Chapter 139: Joint Recommendation from the Top 100?! Qin Feng is Actually a Control Realm Genius

Chapter 139: A Joint Recommendation from the Top 100?! Qin Feng, a Prodigy of the Mastery Realm! (Second Update, Begging for Monthly Tickets~)

"Individual strength, teamwork, physical potential, mental willpower, talent, comprehension..."

Qin Feng silently chewed over these words just spoken by Xiong Yanfu in his mind.

He knew that this trip to the Canaan Starry Sky Martial University's assessment would not be easy.

It was not merely a contest of power, but a comprehensive, brutal screening of overall ability.

Any weakness in a single area could lead to ultimate failure.

He continued to chat idly with the chubby, overly familiar stranger beside him.

From Xiong Yanfu's words, Qin Feng also learned more about the customs and anecdotes of geniuses from other educational planets, greatly broadening his horizons.

Time flew by swiftly as they conversed.

The massive transport shuttle, after passing through a dazzling ribbon of countless meteors and stardust, began to slow down gradually.

Finally, with a slight jolt, the shuttle landed smoothly at its destination.

"Destination reached: Canaan Starry Sky Martial University - Admissions Assessment Office - Outer Docking Harbor. Please disembark in an orderly fashion."

Accompanied by a pleasant chime, the cabin door slowly opened.

Qin Feng and Xiong Yanfu, together with the crowd, walked down the shuttle.

Beneath their feet was solid ground paved with an unknown metal.

Before their eyes stretched a magnificent complex of buildings that inspired awe.

Towering structures, bizarre in shape yet full of futuristic and artistic flair, rose straight into the clouds.

Countless shuttles of various sizes shuttled between these buildings, forming a busy yet orderly three-dimensional transportation network.

At key points in the docking harbor, numerous volunteer martial artists in the standard uniforms of Canaan Starry Sky Martial University were maintaining order.

Some were verifying identities, some guiding the crowd, and others dispatching shuttles—everything appeared well-organized.

Qin Feng noticed that the high-level martial artists who had seemed unfathomably powerful on the shuttle were now joining the ranks of these volunteers, skillfully beginning their work.

Only then did Qin Feng suddenly realize.

So those high-level martial artists who looked like "passengers" on the shuttle were actually current students of Canaan Starry Sky Martial University, using their spare time to volunteer at the admissions office!

Qin Feng and Xiong Yanfu, following clear signs, crossed the massive docking harbor and arrived before a grand gate.

In front of the gate, a long queue had already formed, stretching beyond sight.

Roughly estimating, the line contained at least tens of thousands of people.

Moreover, more shuttles were continuously landing, bringing genius after genius from different planets.

"My god... so many people!"

Xiong Yanfu clicked his tongue as he looked at the endless line. "This is still the off-season. They say if several university districts have holidays at the same time, the line can stretch for hundreds of thousands!"

Qin Feng was also secretly astonished.

The Canaan Galaxy had over a trillion educational planets.

Even by the most conservative estimate, if each planet sent only one "star general" per imperial year to take the assessment, the number would be astronomical.

And now, these once-glorious prodigies from their respective planets had all gathered here, becoming ordinary members of this long line.

"Brother Qin," Xiong Yanfu lowered his voice again, speaking mysteriously as they queued, "I heard that inside Canaan Starry Sky Martial University, there is no 'contract mechanism.' Unlike other martial universities, which give you fixed resources based on your rating."

"Here, if students want any cultivation resources, they have to fight for them themselves, earn them by doing tasks."

"But the school is still quite humane."

Xiong Yanfu pointed at the busy senior students volunteering. "Take this volunteer task, for example. Helping out at the admissions office for a month earns you 5 Imperial Contribution Points. This task refreshes only once every ten years. See those seniors? They all scramble to do it just for this."

"Imperial Contribution Points?"

Qin Feng's heart shook violently. He looked at Xiong Yanfu in disbelief. "Are you sure it's Imperial Contribution Points? Not... internal school points or credits?"

"Yes, I'm absolutely sure!"

Xiong Yanfu nodded emphatically.

