Evan Yang quickly noticed this and, curious, turned to Ethan Lin. "Who are these people?"
"You don't recognize any of them?" Ethan Lin looked at Evan like he was an idiot. Meanwhile, Jax Jia stayed silent, making it impossible to tell if he understood or not.
Evan shook his head, admitting he had no clue. So Ethan started explaining: the continent’s famous sects and clans included these. Heaven-Earth Gate is the artifact-refining sect led by the forging king Kane Xiao. Beidou Seven Peaks is where the formation master Old Bluebrow came from—anyone from that sect could shock the whole continent with their array skills. The Qi-Path Lineage rarely shows up, but whenever they do, their disciples are always extraordinary. The last one is obvious: today’s Wu Family’s Gavin Wu, rumored to have the Medicine God Physique.
Despite how famous these four were, Evan and Jax weren’t awestruck like everyone else. Instead, they were thinking about leaving, but the exits were guarded.
The woman upstairs finished introducing the four, then smiled. "Tonight, the Flower Queen will invite five companions for a night’s cruise. Four seats are already reserved; the fifth will be chosen from among you."
When she said that, there was some grumbling, but since picking one from the crowd was just like past years, the mood quickly picked up again.
Seeing the crowd lively again, the woman said, "In a quarter hour, I’ll announce the test. Everyone, pick your seats." Then she turned and walked back into her room.
As for the other four honored guests, each turned and entered their own rooms.
"Man, I wish I was one of those four," Ethan said, sounding envious.
"Come on, have some backbone!" Jax snapped.
Evan couldn't help but shiver. "Man, we're really stuck. Can't even bail if we wanted to."
Seeing the two so uninterested, Ethan Lin just shrugged and fell silent. He stared upstairs, and Evan followed his gaze. After a moment, curiosity got the better of Evan, and he sent his divine sense into the room—only to be blasted back by a flash of light and a sharp voice from above: "Who!"
"Shoot." Evan quickly yanked his divine sense back, cursing under his breath.
Right after, the woman who had made the announcements came out again, glanced at the rowdy crowd, and said angrily, "Everyone, follow the rules. No using divine sense—if you get crippled, it's not my problem!"
Her warning made the crowd hush for a moment, but soon the noise picked up again—like this happened every year.
Evan shivered and asked Ethan, "Brother Lin, so we can't use divine sense?"
"Yeah. If you could, everyone would just use divine sense to look inside—why bother with all this trouble for a single spot?" Ethan nodded.
After hearing Ethan’s answer, Evan realized he’d nearly gotten himself in trouble. He muttered, "Whose voice was that? How did they catch my divine sense?"
Meanwhile, upstairs, the woman closed the door and turned to see a young girl sitting behind a gauzy curtain, gently stroking a guqin. "Well?" she asked.
"No injuries, as far as I can tell," the woman shook her head.
"If I’m not mistaken, that divine sense came from someone in the crowd below," the girl said clearly. If Evan had heard her, he would’ve been shocked.
"Should we do something?" the woman asked, a bit angry.
"No need. If someone could dodge my reprimand, they’re not ordinary. If possible, I’d actually like to meet them," the girl said, smiling.
"You’re not thinking of choosing him, are you?" the woman asked, surprised.
"There are plenty of talented people in the world. If those four weren’t so well connected, I’d rather pick five from the crowd below," the girl said, sounding a bit frustrated.
"But their backgrounds are powerful. If possible, you should pick one of the four," the woman suggested.
"Senior Sister, let’s not talk about this anymore. I’ll make my own choices in the future," the girl shook her head and sighed, ending the conversation.
Seeing the girl like this, the woman felt a bit guilty and finally said, "Do you want to find out which cultivator released the divine sense?"
"Yeah, go ahead. I’ll check from up here," the girl nodded.
The woman left the room, leaving the girl to pluck a few notes on her zither. The sorrowful sound filled the whole chamber, yet strangely, no one outside could hear it.
Left alone, the girl let her fingers drift across the guqin. Melancholic notes filled the small room, a sorrow that no one outside could hear.
"Why me?" the girl sighed, pressing her hands to the strings. Her heart felt heavy, and the sadness lingered in the air.
"Observe a box? What box?" some people shouted impatiently.
