John had come to consider each and every disciple on the ship his friend, as he had not only spent a year with them in the sect, but also almost three months together on the airship. Any mockery directed towards any of them was unacceptable in his eyes, as he knew that with their current cultivation levels compared to the others, their only fates were to be bullied until they were miserable.

'A few dozen beatings handed out to the most powerful disciples of each group should do the trick.'

A small smile crept onto John's face as he thought of all the fun he was about to have in the near future. Only through force and violence could some lessons be taught, and John knew he was about to dish out quite a few lessons.

Lilian walked to the group of older cultivators, who watched her approach with a slightly surprised expression.

"You...you're Thunderzen's daughter? Is Thunderzen himself not coming this year?

" the man with the scar on his face asked.

"I have some business on the Divine Martial Continent, so I decided to escort this years batch of youths,

" Lilian replied as she walked up and stood next to the others in the group.

"Is that so? Does Thunderzen consider this event beneath him to the point that he puts it off on his daughter?

" the hefty woman spoke up with a slightly dismissive voice.

"He should take such matters more seriously. His sect keeps falling further and further behind all of ours, and yet he does nothing to change it. Why does he even stay in such a backwater and remote place anyways? It seems quite absurd and stupid if you ask me.

"

Lilian's face soured slightly as she heard the woman insult her father. The woman would never dare to insult Thunderzen to his face, but was more than happy to do so behind his back.

"My father may not be here, but I am,

" Lilian replied, her face and voice cold.

"Insult him one more time and I'll make sure its the last time you can insult anything.

"

The hefty woman's face lit up in surprise upon hearing these words, before her face darkened with anger. Her aura began to climb a bit as she raised a finger towards Lilian.

"How dare you speak to me in such a manner. You're just a cub who's seen her first winter, and you think you can spe-

"

The woman's words cut off as Lilian's aura suddenly flared out powerfully, drowning the entire area in her power. She added a tinge of the Dao of Death to the aura, making it feel as though all within were suffocating.

The hefty woman was absolutely surprised by Lilians power, which was even greater than her own. She could tell that Lilian was in the Dao Transformation Realm, but never expected her power to be so great at such a young age.

She knew that if the two of them fought right now, she would definitely lose. She was the Sect Leader of one of the six branch sects, and as such looked down on a young Vice-Sect Leader such as Lilian. However, she now knew she had made a mistake.

"Surely Branch Sect Leader WhisperWind was just joking,

" the man with the scar on his face suddenly spoke up and tried to calm the situation. A fight between two powerhouses here would only draw condemnation from the main sect, which they were standing just outside of.

To the side, the young man who appeared to be in his thirties glanced at Lilian with amused interest, as if she had caught his attention.

"Of..of course I was joking,

" the woman suddenly replied, a small bead of sweat dripping down her face.

"Is that so?

" Lilian replied, her voice still unamused. She glanced to the side, and spotted John who was staring at her after her recent flare of power caught his attention. A small smile crept up on her face as she looked back to the branch sect leaders before her.

"How about we make a little bet?

" Lilian asked the group as she quickly changed the subject.

"A bet?

" the faces of the branch sect leaders lit up slightly.

"What bet?

" the man who appeared in his thirties asked.

"The only bet there is to make at such a time,

" Lilian replied.

"Let us bet on which disciple here will claim the top spot of these entrance exams.

"

The faces of two of the branch sect leaders, the hefty woman and the scar-faced man, lit up with intrigue, while the faces of the other three branch sect leaders dimmed slightly. The cultivations of the lead disciples of each group were two in the Late Meridian Forging Realm, while three were in the Middle Meridian Forging Realm.

Clearly the two disciples in the Late Meridian Forging Realm would be the ones to come out on top, and belonged to the sects of the hefty woman and the scar-faced man.

"What do you propose we wager?

" the heft woman asked with a smile of anticipation on her face, and her expression was relaxed as if she had already forgotten about Lilian's earlier threat. It seemed as though in the face of money, everything was secondary to the woman.

"Why don't we wager Fifty Million low grade spirit crystals?

" Lilian replied with a calm smile on her face.

The faces of the other branch sect leaders lit up in slight surprise at Lilian's wager suggestion. While fifty million spirit crystals would not make or break their net worth, it was still a significant sum of money for them.

To bet such an amount on a wager such as this was quite a daring thing to do. The scar-faced man thought about the bet for a while, before his gaze shifted to the group of disciples behind Lilian. His gaze rested on John for a moment, before he shook his head dismissively.

"I'll take the advice of my friend and sit this one out,

" the man said, his words slightly confusing the others in the group.

The hefty woman dimmed slightly upon hearing the man bow out, but her gaze shifted to Lilian as a small smile crept up on her face.

"I accept your bet,

" the woman replied with an eager smile, as if she had already won the bet.

"Wait a minute,

" the younger branch sect leader chimed up and looked at Lilian.

"You said we should wager on which disciple will win, instead of if our own disciples will win. In that case…

"

The man's gaze swept over all the disciples in the field, until it settled on one of them.

"I'll choose that one to win,

" he replied. The one he had singled out was the boy who had a cultivation in the Late Meridian Forging Realm, and was one of the most likely to win.

"Oh? You have good eyes to pick my personal disciple,

" the hefty woman replied.

"Does anyone else want to get in on this?

" Lilian asked.

The three other branch sect leaders all decided to get in on the bet after all, with one of them picking the boy, while the other one picked the Late Meridian Forging girl.

The scar-faced man was the last to pick other than Lilian, and he thought about it for a moment before choosing.

"I'll choose whoever you choose,

" the man said as he looked at Lilian. His answer stunned everyone in the group, as they expected he would choose the girl from his sect who had the Late Meridian Forging cultivation.

Lilian raised her eyebrows slightly at the man's reply, but his next words made her realize why he had said such a thing.

"I spoke with Thunderzen recently through long distance sound transmission, and he was kind enough to fill me in on a few details,

" the man said as he glanced at John for a moment.

"You're a smart man to trust my father's words,

" Lilian replied as she finally understood the man's reasoning.

The other branch sect leaders listened with slight confusion, as other than the two Late Meridian Forging youths, they didn't see another option to choose.

"So, who are you going to choose? You're the last one to pick,

" the hefty woman asked Lilian.

"I'll be choosing him,

" Lilian said without hesitation as she pointed to John.

The other branch sect leaders looked over and inspected John, and their faces quickly lit up with confused amusement.

"Him?

" the hefty woman mocked slightly.

"While his cultivation level is impressive when you consider he came from your backwater location, how do you expect him to compete with my sect's Aaron, who's an entire minor realm above him?

"

The others in the group remained silent, but had the same opinion as the woman. The only one who disagreed was the scar-faced man, but he kept such disagreements to himself as well.

"John, come here,

" Lilian's voice boomed out, catching John's attention as he was standing with the other disciples of his sect.

He walked over to his master, who stood next to other powerful middle-aged cultivators. They all glanced at John, and he could see mixed expressions on their faces as they inspected him.

"During the upcoming entrance exam, I want you to beat up anyone who tries to take the number one spot from you, understand?

" Lilian said as John reached her and stood next to her.