The Battle Begins

Basic Body Forging Method breakthrough, realm: Minor Achievement

Inside his room, Xu Ziming practiced the Basic Body Forging Method twenty times in one breath, training from the afternoon until late into the night.

Finally, after completing the twentieth repetition, the realm of his Basic Body Forging Method improved once again.

Unfortunately, unlike the first breakthrough, this one did not bring a significant increase in his Life Energy Level.

However, although his Life Energy Level did not rise sharply, with the breakthrough of the technique, he could feel that his blood and qi were at least fifty percent more robust than before.

This was the bonus brought to his body by the Minor Achievement of the Basic Body Forging Method, rather than a direct increase in his realm.

It was a deeper foundation in the Martial Way under the same realm.

As long as he kept practicing, even the Basic Body Forging Method could achieve invincibility among peers in the college entrance examination!

Now, he just had to wait for tomorrow.

Time passed, and Xu Ziming went to sleep very early today to ensure he would be full of energy for tomorrow.

The night flew by, and soon it was the next day.

Xu Ziming got up early, quickly finished his breakfast, and headed to school.

The day of class sorting had finally arrived.

Walking on the way to school, it was already mid-March, and willow catkins were drifting everywhere in the Suzhe Province, filling the sky like snowflakes.

He had heard that it was already like this back in 2026, and seventy years later, today was no different.

At seven o'clock in the morning, there were many pedestrians on the road; even after the appearance of the Starry Sky Alien Race and the rise of the Martial Way, liberal arts still existed.

The rapid development of technology, Flying Boat, bracelet panels, instant shopping, and so on, were all things researched over these years.

Therefore, the lives of ordinary people were still quite prosperous; if it weren't for the constant invasion of the Starry Sky Alien Race, perhaps they would have already achieved communism through artificial intelligence.

"A-Ming, heading to school? Do you want to eat some wontons made by your uncle?" The owner of Yang's Wonton Shop shouted loudly while waving his soup ladle.

"Uncle Yang, let's skip it today; I'll come by to taste them in a couple of days."

"Alright, I'll make sure you get your fill then." Uncle Yang smiled and returned to his work.

Passing by the martial arts base where he trained yesterday, the young lady from yesterday was enthusiastically introducing the facilities to others.

Pengcheng was full of vitality everywhere, and this peace was bought with the lives of countless soldiers on the front lines; in a few days, after he started university, he would also head to the battlefield.

To face those disgusting aliens.

Lost in thought along the way, he arrived at school before he knew it.

At this moment, the senior year was very lively, and all the miscellaneous items in the original public classroom on the floor had been cleared away.

Ma Mingyu was standing at the entrance of the public classroom.

"Did you hear? The head teacher of the Sprint Class is the former head teacher of Class Five, Ma Mingyu. It seemed to be Teacher Li from Class Three originally; I don't know why it changed suddenly."

Old Ma was his head teacher again? This news flashed through Xu Ziming's mind, and an indescribable joy surged into his heart.

He had originally planned to defeat Zhao Yong today to win the first-class scholarship and then immediately announce his withdrawal from the Sprint Class, but he didn't expect that he wouldn't need to withdraw after all.

But why did Teacher Ma become the head teacher of the Sprint Class?

Ma Mingyu stood at the entrance of the public classroom, his stern face naturally imposing, carrying a hint of "strangers keep away."

He only found out this morning that he was to become the head teacher of the Sprint Class, and the reason was...

Xu Ziming had reached the Silver rank last night, and his own performance quota, which he had previously lacked, was suddenly fulfilled.

"This kid, really."

Thinking of this, he immediately looked into the distance and happened to see Xu Ziming walking toward him with a grin, a satisfied smile instantly appearing on his cold face.

"He's here, it's Xu Ziming."

The crowd automatically parted to both sides; most of the people gathered here today were senior students.

Because of Xu Ziming's sword-slaying of the True Martial Sect Disciple two days ago, almost everyone knew him.

Coupled with the fact that he had challenged Zhao Yong to a duel and was usually nowhere to be found, he was already widely talked about among the masses.

Everyone also knew that a Sword Immortal had emerged from Third High School who had conquered the world with the Basic Sword Method.

Carrying "Jinghong" on his back, Xu Ziming walked forward with a calm expression under the gaze of the crowd.

At the end of the crowd, Zhao Yong also stood there with an indifferent face, just waiting for Xu Ziming's arrival.

"Is it starting?"

Everyone's eyes followed Xu Ziming closely, looking forward to this new legend of Third High School drawing his sword.

However, contrary to what they imagined, Ma Mingyu stepped in between the two first.

"Use the Battle Net to fight. You both have the qualifications for the Battle Net. Fighting in reality might lead to injuries, and whoever gets hurt will affect the college entrance examination in eighty-some days."

"I have no objection." Xu Ziming nodded and opened his bracelet, revealing his own ID.

"Little Ming Who Can't Use a Sword!"

A gasp rippled through the crowd; it was clear that everyone had only just realized this ID had climbed onto the Pengcheng Martial Way high school leaderboard yesterday.

"Silver rank?"

Zhao Yong's eyes held a trace of disbelief. Pengcheng No. 3 High School only ranked third in Pengcheng, and most of the top-tier talent was snatched up by No. 1 High School and No. 2 High School.

If not for the existence of Shen Xingyue this year, the strongest at No. 3 High School would likely only be scraping the bottom of the Pengcheng rankings.

And Xu Ziming was clearly one of those few.

So far, only six people from the entire No. 3 High School had made it onto the leaderboard, and that did not even include Zhao Yong.

With a cold face, he opened his Battle Net account and sent a duel request to Xu Ziming's account.

"So what if you're Silver? I just couldn't be bothered to grind, it's not like I couldn't reach it."

Xu Ziming was unaware of his thoughts; had he known, he would surely have replied with a single word: "Classic."

[Duel invitation accepted. The match is about to begin. Please prepare yourself.]

[Higher authority detected. The match has been set to public mode. Please scan the QR code to watch.]

To ensure fairness and impartiality, Ma Mingyu directly set their match to public. Every student present could simply use their wristband to scan the QR code, connect to the network, and begin watching.

Seeing this, all the students on the scene immediately pulled out their wristbands and began scanning the QR code in front of them.

They all appeared in the seats surrounding the arena, just as they did during regular ranked matches.

One by one, they stared at the two combatants with excited expressions.

[Battle about to begin. Battle scene switching randomly.]

[3!]

[2!]

[1!]

[Battle start!]

The scene shifted instantly. This time, it was not the Alien Battlefield that Xu Ziming was familiar with, but a forest of red maple trees.

In the center of the vibrant red maples lay a large clearing, featuring a small thatched cottage, a long stream, and a bridge spanning the water.

Xu Ziming and Zhao Yong stood on opposite sides of the bridge, looking like long-renowned swordsmen meeting for a duel.

In this setting, Xu Ziming drew his Jinghong Sword, lifting it slightly to point at Zhao Yong in the distance.

The blade rang out with a crisp, clear chime as it left the scabbard, echoing through the mountains and startling the migratory birds into shrill cries.

"I am Xu Ziming. I invite you to test my sword!"