Chapter Ten: Zilong’s Legacy and the Forged Pass!

Wang Fan did not foolishly wait until evening. Instead, he cleaned up traces left by the vagrant in his rental apartment. While cleaning, his peripheral vision caught a news report on TV.

He focused his attention, his gaze fixed firmly on the screen as he watched the broadcast in silence.

"A trial hall has appeared opposite the main entrance of the Z City Central Public Security Bureau. Several cultivators who have received inheritances have entered the trial hall and obtained divine and immortal pills that can assist in cultivation. These medicines enhance cultivation speed and even potential. The cultivators who acquired these pills have now been detained by the police."

A male reporter in plain clothes reported, microphone in hand. As he finished speaking, the camera panned to several young people, their wrists locked in handcuffs by police officers. In their hands were several ancient-looking boxes, covered in mysterious runes.

After watching the live news report, Wang Fan took a deep breath.

He had always wanted to explore the trial hall, but hadn’t known its exact location in Z City. Now he finally knew, and he was determined to investigate.

Wang Fan checked his phone for the time and realized there was still some time before the botanical garden closed at dusk. Without hesitation, he set out immediately.

He jogged all the way to the Public Security Bureau, arriving in about fifteen minutes, his breath steady and face unflushed. After all, his new apartment was in a central city neighborhood, very close to the bureau itself.

Outside the Public Security Bureau, Wang Fan found not just a large gathering of people, but also a contingent of armed police and special forces, who had cordoned off the trial hall.

Wang Fan scanned the scene, his eyes lingering on the trial hall. At once, he noticed that this hall was nothing like the inheritance halls he had seen before.

Those prior halls had been grand and magnificent, their wooden carvings astonishing, imbued with ancient charm and bearing no resemblance to modern architecture.

This trial hall, however, lacked ornate carvings. It was simply ancient and unadorned, covered in countless patches of moss, as if it had been unearthed from some long-forgotten place.

Atop the trial hall was a plaque bearing its name, written in traditional script: Trial Hall. On its pillars, a couplet was inscribed.

Day and night, cultivators seek opportunities in the Trial Hall!

Wang Fan read the couplet and pondered for a moment, immediately understanding that real opportunities for cultivator advancement lay within. If not, such an ancient couplet would not exist.

He saw that even the couplet was shrouded in moss, clearly carved by an ancient hand. The couplet and the entire hall exuded a desolate, primordial aura, as if both had existed since time immemorial.

Wang Fan's desire to explore grew ever stronger. Just as he was about to act, a group emerged from the crowd, led by an exceptionally young scion accompanied by several tall, muscular bodyguards.

This young man was the son of the owner of a publicly listed company in Z City, the legal heir to the company. His name was Zhao Fan, the sole heir to the Zhao Group. In the past few days, he too had entered an inheritance hall and obtained a powerful inheritance: the Xuan-level legacy of Zhao Zilong, the great general of Changshan.

In Z City, the Xuan-level inheritance was the highest available. Higher, Earth-level inheritances might exist elsewhere in the country, but never here.

Now, the Zhao family heir had stepped into the Bitter Sea realm, his vital energy capable of strengthening his body—splitting a stone with bare hands was no longer a challenge. Confident in his abilities as a cultivator, he decided to enter the trial hall today to test its trials.

Protected by his bodyguards, Zhao Fan produced a document—a pass obtained by his father through connections and favors to the mayor. This pass granted him entry into the trial hall.

Upon seeing the pass, stamped with the mayor’s red seal, the special forces and armed police shifted their riot shields, opening a space for Zhao Fan to stride inside.

His bodyguards remained outside, silently waiting for Zhao Fan to emerge from the trial hall.

In the crowd, Wang Fan’s eyes gleamed with a sharp light—real energy shining within them. As Zhao Fan produced his pass, Wang Fan channeled vital energy into his eyes, enhancing his vision.

He easily read every word and the red seal on the pass from over a hundred meters away. Observing everything, a faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips.

So entry requires a pass?

With a smile, Wang Fan quietly slipped out of the crowd. He went to a print shop and printed a pass, then bought a carrot at the market and a box of red ink at a stationery store.

Wang Fan drew out the vast vital energy from the Bitter Sea realm within him, concentrating it onto his fingernails. Instantly, his pale nails became sharp as blades, gleaming with cold light.

He used his nails as knives to carve the carrot, and within minutes, he had fashioned a seal as sharp as a blade from his fingernails. Pressing the seal into the red ink, he stamped it onto the freshly printed pass. In this way, his forged pass was complete.

Once finished, Wang Fan took his pass and headed toward the trial hall opposite the Public Security Bureau.

Squeezing past the murmuring crowd, he presented the pass to the armed police with a confident smile.

Seeing a pass identical to Zhao Fan's, several officers immediately moved their riot shields aside, allowing Wang Fan to enter.

"Didn't the higher-ups say only one person was allowed? Why is there another?" a police captain muttered, his gaze lingering on Wang Fan's handsome face. Sensing something amiss, he spoke up, "Wait! Something’s not right."

At his words, the officers who had moved aside returned to their original positions.

Captain Xie Yue, baton in hand, narrowed his eyes and stared at Wang Fan, asking, "Is your pass real?"

"Of course," Wang Fan replied.

He felt his heart skip a beat, realizing the officer might have spotted a flaw. His emotions shifted rapidly, but he kept his face composed. After steadying himself, Wang Fan nodded seriously.