Chapter 159: Monster-level Strength! Terrible Speed of Progress!

Chapter 159: Monster-Level Strength! Terrifying Speed of Progress! Countless Senior Students Shocked!

Lei Meng opened his mouth, that streetwise phrase "Don't worry, boss, I'll look after your family from now on" hovered on his lips, yet he couldn't bring himself to say it.

He knew that with Qin Feng's pride, such cheap sympathy was utterly unnecessary.

All he could do was offer his heartfelt admiration.

The playful grin on Xiong Yanfu's face had long since vanished without a trace.

As the roar of millions of spectators coalesced into a torrent capable of shaking the heavens, a dignified, solemn voice resounded through every corner of the Glory Arena.

"Silence!"

Just those two words, and the clamorous waves of sound, reaching their zenith, were instantly suppressed by an invisible force. The entire magnificent arena plunged into an eerie, pin-drop silence.

An old man clad in a luxurious dark-gold robe, with snow-white hair and beard, and a face that exuded authority without anger, appeared as a colossal holographic projection towering above the arena.

He gazed down at the tens of millions of participants and spectators below, his eyes deep as a sea of stars.

He was none other than one of the vice-principals of Canaan Starry Sky Martial Arts University, a powerhouse already at the Black Hole level—Sikong Wang.

"Once every decade, the Canaan Freshman Cup officially begins today!"

Sikong Wang's voice carried no spiritual energy, yet it clearly penetrated the depths of every soul.

"The rules remain as before!"

"1v1, single elimination!"

"No power armor or spiritual weapons allowed; no recovery potions permitted."

"Now, the first round of matching begins!"

The moment his words fell, the simulated blue sky and white clouds of the massive energy dome at the center of the arena vanished instantly, replaced by a profound digital galaxy composed of infinite data streams.

Twenty-two million eight hundred thousand points of light, representing the participants, flickered, collided, and intertwined wildly within.

In the spectator stands, Qin Feng and his friends held their breath, staring at the rapidly scrolling matching interface on their personal terminals.

Hum—

A soft sound.

The data stream froze.

Everyone's first-round opponents were now set.

[Participant: Qin Feng (Student ID: GX7382901)]

[First Round Battle Arena: B-71 District, Platform 1314]

[Opponent: Li Mu (Student ID: GX9527483)]

[Teleport Countdown: 60 seconds]

"My opponent is a ten-year senior student; a bit tricky."

Xiong Yanfu frowned.

"Mine too, a comrade from the same war group. His life force index reached 400 points last year."

Lei Meng scratched his bald head, his face brimming with excited battle fervor.

Shi Potian and Tie Mu said nothing, merely nodding silently. Clearly, their opponents were no pushovers either.

"Gentlemen, may fortune favor your martial path."

Qin Feng said calmly to the group.

"You too, boss! Crush them!"

Before the words faded, a soft white light enveloped each of them.

The next second, the world spun.

When Qin Feng's vision cleared again, he stood on a massive platform, a thousand meters on each side, paved with some unknown black alloy.

A pale blue energy shield, like an inverted giant bowl, completely isolated this place from the clamor outside.

Absolute silence sharpened the senses to an extreme.

A hundred meters away, his first opponent, Li Mu, materialized simultaneously.

He was a very young-looking boy, still carrying a trace of unpolished innocence.

He wore a brand-new, basic standard-issue light armor, clutching a standard alloy longsword tightly in his hand, his palm slick with nervous sweat.

Clearly, like Shi Potian, he was a newly enrolled freshman this year.

The moment he saw Qin Feng, despair flickered in Li Mu's eyes.

Qin Feng stood there, poised like a mountain, exuding an air of grandmasterly bearing.

It was obvious—this was a powerful "senior student" he could never hope to match.

But no one who got into Canaan would surrender without a fight.

"P-please guide me, senior!"

Li Mu mustered all his courage, shouting loudly to embolden himself.

He stomped hard, launching himself like an arrow from a bowstring, charging straight at Qin Feng!

The longsword in his hand traced a textbook-perfect thrust trajectory.

