A group of people walked out from Scholar's Court.
Most of them had come by car, with prices ranging from hundreds of thousands to several million.
Naturally, the circle was full of rich young heirs who flaunted their wealth. For example, a silver Aston Martin, heavily modified and costing over five million, stood out in particular.
But Evan Lin chose to sit in Gloria Rong's red BMW Z5.
Ray Lei originally wanted to ride with Gloria, but couldn't resist Barry Shen's repeated invitations and ended up in Barry's car.
The stream of cars headed toward Illustrious Gate Arena.
Evan Lin leaned back in the passenger seat. He had planned to make time to deal with the so-called Master Lin from Seacrest, but now it seemed this would save him a lot of trouble.
At least, he could soon see for himself what the impostor pretending to be him looked like. Whether to kill, cripple, or spare him—Evan didn't bother thinking too much about it yet.
In the car, Gloria Rong frowned and made several phone calls. From her conversation, it sounded like she was calling her family, asking what price they were willing to offer to negotiate with Master Lin from Seacrest, a Pointing-to-Mystery Realm expert.
This was a very important matter.
If the Rong family could win the favor of a Pointing-to-Mystery Realm expert, it would instantly boost their overall strength.
"Mm, I understand. I'll do my best to make it happen."
After finishing the last call, settling some details, and finally confirming the highest offer they could give, Gloria Rong put away her phone, feeling a bit exhausted. She took a deep breath.
"You're nervous."
A red light appeared ahead. Gloria hit the brakes a bit too hard, making the car jolt and nearly sending the front bumper onto the crosswalk.
"You have no idea how valuable a Pointing-to-Mystery Realm expert is."
Gloria listened to Evan's words without turning to look at him, her tone cold: "Vajra Realm experts may not be common, but as long as you offer the right price and find the right people, you can still gather them."
"But Pointing-to-Mystery Realm—those people are either from major clans, with their own status and background, or they're proud hermit masters. They're powerful, but their personalities are hard to figure out."
Gloria paused, turned her head to glance at Evan's relaxed and indifferent face, and frowned tightly: "I don't need to tell you these things. It's best you don't ask about matters you shouldn't know."
"I know you're impressive, and you do have some skill. Back on Tidewatch Island, you beat Shawn Shen from the Oceanport Young Tigers List—that I genuinely respect."
She nodded and spoke up. As the light turned green, Gloria started the car and pressed the gas: "But someone at Shawn Shen's level is nothing before a Pointing-to-Mystery Realm master!"
"Don't try to do anything outrageous to stand out later. If you cause trouble, Allen Ju will have to clean up your mess!"
As she spoke, Gloria's tone carried an indescribable flavor.
She meant to suppress Evan's arrogance, but seeing him beside her, she felt like her efforts were hitting cotton—soft and ineffective.
Evan's calm, unfazed demeanor made it unclear whether he actually heard her words or simply didn't care.
But this was no longer Gloria's concern.
Her mind was more occupied with rehearsing what to say to win over Master Lin from Seacrest.
Illustrious Gate Arena.
Recently, a teenage king of the ring had appeared out of nowhere, defeating Dylan Hu—the star disciple of Master Lin from Seacrest, who had ruled the arena for ages—in overwhelming fashion.
Instead of business declining, Illustrious Gate Arena became even more popular.
Many people hoped to catch a glimpse of the legendary teenage king of the ring.
Among them were plenty of young and beautiful girls.
But ever since that night, the teenage king disappeared without a trace—never seen again.
Afterward, Master Lin from Seacrest personally came to Illustrious Gate Arena and issued a formal challenge, demanding the teenage king sign a life-and-death contract and avenge his disciple Dylan Hu.
For a while, this old-school Jianghu-style challenge letter sent Illustrious Gate Arena's business to new heights.
Every night, crowds showed up for the spectacle—curious about what Master Lin from Seacrest really looked like, and hoping the teenage king would appear to face him in the ring.
Gloria searched for a long time before finally finding a parking spot in the lot.
She parked the car and got out with Evan Lin.
"So many people?"
Seeing the line at the entrance of Illustrious Gate Arena, Gloria was slightly startled and genuinely surprised.
"Hey, Gloria, you might not know this, but I just called a few buddies in the car. Apparently, these days everyone comes just to catch a glimpse of Master Lin!"
The chubby, round-faced Barry Shen walked over, grinning: "Lots of people show up with real sincerity, but few ever get to actually meet Master Lin from Seacrest."
"But don't worry, Gloria. Just now in the car, Ray Lei promised us we'd definitely get to see Master Lin in person!"
Barry laughed and slapped Ray Lei on the arm: "Right, Ray?"
"Yep! Leave it to me!"
Ray nodded firmly, chin up, looking at Gloria with obvious confidence.
While speaking, Ray glanced unconsciously at Evan Lin. Seeing Evan still showing no sign of leaving and clearly planning to go in with them, Ray felt more at ease.
"You're coming in with us too, right?"
Ray nodded at Evan, speaking with none of the fear he showed last time at Illustrious Gate. Instead, he sounded almost arrogant.
The closer they got to Illustrious Gate Arena, the closer they were to Master Lin from Seacrest.
Outside, Ray knew he couldn't beat Evan even if there were ten of him. But here, with Master Lin inside, Ray felt increasingly confident.
So when he looked at Evan, he had less fear and hesitation, and more inexplicable arrogance.
"Forget him. If he wants to come, let him. Why bother with him?"
A girl interrupted Ray, not giving Evan a chance to speak. She glanced at Evan, then shifted her gaze, cheerfully linking arms with Gloria: "Come on, Gloria. When we see Master Lin, I know I can't hope to bring him home myself."
"But Gloria, if you manage to recruit this big shot, you have to help me out if I ever get into trouble."
Her face was sincere. Clearly, she knew her family's resources couldn't compete with this group, so she'd rather settle for second best.