When the hundreds of screens had dwindled to just a few dozen, no close-ups were needed. Each remaining window had already been enlarged enough for even the students in the back rows to see every detail of the combatants’ movements.

Anyone who had lasted this long possessed, at the very least, a high-level technique at the Great Success Realm.

Then, everyone’s gazes were captivated by one screen in particular.

On it, a burly, resolute-looking boy wielded two massive metal axes.

His opponent was a virtual person clad in a yellow robe, signifying a technique realm that had reached the perfection of a high-level technique. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

However, the battle was a one-sided domination. This boy was none other than the publicly acknowledged number one in technique among the third-years—Huang Hao.

"ROAR—!" Though muffled by the system, a roar that seemed to shake the very souls of the audience erupted from the screen.

Huang Hao’s twin axes spun like windmills. The enormous axe heads seemed to weigh nothing in his hands, cutting through the air with a terrifying HISS.

The seemingly cumbersome great-axes actually achieved absolute dominance in both speed and power, instantly creating a sky full of overlapping afterimages that churned the very air on the platform into a frenzy.

The wooden staff in the yellow-robed virtual person’s hands struggled to fend off the savage assault, like a lone boat in a raging storm, desperately holding on, completely suppressed.

"Holy shit! He’s a beast! An absolute beast! As expected of Huang Hao, his rank as number one is well-deserved!" A chorus of sharp inhales and heartfelt praise rose from the crowd.

The students of Class 21 were also mesmerized, stunned by the display of absolute power.

Li Wen’s gaze was just as sharp, fixed on every one of Huang Hao’s axe-afterimages. The Martial Artist’s blood in his veins seemed to hum in resonance.

He quickly assessed the situation. ’If I were to face Huang Hao right now in a direct confrontation... I wouldn’t last ten rounds! The gap is just too wide...’

A heavy pressure settled on his heart.

A small county’s Third Middle School was full of hidden talent! To reach the Great Success Realm of a top-tier technique, he still had a very long and arduous road ahead of him.

...

Time flew by amidst the fierce battles.

For the first batch of students in the assessment, the vast majority of matches had already concluded, their participants eliminated.

On the giant screen, only three lonely displays continued to shine.

The gazes of the entire plaza were focused on them.

These three individuals represented the current peak of technique among the third-years:

Huang Hao: Number one in the year. Technique Realm—Great Success of a top-tier technique.

Xue Jun: Number one in Class 21. Technique Realm—Over halfway through the Minor Achievement of a top-tier technique.

Leng Qingqiu: A top-ten female expert in the year, whose Sword Technique realm was also impressive.

At this moment, the virtual opponents before the three of them had completely refreshed.

They wore uniform green clothes, representing a technique realm that had reached the Minor Achievement of a top-tier technique.

This was a level of mastery high enough to make most third-year students despair.

SWISH—! The moment the green-clothed virtual people refreshed, they moved without the slightest pause.

No words, no probing, and certainly no mercy.

As beings akin to killing machines, they immediately unleashed the full might of a staff technique at the Minor Achievement of a top-tier technique.

The staff, the foundation of all weapons and an amplifier of strength, was put to use as the three green figures moved in near-perfect sync.

In their hands, ordinary eyebrow-height wooden staffs transformed into terrifying curtains of afterimages that tore through the air.

A sky full of staff-shadows, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, descended like countless venomous dragons, precisely and ruthlessly sealing off every vital point on Huang Hao, Xue Jun, and Leng Qingqiu, leaving no room for escape.

This was a true life-or-death battle.

"Hmph! Petty tricks!" Xue Jun’s cold snort came through the screen clearly.

Facing an assault that would have instantly defeated an ordinary practitioner at the Minor Achievement level, a sharp light erupted in his eyes. He no longer held back with the silver spear in his hand.

BUZZ— The spear’s shaft trembled. A glint of cold light arrived first, then the spear struck like a dragon.

There were no flashy moves, only a single, impossibly fast thrust that precisely pierced through the dense blockade of staff-shadows, striking the green-clothed person’s core.

He displayed the very essence of a top-tier spear technique at Minor Achievement! Unlike Xue Jun’s exquisite piercing attack, Huang Hao, on another screen, demonstrated an aesthetic of pure, absolute violence.

"Break for me—!" Huang Hao’s roar seemed to want to shatter the virtual space itself.

He took a step forward, and the invisible platform beneath his feet seemed to tremble. He raised his twin axes high, no longer spinning them with technique, but imbuing them with the domineering will to split a mountain.

The heavy axe blades were no longer nimble windmills, but two collapsing mountains.

With terrifying power far exceeding others at his level, he channeled his comprehension of a Great Success Level axe technique and ruthlessly cleaved at the core of the staff-shadows.

Brute force overcomes all skill! Before this storm of absolute power, the seemingly impenetrable curtain of staff-shadows actually showed faint signs of being torn open.

...

After a few more minutes, the fierce battle scenes on the plaza’s large screen went out one after another.

Of the three on the field, only Huang Hao, with his Great Success of a top-tier axe technique, was still desperately holding on.

His opponent had upgraded from a green-clothed virtual person to one wearing blue, equivalent to a being with a perfected top-tier staff technique.

The tables had completely turned.

It was no longer Huang Hao suppressing his opponent with the overwhelming momentum of his twin axes. Instead, the blue virtual person had transformed into a raging hurricane of staff-shadows.

The long staff danced about, its strikes heavy and its angles tricky. Every move contained the harmony and power of the perfected realm, brutally cutting and tearing through Huang Hao’s continuous axe assault, forcing him back again and again with no way to retaliate.

"Hah!" Huang Hao roared, attempting to counterattack, his twin axes whistling through the air as he chopped at a gap in the staff-shadows.

But the blue-clothed virtual person’s footwork was exquisite. The long staff moved like a living thing—flicking, smashing, or jabbing—always managing to strike later but arrive first, precisely hitting the weakest point in Huang Hao’s form and throwing him into a fluster.

The perfected realm’s control over power and application of moves was displayed to its fullest, exerting absolute suppression over the Great Success Realm.

BANG! BANG! BANG! A continuous barrage of staff-shadows rained down on Huang Hao’s axe-faces, shoulder blades, and arms, making his blood churn and his arms go numb.

Every block consumed an enormous amount of strength, while the blue virtual person’s assault was like a relentless tide, growing faster and heavier.

Finally, during a brief opening in the stalemate—

WHOOSH— A piercing whistle that tore through the air instantly stabbed at everyone’s eardrums.

A blue staff-shadow, moving too fast for the eye to follow, instantly pierced through the lingering remnants of the axe-afterimages and tapped with pinpoint accuracy against Huang Hao’s vulnerable throat.

"Urk..." Huang Hao’s body suddenly stiffened, all his movements ceasing.

He looked down in disbelief at the staff tip resting on his throat, then looked up at the expressionless blue figure opposite him.

His consciousness blurred as his body began to dissolve into wisps of white light, dissipating into the virtual arena space.

Until the moment he completely vanished, his face was frozen in an expression of intense unwillingness and defeat.