I can receive unlimited protection; my parents handed me over to the state.

"Oh? The new little ones have arrived."

When Qian Sen saw them, he merely raised his eyelids lazily and yawned.

"Dean Qian!"

Although Liu Wuhen and Chi Lian were somewhat dismissive of this unkempt old man, they knew that he was the renowned Dean of the Star Sea Research Institute, a powerful figure they couldn't afford to offend.

The two quickly stepped forward and bowed respectfully, saying, "Greetings, Dean."

"Alright, alright, stop with the formalities." Qian Sen waved his hand impatiently. "Where's the others? Why are there only the three of us?"

Liu Wuhen couldn't help but ask, "Do they all have more important tasks?"

"Hmm." Qian Sen's answer was concise and to the point. "Today, I'll give the three of you a lesson by yourself. Consider it your 'first lesson upon entering university'."

As he spoke, he snapped his fingers, and the holographic screen behind him instantly lit up.

What appeared on the screen was not some complicated theoretical knowledge, but a huge, futuristic fighting training arena—the silver-gray alloy floor gleamed coldly, the boundaries were outlined by energy barriers, and countless sensor nodes floated in the air, exuding an oppressive feeling that kept strangers away.

"We're not going to talk theory today." Qian Sen gave a somewhat eerie smile. "Let's do something exciting."

He pointed to the empty training ground on the screen: "See that? That's the research institute's latest 'Holographic Simulation Combat System,' which can perfectly simulate all the data and combat styles of any known star beast and enemy, even the sensation of pain."

"Your first lesson is very simple." Qian Sen's gaze swept back and forth between the three, his eyes filled with scrutiny. "Spar with my three carefully selected 'sparring partners' and let me see just how much these 'geniuses' from various war zones really are."

Upon hearing this, a glint of excitement and competitiveness flashed in the eyes of both Liu Wuhen and Chi Lian.

Fighting simulated enemies? That's their specialty! This is a perfect opportunity to show off and let the big shots in the capital demonstrate their true abilities!

"Dean, please tell us, who is our opponent?" Chi Lian was already impatient, the Flame Demon blood in her body began to boil, and sparks even spilled from her fingertips.

"Hehe, don't rush." ​​Qian Sen smiled and pressed a few buttons on the control panel.

On the holographic screen's fighting arena, three humanoid figures made of pure energy slowly coalesced and took shape—

On the left is a burly figure wielding a huge dark gold battle axe. He is at least three meters tall, with muscles sculpted like granite. The axe is covered with ancient runes, exuding an aura of dominance that suppresses everything.

In the center is a ferocious figure wielding a blood-blue battle axe. His figure is somewhat agile, and the axe blade flows with an eerie blue light. A faint blood-red mist surrounds his body, exuding a world-destroying madness.

On the right is a cold figure holding a jet-black demonic blade. The figure is tall and slender, the blade is completely black without any reflection, and the aura around him is as cold as ice, as if it can freeze the soul.

A terrifying pressure, palpable even through the screen, instantly emanated from the three beams of light, causing the temperature in the entire room to drop several degrees.

"This...this is..."

Liu Wuhen and Chi Lian's expressions changed simultaneously. They could clearly feel a terrifying power emanating from the three weapons, a kind of oppressive force that made their souls tremble. It was a power far beyond their comprehension, originating from the top of the food chain.

"These three are your 'seniors'." Qian Sen revealed a devilish smile, "but they're just projections of combat data they left behind a month ago."

He paused, then added, "To accommodate you, I deliberately reduced their strength by ninety percent."

"The task is simple." Qian Sen pointed to the three figures of light, his tone calm yet carrying an undeniable authority, "Hold them off for ten minutes. If you can, you pass; if you can't..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but his meaningful smile sent a chill down the spines of both Liu Wuhen and Chi Lian.

"Reduced by ninety percent?" Chi Lian stared at the three energy figures on the screen, their mere presence radiating terrifying power. Her voice trembled with disbelief. "Dean Qian, are you kidding me? The data projection alone is this terrifying—just who are they?"

