Naked Sword Art

Outside of the cauldron, Xiao Hei suddenly felt a spike in her spirit cultivation.

'Profound Spirit realm! What in the world is he doing in there?' Xiao Hei thought.

When Xiao Fang made his first breakthrough, she was a little surprised by it, but she knew he was already pretty close. However, after making 2 more consecutive breakthroughs into the 1st stage of the Profound Spirit realm, she didn't know what to think anymore.

Since she went in before Xiao Fang did, she knew there wasn't anything in there that could raise his spirit cultivation. The more she thought about it the more it confused her.

...

"Supreme elder, why isn't he coming out?" Li Xiang asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" the supreme elder replied.

Li Xiang shook her head. If she knew the answer, she wouldn't have asked.

The supreme elder sighed, "Don't you remember what you experienced inside of the spirit cauldron?"

"I do."

"Then you recall relying solely on your spirit body to pass the tests, right?"

"Of course, but what does that have to do with Long Wang?"

"Do I need to spell it out for you? If he couldn't even make a single light appear after all this time, that could only mean that his spirit cultivation realm is pathetically low."

"How can that be, we saw him make a perfect illusory clone earlier," Xiao Hei interjected.

"He cheated," the supreme elder replied instantly.

"Ah, Supreme Elder. Could it be that you are mistaken?" Li Xiang asked while trying to be as polite as possible.

"Of course not. He might think he is clever, but nothing escapes me."

Hearing the supreme elder lie about seeing Xiao Fang cheat made Xiao Hei furious.

"If he really cheated then you wouldn't mind telling us how he did it?" Xiao Hei asked in a tone that made it seem as if she was calling her out on her bullshit,

Li Xiang knew there was already tension between Xiao Hei and the supreme elder, but after so many hours of waiting she assumed things would've settled down. Contrary to her expectations, Xiao Hei wasn't one to forgive and forget that easily.

"I saw him cheat, so I said he cheated. Are you calling me a liar?"

"I am, because you are. I know exactly what he is capable of, and so does Li Xiang. You should consider your status as a supreme elder and choose your words wisely. You wouldn't want to look any more a fool than you already have."

The supreme elder warned Xiao Hei earlier not to be disrespectful, but Xiao Hei clearly didn't care about that. Li Xiang on the other hand stayed quiet. Even if she didn't believe what the supreme elder was saying, she didn't want to make her upset.

The supreme elder was getting fed up with Xiao Hei's attitude. She could only tolerate so much disrespect from her.

"You say you know what he's capable of, but just look for yourself. Even after 10 hours he still hasn't exited the spirit cauldron, so how could he make a better illusory clone than the both of you?"

Xiao Hei had a complicated look on her face, she had more to say but she was hesitant. She knew what Xiao Fang was capable of because his cultivation realms were linked to hers, but there was no way to convince the supreme elder without revealing too much information about herself. Xiao Hei knew this arguement was going nowhere, so she stopped speaking to the supreme elder.

'Why is she so hung up on that boy? A talented girl like her could get any guy she wanted,' the supreme elder thought. She couldn't understand Xiao Hei's obsession with Xiao Fang, especially because she believed he already had a fiancée.

...

A few minutes later they heard a loud bell coming from outside, followed by a flood of distant cheers.

Xiao Hei and Li Xiang both looked at each other in confusion before looking back at the supreme elder.

"What's going on?" Li Xiang asked.

"The exam is coming to an end, it's time for you girls to announce your classes to the people waiting outside."

"Wait, what about him?" Xiao Hei said as she pointed at the cauldron.

"A cheater like him doesn't even deserve to be put into the inner court much less an inner court class," the supreme elder gave it to her straight.

"Hmph, then I'm staying here," Xiao Hei declared.

"This..."

The supreme elder was stuck on the current situation. She couldn't let Xiao Hei follow through on that declaration because she was way too talented to not be put into a class.

"Fei Lin, you mustn't do this. Many disciples spend many years trying to get into the Tiger-class. It would be a wasted opportunity to pass it up," the supreme elder politely encouraged her to change her mind.

Xiao Hei was much older and wiser than she looked. Even if Xiao Fang couldn't get into a class, then she could still give him all the cultivation resources she got for being put into the Tiger class. The reason she was acting this way was simply to buy Xiao Fang time.

"Since you think he cheated, I want to see it for myself. You do think he cheated right?"

"That's right," the supreme elder replied confidently.

"Then if you are wrong?" Xiao Hei gave her a mischievous look.

"Don't try to swindle anything out of me, little girl."

"Swindle? I was just going to suggest you apologize to him."

"You-"

"Where did your confidence go? Don't tell me you were going to fail him on a whim," Xiao Hei teased.

"Of course I'm confident. It's just that a supreme elder apologizing to a mere inner court disciple would be a bit..."

"If he cheated like you so confidently said he did, then that wouldn't be a concern to you."

"Forget it, if I'm wrong then I'm wrong. If I'm right then he will be expelled, there's no room for diplomacy here. You should know your place as a disciple of this sect," the supreme elder tried to push her status over Xiao Hei to end the conversation.

"Expelled?!" Li Liang exclaimed. She didn't understand why the supreme elder would go to such lengths.

"I wasn't going to tell you two this, but if you must know then I will be expelling him from the sect once he gets out. With him gone, you will be able to focus more on your cultivation. This was originally a sect for girls, theres no place for men here."

"Supreme Elder, aren't you taking this too far?" Li Xiang said.

"You can't change my mind. This is for the best." The supreme elder said.

"Good, then you'll have to expel me too." Xiao Hei suddenly declared.

The supreme elder finally frowned.

"Don't be foolish. Do you even hear what you're saying?"

"I do, and I mean what I said. The only reason why I'm in this sect is because he's here. If he goes, I go too."

The supreme elder couldn't believe what she was hearing, was Xiao Hei really that much in love with him? What the Supreme Elder didn't know was that Xiao Hei really had no reason to stay in this sect if Xiao Fang wasn't here. She was his spirit pet after all.

Despite the supreme elder's general hate for men, she still had a deep love for the Black Paradise sect. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that she would lay her life down for it, so what was her pride in comparison? She wanted the best for the Black Paradise sect, and right now Xiao Hei was the best the sect could get, but Xiao Hei was threatening to leave. The Matriarch had personally put the Supreme Elder in charge this year so that she could find hidden dragons amongst the outer court disciples. If she let Xiao Hei go, then wouldn't she be doing the exact opposite of what she was assigned to do? Even if Xiao Hei was bluffing, she couldn't take that risk.

"Even if I don't expel him, I still won't be passing him since he cheated," the Supreme Elder tried negotiating.

"And what if you're wrong?" Xiao Hei asked again.

The supreme elder hesitated to answer.

"Very well. If he can make a perfect illusory clone without cheating then I will apologize to him, but if I'm right, then I'll be prohibited from taking the inner court exam for another 7 years."

She had hoped that she could separate Xiao Fang from Xiao Hei, but it seemed that wasn't possible now.

Xiao Hei nodded with a satisfied look on her face.

...

The exam was coming to an end, so Xiao Fang didn't have much time left. Xiao Hei wanted to tell him to hurry up, but she thought it was impossible to reach him.

'Hm, is it really impossible?' Xiao Hei thought.

When he made his breakthroughs, she was also able to feel her spirit cultivation realm rise. So if she followed that same connection wouldn't she be able to send him a spirit transmission? It didn't hurt to try.

["Xiao Fang, hurry up. The exam is coming to an end."] Xiao Hei said through a spirit transmission, but there was no response.