There was no room for excuses. Shane walked right up to Deng Wen on the spot and invited that man for a cup of tea at the 29th Place.

Everyone sucked in a cold breath of air. Tea at the 29th Place was not good to drink. It looked like Dark Soul was determined to hold out for Xia Fei, which was very strange. Xia Fei was not very old, and was hardly some scion from a reputable clan. He lacked any backing to speak of, so why would 29th Place display such an attitude for him?

At that moment, the entire Furnace Citadel erupted into a disquieted commotion. Some took the opportunity to rile up some antagonistic emotions toward the 29th Place, but unfortunately the notoriety of Dark Soul was simply too great, and few rallied to the call. No one truly dared to stand out and go up against the Secret Service; at most they just muttered a few words under their breath.

At the end of the day, Deng Wen was still the steward of Furnace Citadel. How could they continue to hold the Dragoon Medal Ceremony if he was brought away? Without their leader present, the entire event was turning into a great mess!

Shane did not care about any of that, however. He dragged Deng Wen away, while also throwing a glance in Xia Fei’s direction, indicating that he was about to leave, and that Xia Fei would have to rely on his own wits from here on out.

Xia Fei returned the glance with a slight nod. Xiu Zetian’s strong reaction had been completely outside of his expectations, but now that he was obviously marked as someone from 29th Place, unless it was someone who had a significant background, no one would dare to trouble him any longer.

All of a sudden, Xia Fei could feel a fiery burning gaze on his back. He turned around to look, only to find You Man, that tall and brutish Blueblood warrior, staring daggers right at him, as if his eyes were about to shoot flames!

Xia Fei let out a cold snort and clasped his hands behind his back, glaring right back at You Man.

Those who ought to come will end up coming! Xia Fei understood that logic very well, so he did not plan to give way. As long as You Man dared come knocking, Xia Fei would dare to send him to his grave!

That was about when an old man got up on the stage. He let out a low cough twice, which was enough to get the crowd in Furnace Citadel to quiet down quite a bit.

Xia Fei looked up and saw that it was none other than the old man who had helped him with registration that day. For some unknown reason, this old man with sleepy eyes exerted quite a bit of influence if he was able to cause everyone to straighten their attitudes.

“Since Steward Deng has some last minute business to attend to, then this old man shall take over. Does anyone present have objections to this?” the old man asked.

“With Old Hong personally stepping up to the task, how could we have any objections?”

“Thank you for your hard work!” The warriors from the Annihilation Universe echoed in unison, recognizing the old man.

Xia Fei, Lone Peak Lin, Turbid Shadow Shen and others who came from the Alpha Universe were all puzzled, wondering just who the old man was.

After glancing at Xia Fei meaningfully, this old man who went by Old Hong called out loudly, “Then let’s not delay this any further. Let the evaluation begin!

“Same rules as always: Private fights are allowed, but no one is allowed to deal life-threatening blows. Whether it is a mistake or intentional, as long as anyone causes the death of another Dragoon, they will be handed over and dealt with by the Legion management division!

“Besides private fights, be wary of the traps and ambushes found in the evaluation center! The Dragoon Legions will not be responsible if any of you get yourself killed by these traps! If you can’t even dodge the traps of the evaluation center, then you lack the qualifications to be a Dragoon!”

The old man spoke in a grave tone, sweeping his eyes over everyone assembled. That was especially true for Xia Fei. Old Hong’s eyes seemed to convey a profound meaning the second time they landed on Xia Fei.

“The evaluation is the responsibility of the Legion Management Committee. Regarding how the data is tabulated, or how the ranking is derived, there’s no need for them to clarify to anyone. In any case, within twenty-four hours, show us your true strength!”

With that said, the old man raised a hand up in the air and slammed it down on the podium in front of him.

Everyone watched as the sand dunes outside of the Furnace Citadel part and change with a rumbling roar!

Strange structures rose from beneath the sands one after another, here in this desert that covered the planet. It turned out that this was the evaluation venue for the Dragoons!

Normally, the traps used during this evaluation were hidden beneath the sands. They only appeared when they were needed!

At the same time, a transparent protective barrier was also erected, completely encapsulating the desert outside Furnace Citadel. Leaving the citadel and stepping upon the dunes would be akin to entering the examination venue!

