Han Shanshan

Seeing this, Bai Wei was briefly stunned before a gloating smile spread across his face.

Flicking his folding fan, he leisurely strolled up to Tiger Minister and lowered his voice with a cold laugh. "Heh heh, Dan Tiger Minister, looks like your disciple is finished. In the Sacred Land, everyone knows Martial Uncle Han has always been strict. She cannot tolerate even the slightest flaw."

Tiger Minister's expression shifted several times, turning pale, then green, while his heart remained deeply unsettled.

He did not know this Martial Uncle Han. After all, he had been away from Sacred Pill City for ten years, and he knew nothing of the personnel changes within the tower during that time.

But Jian Chengzhang's attitude already explained everything. Anyone who could make his senior brother so respectful, nearly fearful, was certainly no ordinary figure.

What was more, judging from Bai Wei's words, this Martial Uncle Han was famed throughout the Sacred Land for being harsh and demanding. Would Yao Chen run into trouble inside?

When it rained, it poured. Running into that bastard Bai Wei was already unlucky enough, and now this strange Martial Uncle Han had appeared as well.

Tiger Minister clenched his fists and stared fixedly at the Yellow Character Gate, his heart in turmoil.

Second by second, time passed, and the atmosphere in the hall gradually became strange.

Jian Chengzhang stood respectfully to one side, occasionally glancing toward the Yellow Character Gate, a faint trace of worry between his brows.

Bai Wei, meanwhile, kept waving his folding fan with a radiant expression, occasionally sweeping Tiger Minister with mocking looks. His gloating demeanor was enough to make one's teeth itch with hatred.

Before long, the Mysterious Character Gate opened first.

Lin Yu emerged from within, his steps steady and expression calm, as though he had merely taken a stroll inside and casually completed an utterly ordinary task.

A little later, the two young men brought by Bai Wei also emerged together.

They held their heads high and strode with confidence, broad smiles hanging on their faces.

Walking up to Bai Wei, they deliberately raised their voices so everyone in the hall could hear clearly. "Sixth grade, passed."

As soon as they spoke, the two removed the old badges from their chests in front of everyone and replaced them with two gleaming new silver sixth-grade badges.

Under the light of the Moonlight Stone, the badges shone brightly. The two deliberately puffed out their chests, letting the badges sway before everyone's eyes several more times. It was obvious that they were showing off in public at Bai Wei's instruction.

Bai Wei nodded in satisfaction, lightly waving his folding fan as he cast a provocative glance at Tiger Minister.

Yet to his disappointment, Tiger Minister did not show the embarrassment he had expected, because Lin Yu had also successfully passed the test.

Just then, the Yellow Character Gate opened as well.

Yao Chen ran out at top speed, an indescribable bitter smile on his face.

"Heh heh, judging from that expression, there's no need to ask."

Seeing Yao Chen's bedraggled appearance, Bai Wei immediately felt at ease. He could not help but sneer, pointing his folding fan at Yao Chen, his mockery plain for all to see.

Before his laughter could echo through the hall, a thunderous boom erupted from the direction of the Yellow Character Gate!

A black shadow burst out from the gate amid a scorching wave of air, shooting straight at Yao Chen like an arrow loosed from a bow.

"Martial Uncle... please show mercy!" Jian Chengzhang's face drained of color, his heart nearly leaping from his throat.

What was going on? Had this kid offended Martial Uncle during the test?

That would be a disaster of colossal proportions!

"Move!" Han Shanshan casually waved her hand, and a soft force pushed Jian Chengzhang aside.

She did not have the time to bother with anyone else. Her eyes remained fixed on Yao Chen, and her voice carried both urgency and an overbearing command that brooked no refusal. "Hey, kid, why did you run so fast just now? I think we can test sixth grade. Come on, come on!"

Yao Chen was forced back again and again, the bitter smile on his face growing even stronger.

He raised both hands in surrender, doing his best to make his tone sound sincere without being offensive. "Senior, I only need a high-tier fifth-grade badge. Sixth grade doesn't mean much to me. My big brother, on the other hand, can test seventh grade."

The instant those words fell, the entire hall went silent.

Bai Wei's smile froze on his face, and the folding fan in his hand stopped in midair as though someone had cast a paralysis spell on him.

Jian Chengzhang's eye twitched violently as he looked at Yao Chen as if he were some madman who knew neither heaven nor earth.

Tiger Minister opened his mouth, wanting to say something, only to find that his ability to speak had temporarily failed him.

Even the two young men who had just received their sixth-grade badges and had been brimming with pride stood frozen in place, their confidence shattered by those words.

What did he mean by "sixth grade doesn't mean much to me"?

What did he mean by "my big brother can test seventh grade"?

Han Shanshan was also slightly stunned, but instead of becoming angry, she laughed.

She threw back her head and laughed. Her laughter was crisp and pleasant, yet it carried a chill that made one's spine go cold.

She looked Yao Chen up and down with great interest. "Heh heh, kid, you're finished! But you've got guts! Also, who's your big brother?"

Hearing this, Yao Chen did not hesitate in the slightest to point toward Lin Yu in the distance, eager to rid himself of this troublesome nuisance.

The gesture was clean and decisive, without the slightest hesitation.

Brothers were meant to take the knife for each other at critical moments.

Han Shanshan followed the direction of Yao Chen's finger, her gaze landing on Lin Yu.

She looked Lin Yu up and down, a trace of surprise flashing through her eyes.

She had noticed this young man the moment she entered the hall.

Everyone else had shown some discomfort beneath the fiery pressure she released, but this youth alone had remained completely calm from beginning to end, as though her flames were nothing more than a warm breeze brushing his face.

"Hey, you there. This guy's your disciple, right? I'm borrowing him!"

An unfathomable curve rose at the corner of Han Shanshan's lips.

The moment she finished speaking, she sharply flicked her sleeve. Vast battle qi surged out, transforming into a dense black wind that wrapped around both Lin Yu and Yao Chen.

The two of them were swept away just like that by a gust of black wind.

Jian Chengzhang stood there blankly, his lips moving soundlessly for a long time before he finally recovered.

He turned dazedly toward Tiger Minister, his face full of complicated emotions. After a long while, he finally forced out a sentence. "Junior Brother... this, perhaps, maybe... is a good thing?"

"Senior Brother?" Tiger Minister also looked utterly dumbfounded. An expression known as "helpless confusion" appeared on his fierce face for perhaps the first time.

Bai Wei's face alternated between green and pale, and the triumphant smile he had worn moments ago had long vanished.

His two disciples had indeed received sixth-grade badges, but the other side had opened with "test seventh grade" and had even been personally chased down by Martial Uncle Han. The difference was obvious at a glance.

His folding fan creaked in his grip, and his face darkened until it seemed ready to drip water.

Meanwhile, Feng Xian, who had silently watched from the corner all this time, was completely disheveled inside.

His lips trembled as one hand reached toward the direction where the black wind had vanished. He wanted to cry out, only to discover that he could not make a sound at all.

The two people he regarded as his pillars had been carried off like chicks!

He instinctively lifted a foot, intending to chase after them, but it stopped in midair.

Chase? Where was he supposed to chase? That was someone even Elder Jian had to bow and scrape before. What could he do even if he caught up?

Still, what had Elder Jian said just now? This was perhaps, maybe, a good thing?