The mountain wind howled in his ears.
Pushing his Three-Stage Charge footwork to its limit, Shi Hou crossed the final ridge and at last saw the finish line for the eighth testing zone.
A sea of people.
A vast White Jade Platform was packed with people. At a rough glance, there were at least eight or nine thousand.
Disciples of various clans, independent cultivators, and scions of great families mingled together, making as much noise as a marketplace.
"I passed the test fair and square! I'd already reached the finish line before the rune formation disappeared!"
"The rune bones were all dug out, so of course the formation collapsed. How does that count as passing?"
"I don't care! I got in, and that's that! You made the rules, and the formation was yours. It's not my problem that it's gone!"
Several Heaven Mending Pavilion stewards were surrounded, their faces alternating between livid and pale.
The Gray-Haired Elder leading them shouted himself hoarse trying to maintain order.
Shi Hou scanned the crowd.
In a corner, Shi Qingfeng sat with Ermeng, Dazhuang, and Snot Boy behind a large boulder. All four looked calm, utterly out of place amid the surrounding chaos.
Shi Hou did not go over to greet them.
This was no time to catch up.
Shi Hou turned toward Kang on his shoulder.
"Can you sense where Little One is?"
Black Pig half-opened one beady eye and sniffed around, then gave several low grunts.
The pig's head shook firmly from side to side.
Shi Hou frowned.
Kang's meaning was clear: the testing grounds were covered in complex formations, with all sorts of auras overlapping. Kang's senses were severely restricted, making it impossible to pinpoint Shi Hao.
"Squeak!"
A gray flash shot out of the treetops to his left, and a