Senior, What a Coincidence!

The sharp blade tore through the air like a howling gale, unending and relentless.

In the blink of an eye, blade shadows filled the sky.

"Did he see through me?"

The thought flashed through An Baoliang's mind, and his smile froze on his face.

Before he could think of the reason, the blade shadows had already reached him.

Agonizing pain struck, shattering his sanity.

His consciousness was instantly torn away and returned to his physical body.

Sanmen Province, Baihe City.

Inside a private training room, the lid of a virtual pod opened, and a tall, fat figure abruptly sat up.

"Phew!"

An Baoliang's face was pale as he took a heavy breath, then hurriedly felt over his body with lingering fear.

"Where did Li Qingshan learn that blade technique? He went straight for dismemberment the moment he attacked. That was vicious!"

"But... how exactly did he see through me?"

An Baoliang recalled the previous battle, his brow tightly furrowed.

Winning or losing once did not matter much, but no one wanted their ranking to drop.

After all, combat rankings were one of the important bargaining chips for signing with companies after graduation.

That was especially true for someone like him, a bottom-ranker with no hope of reaching New Continent.

His chosen weapon was a dagger, and paired with his movement technique, he excelled at close-range entanglement.

All that nonsense he had spouted earlier was meant to take advantage of Li Qingshan being a newcomer unfamiliar with the rules. He wanted to close the distance and make a sneak attack easier.

He had succeeded in closing the distance, but he had not expected his opponent to strike first!!!

If I'd known, I would've just attacked directly!

Thinking of Li Qingshan smiling as he drew his blade without mercy, An Baoliang's expression looked as though he had eaten shit.

This time, he had tried to steal a chicken and lost the rice instead.

Killed by a newcomer, his ranking would be replaced by the other party's, while he would become a true "bottom-ranker."

Inside the combat space, a projected screen unfolded, and a mechanical voice sounded.

"Opponent defeated. Your current ranking is 68706. Continue matching?"

Li Qingshan stood with his blade in hand. He glanced at the dagger mixed among the scattered corpse pieces, then casually tapped the confirmation button.

"Please prepare for battle. Your selected opponent is Ji Ting, ranked 68548."

"Countdown: 3... 2... 1!"

Light and shadow shifted. The blood and chunks of flesh vanished, and the platform was restored to pristine condition.

Opposite him, a young woman carrying a long spear upside down was rushing toward him. She had no intention of wasting words.

Li Qingshan's expression turned serious as he drew his blade and met her charge.

One hour later,

Li Qingshan appeared before the sheer cliff wall in the combat space.

"You have been killed by your opponent. Your current ranking is 60325. Continue matching?"

The mechanical voice rang by his ear. Li Qingshan shook his head and tapped the exit button.

Over that hour, he had fought dozens of battles. Other than the last few, he had won almost every one.

His opponents in those final battles were actually at the same realm as An Baoliang, all at the Body Tempering Fifth Stage.

However, they had mastered proficient-level movement techniques and martial skills. Li Qingshan's merely advanced-level Lost-Trace Steps and Wind Shadow Blade were no longer enough to bridge the absolute gap in physical attributes.

"Body Tempering is the foundation. There's no need to keep butting my head against this."

Li Qingshan stepped out of the virtual pod and began Body Tempering cultivation once more...

There was no such thing as class ending in a private training room. Training time was entirely under one's own control.

After completing one round of Body Tempering, Li Qingshan no longer entered the virtual pod during his breaks.

Instead, he leaned against the wall, closed his eyes, entered the Martial Arts Space, and continued cultivating.

He kept training like this until evening. After completing five rounds of Body Tempering cultivation and using up all his Intermediate Nutrient Solution, he finally left the school.

Early the next morning,

Li Qingshan brought the remaining unused Basic Nutrient Solution to school. After practically forcing Zhao Hongzhou to buy it at half price, he returned to the private training room and continued cultivating.

Time flew by.

Every day, Li Qingshan traveled only between school and home.

The balance on his card was enough to support the consumption of one bottle of Intermediate Nutrient Solution per day. Li Qingshan did not allow himself the slightest distraction and poured all his time into cultivation.

He completed five rounds of Body Tempering cultivation in reality each day, and his Body Tempering progress rose slowly but steadily.

Other than Body Tempering, nearly all his remaining time was devoted to the Martial Arts Space.

Under its one-to-ten time flow, the Martial Arts Space's available time rapidly dwindled.

At the same time, his proficiency in cultivation techniques and martial skills soared.

Day after day...

Three months later, First High School.

In the early morning, the cold wind howled. A few withered leaves drifted down from the bare branches.

The final exams had already ended, and only a few people remained on campus.

Li Qingshan carried the Thunder-Pattern Blade and walked briskly.

Just as he reached the stairs outside the martial arts hall, a rough shout rang out behind him.

"Brother Shan, wait!"

Li Qingshan stopped and turned around, looking at the burly figure charging toward him in confusion.

"How long has it been since I saw you? Why have you gotten even bigger?"