"Otherwise, do you think these seniors, who value time more than life and are busy with cultivation, would come to do such trivial work? They're all after these 5 Imperial Contribution Points!"

With the confirmation, Qin Feng's heart surged with waves even more turbulent than when he had seen the towering giant tower earlier.

5 Imperial Contribution Points!

That was no small amount!

He clearly remembered the conclusion drawn by his intelligent assistant, Hammer, after precise calculations—a second-level veteran martial artist, after forty years of high-intensity warfare on the empire's border, with all his efforts and merits combined, would only amount to 500 Imperial Contribution Points!

A simple conversion meant that a veteran like Kro, to earn these mere 5 Imperial Contribution Points, would need to fight bloodily on a high-intensity battlefield where death could come at any moment, for a full 146 imperial days!

Remember, on the empire's most brutal front-line meat-grinder battlefields, the average survival time of an ordinary second-level martial artist in the Star Realm Army didn't even exceed ten minutes!

Of course, in logistics units, maintenance units, or some lower-intensity secondary battlefields, the average survival time would be much longer.

But this still sufficed to show how precious and valuable Imperial Contribution Points were!

They were earned from the corpses of alien races, with countless fresh lives, endless blood, and sacrifice!

Yet at Canaan Starry Sky Martial University, one could earn them by simply volunteering for a month, doing light work like guiding crowds, verifying identities, and ensuring the safety of examinees?

This was... absurd to the extreme!

Qin Feng's face was filled with incomprehensible confusion.

Xiong Yanfu beside him seemed to read his doubt and explained with a smile:

"Brother Qin Feng, you must be thinking this defies common sense, right? Actually, I was just as shocked when I first learned about it."

"Think about it—without this overwhelming advantage, how could Canaan Starry Sky Martial University, which provides no fixed resources and leaves students to fend for themselves, firmly hold the top spot in this galaxy and attract all the top geniuses to come on pilgrimage?"

"In fact, behind this lies an empire-level highest authority—the Contribution Point Trading Authority."

"In the empire, any private trading of Imperial Contribution Points is a serious crime. Once discovered by the Imperial Tribunal, the offender will be immediately wanted. For larger transactions, they may even be executed."

"But Canaan Starry Sky Martial University is different. Their principal, that ancient being said to have lived for who knows how many millennia, possesses a special authority personally granted by the empire to trade and distribute Contribution Points within the school!"

"Of course," Xiong Yanfu added, "this authority can only be used for cultivating students, not for any other purpose."

"Let me give you an example to make it clear."

"There are many guest mentors at Canaan Starry Sky Martial University, right? Among them, there are even black-hole-level supreme beings. For such existences, casually completing an empire-issued task of that level might earn them an astronomical number of Contribution Points—enough for people like us to use until... ah, I can't even calculate it, but anyway, it's unimaginably much."

"Forget it, let's take the most ordinary mentors as an example. Most ordinary mentors here are at the stellar level. When they go out and complete an empire task, the Contribution Points they earn are enough for thousands of new students like us to cultivate all the way to the planetary level and graduate, with plenty left over."

Hearing this, a lightning bolt seemed to flash through Qin Feng's mind.

He understood completely.

Because of this "special trading authority," Canaan Starry Sky Martial University was equivalent to an officially recognized, enormous "Contribution Point transfer station"!

It could take the massive amounts of Contribution Points earned by the mentors at the top of the pyramid after completing high-difficulty tasks, and through various forms like school competitions and volunteer tasks, "concede" them to the students at a relatively "cheap" price!

This single clause alone utterly crushed all other Star Martial Universities and their so-called "S-Class Contracts"!

Even the other Star Martial Universities, even those ranked among the top hundred, absolutely did not possess this heaven-defying special trading right!

Having realized this, Qin Feng's reverence for Canaan Star Martial University deepened another layer.

...

The line moved slowly but orderly forward.

Soon, it was Qin Feng's turn.

The one responsible for verifying identities was a senior student with a stern face and a steady demeanor.

Without lifting his head, he said in a businesslike tone, "Align your personal terminal with the verifier."

Qin Feng complied.

As a beam of light swept over, his personal information and the electronic copies of the two recommendation letters appeared on the senior's screen.

