The End

Wang Hu suppressed the frustration and regret in his heart. He understood that the old principal had made up his mind, so he could only sigh softly and change the subject.

"The paperwork is simple. I've already prepared the application forms. According to school regulations, the First-Class Scholarship can't be decided until the final exam rankings are announced. The process is complicated, and the number of awards is fixed. The semester is about to end, so I'm afraid it's too late to apply for first class, and we can't make an exception."

"That's all right." Huang Yuanting looked at the screen again, his gaze softening a little.

"I'll make a special exception and award him this semester's School-Level Second-Class Scholarship, worth ten thousand yuan. That should solve his most urgent problem and be enough to buy a few basic Qi-Blood Potions. Once your assessment is over, let him know and have him take care of the paperwork as soon as possible."

"Yes! Thank you, Principal Huang!" Wang Hu felt relieved. He'd managed to secure this money for Li Wen, so his trip on behalf of his student hadn't been in vain.

Virtual Arena.

Li Wen knew nothing of the upheaval in the outside world.

At that moment, [Absolute Focus] had pushed Li Wen's five senses to their limits.

He shut out every distraction from the outside world, even his awareness of time passing.

The arena was his universe, and the Green-Clad Man was his only enemy.

His world held nothing but cold calculations, the utmost evasion, and precise control of every muscle fiber in his body. How could he channel his strength to dispel more of the staff's force? How could he swing his blade just a fraction faster to block? How could he twist his body at an impossible angle?

Blade light and staff shadows flashed so fast they became an interwoven storm of light.

The arena floor was riddled with fine cracks where the scattered force had struck.

Breathing became a painful burn. Every block made his bones groan under the strain; his internal organs were shaken almost out of place. The web between his thumb and forefinger had split open long ago, and blood stained the hilt.

But the fire in his eyes burned even brighter!

That single minute of stalemate stretched on like a whole century!

Under the extreme strain of [Absolute Focus], Li Wen had nearly touched a deeper level of blade technique. Many parts of [Rainbow Light Blade Art] that had once felt awkward now seemed to click into place.

But even human strength had its limits.

The chasm in their realms couldn't be bridged so easily through talent and will alone.

After dozens of high-intensity exchanges, the fatigue in his body finally exceeded the limits of [Absolute Focus]'s ability to optimize his coordination.

The Green-Clad Man spotted one tiny mistake in the way Li Wen dispersed the force!

A hidden force like a breached flood surged from the tip of the staff and slammed into Li Wen's blade.

Clang!

The tremendous force struck. The web between Li Wen's thumb and forefinger split completely, and the Standard Quick Blade nearly flew from his hand. His balance shattered in an instant!

In the blink of an eye, his old strength was spent before new strength could rise. His body faltered for a fraction of a second!

"Enough!" A dark glint flashed in the Green-Clad Man's eyes. His long staff shot out like a venomous dragon from its lair—fast, ruthless, precise!

In an instant, it became a straight line of death. Backed by the strength and speed of a peak Minor Accomplishment, it ignored Li Wen's final, futile attempt to block.

Sshk! The icy tip of the staff pierced Li Wen's throat with unerring precision! A burst of agony briefly swallowed his consciousness, and the white light of death consumed his vision.

Everything dissolved into nothingness.

—Reality. Virtual Room Three.

"Ugh... Hah—!" Li Wen's eyes flew open inside the Virtual Pod, his chest heaving as though he'd just escaped drowning and gulped in air.

The intense feeling of suffocation and the shadow of his virtual death sent his heart pounding. It seemed he could still feel the phantom pain of the staff piercing his throat.

"Hiss..." The tremendous backlash from forcibly switching off [Absolute Focus] hit him at once.

It was as if the supports had been torn from his soul. An indescribable weakness and a violent mental tearing sensation surged through him, more fiercely than ever before.

A needle-like pain stabbed through his mind, making him groan. His vision darkened in waves, and his body felt completely hollowed out, limp and powerless. Even raising his hand to take off his helmet felt impossibly strenuous.

But alongside the pain came a feeling of fulfillment unlike anything he'd ever known—and... delight!

A battle! A real, all-out fight to the death, pitting the weak against the strong! He'd gained so much!

Gasping, he fought through the crushing weakness and pain as he removed his helmet and the metal sensor clips from his hands and feet. Even sitting up made him sway.

"...My ranking should be safe." He recalled the statistics he'd seen before leaving the Virtual World.

Among the second batch of examinees, only five were still challenging the arena.

This meant that, given the generally high scores of the first batch, he was firmly in the top six of his group for "Martial Arts Skill."

With the six people from the first batch who had defeated the Yellow-clad Man, there were only eleven people ahead of him overall.

Two more batches of students were yet to come. By all logic, each batch would produce no more than five top talents on average. He had a very good chance of breaking into the top thirty overall!

"Phew..." Li Wen exhaled heavily. Though his body and mind were in terrible shape, a smile he couldn't suppress spread across his pale, sweat-soaked face.

In just over ten days of grueling training, he'd gone from near the bottom of his class at the midterm assessment to the school's top ranks, breaking into the top thirty!

His rate of progress could only be called astonishing.

"I've achieved my short-term goal of making the top ten in my class at midterms." Meeting that goal meant he could claim a handsome "Most Improved Award" and "Top Ten in Class Award," enough to get him three Level 1 Blood Qi Potions!

"Next... Flying Star Class!" He clenched his fist, his eyes firm once more.

His Flesh Rank was his weak point, but with resources and a goal, he was confident he could make a breakthrough over the holiday!

As the thought crossed his mind, Li Wen forced himself through his crushing fatigue and waves of nausea, struggling to his feet and pushing open the Virtual Pod's heavy door.

The air outside rushed in, carrying the din of people's voices.

The instant he stepped out of the virtual room, as if activated by his thoughts:

[Ping!]

The familiar, reassuring translucent virtual panel automatically unfurled before his eyes.

The information refreshed:

[You fought a grueling, limit-pushing battle across realms. Your understanding of Rainbow Light Blade Art deepened considerably. Blade technique experience +20]

[Skills: Blade Art: Advanced (Perfection), Blade Art: Peak (Initiation 4→24/100)]

"Twenty-four points!" Li Wen's pupils contracted. A huge wave of delight filled his heart, almost washing away his body's extreme discomfort!

"One battle, and I gained twenty experience points! This is..."

But he soon calmed down, and delight gave way to thought. It shouldn't be this simple.

He knew how difficult it was to improve. If anyone could gain this much experience just by fighting one high-intensity virtual battle, experts in the Unity Realm would be everywhere by now.

In reality, the vast majority of Warriors spent their whole lives stuck in the Martial Realm, unable to reach the threshold of Super Warriors.

(PS: Friends... um... it's the end of the month, so don't let your monthly votes expire.)