Naked Sword Art Chapter 173 - Matriarch's Return

Chapter 173 - Matriarch's Return

Xiao Fang and Li Xiang arrived outside of the Tiger-Class residential area. Since only Tiger-Class disciples were allowed access into this area, Xiao Fang waited outside of the barrier as Li Xiang went in.
A few minutes later, Xiao Hei rushed out of the barrier and crashed into Xiao Fang.
"Fang!~" she said happily as she ran into his arms.
"Hahaha, did you miss me?" He said as he brushed her hair.
"Un, I missed you a lot," she replied as she snuggled her head against his body.
Xiao Fang suddenly stopped brushing her hair then he started acting mad.
"Ho ho, didn't I tell you not to call me by my real name. Repeat after me, Long Wang, Long Wang."
"Fang~ Fang~" she said happily.
Xiao Fang's eyebrow twitched.
"Acting cute won't save you. If you don't say it right, I'm really going to punish you."
She looked down at his body then grinned.
"Daddy can punish me whenever he likes," she said in a cute tone.
'There she goes calling me Daddy again...' Xiao Fang thought. He assumed he'd eventually get used to it, but he still found it was a bit strange.
Xiao Fang realized what she was doing. She might've seemed cute and unaware, but he knew she was much smarter than she appeared to be.
"Fei Lin, we can have fun later, there are a few things we need to do first."
Xiao Fang explained his plan for the day, but as he was explaining it, Li Xiang suddenly stepped out of the barrier. The barrier was transparent, but since he couldn't hear anything past it, he couldn't sense Li Xiang coming.
"Fei Lin, you're so fast!"
Li Xiang struggled to speak because she was out of breath. She noticed that Xiao Hei was standing inappropriately close to Xiao Fang, but she didn't comment on it.
"Li Xiang, I must thank you for helping me find Fei Lin, I don't think I would've been able to find her so soon without your help."
"Don't mention it," Li Xiang smiled. "So, what are you going to do now?"
"We're going to look for a guild," Xiao Hei suddenly said.
"Ah, a guild? Can I come?"
Xiao Hei looked up at Xiao Fang as if she was looking for his permission.
...
Li Xiang felt guilty that she couldn't let them join her Li Family Clan's Guild, so she wanted to help them in anyway she could.
Xiao Fang on the other hand couldn't understand why she was being so friendly with him. No one in the Divine Sword sect was ever so charismatic and easily trusting of strangers like her, so it was something he wasn't used to.
What he didn't know was that she was only acting this way because of the help he gave her during the maze test in the inner court exam. Without his help, she didn't think she would've passed that test at all.
...
"Sure, why not," Xiao Fang said.
Xiao Hei and Li Xiang looked at each other with excited looks on their faces. As Xiao Fang began to walk towards the guild recruitment center, the two girls followed close behind him.
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Meanwhile outside of the Matriarch's hall, the Matriarch's carriage finally arrived and stopped in front of 6 Supreme Elders. The Supreme Elders were all formally dressed and each of them were emitting an overwhelming aura that made them seem like deities. One Supreme Elder gestured for the carriage escorts to leave, so the 7 core court disciples bowed their heads then left, taking the beasts with them.
A few seconds later, the doors opened and the Matriarch stepped out. One Supreme Elder approached the Matriarch to greet her.
"Welcome back, Matriarch. Did you enjoy your trip?"
"The Li Clansmen can be a bit hot headed, but they're good people. Where are the others?" Shi Lan asked.
"The other Supreme Elders still haven't returned," the Supreme Elder replied.
"What about Supreme Elder Yao? Any news of her whereabouts yet?"
"None."
"I suppose that was to be expected."
Shi Lan then turned to face the carriage, "Li Lian, aren't you going to come out?"
The Supreme Elders turned their attention back to the carriage. The moment Li Lian stepped out, the Supreme Elders all made shocked expressions. Li Lian didn't look the same as she did before, she was no longer wearing her plain and battered outer court robes. Although Li Lian was always an extremely beautiful girl, her new robes made her seem like a peerless beauty. It gave her a mystifying and untouchable air girls her age didn't possess. She finally looked like someone fitting to be called the Matriarch's only direct disciple.
"Pretty, isn't she," Shi Lan said with a smile.
"Indeed she is. She might just be the Yu An of her time."
Although they were just ordinary elders back then, the Supreme Elders all knew who Yu An was. Her beauty was so renowned at the time that it became synonymous with the term 'peerless beauty'. Li Lian found it strange that they were using Yu An's name like that, but she knew that it was no exaggeration to say that Yu An was the epitome of a peerless beauty.
"I've been absent for some time now, so I'm sure you each have lots to tell me," Shi Lan said before turning to Li Lian. "Little Lian, go make yourself familiar with the core court disciples, I have some work I need to do so I'll come see you later tonight."
"Yes, Master," Li Lian replied.
One of the Supreme Elders escorted Li Lian to go meet the core court disciples that were patiently waiting for her return. When the curtains were lifted Li Lian saw several dozens of core court disciples all getting on their knees. Amongst them she saw friends, enemies, and clansmen, all of whom where much older than she was. However, in this moment they were all kowtowing to her.
Li Lian smiled awkwardly as she said, "Take good care of me."
.
.
.
Inside of the Matriarch's Hall, 5 of the 6 Supreme Elder's had left, leaving the last Supreme Elder with the Matriarch.
"Supreme Elder Quan, I left you in charge of the inner court exam this year. I assume everything went well."
"Yes, Matriarch. There were a few promising disciples this year," the Supreme Elder said before telling her about the disciples that caught her eye. She eventually told her about Xiao Hei and Li Xiang too.
"Oh, another impressive Li Family clansmen? Who would've thought," Shi Lan commented.
Although the Li Family Clan was one of the 4 major powers in the province, there were only a few of them in the core court.
"Is that it? Did only 2 disciples pass the maze test?" Shi Lan frowned.
The Supreme Elder paused before saying, "No, there was 1 more."
Still unhappy that there were only 3 disciples, Shi Lan impatiently said, "Well, out with it then. What's her name?"
"His name... is Long Wang."
***
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