Huang Hao

When the hundreds of screens had dwindled to only a few dozen, there was no need for close-ups. Every remaining window had been enlarged enough for even the students in the back rows to see every detail of the combatants' movements clearly.

Those who had lasted this far were, at the very weakest, at the Greater Accomplishment stage of Advanced Technique.

Everyone's gaze was once again firmly seized by one particular screen.

On it stood a broad-shouldered, resolute-looking boy, wielding two heavy metal battle axes.

His opponent was astonishingly a Virtual Human clad in a Yellow Robe, signifying that its skill realm had reached Perfection in Advanced Technique.

Yet the battle was utterly one-sided. This boy was none other than Huang Hao—the acknowledged number one in skill among the third-years.

"Roar—!" Though the system had blocked the sound, a furious roar that seemed capable of shaking the spectators' hearts appeared to burst from the screen.

Huang Hao spun his twin axes like windmills. The massive blades seemed weightless in his hands, slicing through the air with terrifying, explosive hisses.

The seemingly cumbersome axes formed an absolute suppression in both speed and strength, instantly hacking out a skyful of overlapping axe shadows and stirring the air across the entire arena into a frenzy.

The wooden staff in the Yellow Robe Virtual Human's hands was left struggling to cope beneath that savage assault, like a lone flatboat amid raging waves, barely holding on and utterly unable to lift its head.

"Holy shit! Savage! Too savage! As expected of Huang Hao—the top of the grade in name and reality!" A wave of gasps and heartfelt admiration rose from the crowd.

The students of Class 21 were equally dazzled, shaken by that absolute sense of power.

Li Wen's eyes were just as sharp as he stared fixedly at every one of Huang Hao's axe shadows. The blood of a warrior within him seemed to resonate faintly.

He assessed it rapidly. If I faced Huang Hao right now and fought him head-on... I wouldn't last ten exchanges! The gap is far too wide...

A heavy pressure settled over his heart.

Even a tiny county town's No.3 High School hid dragons and crouching tigers! To reach the Greater Accomplishment realm of Peak Technique, he still had a long and arduous road ahead.

Time flew by amid the fierce battles.

Most of the students in the first batch of assessments had already determined victory or defeat and been eliminated.

Only three screens remained shining on the massive display.

The entire plaza's attention was focused there.

These three represented the current pinnacle of skill among the third-years:

Huang Hao: first in the grade, skill realm—Greater Accomplishment in Peak Technique.

Xue Jun: first in Class 21, skill realm—more than halfway through Minor Accomplishment in Peak Technique.

Leng Qingqiu: a formidable female student ranked among the top ten in the grade, whose swordsmanship realm was likewise exceptional.

At this moment, the Virtual Human opponents before all three of them had completely refreshed.

Their identical green robes signified that their skill realms had reached Minor Accomplishment in Peak Technique.

This was a level high enough to plunge most third-year students into despair.

"Whoosh—!" The instant the Green-Robed Virtual Humans refreshed, they did not pause in the slightest.

There were no words, no probing attacks, and even less mercy.

As killing machines, they directly unleashed the full might of staff techniques at Minor Accomplishment in Peak Technique.

The staff was the foundation of all weapons, and even more so an amplifier of strength. Three green figures moved almost in unison.

Ordinary Eyebrow-Level Wooden Staffs became terrifying curtains of shadows that tore through the air in their hands.

The staff shadows filling the sky came with piercing whistles, like countless venomous dragons, precisely and viciously sealing off every vital point on Huang Hao, Xue Jun, and Leng Qingqiu's bodies without leaving the slightest room to spare.

This was a true life-or-death struggle.

"Hmph! Mere tricks!" Xue Jun's cold snort rang clearly through the screen.

Faced with an assault that would have instantly crushed an ordinary Minor Accomplishment practitioner, a sharp gleam flared in his eyes, and the silver spear in his hand no longer held anything back.

"Buzzz—" The spear shaft trembled. A point of cold light arrived first, then the spear shot forth like a dragon.

There was no flourish, only an incomparably swift thrust that precisely pierced through layer upon layer of staff shadows and struck directly at the Green-Clad Man's core.

He displayed the essence of Minor Accomplishment in Peak Spear Art to the fullest! Unlike Xue Jun's exquisite piercing strikes, Huang Hao in another screen displayed an absolute aesthetic of violence.

"Break for me—!" Huang Hao's furious roar seemed ready to shatter the virtual space.

He took a step forward, and the invisible arena beneath his feet seemed to tremble. Raising both axes high, he no longer spun them with technique, but infused them with the tyrannical intent of splitting Mount Hua.

The heavy axe blades were no longer nimble windmills, but two collapsing mountains.

With terrifying strength far surpassing others of the same realm, he poured his Greater Accomplishment comprehension of Peak Technique into his axe art and viciously cleaved at the core of the staff shadows filling the sky.

One force could subdue ten techniques! Before the storm of absolute power, those seemingly airtight staff shadows actually showed faint signs of being torn open by a crack.

Several more minutes passed, and the intense battle scenes on the plaza's giant screen went dark one after another.

Of the three, only Huang Hao, with his Greater Accomplishment in Peak Axe Art, was still struggling to hold on.

His opponent had already upgraded from a Green-Robed Virtual Human to one clad in blue, an existence equivalent to Perfection in Peak Staff Art.

The situation had completely reversed.

No longer was Huang Hao wielding his twin axes with rainbow-like momentum to suppress his opponent. Instead, the Blue Virtual Man had transformed into a violent hurricane of staff shadows.

The long staff whirled through the air, its force heavy and fierce, its angles tricky. Every move contained the seamless mastery and power of the Perfection realm, forcibly cutting apart and shredding Huang Hao's unbroken axe momentum, driving him back again and again without any power to retaliate.

"Ha!" Huang Hao roared as he tried to counterattack, his twin axes cleaving toward gaps in the staff shadows with the sound of tearing air.

But the Blue Virtual Man's footwork was exquisite, and his long staff seemed alive. Whether lifting, smashing, or striking, it always moved later yet arrived first, precisely hitting the weakest points in Huang Hao's strength and forcing him into a frantic scramble.

The Perfection realm's control over power and use of techniques were displayed in their entirety, forming an absolute suppression over the Greater Accomplishment realm.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Continuous staff shadows pounded against Huang Hao's axe faces, shoulders, and arms like raindrops, making his blood and qi churn as both arms went numb.

Every block consumed immense strength, while the Blue Virtual Man's assault was like an endless tide, growing faster and heavier.

Finally, during a brief deadlock—

"Whoosh—" A piercing shriek of air being torn apart instantly stabbed through everyone's eardrums.

A blue staff shadow flashed forth, so fast it surpassed the eye's ability to track. In an instant, it pierced through the lingering remnants of axe shadows filling the sky and struck with perfect precision at Huang Hao's vulnerable throat.

"Urgh..." Huang Hao's body suddenly stiffened, and every movement came to an abrupt halt.

In disbelief, he lowered his head to look at the staff tip pressed against his throat, then raised his head to look at the expressionless blue figure opposite him.

His consciousness blurred, and his body gradually began turning into wisps of white light, dispersing within the virtual arena.

Until the moment he vanished completely, his face remained frozen with intense unwillingness and defeat.