Lost-Trace Steps Reached Perfection!

The conference ended, and hundreds of people dispersed in a bustling stream.

No matter how dissatisfied the students were, with all the teachers in agreement, the Rookie Tournament rules could no longer be changed.

Wuyi No. 1 High School's cafeteria was abuzz.

All the students were still discussing the melee format, speculating about who might have a chance at first place.

The table occupied by the Luoying team was exceptionally quiet.

Yu Lei, Zhong Xian, and the others sat at the table, staring wide-eyed at Li Qingshan.

He gripped his chopsticks and shoveled food into his mouth wildly. In less than a minute, he had finished one tray and switched to a second.

Zhao Hongzhou swallowed and hesitated before asking,

"Brother Shan, are you that hungry?"

"Not really." Li Qingshan found time to reply. He quickly cleared his tray, set down his chopsticks, and stood up.

"I'm in a hurry. I'm leaving first."

The others were all stunned. Yu Lei asked in confusion,

"The Rookie Tournament is tomorrow. Where are you going?"

"Going back to sleep!"

His voice drifted back as his figure was already more than ten meters away.

Everyone stared blankly at his retreating back, their heads full of question marks.

Back in the dormitory,

Li Qingshan washed up briefly, then lay back down on his bed and closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, the familiar circular platform came into view.

Five statues stood silently at the edge of the platform.

With a thought from Li Qingshan, the statues vanished.

A hundred meters away, roars sounded as the figures of one human and four beasts appeared.

"Though you're a little weak, you'll have to do."

Li Qingshan grinned and charged at the five monsters barehanded.

Ever since his strength had increased, ordinary Body Tempering Fifth Stage fighters like Wolf Venom and You Qingya could be killed with a wave of his hand. Naturally, they had lost their training value.

However, Lost-Trace Steps specialized in maneuvering and evasive movement. Only in battle could it improve at the fastest speed.

Li Qingshan darted among the ferocious beasts. To achieve his training goal, he deliberately suppressed his speed and relied entirely on bodily instinct, using Lost-Trace Steps to evade attacks.

Second by second, Lost-Trace Steps' proficiency steadily increased.

At the same time, wounds began appearing across Li Qingshan's body, blood soaking his clothes.

He had already suppressed his speed to the Body Tempering Second or Third Stage.

Relying solely on Lost-Trace Steps at the mastery level, he could only barely cope under the attacks of five Body Tempering Fifth Stage opponents.

Fortunately, the Martial Arts Space granted limitless stamina, and superficial wounds would not affect his movements.

More than ten hours later, when his mind could no longer hold on,

Li Qingshan suddenly accelerated, counterattacked with all his strength, and killed the human and four beasts barehanded.

Then he fell onto his back and sank into deep sleep just like that.

After waking up, he summoned the monster projections again and continued training.

The cycle repeated over and over. He had no idea how much time had passed.

Surrounded by the five monsters and struggling to evade, Li Qingshan's eyes suddenly lit up. He took a step back with his right foot.

Wolf Venom's claws were striking from behind. That step seemed as though he had deliberately moved into Wolf Venom's attack.

But just before he touched the claws, he shifted his back slightly and narrowly evaded the attack.

Not only that, this miraculous step allowed him to break directly out of the five monsters' encirclement.

"Mystery of a Square Inch... So this is the Mystery of a Square Inch!"

Li Qingshan laughed loudly, his mind clearer than ever before.

At the moment of breakthrough, it was as though enlightenment had been poured into his mind, allowing him to instantly comprehend the Mystery of a Square Inch.

The Mystery of a Square Inch was profound and unfathomable.

With Li Qingshan's current realm, he could neither explain nor articulate it, but instinctively, he knew what to do.

His speed was currently suppressed to the Body Tempering Second Stage, yet under the attacks of five monsters, Li Qingshan moved as leisurely as if strolling through a garden.

Every attack seemed about to strike him, yet always missed by a hair.

Unlike mastery-level Lost-Trace Steps, which sensed danger and predicted it in advance, that was the approach of someone trapped within the situation.

Perfect Lost-Trace Steps had already allowed Li Qingshan to step outside it.

Within a square inch, every spot was a foothold!

The Mystery of a Square Inch lay beneath his feet!

In the dormitory at night, Zhao Hongzhou snored like thunder.

Li Qingshan silently opened his eyes as an illusory panel unfolded before him.

[Li Qingshan]

[Realm: Body Tempering 46/100]

[Technique:

Thirty-Sixth Broadcast Calisthenics Routine—The Stars Are Calling 1237/3000 (Mastery)]

[Martial Skills: Lost-Trace Steps (Perfect), Wind Shadow Blade Perfect]

[Function: Martial Arts Space Lv1 (9/100)]

[Available Time: 6 years, 203 days]

[Time Flow Rate: 1:10]

There had been a slight change to the panel, but it was not worth calculating carefully.

