This caused the gap between everyone’s scores to widen exponentially.

He opened the points leaderboard. ’As expected.’

First place was Liang Chuxi, with an exam score of 956, a comprehensive multiplier of 9.5, and a total of 9,082 points. Her score was less than three hundred points higher than his, but her total points were more than double his.

Yu Fei continued to look. The King of Show-offs, Zhang Xunyi, had 815 points, placing him at rank 95 with a total of 6,601 points.

Zhang Xunyi had managed to comprehend Sword Intent and break through to the Inner Qi realm, which indicated his innate aptitude wasn’t bad. However, considering his exam score, the guy’s comprehension ability wasn’t exactly top-tier.

He looked further down and found an acquaintance in fifth-to-last place: Fu Bin. The poor guy only had an exam score of 256, for a pitiful total of 640 points.

’Orange-level talent, second-realm cultivation base... I guess this is the bottom rung for a so-called celestial pride.’

As the exam ended, the scene before Yu Fei suddenly changed. Everyone was transported into an ancient battlefield setting within the virtual space. Meng Jun stood on a high platform, looking down at a group of chibi-style figures.

Yu Fei looked up. In this space, there were only two types of chibi character models: male and female. Everyone had their name and point total floating above their heads, while the names and points of the top ten hotshots were highlighted, as if they had VIP status.

On the high platform, Meng Jun’s art style was completely different from theirs. His character model was exquisitely crafted, making him look even more imposing than he did in reality.

"This..."

It wasn’t just him; all the candidates stared silently at Meng Jun, then looked at each other’s adorably goofy models.

"Fellow students, I’ve gathered you all here to announce the rules for the next competition and to give a brief introduction to the Celestial Pride Positioning Competition."

In the virtual ancient battlefield, Meng Jun was clad in a battle-damaged version of the Demon Venerable Armor that radiated faint black flames. It looked like he’d spent a fortune on it. Yu Fei looked from him to the crowd of chibi figures and felt an inexplicable urge to laugh.

"Some of you may not know the significance and rules of the Celestial Pride Positioning Competition, so let me explain. You’ve all earned points corresponding to your rank in the exam you just took. These are your initial points. There are two more competitions to come. In the second competition, you will once again earn a certain number of points based on your ranking..."

Meng Jun explained in detail, and Yu Fei and the others gradually came to understand the rules for acquiring points.

In the first and second competitions, Martial Artists would earn a certain amount of points based on their rank. Their total point ranking would determine their initial placement.

The key was the third competition, for which Meng Jun now announced the rules.

The third competition could be considered an arena battle, with a twist: only those with fewer points could challenge those with more. The winner would take 20% of the loser’s points. Each person could initiate three challenges per day and must also accept three challenges from others.

After three challenges, the challenged individual gained the right to refuse any further challenges for the day.

The third competition would last for five days.

If multiple people wanted to challenge the same target, the challenger with the higher point total would have priority. This priority system would continue until the target’s points fell below that of a prospective challenger.

There was another very crucial rule: your initial placement could drop by one grade at most. For example, if Yu Fei earned an S-rank placement from his combined points in the first two competitions, he would still retain an A-rank placement even if he lost all fifteen of his matches in the third competition and ended up with the lowest score.

Yu Fei mulled over the rules. ’The organizers clearly want to select the truly strong and those with special abilities.’

If someone was truly powerful, even if they scored poorly in the first two non-confrontational competitions, they could fight their way back in the third round based on personal strength.

Conversely, if someone had outstanding individual abilities but wasn’t skilled in combat, the rules ensured their final placement wouldn’t be too low.

Moreover, Meng Jun announced one last rule: after the Celestial Pride Positioning Competition ended, all personal points would be converted into contribution points in the "Pacify the World" system.

This decision instantly ignited the fighting spirit of everyone present. As celestial prides, their martial arts cultivation progress far surpassed that of ordinary students, yet they were limited by the educational resources available in high school and couldn’t advance further. The Scripture Pavilion housed a vast number of Cultivation Techniques that required contribution points to redeem, but they had none to speak of.

After Meng Jun finished his arrangements for the celestial prides in the virtual space, he watched the chibi figures log out one by one. ’Holographic Mirror Helmets really are useful,’ he mused. In the past, organizing something like this would have required gathering everyone in person.

In recent years, the research institute had made breakthroughs in its study of the Intelligent Mechanism Origin Realm. As a result, the Holographic Mirror Helmet had been upgraded from a personal terminal processor to a full-fledged metaverse interaction interface. Rumor had it that an even more advanced Holographic Docking Bay, which supported a fully immersive virtual experience, was already in the testing phase.

’If this technology can be widely adopted, the military’s training methods will likely undergo earth-shattering changes. At that time...’ Meng Jun mused, a twisted smile spreading across his virtual avatar’s face.

「The next day.」

Yu Fei and the others were taken to a military base early in the morning. They were issued specific standard-issue equipment, and then Meng Jun announced the rules for the second assessment.

After hearing the rules, the assembled celestial prides stared at one another in shock.

The group was required to traverse three hundred kilometers to reach Military Base 105 within three days, all while being hunted by two third-level reinforced regiments.

Successfully completing the mission awarded 5,000 points. The first person to arrive would receive an additional 20,000 points. For every subsequent finisher, the bonus would decrease by 1,000 points, meaning the twenty-first person to arrive would receive no bonus.

Anyone eliminated during the mission would receive zero points. Those who were not found but failed to complete the mission would receive a base of 1,000 points.

Upon hearing the rules, some people’s faces filled with worry, while others seemed completely unconcerned.

That is, until Meng Jun smilingly revealed the scale of a third-level reinforced regiment.

A so-called third-level reinforced regiment required over 50% of its soldiers to be at the third realm of martial cultivation. Furthermore, over 10% of them had to be Martial Artists at the Inner Qi realm or higher. A single reinforced regiment consisted of about 2,000 soldiers.