High Martial Arts: Gains one point of health per second, sweeping across the heavens.

Palace Master Mu Chen's lips curled into a meaningful smile: "As long as he is currently a student of my Qingyun Academy, as long as he makes a name for my Qingyun Academy in the secret realm, as long as he is ultimately chosen by a powerful sect... then the stronger Su Jie is, the better! The more monstrous he is, the better!"

He looked at the deacon in charge of intelligence: "The investigation into Su Jie ends here. There is no need to delve any further, and no doubts should be leaked to outsiders."

Then, he looked at everyone and made the final decision:

"No matter where he comes from or what secrets he has."

"Now, he is a knife in the hands of our Qingyun Academy!"

"What we need to do is not question why this knife is so sharp, but find a way to make it earn enough 'merits' for us in this secret realm!"

"As for his background... once he joins the sect, the higher-ups will take care of that. All we need to do is collect the generous rewards bestowed by the sect!"

The mentors exchanged glances, then slowly nodded. The Palace Master's words, though blunt, hit the nail on the head. In this dog-eat-dog world, strength and self-interest are the only true principles.

After a brief silence, the melee resumed on the stage, and the number of people on stage was rapidly decreasing.

Su Jie continued to weave through the crowd using the "Stepping into the Sky" technique, occasionally making a move to defuse threats with ease.

When only about twenty people remained on the stage, the battle reached its climax. Luo Qingyi's sword flashed like a rainbow, and Yan Feng's fists were fierce and powerful, each clearing out their opponents around them.

A Xuanbang disciple, blinded by rage, saw Su Jie constantly "wandering" and thought he had an opportunity to strike. He roared and slashed at Su Jie from behind!

"roll."

Su Jie didn't even turn his head, and flicked a finger with his left hand.

"clang!"

The disciple felt an immense force strike him, and his steel longsword was snapped in two by a single finger! He was struck as if by a heavy blow, coughing up blood as he flew off the stage.

This move drew the attention of several top geniuses once again. Yan Feng's eyes narrowed slightly, and Luo Qingyi also cast a scrutinizing glance. The strength Su Jie had displayed was not to be underestimated.

Only eleven people remained on the stage.

The atmosphere was tense, and the final elimination would be decided among several slightly weaker contestants.

One of them, his eyes gleaming, suddenly pointed at Su Jie and shouted to the referee, "Mentor! This person has been avoiding battles, his strength is questionable! I request to fight him, the winner advances!"

He reasoned that although Su Jie was strong, he might still have a chance if he went all out, which was better than fighting the other injured ones head-on.

The referee looked at Su Jie: "Do you accept this?"

Su Jie yawned, walked to the center of the arena, and beckoned to the challenger with his finger: "Come on, we're in a hurry."

The student was furious. His blood and qi surged to their peak, and he unleashed his strongest martial skill, transforming into a streak of light as he pounced forward!

Su Jie neither dodged nor evaded, and only when the attack was about to hit him did he simply throw a punch that struck first.

"Bang!"

The force of the punch precisely struck the opponent's weak point, landing squarely on his chest. The student's forward momentum came to an abrupt halt, his eyes bulging as he collapsed limply to the ground. Though not seriously injured, he was too weak to fight any longer.

"Su Jie wins!" the referee announced immediately.

On the stage, only ten people remained.

The referee instructor let out a long sigh of relief and announced loudly:

"The spots have been confirmed! Luo Qingyi, Yan Feng, Su Jie... and ten others will be qualified to travel to the 'Starfall Wasteland - Land of a Thousand Stars' in two days!"

After Su Jie obtained the exploration slot, the academy also gave him a great deal of support in terms of resources. Not only did they reward him with a large number of credits for him to exchange for what he needed, but they also opened a small body tempering pool for him to cultivate in.

Su Jie sat cross-legged in the small body-tempering pool specially approved by the academy. The pure energy, requiring almost no refining, flowed into his limbs and bones like rivers flowing into the sea, greedily absorbed and fused by his Xuan-level martial bones.

[Absorbing high-purity Stellar Tempering Fluid, the tempering level of Earth-grade Martial Bone has increased by 0.02%!]

[Absorbed the essence of dragon blood ore, Earth-grade martial bone tempering level increased by 0.015%!]

The system notifications rang in my mind almost non-stop. Although the percentage increase was negligible each time, the continuous nature of the notifications made them incredibly efficient!

"No wonder a disciple from a mid-level academy in the True Martial Realm has such solid basic combat strength."

Su Jie endured the excruciating pain of tempering his martial bones, feeling the clearly discernible progress of their strengthening. He understood, "This level of resource foundation is indeed incomparable to the Tianming Star Sect, whose martial arts have just begun. Here, as long as you have talent and opportunity, even a pig can take flight!"

He exchanged most of the points he had received in advance from the academy for similar high-level body-tempering resources and invested them generously in this body.

Under the terrifying devouring power of the Xuan-rank Martial Bone, massive resources were rapidly consumed, and the tempering progress bar was steadily advancing towards the 99% perfection state at an unprecedented speed!

"At this rate, I'll definitely advance to Earth-level Martial Bone before entering the 'Land of a Thousand Stars'!" Su Jie's pained expression grew even more ferocious, his eyes hardening. "At that time, with my Earth-level Martial Bone, plus the divine treasures within the secret realm... even Heaven-level Martial Bone will certainly not be a pipe dream!"

Although Su Jie was in so much pain that he was almost numb, he still guided the extravagant energy torrent in the pool with all his might, continuing to temper his increasingly brilliant Xuan-rank martial bone.

Late the night before his departure, the dark gold patterns on the 206 bones inside Su Jie's body had reached their peak, just one last thread away from achieving perfect unity.

"It's time."

With a thought, Su Jie instantly ignited all his blood and qi essence within the system space, transforming it into a vast, pure torrent of energy that surged into his entire body!

"Buzz—!"

A resonance, seemingly emanating from the very source of life, rang out, audible only to him!

His entire body trembled violently, and a dark golden light emanated from his body, illuminating the entire training room in a magnificent glow!

The mysterious patterns on the bones finally connected and intersected, forming a flawless whole!

A sense of power far greater and deeper than before, like an ancient beast awakening, emanated from every bone in his body!

[Ding! Earth-level Martial Bone Tempering Completed!]

[Current base combat power: 2500 million points! After the 20% bonus for Extreme Foundation Establishment, the actual base combat power is: 3000 million points!]

[A qualitative change has been detected in the host's martial bone. The fusion rate of the Immortal Martial Bone has increased. Current fusion rate: 0.02%!]

[Immortal Martial Bone bonus: 2000 stars!]

A surge of power coursed through his body. Su Jie could clearly feel that the palm bone deep within his left arm, which had fused with fragments of the Immortal Martial Bone, seemed to resonate more deeply with his newly acquired Earth-grade Martial Bone. The faint light it emitted became more solid, and the power it bestowed upon his left arm also increased accordingly.

"As expected, with the surge in my own basic combat strength, the double basic power boost from the Immortal Martial Bone can't be maintained indefinitely. Perhaps my integration level isn't high enough?"