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Three days passed quickly. The regular exam that never left the older students’ mind had officially begun.

In the past, the exam had always been an exciting and fun journey to hell that usually involved either freezing the students out of their brains in the ice fields, grilling them in the scorching southern desert, or giving them an unforgettable experience drifting in the vast eastern ocean. In any case, the academy never ran out of ideas when it came to making their students appreciate the beauty of life.

However this time, the regular exam was changed to a simple one-versus-one tournament match. Instead of relief, the older students felt slightly let down.

A non-life-threatening exam was not a test of the soul. It was really difficult to get excited over something like that. Some could not help but look up to the sky and let out a long disappointed sigh.

However, when the academy released an announcement later that day, energy returned to the students who were lamenting.

The Great Celestial Rite! The Martial God Tournament!

That was the most important day and festival in the Holy Dragon Empire!

The most exciting part about the Martial God Tournament during the Great Celestial Rite was not only the fact that powerful people would gather in the empire, but also the generous rewards for those who ranked top three in the tournament.

The rewards were generous enough to drive anyone crazy!

Everyone remembered about the festival, but none expected the academy would make use of this opportunity to select candidates to participate in the Martial God Tournament during the Great Celestial Rite.

To be an eligible candidate to represent the academy in the Martial God Tournament, one must rank… top five in the contest. The top five would then be grouped as a team to take part in the Great Celestial Rite at the capital city of the Holy Dragon Empire.

This was enough to light a fire in everyone’s heart.

For the sake of being able to participate in the Martial God Tournament, the students were going to fight with all they have!

The regular exam was originally intended specifically for the students from second to seventh year. Due to the special circumstances this time, the academy added a new rule to include the new students in the special event as well.

This time, the new students could participate in the contest too. Instead of the academy choosing a random opponent for them, the new students could pick and challenge the senior they wished to fight against.

With this, the regular exam for the older students actually evolved into a carnival for students in the entire academy.

“Will there really be any new students who dare to challenge their seniors? The difference between a freshman and those who have been cultivating at the academy for more than a year is quite huge.”

In Area #1, two third-year students were battling against each other intensely.

However, this kind of battle between the lower grades was not enough to attract the attention of the senior officers, who were currently seated in their special seats.

Elder Mord merely spared a glance at the battle happening on the arena stage, then steered the conversation toward the special rules made this year.

In his perspective, the rule that appeared to be fair to the new students on the surface was actually not fair at all.

It had been some time since the beginning of the school year. As long as the students were not blind or had been holding themselves up in their dorm every day to stare at the poster of their favorite girls, most of the freshmen would be aware of the gap between themselves and their seniors by now.

St. Caroline Academy had always been the best academy on the continent. If there were any students who failed to make any progress after training a full year here, they might as well smash their own sign board and close down the academy.

Even talent required time to transform into strength, and there had never been shortage of geniuses in St. Caroline Academy.

With this premise, only the masochists would enjoy such so-called “challenges”. Any normal person would know that challenging their seniors was not a sound idea.

“No, no, no, Mordy. You shouldn’t say that.”

As soon as Elder Mord finished speaking, someone sitting beside him immediately shook her head and expressed her disagreement.

“The students of St. Caroline Academy should do the best academy on the continent proud by welcoming challenges and rising to the occasion every time. Is it necessary for you to think of our lovely freshmen to be so timid and cowardly, Mordy?”

Elder Mord shot that person a glare. The blue vein on his temple throbbed and that sexy little curl hanging in front of his forehead swayed with his every huff and puff.

“You little b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲, why are you sitting here? These are reserved for the elders, not students like you!”

“Hehe. As cranky as always, Mordy.” Lilith smiled mischievously while she pulled out the label from under the table in front of her. With a loud smack, she deliberately put that label on the table, facing Elder Mord.

The huge, bright red writing on it read: “Nominal Elder Lilith”.

The corners of Elder Mord’s eyes twitched. “Did the vice dean really accept your conditions?” he asked in disbelief.

“What do you think? The vice dean has no reason to refuse my small request after I made such a huge contribution to the academy.”

Lilith then smiled slyly. “Elder Mord is also a powerful saint. Surely you must have noticed that there are now five elder seats instead of only four, right?”

“…Hmph.” Elder Mord turned his head away with a cold snort.

Of course he had noticed the change in seating right away, but he kept telling himself that this was just an arrangement error made by the staff.

After all, he did not want to spend more time than necessary looking at this little b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲’s face.

“Oh my, I did not expect to see Mordy’s rare arrogant side.”

Lilith rested her hand on the seat handle and casually said, “But no need to worry. I know Mordy the best. In fact, I know exactly what Mordy needs at this very moment…”

Elder Mord suddenly felt something extra in his chest pocket. He reached out to feel it, only to realize that it was actually a bag of coins that jingled at his touch.

Cold sweat immediately rolled down Elder Mord’s forehead. This b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲ actually tried bribing him in the public! What would others think of him, the chief disciplinarian, if they saw this?!

Lilith patted Mord’s shoulder lightly, then leaned closer to his ear and whispered, “Don’t worry, we are peers now. This isn’t a bribe. At most, it’s a treat from a fellow colleague. It’s not a big deal.”

Elder Mord’s eyes widened in anger and seemed about to shove the bag of coins back into Lilith’s arms.

Did he look like the kind of person who would deceive himself?

Holding his boundaries had always been his personal philosophy in life. There was no way he was going to let this little b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲ violate it.

No, he must not accept the money!

It was at this moment, a familiar voice appeared behind them.

“I didn’t expect Elder Mord to have such a good relationship with Lilith.”

At some point, the vice dean was already standing behind them.

“I initially thought that the two of you would not get along well due to your contrasting personalities. Guess I was overthinking.”

Elder Mord’s hand went limp, and could not bring himself to pull out the hand which was holding the money bag.

He was dripping with cold sweat.

If he took the money out now and the little b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲ accused him of something he did not do, then he would never be able to clear his name.

Damn it, was this part of her scheme?!

Lilith’s image turned even more evil and despicable in Elder Mord’s mind.

Needless to say, there was no way Lilith would let go of such a golden opportunity. She immediately latched herself onto Elder Mord’s arm and said in a sickeningly sweet voice, “Of course! Mordy and I are besties! We even share some little secrets~”

She even deliberately emphasized the word “secret”.

At the same time, Lilith also tilted her head and looked at Elder Mord with her big innocent eyes…

With her smooth and long blonde hair, flawless doll-like face with exquisite features, blue eyes that were as crystal clear as the lake in the sunset, and that pitiful look on her face…

For once, Lilith was using her appearance to her greatest advantage.

Even Elder Mord, who had always been strict with himself and never fallen prey to the charms of women, could not help but stare for a few seconds.

With that, he completely missed the opportunity to explain himself.

In other words, he missed the chance to pull out the bag of gold coins.

Hehe, Mordy. Just resign to your fate of becoming my puppet, wahahaha…

Lilith thought smugly to herself.

Seeing the two of them behaving like that, the vice dean stroked his beard with one hand and said happily, “That’s good.”

Since appointing Lilith as the nominal elder of this academy was a decision that he made without consulting others, the vice dean was actually worried he would upset others. He even expected the straight-laced Elder Mord to be one of the first to jump out and oppose this.

Hence, seeing that Elder Mord not only did not oppose, but also got along very well with Lilith was a great relief to him.

The vice dean also could not help but wonder, how did these two with almost completely opposite personalities and values get along with each other?

Hmmmmmmmmmm…

It would seem like the rumors circulating in the academy about Lilith being Elder Mord’s illegitimate daughter were not just empty rumors.