All eyes instantly snapped to a figure in the corner of the many screens, one that had just come into focus again because its opponent had leveled up. It was Li Wen.

And the one he faced was a virtual opponent clad in orange.

It wasn’t just Class 21’s attention that was captured. The students from the first batch of assessments, who had already returned to the plaza, also turned their gazes toward the large screens.

Xue Jun, his face still a little pale after stepping out of the virtual pod, and Deng Yuefei, whose expression held a mixture of pride and lingering fear, both locked their eyes on the screen showing Li Wen.

Deng Yuefei’s stare was particularly intense, tinged with scrutiny and a hidden sense of comparison.

He had just fought an incredibly difficult battle against an orange-robed opponent, also at the High-level Perfection stage, and had barely scraped by with a win.

He was dying to know how Li Wen, who had also just broken through to the High-level Perfection stage in his blade technique, would perform against an opponent of the same rank.

’Will he look even more pathetic than I did?’

However, the scene that followed froze the expression on Deng Yuefei’s face. His eyes went wide as saucers.

The countdown ended!

The orange-robed virtual opponent swung its long staff, creating a mountain of afterimages. It lunged forward with the majestic aura of the High-level Perfection stage, its presence several times more powerful than the red-robed opponent before it.

Li Wen moved.

Fast! Unimaginably fast!

It wasn’t the speed of a blind sprint, but a suffocatingly efficient offensive rhythm born from the perfect fusion of his blade’s trajectory, his body’s coordination, and his footwork.

He didn’t retreat. Instead, he advanced to meet the attack.

First strike! The flash of his blade was like lightning, precisely striking the core flaw in the sky-filling afterimages of the staff and forcefully disrupting the virtual opponent’s opening move.

Second strike! With a flick of his wrist, the blade’s edge slid eerily along the staff, forcing the orange-robed opponent to take a step back.

Third strike! He spun, using the momentum, his rapier carving a deadly arc toward the opponent’s wrist.

Fourth strike! The glint of the blade was like a dragon as he lunged forward with a direct thrust.

Fifth strike! The instant the orange-robed opponent was forced to change its move and defend, a cold glint flashed in Li Wen’s eyes. As he stepped forward, his rapier struck like a viper’s tongue, its angle wickedly precise as it slipped through a gap in the staff’s defensive afterimages.

SHK—!

A faint yet distinct sound seemed to pierce the veil between the virtual space and reality.

On the screen, Li Wen’s figure moved past the orange-robed opponent.

The tip of Li Wen’s rapier pointed diagonally downward, its blade pristine. Meanwhile, the once-imposing orange-robed opponent was frozen in place.

Its right hand, still holding the staff, lifted slightly as if to cover something. But on its neck, a smooth white line rapidly widened and spread...

WHOOSH!

The figure of the orange-robed opponent, along with the long staff that represented the High-level Perfection stage, violently disintegrated into fragments of pure light and vanished from the arena.

The entire fight took only five clean strikes. Precise, efficient, and utterly dominant.

"Th... This is impossible!!!" 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Deng Yuefei shot up from his seat, crying out in shock, his jaw nearly hitting the floor.

He stared intently at the terrifyingly calm back of the figure on the screen who was already sheathing his blade, as if he had just witnessed the most absurd thing imaginable.

He was stunned. Utterly stunned! Compared to his own pathetic state after barely winning with everything he had, Li Wen’s fight had looked as easy as slicing through butter.

’That was an opponent at the same High-level Perfection stage as mine! Could it be that my High-level Perfection and Li Wen’s High-level Perfection aren’t the same thing?!’

Deng Yuefei was far from the only one in shock.

A bomb might as well have been dropped on Class 21’s section.

Every student who had clearly seen that brief, stunning five-strike performance was collectively petrified. The only sounds were the sharp intakes of breath in the dead silence.

Even the level-headed Xue Jun had unconsciously clenched his fists. His Adam’s apple bobbed, his eyes filled with horror.

"Could... could it be..." Xue Jun’s voice trembled uncontrollably, as if he were asking someone else, yet also trying to convince himself. "He... his top-tier blade technique... he’s reached the entry-level?!"

"Three days?!"

"He reached the entry-level of a top-tier blade technique in three days?!"

Xue Jun’s dream-like speculation was like a massive boulder dropped into a stagnant pool.

BOOM!

The students in Class 21’s section erupted.

Shock, disbelief, and extreme doubt... but it was quickly followed by overwhelming envy and unconcealable jealousy!

The gazes directed at the large screen became incredibly complex.

No matter how much they questioned it, no matter how unwilling they were to believe the terrifying speed of Li Wen’s progress, the fact was laid bare before them all, irrefutable.

The strength shown in those five strikes that instantly killed the orange-robed opponent far exceeded the scope of High-level Perfection. What other explanation could there be besides the massive boost from reaching the entry-level of a top-tier technique?!

Li Wen was completely unaware of the storm of shock raging outside.

He calmly returned the Standard Rapier in his hand to the non-existent scabbard at his waist. His body stood as straight as a pine tree, his serene gaze fixed on the empty space before him.

The fight just now had been a mere warm-up. The micro-adjustments in his muscles and the more active flow of his qi and blood were not signs of fatigue, but the feeling of a body being tuned to its peak state.

The real test was just beginning.

*SWOOSH~* A new light rapidly converged and took shape above the arena.

This time, the opponent that appeared before Li Wen was clad in a bright yellow martial arts uniform. Its face was stern, and the long staff in its hands emanated an aura far more tyrannical and sharp than any of the previous virtual opponents.

Top-tier technique—entry-level.

It no longer represented "Advanced," but the power of one who had crossed the threshold into the "Top-tier."

Li Wen’s gaze suddenly became as sharp as a blade’s edge.

He could clearly feel an irresistible, immense pressure instantly envelop the entire arena. The very air seemed to grow thick and heavy.

Though the yellow-robed figure had not moved, its very existence carried the oppressive feeling of power condensed to its absolute limit.

This was an experience on a completely different dimension from the relatively overt power of the High-level Perfection stage.

Countdown—finished!

There were no probing attacks, no buffer at all.

WHOOSH—!!! The long staff in the yellow-robed opponent’s hands seemed to have been instantly imbued with life.

In an instant, the staff’s afterimages transformed into a howling yellow gale. The sharp crackle of the staff’s tip tearing through the air spread across the entire arena almost simultaneously.

It was more than a notch faster than the orange-robed opponent. Its power was focused like a steel needle, its angles vicious and cruel. Its very first move was an overwhelming, top-tier entry-level assault.

The staff’s afterimages were like countless yellow lightning bolts, weaving a devastating web of death that descended mercilessly upon Li Wen.

Its speed! Its force! Its ferocity! It completely crushed all previous opponents.

The gale stirred up by the attack alone was enough to send the hair on Li Wen’s forehead whipping wildly.

’Bring it on!’ A boiling battle lust ignited in Li Wen’s heart instead.

A sharp light flashed in his eyes, and his body, which had been poised and ready, instantly entered its optimal combat state.