"Hehe, you'll find out later." Qian Sen revealed a cryptic smile. "For now, you just need to remember that they are the targets you must surpass. Alright, are you ready?"

"Ready!"

Liu Wuhen and Chi Lian exchanged a glance, both seeing an unyielding pride in each other's eyes.

They are top geniuses who have fought their way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. No matter how strong their opponents are, they cannot possibly fail to last ten minutes against a projection that has been weakened by 90%! Otherwise, what face would they have to remain in the "God-Making Project"?

"I choose the one with the black knife."

The previously silent, dark-skinned, thin boy, Wu Gu, suddenly spoke. His cold, venomous eyes were fixed on the icy figure holding the [Asura] weapon. His tone was calm, yet it revealed a stubborn obsession.

He could sense the same aura of "death" and "eerie" emanating from that figure, an aura that instinctively excited him.

"Oh? You have a good eye." Qian Sen glanced at him and nodded. "What about you two?"

"I choose the blood-blue axe!" Chi Lian pointed at Gu Tianye's projection, her eyes burning with fierce fighting spirit.

Her awakened [Daughter of the Flame Demon] talent is known for its ferocity and destructive power. Let's see if her Flame Demon fire is more domineering, or if the opponent's beastly blood is more ferocious!

"The rest are mine." Liu Wuhen's gaze fell on the projection of Xiang Batian, who was holding a dark gold giant axe, and a confident smile appeared on his lips.

He is the Shadow Assassin, specializing in speed and assassination. Dealing with this seemingly clumsy, power-type opponent is a piece of cake for him!

"Very good." Qian Sen nodded in satisfaction. "The assessment—begins!"

The moment the last two words were uttered, three beams of energy moved simultaneously!

"Whoosh!"

The opponent of the witchcraft, Ye Cang, whose projection was wielding the [Asura] weapon, vanished from his spot in an instant, leaving not even a trace of energy fluctuation.

The next second, he appeared behind Wu Gu without warning!

The pitch-black demonic blade, carrying a chilling killing intent capable of severing souls, silently slashed towards the back of Wu Gu's neck. Its speed was so fast that it could not be detected by the naked eye; only a blurry black mark could be seen!

However, just as the blade was about to touch the skin—

The witch doctor's body suddenly twisted at an extremely bizarre angle, like a boneless lump of mud, narrowly avoiding the fatal blow!

At the same time, his thin, claw-like hand suddenly reached back, and his five sharp, jet-black fingernails, like poisoned daggers, fiercely grabbed at Ye Cang's projected heart!

"Ding!"

A crisp, metallic clang rang out.

When the witch's claws, sharp enough to pierce through Grade A alloy, struck Ye Cang's projected chest, they were completely blocked by an invisible protective sword intent, leaving not even a trace!

Ye Cang's projection, using the force of the recoil, vanished again in a flash. The two immediately engaged in a life-or-death battle that sent chills down Liu Wuhen and Chi Lian's spines.

This dark-skinned, thin boy who had been silent all along was surprisingly powerful!

On the other side of the battlefield, Chi Lian was already engaged in battle with Gu Tianye's projection!

"Wrath of the Flame Demon!"

Chi Lian let out a sharp cry, her body bursting into raging dark red flames. Behind her, a ferocious fire demon phantom ten meters tall appeared, the heat waves rolling and distorting the surrounding air.

She transformed into a burning meteorite, crashing into Gu Tianye's projection with a world-destroying force!

Faced with this fierce attack, Gu Tianye's projection neither dodged nor avoided, but simply held the blood-blue battle axe horizontally in front of his chest.

The ferocious tiger head mark on the axe blade lit up instantly!

"roar--!"

A thunderous roar erupted, and Gu Tianye's projected body was enveloped in an energy shield crackling with arcs of lightning—the [Thunderous White Tiger] beast soul was activated, [Lightning Shield]!

"boom--!!"

The burning meteorite slammed into the lightning shield, and the violent explosion instantly illuminated the entire arena. The shockwave caused ripples to spread across the energy barrier.

As the smoke cleared, Chi Lian stared in disbelief at the perfectly intact lightning shield before her, and the unharmed projection of Gu Tianye behind it.

