Ding Fan hesitated for a moment, unsure of what choice to make at this time. Ultimately, he approached the vicinity of the VIP passage. Ding Fan knew that with the jade token he possessed, he could certainly be considered a VIP, and the VIP passage was noticeably unoccupied except for a few staff members. It would clearly be much more convenient and faster than the regular registration passage over there.

Immediately, Ding Fan and He Qianyao directly walked into the VIP passage. At this moment, a tall staff member saw the two approaching and couldn't help but step forward and politely ask:

"Do you two have invitations from Dancheng?"

At this moment, Ding Fan looked at him, somewhat embarrassed, and said:

"Sorry, I don't have an invitation, but I have this."

Ding Fan finished speaking and then took out the jade token from his body. At this moment, the tall man's face turned gloomy instantly upon hearing that Ding Fan did not have an invitation. Initially, the tall man was not optimistic about Ding Fan, given their youth, which seemed unlikely for an alchemist. The tall man had clearly seen many alchemists.

But when had there been such a young alchemist, especially one with an invitation? They would definitely be very impressive alchemists. How could someone so young be qualified? The tall man couldn't help but suspect Ding Fan was not here to participate in the Great Alchemy Competition but was just a cultivator coming here for fun. He then directly accepted the jade token from Ding Fan's hand.

The tall man's brow furrowed slightly as he examined the jade token repeatedly, clearly a look of incomprehension on his face. He then couldn't help but scoff at Ding Fan:

"Kid, are you joking with me? You think you can pawn this worthless jade to get some money and participate in the Great Alchemy Competition? Unfortunately, this isn't a pawnshop!"

At that moment, the tall man's eyes were full of contempt as he looked at Ding Fan.

"Haha..."

"Haha..."

The several staff members beside the tall man couldn't help but burst into laughter upon hearing his words, clearly viewing him with admiration. Ding Fan could see that the tall man was apparently the leader of this group.

In the eyes of the tall man, he did not recognize the jade token at all and obviously did not know what it was for. On the contrary, the tall man, as the captain of Wuji Square here, had seen all kinds of rascals and scoundrels before. Now seeing Ding Fan so young and claiming to be an alchemist, and even coming to the VIP passage, the tall man clearly regarded Ding Fan as a rogue rascal.

To the tall man, it was a great honor to lead his team in guarding the VIP passage, and he took his responsibility very seriously. If not for the fact that they were not acting recklessly, the tall man knew that if they dared make trouble, he would immediately throw them out of Wuji Square.

The tall man was aware that this time, the Great Alchemy Competition at Wuji Square was a very important event organized by the City Lord's Mansion every few years and absolutely could not allow any such rascals to disrupt its environment. Moreover, the city lord clearly valued this Great Alchemy Competition more than ever before. The tall man felt this was probably the most grand competition in history, the most valued by the City Lord's Mansion.

As a staff member of this event and a person of the City Lord's Mansion, the tall man had participated in several previous alchemy competitions. But he noticed that this time, the deployment of forces was significantly more than in previous years, and he noticed that when the city lord spoke to the soldiers, he clearly emphasized the importance of this competition more than in previous years.

At this moment, Ding Fan and He Qianyao were taken aback, evidently not expecting the other party not to recognize the jade token. Ding Fan was confident that with this jade token, passing through the VIP passage would be no issue at all. However, the problem was that the other party simply did not recognize the jade token, which made things a bit difficult.

Clearly, while Ding Fan was at an impasse here, people on the other side were proceeding with registrations one by one. Evidently, the Great Alchemy Competition had a time constraint, and missing the registration period meant losing the qualification to participate. Ding Fan did not want that to happen.

Hence, Ding Fan said to the other party:

"Then I'll go register over there."

Ding Fan knew that the tall man did not recognize the jade token, and saying more would be useless. Hence, Ding Fan withdrew his jade token and was about to lead He Qianyao toward the regular passage. To Ding Fan, this was fine, and he could see that the tall man was clearly a conscientious and dedicated person.

Therefore, Ding Fan didn't want to cause trouble, preferring less trouble to more. Although Ding Fan was leading He Qianyao toward the regular registration channel, He Qianyao was clearly unhappy, her face showing her discontent. He Qianyao was a smart person; since even the inn owner recognized the jade token, it clearly indicated there wasn't any issue with it.

