76: Chapter 76 Sword Intent

It was as if heaven and earth were grinding against each other, squeezing the air until it crackled.

The terrifying pressure, even through the screen, made the spectators in the viewing area feel suffocated.

"It's over! The Black and White Duality Stance has locked onto him simultaneously!"

"Li Wen can't dodge this!"

"He just reached first place!"

The teachers and students of Third Middle School felt their hearts clench, as if watching the dazzling light of the top rank about to be instantly extinguished.

In the virtual battlefield, within the cluster of pipes.

The moment the tangible "Two Extremes Intent" fiercely descended, Li Wen felt his entire blood almost solidify, and his thoughts became sluggish.

That vast pressure far surpassed the previous purple-robed opponent; this was simply not a power from the same dimension.

However, precisely at that moment of despair, when his consciousness felt like it was freezing—a hum!

—The jade-like Primordial Spirit coiled in the center of his Sea of Consciousness suddenly erupted with unprecedented brilliance.

A stream of cool, exceedingly clear Intent instantly dispersed the sense of suffocation on the mental plane.

Primordial Spirit Power, activated at full capacity!

The three-dimensional space within a fifty-meter radius was imprinted into his mind with perfect clarity, surpassing the visual obstruction of the virtual space.

Under the scan of that torrent of Intent, the movements of the Black Intent and White Intent were no longer fleeting streams of light too fast to see, but were endowed with clear trajectories, speeds, and even the subtle nodes of power circulation.

The Black Intent on the left, with its cold, devouring Intent, locked down his right evasion space, but there was a slight stiffness in the power transition when retracting his right shoulder.

The White Intent on the right, its saber light chilling to the bone, sealed off the left path; its blade tip leaned forward too much, and the subtle adjustment for the downward pressure was slightly slow.

The intersection point of the two Intent fields, the core suppression point as heavy as a mountain, revealed an extremely faint, rapidly circulating gap in energy under the perspective of the Primordial Spirit.

0.01 seconds! Thoughts exploded like lightning!

To endure it meant certain death! Retreat was impossible!

The only path to survival was to utilize the minuscule gap before the two Intent fields converged, and the almost nonexistent flaw nodes during the two great hunters' power transition, rushing out through the gap in the inescapable net of blades!

"Haaa—!" Li Wen’s eyes were bloodshot, letting out a trapped beast’s roar from his throat; it wasn't despair, but a roar pushing his will and body to the absolute limit.

Physical Body control was pushed to an unprecedented Peak at this moment.

Under the frenzied mobilization integrated with Primordial Spirit Power, his body executed contorted movements that defied the Laws of physics and surpassed imagination.

Speed skyrocketed!

Pfft! Pfft! Blood light splattered!

The black, deathly Saber Qi almost grazed Li Wen's spine, the sharp Saber Qi tearing through his virtual armor and ripping away a large swath of flesh.

The ice-cold white blade shaved past the outer side of his left arm; although it didn't strike fully, the Intent that froze the Soul instantly numbed Li Wen's left arm, causing his movement to stiffen slightly.

A hair's breadth escape! A moment of extreme peril!

The two streaks of Saber Qi almost simultaneously brushed past; the immense difference in power nearly shredded him completely.

But Li Wen, relying on the precognition granted by his Primordial Spirit and the terrifyingly extreme instantaneous control over his body, forcibly burst through the crack in this deadly net.

He didn't even look back at the attack capable of annihilating any Peak Unity Realm expert.

The moment his body broke free from the core suppression circle of the Two Extremes Intent, enormous inertia almost made him collapse.

But he violently kicked off a twisted pipe support nearby—Boom!

The pipe support snapped, emitting a harsh metallic groan.

Borrowing this rebound force, his body shot out like an arrow from a bow, tumbling into a more complex ruin hole ahead, interwoven with collapsed walls and massive pipes.

"Roar—!"

"Hiss—!"

Behind him came the extremely oppressive roars of fury simulated by the Black and White Duality Stance virtual avatars, like those of beings who had been toyed with.

The merciless killing program seemed to generate strong logical feedback because the target had escaped a certain-death situation.

Reality, Main Viewing Stand.

Dead silence! Absolute dead silence!

In the few seconds it took for Li Wen's body to execute that extreme twist, the two streaks of Saber Qi to narrowly brush past him, and for him to finally tumble into the ruin passage, the entire main viewing stand, including the noisy spectator area below, fell into an unbelievable stagnation.

It wasn't until the light screen showed Li Wen's vital signs data still flickering, and the green dot on the minimap instantly moving far away from the previous coordinates—Boom!!!

A massive uproar then exploded in the spectator area like a tsunami.

"He—He didn't die?!"

"My God! He dodged it!"

"How did he do that? Those two saber lights clearly enveloped him!"

"I saw it! I saw it! He twisted his body once, and just slipped through! Was that precognition?!"

"A miracle! This is a miracle! A Unity Realm expert escaping a siege by Momentum Realm experts?!"

"Li Wen! Li Wen! Li Wen!!!"

The Third Middle School viewing area went completely wild! Students screamed their excitement, and many teachers had red-rimmed eyes from excitement.

On the main viewing stand, the reactions of several big shots were even more spectacular.

Minnie, the short-haired lady from the Virtual Company, froze her teacup just short of her lips; she didn't notice a few drops of coffee splashing out, and the pupils behind her gold-rimmed glasses dilated slightly in shock.

