"I take back what I said. This dude seems to be the real deal!"

"Watching him for the past hour, his fundamentals are just too solid. His spearmanship, his Body Technique, his use of Qi and Blood—there’s not a single wasted motion. It’s completely fluid!"

"Honestly, I’ve seen plenty of juicers. Those guys fight like madmen, sure, but once they get going, they forget all about technique. They just try to overwhelm you with brute force. A bunch of hacks."

"I’m starting to believe the streamer. This guy is definitely the real deal!"

"Anyone who’s been watching Chen for a while knows. All true geniuses are strong in the same way. It’s only the weaklings who are garbage in a million different ways."

Dong Dongchen’s eyes gleamed as he read the comments scrolling across the screen.

A tremendous sense of anticipation, the feeling of witnessing the rise of a new star, filled his chest and ignited the entire stream.

He cleared his throat and made a solemn announcement to his audience.

"Alright everyone, I’ve decided!"

"I’m going to officially recommend this Goblin Soldier to the admins of *Martial Arts Peak*!"

"I’m going to get him straight into the special matchmaking pool: the New Star Sequence!"

"The admins conduct the strictest background and data checks on every single person recommended for the New Star Sequence! If he’s cheating, they will absolutely find out!"

"In a few days, if his account gets banned, then we’ll just chalk it up as us doing a public service!"

"But if... his account is still active, then we are truly about to witness history!"

...

「Two days passed in a flash.」

Over those two days, aside from his necessary training, Lin Ye only spent six hours a day logged into *Martial Arts Peak*.

After his match against Dong Dongchen, he faced almost no decent resistance. He effortlessly racked up a winning streak, charging all the way to first place on the Dongjiang City leaderboard.

Tied with Xue Wangshu.

Since the two had never fought, the system couldn’t declare a definitive winner.

Lin Ye also realized there was no longer any point in staying in the prospective Martial Artist bracket.

No matter how hard the system tried to find a counter for him, it simply couldn’t find any masters in this bracket who could do the job.

After all, the highest rank in the prospective Martial Artist bracket was only the mid-stage of the Vein Opening Realm.

Anyone stronger would be classified as a full-fledged Martial Artist and moved to that bracket instead.

’This can only mean that my current P1 strength is enough to crush any opponent at the mid-stage of the Vein Opening Realm.’

’As for the late stage of the Vein Opening Realm...’

Since he’d never encountered anyone at that level, Lin Ye had no idea.

Lin Ye was starting to feel bored.

He figured he might as well wait for the city-wide mock exam tomorrow to test his new abilities in a real fight.

Just as he was about to log off, an official email from the system popped up.

Lin Ye casually clicked it open.

[Dear Combatant:]

[Following a detailed investigation and appraisal, we have determined that your martial skills are exquisite and far surpass those of other combatants in your division. Upon the recommendation of the streamer Dong Dongchen, we hereby cordially invite you to join the special matchmaking sequence: New Star.]

[The "New Star Sequence" is a matchmaking pool prepared exclusively for the true geniuses among the nation’s young Martial Artists. Candidates are jointly recommended by famous streamers, currently active powerhouses, and the upper echelons of the top Martial Halls, and are then vetted by a team of professional technicians.]

[This sequence is a separate division. Upon joining, you will only be matched with other combatants who are also part of the "New Star Sequence."]

[Upon joining, you will also be informed of your national ranking within the sequence.]

[Do you agree to join?]

Below the email, two options appeared: "Agree" and "Decline."

As Lin Ye read the email, a glimmer of light finally appeared in his eyes.

’There’s a special matchmaking division like this?’

’A battlefield reserved only for geniuses?’

After a moment of thought, he selected "Agree."

[DING! You have successfully joined the special matchmaking sequence: New Star Sequence!]

[Please complete 2 placement matches to unlock your initial ranking in the sequence!]

Without hesitation, Lin Ye hit the match button.

The matchmaking didn’t take long this time, mainly because in this sequence, the system no longer needed to find someone to shut Lin Ye down.

In the system’s eyes, anyone in this sequence could shut him down!