Yet, in Qin Feng's eyes, it was as slow as a snail, riddled with flaws.

Qin Feng didn't even move a step.

He simply stood still, casually raising his right hand, and lightly thrust forward the four-meter-long, fourth-grade alloy spear.

No thunderous roar, no dazzling killing light.

Just that simple thrust.

As if practicing the most basic stabbing motion.

But this utterly simple spear strike—its timing, angle, and speed—was precise to an appalling degree.

It arrived after the opponent's move yet before it, as if it had already predicted all of Li Mu's actions, appearing directly at the endpoint of his charge.

Sss—

The cold spear tip, devoid of any killing intent, silently halted a millimeter before Li Mu's throat.

The sharp wind stirred by the condensed force on the spear had already pierced the skin of his neck, bringing a chilling sting.

Li Mu's forward charge came to an abrupt halt.

He froze in place, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks from sheer terror, cold sweat streaming down his forehead.

He could feel that if the spear tip advanced another millimeter, his throat would be instantly pierced.

Defeated.

A complete, utterly hopeless, crushing defeat.

From the moment he charged to the moment the spear tip locked onto his throat, the entire process took less than a second.

"I... I concede."

He forced the three words out from his throat, with great difficulty.

The moment the words fell, the referee's icy voice rang out across the entire arena.

【Zone B-71, Arena 1314, Qin Feng, wins!】

A flash of white light, and Qin Feng's figure had already vanished from the arena, returning to the spectator stands.

Returning at the same time as him were Lei Meng, Xiong Yanfu, Tie Mu, Shi Potian, as well as Qin Lan and Yin Jing.

Clearly, everyone had easily secured victory in the first round.

"Damn, taken out in an instant."

Lei Meng shrugged helplessly: "Terrible luck, first round and I run into some old monster with a 400 life force index."

Then came the second round, the third round...

The pace of the matches was astonishingly fast.

Tens of thousands of arenas were running simultaneously, with a new round of combat starting every few minutes.

Qin Feng sat quietly in his seat, and each time he was matched with an opponent, he would teleport away, then return within tens of seconds, or even a dozen or so.

His battles were so simple they bordered on monotonous.

No matter who the opponent was, whether they used a blade, a sword, fists, or a whip.

No matter if their style was overwhelmingly fierce or cunningly agile.

Qin Feng's response was always the same single move.

—A thrust of his spear.

A seemingly ordinary thrust, yet one that contained an extreme understanding of timing and distance.

No opponent could survive past the first exchange under that spear of his.

In the second round, his opponent was an agile assassin-type martial artist, who ended up having his wrist pierced by the spear, his long sword flying from his hand, forcing him to concede.

In the third round, his opponent was a heavily armored martial artist specializing in defense. The thick shield, capable of withstanding a full-force strike from an ordinary fourth-rank martial artist, was pierced by Qin Feng's spear at the weakest point of its spiritual energy flow. A burst of immense force sent the man and his shield flying backward, crashing directly into the protective barrier.

The fourth round... the fifth round...

Time flew by in these utterly one-sided battles.

When the signal for the end of the fifth round sounded, Qin Feng's name finally began to attract attention in certain specific circles.

Inside a luxurious box in Zone C-98 of the Glory Colosseum.

Several dozen martial artists, richly dressed and exuding extraordinary auras, sat around a massive holographic sand table.

None of them were below the sixth rank.

On the sand table, tens of thousands of light points flickered, each representing a contestant they deemed promising and worthy of attention.

"Eh? This one called Qin Feng, pull up his data."

A young man in fine clothes, wearing three rings on his hand, pointed to a light point in the corner of the sand table that had just been marked as "high win rate" by the data analysis system.

Immediately, an operator martial artist brought up Qin Feng's information.

"Qin Feng, student ID GX7382901, enrolled for ten years. All victories by a single strike, average time under 15 seconds. Based on energy fluctuation analysis, his life force index is estimated to be above 450 points. His fifth-round opponent, Zhao Kai, had a life force index of 320 points and mastered five complete first-rank killing techniques, yet was still taken out in one move."

