James spent the next week practicing his techniques. His speed had not risen but he was now able to better control his movements while using the Wind Enforcer.

He also found some accomplishment in the sword department. He was able to launch a small qi wave as he performed the Gale Slash.

After a bit of training James decided to go out for a walk in the grounds outside the training facility.

The sky was dark, James walked barefooted on the grass looking up at the sky.

"I didn't expect you were here as well" came a voice.

Hearing it James smiled and said,

"I won't turn back to look at an empty space again. Just come in front"

Gus walked towards James smiling cheekily.

"Tomorrow is the test. Finally I can't wait for it." said Gus as he put his arms behind his back and stretched backwards.

James nodded as he looked up again. The entire batch had been anxiously waiting for the test. It was their first event in the academy.

"Hey let's have a quick spar! I want to try out my spear technique" said Gus.

James was taken aback by the sudden idea but nodded as he too wanted to try out his sword technique.

They went inside a small room inside the training facility and grabbed a VR headset each. They didn't want to hurt each other just before the test and decided to fight in the virtual space instead.

James closed his eyes and found himself in a white space. He then made a connection with Gus and after establishing a link Gus's form appeared in front of him.

They selected combat mode and a ring which was 20 meters in both length and breadth with a cemented ground and had a bell attached to it formed around both of them.

They got ready with their weapons in hand looking at each other intensely. As the bell rang both of them charged at each other.

James thrust his sword at Gus which was easily deflected by his spear with Gus charging at his right shoulder and ribs.

James did a quick movement by turning his body to the right barely avoiding Gus's strike and trusted his sword at his stomach. He decided to bank on the opportunity and performed his Gale Slash.

Seeing the incoming attack Gus quickly fell back but a qi wave arrived at his chest. However just as it was about to come in contact with him it disappeared. Seeing this Gus smirked saying,

"That is some mighty sword move you got. Barely lasts a meter haha"

James's face turned red in embarrassment. Seeing him lose focus, Gus launched his Shattering Earth attack by infusing qi into his spear tip.

James quickly regained his focus and made a timely dodge by jumping over. The spear hit the ground and a small crack appeared with a stone the size of pebble flying out.

"Earth Shattering truly. " remarked James as he grinned, pleased with his revenge.

" Haha that was just me holding my power back nothing else, nothing else" replied Gus as rubbed his neck, his cheeks beet red.

They continued to spar for awhile after which they returned back to the dorms to rest.

The next day, in a large room situated inside the training facility, the first years were gathered up.

The room was quite large and didn't have any furniture, only mats covering the entire floor.

A large machinery was attached to the ceiling and 4 square boxes each at a corner of the room with the front two not at the corners but a bit behind the position where the headmaster stood.

The students were sitting in neat rows waiting for the headmaster in front of them to speak.

The headmaster looked towards them and spoke in a clear voice,

" I welcome you all here. It's been three months since I last saw each of you. It makes me happy knowing that you all have kept working diligently on your cultivation. "

" I am sure everyone of you know why I have called you all here. Today is the first competition that we will be conducting for you the first years specifically. "

" Since the say you have been admitted we have said that only the worthy ones will be able to dominate the resources of the academy, and today will be just another example of that"

"Around you an array has been constructed by placing 4 connectors around you and a large machinery on top attached to the ceiling. This the device that will transport everyone of you to a virtual world."

These devices were made to transport a large group of people in a virtual world together. It didn't require any VR headset. The 4 connectors limited the area which the main machine would affect.

The main machine would send out waves which would intercept the responses of the nervous system and interact with the brain similarly to the way the headsets worked and trick it by giving it responses similar to the responses received from the nervous system.

This in turn induces the brain to believe that it is in an another world which the machine presents it.

The benefit of using this machinery instead of the headsets was the lower cost and power efficiency as it could affect about 250 people simultaneously rather than buying 250 headsets for them which would turn out to be quite expensive.

"This year we have decided that your task in the Virtual Test will be to unearth the treasure hidden in the Sunken Ship. "

" If you fail, you will be transported out of the virtual world. The test will go on for 2 real time hours which means you will have 4 hours inside the world. "

" If you succeed, the academy will reward you with a One Horned Beetle Pellet. I am sure you must have heard of its value specially to Azure realm cultivators like you during your classes in the first month. "

Shock filled the faces of the audience as they heard the reward. They had indeed learned about it, the One Horned Beetle was a peak Azure realm beast which was not a beast found in their kingdom.

The beast was not special in any way but the speciality lay in its body. It's body was known to be incomparably tough compared to the other Azure realm beasts and a pellet made of its bones and flesh was highly valuable to an Azure realm cultivator.

The pellet was tough to make and with the beast being a peak Azure realm one, it was quite expensive. The price was even higher in their kingdom as the beast did not originate from the kingdom. The pellets were imported from kingdoms in the north.

To an Emerald realm cultivator it did not hold any value but to an early stage Azure realm cultivator, it was a highly sought after treasure. After consuming the pellet, the body will experience a qualitative leap in toughness.

From the bones to the muscles, the strength of the body will rise and a huge influx of qi from the pellet will help the cultivator to break through to the mid Azure realm faster.

Normally it took about a year to advance to the mid stage of Azure realm. However, with the pellets benefits it could be achieved in about 8 months through constant training.

The eyes of the youngsters were shining like bright stars as they looked at the headmaster hoping to win the competition.

" I must tell you that every year on an average only about 2 are able to pass this test and there have been years where each and every student has failed. So do not underestimate this challenge. "

" I won't divulge any details of this test apart from your main objective. But I will inform you of this that you all will be teleported to this world randomly so none of you will be together. "

" Any plans made of teaming up prior to arriving here will most likely not bear any fruit as there is no guarantee of where each one of you will be ported too. That's about it nothing more " smirked the headmaster as he continued saying,

"After all a little bit of suspense is always nice. "

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Notes- A bonus chapter for today! :D I was very happy to receive my first comment lol and even got a great first review which pumped me to write this. The next chapter will be updated tomorrow like usual but I might release it a bit late as I will be going out to watch 'The Jungle Book' tomorrow. Can't wait to watch the real hero in undies^^ I just wrote the chapter so if you find any mistakes please do comment and if you have any suggestions please do comment and let me know^^ Enjoy!