After all, the inn owner hosted distinguished guests, and even the middle-aged inn owner was familiar with the city lord of the City Lord Mansion, so he would undoubtedly be more knowledgeable, especially in a place like Dancheng.

But just as Ding Fan was about to pull He Qianyao away from here, suddenly a tall man directly blocked Ding Fan's way, his face looking very unfriendly, and he said to Ding Fan in a very hostile manner:

"You think you can leave whenever you want! What do you think this place is? A place where people like you can just come and go as you please?"

At this moment Ding Fan heard the man's words and couldn't help but be taken aback. Ding Fan naturally understood what the man meant. He didn't expect the man to let it go and even regarded him as some kind of person. For a moment, Ding Fan was somewhat indignant, obviously not wanting to bother with the man to save some time to hurry and register. However, it now seemed obviously impossible.

Ding Fan immediately said coldly to the tall man:

"What do you want?"

As Ding Fan spoke, a sharp light flashed in his eyes. Ding Fan knew that fighting here wasn't allowed, but he also knew that his Divine Sense was not ordinarily strong. He sent a powerful wave of Divine Sense from his eyes towards the man, clearly enough to give him a tough time.

The tall man looked into Ding Fan's eyes and couldn't help but be stunned. He realized something was wrong immediately, but it was already too late. He had no choice but to mobilize his spiritual power to protect his Divine Sense as much as he could, but unfortunately, his Divine Sense was much too weak compared to Ding Fan's, akin to being made of paper. The tall man's mind went blank momentarily, and then he directly collapsed with a loud thud.

By now, the surrounding onlookers had already noticed Ding Fan's side, apparently finding Ding Fan's actions amusing. Without a pass, attempting to enter the VIP passage with just a worker's Jade Plate was completely laughable. Many seemed to share the tall man's thoughts, obviously regarding Ding Fan as unfriendly. Especially when they saw the tall staff member holding up Ding Fan, the crowd found it quite interesting. After all, the tall man was of Nascent Soul Middle Stage, clearly not weak, while the "troublesome" youth was only at Early Nascent Soul Stage.

But the following scene left the crowd stunned. That young man merely looked at the tall man, and how did that tall staff member suddenly faint?

The crowd was obviously shocked!

Truly leaving the crowd completely puzzled about what had happened. At this moment, not only were the surrounding people shocked, but several other staff members who saw this scene were also flabbergasted. They knew clearly that at Wuji Square, regardless of one's abilities, using force would lead to one result — death!

However, what shocked the bystanders and those under the tall man was that Ding Fan hadn't done anything; he had merely glanced at him, and their boss fainted, which seemed somewhat too incredible!

The crowd was stunned, hurriedly rushing to the tall man, who had already fallen to the ground, to check his condition. A female cultivator, after examining the tall man, breathed a sigh of relief and said to some staff around her:

"It's nothing serious, just a temporary fainting spell."

Upon hearing the woman's words, the crowd let out a sigh of relief, then coldly questioned Ding Fan:

"What did you do?"

Seeing a female cultivator questioning him, Ding Fan calmly smiled and replied plainly:

"I didn't do anything; maybe he just overheated."

He Qianyao, hearing Ding Fan's words, couldn't help but let out a slight laugh. She obviously knew what Ding Fan had done. She knew for a long time that Ding Fan's Divine Sense was exceptionally powerful, and the tall man wouldn't have fainted without reason; clearly, Ding Fan played a trick. When the tall man initially refused both her and Ding Fan, He Qianyao felt very displeased, but when Ding Fan chose to back down, she didn't say anything.

Clearly, He Qianyao understood that the tall man was pushing his luck and had reached Ding Fan's limit, which prompted Ding Fan to strike secretly. This realization filled He Qianyao with satisfaction.

At this point, many working cultivators had arrived near Ding Fan. Apparently, many of them hadn't expected such an event to occur, where a squad leader on their side suddenly collapsed inexplicably, which was obviously not simple. Especially seeing Ding Fan's indifferent demeanor, the working cultivators and soldiers knew this young man was up to some mischief. Subsequently, a soldier from the City Lord Mansion addressed Ding Fan with a malicious tone:

"Do you know the consequences of using force here? Come with us!"

Upon hearing the words, Ding Fan couldn't help but feel astounded. Going with them seemed far from simple, and the important thing was that he had to participate in the Great Alchemy Competition; if he truly went with them, it was clear that the competition would definitely be out of reach for him.