Pretending to be a genius starts with the civilization advancement assessment.

Chapter 144 Virtual Helmet, Setting Up Levels

For the first special training class at Dongfeng Military Academy, Lin Yi did not hold any formal opening ceremony.

He appeared in the large lecture hall on time, stood in front of everyone, and his gaze swept over the eager faces.

"The special training class focuses on only one thing: breaking through."

Lin Yi's opening remarks were exceptionally concise: "All formalism is a waste of time."

"Now let's begin the first item: In-depth training of source energy control."

Lin Yi extended his right index finger, and a soft, azure energy ball instantly condensed at his fingertip, like a dancing sprite.

"Gathering source energy is the first step."

Before he finished speaking, the ball of light began to collapse inward at a speed visible to the naked eye, becoming smaller and smaller, while the light became more and more solid and dazzling.

In the end, it turned into a blue light spot the size of a soybean, yet radiating astonishing energy fluctuations.

“Compression is the initial stage of control. I think that by now, you should all have mastered the most basic compression,” Lin Yi continued.

Then, the extremely compressed point of light was slowly stretched and deformed, eventually forming a source energy blade as thin as a cicada's wing, which quietly floated above his fingertip.

"Shaping is a manifestation of precise control."

“Turning it into a blade shape shouldn’t be too difficult for you.” Lin Yi paused, then set a higher goal, “If you are confident enough in your control, you can try the next step.”

The energy blade then changed further, becoming narrower and thinner until it became a thin blue ray of light, about a foot long, which writhed slightly like a living thing and exuded a chilling sharpness.

“Draw it into a thread. A thread is more difficult to control than a blade, but it requires a higher level of understanding and application of strength.”

After the demonstration, Lin Yi dissipated his energy source.

He glanced at the academic affairs staff member beside him and nodded.

Soon, several assistants carried over several large boxes and distributed a square, tender piece of tofu and an ordinary porcelain plate to each trainee.

The students looked at each other, wondering what the principal meant.

Lin Yi's voice rang out again: "Your first-stage goal is to use the method just demonstrated to condense source energy blades or threads to cut this piece of tofu—" He pointed to the tofu in the students' hands, "into fine shreds, requiring uniform thickness and standard, just like the specifications for 'Wensi Tofu'."

"Wensi Tofu?"

One student exclaimed in a low voice, "That's a dish that requires extremely high knife skills, which means the tofu shreds have to be as thin as hair!"

"Yes."

Lin Yi smiled and said, "It just so happens that we recently acquired a large soy product processing plant, so the tofu supply is absolutely plentiful. However, in order not to waste food, starting today, this will be your lunch and dinner for the next period of time. Fried tofu, deep-fried tofu, Mapo tofu, tofu soup until you pass this stage."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at the trembling tofu in their hands and exchanged bewildered glances.

This training method is so practical.

"let's start."

Lin Yi said no more, walked to the side, stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes sharp as lightning, and began to survey the area.

The training ground immediately fell silent, with only the sound of the trainees concentrating and trying to gather their source energy.

At first, many problems arose.

Some people used too much force, and the tofu and the plate exploded as soon as the energy blade touched the tofu. Others lost control, and the blade became uneven in size, resulting in tofu strips as thick as fingers. Still others, probably not military academy students, couldn't even condense a stable blade, and could only create an irregular ball of light.

Lin Yi walked slowly through the area, stopping occasionally to offer pointers.

"Zhou Yuxuan, you are too impatient and lack composure, resulting in scattered thoughts that don't come together."

"Chen Yu, your mind is too tense, causing your source energy to flow sluggishly. You need to be relaxed yet not quite relaxed." "Zhao Gang, you have enough strength, but you lack resilience. If you are too rigid, you will break easily. Try to feel the flow of your source energy."

"Adams, your understanding is flawed. It's not about being as sharp as possible, but about focusing on a single point."

His guidance is often incisive and to the point, enlightening students, but it requires a great deal of effort to understand and correct.

For a moment, the classroom was filled with a tense and focused atmosphere, as well as the occasional soft sound of a disk cracking.

The morning passed quickly, and not a single student managed to cut the tofu into thin strips; most of the students ended up with a mess of tofu dregs.

As soon as get out of class ended, Nie Chang came looking for him.

"Principal Lin, the Equipment Department is very efficient. The first batch of fifty virtual reality helmets has been delivered. Minister Zhao called specifically to say that if there is further demand, a second batch can be produced, but that will have to wait until next month."

“Okay, let’s go take a look.” Lin Yi nodded.

The two arrived at the warehouse, where fifty helmets gleaming with metallic luster were neatly arranged in specially made boxes.

The accompanying equipment department technicians explained the usage method in detail.

"Commander Lin, after wearing it, press the start button on the side, and your consciousness will be connected to the system. The initial space is blank, and there will be a guide program. You will need to set the specific functions through management permissions."

Lin Yi immediately ordered: "Install all these helmets in the reserved empty classroom in Teaching Building No. 3. From now on, that place will be named the 'Virtual Teaching Room.' Manage it like the old-fashioned school computer labs, and assign a dedicated person to be responsible for maintenance and registration."

"Yes!"

The equipment installation and commissioning were completed quickly.

Lin Yi picked up a helmet and said to Nie Chang, "I'll try it out first."

He sat in the specially arranged seat and put on his helmet.

The helmet fit comfortably inside, and it was completely dark in front of him. Then, Lin Yi pressed the start button on the side.

A slight buzzing sound rang in his consciousness, and the next moment, he found himself standing in a pure white space, with the same pure white "ground" beneath his feet, which seemed to be boundless.

A tiny sprite, about the size of a palm, floated in front of him, emitting a soft electronic voice: "Welcome to the Illusionary Martial Arts System, esteemed user. I am the guiding sprite."

Lin Yi looked around and was fairly satisfied with the basic virtual environment.

He had a sudden thought and said, "Enter the management key." He then recited a string of code that a staff member had previously given him.

"Key verification successful. Privileges elevated to highest administrator level." The sprite's aura flickered.

"Scan my current body parameters and create my virtual character model," Lin Yi ordered.

"Command received. Initiating full scan. Scan complete. Building virtual model. Model building requires more detailed dynamic data support. Please select opponent parameters and engage in a battle so that the system can comprehensively record your fighting style, power usage, reaction speed, and other data to improve the model," the sprite prompted.

Lin Yi thought for a moment and set up a virtual opponent with 200 degrees of source energy.

For the next half hour, he engaged in exhilarating "battles" with virtual opponents in this pure white space, creating more than a dozen models of different strength levels. The system faithfully recorded the minute data of his every energy burst, rule application, dodge, and block.

Half an hour later, Lin Yi ended the fight on his own.

A smile appeared on his lips, then he logged out of the system and took off his helmet.

Nie Chang quickly stepped forward: "Principal, how are you feeling?"

"interesting."

Lin Yi put the helmet back in its place, a hint of anticipation in his eyes. "I really want to know what their expressions will be when they come into contact with this 'new toy' this afternoon."

(End of this chapter)