Virtual Pods, "Final Battle"!

"Cao Ya went to considerable trouble to find a Thunder-Pattern Blade for you."

Wan Keshan sheathed the blade, stuffed it into Li Qingshan's arms, then turned and walked through the school gates.

"Follow me."

"Teacher, you still haven't told me which A-rank martial art corresponds to the Lost-Trace Steps."

Li Qingshan jogged after him, unable to contain his eagerness.

Wan Keshan habitually began in an earnest tone,

"Don't aim too high. The threshold from mastery to perfection has stopped countless geniuses. It isn't so easy..."

As he spoke, he turned his head. The moment he saw Li Qingshan's face, his voice abruptly cut off.

Wan Keshan recalled Li Qingshan's talent and simply stopped wasting words.

"The A-rank martial art is the Heavenly Net Lost-Trace Steps. Its prerequisite martial skills are the D-rank movement technique Lost-Trace Steps and the C-rank Heavenly Net Steps."

Li Qingshan nodded and committed the names to memory.

Only after training both prerequisite martial skills to perfection could one comprehend the A-rank martial art.

That might have been difficult for others.

But for him, as long as the panel could record it, he could definitely grind it to perfection.

There was no such thing as a bottleneck before a progress bar.

The two crossed the campus and headed straight for the martial arts hall.

When they reached the front entrance, Wan Keshan changed direction and walked toward the exterior staircase beside it.

"There's still an empty private training room on the second floor. You'll train there from now on."

Li Qingshan followed without objection.

A private training room would make it much more convenient for him to use the Martial Arts Space during the day.

After turning up two flights of stairs, they entered the second-floor corridor. A row of classroom doors lined the left side.

The first classroom was the largest. More than a dozen second-year martial arts students were practicing martial skills inside.

When they noticed people passing the doorway, they all instinctively turned to look.

Wan Keshan ignored them and continued onward.

Li Qingshan casually glanced inside and unexpectedly spotted someone he knew, so he politely nodded at him.

Inside the classroom, Yu Zhuo wore an expression like he was badly constipated, having no idea how to respond.

Fortunately, Li Qingshan had no intention of waiting for a response and quickly passed the doorway.

Inside the classroom, the dozen or so second-year martial arts students all stopped moving and began discussing in low voices.

"Li Qingshan? Why is Teacher Wan bringing Li Qingshan to the second floor?"

"Yu Zhuo, Li Qingshan greeted you just now. Are you two close? Do you know why he came up here?"

"Close my ass!"

Yu Zhuo grumbled, scanned the room, then suddenly sneered.

"Other than our classroom, there are only those ten private training rooms on the second floor. Why else would Teacher Wan bring Li Qingshan over there?"

"You've all obviously guessed it. Why pretend otherwise? Or are you unwilling to accept reality?"

The moment he said that, the room fell silent. The expressions of three or four students darkened visibly.

The school—or rather, all of Fallen Blossom City—had only these ten private training rooms.

The martial arts class eliminated students every year, and there were never more than five third-years. Each of them occupied one training room.

The remaining rooms would be assigned to second-year martial arts students, but the requirement was at least the Body Tempering Fifth Stage!

Several people in their class had already met the requirement, and now only the last private training room remained.

Yu Zhuo was only at the Body Tempering Third Stage and had no hope at all, so naturally, he did not care.

But they were different. Each of them was close to the Body Tempering Fifth Stage and regarded the others as rivals.

Recently, they had been training desperately, terrified that someone else would beat them to it.

"Why? Li Qingshan is just a freshman. What use does he have for a training room?"

"Exactly! Even if he gets a virtual combat pod, he'll only go in to get beaten up. It's a complete waste!"

"No, I won't accept this. I'm going to find Teacher Li. We can't let Teacher Wan do whatever he wants."

Several of them rushed out of the classroom with anxious expressions.

The remaining students watched their retreating backs and shook their heads, though they did not mock them like Yu Zhuo had.

Anyone who still had any hopes for New Continent could not afford not to compete for a private training room.

The training room itself was nothing special. What mattered was the virtual combat pod inside.

With a virtual combat pod, one had the chance to fight geniuses from all across Old Continent.

More importantly,

New Continent Martial Arts University's selection process took place inside virtual combat pods!

"There are actually virtual combat pods!"

Li Qingshan's eyes filled with amazement as his hand carefully brushed over the gray-black casing.