"Oh? Enrolled for ten years?"

The young man became interested. "Ten years, keeping a low profile, never showing his hand. Interesting. Add him to the 'dark horse' watch list. Let the external bookmakers open a 'top 100,000' bet for him. Set the odds high, say 1:5."

"Yes, young master."

Similar scenes played out in various corners of the colosseum.

Although Qin Feng's battles ended too quickly to attract widespread attention.

For those "professional" spectators and bookmakers who delighted in analyzing data and uncovering dark horses, his terrifying record of "eight consecutive wins, all by a single strike" was already enough to speak volumes.

His name began to quietly appear on the "potential stock" lists of major betting houses.

Back in Qin Feng's own small circle, the atmosphere had grown somewhat heated.

"Holy shit! Boss, that's nine straight wins now, right? Too fierce!"

Lei Meng shouted excitedly as he watched Qin Feng emerge once again from the light of teleportation.

"Fatty Xiong! See that! People on the forum are already talking about the boss! Saying he's one of the dark horses in this rookie cup!"

Xiong Yanfu proudly waved his personal terminal, which displayed the chat group of his private betting pool. At that moment, quite a few people in the group were already following suit and placing bets on Qin Feng.

"Calm down, calm down."

Xiong Yanfu waved his hand with feigned profundity. "This is nothing yet. The real show hasn't even started! When Old Qin breaks into the top 100,000, that's when we'll reap the harvest!"

Qin Feng paid no attention to the outside chatter.

His mind was completely immersed in his own world.

Consecutive victories were, to him, already a foregone conclusion.

He was simply enjoying this pure process of overwhelming opponents with absolute strength, while also observing the fighting styles of other contestants, constantly enriching his own knowledge.

The sixth, seventh rounds...

The battles continued.

Qin Feng's winning streak also continued.

His opponents grew stronger and stronger, from freshmen at the start to seniors with life force indices commonly exceeding 300, even 400 points.

Their killing techniques became more and more exquisite, with some even having mastered second-rank killing techniques.

Yet, before Qin Feng's spear—seemingly unadorned but in truth as heavy as a mountain and as fast as lightning—all resistance proved futile and powerless.

Qin Feng was like a cold and precise killing machine, efficiently and accurately harvesting one victory after another.

His name was discussed more and more frequently on the forums.

His odds were repeatedly lowered across the major betting houses.

More and more spectators began to actively lock their holographic viewing devices onto his arena.

Everyone wanted to see just where the limit lay for this mysterious "dark horse" who had yet to lose a single match since the tournament began and almost never needed a second move.

Finally, the matchmaking information for the eighth round appeared on Qin Feng's personal terminal.

Everyone knew this round was the watershed.

Winning this battle meant breaking out from over twenty million contestants, officially entering the ranks of the "top 100,000," earning qualification for the next stage of the main tournament, and securing the most basic guaranteed reward!

【Eighth Round Battle Arena: Zone A-03, Arena 0007】

【Opponent: Luo Cheng (Student ID: GX6983221)】

When he saw the name of this opponent, Xiong Yanfu's expression tightened slightly.

"Luo Cheng... from the 'Heavenly Martial Legion.' Enrolled for twenty-three years. In the last rookie cup, he made it into the top 200,000. His life force index is now 520 points. This time, predictions have him breaking into the top 10,000."

"Boss, this time, we've hit a tough nut."

Lei Meng's expression turned solemn as well.

At last, a true adversary had emerged.

An opponent formidable enough to force out a fraction of Qin Feng's genuine strength.

In the grandstands, millions of eyes converged at this precise moment upon Ring Number Seven in Core Zone A, drawn by the focus of holographic viewfinders.

A flash of white light erupted.

Qin Feng and his challenger, Luo Cheng, materialized simultaneously at opposite ends of the arena.

Luo Cheng possessed a lean, sinewy build and a grim countenance, his hand gripping a broad-bladed war knife of peculiar design, its edge serrated with sharp teeth.

Within the sphere of Qin Feng’s perception, the man's vitality index was roughly on par with his own.

"Qin Feng?"

