What are you looking at me for I'm going to the assembly point to sleep.

Early the next morning, Su Qi had just changed his clothes and hastily freshened up, ready to head out, when he saw Liu Yuan standing by the door with a small suitcase in hand, looking at him with eager anticipation.

"Brother, let's go together," she said.

Su Qi gave her a once-over. "I'm going for the assembly. What are you tagging along for?"

"I'm going too!" Liu Yuan straightened her posture defiantly, puffing out her chest slightly. "I want to go to the Origin Realm!"

Su Qi couldn't help but laugh at her audacity.

He reached out and flicked her smooth forehead lightly with his finger.

"You didn’t want to join the competition earlier. Why the sudden interest now?"

Liu Yuan rubbed her forehead, pouting in exaggerated grievance. "How was I supposed to know verifying cultivation techniques required going into the Origin Realm?"

Without missing a beat, she latched onto his arm, clinging to him like a koala, deploying her tried-and-true tactic.

"Brother~ dearest brother~ please take me with you! I’ll be so bored at home all by myself!"

Su Qi knew exactly what this silly sister of his was scheming.

A month-long stay in the Origin Realm? That was just a convenient excuse to skip over a month of classes. While he made a habit of rarely attending lectures, his little sister had always secretly envied his freedom, even if she never admitted it out loud.

Since the semester started, she’d already made two attempts to skip school—once by faking illness, only for him to drag her out of bed by the ear, and another by pretending to oversleep, which backfired when he coincidentally woke up early and caught her red-handed.

He’d even lectured her afterward: "If you don’t study hard now, you’ll regret it later when you realize you’ve got nothing substantial in that head of yours."

Now, as she continued to whine and cling to him, Su Qi felt a headache coming on.

With a sigh, he pulled out his phone and dialed Wu Gong, hoping the man could talk some sense into her.

The call connected before he could even speak, and Wu Gong’s voice came through first.

"Su Qi, you on your way yet? We’re all waiting for you."

"Old Wu, quick question," Su Qi said. "My sister wants to come to the Origin Realm too. What do you think—?"

He expected Wu Gong to cite regulations or mention complicated procedures, but the response caught him completely off guard.

"Then bring her along!" Wu Gong’s tone made it sound like the most natural thing in the world. "She was supposed to go to the Origin Realm anyway. Ah, did I forget to mention that yesterday? You left in such a hurry."

Su Qi froze.

"What do you mean?"

"What else?" Wu Gong explained. "The Magic Card Academy selected seven teams for the competition. Did you think they’d just let all these students skip classes for over a month?"

"Every year, the academy organizes a ‘training camp’ for freshmen to acclimate them to the Origin Realm. This year’s no different—they just merged the competition with the camp and moved it up."

"Basically, unless there’s a special circumstance, the entire freshman class has to go."

"The only difference is that your seven teams will have a unique scoring system."

Su Qi thought about it and realized there was some truth to that.

Back in his school days, they’d also held an Origin Realm training camp shortly after the semester started.

And then… well, that incident happened.

"Didn’t I send you the address? Hurry up and get here—we’re about to enter the Origin Realm as a group!"

Su Qi hung up, his expression complicated as he looked down at the girl still attached to his arm.

Liu Yuan, who had been listening in (his phone had always been a bit leaky), cautiously peeked up at him. "Brother? Is it a no?"

The hope in her eyes dimmed as she slowly released his arm and lowered her head. "Never mind… if it’s not allowed, I won’t go."

"I’m not the type to trouble my brother like that."

Su Qi rolled his eyes and peeled her off.

"Oh, it’s allowed. Very much allowed."

The little actress had clearly heard everything.

Liu Yuan’s face instantly brightened, and with a cheer, she grabbed her luggage and dashed to the door to put on her shoes.

Su Qi shook his head helplessly and followed.

Fine. If she was supposed to go anyway, might as well take her along.

...

Following the address Wu Gong had sent, the two took a taxi to a military-restricted zone on the outskirts of Magic City.

Tall walls, stern sentries, and armed soldiers stood guard—this was a large-scale Origin Realm entrance designated for official military training of superhuman forces.

