(MC POV)

"All students participating in the advancement tests gather here."

I followed the directions of the Elder giving out instructions and went to where the other Outer Core Practitioners were standing at.

I was also keeping my eye out for Master Xiao, who should have been the one in charge around here after Feng boy's demise.

Unfortunately I haven't seen hide nor hair of him so far. Since this isn't an important event, it made sense that he wasn't here anyway.

Obviously most of the other people there weren't happy to see me, though there were a few who remembered what I did with the five guys yesterday and gave me a wide berth.

Speaking of which, those five guys were hovering at the edge of the crowd, staying as far away from me as possible. They look none the worse for wear so they must have used something to heal themselves of their wounds from yesterday.

The girl from yesterday was also glaring at my direction, probably still upset that I'm ignoring her.

I was just wondering where Yong Gong was when he appeared in front of me with his gang.

He scowled at me, "So you really came… If I were you, I'd have just packed my bags and left last night to avoid this humiliation. Are you hoping for some kind of miracle to save you?"

Since he's still talking down to me, he mustn't have heard about what I did yesterday.

I shrugged, "There's no need for me to run, the advancement test is nothing to me. You ready to keep your end of the bet?"

My words made his scowl deepen, "Hmph! We'll see if you can still act so arrogant when the test starts!"

He stormed away from me just as the Elder announced the start of the test.

In front of us was a raised stage and several students were called to stand on it. It seems like they'll be testing group by group and the names were read out on a list they prepared.

I'm quite curious what they will be making us do since I never really participated in any advancement tests. The people at Heaven Sect pretty much let me skip everything after they knew about my talent.

The only time I took part in one was during Lian Li and Manami's promotion test but that was for jumping directly to Inner Core Practitioners and it was in Heaven Sect, not this branch Sect.

Who knows what kind of special test these guys have for their students since they used to be Feng boy's Sect?

When the named Outer Core Practitioners reached their designated spots, one of the Elders pointed his finger upwards and let out a blast of Phoenix Flame into the sky, illuminating the courtyard with its brilliant orange hue.

The flames dispersed after a while and I was still confused about what was happening. Since no one else was saying anything either, I kept my mouth shut as well.

A minute passed and there was a loud squawk echoing through the air before a phoenix materialised out of a ball of flames, hovering in the sky.

The people gathered in the Courtyard immediately bowed their heads in respect while I simply narrowed my eyes at the phoenix.

Isn't that Feng boy's phoenix? No wonder I didn't see it back at Heaven Sect.

Now that I think about it, what happened to Feng Jie? She also suddenly went missing after we decided to come back to the Earthen Plane.

I'd have thought she went back home but knowing her, she wouldn't have left quietly so she either didn't know or she's busy doing something else.

I was brought out of my thoughts when the phoenix landed on the stage with a loud squawk, prompting everyone else to raise their heads.

Thankfully, no one realised I was the only one who didn't bow or that would have been quite awkward.

The students on the stage then stretched out their palms and materialised balls of Phoenix Flame, each of them with varying sizes and intensity of flames.

The phoenix went to the first person, a male Outer Core Practitioner, and inspected his flame.

A few seconds later, it opened its beak and ate up the flame in a single gulp.

Judging by the look of relief on that guy's face, I guess if the phoenix ate the flame it'll mean he passed the test.

The phoenix hopped to the next guy, looked at the flame for a while before moving on to the next person without eating it.

Yep, that was a clear indication that the guy failed, even I could see his flame was not good so I would have been surprised if he passed.

Out of the ten people who went up, only three passed. It's quite clear this was quite a strict test.

The ones who passed were separated from us to stand on the other side of the stage while the ones who failed rejoined us.

The Elder called up another group of names and the next batch of Outer Core Practitioners went up quickly.

For this batch, only one passed while the other nine returned.

Now I'm curious… It's obvious that the passing rate for this test isn't high so there's definitely quite a number of people here who have failed multiple times. Why is it that this boy I'm copying was the only one who has the danger of being expelled as an Outer Core Practitioner if he failed this?

Omniscience?

…

Oh… Wow… This guy couldn't even materialise a speck of Phoenix Flame for the past six years he's been an Outer Core Practitioner. That makes sense now…

Well, that just means I can't do worse than he did before right? All I need to do is summon a ball of Phoenix Flame and I'll pass.

Yong Gong got called up next and he passed it without any problems, the boy even giving me a look of disdain before he walked off the stage to join the successful students. He's probably already thinking about crippling me in his mind.

Piao Liang also passed and most of the boys cheered for her, the girl basking in the attention she was getting before walking off the stage as well.

The Elder began calling out the next group of students, "Next group make your way to the stage please. Disciple Wugui…"

When that name was called out, everyone turned their gaze at me, even the Elder calling out the names stared at me for a moment before shaking his head sadly.

How sad eh?

Oh well, let's just get this over and done with.

'Knowing Master, it won't be that simple~'

Oh shush now Iris, I don't need you planting more flags than there already are.. Everything's going to be fine, just you watch.

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