Someone's Cheating

The raging energy contained in a single point of Star Light was enough to deal a First-Rank Warrior a heavy blow.

That was more than a hundred and fifty points of Star Light! The energy they contained was enough to reduce a First-Rank Warrior to ashes. And this guy had actually swallowed them whole?

Sure enough, just after Zhu Ping'an swallowed that huge handful of Star Light, strands of starlight began pouring out of his body, piercing through him until he looked like a sea urchin covered in glowing spines.

After swallowing the Star Light, Zhu Ping'an's Star Light points dropped to zero, and his figure disappeared from the projection once more.

"It's over. He's done for." The retired teacher couldn't bear to watch any longer. "Whose student is this? Why's he so reckless? How did his teacher teach him? He actually swallowed Star Light! Isn't he throwing his life away for nothing?"

"Exactly! That was so reckless! What a dangerous thing to do!"

"He's wearing Qingcheng High School's uniform. He must be a student there!"

As soon as those words were spoken, everyone's eyes turned toward the principal of Qingcheng High School.

Cold sweat beaded on the principal's face. He looked at Zhu Ping'an's Homeroom Teacher.

"Old Yang! What's going on? How did you teach this student?"

"I... I don't know..." Zhu Ping'an's Homeroom Teacher looked utterly innocent. He and Zhu Ping'an weren't close at all. Before, Zhu Ping'an had been an utterly ordinary student in class, with nothing to set him apart.

After Zhu Ping'an became a warrior, he'd started running straight to the Martial Artist Association as soon as class ended. He hadn't really spoken with his Homeroom Teacher, either.

The teacher had no idea what Zhu Ping'an was trying to accomplish with an act that was practically suicide.

The principal and Old Yang, the Homeroom Teacher, felt as though sharp spines were pricking their backs. One after another, gazes stabbed into them, as if accusing them of leading their students astray.

The principal's face darkened. If nothing unexpected happened, applications to Qingcheng High School would plummet next year.

Even Mayor Lin Zhao couldn't help looking puzzled.

"Strange... How could someone those two elders took a liking to be so reckless? Star Light has been studied for ages. It can't be absorbed. Absorb too much, and you'll explode. What's he trying to do?" Lin Zhao couldn't make heads or tails of it.

Secret Realm of Star Gazing.

"Ah!"

Zhu Ping'an let out a dying beast's howl. The energy unleashed by more than a hundred points of Star Light was like a primordial beast rampaging through his body, smashing into everything in its path, ready to tear him limb from limb.

Under the onslaught of that violent power, everything inside him was destroyed: his meridians, his dantian, even his internal organs.

By all rights, that energy should have destroyed his body, too. Yet it was as if some unknown force protected him, keeping him alive with one last breath even as his body teetered on the verge of falling apart.

The raging power of Star Light battered Zhu Ping'an's body again and again. It was like countless flying swords trying to rip him open from the inside.

His body was like a porcelain vase on the verge of shattering, covered in a dense web of cracks.

"I have to live... I don't want to die! In this world... I have family, I have teachers, and I can still cultivate and grow stronger. I absolutely refuse to... die such a pathetic death!"

Zhu Ping'an growled. He refused to die in the jaws of a Mutant Beast like he had in the original story, so he wouldn't let a single chance to grow stronger slip by.

Before he reached that plot point, he was immortal. That was his greatest Golden Finger!

As the power from the Star Light continued to wreak havoc inside him, strand after strand of its energy also seeped into his body.

The process was like forging a sword, hammering and refining Zhu Ping'an's body over and over. The pain was so intense that his nerves had long since gone numb.

After an unknown stretch of time, the energy was finally exhausted.

Zhu Ping'an slowly opened his eyes, their depths clear and bright.

He looked down at his shattered, battered body and gave a bitter smile.

An ordinary person would have died from injuries like these. Somehow, he was still hanging on by a thread.

"But the power in this Star Light is incredible..."

A gleam flashed in Zhu Ping'an's eyes. He lifted a foot and gave the ground a light stomp. A web of cracks instantly spread across it.

He could clearly feel how the power of Star Light had completely broken down and remade his body.

He also understood why no warrior absorbed the energy within Star Light. A normal warrior would already be long dead by the time their body had been completely broken apart.

"Not enough... I need... more Star Light!" Zhu Ping'an licked his lips, his face alight with excitement.

He wasn't like those pretty-boy warriors. If he couldn't die, then he'd push himself to the brink!

According to the original story, Zhu Ping'an would collect more than six hundred points of Star Light and give some to Yan Shubing. So he gathered Star Light at a speed that was simply frightening.

He even felt as if the Star Light was coming to him of its own accord.

On the way, he even came across two examinees fighting fiercely. They both ended up wounded and collapsed right in front of him.

Of course, Zhu Ping'an couldn't just leave them to die. He thoughtfully found them a place to recover and offered to keep their Star Light safe for them.

After two hours of collecting, Zhu Ping'an had reached five hundred points of Star Light.

At that moment, his figure appeared in the outside world's projection once more...

The retired teacher's eyes widened. He could hardly believe what he was seeing. He took off his reading glasses, rubbed them hard, then put them back on.

"Good heavens! How's that kid still alive?"

The retired teacher's words drew everyone's attention, and they turned to look.

"Hey? Is there something weird in the top ten projections?"

"Isn't that the lunatic who swallowed Star Light to kill himself just now? How did he collect five hundred points?"

"Does the world even make sense? Leng Tianjiao, in first place, only has a little over six hundred points of Star Light right now! He swallowed more than a hundred and still collected five hundred? If he hadn't swallowed them, wouldn't he be ahead of Leng Tianjiao? Is he cheating?"

"Wait, look at his body! There's a huge hole in his stomach! He's even bleeding!"

"That's not all! His body looks like it's made of Lego bricks, and he's still alive like that?"

Countless people stared, dumbfounded. The shock Zhu Ping'an had given them was simply unbelievable.

In all their years of College Entrance Examinations, they had never seen anything so absurd.

Just as everyone was reeling from the shock, Zhu Ping'an did something else that shook the heavens.

He tipped his head back and swallowed the five hundred points of Star Light he'd collected in three gulps, as if they were piglets.