The next morning, Xia Mo lounged in the sun by the door as usual. Checking the time, he got to his feet and exhaled a breath of stale air. The Selection Competition still had to continue; it was time to head for the square. Though with his strength, it was merely a formality, it was one he still had to go through.
Xia Mo and Xiao Yi Xian had already taken their seats. His gaze swept across the square and landed on the best seat at the center of the stands. Four elderly men with white hair and beards were seated there today. Although their auras were almost no different from those of ordinary old men, Xia Mo's gaze settled on them first. Others might not have sensed anything, but with his exceptional soul perception, he could vaguely detect occasional ripples in the space around them. Such spatial fluctuations could only occur when the Dou Qi within one's body had reached a certain extreme and resonated with the surrounding space.
Xia Mo recognized two of them: Hu Gan, the vice president of Jia Nan Academy's Outer Academy, and Elder Huo from the Alchemy Department. He had never seen the other two.
As Xia Mo studied the four simply dressed elders, they suddenly seemed to sense something. Their previously languid eyes lifted, and their cloudy gazes met Xia Mo's directly. The instant their eyes met, Xia Mo felt a faint pain in his eyes. His Dou Qi began to circulate, his pupils turning violet-gold, and a wisp of Golden Flame flashed through his eyes. Only then did the pain gradually fade. Startled, he quickly withdrew his gaze.
"Hm?" When that wisp of Golden Flame flashed through Xia Mo's eyes, the four elders all let out quiet exclamations. Three of them exchanged