By the time everyone returned to Mingdu aboard the Jing Hongchen Airship, it was already dusk, but that did nothing to dampen their enthusiasm.
With a grand wave of his hand, Jing Hongchen announced that, to celebrate the new students' imminent enrollment, Lin Jiayi was permitted to take all the students out to enjoy Mingdu's Night Market for the entire night, with the dean footing the bill!
The Hongchen Siblings and the other students cheered excitedly. Even those who had never met Xu Tianxi before now felt more favorably toward him.
Xu Tianxi himself was personally escorted around by the exceptionally warm Dean Hongchen, who amiably asked him all sorts of questions.
"Little Xu, I've known your Senior Martial Uncle for a long time, but I still don't know much about your circumstances. Could you tell me about them? For example, what did you go through in the Xuanming Sect, and how did you end up leaving home?"
Xu Tianxi gazed at the various buildings of Mingdu, which were taking on their nighttime forms as evening approached. His expression looked rather tense.
"I learned of my mother's death before I awakened my Martial Soul. After that, I never took part in any of the Xuanming Sect's social activities again, devoting all my time to cultivation instead. As a result, I was on poor terms with most people in the Xuanming Sect. When the Head Matriarch, Xue Lingxun, reached an exchange of interests with Yan Shaozhe, they tried to wear down my will to cultivate.
I couldn't stand it, so I left the Xuanming Sect under the protection of an elder from the Xuanming Sect and an Elder servant my mother had brought with her before she died. Later, I first went to the Far North Land to obtain my Second