Luo Cheng regarded his opponent across the ring, rendering a formal imperial military salute: "Please instruct me."

Before his voice could fade, the ground beneath his feet shattered violently, and his entire form blurred into a blood-red afterimage, surging across hundreds of meters in an instant with a ferocious, unparalleled momentum!

"Second-tier Killing Method—The Three Bloody Slaughter Styles!"

The serrated war knife in his grip dragged a blinding, blood-colored arc of blade-light through the air; even before the steel could strike, a dense, crimson intent to kill—potent enough to rip the very soul apart—came rushing over!

At long last, someone had compelled Qin Feng to do more than simply thrust his spear.

Confronted by this earth-shattering slash, a ripple of emotion finally stirred within Qin Feng's gaze.

For the very first time, his feet shifted, sliding backward by a mere half-step.

It was precisely this half-step of distance that allowed him to flawlessly evade the most devastating edge of the oncoming blade. Immediately following, the long spear in his hands moved.

No longer was it a plain, ordinary thrust.

Hum—!

The shaft of the spear vibrated with a high-frequency tremor akin to a dragon's roar, as a vast, incomparably condensed torrent of psionic energy instantly flooded from his body into the weapon.

【The Thousand Army Spear · Chasing Shadows of Flowing Light!】

A silver streak of light, nearly invisible to the naked eye and refined into a single line, tore through the atmosphere, and at the exact millisecond before Luo Cheng’s tempestuous blade-light could touch his flesh, it struck with absolute precision at an unimaginable angle against the side of the serrated war knife.

Clang!!!

A crystalline crash, sharp to the absolute extreme and sounding like the shattering of colored glaze, exploded outward!

Luo Cheng felt an incomprehensible, violently condensed, and terrifying force surge madness-like through the blade and into his arm!

His mountain-cleaving "Three Bloody Slaughter Styles" appeared as fragile as a joke before this power.

The blood-colored light coating his weapon disintegrated in an instant!

His entire body recoiled as if struck by lightning; the webbing of his thumb tore open, spraying fresh blood, and his war knife slipped from his grasp with a mournful wail, soaring toward the heavens!

The silver streak of light, having deflected the weapon, lost none of its momentum and followed like a shadow, finally coming to a dead halt right before his wide, horror-stricken brow.

Victory and defeat were decided.

From the moment Luo Cheng launched his assault to the instant his weapon was disarmed and the spear-tip locked onto his brow.

The entire sequence took a mere three seconds.

【Zone A-03, Ring Number 0007, Qin Feng, Victorious!】

【Congratulations to contestant Qin Feng for successfully advancing to the top one hundred thousand!】

The referee's voice proclaimed the conclusion of this focal battle.

The entirety of the Honor Arena fell into a brief, single second of silence before instantly erupting into a clamor louder than anything heard before!

Countless spectators leaped from their seats, their faces masks of sheer disbelief.

He won!

The mysterious dark horse, Qin Feng, when faced with a universally acknowledged top-tier expert like Luo Cheng and a genuine second-tier killing method, had still claimed victory in an absolute, near-crushing manner!

Yet, still no one could discern the true depths of Qin Feng's strength.

Defeating Luo Cheng, to him, seemed no different from defeating the freshman in the first round.

"Wow, a vitality index of 520, seven mastered first-tier killing methods, and one proficient second-tier killing method, yet he was instantly killed in a single move?"

"Good grief, this Qin Feng has only been enrolled for ten years?"

"What kind of monster drops out of nowhere after only ten years of enrollment?"

When Qin Feng concluded the battle with Luo Cheng so cleanly using that single move, 【Chasing Shadows of Flowing Light】, the wave of clamor that instantly ignited the arena did not merely echo among the tens of millions in the spectator stands.

At the absolute apex of the Honor Arena, upon a circular high platform crafted from pure white jade that floated above the clouds like a divine temple, that earth-shattering spear strike had likewise stirred a minor ripple.

This was the exclusive viewing area for the instructors of the Canaan Starry Sky Martial Arts University.

Dozens of powerful entities, their auras as deep as oceans and their gazes sharp as fire, sat serenely in their places.

