333: Chapter 333: Patience

Zhou Han turned to look; the young man was in his early twenties, with a fair face and an air of arrogance between his brows.

His cultivation was at the last stage of Golden Core, and a jade tablet engraved with the character 'Zhao' hung from his waist.

Behind him followed two attendants, one at the Golden Core Stage, and the other at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment.

"Are you from the Zhao family?" Zhou Han asked.

"A branch of the Zhao family, Captain Zhao Wuji."

The young man lifted his chin.

"What? Heard of me?"

Zhou Han had certainly heard of him, but he didn't say it aloud, merely stepping aside.

"Please, go ahead."

Captain Zhao Wuji snorted, strode forward, and slapped his identification tablet onto the table: "Zhao family, Captain Zhao Wuji."

The Disciple in charge of registration took a look, and his attitude immediately became more respectful: "So it is Young Master Zhao, please, go ahead."

After registering, Captain Zhao Wuji turned back to look at Zhou Han, a mocking smile curling the corners of his lips.

"Even someone at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment dares to come; truly ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth."

"If you were smart, you would go back early to avoid being eliminated in the first round and making a fool of yourself." After saying this, he swaggered into the mountain gate with his two attendants.

Zhou Han stood in place, his hands slightly clenched.

Elder Qingyang's voice rang in his mind: "Kid, ignore him."

"People like this who rely on their family background to be arrogant—back in my day, I could slap a hundred of them to death with one palm."

"Let him be arrogant; the bright moon shines on the great river. You just need to remember—the more arrogant a person is, the harder they fall."

Zhou Han unclenched his fists, took a deep breath, and walked back to the registration desk.

"Can I register now?"

The Disciple looked at him, then at the direction Captain Zhao Wuji had left, and hesitated for a moment.

"Are you sure you want to go?"

"I am sure."

The Disciple sighed and handed over a number plate: "Take this, enter the Dao Palace and wait; the official trial begins tomorrow."

Zhou Han took the number plate and turned to walk into the mountain gate.

His pace was steady, and he did not look back.

Hundreds of people had already gathered in the plaza.

Zhou Han found a corner to stand in and scanned the crowd.

He saw a woman in red standing alone not far away, expressionless, her gaze as cold as frost.

Within a yard around her, there was no one; no one dared to approach her.

She carried a faint Killing Intent, an aura that only someone who had truly experienced death would possess.

Zhou Han took one extra look at her before shifting his gaze.

Lin Xue also noticed Zhou Han's gaze, but she paid him no mind.

Her gaze swept across the crowd, as if searching for something.

The words of an old man with white hair echoed in her mind.

"The murderer is in the Supreme Dao Palace; as long as you stay in the Supreme Dao Palace, you will eventually meet him." She gripped the short blade in her hand tightly, her fingertips turning slightly white.

In the crowd, a tattered-clothed youth was squatting on the ground, drawing patterns with a stone.

His skin was dark, but his eyes were unusually bright, like a wild cat lurking in the darkness.

He finished the last stroke, stood up, and brushed the dust off his hands.

He looked up toward the high platform and curled his lips, revealing an expression that was unclear whether it was a smile or something else.

Zhou Han noticed an extremely subtle fluctuation at his Dantian, as if it were being suppressed by something.

Just as he wanted to look closer, Elder Qingyang's voice sounded.

"Kid, don't stare too long. That boy has something strange about him; if you look too much, it's easy to be noticed." Zhou Han quickly withdrew his gaze.

At this moment.

In front of the Eternal Night Demon Sect's mountain gate, it was equally bustling.

The registration queue was also very long, but the atmosphere was completely different from the Supreme Dao Palace.

It was noisier, more chaotic, and more direct.

A half-human, half-demon youth stood in the queue, and the people around him kept their distance, some even showing expressions of disgust.

Man Shan was expressionless, accustomed to this.

When it was finally his turn, the Demonic Path Disciple in charge of registration took a look at his identification tablet and frowned: "Half-demon?"

"Yes."

The Disciple hesitated for a moment and turned to look at the old man behind him: "Elder, this..."

A white-haired Elder walked out from the shadows and looked Man Shan up and down.

"So what if you're a half-demon? The Demonic Path does not ask about background or origin; as long as you are strong enough, you can enter. How old are you?"

"Twenty."

