The Battle Tower Plaza was dead silent, the air still vibrating from the terrifying pressure of Sun Yi’s golden sword light. It defied all logic. How could a cultivator running on the legacy hardware of the Qi Refining stage execute such a high-fidelity attack?

Sun Yi flicked his wrist. The Red Gold Sword snapped back to his side, hovering obediently like a drone. He stared coldly at the pale-faced Foundation Establishment disciple who had first challenged him.

“If I were a hostile,” Sun Yi said, his voice cutting through the silence, “your account would have been deleted before you even drew your weapon.”

He stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over the trembling ‘geniuses’.

“Never assume the level gap is a safety net. A high-level build played poorly will lose to a low-level build played perfectly every time. If you underestimate your opponent based on a stat sheet, you are courting death.”

Sun Yi shook his head. “One test subject is insufficient for a proper stress test. I need a larger sample size.”

He pointed to the crowd of elites. “You. The first two rows. Step forward.”

“I am commanding you as the Headmaster: Disable your limiters. Go all out. If you hold back, you are insulting me.”

The fifteen Foundation Establishment cultivators looked at each other, hesitation written all over their faces. Attacking the Headmaster felt treasonous, but the order was absolute.

“Don’t worry about damaging the merchandise,” Sun Yi said dryly. “The Elders are on standby for damage control. Now… execute.”

“Begin!”

The moment the command left his lips, Sun Yi initiated the attack protocol.

System: Engage Golden Sword Art.

The Red Gold Sword fractured into five distinct streaks of lethal light, screaming toward the disciples.

The fifteen opponents panicked but reacted instinctively. Fifteen flying swords launched into the air, a chaotic swarm of steel and Qi.

System: Deploy Auxiliary Weapon.

A second flash of light erupted from Sun Yi’s storage—the Dragon Roar Sword. It joined the fray, splitting into multiple phantom blades to weave a net of destruction.

Then, Sun Yi moved.

Skill: Wind Thunder Step.

CRACK.

Thunder rumbled under his feet. To the onlookers, Sun Yi didn’t run; he glitched. One moment he was standing there; the next, he was a blur of afterimages, bypassing the frontline entirely to appear directly in front of a disciple.

“Wind Thunder Step?!”

“That’s a Foundation Establishment movement skill!”

“How is he running that software on Qi Refining hardware? The compatibility requirements should be impossible!”

The crowd gasped, their minds reeling. Before they could process the impossibility, violence erupted.

The disciple in front of Sun Yi went pale. He frantically channeled his True Qi into a protective barrier.

Sun Yi didn’t brake. He didn’t use a technique. He simply punched.

Impact.

BOOM!

The True Qi shield shattered like cheap glass. The disciple was launched backward as if he’d been hit by a siege weapon, skipping across the pavement like a stone on water before crashing into a wall fifty meters away.

One hit. One KO.

Sun Yi didn’t pause to admire his work. Wind Thunder Step fired again. He flashed toward the second target.

This disciple, seeing his comrade ragdolled, panicked and summoned a defensive Spirit Weapon—a heavy iron shield—to block his front.

Sun Yi’s eyes flashed with cold amusement. Inefficient.

He drove his fist straight into the metal.

CLANG—CRACK!

The Tier-2 Spirit Shield buckled and exploded into shrapnel. The fist carried through, planting itself in the cultivator’s chest. The man folded in half and flew backward, joining the first victim in the unconscious pile.

While Sun Yi was dismantling them in melee, his aerial fleet was dominating the sky.

The five beams of the Red Gold Sword wove through the enemy flying swords with calculated precision, knocking them out of the air before slashing through the disciples’ defenses. Blood sprayed, but the cuts were surgical—painful, disabling, but non-lethal.

The Dragon Roar Sword, though lower in specs, was relentless, harassing the remaining defenders and keeping them pinned.

Sun Yi flashed to a third opponent.

This cultivator roared, desperate. He channeled all his Qi into his flying sword, turning it into a blazing streak of fire. “Burn!”

The flame-wreathed blade shot toward Sun Yi’s chest.

Sun Yi didn’t dodge. He raised his bare hand and backhanded the sword.

CLANG!

The flaming sword was slapped out of the air like an annoying fly. The fire extinguished instantly under the brute force of Sun Yi’s physical stats.

Before the sword even hit the ground, Sun Yi’s foot was already buried in the cultivator’s gut.

Thud. Another cannonball launch.

“End process,” Sun Yi murmured.

He made a pinching motion with his right hand.

Golden Sword Art: Trinity Formation.

The five streaks of the Red Gold Sword suddenly converged. Light coalesced, twisting and expanding until it formed the roaring avatar of a Golden Divine Dragon.

The dragon roared—a sound of tearing metal—and swept across the remaining disciples.

It was a massacre.

Defensive artifacts crumbled. Protective formations popped. The Foundation Establishment cultivators were swept aside like leaves in a hurricane, tossed into the air and scattered across the plaza.

Ten breaths.

From the moment Sun Yi said “Begin” to the moment the last body hit the floor, only ten breaths had passed.

Sun Yi stood in the center of the carnage, his robes unruffled, his breathing steady. He snapped his fingers, and the two swords returned to his side, humming obediently.

The plaza was silent for a heartbeat. Then, it exploded.

“Holy…”

“Did you see that?!”

“He soloed fifteen Foundation Establishment experts! He tanked a flying sword with his bare hand!”

“He’s a monster! How is that a Qi Refining stage?”

“That’s not just talent… that’s domination. That is a true genius!”

The Low Grade disciples were screaming, their faces flushed with adrenaline. Their Headmaster wasn’t just smart; he was an absolute unit.

The fifteen defeated disciples groaned, nursing their bruises and broken egos. They limped back into line, heads hanging low. The arrogance was beaten out of them, replaced by fear and awe.

“Well?” Sun Yi asked, his voice calm but amplified. “Do you still feel superior? Do you still think your ‘High Grade Spirit Root’ guarantees victory?”

“If I can crush you with a trash build, then anyone can.”

The defeated disciples bowed deeply, their voices trembling.

“We submit, Headmaster! We were blind!”

“We will never dare look down on others again!”

Sun Yi nodded. The patch was installed. The social hierarchy had been successfully rebooted.

“Remember this lesson. The world is vast. There is always a bigger fish, and there is always a better build. Respect your peers, and watch each other’s backs.”

“Yes, Headmaster!” the crowd roared in unison.

Sun Yi dismissed the sword lights. The show was over, but the demonstration was just beginning.

“Zhang Yuan. Li Yu. Wei Xiao. Zhou Yibo. Zhao Lun.”

Sun Yi projected the names clearly.

“Step out of the formation.”

The five named disciples, including the loyal Er Gouzi (Zhao Lun) and the sturdy Zhang Yuan, scrambled forward. They stood before Sun Yi, eyes shining with a mix of terror and hero worship.