At the moment, a massive crowd had gathered on the platform before the entrance.

Around four hundred Magic Card Academy freshmen stood in dozens of formations, arranged by dormitory.

Why not a hundred?

Because the seven "experimental teams" were separate from the rest.

Opposite them stood another group—about a hundred individuals clad in standard combat uniforms, their demeanor starkly different from the students.

They stood rigidly at attention, exuding a battle-hardened aura that could only be forged through real combat.

These were the "reference group" assembled by the authorities for the competition—elites from the military and the official Cardholders’ Association.

The moment Su Qi and Liu Yuan arrived, Wu Gong rushed over like a man seeing salvation.

"Ah, Su Qi, you’re finally here!"

He pulled Su Qi to the corner of their team’s formation, where Yun Huang and the other nine members were already waiting.

"Let me introduce you," Wu Gong said, gesturing to a tall, stern-faced middle-aged officer at the front. "This is Captain Lin Xiao, the head instructor overseeing both the reference group and the students. He’s also one of the military’s primary supervisors for recording competition data."

Lin Xiao turned, his sharp gaze sweeping over Su Qi before extending a hand.

"Su Qi, I’ve heard much about you."

His voice was booming, his grip firm and strong.

Su Qi shook his hand without much reaction.

Lin Xiao didn’t seem bothered by his indifference. His eyes shifted to Liu Yuan behind him, then to the nine nervous students in Su Qi’s team, before finally settling on Yun Huang, whose presence stood out distinctly.

His brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, but he said nothing.

Clearly, this officer wasn’t particularly impressed by Su Qi’s hastily assembled team—complete with an extra family member tagging along.

Wu Gong didn’t bother explaining. There was no need to justify things to everyone, and military types especially disliked convoluted schemes.

Just then, the loudspeakers on the square crackled to life.

"Attention all personnel! The Origin Realm gateway will open in thirty minutes. All units, prepare accordingly."

...

The half-hour preparation period passed amid the students’ nervous or excited murmurs.

Lin Xiao stepped forward again, his weathered face unreadable.

He swept his gaze over everyone: "Looks like you're all ready. Follow me now."

With that, he turned and led the way, the group marching in a grand procession behind him across the square.

The base was heavily guarded, with patrolling soldiers casting scrutinizing glances their way from time to time. The group pressed forward, passing through a thick alloy gate before the view suddenly opened up before them.

A wave of damp mist hit their faces, accompanied by a deafening roar.

About a hundred meters ahead, a massive waterfall dozens of meters wide cascaded from the sky, crashing violently into a deep pool below and sending up a spray of mist.

But this was no ordinary waterfall—the water shimmered with an iridescent glow, as though liquid crystal were flowing.

"Pass through this curtain of water, and you'll enter the Great Desolate Origin Realm," Lin Xiao's voice, though not loud, cut clearly through the thunder of the falls, reaching every ear.

"First, let me make something clear," he continued.

"My methods here might differ from what you're used to in your academies."

"I won't guarantee anyone's safety."

"You're all adults now. You're responsible for your own actions."

"Knowing when to hold back and when to show respect—that's the first lesson you'll learn here. And the most important one."

"Because those who don’t learn it… die."

"Understood?"

Lin Xiao's icy tone was like a blade dipped in frost, scraping against the eardrums of every young person present.

After a brief silence, someone finally shouted, "Understood, Instructor!"

That single cry was like lighting a fuse.

A thunderous response soon drowned out the roar of the waterfall.

"UNDERSTOOD, INSTRUCTOR!!"

The voices of over three hundred new recruits merged together, brimming with the reckless determination of youth.

Not a single one chose to back down.

Only then did a hint of approval flicker across Lin Xiao's face. He gave a slight nod before pushing off the ground.

His body soared as lightly as a feather, landing effortlessly on a protruding rock at the top of the waterfall.

He pressed his hand against a large boulder above.

Instantly, the waterfall's roar softened, the raging torrent calming as the center of the cascade began parting to either side.

A pitch-black, bottomless entrance was revealed.

