Chapter 59: Nocturnal Beasts

William quickly did the math. If one Mana Stone was worth a thousand Gold Coins, then the Sect was giving out 1225 Mana Stones. That was over a million Gold Coins per month!

William felt his decision to join the Sect was a good one. Well...he didn't have much of a choice.

"Hey you, are you here for this evening's lecture?" a voice sounded from behind.

William turned around to see a middle-aged man with long black hair that even covered most of his face. If it weren't for the Elder's robes, William would have thought he was a homeless man begging for coin.

"Uh..no, what lecture?" he asked.

"Tonight I am teaching a class on nocturnal beasts. Would you like to join?" the Elder asked.

William thought for a moment. He didn't have anything to do tonight so he agreed. "I would love to, but I am a new disciple and I was told I should go to the Lecture Hall in two days for my first class with Elder Wen."

The Elder laughed. "I haven't introduced myself have I? I'm Elder Wen. Yes normally the introductory class should be your first but I don't mind. Come join, I'll even waive your attendance fee this one time." he urged. Elder Wen always appreciated an eager student.

William nodded. "Thank you Elder."

Elder Wen opened the doors to the Lecture Hall for William, who stepped inside and took a seat at one of the chairs available in the middle. The room reminded William of a College lecture room, which could seat hundreds of students and had a large stage where the Professor would teach the class.

He seemed to be the first in the room, but within half an hour the capacity of the building was full of Outer Core Disciples. Many Disciples seemed to form groups that resembled a clique, which William swore to stay away from. Nothing good would come from joining a group like that.

He couldn't completely avoid trouble however.

William noticed a girl from an all-female group point at him then whisper a few words to her friends with a smile while still looking at him.

A boy around the same age saw the interaction and clenched his fists with rage. William guessed the guy had a crush on the girl and would now scheme against Will behind his back.

Without an experienced team of Soul Formation Realm Cultivators, it can be nearly impossible to defeat at night. But it has two weaknesses. Can anyone guess one?"

This time Glen raised his hand. "Fighting it during the day?"

"You're half right. One of the Luminous Panther's weaknesses is to use light against it. This can be in the form of daylight, or light from a spell. Anything works except the moonlight, which is the source of a Luminous Panther's power.

The other weakness of a Luminous Panther is its ability to turn. The mark on its forehead serves as the point of origin for its signature move, a massive ray of light that will burn you to a crisp before you can say "Cultivate". The light ray can be easily dodged though by getting close to the beast and running a circle around it to the left or right until it runs out of energy.

Easier said than done of course, but with the proper team, you can use this to cause serious damage."

Elder Wen noticed some Disciples dozing off and decided it was time. He nodded to an assistant close by, who then left the room in a hurry.

The Disciples were left perplexed by the interaction, but their confusion changed to surprise when a 6-foot raccoon in a cage was wheeled onto the stage.

Elder Wen smiled and pointed at a male Disciple that fell asleep. "Let's see if you've been paying attention. Come on up."

The male Disciple named Kori was wrought with fear when he realized the Elder was pointing in his direction. He was up all night with his friends and thought he could get away with a quick nap. He was terrified, but there didn't seem to be an option to say no.

Kori's legs wobbled as he got up on stage and faced the giant raccoon. The beast looked at him, then smiled with disdain upon realizing the kid's Cultivation of Foundation Establishment 4 was lower than its by two stages, being at Foundation Establishment 6.

The assistant set up a barrier to prevent the other students from receiving injuries, then stepped inside to keep a close eye on Kori.

"Thank you, assistant Wei." Elder Wen nodded to his assistant. He looked back at Kori, then spoke the rules. "You will defeat this beast without being hurt. If you take any damage during the fight, you will be deducted 100 Contribution Points for falling asleep during my class. Understood?"

Kori seemed to expect this, having taken one of Elder Wen's classes before. He nodded his head with a slight tear in his eye.

The assistant opened the raccoon's cage and stepped aside. The raccoon sauntered out, lazily licking its paw as if telling Kori it didn't acknowledge his existence.

Elder Lin faced the two with his hand raised in the air. His hand made a swift slicing motion downward. "Begin!"