"Damn it, what rotten luck! How did I get picked for the first batch?!" Not far from Li Wen, Huang Yu wore a miserable expression as he complained to Wang Ruiming beside him.
"Just praying the virtual director shows me some mercy and doesn't cut to a close-up of me later. Otherwise, where am I supposed to put this face?"
"Heh—believe you? Then I'm a dog!" Wang Ruiming immediately returned the gesture with a middle finger. Clearly, he was still sore about Huang Yu playing the pig to eat the tiger during the last math exam. "You scored more than ten points higher than me in Martial Arts last midterms! Who are you pretending to be, you big bad wolf?"
"I'm really not lying this time!" Huang Yu looked unusually serious. "I was so nervous last night that I couldn't sleep. My hands are still weak right now!"
"Hehe." Wang Ruiming curled his lip, his face full of disbelief.
As comrades who soaked in the martial arts classroom together every afternoon, he knew exactly what Huang Yu was capable of.
Though Huang Yu could not compare with those in class throwing everything into the martial arts exams, among the students focusing mainly on academic exams, his skill was absolutely among the best. During the last midterm assessment, he had even beaten Li Wen, who specialized in martial arts.
Thinking of this, Wang Ruiming subconsciously turned his head. His gaze passed through the gaps in the crowd and landed on Li Wen, who was sitting there.
This figure, who had lain dormant for over two years before recently rising powerfully as if suddenly enlightened, now had his eyes slightly closed, seemingly conserving his energy.
His quiet demeanor formed a subtle contrast with the bustle around him.
"By the way," Wang Ruiming lowered his voice, "which batch did Li Wen draw again?"
"Seems like... the second batch?" Huang Yu recalled the list. "Why are you asking? Concerned about a classmate?"
"Just asking," Wang Ruiming said vaguely. "Say, with his Advanced Blade Art Mastery now, he has a shot at breaking into the top fifty in the grade this time, right?"
"Hard to say. I remember that by the midterms, nearly thirty people had already reached Peak Technique - Entry." Huang Yu shook his head, his analysis practical.
"Half a semester has passed since then. The number of people at Peak Technique - Entry has probably exceeded fifty already. If he can make the top hundred and shoot up the rankings by a huge margin, that'll already be terrifying enough."
"What if..." An extremely bold thought flashed through Wang Ruiming's mind. "What if his Peak Blade Art has reached Initiation too?"
"Pfft!" Huang Yu nearly choked. "Bro, are you even awake? It's only been three days since news of his blade art reaching Perfection got out! Three days! And yesterday, he spent a solid whole day taking academic exams. Where would he find the time? Peak Blade Art isn't some cabbage growing by the roadside!"
"That's true..." Wang Ruiming nodded, feeling that his own idea had been far too fanciful.
Peak Blade Art Initiation was not especially difficult, but three days? That was simply unheard of.
Xue Jun, the only person in the class to reach Peak Technique - Entry, had taken more than ten days back then. It was said that only those peerless freaks who had been signed early to B-level Contracts by the Four Great Factions could achieve Initiation in three days. Li Wen? He was far too far behind.
Just then, a clear broadcast echoed across the plaza:
"Students participating in the first batch of the Martial Arts Assessment, please note! There are thirty minutes remaining until the assessment begins. Please proceed immediately to your assigned virtual rooms to prepare!"
With a rustle, nearly a quarter of the students rose in response, forming a stream of people that surged toward the special area on the other side of the teaching building.
More than a dozen people from Class 21 stood as well, including the worried-looking Huang Yu, along with the composed Xue Jun, first in the class, and Deng Yuefei, second in the class.
Deng Yuefei was the boy who had first noticed the change in Li Wen's state and spoken up on the day Li Wen's blade art broke through. He practiced blade arts as well.
"What are you howling for? Hurry up and go!" Wang Ruiming gave Huang Yu a push, sounding faintly delighted by his misfortune.
Huang Yu sighed and groaned as he followed the group with oil under his feet.
Li Wen slowly opened his eyes. His gaze paused for a moment on Deng Yuefei's retreating back, calm and without a ripple.
Xue Jun and Deng Yuefei walked side by side.
"I heard... you broke through last night too?" Xue Jun asked casually, as though discussing the weather.
"Tsk, that dead fatso Yue Ruijie has a seriously fast mouth!" Deng Yuefei admitted helplessly, though he could not hide the trace of high spirits after his breakthrough between his brows. "I wanted to give you all a surprise."
"Oh?" Xue Jun raised an eyebrow, a teasing curve appearing on his lips. "So Li Wen will have to put in a little more effort if he wants to snatch your spot as second in the class?"
"He only reached Perfection three days before me." Deng Yuefei waved his hand. His tone was humble, yet it also revealed confidence. Clearly, he believed that as the later starter, his momentum in catching up was strong.
"As long as no one has crossed the threshold into Peak Technique, aren't we all essentially floundering around in the same major realm?"
"Exactly!" Xue Jun nodded in deep agreement, looking relaxed.
Peak Technique - Entry in three days? He considered it pure fantasy from the bottom of his heart. That belonged to a story on another level.
The crowd moved swiftly.
Qingshi No.3 High School's plaza was centrally located, and the virtual rooms truly were not far away.
About ten minutes later, the enormous screen in the center of the plaza suddenly lit up with a buzz.
Hundreds of nearly identical battle scenes instantly filled the screen, as though the same image had been copied countless times—the initial waiting area of the virtual space. Yet this monotonous calm did not last long.
Only a few minutes later, the layout of the display abruptly changed.
At the center of the screen, dozens of previously equal-sized windows suddenly enlarged several times over, forcefully occupying the main field of view. Like spotlights on a stage, they locked firmly onto the students who had entered the assessment scenarios first.
"The close-ups are here!"
"The public execution has begun!"
"Ho, let's see who still dares slack off now!" Excited murmurs and chatter instantly rose across the plaza, mixed with a little tension and even laughter at others' misfortune.
This livestream focus feature, loved and hated by countless students, was Qingshi No.3 High School's most successful motivational measure in recent years. It specifically treated all forms of slacking and laziness—because you never knew whether your miserable appearance would be blown up before the eyes of the entire school in the very next second.
Around Li Wen, quite a few students craned their necks, searching through the many first-batch screens for familiar faces—especially... Huang Yu, who was still struggling through the crowd.
Li Wen closed his eyes again, as though the clamor of the plaza had been shut away.
Yet the hand resting on his knee unconsciously tightened slightly, his knuckles turning somewhat pale.
His father Li Hong's violent coughs that morning—desperately suppressed yet still leaking out, tinged with blood—the pale complexion, and the back forced straight with all his strength replayed in Li Wen's mind with perfect clarity.
The crushing financial pressure, the exorbitant cost of Level 1 Blood Qi Potions, the immense consumption needed to support Fracture Edge Gold Sha Method Minor Accomplishment training, and the shadow of his father possibly losing his job due to severe illness...
All of it was like heavy chains.
Get stronger! Only by becoming stronger could he seize that sliver of hope!
The Blood Qi energy of Fracture Edge Gold Sha Method at Minor Accomplishment unconsciously began circulating through his body more efficiently, a trace of scorching heat driving away the morning chill.
He knew that his own battlefield would soon raise its curtain.
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