The current year was 4396 in the Cultivation Era. VR (Virtual Reality) technology had advanced significantly and was now widely used in schools, including as a standard testing tool in even ordinary Foundation Establishment high schools.
The VR systems came with built-in spiritual energy sensors that could perfectly transmit a user's cultivation power into the virtual environment, allowing for accurate simulations.
Of course, top-tier city schools had even more sophisticated tech—systems that combined holography with spiritual talismans, capable of instantly changing scenes and simulating real pain and battle environments.
But for Wang Ling, none of this mattered.
Because regardless of how advanced or immersive the simulation was, it still only replicated a Foundation-level training environment.
Even if he just stood there while some demon king punched his chest repeatedly with tiny fists, Wang Ling wouldn't feel a thing.
That's because he had already reached the Body of the Saint level.
That happened when he was just nine years old.
For Wang Ling, the real challenge wasn't passing the test, but suppressing his own aura. If he wasn't careful, the massive difference in power levels would cause his spiritual energy to interfere with the VR system, instantly frying the hardware…
In preparation for this entrance test, Wang Ling had already broken hundreds of virtual headsets over the past few days just practicing at home.
By now, Sun Rong had already put on her virtual headset. The others in the room could see her test scenario clearly on the side monitor.
Her assigned opponent in the virtual world? A massive toad-like beast.
Its model was based on a legendary demon king from six years ago—the Heaven-Swallowing Toad!
Back then, it was defeated by none other than Zhuo Yi, the legendary cultivator and pride of No. 60 High School.
Zhuo Yi had come from humble beginnings, but his talent was dazzling. From a young age, he caught the eye of the school's headmaster, who took him in as a personal disciple. He completed his entire education at No. 60, and by the time he graduated at 18, he had already reached the late Golden Core stage—an elite talent of his generation.
After graduating, Zhuo Yi joined the National Cultivation School Alliance, eventually rising to the position of Deputy Director, becoming the youngest administrator in the alliance's history.
However, his true rise to fame didn't come until six years ago during the great Beast Tide Incident, where his performance stunned the entire cultivation world.
At the time, Zhuo Yi used a Qi Sword Finger Technique, launching a strike from a thousand miles away that pierced the Heaven-Swallowing Toad through the chest—killing it on the spot after it had crossed through an interdimensional gate.
That single move made him a household name.
Since then, No. 60 High School had incorporated the Heaven-Swallowing Toad into their entrance assessment—not only as a tribute to Zhuo Yi's heroic deed, but also to inspire students to follow in his footsteps.
As a result, this ridiculous-looking giant toad now showed up in almost every year's test…
"I heard the toad's difficulty level has been upgraded this year," one examiner said.
"Indeed. After Zhuo Yi destroyed its soul back then, we couldn't include the original soul data in the system because our equipment was outdated."
"But now, with upgraded tech, the Heaven-Swallowing Toad's soul fragment has been used as the system's core data—creating a perfect simulation."
Staring at the towering green beast in the virtual battlefield, one of the examiners frowned deeply:
"Even for someone like Sun Rong… this won't be easy."
Though the system attempted to calibrate the difficulty, the fact that it was based on the actual soul data of the original monster made it far tougher than in previous years.
Right now, this simulation of the Heaven-Swallowing Toad was set at mid-Foundation stage. If the examinee couldn't land a critical hit early on, their performance score might suffer.
Almost everyone in the room had their eyes fixed on Sun Rong. Only Wang Ling yawned in disinterest.
To deal significant damage to a beast like this, you didn't just need cultivation—you needed real substance behind it.
Wang Ling's perception abilities far exceeded any modern instruments. His eyes were like mobile scanning devices, capable of instantly seeing each person's meridian development.
At the Foundation stage, there were a total of 256 meridians to be opened.
Sun Rong had already activated 70% of them—a very impressive rate.
Even if she didn't land a critical hit, her data wouldn't be poor.
As everyone watched with bated breath, Sun Rong stared down the giant monster in front of her. She took a deep breath, clenched her fist, and charged forward explosively, her punch landing squarely in the toad's abdomen—its vital weak spot!
It was the same area Zhuo Yi had struck years ago in his legendary long-range kill.
"Whoosh!—"
As her punch landed, traces of smoke curled off her knuckles—a clear sign of intense friction with the air. She had clearly gone all in.
Seconds later, a massive glowing letter appeared in the virtual sky:
"S"
"Whoa! Sun Rong just landed an S-Rank hit!"
Gasps erupted throughout the room.
Even the three examiners looked stunned and embarrassed.
All their earlier worries about her? Completely unnecessary.
She got an S, just like that?!
Well, what else would you expect from the heiress of Huaguo Water Curtain Group? It was like she had just popped a performance-enhancing pill for the interview.
Since the system upgrade, the stats showed that the chance of landing an S-Rank score was only 1%.
A-Rank was around 5%,
B-Rank was 10%,
and the rest were evenly distributed across C, D, and F.
As for SS or SSS? The odds were so low they were practically nonexistent.
After recording her results, one of the examiners looked down at the next name on the list and called out:
"Next, Wang Ling. Please step forward for your test."
Wang Ling lazily raised his head. He didn't expect it to be his turn so soon.
He completely ignored Sun Rong's dazzling smile as she stepped off the platform and carefully put on the VR headset, limiting his spiritual energy to the absolute minimum to avoid frying the device.
Thankfully, thanks to breaking hundreds of headsets during his practice, he now had enough experience to make it through without mishap.
Still, this wasn't the end of his trouble.
Staring at the massive green toad in front of him, Wang Ling blinked in surprise.
Because in the official accounts of that Beast Tide six years ago—the story everyone believed was that Zhuo Yi had struck down the Heaven-Swallowing Toad from miles away.
But in reality…
Wang Ling had casually killed it himself, when he was ten, just passing by a convenience store.
(End of Chapter)
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