Across from him, the blue-clothed virtual human, its mission complete, dissolved into a shower of light and vanished.

"So... this is the power of the blue-clothed virtual human?" In the audience, Li Wen stared at the large screen. His pupils contracted and he subconsciously held his breath as he watched the brief battle—a complete suppression culminating in an instant kill. He muttered to himself.

This was the first time he had witnessed a blue-clothed virtual human—a being representing the pinnacle of technique perfection—in action.

The exquisite control over its power, the terrifying staff techniques—as swift as a fleeting shadow, as mighty as a mountain—and the chasm-like gap between its level and the Great Success Realm were all deeply seared into his mind.

It was truly just one step away from developing its own unique "secret technique" and stepping into the legendary Unity Realm.

This shocking spectacle made Li Wen realize a cruel truth.

On the path of the Martial Dao, the barriers between realms were insurmountable. Even the smallest gap in level almost always meant a crushing advantage.

While someone at a high level of the Great Success Realm could withstand a top-tier novice for a short while, Huang Hao—at the peak of the Great Success Realm—was obliterated by the blue-clothed human at the peak of perfection with no contest whatsoever.

And the gap between the legendary Unity Realm and the pinnacle of perfection was said to be even greater!

Li Wen didn’t dare to imagine how powerful the purple-clothed human, the one representing the Unity Realm, must be.

He was astonished, but not in the least bit afraid.

On the contrary, an unprecedented, fiery desire ignited within Li Wen’s heart.

’No matter how vast the gap, it’s not an insurmountable chasm. I have [One Attainment, Eternal Attainment] and [Absolute Focus]... With enough time, it’s only a matter of when I’ll surpass them.’

The shock in his eyes quickly gave way to determination and resolve.

’Get stronger. Get stronger, faster! A spot in the Starfall Class, my family’s struggles, my father’s illness... All of this demands that I show my strength right now.’

"The first round of the Martial Dao skills assessment has concluded. Students in the second round, please proceed to the virtual reality rooms immediately!" An announcement boomed, shattering the lingering murmurs of amazement in the plaza.

Li Wen was in the second round.

He shot to his feet. Ignoring the complex and curious glances from the students around him, he joined the crowd, his steps steady and swift as he headed for the academic building that housed the VR rooms.

"Go get ’em, King of Cram! Try to at least make it to the yellow-clothed one!" Wei Wu, who was still waiting for his turn, sat on a bench and pumped his fist at Li Wen’s back, his eyes full of encouragement and trust.

"Yeah, I will." Li Wen didn’t break his stride, just glanced back with a confident smile.

’The yellow-clothed one? That’s just the starting point.’

「A few minutes later.」

Li Wen arrived with the crowd at the entrance to Virtual Reality Room 3.

The VR room was more spacious than a standard classroom, though not as large as the main Martial Dao training halls.

Inside, sixty streamlined virtual pods were arranged in neat rows, their indicator lights blinking with a faint blue glow.

Each pod had a corresponding exam number posted on its exterior.

Li Wen’s eyes scanned the room and quickly found his assigned pod. He deftly slipped off his shoes and, following the instructions, lay down inside the cold metal chassis.

The interior of the pod was intricately designed. A half-enclosed helmet hung from the ceiling. Li Wen expertly picked it up and put it on, feeling a faint, cool sensation.

Next, he picked up several sensor clips, similar to ECG electrodes, and attached them to his wrists and ankles. A slight tingling sensation ran through his limbs as the neural sensory signals connected.

After confirming all the equipment was properly connected, Li Wen lay back, letting his body settle into the soft cushioning material.

Finally, he took a deep breath, raised his hand, and decisively pressed the activation switch on the pod’s inner wall.

WHIRRR—

A faint electric current instantly coursed through his body, like being submerged in cool water.

His vision suddenly went black, then countless points of light rapidly converged, swirled, and constructed a new reality...

When Li Wen opened his eyes again, he found himself in a vast, pure white space under a deep, starry sky.