The newcomer was Zhao Hongzhou. Compared with Li Qingshan's memories of him, Zhao Hongzhou was at least a full size bulkier now.

"How long? It's been almost two months!" Zhao Hongzhou counted on his fingers and said seriously,

"To be exact, fifty-nine days. The last time we met was when Teacher Wan kept me behind for special training. I left late and happened to run into you."

"Has it been that long?" Li Qingshan was briefly dazed.

Because of the Intermediate Nutrient Solution, he had even skipped lunch, and with how early he left and how late he returned, it was difficult for him to run into other classmates.

Besides, due to the Martial Arts Space, his sense of time had become rather blurred after immersing himself in relentless cultivation.

"Brother Shan?" Zhao Hongzhou carefully sized Li Qingshan up and asked suspiciously,

"The Rookie Tournament is coming up. We leave for Wuyi tomorrow. You didn't know?"

"Huh?" Li Qingshan looked utterly blank. "No one told me."

"Uh... maybe Teacher Wan was planning to tell you today?"

Zhao Hongzhou had been disciplined plenty lately, so he naturally did not dare gossip about Teacher Wan behind his back.

"Probably." Li Qingshan rubbed his temples and did not dwell on it.

As a main competitor, there was no way he would be excluded.

The urgent task was to pull himself out of his intense cultivation state as quickly as possible.

After a few seconds, Li Qingshan suddenly paused. He noticed something off about Zhao Hongzhou, then turned to him.

"Wait. You deliberately waited for me here, and you brought up the Rookie Tournament. Don't tell me..."

"Hehe, that's right. I'm going too." Zhao Hongzhou puffed out his chest proudly.

"Teacher Wan said that besides you, three more first-years could go this time. I haven't reached the Body Tempering Second Stage, but my test results ranked third."

Li Qingshan smiled as well and lightly patted Zhao Hongzhou on the shoulder.

"As expected of someone so gifted. Not bad, not bad!"

"Of course!" Zhao Hongzhou held his head high and calmly accepted his friend's praise.

"Enough. What's there to be proud of? Teacher Wan only wants you to go broaden your horizons."

A slender woman with a single ponytail walked up the stairs carrying a machete. She curled her lips as she spoke.

"Of the three of you, Yu Lei is the only one who can actually compete."

"Senior Zhong Xian!" Zhao Hongzhou's expression tightened, and the chest he had puffed out immediately shrank back.

Zhong Xian had claimed a private training room as soon as she entered the second year. She was the undisputed top student of her grade.

Zhong Xian had initially been quite pleased with Zhao Hongzhou's reaction, but when she sensed the unrestrained gaze examining her from the side, she immediately frowned.

"Li Qingshan, Teacher Wan has high hopes for you. You've entered the combat space before, right? What's your ranking now?"

Li Qingshan withdrew his gaze and replied blandly, "That's none of your concern, Senior."

"You're at the bottom, aren't you?" Zhong Xian crossed her arms, looking as though she understood.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about. After all, opponents who can enter the virtual space are nothing like Yang Peng and the others."

"But for this Rookie Tournament, don't let Teacher Wan down."

Her ponytail swung as Zhong Xian turned and headed up the stairs.

Once her back vanished at the stairway entrance, Zhao Hongzhou let out a breath and said gloomily,

"Senior Zhong Xian really loves lecturing people!"

Li Qingshan patted him on the shoulder without saying much and went upstairs.

He had met Zhong Xian a couple of times before, but because he had been immersed in hard cultivation, they had never really interacted.

The moment he entered the training room, his communicator gave a faint vibration.

Wan Keshan had sent him a message informing him of the specific arrangements for tomorrow's gathering.

After reading the message, Li Qingshan swept his gaze over the training room.

"Since I need to adjust my condition, I might as well relax in the combat space. It'll also be a good chance to see what level I'm really at now."

The thought flashed through his mind. Li Qingshan opened the virtual pod and lay down inside.

Light and shadow shifted, and the sheer cliff wall engraved with the rankings appeared before him once again.

Returning to the combat space after three months, Li Qingshan felt somewhat unfamiliar with it.

One mechanical notification after another sounded by his ear. Since he had not logged in for a long time, his ranking had continuously fallen from 60325 to 61124.

Li Qingshan did not care about his ranking. He raised his eyes and looked at the first line.

Old Continent's number one, Mu Yu.

"Still Mu Yu?" Li Qingshan raised a brow. He remembered that three months ago, Old Continent's number one had also borne this name.

"Mu Yu's strength truly stands head and shoulders above the rest."

Li Qingshan casually commented, withdrew his gaze, and tapped the matching button.

"Please prepare for battle. Your selected opponent is Zhong Xian, ranked 60815."

"Countdown: 3... 2... 1!"

Light and shadow shifted, and the cliff wall vanished.

The slender figure with a single ponytail whom he had just seen appeared a hundred meters away.

Li Qingshan held his long blade and grinned.

"Senior, what a coincidence!"