Through

Luo Feng was speechless, and Guan Ning had nothing to say either.

"Get some good rest here. If you want anything to eat, just call and someone will bring it over," Yang Hui instructed. "It's best not to wander around today. Tomorrow at noon, I'll take you to the Nine-Story Tower for your trial. Once you pass, you'll officially become a member of the Elite Training Camp. If you fail, you'll have to go to the Basic Training Camp instead."

"Understood."

Guan Ning and Luo Feng both nodded.

Yang Hui soon left, leaving only Guan Ning and Luo Feng in the quiet building.

Guan Ning spoke up. "Senior Brother Luo, let's find our bedrooms and get settled."

"Sure." Luo Feng thought for a moment, then nodded. "See you in a bit, Junior Brother Guan."

"See you in a bit."

After exchanging farewells, they each went into a bedroom.

After closing the door, Guan Ning set his backpack aside and plopped down on the edge of the bed, lost in thought. His expression shifted back and forth, and several times he started to get up, only to sit down again. What he had in mind was far too important; he had to be careful!

After agonizing over it for four or five minutes, Guan Ning finally came up with a solution. It was as if a thousand-pound burden had been lifted from his shoulders, and he looked much more relaxed.

After tidying up a bit, he went out.

The two chatted for a while, moving from amusing school stories to wilderness training and then the path of a warrior. One wielded a sword, the other a saber, but both gained something from the conversation. They got along splendidly and only parted when night fell.

After cultivating Genetic Origin Energy in his bedroom, Guan Ning decided to keep a low profile. He didn't recite the Dao Scripture or practice his swordsmanship; he went straight to bed to rest and conserve his strength.

Luo Feng did the same.

At eleven in the morning, the two of them sat down to a lavish lunch. It wasn't until 11:50 that Yang Hui, the War God, finally appeared.

Yang Hui walked in and smiled. "Come with me to the Nine-Story Tower."

The two went with Yang Hui toward the Nine-Story Tower!

Each floor of the Nine-Story Tower was about six meters high, and the building was over 150 meters long and wide—a truly colossal structure. It looked quite classical from the outside, but inside it was thoroughly high-tech. The floors were made of solid alloy, and the sounds of sonic booms and shouts could be heard everywhere.

"Come on, let's go to the ninth floor." The three of them stepped into the elevator.

The elevator moved quickly.

"Ding!"

When the doors opened, they were already on the highest floor of the Nine-Story Tower. The ninth floor was a spacious hall, with a few mats scattered around. Young men and women sat around chatting. Some spoke English, others French or other languages, and some spoke Mandarin.

When the three entered, quite a few people looked over at Luo Feng.

"Don't mind them. Come with me." Yang Hui glanced at the young people and spoke.

With everyone in the hall watching and whispering, Yang Hui led Guan Ning and Luo Feng to the far end. A corridor ran through the area, with large rooms on either side.

The two went straight to a room at the very end. It wasn't very large and was even somewhat dim.

"Click!" The lights came on, illuminating the room.

There were only two sofas inside, each with a dark blue helmet resting on it.

"These two helmets..." Yang Hui began to explain.

Even without his explanation, Guan Ning knew these were Consciousness Sensors for the virtual space.

Hong had unearthed them from the Ancient Civilization Ruins. With their help and the support of an intelligent Optical Computer, he had built a virtual space—the War God Palace—and brought together the War Gods from around the world to fight the monsters.

Guan Ning was excited, too. Once he put one on, his consciousness would enter a virtual space with a 100% simulation accuracy, one that was virtually identical to the real world.

"Which of you wants to go first?" Yang Hui finished explaining and handed over one of the dark blue helmets.

Guan Ning and Luo Feng looked at each other. Guan Ning said, "Senior Brother Luo, you go first."

Luo Feng nodded and put on the blue helmet.

Yang Hui watched Luo Feng put it on before putting on his own.

In the room, the two helmeted men lay quietly on the sofas, while Guan Ning stood nearby watching them.

A little over twenty minutes later, nearly half an hour, Luo Feng and Yang Hui woke up.

When they stood, Guan Ning saw the pleased look on Luo Feng's face and knew he had passed the trial. Still, he pretended to ask, "Special Envoy Yang, how did Senior Brother Luo do?"

"He passed," Yang Hui said with a smile.

Luo Feng nodded as well.

Guan Ning cupped his hands. "Congratulations, Senior Brother."

Luo Feng waved a hand. "I know what you're capable of, Junior Brother. Passing the A-Grade Trial will be a piece of cake for you. Let me congratulate you in advance."

"Thank you for the kind words, Senior Brother."

Yang Hui watched the two of them showering each other with compliments and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He could only interrupt them. "All right, you two. Guan Ning, hurry up and get started. We still have plenty to do afterward!"

"Senior Brother Luo, we'll talk when I'm back."

With that, Guan Ning lay down on the sofa and put on the helmet.

An endless silver expanse stretched out before him. Two figures appeared on the ground, one behind the other: Guan Ning and Yang Hui.

"How amazing. Is this the virtual space?" Guan Ning looked around.

The sky above the virtual space was actually a starry universe. Countless stars filled the boundless night, casting a dreamlike glow across the silver ground.

