The Biggest Dark Horse, Shocking Everyone

Whether students or teachers, they were all incredibly shocked.

Especially the teachers who had been following the challenge closely.

Seeing Shen Hui challenge the Fourth Stage alongside the scions of those prominent families after breaking through the Third Stage

had already shocked them greatly. They hadn't expected him to take the lead on his own and break through the Fourth Stage.

He had already begun challenging the Fifth Stage!

It was clear that he was poised to outshine everyone. He was the biggest dark horse in this practical challenge!

The teachers and principal of Qingshui School were all grinning from ear to ear.

After all, Shen Hui was a student at their school.

"Principal, your judgment was spot-on. This Shen Hui really does have some ability."

"Principal, you truly had foresight. Shen Hui's potential really is as great as you thought."

Some teachers began flattering the principal, praising his wise decision.

"Shen Hui's world is unique. Since he can create Heroes, he might well establish an entirely new world model."

"So young people need to be bold and driven. They need to work hard, and they deserve a chance."

The principal said with a smile.

The teachers and students weren't the only ones keeping an eye on Shen Hui.

In one of the rooms at the practical test base,

there were not only senior officials from the World Association, but also the city lord, Wang Xinhai, and people from all the major families.

They were waiting for the practical test to end so they could invite those who had performed well to join their factions.

"This Shen Hui is pretty interesting."

"He's nothing special. Maybe he's only made it this far by luck."

"Besides, we can't tell yet how far he'll get."

"That's true. This isn't a race. It's about who can make it to the end."

People from the major families all chimed in.

After all, the major families had always believed that whoever took the lead should come from among their own ranks.

So naturally, they were displeased to see an unknown youngster at the front.

Wang Xinhai, however, spoke with a cheerful smile:

"His current strength has already proved that he has real talent. If he's properly nurtured, he'll surely achieve something."

After he said this, the others fell silent for a moment.

After all, it made sense. This unknown nobody had never received any training.

The fact that he'd made it this far showed that his talent was indeed commendable.

But then someone suddenly thought of something and immediately said:

"I'm sure everyone here has heard about his world."

"So even if he has talent, his world limits it. He still won't be able to achieve anything."

At that moment, one of the World Association's senior officials, who had been silent until then,

a stunning woman named Chi Yan, dressed in a red gown, spoke up:

"I don't think that's necessarily true. This Shen Hui came to our World Association three days ago to challenge an Unclaimed World."

"That should have been around the time Qingshui Middle School completed its first world observation."

Everyone present was taken aback.

Though their first instinct was not to believe it.

After all, how could someone with no background or power have challenged an Unclaimed World so early?

But Chi Yan was the head of the World Association branch in their region.

Her status was in no way inferior to that of any faction present.

That included Wang Xinhai, the city lord and ruler of the district.

So her words carried a lot of weight, and she wouldn't make something like that up.

Then someone from one of the factions asked, "Did he... succeed?"

They already had an answer in mind, but still couldn't help asking.

Chi Yan nodded. "That's right. And he succeeded on his first attempt in less than an hour."

They were all stunned when they heard this.

He'd challenged an Unclaimed World and succeeded in under an hour.

That was even faster than the people they had trained!

It proved that he possessed tremendous strength!

It definitely wasn't just luck!

Each of them had already made up their minds: once the test ended,

they would find a way to bring Shen Hui into their faction.

During the practical test, Shen Hui had already started challenging the Fifth Stage.

The Fifth Stage also featured a group of knights, but this time there were several mages carrying staffs among them.

These mages wielded even more powerful holy magic.

But all of Shen Hui's Heroes had already gathered in the Deadwood Forest.

Once the knights and mages entered the Deadwood Forest,

Sadako, the Pig-headed Butcher, and Tomie each unleashed their own abilities and attacked.

All three of them possessed different forms of immortality.

Combined with their bizarre methods of attack,

they sent the enemy forces into disarray.

The enemy had no chance of winning.

Shen Hui immediately entered the Sixth Stage!

As for the others, after most people were eliminated in the Third Stage,

many more were eliminated in the Fourth Stage.

Those who continued on began the Fifth Stage.

But the Fifth Stage was far more difficult than the previous ones.

Not long after it began, many people were eliminated.

Those eliminated were all exceptionally talented students who ranked among the top in their respective schools.

Among them were also people trained by major family factions.

Though they had been eliminated, their results were already impressive.

They had thought that once they came out, their classmates would praise them or their teachers would commend them.

But they soon realized that no one was paying attention to them at all.

Teachers and students alike were staring wide-eyed at the giant screen displaying the rankings.

They couldn't help thinking that someone must have an incredible record to draw everyone's attention.

They went over to take a look. Starting from the bottom, everything seemed perfectly normal.

Everyone still challenging was in the Fifth Stage.

They recognized the names there very well.

At a glance, they were all scions of major families.

There were only two names from their school: Qingxue, who had awakened the largest world, and the person who had awakened the second-largest world.

But when they looked farther up, they saw that someone was already challenging the Sixth Stage!

There was only one challenger.

And the challenger's name was both unfamiliar and familiar to them.

It was unfamiliar because they had never heard the name before, meaning he wasn't someone with connections or power.

But it was familiar because, over the past few days, the name had spread as an example of what not to do: Shen Hui, who had awakened a Death World!

Soon, this group of people was also drawn in.

They stared fixedly at the giant screen, eyes wide.

"This Shen Hui is amazing! He actually made it to the Sixth Stage alone!"

"I wonder how far he'll get. The previous record-holder made it to the Ninth Stage, and Shen Hui is already getting pretty close."

"Maybe he'll fail in the Sixth Stage."

But just after someone said that,

Shen Hui's ranking climbed again right before their eyes.

He went from the Sixth Stage to the Seventh Stage.