The central square of Wutan City was a sea of people that seemed to stretch endlessly, all of them here to participate in the Jia Nan Academy student selection.
The square was filled with a hubbub of noise, as countless young people pushed and shoved their way towards the center. At the edges of the square, troops dispatched by the City Lord's Mansion maintained order, holding back the excited crowd.
In every direction of the square, fully armed troops formed a cordon two or three layers deep, their cold, gleaming weapons reflecting the harsh sunlight.
This strict defense kept the applicants in line, forcing them to wait their turn for the selection. Even the scions of Wutan City's three major clans received no special treatment at this time.
But there were always exceptions. The City Lord's Mansion troops couldn't grant special privileges to the three great clans, but they dared not refuse the Miteer Auction House.
Under the guidance of a Miteer Auction House representative, Yan Qingshan, Xiao Yi Xian, and Xue Lan arrived at the rear of the square.
The Miteer Auction House representative spoke quietly with a military officer. After the officer cast a stern glance over the group, he waved his hand and barked, "Let them through!"
At the officer's command, the tightly packed ranks of soldiers parted with the clanking sound of armor, creating a narrow passage.
Yan Qingshan turned and smiled at Ya Fei, who was watching from the carriage, then led Xue Lan and Xiao Yi Xian through the human wall and into the selection queue.
Inside the large, makeshift tent in the center of the square, where the outside was a sea of people, were the young men and women who had passed the preliminary test.
Jia Nan Academy's student selection was aimed at young people; those over twenty generally lost their chance. So, the first step was to check bone age, preventing those over twenty from cheating.
Yan Qingshan and his group bypassed the first step thanks to the Miteer family's influence, heading straight for the tent, where young men and women were chatting and pointing at people outside.
These were likely official Jia Nan Academy students, accompanying their instructors to oversee the recruitment.
They were pointing at a group of young men and women sitting on the ground under the scorching sun. Sweat poured down their faces from the heat, but they looked restrained, probably new recruits who had just passed the outer test.
"You're here for the test!"
A young man stepped out from the crowd inside the tent, holding a fist-sized red crystal ball. "This is the academy's test crystal. Anyone with a cultivation of eight segments of Dou Zhi Qi or above can make it light up, indicating they've passed. Who's first?"
As he spoke, his eyes lingered on Xiao Yi Xian and Xue Lan, especially Xue Lan with her even more voluptuous figure. He handed the crystal to Xue Lan.
"Give it to me."
Yan Qingshan's hand moved lightly, intercepting the young man's wrist before he could react. With a gentle shake, the red crystal was in his palm, glowing brightly. Then, he passed it to Xue Lan and Xiao Yi Xian, and both of them made it light up.
"Here you go, is that alright?"
Yan Qingshan returned the red crystal to the young man, whose hand was still sore. Several other young men, who had been talking with him earlier, gathered around, looking hostile.
The young man didn't retaliate, merely took the crystal, glanced at Yan Qingshan, and then pointed to the young men and women sitting under the sun. "Congratulations on passing the preliminary test. For the second round, please wait outside for half an hour!"
"This is a test?"
Yan Qingshan didn't humor him, questioning him directly. He had no interest in playing games with these small fries.
"These are the rules!"
The young man's mouth twitched, but he was wary of Yan Qingshan's strength, having been completely helpless against him earlier, his wrist still throbbing.
Yan Qingshan put his hands behind his back and said calmly, "I don't think Jia Nan Academy instructors would set such so-called rules."
The young man sneered at Yan Qingshan. "You're defying the academy's recruitment rules! I might as well tell you, the recruitment instructors set this rule to teach arrogant people like you, who think they're invincible just because they have some strength, a lesson in manners."
Yan Qingshan's argument with the young man attracted a lot of attention. Many people came out of the tent, and the young men and women sitting outside also watched the commotion.
"What's going on? What are you doing!"
A rough voice rang out, and a burly, slightly overweight young man walked over, looking displeased at the crowd blocking the entrance.
"Senior Shi Kai!"
The young men around the first young man showed a hint of fear, greeting him cautiously.
"Lin Xu, aren't you in charge of recruitment? What's going on here!"
The young man named Shi Kai came to the side of the young man who had argued with Yan Qingshan and asked in a low voice, clearly annoyed that he had caused trouble.
Lin Xu gave Yan Qingshan a cold smile, then turned and complained, "Senior, I didn't deliberately cause trouble. These three passed the preliminary test, but they don't want to go out and sit in the sun. I explained that these are the rules set by the instructors, but they still refused to listen."
"Don't want to sit in the sun? Kid, you've never suffered, have you!"
Dou Qi surged from Shi Kai's body, forming a gauze-like armor. He was clearly a Dou Master.
"You don't want to go out? That's fine. These rules are optional anyway. As long as you can take three moves from me, you don't have to go out."
Shi Kai cracked his neck and flexed his fists, his joints popping. "Kid, you must have caught Lin Xu off guard, otherwise he would have attacked already.
But I'm going to teach you that having strength doesn't mean you can be arrogant in Jia Nan Academy. Let me teach you how to respect your seniors, or you'll suffer later and blame us."
"Utterly boring!"
Yan Qingshan's figure flickered, and the Jia Nan Academy students only saw a blur before he was in front of Shi Kai, his hand resting on Shi Kai's shoulder. There was nothing seemingly unusual, but Shi Kai collapsed like a toppled mountain.
"You, how dare you injure Senior Shi Kai..."
Lin Xu and the others were terrified, especially Lin Xu. He knew Yan Qingshan was strong, but he didn't expect him to be this terrifying.
Shi Kai was a veteran Dou Master, a top hundred expert in the Outer Academy, with a good chance of entering the Inner Academy this year.
Yet, he couldn't even withstand one move from Yan Qingshan. He had actually offended such a powerful expert.
Yan Qingshan didn't even glance at Lin Xu, merely looked down at Shi Kai and said calmly, "I think there are no more so-called rules, right?"
Shi Kai rubbed his shoulder and stood up, saying in a rough voice, "Since you defeated me, you naturally don't have to abide by those rules."