Her full-force attack, capable of melting steel, was actually blocked?

Before she could recover from her shock, Gu Tianye's projection moved!

On the blood-blue battle axe, another ape mark filled with a berserk aura lit up—the [Berserk Blood Demon Ape] beast soul was activated!

"roar--!"

A beast-like roar resounded, and Gu Tianye's projected body suddenly expanded, with veins bulging on his arms, exuding explosive power and becoming more than twice as fast as before!

He raised his battle axe high and slashed down fiercely at Chi Lian, who hadn't even reacted yet. The axe blade, carrying an aura of destruction, drew an eerie blue light in the air!

"not good!"

Chi Lian was shocked. She tried to dodge, but it was too late. She could only watch helplessly as the huge battle axe rapidly enlarged in her pupils!

……

The battle was the most brutal among them, especially for Liu Wuhen.

He encountered his greatest nemesis in life—Xiang Batian!

Liu Wuhen thought that his [Shadow Assassin] talent would make it easy to deal with power-type opponents. He moved freely in the shadows, launching sneak attacks from various tricky angles, leaving behind afterimages with his speed.

But reality slapped him hard in the face.

His speed, which he was so proud of, was a joke in front of Xiang Batian's projection.

No matter how he moved or attacked, Xiang Batian's projection could always make the most perfect defense in the first instant. The dark golden giant axe was wielded so tightly that it was like an insurmountable wall of sighs, dissolving all attacks into nothingness.

"Damn it! What kind of monster is this?!"

Liu Wuhen, exasperated, escaped from a failed sneak attack and looked at Xiang Batian's projection, which stood as immovable as a mountain, feeling powerless and frustrated.

He was like a monkey playing tricks on a lion. No matter how much he jumped around, the lion would just lazily wave its paws and neutralize all his cleverness.

"Have you had enough fun?"

Xiang Batian's projection suddenly spoke, his voice filled with domineering and impatience, like a thunderclap in Liu Wuhen's ears.

"If you've had your fun, now it's my turn."

He suddenly hurled the dark gold giant axe in his hand into the sky!

"Titan's Grip!"

The enormous battle axe defied the laws of physics, hovering silently in mid-air, its blade automatically locking onto the shocked Liu Wuhen!

"not good!"

Alarm bells rang in Liu Wuhen's mind. He tried to slip into the shadows again, but found that his body was locked by an invisible force and he could not move at all!

The suspended, dark gold giant axe, accompanied by a terrifying whistling sound that tore through the air, hurtled towards him like a missile tracking him from outer space, and was more than ten times faster than him!

Before Liu Wuhen could even react, the massive axe blade slammed solidly into the ground with a loud "bang!"

"puff--!"

He spat out a mouthful of blood, feeling as if all the bones in his body were about to be shattered, and the excruciating pain made his vision go black.

But this is just the beginning.

The dark gold giant axe did not stop after striking him; it drew a graceful arc in mid-air and then crashed down again with even more terrifying force!

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"...

The fighting arena echoed with dull, rhythmic strikes, interspersed with Liu Wuhen's piercing screams; the scene was as brutal as a game of whack-a-mole.

In less than a minute, Liu Wuhen, the arrogant S-level genius who had been so arrogant just moments before, was beaten until he was foaming at the mouth and convulsing, completely losing his fighting ability.

Less than five minutes into the assessment, all three were eliminated!

……

When Liu Wuhen was knocked unconscious by the [Heaven-Opening] Battle Axe, this unequal "sparring" finally came to an end.

In front of the holographic screen, Qian Sen looked at the three unconscious newcomers lying on the ground and smiled with satisfaction: "Not bad, not bad, they lasted two minutes longer than I expected."

The research staff behind him had their mouths twitching uncontrollably.

Dean, this isn't a "sparring match"! It's clearly a one-sided massacre! And is this really a 90% reduction in strength? If it weren't, these three newcomers probably wouldn't have lasted a second, right?

"Drag them to the medical room." Qian Sen waved his hand as if dealing with three bags of trash. "Also, make a copy of today's battle video and send it to Lu Yuan's terminal. Tell him this is his future 'client's' first-hand combat data, so he can refer to it carefully."

