Assessment Begins

The morning sunlight spilled across the vast central plaza of Qingshi No.3 High School.

The air was thick with a restlessness and anticipation even greater than yesterday's cultural assessment.

Today was the main event of the Flying Star Class selection—the physical level test and skill assessment.

Not only were all the registered students present, but the entire grade of over a thousand students had been summoned here, an invisible pressure and excitement hanging over every corner.

The buzz of discussion hummed like a swarm of bees.

In the area of Class 21, Grade 12.

"Sixty spots, who knows who from our class can make it."

"No need to say? Xue Jun's definitely locked one in. Strong physique, and I heard his spear technique is almost at Great Completion."

"Almost at Great Completion? Then Xue Jun might have a shot at the top ten."

"Top ten's probably a stretch. The last top ten from last semester were basically already at Great Completion in their techniques."

"Speaking of which, I heard Zhao Feng from Class 3 broke through to Great Completion in his spear technique over winter break. Another ruthless one with a Great Completion technique!"

As the debate over the top ten grew more heated, a slightly out-of-place voice cut in:

"Hey, what do you think... could Li Wen make it into the top ten this time?"

The speaker was a somewhat thin boy, surrounded by students with calm auras, clearly more focused on the cultural track.

He had overheard classmates discussing last night that Li Wen's cultural scores might be excellent, and a sudden thought struck him.

The moment he finished, snickers came from nearby.

"Li Wen? No way!" The speaker was Xue Jun, sitting not far away with Deng Yuefei.

Xue Jun swept a disdainful glance over the group of "cultural students":

"He only got his blade technique to top-tier entry level at the end of last semester. One winter break? From top-tier entry to Great Completion? Do you think he's some kind of prodigy? At best, he's a bit above top-tier minor success!"

Deng Yuefei leaned in and chimed in:

"Exactly! Brother Xue's right. Even Jiang Lingyun from No.1 High, who signed a B-level Contract, took two or three months to go from top-tier entry to Great Completion.

If Li Wen can go from entry to Great Completion in one month, I'll write my name backwards!"

He shook his head as he spoke, as if hearing a fairy tale.

Xue Jun added with a superior tone:

"Every one of the top ten is at least top-tier minor success late stage or even peak.

Take me, for example. My spear technique is over half of minor success, and last semester I was still over a dozen ranks away from the top ten.

Li Wen wants to make the top ten? Only if his blade technique really skyrockets to Great Completion!"

Xue Jun and Deng Yuefei both shook their heads emphatically, the words "absolutely impossible" written all over their faces.

Just then, the broadcast sounded, drowning out the crowd's noise:

"All students participating in the Flying Star Class selection assessment, please proceed to the first testing area for physical level measurement!"

The line quickly formed a long queue in front of the testing instruments.

The testing was efficient; names and corresponding physical levels flashed on a massive electronic screen in real time, drawing murmurs from the crowd.

"Class 1, Grade 12, Huang Hao, physical level: 9.4!"

Gasps of amazement filled the plaza.

"Class 2, Grade 12, Zhao Feng, physical level: 9.0!"

"Class 21, Grade 12, Xue Jun, physical level: 8.8!"

"Class 21, Grade 12, Deng Yuefei, physical level: 8.5!"

When it was Li Wen's turn, he calmly pressed his hand onto the testing plate.

Buzz—"Class 21, Grade 12, Li Wen, physical level: 7.1!"

This number stood out starkly among the string of data above 8.0.

Li Wen himself showed no reaction, withdrawing his hand calmly, as if it were just an insignificant symbol flickering across the screen.

He was actually quite satisfied with this result.

At this moment, his physical level meant far less for his bid to enter the Flying Star Class than the upcoming skill assessment.

He paid no attention to the curious, dismissive, or complicated glances cast his way from all around.

After a brief adjustment, the moment that would truly decide his fate arrived.

"All participating contestants, enter the virtual room immediately. The 'Sharpening Edge' battlefield is about to begin!"

Hearing this, all participants rushed to the virtual room.

Finding his designated spot this time, Li Wen lay down inside.

After finishing the gear-up, he activated the switch.

The cold sensation of the Virtual Pod pressed in, his consciousness plummeted. When Li Wen opened his eyes again, he was suspended above a scorched battlefield of smoke, rubble, and ruin.

A frigid electronic voice rang out in the ears of him and all contestants simultaneously:

[Sharpening Battlefield Rules]

A total of 10,000 Virtual Humans are deployed on the battlefield. Their strength and corresponding points are as follows:

Black attire (Advanced Blade Art, Beginner): 1 point

White attire (Advanced Blade Art, Minor Success): 2 points

Red attire (Advanced Blade Art, Major Success): 4 points

Orange attire (Advanced Blade Art, Perfection): 8 points

Yellow attire (Peak Blade Art, Beginner): 16 points

Green attire (Peak Blade Art, Minor Success): 32 points

Cyan attire (Peak Blade Art, Major Success): 64 points

Blue attire (Peak Blade Art, Perfection): 128 points

Purple attire (Unity Realm): 1000 points

Points update in real time, determined by the highest value of the target killed.

Assessment time: 90 minutes.

The moment the rules finished reading, killing intent surged across the battlefield!

At the center of the grand plaza stood a massive screen.

The main view locked onto number TY001—Huang Hao!

He gripped two great axes, charging like a fierce tiger descending a mountain, barreling straight toward the core area where the Virtual Humans were concentrated.

His goal was crystal clear: aim directly for the cyan-clad figures representing Peak Art, Major Success.

The low-level Virtual Humans along the way couldn't stop him for even a moment.

His twin axes chopped through them like slicing melons and vegetables. With every spin, they precisely cleaved off a target's head, and his points skyrocketed!

"Look at Huang Hao! He's going straight for the high-level ones!"

"No wonder he's number one! Bold as hell!"

Next, the camera cut to number F002—Zhao Feng.

This newly ascended Peak Spear Art, Major Success expert was equally imposing. Though his chosen route wasn't as aggressive as Huang Hao's, he actively sought out green-clad (Peak Minor Success) targets.

His spear technique was swift and fierce. Against the green-clad Virtual Humans at Peak Minor Success, he didn't one-shot them, but he handled them with ease, achieving extremely high kill efficiency.

"Zhao Feng's a beast too! Another Peak Major Success—definitely the strongest under Huang Hao!"

"Second place is locked in!"

The feed shifted. Other seeded contestants, like Xue Jun, appeared on the screen.

Most of them were efficiently clearing yellow and green (Peak Beginner and Minor Success) Virtual Humans, steadily accumulating points. But compared to the explosive growth of Huang Hao and Zhao Feng, the gap was obvious.

However! As the assessment time silently slipped past nearly twenty minutes and the scoreboard began to widen, a contestant originally ranked dozens of places behind—number W021 (Li Wen)—suddenly saw his point growth curve spike at a near-vertical angle!

The intelligent monitoring system instantly caught it and forcibly magnified it onto the main screen.

In the footage, Li Wen appeared in a mixed rubble zone.

Here, a large number of low-tier black, white, and red Virtual Humans were scattered about. And at the core of these mobs stood three cyan-clad Virtual Humans, radiating powerful auras!