The senior initially gave it a routine glance, but when he saw the content on the screen, an involuntary flicker of surprise crossed his face.

For in his private domain system, it was clearly displayed that this examinee named Qin Feng had in his file not only a joint recommendation letter from the local educational planet's Martial High Schools, originating from "Venus,"

but also a recommendation letter jointly signed by a hundred top-ranked Star Martial Universities!

This was quite remarkable.

To obtain a recommendation letter from a top hundred Martial University was already considered the cream of geniuses.

But to have a hundred top hundred Martial Universities simultaneously vouch for one person—this was something he had never seen in his seven times serving as a volunteer.

The senior couldn't help but raise his head in surprise and take a closer look at Qin Feng.

Yet in his perception, the young man before him had an aura that was restrained and unremarkable, like an uncut jade, revealing nothing special.

Though astonished inwardly, he showed nothing on the surface.

With good breeding, he silently pressed the "Verification Passed" button on the screen.

"Go on in."

He stepped aside, clearing the path.

Qin Feng and Xiong Yanfu thanked him and passed through the gate.

Behind the gate lay an open-air plaza so vast it was beyond imagination.

The plaza was paved with smooth white stone, stretching endlessly, capable of accommodating millions for a gathering.

At the front of the plaza stood a towering black platform that reached into the clouds, its purpose unknown.

At this moment, the plaza was sparsely occupied by tens of thousands of examinees sitting on the ground.

Most sat cross-legged on the meditation cushions, eyes closed in deep thought, seizing every moment to adjust their state.

A volunteer martial artist, hovering in midair, spoke to the newly arrived students:

"The number of examinees for this batch hasn't been completed yet. Find yourselves spots on the plaza and await notification."

Without overthinking, Qin Feng and Xiong Yanfu found two adjacent cushions and sat down cross-legged.

He closed his eyes, cleared his mind of distractions, and soon entered a state of meditation where self and world were forgotten.

His consciousness sank into his body, repeatedly tracing the operational routes of the *Great Sun Acupuncture Method* and the *Great Sun Visualization Method*, familiarizing himself with the sensation of using mental energy to explore and construct acupoints.

—

On the vast plaza, time seemed to lose its meaning.

Qin Feng sat cross-legged on the cushion, his mind fully immersed in the exploration of his own martial path.

His mental energy, like countless fine yet resilient threads, constantly roamed and probed through his limbs, bones, meridians, and flesh.

This was an unprecedented, microscopic control over his own body.

He could "see" his blood, like a surging river, roaring through his veins; he could "hear" his heart, like a beating war drum, each pulse brimming with immense power; he could "feel" every cell of his breathing, yearning for stronger energy.

The cultivation of the *Great Sun Acupuncture Method* was not merely about opening acupoints; it was a process of reacquainting oneself with and fully mastering one's own body.

[Ding! *Great Sun Acupuncture Method* proficiency +1]

[Ding! *Great Sun Visualization Method* proficiency +1]

The system's prompts, like the most precise metronome, sounded rhythmically in his mind.

Though his cultivation seemed slow in progress, each increase in proficiency represented a deeper grasp of his own spirit and flesh.

Thus, day after day.

The crowd in the plaza grew larger.

Every day, new geniuses converged from all directions, joining this silent wait.

No one shouted; no one spoke.

All, like Qin Feng, cherished this final calm before the storm, seizing every second to accumulate their strength.

An intangible aura, forged from the soaring battle intent of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of geniuses, slowly rose over the plaza.

In the blink of an eye, a full month had passed.

During this month, Qin Feng's gains were immense.

He had fully mastered the secret of "locating acupoints."

Those three hundred and sixty hidden "acupoint singularities" deep within the body, under the probing of his mental energy like a high-precision radar, held no more secrets.

He had even successfully pinpointed the exact location of the first "Great Sun Acupoint."

It lay beneath the left shoulder blade, at a very concealed intersection of meridians.

However, he had not yet rushed to construct the acupoint shell.

The first attempt was crucial.

He needed to adjust his state to its peak and perfect all preparations.

It was fortunate that Qin Feng did not attempt to build the first acupoint shell's prototype, for the assessment was about to begin.