"Yes, Dean."

……

After an unknown amount of time, Liu Wuhen woke up from a severe headache.

He opened his eyes and found himself lying in a medical tank filled with pale green nutrient solution. His injuries had mostly healed, but the excruciating pain of being repeatedly crushed by thousands of mammoths still lingered deep in his soul.

"Where...where am I?"

He struggled to sit up, looking around at the futuristic medical equipment with a blank expression.

The hatch of a nearby medical bay slowly opened, and Chi Lian emerged, her face pale, her eyes filled with disbelief and disorientation: "We...we lost?"

She still remembers the helplessness and despair she felt when Gu Tianye's projection cleaved her in two with an axe; it was a battle on a completely different level!

"Where's the witchcraft?" Liu Wuhen looked around but couldn't find the dark-skinned, thin boy.

He woke up an hour ago.

A cold voice came from the side.

The two looked in the direction of the sound and saw the butler, codenamed "Shadow," standing not far away, dressed impeccably in a black suit, his face expressionless.

"He's awake? Where did he go?" Liu Wuhen asked, frowning.

"The training ground," Shadow replied calmly.

"What? To the training ground?" Chi Lian exclaimed in surprise. "Is he crazy? He just suffered such a serious injury and he's going to train?"

"He said he wanted to watch the battle footage ten thousand times to find a way to defeat that 'senior'." Shadow's voice was devoid of any emotion.

Liu Wuhen and Chi Lian both fell silent.

In terms of perseverance and obsession, they were indeed inferior to that seemingly unremarkable sorcerer.

At this moment, Shadow handed two tactical tablets to them: "Dean Qian asked me to give you detailed information on the three 'opponents'."

The two men took the tablet with some skepticism, and the moment they tapped the screen, their pupils constricted sharply!

Codename: Beast King

Name: Kotenno

[Talent: SSS Rank, Beast God Bloodline]

Codename: Shura

Name: Ye Cang

[Talent: SSS Rank, Asura Sword Heart]

Codename: Titan

Name: Xiang Batian

[Talent: S-rank, Titan Bloodline]

"SSS-rank?!"

"Two SSS-rank and one S-rank?!"

Liu Wuhen and Chi Lian felt like their brains were about to explode!

They finally understood why they had lost so badly, and they finally understood what Dean Qian meant by "senior"—that he was the official member of the "God-Making Project," while they were just newly selected "substitutes"!

The huge sense of disparity dealt another devastating blow to their proud pride.

"So... we were the real frogs in a well..." Liu Wuhen shook his head with a wry smile, finally understanding the meaning behind the faint pity in the eyes of the people here when they looked at them.

They continued scrolling down and saw the weapon descriptions. When their eyes fell on the "Forger" section, the two of them were struck dumb again!

[Weapon Name: Thousand Transformations Beast Soul Axe]

[Quality: Epic (Pseudo-Divine Artifact)]

[Forger: Master Craftsman]

Weapon Name: Asura

[Quality: ? ? ? (Pseudo-Rule Weapon)]

[Forger: Master Craftsman]

[Weapon Name: Titan Axe]

[Quality: Epic (Pseudo-Divine Artifact)]

[Forger: Master Craftsman]

Two identical names—Master Craftsman!

Why does this incredibly awesome code name sound so familiar?

and many more!

The two of them suddenly remembered!

Yesterday, the guide they treated like a "servant" and humiliated in every way! That "connected" resident of villa S-0! That seemingly ordinary, harmless boy!

His name seems to be... Lu Yuan!

And when they were talking about him behind his back yesterday, they even gave him a nickname—"sycophant"!

"puff--!"

Liu Wuhen could no longer hold back, and spat out a mouthful of blood. His eyes rolled back, and he fainted again.

Chi Lian also felt dizzy and her vision blurred. She barely managed to stay upright by holding onto the medical tank, and only one thought remained in her mind:

It’s over.

This is really the end.

They not only offended a powerful figure they couldn't afford to offend, but also the sole "master craftsman" who could decide all their future equipment!