In less than thirty seconds, a match was found!

[Opponent Found!]

[Cheng Shanhe (Rank 6776) vs. Goblin Soldier (Unranked)]

...

「Meanwhile.」

「Great Xia, Yanjing.」

Dong Dongchen started his stream for the day.

The afternoon wasn’t his usual streaming time.

But he had received a piece of inside information: the dark horse with the strange ID whom he had personally recommended...

...had already passed the official review from *Martial Arts Peak*.

He wasn’t a cheater.

He was the real deal.

So, he went live.

He used only five words for his stream title.

[Witness a New Star Rise!]

The instant he went live, his viewer count shot past ten thousand and continued to climb at a furious, visible pace.

Most of the people who flooded in right away were Dong Dongchen’s die-hard fans, and they understood the meaning of the title instantly.

"Here we go, here we go!"

"Look at that title! The guy who thrashed our streamer a few days ago must have passed the review!"

"Of course he passed. His mechanics, his game sense... you can tell at a glance that’s not something you get from hacking."

"Finally! It’s no fun watching him stomp noobs. If he’s in the New Star Sequence, we’re in for a real show tonight!"

"LMAO, when you say ’stomp noobs,’ are you including our boy Chen?"

"In all of Great Xia, only a little over eight thousand people have made it into the New Star Sequence. Every single one of them is a genius among geniuses!"

Dong Dongchen watched the chat explode, first offering a practiced greeting to his viewers.

Then, he eagerly opened his favorites list.

That familiar ID was lit up, showing he was online.

[Goblin Soldier: Matchmaking...]

Dong Dongchen’s eyes lit up instantly.

’He’s online!’

’And he’s in queue!’

’I just don’t know if he’s already agreed to join the New Star Sequence.’

[Opponent found. Generating match. Spectating will be available shortly.]

Just as the system notification popped up, the status next to the ID changed.

Dong Dongchen practically held his breath, focusing all his attention on the screen.

A moment later, the detailed matchup information popped up.

The instant he saw the two IDs on the screen, Dong Dongchen froze solid.

Then, he practically roared at his stream.

"Everyone, I’m not kidding! This is huge!"

"He agreed to join the New Star Sequence! And guess who he got for his first placement match?!"

The chat scrolled wildly, everyone urging him not to drag out the suspense.

Dong Dongchen didn’t delay any longer, sharing the matchup information right in the center of his stream.

[Cheng Shanhe (Rank 6776) vs. Goblin Soldier (Unranked)]

At first, there was some confusion in the chat.

"Cheng Shanhe? Who’s that? Is he famous?"

"Never heard of him. Rank six thousand-something... that’s high, but he’s not exactly top-tier, is he?"

But soon, a more knowledgeable long-time viewer provided the answer. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"You don’t know Cheng Shanhe? Let me give you a name you’ll definitely know: the Rock Martial Saint, Cheng Yue!"

"He’s the Rock Martial Saint Cheng Yue’s youngest son!"

The comment sent shockwaves through the chat.

"Holy shit, the son of a Martial Saint??"

"Holy crap! Starting with a royal flush? What kind of insane matchmaking is this?"

"Wait a minute, this Cheng Shanhe is ranked in the six thousands. Even if that’s the lower end of the New Star Sequence, at least he’s not dead last."

"Normally, for a first placement match, you’d expect to get a gatekeeper ranked somewhere in the high seven or eight thousands, right? How did he get matched straight into him?"

Dong Dongchen’s eyes were shining as he explained to his viewers, "You guys know how the matchmaking works. The stronger the system thinks you are and the more it thinks you’re out of place in your current rank, the more ridiculous the opponents it throws at you!"

"A normal placement match for someone just entering the New Star Sequence would be against an opponent ranked above seventy-five hundred."

"But if you go on an absolute rampage in your own division and rack up a 122-match win streak, you get this kind of treatment, too!"

Everyone who heard this was a little stunned.

Huh?

A 122-match... win streak?

HISS...

’In the past two days, he’s still been queuing, and he’s still been winning!’

’He’s never lost a single match??’