Lin Xun was preparing for tomorrow's signing-up of the Province Test, while Chu Feng was listening to the report of Elder Diao in the Commune of Spiritual Tattooists.

"We've been following that childe for over ten days, only to find that we took a superfluous action," Elder Diao said bitterly.

Xiong San and Yan Mei next to him also looked depressed.

Chu Feng narrowed his eyes and asked, "What makes you say that?"

Elder Diao seemed to recall something, and replied with a touch of fear, "There is an overmatch protecting Master Xun secretly!"

"An overmatch?" Chu Feng was surprised.

"Yes, his power is fathomless. We suspected that if he wanted, he could have defeated three of us with one blow," said Elder Diao with a kind of frustration in his tone. It needed great courage for a powerful man like him to admit that he was far inferior to others.

Chu Feng was shocked. He clearly knew about the strength of the three of them. Although Elder Diao looked thin and ordinary, he owned the cultivation of the Sea Spirit Realm!

Meanwhile, Xiong San and Yan Mei were both good fighters at the top level of the Gang Spirit Realm, only one step further to the Sea Spirit Realm.

As strong as the three of them, they barely had any rivals in Mist City, unless they met masters of the Sea Spirit Realm.

But now like Elder Diao said, a much more powerful overmatch who even made Elder Diao fear was protecting Lin Xun. It was really hard to believe.

Chu Feng couldn't stay calm anymore. He found that Lin Xun's background was not as simple as he imagined!

"Can you tell the level of his Martial Practice?" Chu Feng took a deep breath and asked in a deep voice.

"Maybe beyond the Sea Spirit Realm," said Elder Diao resolutely.

Feeling shocked in the heart, Chu Feng gasped, "Might he be of the Tao Insight Realm?"

Elder Diao shook his head, "It's hard to say. By the way, we have gained a lot of information during the past ten more days. Let Xiong San tell you."

Chu Feng restrained his shock and turned his eyes to Xiong San.

Xiong San, a simple and honest strong man, said in a deep voice, "Thirteen days ago, Sun Business of Mist City sent two Gang-spirit-realm practitioners to investigate the identity of Master Xun, but after midnight, they were sent back to Sun Business. One of them was left with a letter written with blood, saying "Take care of your dogs which run about, or I'll cut off their heads as a dish that goes with wine!"

With the eyelid twitching, Chu Feng sneered, "I know they wouldn't remain indifferent. Last time they poached a spiritual tattooist from our commune and thought we had no idea. Actually, I just didn't want to fuss about it. And they tried to use the same trick. They are destined to come to grief!"

Xiong San continued, "Twelve days ago, Azure-light Pavilion sent a strong practitioner of Sea Spirit Realm to try to cotton up to Master Xun, but he got knocked out and badly injured. When he was sent back, he also carried a blood letter, saying "Do you really think an ant can shake a tree?"

Chu Feng's expression changed a little. Azure-light Pavilion, a first-class force in Mist City, was in charge of more than 10 spiritual mines and very wealthy. So, they also fixed their eyes on Master Xun?!"

"Nine days ago, Tien Hsiang Tower dispatched three strong practitioners of Gang Spirit Realm..."

"Five days ago, the imperial Ziling Army that stationed in Mist City dispatched two practitioners of Sea Spirit Realm..."

"Two days ago, Mist College dispatched a spiritual tattooist of Sea Spirit Realm..." Xiong San reported quickly. Hearing the information coming out of Xiong San's mouth, Chu Feng felt shocked, with the look in his eyes changing.

On hearing that Ziling Army and Mist College also sent their top practitioners, Chu Feng couldn't stay calm anymore, wearing a gloomy face.

All this was beyond his expectation. It never occurred to him that the title of "Master Xun" would attract the attention of so many forces.

Meanwhile, the power of that overmatch who was with Lin Xun also shocked Chu Feng. He could easily defeat all top masters sent by different forces.

How strong could this man be?

Finally, Xiong San said bitterly, "And today he also warned us all, saying our presence is completely unneeded. If we show up again, he would also kick our ass."

Chu Feng was in a trance, with the expression on his face changing.

He realized that everything he had done was watched by the overmatch beside Lin Xun.

"Did he say anything else?" Chu Feng couldn't help asking.

Elder Diao, Xiong San and Yan Mei shook their heads at the same time.

Chu Feng had kind of mixed feelings. If the overmatch had seen him through, why didn't he give him a warning?

But if the overmatch didn't see it through, how did he know it was Chu who sent the three of them?

Chu Feng felt confused now.

Finally, he decided to have a talk with Lin Xun!

...

Lin Xun knew nothing about all this.

