator if they are always afraid of dangers." She added.
The outer disciples remained silent as they knew Elder Jing's words were correct.
"We will do it, Elder Jing."
"Yes, we aren't afraid of the Misty Forest."
The outer disciples quickly shouted in unison as their eyes brimmed with determination in passing the test.
Elder Jing nodded her head.
"In the Misty Forest, you are only required to kill 3 magical beasts in the Foundation Core realm or above. After that, you can come back outside and you shall pass the test." Elder Jing then said.
"Are there any rewards for killing more than the minimum requirement?" A disciple asked.
"Indeed there are more rewards for doing more than the minimum." Elder Jing answered as she glanced at Elder Kun.
Elder Kun nodded his head as he stepped forward and stared at the disciple who asked the question.
"I'm sure you know about contribution points in the sect right? Therefore, whoever goes above the criteria will be rewarded generously and those in the top 3 shall gain a place in the ranking chart." Elder Kun explained.
It took a few moments before the outer disciples cheered in an uproar as the rewards for passing the test in Misty Forest were far too good.
"Alright, we have spent enough time explaining so everyone has exactly 20 minutes to equip themselves before we set off to the Misty Forest." Elder Jing exuded her aura as she ordered everyone to leave.
The outer disciples all dashed away to prepare themselves with necessary supplies to deal with the Misty Forest.
While everyone left, Elder Jing stepped away from the center stage and walked toward Yang Wei.
"You are getting way too cheeky." Elder Jing complained as she stared at him.
"Well, don't you like it when I'm cheeky?" Yang Wei teased as he held her hand.
His action shocked the elders accompanying Elder Jing for his bold move.
Although they had heard rumors about Elder Jing being in a relationship with an outer disciple, it was hard to believe it until they witnessed it with their own eyes.
"It seems like the ice-beauty elder of our sect has been conquered." Elder Kun suddenly said.
"Elder Kun is right- I still wonder what ability that brat has to attract such high evaluation from the sect leader." Another elder added.
The elders continued to discuss Yang Wei and Elder Jing as they wondered about their relationship.
20 minutes passed by quickly and all the outer disciples had returned, fully equipped and prepared.
"It's time to leave." Elder Jing shouted.
Th𝗲 most uptodate novels are published on free(w)ebnov(e)l.𝒄𝒐𝙢