The bald big man from the Mercenary Alliance opened his mouth, letting out a short gasp of air, "Uh—..." as if his throat had been choked, the fingers gripping the railing turning white at the knuckles from the force.

The female representative from Galaxy Bank instantly covered her mouth, as if afraid of letting out a cry of surprise, but the shock in her eyes was palpable.

Director Sun of Kindling Hall leaned forward, the expression that had always been steady as a mountain showing cracks for the first time; his brow was tightly furrowed, his gaze locked onto the ruin entrance where Li Wen had disappeared on the light screen, then abruptly sweeping back to the name still hanging at the top rank—Li Wen (4540 Points)!

And Jiang Lingyun's name had dimmed.

The previous debate seemed to have become a huge irony.

The first to react was none other than the female representative from Galaxy Bank.

She almost jumped up, her voice rising due to excitement, all previous elegance and reserve gone, replaced by an intense, burning urgency: "A-Rank! Absolutely A-Rank potential! Director Sun, who was it just now saying he wasn't worth an A-Rank? He successfully escaped under the siege of the Dual Stances! What kind of terrifying reaction, insight, and control does that require! My Galaxy Bank can offer A-Rank terms! Right now—!"

Her words seemed to ignite a powder keg.

"Nonsense! It's our Mercenary Alliance's turn!"

The bald big man slammed the table, his rough voice overpowering the clamor of the entire venue; his eyes bulged like copper bells, pointing at the light screen, he roared: "Did you see that? This brat is a born warrior! Jungle Law, survival is king!"

His ability to survive in that certain-death environment—that Heart-Nature is born for the Mercenary Alliance! Our Mercenary Alliance A-Rank contract is ready at any time!"

Minnie from the Virtual Company instantly put down her teacup, speaking with astonishing speed as the charts on her data board frantically refreshed: "Calm down! Please analyze calmly! The core value of this prediction and evasion ability that surpasses limits lies in information processing speed and calculation!

This is precisely the perfect direction pursued by virtual technology! Student Li Wen's value far exceeds that of a mere Martial Artist! He is a treasure in the field of dataization!

The Virtual Company's A-Rank resource pool can provide him with the platform to become a Strategic Analysis Great Master in the future! Director Sun, isn't that right?" She skillfully passed the ball to Kindling Hall.

Director Sun of Kindling Hall’s expression changed drastically; his previously reasonable analysis now seemed incredibly pale and powerless.

Faced with the absolute fact—a teenager in the Late Stage of the Unity Realm successfully evaded the joint siege of two standard "Momentum Realm" experts—any excuse sounded weak.

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the surging waves in his heart, his voice carrying an unprecedented solemnity and undeniable decisiveness: "Enough!" A low exclamation instantly silenced the arguments of the other three factions.

Director Sun’s gaze slowly swept over the three, finally landing on Fang Chengwu, who still wore a composed smile but whose eyes flickered with immense relief, his tone firm and resolute: "Student Li Wen's performance—exceeded expectations! Surpassed imagination! Based solely on the survival insight and extreme control ability displayed in this battle, he is qualified to knock on the A-Rank threshold!"

He completely bypassed the previous statement about "needing more practical achievements to prove it."

"On behalf of Kindling Hall, I solemnly extend an A-Rank signing invitation to Student Li Wen! The contract terms and resource guarantees will reference the standard for our Hall's specially recruited seeds this year! This promise takes effect immediately!"

The words landed with a resounding impact.

He turned and nodded slightly towards Fang Chengwu with a trace of respect: "Teacher Fang, it was our previous oversight. Please convey our Hall's sincerity to him. It is the fortune of our Huaxia to have such a prodigy in Qingshi County!"

The gentle smile on Fang Chengwu's face finally bloomed, like the vibrant promise of spring after the ice and snow have melted.

He was not surprised, merely looking calmly at the huge shift in attitude from the representatives, from cautious evasion to now vying to recruit him, his eyes full of trust and understanding for his student.

He slightly returned the bow: "Director Sun is too kind. Li Wen still has a long road ahead. To be valued so highly by all of you is his Opportunity. His choice will ultimately depend on himself."

Below the main viewing stand, the County Magistrate of Qingshi County and the Director of the Education Bureau were left dizzy by this sudden, rocket-like change in the situation.

Watching the representatives of the Four Great Factions now vying to curry favor with Fang Chengwu like they were rushing to buy a rare treasure, there was no trace left of their previous reserve and deliberation?

Li Wen's top position on the leaderboard, after surviving this earth-shattering escape, appeared even more dazzling and unshakable.

Inside the virtual battlefield, Li Wen was panting heavily, crouched behind a massive, condensed pipe.

The numbness in his left arm had not completely faded, and he felt a virtual, sharp pain in his back.

The light of the jade-like Primordial Spirit in his Sea of Consciousness appeared somewhat dim, clearly indicating that the full-power burst just now had consumed a tremendous amount.

But his gaze remained as sharp as an eagle's; he raised his head to look at the towering, cloud-piercing 'New Era Energy Tower' in the distance, which emitted a faint blue glow.

Deep within the shadow at the top of the tower, that aura which made even the Primordial Spirit feel oppressed was deeper and more terrifying than the Black and White Duality Stance.

Was that the final secret of this battlefield?