A vast, majestic voice, as if descending from the heavens, resounded throughout the plaza, clearly reaching everyone's ears.

"The number of examinees for this assessment has reached one million."

"The assessment is about to begin. All examinees, please prepare and await the arrival of the supervising mentors."

Boom!

This voice, like a thunderclap, instantly awakened all the geniuses immersed in deep meditation.

Qin Feng's eyes snapped open; a glint of light flashed deep within his pupils.

Was it about to start?

He stood up, along with the other million examinees, and turned his gaze toward the towering black stone platform at the front of the plaza.

On the platform, clouds and mist churned.

Then, dozens of powerful, suffocating, terrifying auras descended without warning!

Every breath was like a blazing solar star in the heavens—scorching, majestic, brimming with endless vitality and energy!

Under the pressure of these dozens of breaths, the air in the entire plaza seemed to freeze.

In that moment, the million celestial prodigies felt themselves as insignificant as a speck of dust.

Stellar-level mentors!

Without a doubt, these were the mentors of Canaan Starry Sky Martial University, descending in their true forms!

Just as the crowd’s hearts were stirred, the volunteer martial artist who had been guiding them earlier flew back into midair.

His voice, amplified by the sound equipment, rang clearly across the entire venue.

“For this assessment, the duty mentors are: Wei Wei, Lü Lan, Li Xi, Mu Lin, Yu Han…”

He recited dozens of names in succession.

“After passing the assessment, each of you may be accepted as an ordinary disciple by a mentor.”

“Mentors may freely choose their preferred disciples, and disciples may freely choose their preferred mentors. Once both parties agree, the master-disciple relationship is formally established.”

“If, during the selection process, you are not chosen by any mentor and fail to successfully choose any mentor, the system will randomly assign a mentor to you. Neither the mentor nor the student has the right to refuse this assignment.”

“…”

A series of rules were announced.

The plaza instantly erupted into a suppressed yet fervent buzz of discussion.

“Heavens! Did I hear that right? Mentor Yu Han! Mentor Yu Han actually showed up!”

“I’m so lucky! This time I’m actually scheduled for Mentor Yu Han’s duty! As long as I pass the assessment, I’ll choose him first! If only he would take notice and accept me as his disciple!”

“It’s actually Yu Han!”

Listening to the shocked and fervent discussions around him, a flicker of curiosity rose in Qin Feng’s heart.

With a thought, he issued a command to his intelligent assistant, Hammer.

“Hammer, search the Imperial Forum for all public information about Mentor Yu Han.”

“Received, Master.”

With Hammer’s help, in just one second, a detailed résumé appeared in Qin Feng’s mind.

[Name: Yu Han]

[Strength Rating: Galactic-level powerhouse]

[Main Résumé:]

[Yunwu Planet – Yunwu War Star] [‘Stellar Cup’ League – Runner-up]

[173,928,119th ‘Universal Genius War’ – 971,922nd place]

[Limit Warrior Legion – Seventh Combat Company – Captain (Retired)]

Looking at this résumé, which was luxurious to the extreme, Qin Feng couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath.

War star, Stellar Cup runner-up, Universal Genius War… any one of these was an achievement that could make an ordinary martial artist look up to for a lifetime.

And this Mentor Yu Han had gathered all these honors upon himself.

Even more terrifying, he had once been a company captain in the Limit Warrior Legion!

The weight of that was immense!

“Brother Qin Feng, don’t you know?”

Xiong Yanfu, who was beside him, saw Qin Feng searching for information and leaned in to whisper, “This Mentor Yu Han is one of the few Galactic-level mentors at Canaan Starry Sky Martial University. Moreover, he is extremely gentle; it’s said that he pays attention to all students, regardless of their talent. He has the best reputation among us students! Add to that his solid, battle-hardened résumé, forged through mountains of corpses and seas of blood—he is absolutely the mentor every new student most desires to study under, bar none!”

“I see.”

Qin Feng nodded.

He raised his head, trying to see the true faces of the dozens of Stellar-level powerhouses through the churning clouds.

But he failed.

