"Battle... Start!"

With the host's announcement, the slaughter in the Virtual World commenced.

"Boom—!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Sonata charged forward like an arrow released from a bow the instant the host stepped back, his dagger swirling gently in his hand, tracing a silver arc in the air as it aimed directly at Yun You's throat!

His attack was exceptionally swift, devoid of any unnecessary movements, and in the span of a breath, he shortened the distance between himself and Yun You, firmly seizing control of the combat's rhythm.

"Swish~"

The blade's gleam flashed by, the silver-white edge scratching past Yun You's ear, slicing off a few strands of hair as she dodged.

A perilous strike indeed.

And this was just the beginning.

Seeing his initial strike miss, Sonata was not discouraged. Instead, he flipped his wrist and slashed horizontally, aiming to pierce Yun You's neck from the side.

"..."

Feeling the cold gleam from the tip of the blade, Yun You furrowed her brows slightly.

Before the fight, Old Jin had told her that Sonata was a disciple of Li Cang, possessing a systematic combat approach, and his practical experience was likely quite proficient.

Winning wouldn't be an easy task.

Initially, Yun You didn't really pay much attention to these words...

But now, it seemed that Old Jin's words were indeed accurate.

Sonata's combat technique was indeed far superior to her own amateur skills, every move echoing traces of "Military Assassination Technique," in all respects she couldn't compare.

But regrettably, Yun You erased these disparities with one advantage.

That was her [Stats], her Extreme Physique stats were overwhelmingly higher than Sonata's.

Yun You seized an opportunity to crouch down, dodging Sonata's knife, then followed with an uppercut, sending Sonata flying together with his knife!

The latter rolled across the ground for more than a dozen rounds, ending up dirty and bruised, losing two teeth before he barely managed to stop.

"Fancy moves, I thought he was stronger."

Yun You shook her smoking fist and muttered quietly.

She thought she was already quite arrogant, but after this punch, she realized she overestimated her opponent and underestimated herself.

Don't be fooled by the five percent difference between her "Extreme Physique" and Sonata's "Quasi-Extreme Physique," the actual physical quality difference between the two far exceeds the apparent stats disparity.

This is because Sonata's "Quasi-Extreme Physique" rating was earned through exceptional performance, whereas Yun You's casual punch could reach the Extreme Physique level.

In a simple analogy: For two identical hundred-point exams, Sonata scored 90 because he could only reach 90, whereas Yun You scored 100 because the paper only offered 100...

One was a number achieved through extraordinary effort, the other a number effortlessly attained, their difference naturally not as simple as a ten-point gap...

So Yun You's current result was naturally expected and unsurprising.

Only, Yun You understood this, but Sonata did not!

From Sonata's perspective, he didn't have time to react before being hit hard by the inconspicuous girl, even losing teeth...

This occurrence was completely beyond Sonata's expectations.

"What the hell..."

Sonata spat out bloodied saliva, grimacing in pain.

Though this was the Virtual Space, the 100% pain simulation allowed him to genuinely experience the agony of having his teeth shattered.

"Didn't the teacher say... this girl's physique was far weaker than mine, just a barely passing waste?"

"How... how could she be this strong?!"

Instinctively, he glanced at Li Cang on stage, hoping his teacher could solve this perplexing matter.

But in truth, his teacher couldn't understand the reason either.

"Jing."

Reflecting for a moment, Li Cang turned to the ever-relaxed Old Jin.

"Did you teach her some forbidden technique, allowing her to enhance her physical quality in a short time?"

"I observed the girl, she's no more than 16, her talent doesn't qualify as genius... Besides, even for a genius, reaching 'Extreme Physique' at 16 is impossible."

"Such a feat can only be achieved by the monster talents of Nest City No. 1."

"Hence, she must have learned a forbidden technique... and there's absolutely no other possibility..."

At this point, Li Cang narrowed his eyes, asking deeply, "Am I right?"

"Who knows? Maybe so..."

Old Jin tilted his head, showing a "Don't look at me, I don't understand either" expression.

He wasn't lying this time, as he genuinely didn't know how Yun You trained to achieve Extreme Physique.

So Old Jin could only answer honestly.

Yet sometimes, honesty can seem dishonest.

For example now, Li Cang didn't believe Old Jin at all, assuming he was spouting nonsense.

"No matter if you admit it or not, it's just a forbidden technique for boosting physical quality, not worth worrying about."

Li Cang snorted coldly, signaling Sonata below that he could use [Talent Power].

"Just a trivial physique advantage, what does it matter before a talent ability two rarity levels superior?"

"Jing, you and your worthless disciple are bound to lose today."

Li Cang showed no sign of restraint, and even while witnessing his student suffer, he wasn't willing to concede honestly and sought reasons instead.

The forbidden technique, indeed, appeared a very reasonable explanation.

It allows rapid physical enhancement, making the weak strong.

Yet when saying this, Li Cang overlooked a fact.

The learning difficulty of forbidden techniques is itself very high, especially those with substantial enhancement... one can say, if anyone learns it, they cannot possibly be a "waste."

In other words, when Li Cang sought this reason, he actually contradicted his earlier statements, inadvertently acknowledging Yun You wasn't a "mediocre."

But verbal loopholes mattered little to him?

He simply aimed to outshine Old Jin, proving his teaching talent superior...

Achieving that goal, nothing else mattered.

And upon the stage, Sonata understood his teacher's intention.

Nodding, he took a deep breath, tightly clutching the Duel Arena-issued Metal Dagger, silently murmuring...

[Weapon, anchor... Strength, anchor!]

[Target, lock on...]

[Launching the "Guaranteed Hit" gun...]

As his words fell, his body was enveloped in a faint blue outline glow.

This signified the Sur Particles blazing brightly.

Its presence foretold... Sonata was employing his Talent Ability.

A force of Purple Talent Ability.

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