This kind of challenge was a first, grabbing everyone’s attention. Under their focused stares, the woman had a table brought out, then placed a one-foot cube of ice on it.
It was a hot day—how could there be ice? People wondered, eager to find out what was inside, but none could see through it.
Seeing their confusion, the woman smiled and said, "It looks like ice, but it won’t melt. You’ll have to rely on observation to figure out what’s inside."
"Isn't that way too hard?" someone complained.
The woman ignored them, went back inside, and closed the door, leaving everyone to guess among themselves.
"What could it be?" Ethan Lin tried several times but couldn’t use divine sense to see inside the ice block.
Jax Jia was the same. He finally turned to Evan. "Hey, Evan, anything?"
"I haven't tried yet," Evan shook his head.
"Maybe you'll have better luck," Ethan said, now treating Evan as his go-to alchemy expert. He always looked to Evan for answers like this.
Meanwhile, the woman went back inside and placed a mirror in front of the girl. "They've started," she said.
"Alright, let me see," the girl replied, taking the mirror and beginning to sense the auras of the people reflected in it.
Everyone had their own unique aura—even their divine sense. Evan had no idea someone was already watching him as he turned to examine the ice block.
He stared for a while but got nowhere. Frustrated, Evan muttered, "It’s clearly just ice—why can’t I see what’s inside?"
Evan’s brief use of divine sense caught the girl’s attention, and she prepared to pinpoint his exact location.
But just as she was about to, Evan—unwilling to give up after his first failure—activated Heaven’s Eye Sight. His blood-red eyes locked onto the ice block as everyone watched.
What he saw startled him.
Inside was a human figure—more precisely, a woman’s head. Evan quickly shut off Heaven’s Eye Sight and patted his chest. "What kind of test is this!"
"Brother Yang, did you see something?" Ethan Lin asked, noticing Evan’s startled reaction. Jax Jia was curious too, and sharp-eared bystanders crowded closer.
Suddenly, dozens of strangers stared at him. Evan gave a goofy grin. "Nope."
Everyone just sighed and kept watching.
Evan couldn't shake the image from his mind—who was that woman sealed inside, so beautiful yet so full of sorrow? The melancholy lingered, making him feel strangely uneasy.
Meanwhile, the girl in the room was startled too. "How did that divine sense suddenly get so strong? It felt like it could see right through!"
"Junior Sister, are you sure he can see what’s inside?" Others didn’t know, but the woman was well aware—this was a paired double-sided mirror.
If someone outside could see through the ice, they’d see the girl’s face—and she could see the man outside. Because so many were looking, she used divine sense to judge people instead of seeing Evan’s whole face. Otherwise, just his red eyes would’ve scared her.
After a while, the girl recovered and said, "Let’s pick him."
"Which one?" the woman asked, curiosity piqued as she tucked away the mirror.
The girl quietly described Evan’s location to her attendant.
The woman hurried out, eager to see just who this mysterious choice was.
Evan had no idea that his little bit of curiosity had gotten him picked by the girl upstairs.
The woman came out, scanned the room, and—using the aura the Flower Queen described—quickly identified Evan. "Wait, he's just a beggar?" she wondered aloud.
The crowd caught her glance and instantly turned to stare at Evan's table.
"No way they're picking a beggar, right?" uneasy whispers spread through the crowd.
Sure enough, the woman reluctantly pointed at Evan and announced, "Fellow Daoist, welcome as the fifth guest!"
"Huh?" Evan blinked, completely lost. He was about to refuse when several attendants stepped forward. One said, "Fellow Daoist, please come with us."
"Wait, do I have to?" Evan protested, never expecting to be picked as the fifth guest.
Even Ethan and Jax looked on, curious. The attendant replied, "Once the choice is made, it can't be changed!"
"Fine, then let him go instead!" Evan tried to shove Ethan forward. Ethan looked eager, but the attendants cut him off. "Please cooperate, Fellow Daoist."
"Are they really gonna drag me up there?" Evan muttered, exasperated. All around him, people shot him dirty looks. Some called out, "Bro, you get picked and you're still complaining?"
The crowd erupted in chatter, some jeering that he wasn't a real man. Fed up, Evan finally followed the attendants, telling Ethan and Jax to find an inn and wait for him until morning.
"Alright, whatever. Let's see what this so-called beauty wants," Evan muttered, suspecting there must be some reason behind his selection.