Any one of them, if placed in the outside world, possessed the strength to guard an entire star sector.

Yet at this moment, they merely sat like ordinary spectators, sipping rare, fragrant teas gathered from across the cosmos, watching the fierce dragon-and-tiger battles on the tens of thousands of rings below with casual interest.

To them, these battles between tier-four martial artists were like watching toddlers who had just learned to walk pushing one another around—immature, yet bursting with vitality.

What they focused on was not victory or defeat, but rather the talent, temperament, and unpolished, jade-like potential these "promising sprouts" displayed during combat.

"Heh, Junior Brother Wang, that kid 'Lin Ye' under your tutelage isn't bad. His execution of the 'Tidal Sword Technique' already carries a hint of your spirit, blending hardness with softness; it seems he has put in a great deal of hard work over these past few years."

An elder dressed in green Taoist robes remarked with a smile to a middle-aged instructor beside him.

"Senior Brother Zhang praises him too highly."

The middle-aged instructor addressed as Junior Brother Wang stroked his beard and smiled, a trace of pride visible on his face, "The boy's temperament is decent, but his comprehension is a bit lacking; he has yet to grasp the threshold of the essence of the 'Triple Tidal Waves,' so he still needs a few more years of tempering."

"This year's batch of promising sprouts is indeed numerous."

Another instructor, a woman with a fiery figure clad in tight-fitting, crimson war armor, raised a glass of liquor that resembled burning flame, took a light sip, and let her gaze sweep across the arena below, "Especially those few who have just broken through to the tier-six 'Soaring Realm'; their foundations are exceptionally solid. The condensation of their 'Primordial Acupoints' far exceeds that of their peers, giving them a high probability of successfully charging into the Planetary Level in the future."

The conversation naturally shifted from the senior students who had already distinguished themselves to the very top tier of geniuses within this year's Freshman Cup.

"Speaking of which..."

An instructor who appeared quite refined suddenly directed his gaze toward a corner of the high platform, where a figure had remained silent from beginning to end, merely watching the matches in solitude.

As these words were spoken, the gazes of all the instructors on the high platform converged, by common consent, upon the instructor named "Yu Han."

Their eyes, intentionally or otherwise, glanced down toward Ring Number Seven in Zone A-03.

There, a focal battle had just concluded, and the name of the victor was Qin Feng.

"Yu Han, that young disciple of yours who received... 'special care' from Company Commander Zhou Xiong... is this one named Qin Feng, correct?"

Senior Brother Zhang, who possessed the air of an immortal, finally brought the topic into the open, his tone carrying a hint of banter, "That match just now was rather interesting."

"It was indeed interesting."

Junior Brother Wang nodded as well, his gaze carrying a trace of scrutiny, "To achieve a single-strike victory against an opponent of Luo Cheng's caliber, that kind of strength cannot be accomplished by a high vitality index alone; his attainment of the Mastery Realm is clear as day."

"It is more than just decent."

The fiery female instructor spoke even more bluntly, "If I am not mistaken, the technique he cultivates should be the 'Supreme Acupoint Opening Method,' shouldn't it?"

"The Peerless Aperture Opening Method!"

The moment those words were uttered, the atmosphere atop the high platform flared with renewed fervor.

Those present were all experts in their own right, and they naturally understood the sheer weight and gold standard those words carried.

"Enrolled for ten years, yet cultivating the 'Peerless Aperture Opening Method' to a vitality index exceeding 500 points... that speed, tsk tsk, can only be described as terrifying."

"Yu Han, where on earth did you dig up such a precious lump of gold? You've hidden him well enough!"

"Come on, give us the real story. Back then, why did Company Commander Zhou Xiong personally name you to take this disciple under your wing? What kind of secret does he actually harbor?"

In an instant, questions surged toward Yu Han like a rising tide.

They were simply too curious.

Who was Zhou Xiong?

A company commander of the Adeptus Astartes, a peak powerhouse of the Black Hole realm, who guarded the frontline of the empire's perpetual wars against alien races and Chaos. He was a true titan of the realm.

