Valeria flew inside the forest while Xu Ming stayed outside.

His servant looked at him in confusion. ​​

"Ah, should we continue ahead? The Dark Elder might misunderstand if we stay near this place. It is better to stay clear of him," The Servant suggested.

"I'm not entering the forest. I just find the weather quite nice. The wind feels the best here. I'll just stroll in this area for a little while," Xu Ming gave an excuse as he started strolling right beside the forest. He also kept his focus towards the forest to hear Valeria's voice in case she called out for help.

"You can also do like I'm doing. This is really good for health," Xu Ming said to the servant as he smiled.

The Servant smiled wryly, but he didn't refuse. He also started trailing behind Xu Ming as both of them strolled.

"While we're at this topic, let's talk about the Dark Elder. What do you think about him?" Xu Ming inquired.

Xu Ming didn't have any idea of who this Dark Elder was, but from what he was able to guess so far, the Dark Elder was the owner of this forest, and he was a fierce person since his servant looked really scared when he was about to enter the forest.

"The Dark Elder is a really frightening existence. She is the person that is the Head of the Punishment Department. She enforces all the rules in the sect. She is also someone that had the authority to kill a disciple without any explanation. She has also used this power and killed the son of a wealthy clan. There was a big commotion from that clan, but the Sect didn't punish her. She is just too powerful in the sect," The Servant replied.

'Dark Elder is a woman?' Xu Ming thought.

"Do you think she can kill a Prince?" Xu Ming inquired as he glanced back towards the forest.

"I don't think that she can. I don't think anyone can. At Least not at this time. The Trials for the position of the Crown Prince are going to begin soon. The king needs three of his sons to participate in the Trials. That's the tradition. That's why he is was waiting for so long for you to grow up," The Servant explained.

"If something happened to you, then the King would be really angry since, in that case, he would need to wait for your Fourth brother to grow up before commencing the Trial. No one would take the risk of infuriating the king at a time like this," he continued.

'That's true. The more someone waits for something, the more annoyed he'll be when that is obstructed because of someone else. Well, at least that provides me some cover for some time,' Xu Ming thought as he nodded his head.

'No one would be willing to kill me, but if I do something to offend the Dark Elder, the punishment will be pretty significant. They can't kill me, but they can beat the crap out of me," he thought as he continued walking back and forth before the forest.

Twenty Minutes passed as they continued strolling near the forest. The Servant was wondering how long they would be here for. He still didn't understand why Xu Ming was suddenly interested in strolling back and forth.

"How long is she taking? Did something happen inside, or is she still looking around?" Xu Ming wondered. He was somewhat worrying.

He was continuing back and forth as he wondered if he should just risk entering the forest. It wasn't like he would be killed for that. As for the punishment, as long as it wasn't death, it was bearable.

Xu Ming finally faced the forest as he decided to enter when he heard a voice from behind him.

"There he is!"

Xu Ming recognized that voice. He had heard that voice, not a long time ago. It was the voice of the boy he had beaten for attacking him.

He turned back and saw the boy.

Gu Mao was standing there, pointing towards Xu Ming.

There was a woman standing beside him. The woman looked like she was in her early 20s. She had beautiful silvery hair and hazel eyes. Her thin arched eyebrows, red lips, and a beautiful face was something that was enough to make any man find her attractive, but Xu Ming didn't feel anything.

He didn't like the arrogant expression on her face as if she was above him. Her condescending gaze was looking at him like he was a trash that was not worth her time.

"You hurt my brother, Li Mu! Do you know how big that mistake is? Since I respect your father, I won't beat you up. Just apologize to my brother," The girl said proudly.

Xu Ming couldn't help but shake his head. He found this approach to be really stupid. Even if he were apologetic, he wouldn't have apologized after hearing that tone, let alone the fact that he didn't care one bit about beating up Gu Mao.

He did remember that Gu Mao had mentioned that her sister's name was Gu Yao. She was the person his servant had collided with.

"Your brother attacked me first," Xu Ming replied casually.

"So what! He is younger than you. So what if you had taken a singly hit! He is a child. He was naive, but you could have made a sensible decision! Did you really need to beat him black and blue? Apologize to him right this instant for being unfair and for bullying him," Gu Yao let out as he pointed her finger at Xu Ming.

Xu Ming looked at her as if he was looking at an idiot. What kind of thinking was that?

"How old are you?" Xu Ming asked her without answering her.

"Why?" The girl asked with a frown.

"You look like you're in your late twenties," Xu Ming let out with a thoughtful look on his face.

"You rascal! Are you insulting me?! I'm in my early twenties! Stop being an idiot," The girl let out furiously.

"So you're older than me. Can I hit you? Please don't attack me. I will be naive before you since I'm young. Be the bigger person and lead by an example," Xu Ming responded as he smiled.

He was using her own stupid logic on her since he knew that Li Mu was not even twenty yet.

"What nonsense are you talking about! You still don't accept your wrong!" The Girl let out as she glared at him while her face turned red.