Enrollment Begins

Because of this incident, the group lost all interest in continuing their shopping and had no choice but to return home disappointed.

For the next few days, Wutan City was peaceful and nothing major happened. The only incident was a sudden, earth-shattering explosion that rang out outside the city one day.

Because it wasn't too far from Wutan City, the sound could be heard by everyone in the city. When everyone rushed out of the city to investigate, they only saw that a frozen lake with a diameter of more than ten miles had appeared out of nowhere outside the city.

As time passed, the grand recruitment team from the Jia Nan Academy finally arrived in Wutan City.

Although the Jia Nan Academy team was staying in Wutan City, their recruitment area also included some nearby cities. During this period, Wutan City was bustling with people, inns were fully booked, and innkeepers made a fortune. The city was full of young faces who came from afar to participate in the assessment.

On the day the enrollment began, before dawn, Huo Yuhao led all the eligible members of the Xiao Clan who had reached the Dou Zhe level to the enrollment square. However, even so early, most of the square was already occupied by a dense crowd, and some impatient people had even set up camp there the previous evening.

When the Xiao Clan family arrived, the noise in the square subsided. The locals of Wutan City, including members of the two families, Jia Lie and Aoba, who were once the three major families, spontaneously made way for them.

"Hey, who are they? Such a big entourage!" People from other cities asked the locals.

"Hey, you just don't understand, do you?" The local puffed out his chest, a proud expression on his face. "They're from the Xiao Clan family, the number one family in Wutan City. And the Xiao Clan family patriarch is a Dou Ling powerhouse!"

"Hey, I remember Wutan City had three major families, right? Where did this number one family come from?" The out-of-town passerby had some knowledge of the power dynamics in Wutan City.

"You know nothing!" A local passerby retorted rudely, "The era of the three great families is long gone. Ever since the Xiao Clan family patriarch broke through to the Dou Ling level, he has used ruthless methods to force the other families' businesses to retreat one after another. This Wutan City is now ruled by the Xiao Clan."

"What about the other two major families? Jia Lie Clan and the Ao Ba Clan just going to watch?" asked the outsider, C, with a puzzled look.

A local passerby lowered his voice and continued his explanation, "Resistance? Of course they resisted! But was it even useful? Let's not even talk about how those two family heads combined couldn't be a match for the Xiao Clan family patriarch. Just a few days ago, the Jia Lie Clan secretly leaked information that they had found a way to fight the Xiao Clan, but guess what happened?"

"How is it?" The people around craned their necks.

A local passerby took a sip of water to moisten his throat, then looked around and slowly said, "The Xiao Clan only sent forty-nine clansmen, yet they forced the Jia Lie and Aoba families to surrender and become their complete vassals."

"How do you know so much about this? Could it be that you are..., brother?" The out-of-town passersby looked on with curiosity.

"Hmph!" A local passerby raised his chin, looking down at everyone with smugness, his voice filled with pride. "You guessed right, it's my uncle's aunt's..."

The out-of-town passerby didn't join their conversation. Instead, he glared sharply at Huo Yuhao, the leader of the Xiao Clan family, and muttered under his breath, "This guy in charge, humph, he looks so arrogant."

A local passerby overheard his whisper and immediately scoffed, "You mean him? He's a child the Xiao Clan family patriarch picked up; he's not very talented."

"Lack of talent?"

"That's for sure!" a local passerby analyzed earnestly. "The Xiao Clan has always made him handle all sorts of mundane matters; he must lack the talent to be chosen, which is why he was sent to manage the Xiao Clan's businesses."

"As for why the Xiao Clan family follows him so closely, it's only because he's lucky enough to be adopted by Xiao Zhan, the strongest man in Wutan City." It turns out that this local passerby is actually a fan of Xiao Zhan.

"Hmph! Most of these scions of powerful families are just pretty faces piled up with resources! They're all show and no substance, with hardly any real skills. Jia Nan Academy would never consider such trash!" The out-of-town passerby said indignantly.

"Achoo! Achoo!" Huo Yuhao, who was talking with Yao Chen in his Spiritual Sea, sneezed twice without warning, completely unaware that his behavior was being interpreted as "arrogance."

Xiao Yan, who was following closely behind Huo Yuhao, had a face as black as the bottom of a pot, clearly indicating that he was not in a good mood.

"Brother Xiao Yan, what's wrong?" Behind him, Xiao Xun'er peeked out with a bright smile.

Xiao Yan's eyes remained fixed on Huo Yuhao, and he gritted his teeth as he said:

"That Huo Yuhao actually came to brag to me yesterday, saying he broke through to the Two-Star Great Dou Master! It made me lose focus on cultivation and prevented me from breaking through to Dou Master before the assessment!"

"Come on, you've only been Nine-Star Dou Zhe for a short time. If you want to break through again, it'll take at least another month!" As soon as Huo Yuhao finished his conversation with Yao Chen and returned to his body, he heard Xiao Yan's complaint and couldn't help but retort, "It doesn't matter if it's just one night. Besides, as far as I know, you didn't cultivate last night; you were fiddling with the medicinal herbs you bought from the Mittel Auction House."

Xiao Yi Xian was also in the Xiao Clan family's group, standing next to Xiao Xun'er, her expression equally grim. "Brother Huo Yuhao, I just heard someone cursing at you!"

"Don't worry about it."

The sun slowly emerged, and the crowd in the square was already restless. If the city lord hadn't sent troops to maintain order, there probably would have been a lot of chaos.

Only then did the teachers and students in charge of admissions arrive, belatedly, and bring out the testing equipment. The lead teacher glanced across the dense crowd and spoke loudly:

"I'll reiterate: anyone who hasn't reached the Eighth Stage Dou Qi before the age of eighteen, please leave. Jia Nan Academy will not make exceptions! Those who boast of their superior combat strength and claim they can defeat opponents at the Eighth Stage Dou Qi, please come back after you've broken through to the eighth level."

The voice carried an undeniable authority, and the entire square fell silent instantly. Before long, many young men and women dejectedly slipped out.

Without further ado, the army maintaining order and the Canaan Academy students quickly organized the remaining people into twenty long lines. At the front of each line, two senior students were responsible for testing their cultivation levels.

"Huh, are we testing cultivation level directly?" Xiao Yan looked surprised. "Shouldn't we test age first, then cultivation level?"

Huo Yuhao had already proactively inquired about this beforehand, and he explained, "Because there are more examinees who are hoping to get away with something based on their cultivation level than their age. Testing their cultivation level first, and then testing their age after they pass, can effectively reduce the workload."

"I see." Xiao Yan nodded, seemingly lost in thought. "How about I test it first?"

"Huh? Xiao Yan, didn't you always say the protagonist should appear last?" Xiao Yi Xian asked curiously, "Why is it different this time?"

Huo Yuhao's lips curled up. "He just intends to enjoy the feeling of being a genius for a while."