For such an existence to personally descend with his will and designate a mentor for a mere newly enrolled student was a marvel.

This matter had long ceased to be a secret within their small circle, remaining an unresolved enigma.

Faced with the probing, gossip-laden gazes of his peers, Yu Han's perennially frozen, icy countenance finally broke into a faint, unreadable smile.

"What secret could there possibly be?"

Yu Han shook his head with a laugh.

Yet within his heart, waves were crashing.

The others did not know, but he himself had silently watched over this disciple, who had been "forced" upon him, for the past ten years.

He had monitored every mission Qin Feng accepted, every single seclusion, and every video recording of his battles in the Imperial Arena.

Especially that one time, near the mining planet Y12393-a12, during the purging of that inhuman interstellar pirate camp.

When Qin Feng, driven by boundless killing intent, had nearly been beguiled by Khorne, the Blood God of the Warp, and his will was on the brink of sinking into damnation.

Far away in the Canaan Starry Sky Martial Arts University, watching everything through the surveillance array, Yu Han had been on the verge of intervening.

He had intended to forcefully pull Qin Feng’s soul back from the edge of corruption.

But a mere instant before he could act, a supreme, sacred, and majestic will—one that struck trepidation into Yu Han himself—flashed from the center of Qin Feng’s brow.

It was the phantom silhouette of a spike radiating a faint golden glow.

—The Cruciform Nail of Favor!

The moment that will manifested, Khorne’s whispers, which were potent enough to delude entire star systems, vanished like mist before a blazing sun.

At that moment, Yu Han felt as though he had been struck by lightning, freezing in place.

And it was at that exact moment that all the doubts in his heart found their answers.

The Emperor's Chosen!

This term, which existed only in the legends of the highest echelons of the empire, surfaced vividly in his mind.

So that was it.

So that was the real reason Company Commander Zhou Xiong had not hesitated to bend the rules just to keep him under his protective wings!

This secret was far too monumental.

So monumental that even he dared not breathe a syllable of it to anyone.

Thus, at this moment, facing the interrogation of the crowd, Yu Han merely raised his teacup, gently blew away the floating tea leaves, and took a slow, deliberate sip.

"Heh."

Setting down his teacup, he spoke in a matter-of-fact, jovial tone: "His progress is decent, and his temperament is stable. He truly lives up to being a fine prospect personally singled out by Lord Zhou Xiong."

A speech that said everything and nothing at all.

"Tch—"

"You old fox!"

A chorus of good-natured eye-rolls and mock scoldings instantly erupted across the high platform.

Everyone knew that trying to pry a core secret from Yu Han, a notorious "mute jar," was harder than ascending to the heavens.

Since they could not squeeze any information out of him, they pressed no further, turning their full attention back to Qin Feng’s upcoming match below.

They all wanted to see with their own eyes just how far this "fine prospect," prized by both Company Commander Zhou Xiong and Yu Han, could go in this dragon's den of a Rookie Cup.

...

The scene shifted back once more to the steel arenas floating in the void.

With the conclusion of the fifteenth round, the twenty million contestants had been brutally winnowed down to just a few hundred.

The battles to follow would be the true "clash of the titans."

Those who could stand here were without exception the elite among Tier-4 martial artists, genuine geniuses.

Every single one of them boasted a uniform vitality index of 570 points, powerhouses who had opened every single acupoint of a high-grade aperture opening method.

Every single one of them had mastered at least seven or eight Tier-1 killing techniques to the level of "Perfection."

Some had even trained one or several Tier-2 killing techniques to the stage of "Great Success" or even "Perfection"!

The intensity of the combat had escalated by more than a single octave.

The scenes flickered rapidly across countless arenas.

The sixteenth round.

Qin Feng's opponent was a wild-styled burly man wielding twin axes, with a vitality index of 570 points.

"Tier-2 Killing Technique—Whirlwind Cleave!"

The burly man roared, transforming into a high-speed, spinning tempest of steel. His two giant axes flashed with cold light, dragging deadly ripples of demise as they swept toward Qin Feng.

