(MC POV)
Considering that these are new students who had barely trained in the ways of a Practitioner, there was no way any of the sect disciples could have lost against their opponents, much less my own disciples.
Although… I think having Elaria use guns in there was a bit of a cheat…She's not even using a Practitioner so why is she there? I mean I can understand Diao Chan but how does simply blasting them away with your shotgun a way to test them?
Oh well… At least anyone who could somehow defend themselves or counterattack against her was deemed to have passed the test.
Luna and Rina easily passed their tests since they do have the experience of being Practitioners so their talent was easy to see.
One other thing I noticed was that there were quite a number of youkais as well.
Though it's not a really prominent problem, but some people do discriminate against youkais though it wasn't to a very large extent. Some Sects would definitely not welcome them as they are constantly afraid that these youkais would use their own Techniques against them by spreading it to 'their people'.
I'm guessing they came here since I have Manami and Kiyomi as my disciples, so they figured this was a safe place for them to learn.
Of course, there's definitely some of them who have less than ideal intentions for this Sect but that goes to the humans as well, we just need to be on the lookout for these kinds of newcomers.
Well, this isn't anything new so I'm sure the other Elders and Masters are used to dealing with such things so there's no need for me to worry anyway.
And if any of them were the ones who went up against my disciples, I'm sure they would need to revise their plans since all of them got their ass handed to them.
If they couldn't even handle a few disciples, what can they do against their teachers, right?
Speaking of my disciples… They do let their opponents do a few Techniques on their own to show off a little, but once they have determined to have given them enough time, my disciples would immediately turn the tables on them and obtain a swift victory.
They were supposed to invigilate the prospective students after all, not to one-sidedly beat them down.
I'm looking at you, Elaria. I seriously want to know who approved of you being one of the invigilators…
Anyway, nothing makes me prouder than watching how far they've improved since I first took them in. I even made sure to hide myself so they wouldn't feel too pressured by my presence.
It's been about an hour or so and they've only gone through half of the students. Since it looks like it's going to take a while more to complete, I decided to go visit someone while they're still doing that.
I picked up Cai Hong in my arms and told Iris of my plans before teleporting us inside the palace in the capital.
When my sight adjusted to the sudden shift in environment, I was a little taken aback by what I saw.
I was supposed to have teleported to the Empress Guiying's personal quarters, so why are there various portraits of me covering the walls?
Oh great, Guiying's also a fanclub member, why am I not surprised?
At least Luna stopped at simply suggesting portraits being made of me to hang on her walls, Guiying actually went and did it behind my back.
Before I could even decide on leaving the room, the doors burst open and a panting Guiying was standing at the entrance. It looked like she had sprinted here from wherever she was before.
She took a moment to catch her breath until she saw me, prompting her to make a leap towards me with her arms outstretched.
"Masteeeeeeerrr!! I missed youuuuuuuu!" She squealed, hugging my waist.
People of Beiyang, may I present to you your empress.
I patted her head, "Yes, yes. It's me, Guiying. You can let go of me now."
"Noooo!! Master was gone for so long!! I was so lonelyyyyyy!! I need to replenish my Masternium!!"
What the heck is 'masternium'?
"Cai Hong want's Papanium!" My little dragon giggled while hugging my face.
Aww… You cute little thing, have all the papanium you want!
Ahem, I mean…
"Right, I wanted to ask you some things, Guiying. I could find out about all this myself but I thought hearing it from you would be much better."
She detached her face from me, "Oh! Of course, Master! What would you like to know?"
"Well, first things first… Could you stop kneeling in front of my crotch? I'd hate it if someone comes in and get the wrong idea."
"Ehhh… No one will come here anyway so it's fine! In fact, how about let's go one round? The bed is right over--"
I flicked her forehead before she could finish her words.
"Watch it. Don't pollute my little Cai Hong's mind."
Cai Hong looked at me quizzically, "'Poll lute'?"
I distracted her by giving her some head pats.
That was when Guiying finally noticed the other person standing behind me.
"Master? Did you get another disciple again?" The empress asked, looking pointedly at Iris.
"Like I said, why don't you get up first? Actually, are you even supposed to be here? And how did you even know I was here?"
"Eh? That's simple. I felt Master's presence so I immediately rushed here after adjourning the court! Nothing is more important than Master after all!"
You… You're supposed to be the empress you know? Is this country alright with such an empress?
Well, considering how it's still standing, I suppose she must at least be doing a somewhat decent job.
I sighed, "Ok, ok. I get it. So can you just stand up first? Or at least sit down properly?"
"In that case, sit with me Master!"
Sensing that she wouldn't budge until I accepted, I gave in and sat down on the bed with her.
Iris, of course, remained standing.
Guiying raised an eyebrow at her but seeing no reaction from the white haired woman, she opted not to say anything either.
"Before I start… Have you heard of the Hao Family?" I asked.
"Eh? The Hao Family? Hmm… They aren't really that important I suppose. They were one of the Houses appointed to take care of the new territories we conquered nearest to the country of Sun."
Hmm… That means they probably got a lot of money and influence from the trade with that country. With such an environment, I guess it's normal for that Hao Lian boy to act like that.
Oh well.
"So, first things first," I gestured to my companion. "Guiying, this is Iris. She's… I suppose you could say she's basically a celestial being capable of Ending the world. She's my disciple."
Guiying blinked at me, "Eh? Celestial being? Disciple? Ending the world?"
Great, I suppose I have to start at the beginning huh? She has a right to know anyway so let's just give her a simplified explanation...
Hopefully she won't lose her mind knowing who I really am.