Second

Their presence was like a magnet, drawing in the battlefield's energy and prompting the other examinees nearby to wisely steer clear.

Peak Greater Accomplishment was an insurmountable obstacle for anyone who hadn't yet reached Greater Accomplishment in their techniques.

Li Wen didn't steer clear.

His gaze flashed like lightning as he seemed to pierce through the chaotic battlefield, locking precisely onto the three cyan figures.

"...What's he...what's he going to do?" someone cried out in the grand plaza.

The three cyan Virtual Humans, all with Peak Blade Art at Greater Accomplishment, sensed Li Wen's fighting spirit and provocation at the same time.

Their three long blades flashed from their sheaths, weaving a dense, airtight net of cyan blades brimming with savage Killing Intent. From three treacherous angles, they closed in for the kill all at once.

This attack was powerful enough to make someone like Xue Jun, who had reached over halfway through Minor Accomplishment at Peak level, crumble instantly.

At this life-or-death moment!

Hummm!—an invisible field of power instantly spread out from Li Wen!

Lv. 6 Absolute Focus!

His immense Spiritual Power elevated his thought speed, perception, and ability to calculate and deduce to an almost inconceivable level.

With a sixty percent boost to his comprehension, he instantly analyzed every last detail of the blade net streaking toward him at lightning speed: its trajectory, the weaknesses in its force, the fluctuations in the flow of qi and blood...

At the same time, he felt his control over his body greatly improve.

Li Wen surged forward instead of retreating!

The standard-issue long blade in his hand, which looked so ordinary, seemed to come alive.

Rather than pursuing sheer speed, its gleam traced impossibly subtle, intricate arcs.

Shhk! Shhk! Shhk!

Three faint blade cries rang out, almost drowned by the blade net.

With pinpoint precision, Li Wen's blade tip struck the three crucial nodes in the cyan blade net. It looked flawless, but to his eyes it was riddled with cracks.

It was like popping three enormous bubbles. The imposing combined attack instantly unraveled and broke apart, its force collapsing into chaos.

The cyan Virtual Humans' attack was broken, and their figures faltered for an instant.

Li Wen's blade moved!

Fast!

Faster than ever before!

The blade gleam blurred into a single shadow!

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

Three heads flew into the air!

The cyan figures exploded into scattered motes of light.

His points surged—

Time elapsed... just three seconds!

"Holy shit!!!!!" The grand plaza erupted with deafening cries!

"He killed them instantly?! Three cyan-clad men at Peak Greater Accomplishment, and he killed them instantly?!"

"How is that possible! What was that blade technique?!"

"Peak Greater Accomplishment! Is Li Wen at Peak Greater Accomplishment in Blade Art too?!"

"One month...he really...did it? Even Jiang Lingyun took two or three months!!"

Deng Yuefei, who had already been eliminated, stood frozen as if struck by lightning, staring dumbfounded at the figure on the screen calmly sheathing his blade.

His cheeks burned as though an invisible slap had struck him hard. His lips trembled, but he couldn't say a word.

Peak Greater Accomplishment... Li Wen had crossed the supposedly impossible chasm in just one month!

Their mocking words from moments ago still echoed in their ears, now the most cutting ridicule of all.

The absurdity and sheer shock left their minds blank.

On-screen, Li Wen didn't linger after killing the three. He swept through the area's remaining Virtual Humans like a fierce whirlwind.

With Peak Blade Art at Greater Accomplishment and Lv. 6 Absolute Focus bolstering him, fighting the black, white, and red Virtual Humans at Advanced Initiation, Minor Accomplishment, and Greater Accomplishment, as well as the higher-tier yellow and green Virtual Humans at Peak Initiation and Minor Accomplishment, was like a tiger charging into a flock of sheep.

His blade was the Grim Reaper's scythe. Every flash harvested another life with pinpoint precision.

He avoided the advanced targets at Peak Perfection and above, instead weaving efficiently through the battlefield.

He hunted Peak Greater Accomplishment opponents, groups of Peak Minor Accomplishment opponents, and elite fighters from the advanced zones, maximizing his points while keeping himself safe.

During the entire second half of the test, nearly everyone in the grand plaza had their eyes fixed on Li Wen.

He became the most precise war machine, guided by Absolute Focus's formidable calculating ability. He always found the optimal route for the hunt, minimizing wasted time.

His name rocketed up the Scoreboard, swiftly overtaking one high-ranking competitor after another as he closed in on the top five, then the top three...

Finally, he carved out a place for himself at the top of the Scoreboard, where Huang Hao and Zhao Feng had held firm.

When the ninety-minute countdown ended, a flash of light swept through, and all the participants left the Virtual Battlefield.

The enormous final Scoreboard burst onto the center of the big screen:

[Sharpening Battlefield Selection Final Rankings]:

1, Class 1, Grade 12—Huang Hao: 2352 points.

2, Class 21, Grade 12—Li Wen: 2288 points.

3, Class 3, Grade 12—Zhao Feng: 1246 points.

21, Class 21, Grade 12—Xue Jun, 652 points.

Xue Jun had fallen out of the top twenty.

Silence! A deathly silence fell over the plaza!

Thousands of eyes stared fixedly at the rankings, at the name that had shot up like lightning to second place, just behind Huang Hao—Li Wen!

Then an uproar swept across the entire plaza like a tsunami.

"S-second?!"

"Li Wen?! A 7.1 Flesh Rank, and second overall in the Flying Star Class Selection?!"

"My god! He really did reach Peak Greater Accomplishment! One month! Peak Blade Art at Greater Accomplishment!"

"Wasn't he first in academics yesterday?! First in academics and second in combat skills?!"

"This...this is practically making history! The lowest-Flesh-Rank Flying Star Class candidate in No.3 High School's history has emerged! No...not just a candidate! He's in the top two!"

In the teachers' viewing area.

Wang Hu's teacup cracked with a sharp snap as he squeezed it, a fissure splitting through the porcelain. Warm tea trickled between his fingers, but he didn't notice at all.

He stared fixedly at the name shining on the rankings and the terrifying score beside it, the muscles in his face twitching faintly.

Shock and elation surged through him, and he became even more convinced of what he'd been thinking: Li Wen was absolutely an Awakened!

He was going to strike it rich!

At the center of the stage.

Principal Huang, who had sat steady as a mountain, his expression as placid as an ancient well, suddenly sharpened his gaze like a hawk's!

His brow furrowed almost imperceptibly as he stared at "Li Wen" and the glaring score of "2288," as though trying to sear them into his eyes.

A flicker of surprise, fine as a pebble tossed into a deep pool, rippled across his calm face and vanished just as quickly.

Yet the index finger of his left hand, which rested lightly on the armrest in an apparently relaxed pose, twitched slightly, betraying his inner turmoil.

The Virtual Pod door slid silently open.

Li Wen slowly sat up, his gaze still calm and unwavering.

Neither the surging power he'd felt in the Virtual World nor the overwhelming attention and commotion in the plaza stirred much emotion in him.

Peak Blade Art at Greater Accomplishment was just one solid step on the path toward his goal.

His ultimate limits lay far beyond the stars.

He returned to the grand plaza, bathed in countless gazes filled with admiration, awe, curiosity, and fervor, and calmly walked to his place.

The doors to the Flying Star Class had swung wide open for him.

And this earth-shattering second place was merely a signal he sent to the world before ascending to the true summit.