The next morning.
After breakfast, Lu Fan took Hei Wa and left the inn, heading straight for the Lingyuan Plaza in the north of the city.
Today's preliminary assessment was set to take place there.
Upon their arrival, the Plaza was already packed with people.
Tens of thousands of Cultivators had gathered, either to watch or to send off participants, creating a bustling and magnificent scene.
"Good heavens, Fan Ge, there are just too many people!" Hei Wa exclaimed, wide-eyed.
Lu Fan's heart also stirred slightly as his gaze swept over the dense crowd, feeling a surge of excitement.
But then, he suddenly glimpsed a few familiar figures to his right, and his heart tightened.
"Not good!" he whispered, pulling Hei Wa without hesitation, "Let's go!"
All other areas were cordoned off, leaving only one entrance for the examinees to enter.
They were only a hundred meters from that entrance.
Hei Wa looked back as he ran, and his face instantly changed.
Tan Cheng's four guards had indeed spotted them and were pushing through the crowd with ferocious expressions, chasing them with all their might!
"Fan Ge, they're catching up!"
"Don't look back, run!"
The hundred-meter distance was covered in an instant.
At the entrance stood two White-robed Youths, with a mountain-peak shaped sect emblem embroidered on their chests, their expressions arrogant.
Seeing the two running, the long-faced Youth on the left coldly reprimanded, "This is an important place for the Lingyuan Sect! How dare you make such a commotion and run! What kind of decorum is this! Where are your assessment tokens?"
Lu Fan suppressed his gasps, calmly handing over his token, and Hei Wa quickly followed suit.
The long-faced Youth scanned the tokens, then impatiently waved his hand, "Go in."
"Thank you, Senior Brother," Lu Fan nodded in acknowledgment.
The Youth, however, snorted, "As you are now, you are not yet qualified to call me Senior Brother."
Lu Fan's eyes narrowed slightly, and without further words, he pulled the visibly displeased Hei Wa and quickly stepped into the Plaza.
"Pah! What a piece of work!" Hei Wa couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "Isn't he just a doorman? What's he being so arrogant about!"
"Say less," Lu Fan shook his head, "When we have strength, he naturally won't dare to act like this."
As he spoke, he looked back at the entrance.
The four guards were indeed stopped outside the barrier, staring intently at them.
The one who had been knocked unconscious by Hei Wa yesterday even raised his hand and made a throat-slitting gesture at Lu Fan.
Lu Fan's heart sank.
These guys, it seemed, had completely fixated on them.
Hei Wa also saw the gesture, and a look of guilt appeared on his dark face: "Fan Ge, I'm sorry, I dragged you into this..."
Lu Fan raised his hand and patted his arm, smiling, "Don't say that if we're brothers. Besides, I don't like them much either."
His gaze swept over the four guards, his voice steady: "As long as we pass the assessment today and enter the Lingyuan Sect, they won't be able to do anything to us."
"Right!" Hei Wa's spirits lifted, "We'll definitely pass!"
No sooner had he spoken than another person entered through the entrance.
Dressed in luxurious clothes, with a gloomy expression, it was Tan Cheng!
He spotted Lu Fan and Hei Wa at once, his face instantly contorted, and his eyes erupted with almost tangible malice and killing intent.
"You two... damn bumpkins!" He practically squeezed the words through clenched teeth.
Along the way, the hushed sneers and whispers all repeated his embarrassing display from yesterday.
Being scared to pee in public, being kicked over... this immense humiliation was all thanks to these two in front of him!
Lu Fan snorted coldly, stepped forward, and looked directly at him: "What, do you want to make a move here?"
Tan Cheng trembled with rage, his fists clenched tight, knuckles white, but he ultimately didn't dare to act.
On one hand, he knew he was no match for Lu Fan, especially with the immensely strong Hei Wa beside him;
On the other hand, to act here would be tantamount to ruining his own future, violating the rules of the Lingyuan Sect, and even his elder brother couldn't protect him.
He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the surging killing intent, his gaze like a venomous snake raking over their faces, his voice hoarse:
"You two just wait... I will make you repay yesterday's humiliation tenfold, a hundredfold! I will make you... wish for death but unable to die, wish for life but unable to live!"
After uttering this venomous growl, he violently flicked his sleeve and turned to walk towards the assessment waiting area.
Lu Fan stared at his retreating back, a cold glint flashing in his eyes, his Master's warning echoing in his mind.
"If an enmity has been formed, you must strike first, cut the grass by the roots, and eliminate future troubles."
He was confident he could kill Tan Cheng, but definitely not here.
He slowly exhaled a turbid breath, suppressed the killing intent in his heart, and said to Hei Wa, "Let's go, first focus on the assessment."
In the waiting area, more than three thousand young men and women had already gathered, all between the ages of ten and twenty, all Cultivators who had come to participate in the assessment.
As soon as Tan Cheng arrived, he was immediately surrounded by a group of fawning young men and women, like stars orbiting the moon.
Most of the others also formed small circles in groups of three or five.
Only Lu Fan and Hei Wa stood alone at the edge, appearing out of place.
Lu Fan paid no attention to this, closing his eyes to rest his mind.
Hei Wa was even more carefree, directly sitting cross-legged on the ground and actually began to Cultivate on the spot.
The actions of the two drew many sideways glances and whispers, with most of the gazes filled with disdain and contempt, as if they were looking at two uncivilized bumpkins.
Lu Fan acted as if he hadn't heard, his mind calm.
Two hours quietly passed amidst the buzzing discussions.
Dong...
Until a grand and resounding bell suddenly rang throughout the Plaza, silencing all the clamor.
The preliminary assessment officially began...