Zhenghao Wujun

Zhu Ping'an's heartfelt sincerity moved countless people. Even the examinees beside him were touched by the genuine emotion he revealed.

"Good heavens! Yan Shubing is so lucky! A man is actually willing to go this far for her!"

"Exactly! Zhu Ping'an is handsome, too, and he's so strong—he can even deal with that monster, and he's head over heels for Yan Shubing!"

"If I were Yan Shubing, I'd be so happy I'd faint right now!"

Hearing everyone's chatter, Yan Shubing nearly spat up a mouthful of blood. She didn't know if she'd be happy enough to faint, but she was definitely about to get knocked unconscious by a meteor.

The meteors seemed to have eyes, deliberately targeting her. Every single one landed right beside her.

When the stars in the sky were nearly spent, Zhu Ping'an finally stopped. He no longer sent meteors crashing down beside Yan Shubing. Instead, he circulated the Nine Revolutions Starry Sky Technique and sent every remaining meteor hurtling toward the Humanoid Creature.

Boom!

With a tremendous explosion, the Humanoid Creature finally fell silent.

Only after that did he hurry over and help Yan Shubing up, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her frantically.

"Bingbing! Are you all right, Bingbing? Don't scare me, Bingbing! Boohoo!"

Yan Shubing was already seeing stars and feeling dizzy from the meteors. When Zhu Ping'an shook her like that, she immediately turned her head and vomited all over the ground.

"Ping'an Ge... I'm fine... Just stop shaking the hell out of me!" Yan Shubing couldn't help swearing.

"Thank goodness, Bingbing. As long as you're okay! You scared me to death!" Tears streamed from Zhu Ping'an's eyes. To everyone watching, he was clearly head over heels for Yan Shubing.

Zhu Ping'an had already checked her over. With so many meteors striking beside her, she'd somehow suffered only a few superficial injuries. Her protagonist's halo was absurdly powerful.

Just as everyone thought the crisis was over, Yao Xu—the red-haired, energetic young man—was the first to notice something was wrong. Pointing behind Zhu Ping'an, he spoke in alarm.

"Look! That monster's still alive!"

Everyone turned toward his voice and saw that the Humanoid Creature had somehow gotten back to its feet.

Zhu Ping'an's heart tightened. Had he sent too many meteors after Yan Shubing and failed to kill the monster?

That would be the end of him. The creature definitely wouldn't let him off.

But to everyone's surprise, once it stood up, the monster didn't seem intent on attacking anyone. Instead, it raised its head, looking bewildered.

The black scales covering its body turned to ash and scattered on the wind. At last, a human figure appeared beneath them.

He was a young man with a deathly pale face, so ordinary that he would vanish into a crowd without a trace. His long robe looked completely out of place in the modern world, and his face was filled with the same bewilderment.

"Have I... finally died?"

The young man spoke slowly, a look of release appearing on his face.

"Jiaojiao!"

At an urgent shout, a figure raced toward them. His short hair stood on end like steel needles, and his bulging muscles stretched his clothes tight, gray and craggy as granite. His presence was like that of a demon god.

In the blink of an eye, the middle-aged man reached Leng Tianjiao. Only after seeing that she wasn't badly hurt did he let out a long breath of relief.

His strength was immense, and he clearly cared deeply about Leng Tianjiao. His identity was obvious: Leng Family Head, Leng Yuanting!

At the sight of Leng Yuanting, the examinees finally let their tension ease.

Since Leng Yuanting had made it inside, the others would probably arrive soon, too. At last, they were safe.

Sure enough, after Leng Yuanting arrived, Mayor Lin Zhao led a large force of martial artists onto the scene in a thunderous rush. A little child walked at the front of the group.

The child looked only seven or eight years old, yet Lin Zhao walked half a step behind him, clearly treating the child as their leader.

Seeing that nearly a third of the examinees were missing, a murderous glint flashed across Lin Zhao's face as he looked at the deathly pale young man.

It was obvious that the changes in the Secret Realm of Star Gazing and the disappearance of those examinees were both connected to that young man.

"Who are you? You harmed the College Entrance Examination examinees and damaged the examination grounds. Your crimes are unforgivable!" Lin Zhao shouted.

The young man gave no response to Lin Zhao's question. He remained where he was, staring blankly.

Lin Zhao's expression turned cold, and he was about to attack. Just then, the little boy raised a hand to stop him. Though he looked like a child, the voice that came from his mouth belonged to a mature man.

"There's no need to attack. He's already dead. What you see is merely his soul, lingering before it disappears."

"Yes, Mr. Cheng." Lin Zhao respectfully stepped back.

Everyone looked at the child with awe. Anyone whom Lin Zhao, the mayor of Green City, treated with such respect had to be someone of extraordinary standing.

Mr. Cheng took two steps forward and respectfully bowed to the deathly pale young man, as one junior would to an elder.

"May I ask the name of this Human Race senior?"

At last, a spark of life returned to the young man's bewildered face.

"My name... I can't remember anymore. I only remember that they called me... Zhenghao Wujun."

"Zhenghao Wujun?"

Mr. Cheng froze, then drew in a sharp breath. Shock filled his small face as he muttered to himself.

"Ten thousand years ago, the Human Race had four peerless martial artists, known as the Three Saints and One Lord. One of them was Zhenghao Wujun. He mysteriously disappeared that year, and there was never any news of him again. So he died here, without a sound?"

Mr. Cheng's face was full of regret. Had Zhenghao Wujun still been alive, he could have crushed him with a single finger. And yet someone like that had died quietly in a secret realm.

"I didn't die quietly here. On the contrary, my death was quite a spectacular one. It's just a shame that I dragged that fellow Starry Sky down with me."

Zhenghao Wujun sighed.

"Since you know of the Three Saints and One Lord, you should also know that ten thousand years ago there was a Black Scale Devil Venerable, no weaker than any of them."

"I remember." Mr. Cheng nodded. "Though the Black Scale Devil Venerable was Human Race, he willingly devoured the bloodlines of Mutant Beasts and demons, turning himself into something neither human nor beast. In the end, he completely lost his mind and killed everyone he saw. After battling him, Starry Sky Ancient Saint disappeared along with the Black Scale Devil Venerable, and neither was ever seen again. Could it be..."

Mr. Cheng's eyes widened. A daring guess suddenly took shape in his mind.

Zhenghao Wujun sighed and said in a hollow voice,

"That's right. Zhenghao Wujun and the Black Scale Devil Venerable... were both me."