The Oriole Appears

"Ha, ha, ha..."

Zhang Guangzong ran for his life, with three early-stage Second Realm examinees close behind him.

"I told you, I never joined any Reformist Faction! Why are you still chasing me?!"

"Who the fuck cares whether you joined or not? If you're not with the Aristocratic Faction, you die!"

Rage surged through Zhang Guangzong's mind. Just because of that? All for that!

They had ruined more than twenty innocent examinees just like that!

"Crack, crack, crack—"

The sun slanted westward, its light turning a deep crimson as the sound of space shattering suddenly rang out.

Zhang Guangzong stopped running. He had been told that this meant the secret realm had been cut off from the outside world.

He could clearly sense the killing intent of his pursuers surge the instant the cracking sounds of space being severed rang out.

They knew what those sounds meant too. No, rather, it was their people who had caused the spatial disconnection.

He turned around as if he had made up his mind about something, and his back instantly bent as though he had given up something of immense importance.

Dad, I'm sorry.

"[Space Tunnel], high-load activation."

He murmured the words, and a terrifying spatial turbulence appeared behind him. A vast Space Wormhole opened in response to his call.

His body began to visibly waste away, as though its nutrients were being drained.

But that was not enough. That amount of energy was only enough to keep the enormous Space Wormhole, three men tall, open. To transport anything through it, he needed even more energy.

"Since you all want me dead! Then let's just die together!"

He thought of his father, held hostage by the Beastfolk, of the nightmarish border of Meifeng County, and of himself, struggling against betraying the Human Race.

Zhang Guangzong's eyes were bloodshot. After witnessing his friends and peers being hunted down and then being pursued for two hours, he had accumulated endless resentment.

Now, those venomous curses, along with his life, were poured into the completed Space Wormhole.

The three awakened individuals pursuing Zhang Guangzong looked at the desiccated remains he had left on the ground, their hearts unmoved.

But in the next instant, terror spread across their faces.

Groups of Third and Fourth Realm Beastfolk poured out of the Space Wormhole and quickly charged toward them.

Before they could even send a warning, they were swallowed up by the surging beast tide.

The Beastfolk entered the Unified Exam Secret Realm as an outside force.

"Hm? Dead?"

Shisui murmured in puzzlement. He had just been thinking about the brat with the rare spatial talent he had sensed, wondering whether the other end of the space he had connected to led to a third-party force.

He hadn't expected the brat to suddenly drop dead!

Shisui checked the spot using the feather anchor he had left behind, and was stunned by the mountain of Beastfolk from the lower-intelligence tribes.

He had killed quite a few low-level Beastfolk creatures in the Lingyun River Rainforest and hunted down plenty of prey in the Unified Exam Secret Realm.

So he recognized at a glance that these were definitely not native species of the Unified Exam Secret Realm.

I see. After learning that the aristocratic families planned to frame them, did they decide to seize the opportunity and wipe out the younger generation of the Human Race in one fell swoop?

If this works, they might even be able to claim the dead can't testify!

What a way to turn their enemies' scheme against them!

But this has to be settled quickly. The Human Race's higher-ups aren't just sitting around doing nothing.

"Most are Third Realm, with a small number at the early and middle stages of the Fourth Realm. They really would crush the examinees."

Shisui counted the "growth package" the Beastfolk had delivered across the intervening space, satisfied.

"With this many, it might be enough for me to break through to the Fifth Realm!"

What a surprise! A huge surprise!

Lou Shisui's lips curled into a bloody grin, and his aura abruptly changed.

The admission brooch used to record the examinee's condition cracked, then shattered under the sudden release of Psychic Energy.

His previously unremarkable, withdrawn demeanor was instantly torn away. His hair turned white from the roots, and a savage killing intent enveloped the group marching ahead of him.

The oriole, the final act, had entered the stage, so he no longer needed to keep up his own act as the grand finale.

"Chen Xiao, you... what the hell are you doing?!"

Swept up in the icy killing intent, Chen Haoyu tried to maintain the bearing of a team leader, though he lacked confidence.

He clutched the Hidden Realm Ring's self-destruct switch tightly in his hand, revealing his instinctive fear and unease.

"Slash!"

Chen Haoyu stared blankly at his arms flying through the air and his lower body rising higher in his vision, then toppled into the bushes.

Before he could react, the passing Steel Feathers had cut him in half at the waist.

"Bang!"

Several of his lackeys closest to him and the trees nearby were severed along with him.

"Oh dear, I haven't used my Kagune in a while. I put a little too much force into it. Cutting trees down indiscriminately—what a sin!"

He tore off the human-skin mask he had used as a disguise, revealing Shisui's striking, aggressively handsome face.

Beneath his flying white hair, his black-and-red Kakugan suddenly opened, blood-colored cracks spreading and tracing patterns from the corners of his eyes.

As his Kakugan appeared, the Rc Cells in Shisui's body boiled and surged. Numerous ferocious predatory organs emerged behind him through special openings and the hem of his black hoodie.

"Crack!"

The Hidden Realm Ring was snapped apart by the immense surge of Psychic Energy.

Li Gao and the others stared wide-eyed and screamed in disbelief, breaking down:

"He's at the Third-Realm Peak? He's only at the Third-Realm Peak?!"

Why would someone at the Third-Realm Peak appear in the Unified Exam Secret Realm?

And that oppressive aura even surpassed his grandfather's, who was still guarding the border between the two races!

His grandfather was a powerful expert at the Sixth-Realm Peak!

His survival instinct urged him to flee, but fear froze his body in place.

Terrified screams echoed in his ears. Li Gao could only watch helplessly as the monster harvested the dozen or so people present, watch it walk toward him, and finally, watch it twist off his head.

Lou Shisui basked contentedly in the light of the setting sun. After his talent awakened, his Kagune had also gained the ability to absorb substances containing Psychic Energy, greatly increasing his recovery speed.

More powerful Kagune also meant using them consumed more energy.

Only by constantly consuming large quantities could he keep growing stronger like a rolling snowball.

Otherwise, he would be tortured to death by agonizing hunger.

That was the fate of a Ghoul: constantly eating, only to fall hungry again and again.

But Shisui didn't dislike the feeling. Killing and eating had made him strong, and he was addicted to the delicious taste of what he swallowed.

He had finally caught a chance to enjoy a buffet, so he had to eat to his heart's content!

A hair-raising creaking sound rang out, followed by the sound of Kagune growing rapidly.

Kakuja armor wrapped around Shisui as he ravenously absorbed Psychic Energy, only to discover that the First Realm rookies couldn't even provide him with any.

He paid no further attention to the pit over there. Most of them were First Realm small fry, with nothing worthwhile to offer.

His deep-purple Owl Wing Ukaku spread open. Shisui sensed the direction the beast tide was moving and decided to wait ahead of it.

He slashed open a Space Rift and headed for an anchor point he liked to wait for his next batch of prey.