"Damn it, what rotten luck! How’d I get stuck in the first group?" Not far from Li Wen, Huang Yu complained to Wang Ruming, his face a mask of misery.

"I’m just praying the virtual director takes it easy on me and doesn’t put me in a close-up. I’d die of embarrassment!"

"Hah! Believe you? Yeah, right." Wang Ruming shot him the middle finger without hesitation, clearly still salty about the last math exam when Huang Yu had played dumb. "Your Martial Dao score on the last midterm was over ten points higher than mine! Quit playing humble!"

"I’m not kidding this time!" Huang Yu’s expression was dead serious. "I was so nervous last night I barely slept. My hands feel weak!"

"Heh heh..." Wang Ruming’s lip curled, his face a picture of disbelief.

As training partners who spent every afternoon together in the Martial Dao classroom, he knew exactly what Huang Yu was capable of.

While he couldn’t compare to the students who were going all-in for the martial arts exam, Huang Yu’s skills were definitely top-notch among those focusing on the academic track. In the last midterm assessment, he even outscored Li Wen, who specialized in the Martial Dao.

At this thought, Wang Ruming subconsciously turned his head. His gaze pierced through a gap in the crowd and landed on Li Wen.

After more than two years of obscurity, this figure had recently shot up in prominence as if he’d had a sudden epiphany. He now sat with his eyes slightly closed, seemingly conserving his energy.

His quiet demeanor was a subtle contrast to the lively atmosphere around him.

"By the way," Wang Ruming lowered his voice, "which group did Li Wen get again?"

"The second group, I think?" Huang Yu tried to recall the list. "Why do you ask? Showing some classmate concern?"

"Just curious," Wang Ruming mumbled. "Say, with his advanced blade technique at the Completion realm, you think he has a shot at breaking into the top fifty in our year?"

"Doubtful. I remember back at midterms, there were already almost thirty people who had reached Initial Mastery in a top-tier technique." Huang Yu shook his head, his analysis pragmatic.

"Half a semester has passed since then. The number of people with Initial Mastery in top-tier techniques has probably surpassed fifty by now. If he can make it into the top hundred, that’s already a huge, terrifying jump in rank."

’What if...’ A wild thought flashed through Wang Ruming’s mind. ’He’s also reached Initial Mastery in a top-tier blade technique?’

"PFFT!" Huang Yu nearly choked. "Dude, are you dreaming? It’s only been three days since the news broke that his blade technique reached the Completion realm! Three days! Plus, we spent all day yesterday taking academic exams. When would he have had the time? Top-tier blade techniques aren’t a dime a dozen!"

"That’s true..." Wang Ruming nodded, agreeing that his idea was a bit too wild.

Reaching Initial Mastery in a top-tier blade technique wasn’t impossible, but in three days? That was simply unheard of.

Xue Jun, the only one in their class who had reached Initial Mastery in a top-tier technique, had taken over ten days to do it. The legendary prodigies who were supposedly signed to B-level contracts by the four major powers were the only ones rumored to achieve it in three days. ’Li Wen? He’s nowhere near that level.’

Just then, a clear voice echoed over the plaza’s broadcast system:

"Attention students in the first group for the Martial Dao skills assessment! The assessment will begin in thirty minutes. Please proceed immediately to your assigned virtual rooms to prepare!"

RUSTLE—Nearly a quarter of the students rose to their feet, forming a tide of people that flowed toward a special area on the other side of the academic building.

A dozen or so students from Class 21 also stood, including a miserable-looking Huang Yu and the composed top two students in the class, Xue Jun and Deng Yuefei.

Deng Yuefei was the same boy who had first noticed and called out Li Wen’s change in state on the day of his breakthrough. He also practiced a blade technique.

"Stop your whining and get going!" Wang Ruming gave Huang Yu a shove, a hint of schadenfreude in his voice.

Huang Yu sighed dramatically, then scurried to catch up with the group.

Li Wen slowly opened his eyes. His gaze, calm and unwavering, lingered on Deng Yuefei’s back for a moment.

Xue Jun and Deng Yuefei walked side by side.

"Heard... you broke through last night too?" Xue Jun’s tone was casual, as if he were talking about the weather.

"Tsk, that damn fatty Yue Ruijie has a big mouth!" Deng Yuefei admitted with a sigh, but he couldn’t hide the triumphant spirit of his breakthrough shining in his eyes. "I was hoping to surprise you all."

"Oh?" Xue Jun raised an eyebrow, a playful smirk touching his lips. "So, if that kid Li Wen wants to snatch your spot as number two in the class, he’s going to have to work a little harder now?"

"He only reached the Completion realm three days before I did." Deng Yuefei waved his hand dismissively. His tone was humble, but it radiated a confidence that suggested he, as the one catching up, had all the momentum.

"Until you cross the threshold into a top-tier technique, aren’t we all just floundering in the same major realm anyway?"

"Exactly!" Xue Jun nodded in agreement, looking completely at ease.

’Initial Mastery in a top-tier technique in three days?’ He believed it was a complete fantasy. That was a tale from another world entirely.

The stream of students moved quickly.

The plaza at Bluestone Third Middle School was centrally located, so it wasn’t a long walk to the virtual rooms.

「About ten minutes later.」

The massive screen in the center of the plaza suddenly lit up with a low HUM.

Hundreds of nearly identical combat arenas instantly filled the screen, as if a single image had been copied countless times. This was the initial waiting area of the virtual space. However, the monotonous calm didn’t last.

Just a few minutes later, the layout of the screens changed abruptly.

In the center of the display, dozens of the small, uniform feeds suddenly magnified several times over, forcefully taking over the main viewing area. Like stage spotlights, they locked onto the students who were first to enter the assessment scenarios.

"Here come the close-ups!"

"The public shaming begins!"

"Whoa, now we’ll see who’s slacking!" A wave of excited whispers and chatter swept through the plaza, mixed with nervous giggles and even a few gloating laughs.

This live-focus feature, which countless students both loved and loathed, was Bluestone Third Middle School’s most successful motivational tool in recent years. It was designed specifically to combat slacking and half-hearted efforts—because you never knew if your most pathetic moment would be blown up for the entire school to see.

In the area around Li Wen, many students craned their necks, scanning the numerous feeds from the first group, searching for familiar faces—especially for Huang Yu, who was still making his way through the crowd.

Li Wen closed his eyes again, and the plaza’s din seemed to fade away.

However, the hand resting on his knee unconsciously clenched, the knuckles turning white.

’The memory of his father, Li Hong, from that morning replayed with stark clarity in his mind: the violent, blood-flecked cough he had tried so hard to stifle; his pale face; the strained effort to keep his back straight.’

’The crushing financial pressure, the high cost of a Level 1 Qi and Blood Potion, the immense resources needed to sustain his cultivation of the Splitting Blade Golden Killing Skill to the Minor Achievement realm, and the looming shadow of his father potentially losing his job from a serious illness...’

’All of it felt like a heavy chain.’

’Get stronger! I have to get stronger! It’s the only way to grasp that sliver of hope!’

The qi and blood energy from his Minor Achievement in the Splitting Blade Golden Killing Skill subconsciously began to circulate more efficiently through his body, and a thread of heat chased away the morning chill.

He knew his own battle was about to begin.