Bai Zihan turned away from the assessment test area, the crowd's murmurs fading into background noise.
Lin Xuan stood tall in the center of it all, basking in the start of his protagonist arc—admiring glances from outer disciples, jealous glares from failed applicants, even faint nods from a few elders.
He'd done it.
He had officially entered the sect with a splash, a gold-grade Dao Resonance, a personal claim from Elder Qinglan.
It was perfect!
Just like how many protagonists burst onto the scene during the Sect Assessment Test in those novels Bai Zihan used to read.
Bai Zihan decided to head back to his courtyard.
But something stopped him dead in his tracks.
"Wasn't that great?"
"Who would have thought that our sect would get another Heaven-grade Dao Resonance?"
Voices.
Familiar ones.
His hearing was sharp—not by talent, but necessity.
After all, he couldn't rely on his eyesight until recently, so his ears naturally became finely tuned.
