Immersive Experience Story Trial

"But."

Just as the students were feeling disappointed, the Head Teacher changed his tone and continued, "The school can't afford to support the entire senior class for a year, but it can support one class for a year."

"The school has decided to select thirty outstanding students from the seven senior classes to form an Immortal Examination Class for concentrated training."

"These ten days will be the time for the school to assess your aptitude and cultivation attitude."

"Ten days from now, the thirty students with the highest realms among all seniors will enter the Immortal Examination Class together. The school will spend a great deal of resources training them for one year."

"Students who don't enter the Immortal Examination Class shouldn't lose heart either. The Immortal Examination Class will be ranked every month. If someone's realm surpasses the last-ranked student in the class, they can replace them."

The Third District had set such a good example two years ago that the Fourth District had only been open for two days before the school came up with a response.

A ten-day push!

The top thirty would enter the Immortal Examination Class!

Abundant resources!

The entire class trembled inwardly. Those with better aptitude were smug, while those with poorer aptitude had faces as black as thunder.

They had accepted the existence of top students before. Now there were top immortals too.

Unfair!

But there was nothing they could do.

In an era when social resources were nearly overflowing, educational resources still couldn't be distributed equally.

Much less now, when cultivation resources were extremely scarce. Complete fairness was even more impossible.

They were all beneficiaries of nine years of compulsory education, modern youths who had been impacted by the information explosion. They might not fully accept it, but they could at least understand it.

They had started in the same district, from the same starting line. These ten days would show who could run faster.

One step ahead meant every step ahead. That was the principle.

I want to cultivate!

I want to live at school and mooch off their Spirit Stones!

I want to enter the Immortal Examination Class!

The entire class was filled with soaring fighting spirit. Everyone practiced the same Essence Gathering Art, and everyone absorbed Spirit Stones. Who was worse than whom?

The only difference was their initial aptitude. During the early stages of Qi Cultivation, aptitude's effect on cultivation speed could practically be ignored.

If everything was the same, what were they competing over?

They were competing over what was different!

For example, Li Dongze was different from the rest of the class. His family had money. That was the difference.

Of course, there were those who were even more exceptional.

"There'll definitely be a place for me in the Immortal Examination Class!"

Jiang Liu was extremely confident. He was already at Qi Cultivation Layer 5 and possessed a Supreme Water Spiritual Root. Even a dog wouldn't believe he could fail to enter the Immortal Examination Class.

The school's educational resources were the only resources he could obtain for free right now. He had to fight for them!

The Head Teacher's words and the formation of the Immortal Examination Class reignited the class's enthusiasm for cultivation. Their previously restless natures were instantly subdued. The classroom fell completely silent as everyone circulated the Essence Gathering Art.

But they were not fully focused on it.

It was already their second day of cultivation. Every student had learned how to multitask, circulating the Essence Gathering Art while entering Cultivation Era to continue the work they had started the moment they woke up that morning.

Grinding the story endlessly!

The launch event's Perfect Foundation Establishment reward had set the otherwise uneventful Cultivation Era ablaze.

Investing Foundation Establishment Stones could refine a Perfect Foundation Establishment, and Foundation Establishment Stones could only be obtained through gift packs and Story Trials.

Ninety-nine percent of players couldn't afford gift packs. Only ultra-rich players could obtain Perfect Foundation Establishment through them.

Poor players couldn't whale, so they could only grind.

The event lasted an entire month—more than seven hundred hours in total. As long as they stayed immersed in Story Trials every moment, they would definitely grind out a Perfect Foundation Establishment!

Whaling could change one's fate, and hardcore grinders could do the same!

Although Jiang Liu planned to obtain Perfect Foundation Establishment through gift packs, that did not mean he would skip the Story Trials.

He was going to grind them too!

Not for Foundation Establishment Stones, but for actual combat experience!

After balancing the Three Revolutions Mysterious Technique, Jiang Liu switched into Cultivation Era, opened Story Trials, and selected Stage 1-7.

In Stage 1-6, although the protagonist had killed the Lingyun Sect senior brother, the City Lord's daughter had died as well. It had pissed him off so much that he quit the game directly.

Now that he had calmed down, he returned with renewed vigor and headed straight for Stage 1-7!

When he opened Stage 1-7, the story picked up where it had left off. Before it began, a prompt appeared on the stage screen.

[Honored VIP1 player, you have unlocked the "Immersive Experience" feature. Enable it?]

[Yes]

The instant he agreed, Jiang Liu felt his head sink. He became dizzy, his vision went black, and the world shifted around him.

When he opened his eyes again, he discovered that he had appeared inside the City Lord's Manor from the story!

"Is this really Immersive Experience?"

Jiang Liu's face was filled with astonishment. He could not help lowering his head to inspect himself. His original paper-doll model had been replaced by his actual body.

He wore coarse cloth clothes and cloth shoes, held the Sunrise Sword, had the Spirit Communication Jade hanging from his waist, the Spirit Rhinoceros Pendant around his neck, and the Soaring Cloud Wings on his back.

He was the protagonist himself!

Jiang Liu could hardly believe it. He instinctively pinched himself, but felt no pain.

Hmm, was this a dream?

It was not a dream, but virtual reality. Either way, it was not real.

Only after several seconds did Jiang Liu accept that he had entered the story. He raised his gaze and looked around the main hall of the City Lord's Manor.

Inside the hall were the middle-aged City Lord, a white-bearded old man, the City Lord's daughter lying on the floor, the groom, and the Lingyun Sect senior brother.

They were all NPCs, frozen in place.

At the lower right corner of his vision were three icons: [Start Story], [2x Speed], and [Skip].

It was precisely those three icons that pulled him out of the immersion.

[Start Story]

"How dare you!"

A furious roar boomed like thunder. The white-bearded old man, an NPC named Lingyun Sect Outer Elder, glared at Jiang Liu and angrily shouted, "You brat! You backwoods peasant! You dare kill a disciple of my Lingyun Sect? This old man will destroy you!"

[Skip]

"Let this old man teach you a lesson—"

[Skip]

After skipping twice in a row, Jiang Liu was still waiting for the other man to finish his lines when the Lingyun Sect Outer Elder suddenly spread his arms like a great roc and flew toward him. A silver sword appeared in his hand, slashing straight at Jiang Liu's head.

Fuck, the story was over after just two lines?!

Jiang Liu was greatly alarmed. The cultivator's pressure, the icy sword edge, and the undisguised killing intent crashed down on him, suffocating him and making his scalp go numb.

He was just a modern student. When had he ever fought someone in a real life-or-death battle?

This is fake, this is fake.

Training for actual combat, training for actual combat.

Jiang Liu comforted himself inwardly and forcibly calmed down. In a fluster, he raised the Sunrise Sword to block.

Duang!

An exceptionally crisp metallic clash rang out. Jiang Liu felt as though he had been struck by a heavy blow. His body staggered, and he stumbled backward repeatedly. The collision of the two swords numbed his palm.

The next second.

Before he could steady himself, a streak of white sword light shot through the air toward him, reflected in his bewildered eyes as it drew closer and closer.

[Battle Failed]

[Young hero, please try again.]

Jiang Liu: "."

I activated it, and I got one-shot!

Jiang Liu was kicked out of the "Immersive Experience" feature. He stared blankly at the results screen. After standing there dazed for several seconds, he scratched his head. "So the cultivation world isn't turn-based after all!"