Under the descent of these powerhouses’ true forms, their life magnetic fields, like real stars, distorted the light and interfered with perception.

All Qin Feng could see were blurry, scorching patches of light and shadow; he couldn’t glimpse their true features at all.

That feeling was extremely terrifying.

Of course, during this appearance, the mentors had not restrained their auras but released them wantonly, precisely to let the students feel the surging vitality of the strong and inspire them to catch up.

Just then, the dozens of terrifying auras on the stone platform slowly receded.

After their appearance, the mentors all soared into the air, stepped onto the higher levels of the towering black stone platform, and vanished from sight.

Though the auras had disappeared, everyone knew that those dozens of all-seeing eyes were surely on the platform, silently watching every move they made next.

Then, the volunteer martial artist’s voice rang out again.

This time, his tone became extremely solemn.

“Silence!”

“The content of this enrollment assessment is announced as follows!”

Everyone’s breath was held in that moment.

“First item: In the upcoming mission, single-handedly slay a Zerg elite unit rated ‘Level Four.’”

“Second item: Randomly assigned into teams, using teamwork to successfully capture a ‘target camp’ occupied by the Zerg.”

“Third item: Physical potential must meet the ‘Pure Human’ standard or above.”

“Fourth item: The ‘Heavenly Ladder’ assessment must reach one hundred floors or above.”

“Fifth item: Personal primary killing technique realm must reach ‘Perfection’ or above.”

“Complete all five items above to obtain enrollment eligibility and become a student of Canaan Starry Sky Martial University.”

After hearing these five assessment items, the million geniuses on the plaza once again burst into fervent discussion.

Some rejoiced, some worried.

As for Qin Feng, he nodded slightly.

This assessment content was roughly what he had anticipated and what Xiong Yanfu had mentioned.

Personal strength, teamwork, physical potential, and killing technique comprehension—all had clear evaluations.

As for that “Heavenly Ladder,” it likely tested mental strength or talent related to willpower.

However, given that the physical potential requirement was merely the lowest standard of “Pure Human,” the mental aspect’s requirement probably wouldn’t be too absurd.

“All examinees, please accept the teleportation invitation.”

The volunteer martial artist’s voice sounded again.

“Next, you will be collectively teleported to the battlefield planet codenamed ‘G19182-B11’ for the first two practical assessments.”

“Note: The time limit for the practical assessment is six Imperial months.”

“Note: This practical assessment does not permit carrying any psionic weapons, standard power armor, or restorative potions. Only cold weapons made of Level Four alloy or below are allowed.”

"The assessment is about to begin. Please accept the transmission invitation immediately!"

As the voice fell.

Qin Feng's personal terminal immediately emitted a faint chime.

A transmission invitation, flashing with red light, appeared on his subspace network interface.

Without a moment's hesitation, he clicked "Accept."

At the same time, in the square, a million prodigies also made the same choice.

The next second, dazzling, thick pillars of transmission light descended from the sky, precisely enveloping every person in the square!

The light swallowed everything.

—

The light faded.

The vast square, which had just been teeming with a million young talents, instantly became empty and silent.

Apart from the faint hum of the still-operating equipment, there was not a single sound.

All the examinees, along with the volunteer martial artists serving as guides, were simultaneously and precisely transported by the subspace transmission network to the distant battlefield planet codenamed "G19182-B11."

At the top of the black stone platform, within the mysterious space shrouded in clouds.

Dozens of stellar-level mentors, their auras as deep and vast as the abyss, were leisurely seated around a massive round table carved from a single piece of star obsidian.

Before them, an enormous holographic screen floated silently.

On the screen, it was precisely divided into millions of tiny, dynamic squares.

Each square played real-time footage of specific scenes on a distant planet—barren surfaces with flying sand and jagged rocks, swamps filled with corrosive acid rain, dark and damp underground caves covered in fungal mats...

A million examinees were randomly scattered across every corner of this planet.

Their figures, along with their surroundings, were clearly displayed on this massive screen, available for the mentors to review at any time.

The atmosphere here was utterly different from the tense and solemn square below.

