I became a martial arts saint while playing games.

A light began to shine in Gu Yan's eyes.

Huiyuan Capsules, that's the super-rich drug that costs 588 million yuan per capsule, something I still can't afford...

We absolutely have to take first place!

After Zhou Chongshan finished speaking on the podium, he led a group of students into the teaching building.

Inside the teaching building lies a hidden world, with a spacious basement. At the far end of the underground passage, against the wall stands an ancient, massive stone, its surface shimmering with a faint glow—the very entrance to the ruins.

Students stepped forward in turn, each reaching out to touch the stone surface.

Each student placed their palm on the stone surface, and their figure flickered and vanished without a trace. That giant stone was the teleportation hub, sending the examinees into the ruins of the Tower of Ascension.

Before entering the tower, Chu Yue paused, smiled at Gu Yan, and said, "Junior brother, good luck! It's all up to you now."

Gu Yan said, "Keep it up, Senior Sister."

Chu Yue smiled, turned around, and touched the boulder. Her figure vanished instantly. Gu Yan followed closely behind, touched the boulder, and was immediately thrown into a dizzying frenzy. A moment later, his feet landed back on solid ground, and what he saw before him had changed drastically.

The surrounding ancient halls are desolate, the stone pillars are mottled, and the surrounding area is shrouded in mist.

As Gu Yan observed, ripples appeared in the void ahead. A faint, ethereal figure slowly solidified, transforming into the appearance of an ancient swordsman, with a sword at his waist, a gourd of wine in his hand, and a head tilted back as he slowly drank, exuding the air of a free-spirited and unrestrained swordsman.

As he drank, he muttered to himself, "Drunk, I draw my long sword over the vast wilderness, a pot of cool breeze..."

However, before he could finish the first half of his poem, Gu Yan had already shifted his feet and used the Thunder Chasing Shadow Step. His figure was as fast as lightning, and he swept across the hall, instantly appearing in front of the swordsman. He raised both palms and used the newly cultivated Xuan Yue Zhen Shan Palm. The palm force covered the swordsman's entire body in mid-air.

The swordsman, who was drinking, reciting poetry, and showing off, was immediately shocked. He seemed to have not expected Gu Yan's movements and palm strikes to be so fierce, or perhaps he had not expected his opponent to be so unscrupulous, attacking before even letting him finish his act.

He hastily drew his sword to block, but could only barely hold it to his chest. The Xuan Yue Zhen Shan Palm strike was heavy and powerful; the force of the palm pierced through the sword's edge, and the sword, along with the force, slammed heavily into the swordsman's heart.

The swordsman coughed up blood and flew backward, his body disintegrating inch by inch. In his dying moments, his eyes still held resentment and anger, as if he were blaming this young man for not understanding the rules of the martial world and not even letting him finish reciting his poem.

"Is this the first floor?"

Gu Yan thought to himself that the first level was indeed simple.

And this consciousness entity is also quite weak, yet it pretends to be a master, drinking and reciting poetry. Little does it know that speedrunners never watch cutscenes; time is the record, and they don't have time to listen to your poetry-reciting nonsense.

The swordsman's figure vanished, and the surrounding miasma dissipated as well.

The barrier that had previously seemed to be made of bones and muscles in the mist now parted, revealing a spiral stone staircase leading directly to the upper level.

Gu Yan lightly touched the ground with his feet, his figure leaped up the steps, and soon stepped into the second floor.

The second floor of the Tower of Ascension is even more secluded, a stone chamber. The rock walls are rough and cold, and a slight, eerie breeze blows from all sides.

Gu Yanzhong took two steps when a strong gust of wind suddenly howled from behind him. He turned around abruptly and saw a heavily armored rhinoceros beast behind him, its eyes bloodshot, charging with brute force, its sharp horn almost touching his chest.

Given the rhinoceros's enormous size, its arrival was completely unexpected, as if it appeared out of nowhere from behind. It was a deliberate sneak attack by the Trial Tower.

At such a distance, it was almost impossible to avoid. Without thinking twice, Gu Yan calmed his mind, spun his wrists, and extended his palms, using his energy to pull and guide the rhinoceros's momentum, cleverly reversing its trajectory.

Shifting the Universe is the divine skill he has used most frequently in combat so far, and the countermeasures are almost ingrained in his instincts. Now, being ambushed, without thinking, the muscle memory in his palms reacts faster than his brain, and he reflexively uses the Shifting the Universe technique to deal with the situation.

