Chapter 41

After a while, Pingluan Shan returned and greeted Jiang Feng. Jiang Feng immediately understood and followed him out of the county office to the outside.

Pingluan Shan clenched his jaw tightly. As soon as they reached a safe place, he turned and roared angrily, "Just as I suspected! It's them!"

Jiang Feng frowned and asked, "What exactly happened?"

Pingluan Shan clenched his fists and took several deep breaths, finally calming down.

He had followed the instructions Jiang Feng gave him and quietly trailed behind the man with the mole. The man with the mole had to urinate urgently and separated from his companions. Pingluan Shan followed him to the restroom and attacked as soon as he came out.

The man with the mole had no defenses and was immediately subdued by Pingluan Shan. Just as Jiang Feng had predicted, he was not a tight-lipped person. After a few words, Pingluan Shan had extracted all the information.

"He said it was arranged by the higher-ups! They would pay attention to the Heavenly Exam in advance, select some promising candidates, and invite them to join the Fuliang Sect. Those who agree to join will be given normal Ming beasts to pass the preliminary exam and obtain the Tianzhao Order. If they refuse, they will be eliminated using drugged Ming beasts to make room."

Pingluan Shan's face and neck were red, his eyes filled with anger. He paced back and forth, shouting, "The drugged Ming beasts become stronger and more aggressive. Even with someone watching, accidents are very likely to happen. In recent times, the number of martial cultivators killed by these mutated Ming beasts has doubled!"

He slammed his fist into the wall with a thud and roared, "They don't care about the lives of martial cultivators. To them, those who refuse to join might as well be dead!"

Jiang Feng's brows furrowed, thoughts racing through his mind.

What Pingluan Shan said was not illogical, but he felt there was something amiss.

The actions of the Fuliang Sect were too radical and too foolish!

Pingluan Shan stared intently at the wall, the man with the mole's expression and eyes repeatedly flashing in his mind.

Although he was subdued by Pingluan Shan, the man with the mole was not afraid. His eyes were smug and contemptuous, even impatient. To him, the actions of the Fuliang Sect were perfectly normal.

To be honest, before this incident, Pingluan Shan had no ill feelings towards Fuliang Jun and his disciples.

Fuliang Jun was now an Illuminated Martial Emperor, a role model for all martial cultivators in Zhutian Kingdom.

When he refused their persuasion, he felt a bit regretful. He even thought that if he performed well in the final exam and went to the capital for the national exam, he might have the chance to meet Fuliang Jun.

He never expected them to be so cruel and indifferent to the lives of independent cultivators!

They were talking in an alley, not far from the Earth Exam venue.

Suddenly, a sharp cry came from that direction: "Brother!"

It was a woman's voice, calling out, "What's wrong with you? Wake up! It's just a first-stage Ming beast, you'll be fine! Wake up!"

Pingluan Shan's temples throbbed, and he suddenly shouted and rushed out.

Jiang Feng was startled by the cry and unprepared for Pingluan Shan's action, watching him rush out.

Pingluan Shan's movements were extremely agile, and he dashed out of the alley like a gust of wind onto the square outside. He shouted loudly, "Stop the exam! Everyone, stop the exam!"

Jiang Feng's heart sank, realizing the situation was bad.

Pingluan Shan took a deep breath, his voice carrying the power of Ming, resonating clearly in all directions, "The Ming beasts used in the Human Exam have been tampered with! This exam is rigged!!"

As soon as he appeared, several patrolling knights noticed something was wrong and charged towards him.

Upon hearing his words, a few more students in green robes rushed over.

Pingluan Shan shouted, "The Ming beasts have been drugged and are raging! Haven't you noticed? They are much stronger than usual! Stronger than second-stage Ming beasts!"

By now, several people had rushed to his side. Pingluan Shan used his agility to evade them and continued shouting, "Those who refuse to join the Fuliang Sect are given these Ming beasts to be eliminated, to make room for the Fuliang Sect to secure more Tianzhao Orders!"

He leaped high and landed on a flagpole, pointing down, "This brother died under the claws of a raging Ming beast!"

He pointed to a large man lying on the ground, who had just been thrown out of a tent by a Ming beast. The tent guard hadn't had time to stop him, and his fiancée, waiting for him, saw him lying there.

His intestines were torn and he was dead, a gruesome sight. His fiancée immediately broke down, her screams echoing throughout the exam venue.

There were ten tents in the exam venue, each with people waiting outside. As the woman screamed, many people showed signs of distress. Pingluan Shan's voice, carrying the power of Ming, spread throughout the area, and the exam venue became chaotic.

