Grand Perfection's Praise

Snow nodded slightly, his gaze landing on Qin Zhao like a tangible force, as if trying to see through him entirely. "You are Qin Zhao? From Flame Meteor Planet, a Planet Level first-stage who has comprehended the Earth Domain?" His voice was low and resonant, carrying an unquestionable authority.

"It's me." Qin Zhao replied calmly, neither humble nor arrogant.

"Good." A glint of sharpness flashed in his eyes. "I've already received the preliminary assessment report from base AI K-77. But according to the rules, you need to undergo a 'Virtual Reality Assessment' to finally confirm your domain level and combat potential. If you pass, you can directly obtain the qualification of a 'Core Student' and enjoy the resource allocation of the Holy Land. Do you dare to accept the assessment?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Qin Zhao responded indifferently, his gaze calm and unruffled.

A flicker of approval passed through Snow's eyes. Without another word, he raised his hand and waved. A soft blue light enveloped Qin Zhao, and the next moment, the hall around him rippled like water, blurred, and then rapidly dissipated before his eyes.

When his vision cleared again, Qin Zhao found himself standing on a massive, empty metal platform. The platform floated in an endless dark void, with only distant starlight providing faint illumination. It was about a hundred meters in diameter, its surface engraved with complex energy circuits, exuding a cold metallic sheen.

"The Virtual Reality Assessment is about to begin." Snow's voice came from the void, echoing through the space. "The assessment content is a battle against a virtual martial artist of the same rank. The virtual martial artist will gradually increase its domain intensity and combat skills. Your task is to endure its attacks for a sufficient amount of time, or defeat it. The assessment will be comprehensively evaluated based on your performance."

"Please select your weapon and battle suit." As the supervisor's voice fell, countless illusory projections appeared before Qin Zhao—various standard first-stage Force Weapons and first-stage Force Battle Suits. Blades, spears, swords, staffs, axes, hammers... a wide variety, but all were basic models.

Qin Zhao swept his gaze over them and raised his hand to tap the air. A dark, unadorned thick-backed warblade fell into his hand. The blade was slightly wide, not light in weight, carrying a sense of steadiness. At the same time, a set of earth-yellow Force Battle Suit instantly covered his body. The suit had smooth lines, with simple reinforced structures at key points.

"Battlefield environment: default 'Combat Platform'." Qin Zhao chose not to change the environment. This most basic setting best reflected pure strength comparison.

"Assessment Round One, begin!"

Hum!

On the opposite side of the platform, a dark yellow light gathered and quickly condensed into a crystal humanoid figure of similar height to Qin Zhao. This crystal man was carved like yellow jade, holding a standard warblade identical to Qin Zhao's, radiating the energy fluctuations of a Planet Level first-stage.

"I will display a single-layer domain." The crystal man emitted a cold mechanical voice. As soon as it spoke—

Boom!

A heavy, profound aura erupted from the crystal man! Dark yellow light spread like a tide, instantly covering a fifty-meter radius, enveloping most of the platform. Within the domain, the air seemed to thicken, gravity subtly increased, giving a feeling of being trapped in a quagmire. This was one of the most basic applications of the Earth Domain—Gravity Binding!

The crystal man stomped its foot, making the platform tremble slightly. Leveraging the domain's pressure, it moved like lightning, its warblade cutting through the dark yellow glow with a heavy force, slashing straight at Qin Zhao's face! This strike was simple and direct, but it fully utilized the gravity enhancement of a single-layer Earth Domain. The blade wind howled, powerful and heavy.

Facing this swift and fierce attack, Qin Zhao's eyes narrowed slightly. He could clearly feel the pressure from the opponent's domain, but at this level, it posed no threat to him.

"Domain, open."

Qin Zhao silently commanded, and a similar earth-yellow airflow spread outward from him! His domain was also controlled within a fifty-meter range, but its color was purer and deeper than the crystal man's, as if containing the essence of the Earth's origin. Although Qin Zhao only claimed to have a single-layer domain, he had actually already stepped into the threshold of the Law. Even if deliberately suppressed, the nature, stability, and precision of his control over Earth power far surpassed that of an ordinary single-layer domain!

Hum!

The two homologous Earth Domains collided! There was no earth-shattering explosion, but an invisible force field squeezed and eroded each other. The next moment, a scene that made Supervisor Snow's eyes flash with sharp light appeared—the crystal man's dark yellow domain, upon contact with Qin Zhao's earth-yellow domain, rapidly melted and receded like snow under the spring sun!

It wasn't a crushing difference in energy intensity, but a suppression in essence! Qin Zhao's domain was more condensed, closer to the essence of the Law of Earth, and held stronger control over the Earth-type energy within its range!

"What?!" The crystal man's cold mechanical voice seemed to carry a hint of simulated shock. Its Gravity Binding was greatly weakened within Qin Zhao's domain, while it itself felt a stronger binding force surging from all directions, causing its movements to stall.

Now!

Qin Zhao moved! He didn't use any exquisite footwork, just a simple sidestep that perfectly avoided the strongest point of the blade. At the same time, his thick-backed warblade swung upward from below in a plain upward slash!

This strike wasn't extremely fast, nor was the angle tricky, but the timing was impeccable! It landed exactly at the moment when the crystal man's old force was exhausted, new force had yet to be generated, and its movement was slightly hindered by the domain suppression!

On the blade, the earth-yellow light was restrained, yet it contained explosive power.

Clang!

Sparks flew! The crystal man hastily turned its blade to block, but felt an irresistible, overwhelming force transmitted through the blade! Its energy-simulated arm bones emitted a strained creak, and its entire body, as if struck by a meteor, uncontrollably flew backward, crashing out of the platform range and dissipating into points of light in the void.

One strike! Just one strike! Both with a single-layer domain, Qin Zhao had utterly dominated and instantly killed the virtual martial artist!

The void fell silent. Only Qin Zhao stood with his blade, his earth-yellow domain slowly retracting, his aura steady. However, despite seemingly effortlessly killing the virtual martial artist, his gaze was fixed on the virtual panel before him.

[Congratulations on experiencing your first battle in life and earning the praise of a Grand Perfection powerhouse!]

[Achievement Unlocked: Praise of Grand Perfection!]

[Reward: Insight increased by 20%!]

[Name: Qin Zhao]

[Talent: Earth-style (Superior), Water-style (High)... (High and below omitted)]

[Achievements: Saint Realm, Lowgod, Erudite, Praise of Grand Perfection]

[Secret Technique: 128 Martial Arts Secret Techniques (Mastery 99%)]

[Comprehension: Earth-style Laws (Earth Element 100%, Pulse of the Earth 2%)]

[Items: None]

[Buff: Insight increased by 30%]

"A battle within the Virtual Universe counts as a battle? And this buff actually gave me a 20% insight boost?"

Seeing how easily he had obtained an excellent buff, Qin Zhao felt quite excited. If the system's achievements were this easy to farm, he would have to think about taking some unconventional paths to rack up more achievements!

"And this Supervisor Snow is rated as a Grand Perfection powerhouse in the system? So reaching the Domain Lord ninth-stage level corresponds to the Grand Perfection level in the Coiling Dragon World view?"

Previously, Qin Zhao had been puzzled about the power level correspondence between the Coiling Dragon World view and the Swallowed Star World view, but now that doubt was about half resolved.