Underfoot, smooth, solid tiles stretched to the horizon.

Not far away, rows of weapon racks shimmered with a metallic sheen.

The virtual world!

Li Wen had been here many times, but each visit still stirred an ineffable sense of wonder and detachment in his heart.

’He’d even had the absurd thought more than once: Was his "real" self just a being inside a virtual pod in some higher dimension? Was the secret of his transmigration just some kind of program reboot?’

Unfortunately, no one could answer that philosophical question.

And he certainly wasn’t about to kill himself to find out.

’Real or fake, what does it matter? I’m already here. This is the world I’m fighting for now.’

He shook his head, forcibly suppressing those ethereal thoughts.

All that remained in Li Wen’s eyes was determination and focus. He strode toward the weapon racks, his target clear, and reached out to draw a weapon—

SHING!

A cold, steel Standard Rapier appeared in his hand. The familiar weight and the feel of the hilt instantly gave him a sense of control.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he gripped the rapier and walked toward the solitary fighting ring in the center of the arena. His stride was steady, yet carried a pressing, sharp aura.

With a light push of his toes, he vaulted effortlessly onto the stage.

The moment his feet touched the surface of the ring, a massive holographic countdown flared to life before him: [10]... [9]... [8]...

The wait was fleeting, over in an instant.

VMMM!

White light coalesced, and a virtual human dressed in black, holding a thick, heavy staff, appeared expressionlessly ten meters across from Li Wen.

The countdown hit zero!

"Hah!" The black-clothed virtual human roared. With no fancy moves, it gripped the staff with both hands and brought it smashing down with brutish force.

The attack was ferocious enough to make an ordinary student panic.

However, facing an opponent merely at the entry level of an advanced staff technique, Li Wen couldn’t even be bothered to activate [Absolute Focus]. He just casually raised his hand and flicked his wrist—

SWISH!

A brilliant flash of the blade, like a white line tearing through space, shot upward, striking first despite being launched second! Precise, swift, and deadly!

The flash of the blade passed. The descending staff and the black-clothed figure holding it were instantly split in two. Like a sliced phantom, it didn’t even have time to cry out before dissolving into a shower of light and vanishing completely.

In the plaza outside, on Li Wen’s screen, the black-clothed human appeared and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Next, the white-clothed human appeared—representing Minor Achievement in an advanced technique.

Onscreen, Li Wen looked at the opponent that had taken a bitter struggle to defeat just half a semester ago. The corner of his mouth curved into a nostalgic smile.

But the memory didn’t cause him to hesitate. His blade-work remained just as simple.

With no extraneous movements, he once again executed an almost casual slash.

The brilliant arc of the blade traced a perfect trajectory.

SHLICK—

The white-clothed human, along with its weapon, followed the fate of the black-clothed one, dissolving into scattering motes of light.

It was an absolute rout.

Immediately after, a red figure coalesced—a virtual human equivalent to the Great Success Realm of an advanced technique.

This was the stage that stopped over half the students, a point of bitter failure for many. But before Li Wen’s steel rapier, the outcome was no different.

Still a single slash.

On the large screens in the plaza outside, the Star River formed by hundreds of broadcast feeds was rapidly dimming as screens went dark.

This showed the massive number of students being eliminated by the black, white, and especially the red-clothed virtual humans.

In just a few short minutes, the number of active screens plummeted from several hundred to just over one hundred. The elimination rate was staggering.

And amidst this rapid attrition, a new opponent began to spawn on the remaining screens—one dressed in orange, holding a long staff.

This one represented the perfection of an advanced technique.

The instant the orange-clothed human appeared, several of the previously featured feeds went dark. The system immediately filled the empty slots with new, randomly selected feeds to maintain the scale of the live broadcast.

Li Wen’s small, individual feed just so happened to be one of them, appearing on the largest screen in the center of the plaza.

"Look! It’s the King of Cram!" someone in the Class 21 section immediately shouted, pointing at the screen.