Chapter 55: Showing Up, Sand Iron's Recruitment

Everyone felt their vision blur as a dark shadow seemed to flash past, followed immediately by a deafening roar.

A figure appeared in the center of the woods, standing tall with a youthful appearance and a trace of coldness on his face.

The young man and woman who had originally wanted to approach Lin Fang were startled. They stumbled backward by a large distance, panic on their faces as they cast their gazes toward the newcomer.

"Huncang?!" Recognizing his face, the girl let out an involuntary exclamation.

She had just mentioned him casually, never expecting that Huncang would actually be nearby.

Doesn't that mean he had heard everything she said just now?

"Don't be afraid," the young man turned his head to comfort her. "Everyone around here is looking for Huncang. For him to dare show his face is practically walking right into a trap; he won't have any time to bother with us. Once we find an opportunity later, we'll slip away."

A flicker of light seemed to cross the girl's eyes, and she clearly agreed with the young man's words.

As long as they could leave this place, they would find somewhere to hide. Only one last day remained until the time limit ended; if they could just hold out, they would become inner courtyard students.

Even if Lin Fang and Huncang harbored resentment against them, there would be nothing they could do.

Having figured out the stakes, the panic in the girl's eyes vanished, replaced by a surge of excitement.

Meanwhile, as the two of them were talking, the examiners holding torches all around had already shifted their gazes toward Huncang.

"Is that him?" One of the men asked the person beside him, feeling that he looked no different from the other candidates. How could he have had the nerve to provoke Luo Fei's younger brother?

There were many participants in the assessment. Aside from Luo Fei's subordinates who had specifically memorized Huncang's appearance, the others didn't have a deep impression of him.

The person observed for a moment and nodded with certainty: "That's right, it's him."

The man folded his arms across his chest and chuckled: "I didn't expect that by some twist of fate we'd actually run into him. Huncang, this is getting interesting. If you ask me, you've been hiding for so many days and were only one day away from passing the assessment, why did you have to show yourself?"

He wore a look of pity, which made the people around him somewhat impatient, because Luo Fei had promised that whoever helped him find Huncang would receive a personal favor from him.

"Stop wasting breath, take him down quickly and hand him over to Luo Fei," someone urged.

"Do it."

With a low shout, Dou Qi surged around several figures, condensing into armor. They stomped fiercely on the ground, their bodies shooting out like released arrows as they rapidly closed in on Huncang.

***

Sensing this, the young man and woman exchanged a glance and then bolted in the opposite direction. The girl looked back, and feeling a rush of excitement upon seeing that no one was paying attention to them.

Great, they actually escaped!

"Deal with those two," the man with crossed arms ordered expressionlessly, flicking his chin toward the two figures sneaking away in the distance.

Immediately, two people dashed out and caught up with the young man and woman. Ignoring all their cries and pleas for mercy, the pursuers directly shattered their jade talismans, and a burst of light emerged, enveloping them and causing them to vanish.

"Huncang, be careful!" Seeing that Huncang remained motionless, Lin Fang hurriedly shouted a warning.

However, his warning had no effect.

Five figures had already reached Huncang. Each of them extended a hand, lunging at his shoulders and arms, while one person specifically targeted Huncang's hands to prevent him from shattering his jade talisman and escaping.

Yet the next second, accompanied by a sound as crisp as jade, all five of them froze in place.

"What?" The four who had grabbed Huncang's arms and shoulders wore expressions of utter bewilderment.

They still had some confidence in their own strength, believing that even if Huncang tried to block with Dou Qi armor, their grab would shatter it.

Yet not only did Huncang fail to display any Dou Qi armor, but it felt as though he hadn't put up any defense at all.

Under these conditions, however, they felt as though their fingers hadn't grabbed onto a human body at all, but rather onto an incomparably hard piece of jade, unable to leave even the slightest indentation.

"You dare to come after me with this little strength? Who gave you the courage?" Huncang's gaze shifted, taking in the expressions on their faces.

Then, he shrugged his shoulders, and the four of them felt a massive force surge outward. Their fingers completely unable to resist, they instinctively loosened their grip and recoiled.

Before they could make another move, all five felt the world spin. By the time a sharp pain struck them, everything went black and they plunged into unconsciousness.

"So he does have some strength, no wonder he dared to threaten Luo Ling." After a brief moment of surprise, the leading man smiled, clapped his hands, and turned his head. "Send up the signal, let Luo Fei and Ke Yu come over and let them play with him slowly."

As soon as Huncang made his move, the two men beside the leader had already treated him like a formidable enemy, striking defensive postures.

Hearing his command now, they unhesitatingly fired two beams of light into the sky. With a thunderous explosion, the area instantly lit up as if it were day.

"Huncang, get out of here quickly! The strength of Luo Fei and Ke Yu ranks high on the inner courtyard's Strong Ranking; we are no match for them," Lin Fang said with a grim expression.

"You go first, this matter has nothing to do with you," Huncang replied, shaking his head and ignoring him. He lowered his gaze to his hands and clenched his fists.

***

When he landed earlier, Huncang had discovered that his physical body seemed somewhat different—it appeared to have become excessively hard.

His mind immediately flashed back to the scene when he was devouring the "Fallen Heart Flame" and being calcined by three kinds of "Heavenly Flames," when his body had been scorched to look like multicolored glazed glass.

Back then, Huncang had a vague illusion that his body had become exceptionally tough, but he hadn't tested it.

Therefore, Huncang hadn't used his Dou Qi just now, choosing instead to take the impact with his physical body alone. Facts proved that his hypothesis was correct.

With his current physical strength, even ordinary Dou Wangs probably wouldn't be able to shake him, Huncang inwardly marveled.

Speaking of which, it seemed there was someone in the Inner Court of Canaan Academy whose situation was somewhat similar to his.

Lin Fang tried to persuade him a few more times, but seeing that it was useless, he gritted his teeth and turned to leave.

One of the three men opposite prepared to stop him, but the moment he moved, Huncang blocked his path.

"Right now, you are surrounded by me. Until I give permission, no one is allowed to leave," Huncang said indifferently.

"Interesting. It's been a long time since I've seen such an arrogant outer courtyard disciple," the youth with folded arms smiled. "My name is Sha Tie. If you manage to become an inner courtyard student, you can consider joining my faction."

A Nine-Star Dou Shi... Huncang shook his head slightly and remained silent.

Canaan Academy had always practiced the custom of plundering "Fire Energy," and various factions and organizations were simply ways for people to band together for warmth and resist being robbed.

Huncang thought to himself: I am still waiting for someone to come and rob me, how could I possibly join a faction?

He didn't have to wait long. Rushing sounds gradually echoed from afar, growing clearer and clearer until dozens of figures leaped into Huncang's field of vision.

The two leading figures at the very front were none other than Luo Fei and Ke Yu. Upon closer inspection, one could see that although Ke Yu lagged slightly behind Luo Fei by half a step, the expression on his face was noticeably much more relaxed than Luo Fei's.

"Huncang, you really know how to hide. To think you were in this area, no wonder we couldn't find you," Luo Fei said, looking extremely surprised.

Ever since the signal was sent out, he had tracked its location, only to discover it was right where they had previously made their entrance.

"Cut the crap. Is there anyone else besides you? Let's all come together," Huncang motioned with his finger.