"Then go. Once inside, your first task is to find me."

"Your drop points are randomized, but none of you will be too far apart."

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The students at the front surged toward the open water gate, leaping in without hesitation.

Those behind followed closely, afraid of being left behind.

The scene quickly turned chaotic—some didn’t even have time to think about what awaited them beyond the gate. They simply saw others jumping and followed suit.

Su Qi's squad members were swept along by the crowd, the nine students' faces tense with nerves.

They were, after all, barely adults, and instinctively turned to Su Qi, hoping for guidance.

But Su Qi remained unfazed. With one hand in his pocket and the other pulling along the curious Liu Yuan, who was still looking around in wonder, he strolled leisurely at the very back of the group.

"Go on, why are you looking at me?"

Only after Su Qi spoke did the nine students step through the water gate one after another.

Yun Huang followed closely behind.

Finally, Su Qi and Liu Yuan entered.

As he stepped through, the expected sensation of weightlessness never came.

Instead, it was like being plunged into warm water—a brief moment of enveloping pressure before his feet touched solid ground again.

When the light faded, an expansive, primordial world stretched out before them.

The sky was a dull gray, devoid of sun or clouds, like a vast pane of frosted glass casting a gloomy light.

Ancient trees, so massive it would take over a dozen people to encircle them, towered into the sky, their colossal canopies blotting out what little light remained and fracturing it into scattered fragments.

The humid air carried the fresh scent of earth and vegetation.

In the distance, the roars of unknown beasts echoed now and then.

Then, about fifty meters to his right, Su Qi spotted Wu Gong and the others.

Wu Gong, Yun Huang, and the nine students quickly made their way over to regroup with him.

"Normally, everyone in this training camp gets randomly teleported to different locations. Figuring out how to regroup is part of the first lesson," Wu Gong explained in a hushed voice.

"But our seven competition teams are an exception—higher-ups pulled some strings to skip that step."

"We don’t need to find Lin Xiao either. We can start hunting right away."

"Regroup with him in three days."

One of the students immediately voiced their confusion: "So… it’s already started?"

Wu Gong nodded. "Yes. The moment we entered the Origin Realm, the clock began ticking."

As he spoke, a card materialized at his fingertips.

A green glow instantly enveloped the ten-person squad.

"Don’t resist."

"This is the card [Life Sacrifice]."

"It won’t harm you."

"It absorbs the life force that escapes from creatures you kill, and based on how much you collect, you’ll receive corresponding 'blessings.'"

"Don’t look at me like that—yes, you’re right. It was confiscated from the Descenders. But it works perfectly for scoring the competition."

"Tools aren’t inherently good or evil. It’s the user who decides that."

With that, the ten-person squad began discussing their strategy.

After all, this was their first time working together.

Their path ahead was unclear—the dense foliage swallowed up any visibility beyond a hundred meters, making it impossible to see which way led where.

Clearly, choosing their route would be their first real test.

They began carefully assessing their options.

Interestingly, many of them instinctively turned their eyes toward Su Qi.

It seemed they all wanted to see what judgment this genius—favored by Elder Feng and the academy’s higher-ups—would make in this situation.

They even subconsciously edged closer, waiting for his command.

But Su Qi ignored their expectant gazes. Instead, he first glanced at Wu Gong beside him.

Wu Gong immediately threw up his hands and whispered, "Don’t look at me. I’ve never been here either."

One of the bolder male students mustered his courage and approached Su Qi, asking cautiously, "Um… Instructor Su, what should we do now?"

Su Qi gave him a sidelong glance before surveying their surroundings.

"Disband on the spot," he said flatly.

"…Huh?"

All nine students, along with Wu Gong, stared at him in stunned silence.

Disband?

What did that mean?

Was he seriously slacking off on the first day of the competition?

"What I mean," Su Qi clarified impatiently, "is go wherever you want and do whatever you were going to do."

"Isn’t the first part of this supposed to test your baseline abilities?"

"Just perform as you normally would."

"Why are you looking at me?"

"I’m going to find a spot to sleep."

"Meet back at the rendezvous point in three days."