"Thank you, Senior Fremont Skye!"


    Wilbur bowed to Fremont as he faded into golden dust, disappearing out of sight. "Ugh!" "Argh!"


    The eight ck Panthers spat out blood from the bacsh of the broken formation, copsing onto the ground. Wilbur nced at them, beforeing up to Perry and stretching out a hand. "Come on, get up."


    Perry chuckled. "I knew you were going to seed. No one else in the world is going to chance upon such fate."


    Wilbur helped Perry off the ground with a frown. "So, you knew I was going to pass the test?"


    "That''s right. I''d guessed it early on. What I didn''t expect, though, was that the Master had left a spirit imprint on the Nine Dragon Cauldrons."


    "How''d you know I was going to pass the test?"


    "I knew you were extraordinary from the first time I met you ten years ago. You have an aura nothing like I''ve ever seen before, as well as your tenacity."


    "Thank you. You were going to die if Senior Fremont hadn''t appeared just now, though. Were you going to just meet your fate without ever revealing that it was a test?"


    Perry said, "We all promised the Master that we would never reveal the secret of the test to the chosen one, even if we were going to die."


    "Not bad."


    Bernard got up then. "We would never reveal that it was a test. The Master saved us, and we pledged our lives to him."


    Wilbur nodded in realization. Perry and Bernard were indeed the ck Panthers. They only did what they were supposed to do and followed orders down to the dot. The test would lose its meaning if the person were tested knew about it beforehand.


    Wilbur let out a long breath. "Although you guys nearly killed me, I''d still like to thank you. I''ll keep looking for the Nine Dragon Cauldrons and I''ll do it following Senior Fremont''s rules. Thank you, ck Panthers."


    Wilbur bowed to the eight men. Despite the fact that they had definitely overstepped, the chosen one would not have emerged otherwise, and Wilbur had to respect them for it.


    After the ck Panthers had left, Wilbur came up to Ellen. Ellen had tears in her eyes, and she shook her head. "How did all this happen? Why?"


    Wilbur shrugged helplessly. "You knew I had no choice, Ellen. You didn''t have a choice, either."