As the elders and outer court disciples prepared for the inner court exam, rumors of the Matriarch accepting a disciple began to spread throughout the inner and core courts.

There were a few rumors as to who it was, but nothing had been confirmed because Li Lian and the Matriarch were no longer in the sect. They had gone to the Li family clan to tell them of the news.

The Patriarch of the Li family clan immediately arranged for a feast. Since the Matriarch treasured Li Lian so much, she didn't want to risk having something happen to her while she was gone. So she accepted the invitation, but only stayed because she wanted to protect Li Lian in case anything happened to her.

While news of Li Lian becoming the Matriarch's personal disciple was spreading like a storm, Li Lian's mom didn't share the same festive mood as many of her clansmen did. At that moment, she could only wonder whether or not Li Lian would still end up marrying Xiao Fang or not.

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News of Li Lian becoming the Matriarch's direct disciple eventually reached the 3 other major families. The family most affected by the news was the Gao family clan. Since they assumed her to be guilty of killing Gao Chen, they planned to make Li Lian give birth to a child with someone from the Gao family as punishment.

Repaying a life for a death was a common punishment for female criminals born into high nobility, but it seemed that they wouldn't even be getting that anymore.

Within an hour after confirming the news, the Gao family clan quickly retrieved all of their bounty posters with Li Lian's face on it. Even if Gao Chen's direct family wanted Li Lian to suffer, the Patriarch of the Gao family clan did not want to make an enemy out of the Black Paradise sect.

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Roughly an hour before the inner court exam began, Jiang Mei accompanied Xiao Fang to the waiting area, but when they were able to see the large gates and forming crowd, Jiang Mei stopped.

"This is as far as I go. I will be waiting for you in a different location."

"You seem nervous," Xiao Fang teased.

"I'm not nervous. What makes you think I'm nervous."

Xiao Fang took her hand. The moment his hand touched hers, she realized just how much her hands was shaking.

"How are you so calm? Aren't you worried you might fail?"

"I'm not. Just try to relax. I'll see you on the other side," Xiao Fang smiled.

Xiao Fang put his blindfold on then walked over to the exam waiting area after paying the 10,000 merit point fee.

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Xiao Fang was early, but judging by the large number of people already there, he felt like he came late.

The moment Xiao Fang walked into the crowd he immediately recognized most of the women there as previous customers of his. He was aware that he was sleeping with a lot of women, but he didn't expect so many of them to be taking the inner court exam this year.

He memorized all of their curves and their most alluring features. He could vividly recall how each of them looked when they were naked. He especially remembered the faces they made when they were cumming on his magnificent rod. However, he couldn't remember any of their names even to save his life.

Of course, there were some girls he remembered more than others. Some had really nice asses, while others had really nice tits, he especially remembered the freakier ones that were better in bed, but all of them were beautiful and remarkable in their own way.

Luckily, the men and women were separated, so it was relatively easy to stay unknown. However, Xiao Fang noticed that there were a few guys looking his way. Some with curiosity, others with a hint of malice. He didn't understand why they were so interested in him all of a sudden, but Xiao Fang didn't care enough to think about it.

...

Standing in front of the large 2 gates was an elder Xiao Fang didn't recognize. She had a strong and imposing presence, wore a white and purple robe, and appeared to be a bit older than middle aged.

Since this was his first year doing the exam, he assumed her appearance here was normal, but upon listening to the disciples around him, he learned that the Supreme Elder appearance here was actually extremely unusual.

...

"Why is there a Supreme Elder here? Does that mean they'll be making the exam harder?"

"I doubt it, but they're definitely taking the exam more seriously."

Many of the disciples chatted nervously about the appearance of a Supreme Elder. Xiao Fang on the other hand wasn't worried at all, he was just a bit concerned that Xiao Hei wasn't going to make it on time. Eventually, he saw Xiao Hei coming from the distance.

After paying the 10,000 merit point fee, she immediately spotted Xiao Fang.

{"I was wondering when you were going to show up."} Xiao Fang said through a spirit transmission.

{"Better late than never,"} Xiao Hei smiled.

The moment Xiao Hei entered the waiting area, she not only attracted many stares from the girls, but also the guys on the other side of the fence. Xiao Hei understood Xiao Fang well, so she never looked directly at him in case someone was curious at who a little beauty like her was smiling at.

Xiao Hei seemed exhausted, but it was to be expected considering how hard she'd been working these last few days.

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Several minutes later, the outer court elder standing next to the supreme elder finally spoke.

"Quiet down."

Hearing the outer court elder speak, the disciples all quickly quieted down. They had been training for this day, so they didn't want to miss a single thing the elder had to say.

Before the outer court elder could speak, the Supreme Elder suddenly grabbed her shoulder.

Seeing that the Supreme Elder wanted to say something, the outer court elder respectfully took a step back.

Everyone now stared at the Supreme Elder attentively, waiting to see what she had to say. Many of them were expecting a strong authoritative tone from the Supreme Elder, but she had a very old calming and seductive voice.

"Disciples of the Black Paradise sect..."

The Supreme Elder looked out into the vast crowd of disciples with heavy eyes.

"I look at some of you and I see myself when I was an outer court disciple, so many years ago, but I wasn't nearly as beautiful," she laughed quietly. 

Despite her words, if she were to say she were only the 2nd most beautiful person here, no one would claim to be first, because she was way too beautiful even at her age.

"However, back in those days the sect wasn't just the strongest in the province, we were respected by the top sects across the entire country. Oh, how we have fallen since then. Now they mock and bully us in front of our own disciples, and they stopped inviting us to major events. I cannot hold my head up high like I once did. The times have certainly changed."

There was dead silence. Even though many of the disciples were taking the exam for the first time this year, they still felt as if it was their fault for the downfall of the sect.

The Supreme Elder continued by delivering a motivating speech, finally concluding it by saying:

"You are our strength, our pride, our future. It's not the sect that makes you great, it's you that makes the sect great. Work hard, not just for yourself, but for those that came before you, and for those that will come after you. I wish you all the best on your exam. Give it all you got; make us proud."

With that being said, the Supreme Elder's body faded as if she was never really there.

'These elders really like using illusions to make dramatic exits,' Xiao Fang thought.

The disciples were invigorated. Even if they didn't pass the exam, they wanted to work hard for the elders that worked hard to train them. They felt like it was a responsibility they owed to the sect. It made them want to train their hardest everyday.

The time for the exam had finally arrived.

With the Supreme Elder gone, the outer court elder standing by the exam gates gave them all a quick introduction to the exam. After explaining what to expect inside, she finally opened the gates and the disciples ran in.

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