There were several thousand numbered portals, and everyone held the cards that the legion had assigned them in their hands. Neophyte Dragoons would find the portals that bore the same number as what was etched on their card, and wait for them to activate. Xia Fei was number 2891, which just so happened to be the last number in this batch of dragoons. His position was somewhere desolate, far away from everyone else.

Xiu Zetian had said that the people above had already gotten everything ready on Xia Fei’s behalf with regards to the Dragoon Evaluation and Ceremony. That was very apparent right now; everyone entered the evaluation center at the same time, and Xia Fei only needed to rely on his superspeed and he could instantly create distance away from the others.

“How grand! This is such a vast evaluation center!” Radix gushed in excitement. “Xia Fei, the battlefield spans an entire planet, yet there’s less than three thousand warriors participating. It’s perfectly suited for you to demonstrate your superspeed!”

Xia Fei nodded, but did not answer otherwise.

All his concentration was directed toward You Man, who was more than a thousand candidates away from him. He saw the big and tall Blue Blood Royalty lift his left arm, and savagely slash it across his neck! He was making a killing gesture toward Xia Fei!

…

*Whoosh!*

The nearly three thousand formless energy portals were activated simultaneously, and the twenty-four hour countdown until the end of the evaluation began ticking at the same time.

Every Neophyte Dragoon swiftly stepped through their own portal and entered the desert battlefield. Some searched for suitable terrain to hunker down in, while others promptly gathered together. They planned to leverage their numerical advantages to obtain a good rank in this evaluation.

Xia Fei did not have any allies for this evaluation, so he chose to first distance himself from the pack. He sprinted toward the safe zone that Xiu Zetian had prepared for him and planned to act if any opportunity were to present itself afterward.

Bloodcurdling screams could be heard the moment the evaluation began. According to rules, the two most powerful forces of Destiny and Holy Light Dragoons would not fight each other, and would instead turn and point their weapons at the weakest Dark Moon Dragoons.

This was almost like bullying, given that both Dragoon legions were made up of the most powerful sapient races, the humans and Bluebloods, while the Dark Moon Dragoons were a coalition of the many smaller races.

Of course, Dark Moon Dragoons also had unfortunate humans like Turbid Shadow Lin and Lone Peak Shen, but all in all, these three legions were split up according to race.

As for the Devil Shadow Dragoon, there was only Xia Fei!

*Whoosh!*

Xia Fei was very fast, disappearing into the horizon like a ghost.

You Man came sprinting over with his men the moment Xia Fei departed.

A Blueblood warrior inspected the tracks left on the ground and reported to You Man, “That Xia Fei is a speedster, and he’s long gone already. It’s very hard to track people down in the desert, and these tracks will be buried by the sands in a matter of seconds. What should we do next?”

Several Blueblood warriors turned to look at You Man, but he was staring in the direction Xia Fei had disappeared to, his eyes filled with killing intent.

“Hmph!” You Man snorted coldly. He pulled out a hollowed-out rhino horn, placed it between his lips and blew it toward the sky!

*Uuuuuuu!*

A deep note filled the air, traveling in all directions. The Blueblood warriors all moved toward where You Man was standing the moment they heard the sound.

….

That one signal call caused the originally very chaotic battlefield to settle down into silence. The Bluebloods closed in on You Man, while the human warriors all began to gather as well. Meanwhile, the Dark Moon Dragoons had already scattered and dispersed. Those poor warriors belonging to the lesser races were few in number, yet were still being used as foils in this evaluation battle.

A blond youth and a young man with a pockmarked face from the human race took the lead. The two of them came from prominent backgrounds, as their ancestors were outstanding individuals that distinguished themselves in the Hero Alliance. The blond youth was called Cold Eagle, while the pockmarked man went by Phantas.

The sapient lifeforms known as humans had never demonstrated the concept of solidarity as a race. The reason they had gathered together was solely because the Bluebloods representing the Destiny Dragoons were also forming a team.

…

“What a rare sight. Why have the people of the Destiny Dragoon begun to form a team? Could they have other plans this time?” a human observer wondered curiously, stroking his chin as he looked out into the distance.

“They couldn’t be targeting us, right? The two major Dragoon legions of Destiny and Holy Light had always maintained a cordial relationship, so could those blue midgets be planning to break the accord?”

