But today, her body only swayed slightly. Although her face turned even paler, her eyes remained unwavering.
She straightened her spine, ignoring the terrifying Aura that threatened to crush her very Soul, and repeated clearly once more: "Elder Xuan, you heard me correctly. I have decided that from today on, I am withdrawing from the Shrek Supervisory Group."
"Insolent!"
Xuan Zi was finally furious. He slammed his hand on the table, and the heavy desk, crafted from millennium-old sunken wood, was instantly covered in spiderweb-like cracks.
"Ling Luochen! What do you think the Supervision Team is? A place you can come and go as you please? Do you think this is playing house?!"
He stared at her intently, trying to find a trace of hesitation or regret on her face, but he failed.
On that stunningly beautiful face, there was only a sense of determination that felt foreign to him.
Xuan Zi suppressed the raging anger in his heart and forced himself to calm down.
He could not understand why an excellent Disciple who had always been proud of joining the Supervision Team would suddenly make such an absurd decision.
He began to try to "persuade" her using his usual methods.
"Are you trying to be a deserter?"
His voice became low and dignified: "Do you know that joining the Shrek Supervisory Group is the supreme honor that countless Inner Court Disciples dream of and cannot obtain?"
"Being able to fight for the glory and peace of Shrek, you should feel supreme luck! Yet now, you actually want to personally give up this hard-won opportunity? Are you worthy of the cultivation the academy has given you?!"
If these words had been spoken yesterday, they might have made Ling Luochen's blood boil and feel deeply ashamed.
But now, listening to them, there was only endless sarcasm.
Glory? Luck? Cultivation?
When she was surrounded by Evil Soul Masters and her life was hanging by a thread, where was this glory?
When she returned covered in pain and injuries, only to receive cold reprimands, where was this luck?
Is this really cultivation, or is it an unequal transaction paid for with life and youth?
Ling Luochen shook her head gently, her tone terrifyingly calm: "Elder Xuan, I have thought about it very clearly. I cannot bear this 'honor'."
Seeing that the "sense of honor" preaching was ineffective, Xuan Zi's face turned completely gloomy.
He narrowed his eyes, a dangerous cold light flashing deep within his murky pupils.
Since soft tactics wouldn't work, only coercion remained.
"Hmph, have you thought it through?"
Xuan Zi sneered, his tone filled with undisguised threats:
"But as the saying goes, a gentleman's word is as good as his bond."
"When you voluntarily applied to join the Shrek Supervisory Group, you already took an oath and signed an agreement."
"It is clearly written in the agreement that unless you have successfully completed thirty missions for the academy, you are absolutely not allowed to quit halfway for any reason!"
"Ling Luochen, if I remember correctly, you haven't completed thirty yet, right?"
"If you insist on going your own way today and force a withdrawal, that is openly violating your original oath and severely disrupting academy rules!" Xuan Zi's voice was like the cold wind of the twelfth lunar month, icy and bone-chilling. "According to the iron law of the Sea Gods Pavilion, for this kind of treacherous and disruptive behavior of yours, I have only one choice—"
He deliberately paused, spitting out the final verdict word by word: "That is, to expel you... from Shrek Academy!"
As the words fell, he watched Ling Luochen's expression with satisfaction.
In his view, this was the final and most fatal threat.
"Being expelled from Shrek Academy" was something no Shrek student could bear.
As long as Ling Luochen still wanted to stay in Shrek and cherished her identity as a "Shrek student," she would absolutely not dare to persist.
He had already spoken to this extent and given her a way out; she would surely obediently retract her stupid words, then apologize to him and beg for forgiveness.
Sure enough, upon hearing the words "expel you from Shrek Academy," Ling Luochen's face instantly became extremely ugly, one could even say pale as paper, devoid of any blood.
Because she had not expected Xuan Zi to use such methods to threaten her.
Seeing this, Xuan Zi was filled with the satisfaction of controlling everything and a cold sneer.
Little girl, you're still too naive.
Fighting me? You aren't qualified yet!
He picked up the wine pot, preparing to take a leisurely sip, waiting for her submission.
However, Ling Luochen's next words struck his crown like a bolt of lightning from the Nine Heavens, petrifying him on the spot and instantly freezing the smug smile on his face.
Just hearing Ling Luochen raise her head, that pale face actually bloomed with a look of determination.
Her expression was exactly the same as when Liu Yuan had rejected him!
"Since that's the case, then I choose—"
"Withdrawal!"