"Shut up!" A martial cultivator stood on the roof of the county office, shouting sternly. He extended his hand, and a cold aura surged over a hundred meters, causing Pingluan Shan's body to stiffen. He immediately let go of the flagpole and shot away to the side.

He pointed at the martial cultivator and shouted, "Look at his robe! He's also a disciple of the Fuliang Sect!"

The black flowing symbol on the robe was clearly visible in the sunlight, and the chaos in the exam venue intensified. Some people shouted, "Is what you say true? Do you have evidence?"

Pingluan Shan darted through the air like an arrow, shouting, "I just sneaked into the county office and saw it with my own eyes! The Ming beast corpses are piled up like mountains, all dead from the drug's effects!"

Jiang Feng stood below, his eyes fixed on Pingluan Shan, feeling anxious.

More and more people were chasing Pingluan Shan in the county office, many of them of higher rank. Pingluan Shan's agility kept him from being caught for the moment, but if this continued, he would surely be in grave danger!

What should he do now?

Before he could decide, a powerful aura suddenly emerged from the county office, and the sound of hooves grew clearer.

Everyone's attention was involuntarily drawn to the sound. A man on horseback appeared above the county office, riding the wind towards them.

The hooves seemed to tread on air, but the sound was clear, making people tense.

Jiang Feng immediately thought of a name— "Heartquake Beast"!

This was a second-stage Ming beast, and an adult Heartquake Beast could reach third stage. A third-stage Heartquake Beast could terrify enemies with its hoof sounds, even causing heart failure.

To control such a high-level Ming beast, one had to be at least at the Yangming level, with three unblocked Yuan branches, and both Ming power and martial skills were very strong!

On the Heartquake Beast's back sat a man in his forties, with a neatly trimmed mustache and a cold, sharp gaze.

He looked coldly at Pingluan Shan and said, "A mere Dawn Martial Cultivator, and you couldn't even capture him. He even managed to say so much."

His gaze swept over the exam venue, and he said, "Since so many have heard, kill them all."

Upon hearing this, Pingluan Shan's breath caught, and he almost went numb.

Kill them all? Because they heard his secret?

In a moment of anger, he had decided to expose the truth, revealing everything he knew. Now, because of his words, everyone would die?

He had just nimbly jumped to the roof of the county office and stopped. Hearing this, his legs went weak, and he almost fell off the roof.

He wasn't worried about his own safety, but he was shocked—because he exposed the truth, everyone present would die?!

He knelt on the eaves and shouted, "You can't do this!"

The man paid no attention to him, waving his hand lightly, "Go!"

The exam venue fell into a tense silence, and then two teams of cavalry moved first. They didn't immediately attack the candidates but instead flanked out to secure the square's gates and walls!

Then, with a series of bangs, all the gates closed, trapping everyone inside the exam venue.

This action woke up all the candidates. One person shouted, "They've trapped us inside!"

More people heard the commotion and came out of the tents, quickly realizing what was happening. Shock and fear spread, and chaos ensued.

A man walked up to the Heartquake Beast's rider and whispered, "Sir Qin, the person shouting used Ming power, so some people outside might have heard."

The man replied indifferently, "Oh," and the Heartquake Beast's hooves clattered as it moved towards the wall. Moments later, screams echoed from outside, then abruptly stopped.

A terrifying atmosphere enveloped the exam venue. Pingluan Shan crouched on the eaves, his face changing. Suddenly, he shouted, "Brothers, they want to take our Tianzhao Orders and kill us to silence us! We can't just sit here and die!"

A man nearby screamed, "It's all because of your reckless talk—"

Before he could finish, a fist came from the side and knocked him to the ground.

A tall man growled, "Shut up! It's these damn Fuliang Sect disciples who want to kill and take our places!"

He clenched his fists, his bones cracking, and roared, "Want us dead? Not so easily! Let's fight our way out!"

This quickly turned the candidates' fear into anger, and someone shouted, "Right, fight our way out!"

"Fight our way out!"

More shouts followed. The crowd gathered, and a strong Ming power fluctuation spread from them.

When Pingluan Shan shouted to expose the truth, Jiang Feng had hidden in a corner.

A strong sense of foreboding and the feeling of being trapped overwhelmed him. He constantly surveyed the surroundings, taking in every detail.

There were thirty-nine candidates, twenty cavalrymen, ten Fuliang Sect disciples, and ten examiners. In terms of both numbers and strength, the other side had the upper hand.

If a conflict broke out, these thirty-nine candidates would likely be completely wiped out, with no one escaping!