Faced with an assault capable of shredding a small starship into scrap metal, Qin Feng’s gaze remained tranquil.

The long spear in his hand was no longer delivering simple thrusts.

Instead, following a profound trajectory, it wove an airtight shroud of spear shadows before him.

[Spear of the Myriad Army—The Myriad Guard!]

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang—!

A dense, frantic cascade of metal clashing exploded like a torrential downpour hammering banana leaves!

The furious steel tempest, upon crashing into that seemingly thin veil of spear shadows, found itself unable to advance even a fraction of an inch!

Every single slash was entirely deflected to the side by the spear shadows, defusing the colossal force with subtle precision.

"How is this possible?!"

A look of sheer horror flashed through the burly man's eyes.

At the exact microsecond his old strength had spent itself and his new strength had yet to form.

The airtight defensive shroud of spear shadows snapped shut, mutating into a precise, lethal thrust that lunged forward like a viper darting from its pit.

Hah!

The spear tip struck his right shoulder, and a violent surge of force erupted instantly, numbing his entire arm and sending both axes flying from his grip.

“Qin Feng, wins!”

“Such a formidable defensive spear technique! Even though their life force indices are nearly equal, that brute’s second-level killing method couldn’t break through his defense at all!”

“This Qin Feng is terrifying!”

From the spectator stands, sharp-eyed onlookers gasped in astonishment.

Round Seventeen.

Qin Feng’s opponent was a shadow-kin hybrid warrior, wielding a dagger with eerie footwork.

The moment the battle began, the hybrid melted into the shadows, his form vanishing completely.

On the arena, only Qin Feng remained, standing quietly with his spear.

But then, in an instant, a deadly silhouette materialized silently behind him, the dagger like a viper’s fang, thrusting straight for his back!

Yet, just as the blade was about to touch his armor,

the spear in Qin Feng’s hand whipped backward at an angle that defied all laws of human biomechanics.

[Dragon-Serpent Spear: Divine Dragon Swings Its Tail!]

Crack!

A crisp, explosive sound.

The heavy shaft, as if alive, struck the shadow-kin hybrid’s waist with uncanny precision.

The hybrid let out a muffled groan, flying backward like a kite with a broken string, spitting blood midair, utterly incapacitated.

“Qin Feng, wins!”

“Heavens! What terrifying combat instinct!”

“This is beyond instinct… Watch the replay! The moment he executed that technique, the surrounding spiritual energy twisted and resonated!”

“The Thousand-Army Spear, the Dragon-Serpent Spear, the Fierce Bird Fist—he masters them all, with a hint of the Wind-Thunder Staff.”

“The Mastery Realm!”

At last, an experienced senior student shouted those three words with all his might.

A single stone stirred a thousand waves!

As Qin Feng gradually revealed his “Mastery Realm” strength to the world, the entire Glory Arena erupted for him.

If before he was a striking “dark horse,”

now he was a prehistoric beast baring its savage fangs.

His name leaped from the corners of the forum to become the hottest topic.

Countless posts frantically debated who this monster was—enrolled only ten years, yet with a life force index over 500, crushing veteran students left and right.

His popularity soared, even surpassing the long-established top-eight contenders.

Amid this thunderous uproar, Qin Feng won streak after streak.

Round sixteen, round seventeen…

Until the end of round eighteen.

[Congratulations, contestant Qin Feng, on advancing to the top sixty-four!]

When the referee’s cold voice rang out again, it marked the final stage of this year’s Freshman Cup’s fourth-level elimination rounds.

Sixty-four contestants would now vie for the ultimate champion.

At this moment, he was only a few steps away from those two ultimate monsters—the “century-old immortals” as Xiong Yanfu called them, with life force indices as high as 3000.

As long as Qin Feng’s next draw wasn’t abysmally unlucky, pitting him against them prematurely,

then breaking into the finals and contending for the top three was highly likely.

Qin Feng—a name unknown before the tournament—had now become the most blazing and awe-inspiring figure in this Freshman Cup.

Everyone knew that Canaan Starry Sky Martial University’s freshman class had produced a monster!

(End of chapter)