The association's rescue personnel quickly finished clearing the scene.

Afterward, all the surviving candidates were guided out of the Ancient Battlefield. Su Mu followed the crowd, passing through light screen after light screen and corridor after corridor.

He noticed that this Secret Realm was much larger than he had imagined.

It took nearly ten minutes to walk from the Ancient Battlefield to the exit. Along the way, they passed several huge spaces—some looked like training grounds, some like rest areas, and others like warehouses.

He even saw several corridors leading off in different directions, marked with labels like "Sector 3" and "Sector 7".

It was clear that this Secret Realm was vast, containing many things beyond his comprehension.

Then they exited the Secret Realm, returning to the examination grounds where even more people had gathered.

On the plaza, hundreds of thousands of candidates were still waiting. When they saw the survivors emerge from the Secret Realm's exit, an instant uproar erupted.

"They're out! The people from the fourth stage are out!"

"Wait, the numbers aren't right. One thousand sixty-five went in, so why are there so few coming out?"

"Yeah, I counted, and it seems like at least thirty or forty people are missing."

"Dead? People died in the fourth stage?"

"No way, right? Although Leaping Through the Dragon Gate is hard, fatalities have historically been rare."

"Look at their faces—every single one of them looks like they've seen a ghost."

"What on earth happened?"

The candidates who had been eliminated earlier squeezed over as well. When they heard that an attack by the Nest Church had occurred inside, they all gasped in shock.

"The Nest Church? That cult organization?"

"They broke into the College Entrance Examination Secret Realm?"

"Thirty or forty died? My God..."

"Thank goodness I was eliminated early." A double-S rank candidate turned pale. "If I were still inside, I might have..."

"Stop talking, it's too terrifying."

Everyone's hatred for evil cults, especially the Nest Church, deepened even further.

Then, the scores for the fourth stage were calculated.

This time, points gained were not displayed.

Su Mu's points display showed "Pending." He asked Ye Qingxue, and her status was the same.

Clearly, the recent attack had put the scoring on temporary hold.

To Su Mu's surprise, however, the rankings were displayed.

He looked at the leaderboard.

1st Place: Su Mu. Rongcheng No. 1 High School. Total Score: Pending.

2nd Place: Lin Qingyin. Provincial Capital No. 1 High School. Total Score: Pending.

3rd Place: Zhao Wuji. Provincial Capital No. 1 High School. Total Score: Pending.

4th Place: Chen Zixuan. Provincial Capital No. 2 High School. Total Score: Pending.

5th Place: Wang Muyuan. Provincial Capital No. 1 High School. Total Score: Pending.

6th Place: Ye Qingxue. Rongcheng No. 1 High School. Total Score: Pending.

Su Mu froze for a moment.

Ye Qingxue was sixth.

Her previous overall ranking was ninth. Although she only reached the fifteenth wave in the fourth stage, her Ice Queen performed remarkably steadily in the fourth stage, boasting extremely strong crowd-control effects that helped her hold on for a long time.

Furthermore, she made it out alive.

Some of those who had ranked ahead of her performed poorly in the fourth stage, while others were even killed by Evil Mist Puppets. As a result, her rank actually went up.

Su Mu looked toward Ye Qingxue. She had seen the rankings as well; her face showed no expression, but there was an imperceptible glint in the depth of her eyes.

Just as everyone was still absorbing these rankings, the area where Su Mu stood was suddenly enveloped in a beam of light.

Looking down, he saw the ground beneath his feet beginning to change.

The grayish-white stone paving split from the middle as a pathway slowly rose, extending straight from the ground to the sky. At the end of the path was that very giant archway floating in the cloud layer.

The Dragon Gate.

That pathway was exclusively for him.

The ground beneath everyone else's feet remained completely motionless; only in front of Su Mu had a path to the sky appeared.

Su Mu looked up in confusion.

The voice that had been emotionless earlier now seemed to carry a hint of warmth.

"The fish leaps over the Dragon Gate. Congratulations, student Su Mu."

Su Mu's body was lifted by a gentle force, slowly rising toward the sky.

Following the pathway, he walked step-by-step toward the Dragon Gate.

Clouds churned on either side of the path as golden light poured down from the depths of the Dragon Gate, enveloping his entire body in a warm glow.

On the plaza, hundreds of thousands of candidates tilted their heads back, watching this scene.

Shock.

Incomparable shock.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the young man in the gray jacket walked step-by-step toward the Dragon Gate in the sky. His figure grew smaller and farther away within the golden light, but every step was clear and steadfast.

"He... he passed through the Dragon Gate?"

"Su Mu leaped across the Dragon Gate."

"Not only did he take first place in the provincial rankings, but he also leaped across the Dragon Gate."

"Everyone witnessed this scene."

"He did it. A one-in-a-million chance, and he did it."

Silence fell over the plaza.

Then, someone started clapping. The applause spread from sparse to dense, from the corners to the entire field, surging like a tidal wave. Hundreds of thousands of people applauded at once, their applause shaking heaven and earth.

Standing beneath the Dragon Gate, Su Mu looked back.

Below, hundreds of thousands of candidates looked up, their gazes converging on him.

In the crowd, he saw Ye Qingxue. She stood in her spot, her white light armor particularly eye-catching among the crowd. She tilted her head up, looking at him with the corners of her mouth slightly curved.

For the first time, her face lacked that competitiveness, that stubbornness, that spirit of "I must beat you."

Her gaze was calm and soft.

It carried blessings, along with an emotion Su Mu couldn't quite put into words.

Then, Su Mu turned around and stepped into the Dragon Gate.

Golden light completely swallowed him up.