The mentors, with varied expressions, chatted and laughed, as if what was about to begin was not a brutal assessment determining the fate of a million prodigies, but merely an entertaining reality show to pass the time.

"Another new batch of assessments. I wonder if there will be any standout seedlings this time that catch the eye."

A female mentor with fiery red hair and a seemingly bold personality lifted a cup of unknown, starlight-glowing nectar and said with a light laugh.

"I hope there are more with high comprehension in combat techniques."

Another mentor, somewhat unkempt with a huge gourd of wine hanging from his waist, spoke lazily, "My self-created 'Drunken Star River' sword technique is nearly lost. If I can't find a suitable successor, I'll have to take it to the grave."

"Haha, Mullin, you've been saying that for a thousand years."

A middle-aged mentor with a refined appearance teased, "To inherit your combat techniques, one must at least be a genius at the Mastery stage, right? Entering the Mastery stage at the third-level martial artist phase—how easy is that? Among this million examinees, I think even a thousand would be a great harvest."

"A thousand? Lü Lan, you're too optimistic."

The red-haired female mentor shook her head, "I guess no more than three hundred. After all, the step of 'Mastery' is too difficult. It requires true 'talent,' not something that can be piled up with effort and resources."

"Those who haven't entered the Mastery stage but have touched its threshold should be quite a few, right? That should be more realistic."

"That's more like it. I estimate there could be several thousand, even tens of thousands. These are the promising seedlings we should focus on. With a little polishing, they all have hope of truly stepping into the 'Mastery' realm."

The mentors talked among themselves, exchanging opinions.

If their conversation were to reach the outside world, it would shake any of the top hundred martial universities.

In their words, the "Mastery stage" geniuses, enough to set an entire educational planet ablaze, seemed not to be such rare existences.

After all, the Canaan Star System had an enormous base!

Trillions of educational planets, geniuses as numerous as fish crossing a river, endless!

Just then, the refined middle-aged mentor Lü Lan seemed to recall something and said, "By the way, I heard that among this batch of examinees, there is a genius who received joint recommendation letters from over a hundred top hundred space martial universities. His name is... Qin Feng, right? With such weight, he must have already touched the threshold of the Mastery stage, or perhaps even truly entered it."

"Oh? Is that so?"

The wine-gourd elder Mullin became interested, "This kid has good judgment. To reject S-level contracts from over a hundred top universities and choose to start from scratch at our Canaan Space Martial University—this kind of mindset and foresight deserves a second look."

"The mentors, with varied expressions, chatted among themselves, the atmosphere relaxed and harmonious.

Among them sat Yu Han, the galaxy-level powerhouse known as the 'best reputation.'

Unlike the others, he did not engage in grand discussions. He simply smiled, quietly listening to the conversation, occasionally interjecting a word or two.

He was indeed well-liked, without any airs of a galaxy-level powerhouse, getting along with the surrounding stellar-level mentors like friends.

However, just as the mentors were deep in discussion.

An indescribable, supreme, and terrifying aura, surpassing the life level of everyone present, descended without warning!

The entire space seemed to freeze slightly under the pressure of this aura.

The nectar on the table stopped flowing.

The light and shadows in the air ceased flickering.

All the stellar-level and even galaxy-level mentors present instantly lost their smiles.

As if by common accord, they abruptly stood up, their expressions solemn to the extreme.

At the head of the round table, a phantom of light was slowly solidifying from emptiness.

Finally, the light solidified completely, transforming into a battle group warrior clad in a deep blue special power armor, towering like a mountain, with an aura as terrifying as a black hole.

It was none other than the commander of the Seventh Company of the Ultramarines Battle Group, and a guest mentor of Canaan Space Martial University—Zhou Xiong!

Upon recognizing the figure's appearance and aura, all the mentors present, including the galaxy-level Yu Han, simultaneously and solemnly performed a standard Imperial military salute.

"Lord Zhou!"

Their voices were filled with the deepest, most heartfelt reverence.

"Time is tight."

Zhou Xiong's gaze, as deep as a sea of stars, swept across the room.

He casually waved his hand, signaling everyone not to stand on ceremony.

Then, his eyes precisely locked onto Yu Han.

