Secret Realm of Star Gazing

Before dawn, more than half the people in Green City had already woken up and started bustling about.

There was only one reason: today was the start of the College Entrance Examination!

Zhu Ping'an arrived early at Qingcheng High School to gather with the others. Countless young men and women carrying dreams in their hearts had assembled on the sports field, their eyes blazing with determination.

At that moment, the principal of Qingcheng High School was going over the rules for this year's College Entrance Examination yet again.

Green City had a total of twenty-eight high schools, with nearly a hundred thousand students taking the College Entrance Examination.

The exam was being held in a secret realm discovered by Human Race warriors. The hundred thousand examinees would compete there to determine who would become this year's Green City Champion.

"Students! Sixty classmates have shared hardships and strived together; now the time has come to fight! Twelve years of wind and rain, of pressing forward—success or failure will be decided this year! Get your minds in order and defeat your opponents! Now, everyone, stand!"

At the principal's rallying cry, every student at Qingcheng High School stood tall, chests out and heads held high, like soldiers lined up for inspection.

"Our school is Qingcheng High School, named after Green City! That means we're the face of this city! I'm not asking for much. Half of the top fifty should be students from Qingcheng High School. Do you have confidence?"

"Yes!"

The middle schoolers' roars rang into the sky, brimming with confidence.

"The exam hall is a battlefield! Now! Follow me onto the battlefield!" The principal shouted, leading Qingcheng High School's contingent off in grand style.

The contingent from Qingcheng High School headed toward the exam site.

Along the way, crowds cheered and shouted encouragement wherever they went, their eyes shining as they looked at the students.

After all, these people were the pillars of the country to come!

Once the examinees from all twenty-eight high schools had assembled, the preparations for the College Entrance Examination began. They were simple: the examinees' Qi and Blood Values would be checked.

Anyone whose Qi and Blood Value was below 50 wouldn't even qualify to take the exam.

Next came blood and urine tests to prevent students from secretly taking drugs to boost their strength and cheat.

Zhu Ping'an passed both checks with ease. All he had to do now was wait for the College Entrance Examination to officially begin. Information about the exam's secret realm was strictly confidential, but for someone like Zhu Ping'an, who knew the plot, that supposed secrecy was bound to be meaningless.

According to the original plot, the secret realm they would enter for this year's exam was called the Secret Realm of Star Gazing. Their task was to collect Star Light within it: each point of Star Light earned one point. Examinees were allowed to rob each other of their Star Light, but they weren't allowed to gang up on someone.

Put simply, they could use their own strength to rob others, but they couldn't team up to do it. Teaming up was against the rules.

In the original plot, Zhu Ping'an had only 95 Qi and Blood Value and wasn't even a First-Rank Warrior. Yet he'd been incredibly lucky, collecting more than six hundred points of Star Light in just half a day.

As long as he found somewhere to hide and waited until the exam ended, he'd be guaranteed a place at a key university at the very least.

But because he wanted to attend the same university as Yan Shubing, he'd given his Star Light to her. In the end, he'd only gotten into an ordinary second-tier university.

Zhu Ping'an rubbed his chin and looked toward Yan Shubing in the distance. Looking back now, perhaps the power of the plot had been behind his incredible luck in collecting so much Star Light.

Yan Shubing sensed someone watching her and turned her head. When she saw Zhu Ping'an, she lowered her head shyly and cheered him on.

"Ping'an Ge, good luck on the College Entrance Examination!"

"I'll do my best. Don't worry." Zhu Ping'an smiled gently.

"If effort were all it took, what would we need geniuses for?" Ye Qingxian glanced coolly at Zhu Ping'an. Her aura was far stronger than it had been during the mock exam.

Ever since Zhu Ping'an had tricked her during the mock exam, Ye Qingxian had secretly held a grudge against him.

Zhu Ping'an had to admit, the protagonist's halo really was amazing. Like a cockroach that refused to die, he only got stronger the more he was beaten down.

By eight o'clock in the morning, all the pre-exam preparations had been completed.

Lin Zhao, Mayor of Green City, stepped up onto the platform beside Yang Jiangtao. The principals of the various schools stood behind him.

"Hello, students!"

As soon as he spoke, thunderous applause erupted from below.

"The College Entrance Examination has come around once again. At this moment, you must all be feeling very excited! So am I. It means another batch of talents will graduate from high school this year, ready to shine for the Ancient Great Xia Kingdom! Are you... ready?"

"Ready!" The roar of a hundred thousand people shook the heavens.

"Then now... in my capacity as Mayor of Green City, I will open this year's exam secret realm! It is called... Star Gazing!"

Lin Zhao raised a finger and drew a line through the air. A colossal gateway appeared before the hundred thousand examinees, stretching from earth to sky.

"It really is the Secret Realm of Star Gazing! Our Homeroom Teacher guessed the exam topic right!"

"Good thing I reviewed the material on the Secret Realm of Star Gazing several times over the past few days. I'm going to get at least five hundred points of Star Light this time!"

"Why is it the Secret Realm of Star Gazing? Damn it! I thought it'd be the Black Dragon Secret Realm!"

Some were thrilled, others dismayed. Before the exam, the various high schools had all tried to predict which secret realm might appear. Those who guessed right were beaming; those who guessed wrong wore long faces.

After all, not everyone had the talent to ignore the exam's content. For ordinary examinees, guessing the right secret realm was like taking a shortcut.

"I hereby announce: the College Entrance Examination... begins!"

The moment he finished speaking, countless examinees surged forward, charging toward the gateway. As soon as they touched it, they vanished.

Of course, some people took their time at the back instead of rushing ahead. They were all powerful; there was no need for them to hurry into the secret realm to collect Star Light. Once everyone else had gathered enough, they could simply take it from them.

Zhu Ping'an was among them. He didn't want to get squeezed in with the first wave, so he waited lazily until most of the crowd had gone in before setting off.

Once every examinee had entered the gateway, the towering structure abruptly changed, becoming a giant projection divided into ten sections.

The ten examinees who collected the most Star Light would appear on the projection.

The instant he passed through the gateway, the scene before him changed. A pitch-black night sky stretched into view, with stars filling its vast expanse.

"Just like in the original plot, we were sent to random locations."

Zhu Ping'an murmured under his breath. He looked around and saw no one else.

By the light of the stars, Zhu Ping'an made out the path beneath his feet and started walking forward.

Star Light was the afterglow left behind when stars died. As Zhu Ping'an saw it, Star Light was really just pieces of dead stars.

He hadn't walked far before a crystal-clear stone, no larger than a fingernail, appeared in his hand. It gave off dazzling starlight that flickered without pause.

Nearby, the body of a Star Devouring Bug lay still.

Star Devouring Bugs fed on Star Light. They were native creatures of the Secret Realm of Star Gazing, and they grew stronger by devouring it.

Wild Star Light was almost nonexistent. In most cases, it had to be taken from Star Devouring Bugs. The one Zhu Ping'an had encountered was still young, so he'd killed it with a single sword strike.

"My first point of Star Light. Got it."

Looking at the Star Light in his hand, Zhu Ping'an could sense the enormous energy it contained. Otherwise, the Star Devouring Bug wouldn't have been able to use it to grow stronger.

He couldn't help wondering: with so much energy in Star Light, hadn't any warriors ever tried absorbing it to cultivate?

At the request of our readers, we are now offering an ad-free experience for VIP members.

Click to view