First Place Was Mine!

Though that was what he thought, Du Yuanxiu did not say much. After all, the strength test was merely a threshold.

He immediately waved his hand and said, "Qualified. Next..."

Xu Ye gave Du Yuanxiu a slight nod before turning to leave.

He had not said that he wanted to hide his strength.

He simply felt that this was only a threshold test. There was no need to waste energy by going all out.

It was better to save his strength for actual combat.

After Xu Ye stepped down, he felt a cold gaze fixed on him.

When Xu Ye turned his head, he saw Zhao Heng staring at him as if he were the murderer of his father.

Xu Ye was speechless. Did he really have such a deep grudge against the other man?

But he could not be bothered with Zhao Heng. Everything could wait until after he passed the assessment.

Seeing this, Zhao Heng's expression darkened further. He had been ignored again?

"You damn brat, no matter where you crawled out from, you will never surpass me!" Zhao Heng said coldly, clenching his fists.

In his heart, he had already begun competing with Xu Ye.

It was not merely because he felt Xu Ye had made him lose face. More importantly, Xu Ye threatened his position.

He would never allow anyone his age to be stronger than him.

Especially not in front of Lin Yuyan. That made him even less able to tolerate it.

At that moment, Xu Ye returned to where he had been standing. Lin Yuyan looked at him for a long while before finally asking, unable to hold back any longer, "Who are you? Why have I never heard of you before?"

Xu Ye glanced at Lin Yuyan and said, "Xu Ye."

He could not be bothered to say another word beyond that.

Lin Yuyan: "..."

Seeing that Xu Ye had no intention of saying more, she actually felt a little disappointed.

She had taken the initiative to strike up a conversation, yet he could not be less interested. What kind of situation was this?

The testing continued. After the final person had finished, Du Yuanxiu stepped forward again and said, "The first round of assessment has ended. Next is the second round: actual combat."

"I will take you into the Demon Prison of our Demon-Suppression Bureau. There are many demons imprisoned there, and you will fight them inside."

The Demon Prison of the Demon-Suppression Bureau!

It held nothing but demons. It was unquestionably an extremely terrifying place.

Many people shuddered at the mere mention of it.

Xu Ye and the others, however, did not react much.

Soon, under the lead of Du Yuanxiu and Lü Tao, Xu Ye and the others were brought to a vast open space.

In the middle of that open space, Xu Ye found only one enormous entrance. There was nothing else.

Quite a few Demon-Suppression Guards from the Demon-Suppression Bureau stood guard around it.

This was clearly the Demon Prison of the Demon-Suppression Bureau.

Just standing there, they could feel a chill wash over them, making their entire bodies turn cold.

"So this is the Demon Prison of the Demon-Suppression Bureau?"

"I heard it's full of demons imprisoned below!"

"They're beasts that eat people without even spitting out the bones!"

In an instant, many people began discussing it.

Some had even begun to think of backing out.

After all, imagining something was one thing; truly coming into contact with it was another.

Xu Ye, on the other hand, had already killed a demon once before, so he had nothing to fear.

Du Yuanxiu gave them no chance to hesitate and said directly, "The second round is simple. Enter the Demon Prison. Within one hour, those who kill two demons will qualify. Everyone else will be eliminated."

"Of course, if you can hunt more demons inside, there will be rewards as well—but only first place will receive one."

"At the same time, I must warn you: once you enter the Demon Prison, the demons inside kill without batting an eye. Your life and death will be your own responsibility. If you wish to withdraw now, it is not too late."

Upon hearing this, quite a few people began to waver.

"I withdraw!"

"Me too!"

"I don't want to die!"

People quickly began choosing to withdraw.

A whole group followed suit.

After all, there were not many who were not afraid of death.

They wanted to enter the Demon-Suppression Bureau, but they needed to stay alive to do that!

Soon, the once bustling crowd had dwindled to fewer than a hundred people.

A great many had left at once.

Du Yuanxiu was not surprised by this. He seemed accustomed to it.

Every time, there were people who came in harboring wishful thinking, only to shrink back at the entrance to the Demon Prison.

That was perfectly normal.

Once he confirmed that no one else intended to withdraw, Du Yuanxiu immediately said, "The assessment begins now. You may enter the Demon Prison on your own."

As he spoke, he stepped aside.

At once, a demonic wind blew out from the entrance, making many people shiver.

Yet there were also bold people who charged in first.

With someone taking the lead, many others rushed inside after them.

At that moment, Zhao Heng walked up to Lin Yuyan. "Yuyan, shall we form a team? I'll make sure you pass the assessment."

The rules did not explicitly forbid teaming up, so this was tacitly allowed.

Those with strength could choose to form teams.

However, Lin Yuyan ignored Zhao Heng and looked toward Xu Ye instead. "Young Master Xu, would you like to form a team? When the time comes, I can give you the reward for first place."

It was not a sudden whim. She was simply far too curious about Xu Ye and intended to use the opportunity to learn more about him.

Seeing this, Zhao Heng's expression became even uglier.

It was one thing for Lin Yuyan to reject him, but she had actually taken the initiative to approach Xu Ye.

What did she take him for?

His gaze was so murderous that he wished he could carve Xu Ye up with a thousand blades on the spot.

Xu Ye was also somewhat surprised. He had not expected Lin Yuyan to approach him first.

Still, he shook his head. "No need. I alone am enough."

After saying that, he strode forward.

He had no desire to get tangled up in the complicated relationship between these two.

"Rejected?" Lin Yuyan was surprised as well.

She had never imagined that Xu Ye would reject her again and again.

That left her even more disappointed.

"Yuyan, you..." Zhao Heng still wanted to say something.

Lin Yuyan said, "No need to say more. I alone am enough."

After saying that, she too turned and headed toward the entrance.

Zhao Heng's face immediately darkened, and he felt as though his nose had been rubbed raw.

When you invited that brat, you certainly did not say you alone were enough.

Damn it!

Zhao Heng was half-dead with rage. Gritting his teeth, he said, "I'm taking first place. Not just anyone is worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as me!"

With that, he darted into the entrance.

At that moment, Xu Ye arrived at the entrance. Before he could enter, Du Yuanxiu stopped him.

"Uncle Du?" Xu Ye asked in confusion.

Du Yuanxiu said, "Once you enter the Demon Prison, do not hide your strength. If you can kill more demons, kill as many as you can."

Xu Ye was surprised. He had never intended to hide his strength.

After all, he knew very well that a place like the Demon-Suppression Bureau was not somewhere one needed to conceal one's abilities.

On the contrary, the more outstanding he appeared, the more training and resources he would receive.

After all, the greater his value, the more others would invest in him.

He simply did not understand why Du Yuanxiu was telling him this.

At the side, Lü Tao added, "The reward for first place is a first-rank martial skill."

The moment he heard that, Xu Ye's eyes lit up.

A first-rank martial skill was an extraordinarily precious thing, something with a price but no market.

It was also precisely what he needed most right now.

He had not expected it to be the reward for first place in the assessment. There was no reason for him not to take it.

"I understand. Thank you, Uncle Du." Xu Ye immediately cupped his fists.

Without Du Yuanxiu's reminder, he might have simply killed two demons and passed the assessment.

But now that Du Yuanxiu had reminded him, things were different.

First place was his!

That first-rank martial skill was his too!