Without a single superfluous word, he spoke in an unquestionable, commanding tone:

"Yu Han, among this batch of examinees, there is a young man named Qin Feng. Take him as your disciple."

"If he refuses you during the mentor selection phase, then arrange for him to become your disciple in the final system random assignment stage."

"Understood."

Yu Han, though his heart was churning with shock, showed no hesitation on the surface and immediately nodded firmly in agreement.

"I'm off."

Having delivered this instruction, Zhou Xian seemed to have more important matters to attend to.

His figure once again began to slowly grow ethereal.

In the end, he vanished completely from the spot, as if he had never appeared at all.

Only when that terrifying pressure had fully dissipated

did the mentors present dare to slowly straighten up, exchanging bewildered glances, their faces etched with shock and confusion.

"Qin Feng? That same kid who got the joint recommendation letter from the top hundred interstellar martial arts universities?"

"Who exactly is he? To make Lord Zhou Xiong, in the midst of his countless duties, specially send down a spiritual imprint just to convey this one matter?"

"And... this is practically an open case of rigging the system, isn't it? Directly appointing Senior Yu Han to take him as a disciple? That doesn't align with our Canaan Interstellar Martial Arts University's usual rules!"

"Senior Yu Han, what's going on here? Do you... have any inside information?"

All eyes converged on Yu Han.

Yu Han's brow furrowed deeply.

He shook his head and said in a low voice, "I don't know either."

The others pressed no further, instead springing into action.

They each called up the light screen before them and began using their mentor privileges to query every detail about "Qin Feng"—

including his origins, his résumé, all his match recordings from the Qiming Star Inter-school League, and every battle replay from his private domain at Qiming No.1 High School.

Due to the secrecy measures of the Empire's core battle corps, the recording of that match where Qin Feng, in his duel with Zhou Yu, triggered the "Nail of Favor" through an epiphany, had been completely erased from the database and could not be accessed.

Soon, the mentors discovered the anomaly.

"Control Realm!"

exclaimed the refined mentor Lü Lan.

"So he's a genius who has already stepped into the 'Control Realm'!"

"At seventeen, he has truly forged his own path! This level of killing-art insight is indeed remarkable!"

"No wonder! No wonder over a hundred top-tier martial arts universities went crazy over him! And no wonder he dared to reject those generous contracts! So this is the confidence he had!"

For a moment, all doubts seemed to find their answers.

"A pity, though—the killing arts he has mastered are still too few. For now, it seems he only knows the 'Thousand Army Spear' and the 'Fierce Bird Fist Technique'."

"Don't say that. Just by mastering two killing arts, he could draw inferences and forge his own path, even creating a powerful finishing move of his own. That actually proves his insight is even greater!"

"...

The mentors buzzed with discussion, their gazes toward the young man named Qin Feng on the light screen growing fervent.

Yet amid this atmosphere of sudden understanding, only Yu Han's brow furrowed even deeper.

He didn't understand.

Or rather, he felt things were definitely not that simple.

He had once been the squad leader of the Seventh Combat Company under Lord Zhou Xiong, following that black-hole-level supreme being through the cruelest cosmic battlefields for thousands of years.

Lord Zhou Xiong was a man who valued "rules" and "efficiency" more than his own life.

A mere "Control Realm" genius—though excellent, though rare—

was far from enough to make Lord Zhou Xiong, in the midst of his countless duties, specially send down a spiritual imprint just to say this one sentence.

What's more, Lord Zhou Xiong had explicitly told him to "break the rules" and use "backdoor methods" to forcibly take this Qin Feng as his own disciple!

This was too strange.

Too abnormal!

"Besides the 'Control Realm,' what other special qualities does this little fellow named Qin Feng possess, to earn such attention from Lord Zhou Xiong?"

Yu Han's heart was filled with intense curiosity and doubt.

He no longer joined the others' discussion, instead focusing all his attention on the light screen before him.

His finger lightly tapped the screen.

Among the millions of squares, the one representing Qin Feng's figure was instantly enlarged, filling the entire screen before him.

He wanted to see for himself what made this youth, for whom Lord Zhou Xiong was willing to make an exception, so extraordinary.

(End of this chapter)