"Within the next few days you will be relieved of your duties to me."

The elven woman’s eyes snapped wide open, and her mouth hesitated to say anything in response. She was moments from speaking thereafter, However, she caught herself.

She closed her mouth shut, clenching her jaw and then her hands closed into fists.

Then, suddenly, Qianye watched as she lowered herself to her knees.

Her hands pressed flat over the dry wood, her body folded and her hair spread against her back, even over the ground. The ends of its length was soaked in his blood, and her forehead pressed penitently down before his bloodied feet.

"Kowtowing is not a respect of elven culture," Ouyang Qianye said evenly, his gaunt countenance sobered. "Why are you lowering yourself before me?"

"It is the only way that I—" her voice hesitated, cracking faintly in her penitence.

"My lord," her voice shook faintly, "this is the only way I can express my shame in failing you. To have allowed that assassin to sneak in here and nearly kill you while you recovered is a grave mistake that I have no excuse for."

The nails of her hands—all elven hands—were sharp, as if shaven to the points of spears. Thus, as her hands drew into a faint clench, the grate of them dragging through the wood resounded.

"And for my insolence in keeping the truth to such a grave secret of mine from you." She took a breath that he heard clearly in the yard that had finally begun welcoming itself to silence, "I have nothing else to offer in atonement besides this bow, my confessions, and contrition. Whatever punishment you deem fitting, I am prepared to endure."

Ouyang Qianye’s expression remained as still as an undisturbed lake, and he asked, "When have I ever punished you, woman? I may have been indifferent and dismissive, however beyond such coldness has there ever been an instance?"

"There... has not."

"So, is it that you are looking to be punished?" His expression remained even as he asked.

"..."

"If you are angry, and disappointed in me, then yes, I beg that you punish or scold me." Her voice quivered, and then he heard her take a breath. "And I swear such a failure will never happen again."

The tattered curtain fluttered faintly in the breeze. The sounds of bird wings fluttering beyond the shack hummed between them.

"All I hope is that you might calm your anger and reconsider dismissing me back to the slave chambers."

Qianye sighed faintly, and said, "Raise your head."

For a moment, she did not respond, and honestly, he understood her reluctance.

’Those slave chambers,’ he took a slightly deeper breath, reminded of the circumstances of living there for them, ’going back there, for as long as she is not picked up by another core disciple, with her races quality of constitution she will be sent to be used by the alchemists for extracting her blood.’

Already thinking of this, his mind naturally pivoted to the reality that less quality slaves face.

Amongst the worst of them, they wouldn’t even be Graded and allowed to be assigned. They would be sent to the mines or the pleasure quarters for the disciples use. This it was not something limited to the female servants, with even the males being taken and used for the liberties of female disciples.

Worse yet for her, elves who were deemed worth more than being simply used as alchemy supplements more often had it much worse in these cases.

Then she slowly lifted her torso, and her expression was strained with reluctance. Her eyelids had fallen low, she had bitten her lips thin and her brows were pinched faintly.

"Look at me."

She had raised her head, however she did not get up from her knees, and her hands remained clenched over her dirtied servants dress. Her long hair was being wet with more of his blood behind her, and so were her robes.

"I am not angry with you, and neither am I disappointed in you." Then he shook his head as he said, "However, as things stand there is no changing the fact you will be relieved of your duties to me."

Her eyes widened a little briefly, and then they lowered once more. She clutched her dress tighter, and lowered her head once more.

"My lord if it is about my secrecy," The voice that whispered out of her was supplicant, and her head rose hesitantly, revealing the forlorn distress in her eyes, "I am willing to tell you the truth about everything... just please, reconsider."

Qianye sighed through his whole body, and for several moments he remained silent as he watched her lower herself into that faultless bow before him, unbothered by the blood that stained her hair, feet and dress.

All Core Disciples of the sect were granted one or two servants to tend to them at all times. How many you got depended first of all on one’s contributions towards the sect and second of all, on preference. Some, like Ouyang had only chosen one, and others had taken two.

Amongst the servants that the sect offered, there were three different grades: Mortal, Awakened and Golden.

The grade of one that a core disciple could choose was dependent on contribution points. And the servants status was tied to their skills, capabilities, knowledge and all such factors that made them into the ideal servant.

The elf with her head pressed in such a perfect bow, was not someone that Chu Xuan would have been able to meet soon in the story if the backdoor of Ouyang Qianye did not exist. Simply defeating Qianye and taking his status as a core disciple did not mean that he was automatically promoted to being second rank or possessing high contribution points. It would have taken Chu Xuan a long time to rack up enough to take her normally.

After all, she was Golden grade.

At this grade, she had been thoroughly trained in multiple different languages, was capable of serving as an alchemy assistant, medical assistant, and was extremely well learned in history, music, survival, etiquette, arts, mystical culinary work and artifact maintenance. They were literally the whole package.

And as much as humanity hated elves, their lifespan, learning capabilities and overall condition as a race at their baseline were much better than humans. So, they made for some of the best and most coveted servants out there, especially as they were very rare to find on these continents.

Having thought through all of this, Ouyang Qianye finally spoke:

"You seem to be sorely underestimating the consequences of the situation that I am in."

She still did not raise her head.

"I was able to bring you in because of my status as a core disciple, and thanks to the contribution points that I had saved up. However..."

As he trailed off briefly, she began to raise her head, her eyes a little wider in realisation of what he was getting at.

"I am no longer a core disciple." Then he spread his arms wide and laughed, "And have you not seen the corpse I’m walking in?"