Wan Keshan stood beside him, smiling faintly.

"You can go in and play around occasionally later. Of course, if you enjoy getting beaten up, I don't mind if you go in every day."

"Getting beaten up?" Li Qingshan raised an eyebrow and turned to ask,

"Are there a lot of experts inside?"

"They can't really be called experts." Wan Keshan shook his head and explained,

"There are 107 provinces in all of Old Continent. Each province has fifty or sixty ordinary cities like Fallen Blossom City, while each provincial capital has one hundred virtual pods and each ordinary city has ten."

"In other words, each province has nearly seven hundred virtual pods. Across all of Old Continent, there are more than seventy thousand!"

"These virtual pods are exclusively for martial arts classes and are generally allocated according to strength."

Li Qingshan immediately understood.

They might not have been experts, but those qualified to enter virtual pods were at minimum among the top ten martial arts students in a city.

At his current Body Tempering Second Stage, even with mastered martial skills, he would definitely get crushed if he entered.

"According to school rules, you originally needed to reach the Body Tempering Fifth Stage to qualify for this training room. But with your record from yesterday, that won't be a problem."

Wan Keshan glanced at Li Qingshan, his expression gradually turning solemn.

"Weren't you all curious before about how to get into New Continent Martial Arts University? I can tell you now."

"At the end of June every year, the top one hundred in the virtual pod battle rankings qualify to go to New Continent and participate in the 'Final Battle.'"

Hiss!

Li Qingshan sucked in a sharp breath. Even though he had been mentally prepared, the outrageous requirement still shocked him.

"Teacher, more than seventy thousand people competing for one hundred spots is one thing, but there's even some kind of 'Final Battle'?"

"It's not as brutal as you think. The 'Final Battle' isn't an elimination round. As long as you make it to New Continent, you can enter a martial arts university."

"But there's more than one martial arts university on New Continent. Everyone wants to attend a better school, so naturally they have to compete for admission slots."

Wan Keshan waved a hand and explained,

"'Final Battle' is merely Old Continent slang. To New Continent martial arts students, it's simply a normal admissions qualification match."

"Hundreds of boats race downstream, thousands of sails pass by. Only in the end will one qualify to stand on the same battlefield as New Continent martial arts students." Li Qingshan murmured, then shook his head with a laugh. "The name 'Final Battle' is rather fitting."

"Don't overthink it. The vast majority of New Continent martial arts students were selected from Old Continent as well."

Wan Keshan lightly patted his student's shoulder and said in a deep voice,

"The Federation has already tried its best to be fair. Geniuses like you, who awaken late, won't be overlooked either."

"Teacher, you're worrying too much. I was just saying."

Li Qingshan looked perfectly calm, without the slightest trace of dissatisfaction.

He had not awakened late. He had gotten a cheat!

Talent had never been reasonable, much less fair.

Wan Keshan did not dwell on it either, waving his hand as he changed the subject.

"Alright, the 'Final Battle' is too far away. Let's talk about the Rookie Tournament at the end of the year first!"

"Teacher, is this the opportunity you mentioned to learn the Thunderclap Blade?"

Remembering what Wan Keshan had said before, Li Qingshan immediately perked up.

A C-rank martial skill's licensing fee was five million. He could not afford that.

"Not just the Thunderclap Blade." Wan Keshan curled his lips into a smile and explained,

"The Rookie Tournament is specifically held for first- and second-year martial arts students. Its purpose is to provide lower-year geniuses with some resources so they can prepare early for the 'Final Battle.'"

"Each grade is ranked separately. The top ten can not only choose one C-rank martial skill, but also receive a cash reward of five million Star Coins."

"Rewards worth ten million!" Li Qingshan's eyes instantly lit up.

At that moment, he deeply understood the meaning of Cao Ya's advice last night.

Indeed, as long as one was talented enough, there was no need to sign those messy contracts.

Wan Keshan was not put off by his student's money-grubbing display. Instead, he was quite pleased.

A little greed was good. With a goal came motivation.

"Train hard. With your combat strength, there should be no opponents for you among the first-years in Martial Righteous Province."

"Teacher, can martial arts classes skip grades?"

"What do you mean?"

Wan Keshan froze, unable to react for a moment.

Li Qingshan's eyes gleamed as he licked his lips.

"I mean, after competing in the first-year Rookie Tournament, I'll skip another grade and continue competing in the second-year Rookie Tournament."