A Cliché Unexpected Plot Twist

Great Xia Education Department.

"Director."

"What is it?"

"The patrol examiner in the Xinmao region has lost contact."

The director paused for a moment. "Xinmao? What happened? I recall this Martial Exam was opened up to the Dinghai region, and before the exam began, the areas from Jiazi to Dinghai were all cleared in advance. Why would a patrol examiner lose contact?"

The range of the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Secret Realm under human control was divided into sixty regions, named after the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches. Under normal circumstances, the Martial Exam only opened the four major regions of Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding. The regions beyond that were reserved for higher-level martial artists or bounty hunters to train in.

The subordinate was drenched in cold sweat and spoke hurriedly. "We only just discovered this. The current region numbers don't match the ones we cleared beforehand."

The director's face darkened. "What was the original region for Xinmao?"

"Gui... Guisi," the subordinate said weakly.

"Guisi?!"

The director shot to his feet, his voice rising a full octave.

"How could such a huge blunder happen?! What the hell are you people good for?!"

The director roared, "Do you have any idea what the Guisi region represents?! The exam area was opened up to Dinghai—do you know how many students this mistake could kill?!"

"Director, I, we—"

Cold sweat dripped down the subordinate's back. "This isn't entirely our fault! Before the exam started, we did clear the exam area. But afterward, the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Secret Realm seemed to undergo a very subtle, large-scale geological shift. The mountainside and the foot of the mountain appeared to swap places. By the time we noticed, the exam had already begun..."

"That's not what I want to hear!" The director's face flushed red. If this matter wasn't handled well, it could very well get him kicked out of his position.

And more importantly—those kids' lives!

"You found a problem and didn't deal with it, so you come report to me? Hurry up and send more people to Ten Thousand Beast Mountain! Bring the students back and terminate the Martial Exam!"

"But..."

The subordinate hesitated. "The number of examinees..."

Indeed.

Every Martial Exam had tens of millions of participants. Getting them all out in a short time was simply unrealistic.

The exam was accessed through the Secret Realm Teleportation Device—normally, they just needed to reactivate the device to pull all the examinees back at once.

But the Secret Realm Teleportation Device involved spacetime. The interval between two activations had to be at least seven days, or else it would cause severe spacetime damage.

For stronger martial artists, it might be manageable, but for exam students...

"What the hell are you still thinking about at a time like this?! The students' lives come first!" The director was so furious he swore. "Send more people immediately! Borrow all martial artists above the Qi Pulse Realm from other departments! I want you to gather all the students as fast as possible. Forget it—I'll go myself. You issue a notice to all schools, then lead everyone in the department above the Qi Pulse Realm into Ten Thousand Beast Mountain first!"

With that, the director didn't even grab his coat. He smashed straight through the large floor-to-ceiling window in his office and leaped down from the eighteenth floor—though he worked in education, at his core, the director was still a powerful martial artist.

"I hope the rescue comes in time. Otherwise, I'll be a sinner for the ages."

The director sprinted with heavy worry. At his level, ordinary vehicles couldn't match his running speed.

More importantly, there was no time to arrange transportation now.

Although the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Secret Realm was under human control, its actual scope was vast beyond measure. What humanity truly controlled was only the three million square kilometers from the mountain's foot to its midsection.

The four major regions of Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding were indeed fully under control. But the problem now was that the secret realm's geological shift had thrown all regional positions into chaos—many secret realms had their own rules. For instance, the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Secret Realm could undergo geological changes without producing any noticeable fluctuations.

In the past, large-scale geological shifts in Ten Thousand Beast Mountain occurred once every fifty years. Minor shifts only happened within the mountaintop range and never affected the human-controlled areas.

Only thirty-six years had passed since the last large-scale shift.

No one had anticipated this.

If they couldn't respond in time, this Martial Exam would likely result in heavy casualties...

In fact, even the Education Bureau director couldn't be sure if the rescue operation could proceed smoothly.

Starting from the Wuhai region, electronic device signals could no longer achieve full coverage due to the chaotic magnetic fields.

The further into the regions, the lower the signal coverage.

The geological shift in Ten Thousand Beast Mountain didn't just move the terrain—it also dragged the magnetic fields along with it.

The emergency rescue devices used for the Martial Exam were as good as useless now...

"Ji Ruo, when did you learn Iron Sand Palm?"

During the lull, Liang Shixian asked curiously.

They had completely relaxed by now.

There were no monster beasts here at the moment, and since Liu Neng and Zhang Quan had already activated the rescue device, all they had to do was wait patiently for the patrol examiner to arrive.

"Last week."

Ji Ruo waved his little wooden stick and answered honestly.

Liang Shixian opened his mouth as if to say something, then finally let out a light snort. "If you don't want to say, fine. Who are you trying to fool?"

He could tell that Ji Ruo's Iron Sand Palm was definitely more than just a First Glimpse of the Path. But calling it Entering the Hall seemed a bit unrealistic.

Still, no matter what level it was, being able to train his palms to the point where they were like red-hot iron required a massive amount of time and practice. The process couldn't be rushed, either—otherwise, even with the help of supporting medicinal baths, his hands wouldn't be able to withstand the high-intensity training.

Forcing it would only ruin his hands.

So when Ji Ruo said he had only been training for a week, Liang Shixian simply didn't believe him.

But he didn't say anything more.

As class monitor, he knew Ji Ruo's family situation well.

Though he was also curious how Ji Ruo had money to buy the Iron Sand Palm medicinal solution to train the technique, he couldn't ask.

Because once he did, it would inevitably touch on family matters—and Ji Ruo's family situation...

Having lived two lives, Ji Ruo naturally saw what Liang Shixian was worried about, and it warmed his heart slightly.

The group chatted idly, waiting for the Patrol Examiner to arrive.

Ji Ruo waved the little wooden stick around for a while without triggering any achievement, so he tied it to his waist and sat down to think.

Two hours passed.

In the sunless Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Secret Realm, the light gradually dimmed to yellow. Liang Shixian and Ji Ruo finally realized something was wrong.

"How could it take this long and still not come?"

"Could something have happened?"

They exchanged a glance and stood up at the same time. "We need to leave."

Zhang Quan and Liu Neng were taken aback. "But the Patrol Examiner hasn't arrived yet—"