The elder overseeing the test spoke in a cold, merciless voice, each word striking Xiao Yan's heart like a heavy hammer. The entire Martial Arts Arena fell into a deathly silence, more piercing and hurtful than any mocking laughter. Like an invisible net, it wrapped tightly around Xiao Yan, leaving him nowhere to hide, only to suffocate within it.
A scalding rush of heat surged from Xiao Yan's chest to the top of his head. His face, his neck, even the skin hidden beneath his sleeves turned liver-purple in an instant. It was not the red of anger, but the blood-dark flush of utter shame.
Thousands upon thousands of gazes across the grounds became tangible arrows, riddling Xiao Yan's pitiful self-esteem with holes. He lowered his head and clenched his fists tight, his nails digging deep into his palms, yet he felt no pain at all.
At last, Xiao Yan stepped down from the testing platform. Every step felt as though he were treading on red-hot branding irons, heavy and agonizing. Up on the viewing dais, Xiao Zhan, the Xiao Clan's Clan Head, wore an expression so dark it seemed water might drip from it. The knuckles of his hands on the armrests had turned white with strain, and veins bulged along his arms.
An elder beside him, who had long been at odds with Xiao Zhan, had just curled his lips into a gloating smile and was about to offer a few cutting remarks when a mountain-like surge of Dou Qi pressure crashed down upon him! The elder's face instantly turned deathly pale. The words on his lips were forced back down his throat, fine beads of cold sweat seeped from his forehead, and he no longer dared utter a word.
Xiao Zhan looked at no one else. He