Li Qingshan glanced at the perfected Lost-Trace Steps, closed his eyes, and gradually drifted into sleep.

"Brother Shan, wake up!"

Zhao Hongzhou's voice sounded beside his ear. Li Qingshan groggily opened his eyes, feeling somewhat unaccustomed to it.

To be honest, it had been a long time since he had slept in reality.

With the Martial Arts Space's 1:10 time flow rate, sleeping in reality was undoubtedly a waste of training time.

"Brother Shan, Ren Ming brought us breakfast."

Zhao Hongzhou raised his right hand, which held a large bag of steamed buns.

Li Qingshan nodded. After washing up briefly, he and Zhao Hongzhou finished breakfast in the dormitory.

Afterward, the two stood beside the Virtual Pod.

The first-year Rookie Tournament would begin that morning. They only needed to lie down inside and wait for it to start.

"Brother Shan, what weapon do you think I should choose?" Zhao Hongzhou rubbed his hands excitedly.

Though he had never used it even once, he had gathered every bit of information he needed to know.

Li Qingshan glanced at the machete in the corner. It was the one he had given Zhao Hongzhou after freeing it up.

"Choose your machete. Switching to a new weapon at the last minute will only backfire."

Although cold weapons could be freely selected in the virtual space, most students would still choose the weapons they used in reality.

After all, reality was the foundation. Getting accustomed to divine weapons in the virtual space would not benefit one's real combat ability.

"Alright, I'll listen to you."

Zhao Hongzhou readily accepted the advice. Unable to wait any longer, he lifted the pod lid and lay down inside.

Li Qingshan smiled and shook his head before lying down in the Virtual Pod as well.

Wuyi No. 1 High School, conference room.

It was still the same conference room from yesterday, with over a hundred teachers seated around the table.

At the center of the room, one hundred projection screens were arranged in neat rows.

Each projection screen corresponded to a square platform measuring one hundred meters per side.

Lu Jing stood beneath the screens and introduced,

"The entire battle platform is ten kilometers per side. With one hundred screens, we'll be able to see every detail of every battle clearly."

The martial arts teachers nodded in satisfaction.

Although there could only be one first-place winner, they still needed to understand the students' exact strength so they could provide targeted guidance later.

"Only 256 first-years are participating. On a ten-kilometer battle platform, they'll probably have plenty of room to run."

One teacher teased, drawing a burst of laughter.

The first-year Rookie Tournament participants were generally at the second or third stage. The battle platform was indeed far too large for them.

"Don't worry. The ten-kilometer platform mainly takes the second-years' strength into account."

Lu Jing pointed a finger, and the scenes on the hundred-plus screens abruptly zoomed in, changing from one hundred meters per side to ten meters per side.

"The first-year students will be placed together in the center of the platform, within a one-kilometer radius."

As his words fell, figures appeared on the screens one after another.

The teachers first quickly found their own students, then began searching for Wuyi City's teams.

Among Wuyi's ten high schools, if they formed teams, they would undoubtedly be the strongest.

Wuyi's teams were easy to find. Most consisted of three or four people and were all located at the center of the platform.

However, after seeing the exact arrangement, every martial arts teacher frowned.

Because there were not ten teams at the center of the platform, but eleven.

Moreover, the extra team consisted of three boys and one girl. They stood at the very center, surrounded by the other ten teams.

"Lu Jing pulled something underhanded!"

The thought flashed through every teacher's mind, and their gazes involuntarily shifted toward Yuan Hongyan.

The only people present worth Lu Jing targeting were those from Five Plains City.

However, Yuan Hongyan merely frowned and said nothing.

"Hahaha, surrounding our Luoying in the middle? What a great arrangement!"

Wan Keshan held a teacup and burst into laughter.

"Holy shit! Lu Jing is that bold?"

All the teachers were stunned and immediately prepared to intervene if a fight broke out.

Wan Keshan's reputation was not undeserved.

Lu Jing unconsciously took two steps back and forced a laugh.

"It was randomly generated by the system. I really wasn't deliberately targeting your Fallen Blossom City."

Of course it had been deliberate. Since he had heard Li Qingshan's name yesterday, Lu Jing naturally could not simply sit by.

But facing Wan Keshan at that moment, he would not dare admit it even if given ten times the courage.

"It's fine, don't be afraid. I really am praising you."

Wan Keshan smiled brightly and rose to walk over to Lu Jing.

Just as everyone thought he was about to make a move,

Wan Keshan draped an arm around Lu Jing's shoulders, tilted his head toward the screens, and laughed loudly.

"You arranged it well. Very well!"