Myriad Realms Gatekeeper

```

"How can this be? Before the exam even started, someone stole your 'Candlelight Flame'?"

Xiao Mengyu's furious voice rang out.

No one responded.

The entire banquet hall seemed to have become a silent movie.

Xiao Mengyu drew her sword and shouted,

"Who is it? Have the guts to stand up!"

Still, no one responded.

She waved her sword around, but there was no target to attack.

It was like an under-the-table deal.

Everything had already been predetermined.

Joy and anger blended indescribably in Xiao Mengyu's heart as her sword-wielding hand trembled slightly.

A burst of wild laughter erupted.

"Hahaha, I told you, he will die a miserable death, and in front of us, you won't even have a chance to fight back!"

The young man in the white robe looked smug, his face twisted like a demon's.

Facing Xiao Mengyu's gaze, he stretched out his hand, pointing at Shen Ye from afar with a taunting tone,

"Soon he will silently leave this world in the darkness."

"I guess that's during the process of the exam."

"Look at him, he's so terrified he can't even speak."

"Maybe—"

"He can kneel down and beg for our forgiveness?"

Suddenly, he charged towards the crowd, grabbed a commoner candidate, and punched, sending him flying.

"Look!"

The young man in the white robe laughed crazily like a demon,

"You guys lack experience, have no skills, and don't know any important people—I've seen many like you, acting tough at the start but in the end, aren't you all kneeling before me?"

"Shen Ye, you'll end up the same way!"

Unable to contain herself any longer, Xiao Mengyu felt a surge of killing intent, and reached for the long sword at her waist.

Suddenly.

A hand grabbed her.

Shen Ye.

"Let me handle it," Xiao Mengyu muttered under her breath.

"No," Shen Ye shook his head slightly, "Don't be impulsive, this situation is within expectations."

His voice was steady, forceful, and full of a reassuring calm.

Those warm, strong fingers swiftly traced two characters in the palm of her hand.

Immediately, Xiao Mengyu calmed down.

Under the gaze of the crowd.

Shen Ye's gaze, however, was a bit scattered.

For some reason, he remembered the battle at the Maple Forest Hotel.

In those final moments, although they were already dead, they were blessing him, the one who was still alive.

"Thank you..."

"If there is a chance, please avenge us, but first, you must survive."

"You must live a long and healthy life, free from sickness and misfortune."

"May you gain greater strength and defeat that mastermind."

"We will protect you from hell."

"You must survive."

"..."

Those innocent souls were all thanking him, blessing him.

Shen Ye lapsed into silence for a moment, his focus returned, as he searched the crowd.

He saw the ordinary candidate who had been struck.

He saw Guo Yunye with a bruised face.

He saw Zhang Xiaoyi.

And many more, ordinary-looking, with expressions of sorrow, unease, or anger, young men.

Within the crowd.

Guo Yunye suddenly grabbed Zhang Xiaoyi and whispered,

"Shen Ye is looking at me."

"He's looking at us—he seems to have something to say," Zhang Xiaoyi said with a steady voice.

"At this time, it's better not to talk," Guo Yunye was both worried and anxious, "At this time, if there's a head-on confrontation, the scions of the noble families won't let him off."

"He has no choice," Zhang Xiaoyi said sadly.

Guo Yunye was stunned.

Zhang Xiaoyi was smarter than him.

So his judgment should be correct.

But—

These people are too much.

Can't they play dumb? Can't they back off?

What should be done?

Guo Yunye's head was buzzing, feeling completely lost.

Suddenly.

Shen Ye's voice came from far away, echoing through the silent banquet hall.

His voice was loud, firm, powerful, and he spoke quite slowly, yet with a sense of finality,

"A gentleman knows his destiny and does not fear it, always steadfast in his purpose, and moves forward unwaveringly."

Silence fell.

People pondered over these words.

Those ordinary candidates looked at each other.

— They had never heard such words before.

Who said them?

Where did they come from?

But some had already lifted their heads.

Zhang Xiaoyi exhaled deeply, cursed vulgarly under his breath, the despondency in his eyes dissipated, replaced by the aroused fierceness and courage.

Guo Yunye didn't quite understand, repeatedly murmuring the words to himself, feeling something bursting forth in his heart.

In this silence—

Shen Ye, standing on a chair, stepped onto a table, his physique as rigid and sharp as a nail hammered into a wall.

He looked at the countless candidates in the banquet hall, holding up a card high in his hand.

The words on the card were then exposed to everyone's sight.

"Fellow students."

Shen Ye continued calmly,

"Previously, tens of thousands of people died, departing this world without breath."

"But no one was punished."

"Next, it will be me who is killed in the exam."

"I'm sorry that you all had to see the true nature of the great clans ahead of time."

"But I guess it's good for you."

"Now you know, in this world, there are people who, when looking at others, do not think about how to make friends, nor how to get along amicably, nor even to appreciate others' strengths—"

"What they think about is how to enslave others, kill others, and take everything from them."

"—These are the people who are about to kill me."

"Fortunately, tonight, I am the only one facing such a plight."

"You all will be working for major institutions that are not under the control of the noble families. You all have bright futures ahead and can do what you wish."

"But fortunately, you saw everything today, you saw the truth."

```