Early the next morning, Lin Xun walked out of the room vigorously. After saying hello to Jin, he opened the door and walked out.

Whir ~

Walking on the street in the early morning, Lin Xun soon saw a Spiritual Tattoo Shuttle park in the air. He immediately became interested and went over to pay ten imperial copper coins, trying to get a ride.

When Lin Xun walked into the carriage, there were already crowded with all kinds of practitioners and ordinary people.

There were many seats in the carriage, but they had been occupied. Lin Xun could only stand there, looking around out of curiosity.

Old men and women were discussing the prices of spiritual vegetables, while young boys and girls were excitedly talking about the news of Liu Qingyan, an artistic practitioner who would come to Mist City soon.

And the practitioners were communicating with each other about today's enrollment of Province Test.

The atmosphere was lively and noisy. Some people might like quiet environment, while Lin Xun enjoyed it very much.

He could see different kinds of faces, behind which were hidden different emotions and stories.

This showed different kinds of lifestyles, each of which revealed a special angle of the world.

Choo choo ~

Soon, the Spiritual Tattoo Shuttle started and zoomed like a dragon wandering in the air, fast and steady.

Suddenly, Lin Xun was attracted by a conversation.

"I wonder how many awesome talents who have already earned their names in Southwestern Province will sign up for the Province Test."

"As far as I know, the four most famous geniuses of Mist College, Shue Shaolin, Yu Wenjing, Le Zhiyou and Yun Zitong, will sign up for the Province Test. They are regarded as the most promising practitioners to hit the top ten!"

"Yes, I heard that over 300 students from Mist College only will sign up for the Province Test, more than that of any previous years; many of them are geniuses, but it's hard to tell how many of them can pass the test."

"Indeed, except the practitioners from Mist College, there are many people from the whole Mist City and those states, towns and counties of the whole Southwestern Province, busy preparing for the Province Test. I heard the total number will exceed 5,000 this time."

"Five thousand? My god! Only one hundred people can pass the Province Test every time, which mean only one out of fifty practitioners can pass the test. This is really cruel."

"Right. Those who can pass the test are all the first-class talents in the world. Only such people can be qualified to participate in the Nation Test and compete with other provincial talents."

"Every year's Province Test will be under the spotlight. I wonder how many new superstars will stand out through the Province Test this time."

Lin Xun didn't expect that a Province Test could attract more than 5,000 practitioners to participate. That was really a fierce competition.

It should be known that not everyone was qualified to participate in the Province Test. If one wanted to participate in it, he must first pass the the County Test, the State Test and finally qualify for the Province Test!

So after a few rounds of selection, those who could participate in the Province Test were all outclassed those ordinary ones.

It was conceivable how cruel the competition was when five thousand carefully selected practitioners competed for one hundred places.

This reminded Lin Xun of his one-year life in the Bloodthirsty Camp. He also faced challenges every day. The losers would be eliminated. Only the winners could stay.

The Province Test was a new challenge for Lin Xun. The competitors were no longer the trainees in the Bloodthirsty Camp, but the most outstanding group of practitioners in the Southwestern Province of the empire!

To Lin Xun's knowledge, there were only three criteria for Province Test. First one, the practitioners should be under the age of 18 years old. Second one, the practitioners need to be at the level of Human-gang Realm at least. Last one, the practitioners had got the certification of passing the State Test.

Any one who couldn't meet any one of the criteria above would not be allowed to sign up for the test!

One could see how harsh it was to stand out through the Province Test under such circumstances.

But the more difficulties, the more Lin Xun looked forward to it. He never feared any challenge no matter he was in the Bloodthirsty Camp or somewhere else in the future.

Only by competing with the real strong men could Lin Xun know what level he had achieved on the way of cultivation.

Choo choo ~

Soon after, the Spiritual Tattoo Shuttle stopped and they arrived at Mist College.

Lin Xun got off the shuttle with the crowd. He immediately saw a group of ancient buildings standing in the distance like silent mountains and occupying an extremely vast area.

In front of the buildings was a ring-shaped white-jade square, where had already gathered a lot of figures. Most of them were teenagers, among which there were some handsome boys and pretty girls, who formed a beautiful landscape together with the blue sky and white clouds.

This was Mist College, a school with the longest history and richest inheritance in the Southwestern Province of the empire.

Over the past thousands of years, many brilliant talents graduated from this college, some of them had become famous figures in the world, and some others had become heavyweights in some fields.

It was said that even Liu Wujun, governor of the Southwestern Province, and Yao Tuohai, a great practitioner who could compete with Liu Wujun, both practiced in Mist College in their early years.

The Mist College was arranged as the registration site for the Province Test this year.

Click to read C201 - An Unexpected Disaster and more on Flying Lines ahead!