"Cultivation?"

"Late Nascent Soul Stage."

A flash of surprise crossed the Elder's eyes: "Late Nascent Soul Stage? You, a half-demon, cultivated to the Late Nascent Soul Stage on your own?"

Man Shan did not answer, merely looking at the Elder.

The Elder was silent for a moment: "Interesting. Go on in; if you can pass the trial, I will take you as my Disciple."

Man Shan was stunned: "You... will take me?"

The Elder laughed: "What? You don't want to?"

Man Shan quickly shook his head: "No... it's just..."

"Just that you've never been actively taken as a Disciple by a human?" The Elder finished for him.

"That's right. The Demonic Path is not like the Righteous Path; we don't care about those superficial things. If you are strong, you are worthy."

Man Shan's eyes felt slightly hot. He didn't speak, but bowed deeply, then strode into the mountain gate.

Supreme Dao Palace, side hall.

Li Changsheng sat before a desk, with several Jade Slips spread out in front of him.

Ling Jianxin stood to the side and said in a low voice: "Alliance Master, the list of those who registered today has been organized. There are a few noteworthy individuals."

"One is a Loose Cultivator, only at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment, but his spiritual power purity was detected to be extremely high. It should be the result of long-term cultivation of some kind of pure Cultivation Technique."

"Another is a woman in red, at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment, with heavy Killing Intent."

"Both of these people are strange."

Li Changsheng nodded after listening: "So what if they are at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment? Geniuses are not necessarily born into great families."

Ling Jianxin was slightly stunned and did not speak.

Li Changsheng looked up out the window. In the plaza, that group of young Cultivators were gathered together; some were talking, some were eyeing their opponents, and some were closing their eyes to regulate their breathing.

He whispered to himself: "How many people's destinies will this Immortal Ascension Assembly change?"

Through the Soul Link, Xiao Ran's voice came: "Are there many people registering on your side?"

"Yes, more than expected, and the quality is quite good too."

"It's the same on my side. Guess what I found? A half-demon, Late Nascent Soul Stage, who cultivated to this level on his own."

Li Changsheng: "I also found an interesting person, a Loose Cultivator at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment, with extremely high spiritual power purity."

Xiao Ran: "Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment? Isn't that too weak?"

"Weak? Someone who can Cultivate such spiritual power purity will not remain weak for long." Li Changsheng paused, "I bet he can reach a Breakthrough to Nascent Soul within three years."

Xiao Ran: "Then I'll bet he can reach a Breakthrough to Soul Transformation within five years."

Both of them laughed simultaneously.

The night grew deeper, and the lights of the Supreme Dao Palace lit up one after another.

Zhou Han sat in his assigned room. The moonlight from outside the window spilled in, casting a patch of silver-white on the floor.

He looked down at the ring on his left ring finger. The ring grew slightly warm, and Elder Qingyang's voice rang in his mind.

"Kid, tomorrow is the first stage; are you ready?"

Zhou Han: "I am ready."

Elder Qingyang: "Are you nervous?"

Zhou Han was silent for a moment: "A little."

Elder Qingyang: "It's good to be nervous. People who aren't nervous are either fools or dead."

"But you must remember—it's okay to be nervous, but don't let nervousness crush you. You are my successor; back in my day, I could fight a hundred people alone. You shouldn't be worse than me, right?"

Zhou Han gripped the ring: "I won't be."

In another room in the distance, Lin Xue sat on the edge of the bed, gripping a short blade in her hand, the blade glinting coldly under the moonlight.

She did not sleep; her eyes remained open, watching the moon outside the window.

She was thinking of the white-haired old man's words: "The murderer is in the Supreme Dao Palace."

The Supreme Dao Palace was very large, and there were many people. She did not know who that person was, but she knew she would find him.

No matter how long it took.

Meanwhile, at the Eternal Night Demon Sect, Man Shan also did not sleep.

He sat on a stone in the courtyard, looking up at the moon in the sky.

His palm pressed against his chest, where there was an old scar, left when he was chased by the Monster Hunting Team as a child.

He closed his eyes, and the insults seemed to ring in his ears again.

"Bastard," "Half-demon," "Get back to the wilderness."

He opened his eyes, a flash of light crossing his pale gold vertical pupils: "From now on, no one will ever be able to drive me away again."