Looking at the virtual space he had only ever encountered in novels, and feeling how real it seemed, Guan Ning was overcome with emotion.

"Guan Ning, this is the Trial Tower's virtual space." Yang Hui smiled and pointed into the distance.

"The only structure you can see anywhere in this virtual space is that Seven-Story Trial Tower in the distance. It's also where you'll take your trial..."

Yang Hui began explaining the virtual space in detail.

Guan Ning already knew some of this, but he still listened carefully. After all, a novel wasn't reality, so it was best to be cautious.

"Punching power: 10,000 kilograms. Speed: 150 meters per second. Neural response speed: superior Elementary War General Level." Guan Ning moved around a little to get used to his virtual body. "Not bad. Its physical condition is about the same as my real body."

When he looked up, he saw the towering Seven-Story Trial Tower rising like a colossal giant from the middle of the vast silver expanse.

Guan Ning and Yang Hui stood at the entrance, looking like two ants.

"Look at that stone pillar." Yang Hui pointed to a black pillar to the left of the Trial Tower's main entrance.

The following was carved onto the black stone pillar—

Name: Guan Ning

Gender: Male

Status: Elite Training Camp Trainee

Trial Tower Level: 1

He hadn't taken the Trial Tower level assessment, so his Trial Tower level was 1.

As for his status as a trainee, it would only change after he passed the A-Grade Trial.

Yang Hui had no idea Guan Ning already knew all about the Trial Tower, and continued explaining.

Guan Ning knew full well that Hong, the world's strongest warrior, and Thor had both failed to clear the seventh floor, though they had undoubtedly come closer than anyone else.

Even many Elite Training Camp trainees were still fighting on the first floor; they hadn't even reached the second.

Guan Ning felt eager to give it a try, too. He wondered how far his current strength would take him.

Suddenly, an electronic voice echoed throughout the virtual space.

"Guan Ning, select your combat suit and weapon. Once you've made your selections, enter the Trial Tower within one minute to take the A-Grade Trial!"

In an instant, a variety of combat suits and weapons appeared before Guan Ning.

Without wasting time, he selected a combat suit that fit him and the Qingming Battle Sword.

The combat suit and Qingming Battle Sword appeared on the ground, and Guan Ning quickly put on the suit.

"Guan Ning, I wish you success," Yang Hui said with a smile. "This A-Grade Trial is a low-difficulty trial on the first floor of the Trial Tower."

"Mm." Guan Ning took a deep breath and walked straight into the pitch-black entrance ahead.

Whoosh!

As if the space had shifted around him, Guan Ning suddenly found himself in a vast grassland.

"Guan Ning." The electronic voice echoed across the grassland.

"The A-Grade Trial is to kill fifty Elementary Beast General Level Reckless Bulls that will attack you, within thirty minutes!"

"If you die at any point, you fail!"

"If you haven't killed all fifty Reckless Bulls after thirty minutes, you fail!"

"This is your first time entering the Trial Tower, so you have five minutes to prepare."

After hearing the requirements, Guan Ning relaxed a little. The Reckless Bulls were similar to the Iron-Armored Savage Bulls he had encountered in the Wilderness Area, but they lacked the latter's thick scales, making them easier to deal with.

"Fifty of them? At Elementary Beast General Level?"

"My normal punching power is 10,000 kilograms. With the second level of Basic Sword Technique boosting it, I can reach 20,000 kilograms at full force."

After half a month of painstaking practice, he had mastered quite a bit of the second level of Basic Sword Technique, but his body still only generated twice its normal force. At full power, his strength was already worthy of a true intermediate War General.

Fighting fifty Elementary Beast General Level monsters would be somewhat difficult, but it wouldn't be a major problem.

Guan Ning said calmly, "Passing the trial should be easy."

Like the Virtual Universe, the Trial Tower mainly trained technique, including swordsmanship, movement, and Force Amplitude.

With no external factors at play, all of these could be clearly assessed.

That made it easy to test a person's true combat ability.

On an endless grassland, Guan Ning was fighting a herd of Reckless Bulls.

The bulls weren't far apart in their basic physical abilities, but their explosive power varied.

Even facing fifty monsters of the same level alone, he could dodge through them with ghostlike agility.

The Qingming Sword in his hand became a bolt of blue lightning, carving through the herd and tearing open one gap after another.

Before he could even get into the swing of things, all fifty Reckless Bulls had disappeared. Guan Ning hadn't suffered so much as a scratch.

"This really is..." Guan Ning shook his head helplessly when he realized what had happened.

"Time: 8 minutes and 32 seconds. All fifty Reckless Bulls killed. A-Grade Trial: Passed! Congratulations, Trainee Guan Ning." The electronic voice, like that of a god, echoed across the grassland.

"Trainee Guan Ning, you will automatically leave the virtual space in five seconds. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..."

Ninth Floor of the Nine-Story Tower, Elite Training Camp.

When the three came out of the Trial Room, chatting and laughing, the talented warriors from all over the world, representing every skin tone, stared at them in surprise. One young man with yellow skin couldn't help asking, "Teacher, did they pass the trial?"