Though humans and Bluebloods did not fight each other, their contradictory relationship was severe; humans called the Bluebloods blue midgets, while the Bluebloods called humans arrogant foxes. While those words were unkind, they pinpointed the weaknesses of each race.

The blond youth called Cold Eagle remarked, “That wasn’t just your usual horn, but the call of the Blueblood’s Ten Kings! Among the Bluebloods, there are ten Clans that have royal bloodlines. They have the authority to gather their fellow Bluebloods in times of emergency to fight for them!”

Phantas was standing beside Cold Eagle, and added, “That’s right! The one blowing the Ten King’s Call this time is the grandson of the Royal Man, You Man. We need to be careful. Among the Ten Kings of the Bluebloods, the Royal Man are the most unruly, and are just a bunch of barbarians. They are capable of anything!”

Cold Eagle scoffed arrogantly, “Our numbers are about even, so as long as we do not disperse, those hateful midgets won’t be able to do anything to us. From here on, we will be acting as a group, hunting down the lowly Dark Moons, while making our way through the hidden traps in the sands. Those who trust me may follow me!”

With that, Cold Eagle led some people toward the deeper parts of the desert. Phantas also harbored the same idea as Cold Eagle, but the two of them working together was impossible.

Thus, the Holy Light Dragoons who were affiliated with the humans split into two factions: one who followed Cold Eagle, and the others who went with Phantas.

“What do we do? Are we going with Cold Eagle or Phantas?”

Kane, who’d had his arm broken by Xia Fei a while ago, hesitated for a good while before stomping his feet, “Phantas is sinister, while Cold Eagle is haughty. Let’s go with the latter, and see if we can provoke him to attack Xia Fei!”

With that said, Kane led a few of his comrades and hurried after the troop of men Cold Eagle was leading.

…

Xia Fei was unaware that a rare occurrence of teaming up had occurred in the evaluation battle that usually had everyone fighting for their own interests. There were two thousand warriors from both the Destiny and Holy Light Dragoons, and they were all now grouped into three separate forces!

Xia Fei spat out a mouthful of sand. There did not seem to be anything amazing about this battlefield, but there were actually plenty of traps hidden in the desert. Even Xia Fei had found himself nearly getting caught by some quite a few times, and this last instance had been the worst, forcing Xia Fei to eat a mouthful of sand.

“I really can’t underestimate this place. To think there would be so many ambushes laid out here!”

He lightly brushed his finger across his spatial ring, pulling out the topographical map that Xiu Zetian had given him and comparing it against the directions to find his hiding spot.

—

In Xia Fei’s experience, this place was definitely not good for hiding.

The three sandy dunes were like barrows, arranged in a triangle. According to Xiu Zetian’s instructions, XIa Fei ought to hide in the center of the three barrows.

But these three dunes were not even two meters tall, and the center was just an open space. Unless Xia Fei turned himself into a boulder, there was no way he could remain hidden without any cover to speak of!

“Just what is going on here?!” Xia Fei frowned, muttering to himself.

All of a sudden, Xia Fei discovered something strange. His arm was disappearing!

Xia Fei held his hands in front of him while holding onto the map, but hei could not see the map or the arms that were supposed to be in front of him!

Xia Fei was startled, but quickly experimented a few more times. In front of him was what seemed to be an invisible wall, right in the center of the three barrows. It was an area about four to five meters square, and anyone who stepped into it would find themselves naturally becoming invisible!

Xia Fei chuckled. This was indeed a great hiding spot, after all! From afar, this looked nothing more like an empty clearing of sand. No one could imagine that there was a hiding place right in the middle!

“What will we do now?” Radix asked, curious.

Xia Fei sat down on the ground and examined his surroundings, “The evaluation will go on for twenty-four hours, so let the others fight it out first. We’ll only be making our move in the final few hours!”

With that said, Xia Fei actually began cultivating right where he sat, looking completely calm and relaxed.

In a matter of minutes, however, Xia Fei suddenly sensed the ground tremble. It felt like there was a giant insect slowly burrowing beneath the sand.

Hmm?

Xia Fei was startled. Just as he was about to use his Origin of Heaven eye technique to observe what was going on, he heard a sound from a nearby barrow, and a pale white hand reached out from the ground!