Ranking Soars!

"Why you?"

Zhong Xian's brow furrowed slightly, her eyes filled with doubt and confusion.

Just a moment ago, she'd been thinking Li Qingshan was at the bottom and too embarrassed to say his rank, only to run into him the moment she entered the Martial Arts Space.

"Looks like I underestimated you before. Too bad..." Zhong Xian's surprised expression faded as her crimson lips parted.

"You're unlucky—you just happened to match with me."

"Nothing unlucky about it." Li Qingshan shook his head with a faint smile, saying casually:

"It's my honor to receive guidance from a senior."

Zhong Xian's brow furrowed deeper, her eyes fixed on Li Qingshan's face.

He said "honor," but his face showed nothing but indifference.

"Li Qingshan, a rank near 60,000 is decent, but not enough to make you arrogant!"

"The only reason you matched with me is that I haven't logged into the Combat Space in a month."

A month ago, she was still at Body Tempering fifth level, with only Mastery in blade techniques.

Now, she was not only at Body Tempering sixth level, but her Mizong Step had also reached Mastery.

She'd chosen to enter the Combat Space today just to see her limits.

Zhong Xian lightly twirled her long blade and said sternly:

"We focus on cultivation and ignore worldly matters, but it seems that's let you develop an arrogant streak. Perfect—today I'll sober you up."

"Senior, there's something I'm not sure I should say."

Li Qingshan spoke abruptly, and Zhong Xian paused.

"What?"

"You talk too much!"

With a sharp shout, his figure shot out like lightning, his long blade splitting the air.

"Bold!"

Zhong Xian's expression shifted sharply as she raised her blade to meet him.

A hundred meters closed in an instant.

Wind Shadow Blade against Wind Shadow Blade—the sound of breaking wind howled without end as the two long blades were about to clash.

Facing Zhong Xian's blade slicing through the wind, Li Qingshan neither dodged nor blocked. His Thunder Pattern Blade struck faster and faster, turning into a blur of countless shadows.

"Blade light turning to shadows—that's your trump card?"

Zhong Xian gripped her hilt tightly and slashed with full force at the blade shadows.

A Body Tempering fifth level's punch force was 1,000 kilograms; a Body Tempering sixth level's was 2,000 kilograms—a full double the gap!

A mere Great Accomplishment Wind Shadow Blade couldn't stop her!

Metal clashed, and the sea of blade shadows vanished.

A confident smile spread across Zhong Xian's face.

Just as she'd expected—Li Qingshan really couldn't block her blade.

But then, Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Wind roared in her ears, and another blade light flared abruptly, striking from under her armpit.

The blade light layered upon itself, as if forged from countless shadows.

Zhong Xian's smile froze on her face. Her eyes flew wide, and she said in disbelief:

"Wind Shadow Follows!?"

The ultimate technique of Wind Shadow Blade—Wind Shadow Follows!

The blade light flashed and was gone. Her slender figure split in two.

"Defeated opponent. Current rank: 60,815. Continue matching?"

Li Qingshan halted, blade in hand, glanced at the long ponytail in the pool of blood, and casually tapped confirm.

"Prepare for battle. Opponent selected: Chai Ye. Rank: 60,568."

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

"Defeated opponent. Current rank: 50,753. Continue matching?"

"Defeated opponent. Current rank: 40,132. Continue matching?"

"You defeated your opponent. Current rank: 30,398. Continue matching?"

"Prepare for battle. Your opponent has been selected: Lu Su, rank 23,653."

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

On the combat platform, two figures dodged and weaved, the clang of metal ringing without pause.

If you can't find the book by title, try searching by author—maybe it just changed names!

"Junior, your Great Accomplishment Mizong Step is impressive, but big sister's Ghost Shadow Step isn't something to mess with either."

As she spoke, the lithe figure reversed her spear and thrust backward.

Returning Horse Spear!

Li Qingshan's expression tightened. He rose on his toes, the spear tip stopping a hair's breadth from his chest.