The rhinoceros charged forward with the force of thunder, then suddenly veered off course, unable to stop in time, and crashed headfirst into the stone wall of the tower. Its massive head was stuck deep within the wall, unable to move forward or backward.

Gu Yan watched as the giant beast thrashed about, its massive body twisting and turning, its rear end twisting outwards, but its head stuck in the wall, making it impossible to break free. Its disheveled and comical appearance made Gu Yan feel both annoyed and amused by the old silver coin.

He slowly stepped forward and slapped the other's wriggling buttocks twice. The heavy force of the slaps penetrated the beast's body, causing it to howl in pain as its body slowly faded away, leaving only a huge hole in the wall.

Gu Yan, relying on the momentum of shifting the universe, managed to get the rhinoceros's head stuck in the wall and control it. Therefore, this second level was basically another instant kill.

If other martial arts were used to fight this rhinoceros head-on with its brute strength and thick skin, even if one could win, it would definitely not be as easy and fast as this.

Gu Yan climbed the steps to the third floor.

The scenery on this floor is quite different from the previous two. The space here is staggered, with broken ancient pillars, shattered stone tables, and various messy rocks and ruins scattered everywhere, layer upon layer, serving as a barrier to conceal one's figure.

A figure flashed past behind a broken pillar, followed by a gust of wind hitting his face. Gu Yan used his sense of smell to identify the weapon, turned his head to dodge, and heard three clangs as three golden needles pierced into a large rock behind him.

"Hidden weapons?" Gu Yan began to understand the content of this trial.

Three dark figures darted about, their movements swift and agile, flashing between cover. They continuously launched hidden weapons, engaging in ranged attacks and close combat, never getting close to him, as if flying kites.

If other students faced this trial, they would likely either engage in a ranged attack with concealed weapons or a direct confrontation with snipers. Alternatively, they would have to utilize their light-footed skills to split into multiple units, pursue and eliminate them one by one at close range.

However, catching up with and defeating the three shadowy figures one by one would undoubtedly take a lot of time. Moreover, while dealing with one of them, one must also be wary of the other two shadowy figures' hidden weapons from behind, which would also be quite troublesome.

No wonder the requirement is that you only need to break through two levels to pass. For freshmen, passing this third level is already quite difficult.

Of course, Gu Yan is an exception.

He stood still, neither retaliating nor pursuing the enemy.

laugh.

A whooshing sound rang out. Three dark figures flew past, launching a sneak attack with hidden weapons from three different directions.

Gu Yan's gaze remained calm as he discerned the trajectory of each hidden weapon. He activated the Shifting Universe Technique once more, his palms making circular motions to deflect and neutralize the force.

The hidden weapons from three directions surrounded him, but just as they were about to strike, they were all blocked by his invisible inner energy. All the hidden weapons were deflected and reversed by the force of the energy, flying back along the direction they came from, and their speed and force were even greater than when they came.

The three hidden weapons rebounded simultaneously, and the three people in the shadows cried out in pain as they were all injured, their movements naturally becoming sluggish.

Gu Yan's figure swayed, and he stepped on the Thunder Chasing Shadow Step. His afterimage trailed faint arcs of electricity as he flashed past the three hiding places.

The three men, struck by their own hidden weapons, barely had time to catch their breath before Gu Yan unleashed a flurry of palm strikes. His attacks were swift and decisive, each strike landing one of the three figures, who instantly vanished into nothingness.

The third layer, broken.

Gu Yan quickly cleared the third level, spending almost only time running through the map, which was basically instantaneous.

Aside from the swordsman on the first level who was just showing off and was instantly killed by him with a single palm strike, the fact that he could move so easily and effortlessly on the second and third levels was basically due to the ingenious use of the ultimate technique of shifting the universe.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind: Why does this trial seem to be deliberately trying to get him to use the Shifting Universe technique to break the deadlock?

Whether it was the rhinoceros he had just moved and crashed into the wall, or the hidden weapon master who was directly countered and killed by him in this level, at first glance, it seemed that shifting the universe was the best and fastest way to break the deadlock. For a moment, he felt as if this was the pre-set strategy for passing the trial.

But the thought only flashed through his mind. Adhering to the professional ethics of a speedrunner, Gu Yan did not stop. In a flash, he continued towards the fourth floor.