The past 24 hours for James had been a little lackluster. With a full day remaining before the final part of the exam began James just honed his skills with Noel sparring with her most of the day.

While this seemed like a simple thing to him Noel was very surprised by the progress James had been making. She already thought she had become accustomed to his bizarre rate of progress but now that he had gotten real-life training and experience his skills exploded once more.

"Did you hear?! Sworn Sect Disciple Zen is here! The powerful daughter of the Second Elder has finally come back!" A nearby Disciple shouted excitedly to his friend as he arrived at the training grounds.

Many of the people that had arrived from the forest went back to the sect to better prepare for the final and this Disciple seemed to be one of those people bringing massive news to the Disciples in addition to his own belongings.

'So the one everyone talks about has finally come back.' James thought to himself curiously. During his time in the sect, he had heard the stories about Zen Rosenberg.

She was apparently the golden child of the sect and the one that many people expect to send the sect into a future of prosperity.

Even people from higher sects like Noel had heard of Zen before due to her winning many martial tournaments in her travels. Nobody knew her current rank but from people's guesses, she could already take on her father the Second Elder relatively easily if she desired.

"Are you interested in her?~" Noel asked dangerously as they paused their training for a moment. James felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up when Noel said those words and even the Qi inside him was warning him not to say the wrong thing.

However, James never had the intention of saying the wrong thing or was even remotely interested. He had found the two women he was going to spend his life with and he was content with that.

"Not at all let's keep going." James said with a smile before they continued until the day of the final.

*****

Back at the sect, there was a commotion with Zen's return. Many were shocked she had returned so soon and hadn't expected her for a few more months.

The reason for her early return was due to her defying expectations and finishing her project early.

Currently, Cara was walking out of her house and walking through the Sworn Sword Disciple area to go meet her.

The two were widely considered to be the strongest Disciples in the entire sect and that was for good reason. Cara had already proven that she had the ability to almost stand toe to toe with the elders before but now that she had been empowered by the black Qi there was no telling where her strength landed.

Since the two shared this higher title they had become somewhat acquainted and even friends to some degree.

"Cara is that you?!" A girl in the distance shouted bringing Cara out of her daze and looking across the street to see a tall girl.

"Zen?!" Cara said in surprise and happiness making her way over to the girl. Zen was a taller girl standing around 6'1 with a slender frame and medium bust.

However, the most impressive thing about her features were the defined muscles all over her body from the intense training she put her body through in addition to cultivating.

Unlike the normal Disciple robes, she wore a crop top that clearly showed her defined abs and beautiful body.

"It's so good to see you!~ I was wondering when I would finally see someone halfway decent. When I'm in charge of this place lots of these lazy people will be the first to be kicked out!" Zen said grumbling as she greeted Cara.

Cara laughed at this since she knew how Zen felt about people that were a lot weaker than her. In short, she despised them.

It would be one thing if the person was working hard to improve their strength like herself but when Zen saw people being lazy and not working toward becoming stronger she went insane.

"You seem to be the same as always. I suppose it's good the outside didn't change you." Cara said with a smile.

When Cara said this Zen suddenly had a suspicious look in her eyes before she squinted her eyes, looking closely at Cara, "You aren't acting like your normally would at all. You seem a lot more friendly and from what I can tell from your aura you're a lot stronger. I can't even read your cultivation level anymore." Zen said with increasing shock as she inspected Cara.

Cara was shocked by the revelation since she thought she had been acting as she always did and the only difference from the last time Zen was there was her current power level.

"Well... I guess there has been a change in my life. They might have changed me without me realizing." Cara said out loud as she reflected on what happened while Zen was away.

"They? So a person has made you like this?! You're telling me, Cara, the one who wouldn't talk to anyone in the sect except for me and the Elders even turning down the constant attempts of my brother was affected by someone else?" Zen asked in shock not believing the scene in front of her.

Cara had a red hue appear on her face as she smiled thinking about James. It wasn't the normal Tsundere smile people might expect that entailed embarrassment but instead an expecting smile as she thought about all the things she would do with James when they saw each other next.

Zen recognized this smile and was shocked beyond belief with her jaw even dropping a little, "What has this person done to you?! Where are they?!" Zen asked in a state of shock.

"He's doing the exam to become an inner disciple right now." Cara said not thinking about anything Zen was asking and instead focusing on her thoughts of James.

'AN OUTER DISCIPLE?!' Zen shouted in shock inside her mind.