Before he could catch his breath, the spear shifted again, sweeping toward him.

Li Qingshan frowned. Long Blade Breaks Wind—countless blade shadows condensed into two streaks of light, blocking the spear's path.

Bang! Bang!

Two dull thuds. The spear's momentum slowed briefly before surging again.

But Li Qingshan's palms were numb. He couldn't muster another blade strike to block, relying solely on his Great Accomplishment Mizong Step to dodge and weave.

"Junior, just running won't win you the fight against big sister!"

Her teasing voice kept nagging at him. Li Qingshan's face was full of helplessness.

In the hundred-plus battles before this, he'd crushed every opponent with his perfected Wind Shadow Blade.

But after breaking into the top 20,000, his opponents were mostly at Body Tempering sixth level or above, and many had Great Accomplishment martial skills.

This Lu Su in particular was Body Tempering seventh level, with a Great Accomplishment spear technique!

Three months of training, even pushing himself to the limit, had only brought Li Qingshan to Body Tempering fifth level.

Body Tempering fifth level: speed 20 m/s, punch force 1,000 kg.

Body Tempering seventh level: speed 30 m/s, punch force 3,500 kg.

That massive gap was enough for Lu Su to crush him with sheer realm advantage.

If Lu Su's Ghost Shadow Step hadn't been stuck at Mastery, he'd have been skewered long ago.

The spear swept in again, fierce and relentless.

Li Qingshan had no room to dodge. He could only raise his blade in a desperate block.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The long blade was knocked away. The spear tip plunged straight into his heart.

Li Qingshan fell backward, a pretty face appearing above him.

"Junior, looking forward to next time!"

Lu Su waved casually, her expression relaxed.

Only after the corpse's eyes closed, confirming Li Qingshan had "logged off,"

did she let out a breath and stick out her tongue.

"A monster like that from the Old Continent? Almost capsized in a ditch!"

Inside the Combat Space, before a cliff face.

"You have been killed by your opponent. Current rank: 23,874. Continue matching?"

A cold, mechanical voice rang out.

Li Qingshan rubbed his brow, looked up at the cliff, and let his gaze drift to the upper third. Names enlarged before his eyes.

His own. Lu Su's. Others he'd fought.

"This should be the top batch of Second Years, right?"

Martial Arts Classes were weeded out year by year. Luoying City had only three Third Years, and other ordinary cities were similar.

Wuyi, as the provincial capital, might fare better, but it couldn't keep many either.

That meant each province had maybe fewer than 200 Third Years in martial arts.

Across all 107 Provinces, the total number of Third-Year martial artists was around 20,000.

"Rank 23,874. Not safe enough to guarantee a top-10 spot in the Second-Year Rookie Competition. But my Mizong Step is almost at Perfection—that'll boost my combat power a bit."

After a quick calculation, Li Qingshan decisively exited the Combat Space.

The Virtual Combat Pod's lid opened. He sat up and looked at his Status Panel.

Code
[Li Qingshan]

[Realm: Body Forging 46/100]

[Techniques: The Thirty-Sixth Set of Broadcast Gymnastics -- The Stars Are Calling 1235/3000 (Great Accomplishment)]

[Martial Skills: Mizong Step 2896/3000 (Great Accomplishment), Wind Shadow Blade Perfected]

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

[Available Time: 6 years, 213 days]

[Time Flow Rate: 1:10]

Three months of grueling training in reality, aside from necessary Body Forging and commuting, all other time was spent inside the Martial Arts Space, consuming nearly two years of available time.

"Mizong Step is only a little over 100 proficiency points away; it shouldn't take long. Let me finish today's Body Forging training first."

Having just been crushed by Lu Su's realm, Li Qingshan wasn't about to slack off on real-world Body Forging for the sake of a martial skill.

He stepped out of the Virtual Combat Pod, took out a bottle of Intermediate Nutrient Solution, and drank it down.

Li Qingshan began his routine training step by step...

Can't find the book by title? Try searching by the author—maybe it just got renamed!