"What do you have to say for yourself, Qin Xiaobo?" Elder Jing asked in a cold voice.
Qin Xiaobo shuddered as he collapsed to the ground when Elder Jing released the restriction in his body.
"I-I was threatened to." Qin Xiaobo said in defense.
"Oh, you were threatened to consume a modified Strength Enhancing Pill and was also forced to thrash your fellow disciple in the most ruthless way." Elder Jing sneered.
Her impression of Qin Xiaobo continued to hit rock bottom and she was controlling her emotion to prevent herself from crippling him outright.
"Tell me where you got the pill from." Elder Jing then said. "As long as you tell me the culprit then I will lighten your punishment."
Qin Xiaobo held a complicated expression as he stared in a daze. 'W-What should I do? If I tell Elder Jing the person that distributes the pill to me then I would be in a life worse than death.'
Elder Jing shrugged her shoulders as she turned around.
"Since disciple Qin Xiaobo refused to cooperate with us then may Elder Kun please escort him to the Disciplinary Hall and have Elder Shan handle him." She then said to Elder Kun.
Elder Kun nodded his head.
"Understood, I'm sure Elder Shan would be glad to interrogate our lovely disciple." Elder Kun showed a wide grin with his bright white teeth.
Qin Xiaobo trembled in fear when he glanced at Elder Kun's menacing expression.
"I'll talk- I'll tell the truth now," Qin Xiaobo shouted in a frantic manner when Elder Jing started leaving the stage.
However, Elder Jing didn't stop her movement and continued to walk away at a calm pace.
Qin Xiaobo panicked as he quickly ran toward Elder Jing and knelt down on his knee. "Please spare me, Elder Jing. This disciple was wrong and rude to you."
Despite Qin Xiaobo's cowardly action, no one in the crowd found this situation shocking or surprising.
"Heh, serve that Qin Xiaobo right for acting so cocky." One of the male disciples in the crowd sneered.
"Indeed, he was so arrogant when winning the fight but look at him crawling for forgiveness now."
"Heh, imagine being sent to Elder Shan- I still get the creeps whenever I hear the name of Elder Shan."
The outer disciples continued to gossip with each other about Qin Xiaobo surrendering to Elder Jing instead of being sent to Elder Shan.
Elder Shan was a demon for the disciples since being sent to her mean you have broken the sect rules and she was notorious for making the disciples wanting to commit suicide.
"Are you going to speak the truth and not try to waste my time?" Elder Jing asked indifferently.
"Yes, I swear to heaven that I would speak of nothing but the truth otherwise, may my cultivation base become cripple and my soul shatter into multiple pieces." Qin Xiaobo shouted loudly as he made a vicious vow.
Elder Jing nodded her head.
"Elder Kun, please drag him out to an interrogation room and I shall announce the disciples that would be promoted." She then said.
"As you wish, Elder Jing." Elder Kun replied as he dragged the lifeless Qin Xiaobo away from the arena.
Meanwhile, Elder Jing returned to the stage and got everyone's attention.
"Now that we have resolved the problem of someone deliberating using a modified pill, I shall now announce the disciples that have been promoted."
Elder Jing then spent the next few minutes calling out the disciples' names.
Those who heard their own name being called were jubilant and full of excitement whereas the ones who hadn't been called were nervous.
After all, if they failed this disciple examination then they must waste another year in the sect as an outer disciple and they would be left behind by their peers that have been promoted as they would have managed to gain an abundant resource for a year.
"And the last person in the list to be an inner disciple is Qiao Weiyuan." Elder Jing said as she glanced at everyone else.
"There would be an official statement regarding them for the others to see." Elder Jing then added as she prepared to leave the arena.
However, the disciples all raised their question as to why Qiao Weiyuan gets to be promoted.
"Elder Jing, there are other people that fought and lost against Qin Xiaobo yet how come only Qiao Weiyuan gets the promotion?"
"Elder Jing, you must be fair and just. If Qiao Weiyuan gets to be promoted because he fought against the cheater Qin Xiaobo then everyone else who fought against Qin Xiaobo should be promoted."
Elder Jing scoffed as she glared fiercely at the disciples that deliberately tried to cause a ruckus to change the final result.
"Hmph, if you have any complaints regarding my decision then you are free to file one." Elder Jing snorted as she left the arena.
The disciples who tried to cause a ruckus were shamed as they wanted to flee the scene but were captured by other elders on duty.
Meanwhile, Elder Jing quickly went toward the interrogation room and saw Qin Xiaobo confessing everything he knew.
"Elder Kun, I swear I don't know who that person is." Qin Xiaobo exclaimed. "He was wearing a black cloth and face mask to cover his entire appearance."
"Then why did you even purchase the pill from him?" Elder Kun snorted in anger. "If this person is like you described- shouldn't you know it's shady enough for him to be distributing pills."
Qin Xiaobo turned pale when Elder Kun's patience became limited as he quickly explained himself.
"O-Of course I wouldn't obtain the pill from a stranger but then he has a token indicating he was from the alchemist guild." Qin Xiaobo said as he continued.
"The person even went to activate the token to prove that it was authentic so I didn't suspect him much after that."
"Seems like we must take a visit to the alchemist guild then." Elder Jing suddenly said when she heard Qin Xiaobo's reasoning.
Updat𝓮d fr𝙤m fre𝒆webnov(e)l.com