Bai Youran did not expect to receive such a reply.
As a grandmaster of formations, was he so unknown?
He even doubted himself.
However, seeing Zhang Ergou's expression, it didn't seem like a pretense.
Bai Youran did not dwell on this matter further.
"Young fellow, which sect are you from, and have you learned formations?"
Bai Youran was full of curiosity about Zhang Ergou.
Not only had he reached the late stage peak of Golden Core cultivation at such a young age, but he had also shown outstanding performance in formations, surpassing cultivators of the same level.
His recent spar with Zhang Ergou had given him a new understanding of the young man's soul power.
He was also amazed by the boy's combat awareness.
Having lived for so many years, Bai Youran had seen all sorts of exceptionally talented individuals.
However, he had never encountered a young person like Zhang Ergou, who was so young yet so composed.
This further improved his impression of Zhang Ergou.
In fact, Bai Youran had developed a fondness for the young talent.
He intended to take Zhang Ergou as his disciple and pass on all his skills.
Zhang Ergou looked at the inexplicable old man before him, feeling speechless.
First, the old man praised how powerful he was, calling himself a grandmaster of formations.
Now, he was asking for his name and sect.
In Zhang Ergou's eyes, Bai Youran's gaze seemed peculiar.
Could he be planning revenge?
"My name is Zhang Ergou, and I am from the Canglang Sect."
Zhang Ergou did not hide his name. He had used his real name when registering for the selection.
This old man should be from the City Lord's mansion, and they would find out who he was with a simple check.
However, he did not mention that he was a disciple of the Misty Sect.
One had to be cautious when traveling.
"Canglang Sect? The second-rate sect to the west?"
Bai Youran murmured to himself, clearly having heard of the Canglang Sect.
As if realizing it was inappropriate to speak of the Canglang Sect in front of Zhang Ergou, he blushed slightly.
Zhang Ergou didn't care how others evaluated the Canglang Sect.
But to Bai Youran, his expressionless face seemed like he was angry.
This made Bai Youran uneasy. He had initially intended to befriend Zhang Ergou.
His careless remark about the Canglang Sect must have significantly lowered the young man's good impression of him.
If Zhang Ergou knew what Bai Youran was thinking,
he would definitely say he was overthinking things.
From the very beginning, he hadn't had a good impression of this old man.
The forced "Soul Formation," which wasted more than half a day of his time,
and also depleted a large portion of his soul power.
It was known that divine sense was not only difficult to cultivate, but replenishing soul power required immense effort.
As an alchemist, Zhang Ergou understood this deeply.
For a moment, both fell silent.
The situation became awkward.
"Old man, since you've surrendered, does that mean I've broken through this formation?"
Zhang Ergou had not forgotten his main objective.
He was still in the process of breaking the formation and did not have time to chat with the old man.
"Haha, of course. Breaking the Soul Formation I laid down means you have passed the second trial."
Hearing Bai Youran say this, Zhang Ergou felt relieved.
"Can you then disperse the formation and let me out? Otherwise, others won't think I've broken the formation."
Zhang Ergou remained suspicious of the old man.
Although Bai Youran had admitted defeat in the previous soul battle,
the entire formation was still under his control.
Zhang Ergou still needed Bai Youran's permission to leave.
Strictly speaking, Zhang Ergou had not truly cracked Bai Youran's Soul Formation.
However, the final formation was also laid by Bai Youran to test these young talents.
As long as they could comprehend the essence of the Soul Formation, he would be satisfied.
Zhang Ergou's performance had exceeded his expectations.
This was why Bai Youran was so interested in Zhang Ergou.
Seeing Zhang Ergou's words, he knew the young man still didn't trust him.
Helplessly, Bai Youran waved his hand, and the scenery before Zhang Ergou changed drastically.
He then saw the City Lord of Tree Eye City, the Pavilion Master of Black Xuan Pavilion, and elders from other sects who had come to offer congratulations, all seated in the void.
He then saw the disheveled young people standing on the plaza.
"Thirty-fourth in Formation Dao, Zhang Ergou, broke eight formations consecutively, taking one and a half hours."
On the jade pillar, Zhang Ergou's name appeared on the first line.
He had clearly become the first person to pass the second trial.
Then, Bai Youran seemed to have no particular expectations for the remaining participants.
He deliberately eased the difficulty for those who came after.
As a result, within two hours, over fifty people successfully passed the second trial.
However, even so, it was enough to show the difficulty of the formations.
Thousands of disciples had initially registered for the selection.
A portion had been eliminated after the first round of cultivation testing.
But there were still nearly a thousand people remaining.
After the formation selection, only a little over fifty people were left.
This made Zhang Ergou sigh that in the cultivation world, one could not simply do whatever they pleased just because their cultivation was high.
Moreover, this selection also made Zhang Ergou experience the terrifying nature of formations.
What surprised Zhang Ergou was that Li Zhan also appeared in the list of the top fifty.
He had successfully advanced.
The brothers Jiang Yu and Jiang Xu were not eliminated either.
Earlier, Zhang Ergou had thought about causing them some trouble during the formation trial.
Unexpectedly, he himself had almost been trapped in the formation and unable to get out.
This also made him abandon his disdain for formations.
When the brothers Jiang Yu and Jiang Xu saw that the first name on the list was Zhang Ergou,
their expressions became grim.
"Haha, Brother Ergou, I didn't expect you to be the first to pass the second trial. It's truly remarkable."
Li Zhan quickly walked up to Zhang Ergou, patted him on the shoulder, and cast a meaningful glance at the Jiang brothers.
The provocative intent was self-evident.
"Hmph, a petty person gloating over success. There are still two more rounds of competition. It's not too late to be arrogant after passing them all."
Upon hearing Li Zhan's provocation, Jiang Xu could no longer remain calm.
However, Jiang Yu, with a grim expression, said nothing, only looking deeply at Zhang Ergou.
Zhang Ergou shrugged nonchalantly.
There were plenty of people who wanted to get rid of him. Who did you think you were?
There were even two late-stage Nascent Soul powerhouses seated in the void.
Zhang Ergou's identity had been completely exposed due to his outstanding performance.
Initially, Li Kongcai and Yuan Yue were unsure.
Could someone else have the same name as Zhang Ergou? It couldn't be such a coincidence, could it?
But when the two saw Zhang Ergou's face clearly, they exclaimed that heaven was treating them well.
Truly, they had searched everywhere and finally found him. Coincidentally meeting Zhang Ergou at a grand event.
Li Kongcai harbored a deep hatred for Zhang Ergou.
It wasn't just because Zhang Ergou had killed his only son.