Suicidal Behavior

The moment Zhu Ping'an claimed his first point of Star Light, his figure was projected onto the massive gate outside the examination grounds.

"The first examinee to obtain Star Light has appeared! Is it Leng Tianjiao? Or Ye Qingxian from Qingcheng High School? Or maybe Cai Kun from Experimental High School?"

Faced with the grand spectacle of the College Entrance Examination, the crowd in the stands grew excited, craning their necks toward the gate.

But when they made out the figure within the projection, they froze.

"Who's that? I've never seen him before!"

"Is this the dark horse? Sure enough, every year some examinee shocks everyone!"

"He's wearing what looks like Qingcheng High School's uniform—is this kid a student there?"

"Never heard of him!"

The crowd buzzed with chatter, all curious about Zhu Ping'an's identity.

Just then, a piercing shriek erupted from the stands!

"Ah!!! He's Zhu Ping'an! He's my son, Zhu Ping'an! Ah!!!"

"Honey, keep it down, honey, keep it down."

Beside her, Zhu Jianghua watched the ecstatic Xia Yue and wished he could find a crack to crawl into, but unfortunately, there were people everywhere—only deep ditches, no cracks in sight.

"Dad... Mom's lost it..." Zhu Kaixin pointed at the reveling Xia Yue.

"Nonsense, child." Zhu Jianghua patted Zhu Kaixin's head. "Haven't you always been from a single-parent family? What mom?"

Father and daughter tacitly distanced themselves from Xia Yue.

At that moment, the crowd's attention was drawn back to Zhu Ping'an, because the projection showed him doing something alarming.

"What's this kid up to? Why's he shoving the Star Light into his mouth?"

"No need to ask—clearly he didn't pay attention in class!"

In the crowd, a Retired Old Teacher with graying hair and round-frame reading glasses shook his head.

"School teachers must have emphasized it more than once: though the Star Light in the Secret Realm of Star Gazing contains immense energy, that energy comes from the destruction of stars—too violent to be absorbed by the human body. Forcibly absorbing it causes severe harm, even death!"

The Retired Old Teacher pushed up his glasses.

"But even with constant reminders, whenever the exam secret realm chooses Star Gazing, there are always students who absorb Star Light and get hurt. It's nothing new."

After hearing the Retired Old Teacher's explanation, the crowd suddenly understood, and a hint of disdain crept into their looks at Zhu Ping'an.

Being the first to collect Star Light was probably just luck, nothing worth noting. Many who had planned to cozy up to Xia Yue early stopped in their tracks, deciding to wait and see.

Inside the Secret Realm of Star Gazing, Zhu Ping'an swallowed the Star Light in one gulp.

Just as the Retired Old Teacher had said, the moment the Star Light entered his body, it transformed into a wild cluster of starlight, darting and dashing through every limb and joint.

Zhu Ping'an couldn't help letting out a low growl, trying to ease the pain through it.

After a long while, the Star Light finally vanished completely within his body.

Zhu Ping'an clenched his fist and assessed himself—his Qi and Blood Value hadn't increased, still the same as before, but he could feel that his body had grown just a tiny bit stronger.

The energy of the Star Light didn't seem to affect a martial artist's Qi and Blood Value; instead, it acted directly on the physical body itself!

"The exam has only just begun, and he's already injured. Looks like this kid's chances are slim." The Retired Old Teacher looked at Zhu Ping'an with a hint of pity.

Because Zhu Ping'an had refined the Star Light, his figure dropped out of the top ten and disappeared from the projection.

By then, Leng Tianjiao, Ye Qingxian, and others who had already become First-Rank Warriors had found their first Star Light and appeared on the projection. The crowd shifted their attention to these geniuses, no longer dwelling on Zhu Ping'an's little episode.

An hour slipped by quietly, and the competition within the Secret Realm of Star Gazing grew fiercer.

"Leng Tianjiao has already collected 188 points of Star Light! At this rate, she might break through the seven-hundred mark by the end!"

"That Ye Qingxian from Qingcheng High School is fast too—he's got 175 points, right behind Leng Tianjiao!"

"It makes sense for them to be first and second, but who's this Yao Xu in third? Never seen him before! He's even ahead of Cai Kun from Experimental High School! Does that make sense?"

"Clearly you weren't paying attention. That Yao Xu got lucky—he ran into some poor guy and snatched his Star Light, shooting right up the rankings!"

The crowd buzzed, eyes glued to the scene in the Secret Realm of Star Gazing. As time passed, examinees had started running into each other and throwing down.

Compared to slow collection, plundering others was the fastest way!

Just as the exam was heating up, a name began to rise quietly—tenth place, ninth place, eighth place, seventh place...

By the time Zhu Ping'an pushed Cai Kun down and reached fourth place, someone finally noticed him.

"Look! It's that Zhu Ping'an from the start! Didn't he get hurt absorbing Star Light? How's he catching up?"

"Unbelievable... dragging an injured body and still this fierce?"

"What's the point of collecting Star Light fast? It's just making a bride for someone else. Wounded like this, he'll hand it over the moment he meets anyone!"

The principal of Experimental High School snorted coldly, his displeasure written all over his face.

Cai Kun was the top student at Experimental High School. Being overshadowed by Leng Tianjiao and Ye Qingxian was one thing, but first an unknown Yao Xu, then some clueless upstart Zhu Ping'an from nowhere—both ranking ahead of Cai Kun—it grated on him deeply.

"Wait... something's off. Look! What's that Zhu Ping'an doing?"

Someone gasped and stood up, staring at the massive projection with fear.

In the projection, Zhu Ping'an, ranked fourth with over a hundred and fifty points of Star Light, tilted his head back and swallowed all of them in one gulp!

This horrifying sight left everyone dumbfounded.

The Retired Old Teacher from earlier was so startled he fell to the ground. He took off his reading glasses and muttered to himself.

"This Zhu Ping'an isn't here to take the exam—he's clearly here to commit suicide..."