Chapter 170: The Old Scoundrel Qin the Beast! He's Back Again! Becoming Stronger

Chapter 170: The Old Rascal, Qin Beast! He Has Returned! And Grown Stronger!

Just as the atmosphere in the arena reached its boiling point with the name "Zhou Xiong," and countless students eagerly awaited, at the highest exclusive mentor seats atop the arena, the space began to ripple with subtle distortions.

One by one, figures appeared without warning, materializing out of thin air upon those floating seats crafted from special energy crystals.

They had arrived.

Contrary to the students' imaginations, none of these great beings standing at the pinnacle of Imperial martial arts restrained their auras.

On the contrary, they flaunted and unleashed their terrifying auras—enough to shake stars and distort reality—in a nearly domineering, unquestionable manner, like a silent storm that instantly engulfed the entire arena!

This was not a show of force, but the most direct and primal form of teaching.

A silent declaration to the millions of future pillars of the empire below—

This is the goal you strive for!

This is the true essence of power!

Raise your heads, gaze upon us, and then, give your all to chase us, to surpass us!

First to appear were the dozens of stellar-level mentors.

Though they maintained normal human forms and wore various attires—some in flowing classical robes, some in strict scholar uniforms, others in sleek combat soft armor—

In the perception of the millions of students at that moment, each of them no longer seemed made of flesh and blood.

They were living, walking stars walking among men!

The outwardly refined middle-aged mentor Lü Lan, his aura was like a stable star—warm, heavy, radiant with boundless vitality, evoking an involuntary sense of closeness and trust.

The red-haired female mentor Yue Hong, on the other hand, blazed like a scorching giant star; her aura was domineering and fierce, as if it could incinerate everything around.

Yet within that extreme heat, there lurked a chilling coldness of absolute zero—contradictory yet harmonious.

And the old man Mu Lin, carrying a gourd of wine, had the most peculiar aura—like a flickering, violent giant star, now vast as the sea, now faint to the point of being undetectable, full of the rhythm of motion and stillness, making it impossible to lock onto his presence.

Dozens of "stars" of different forms and colors hung high in the sky, their emitted light and heat causing the blood of every student present to race involuntarily, filling their hearts with boundless longing and the urge to pursue higher realms!

Then came the seven or eight galaxy-level mentors.

When they appeared, the entire atmosphere of the arena shifted abruptly.

If the stellar-level mentors brought warmth and light that inspired yearning, then the galaxy-level mentors brought a sense of vastness and desolation that transcended the limits of individual life perception—on a cosmic scale.

Qin Feng's mentor, Yu Han, sat quietly, as if he were a deep, boundless starry sky.

Looking at him was like gazing into the universe itself—that vastness, that antiquity, that unfathomable mystery could instantly cause anyone of weak will to lose themselves, their spirit shattered.

And the mentor Zai Jing, the overseer of the Discipline Hall, his aura was like a slowly collapsing giant nebula.

Within that seemingly calm dust and gas lay a terrifying power capable of birthing or destroying countless stars, filled with cold, unquestionable laws and order, inspiring awe and dread from the depths of the soul.

This feeling surpassed the category of "powerful" and became a nearly "cataclysmic" pressure that made one feel small and despairing.

Yet, when the final figure appeared on the most magnificent throne at the center of the mentor seats—clearly more imposing than the others—all the previous shocks from stars and galaxies instantly paled in comparison.

Zhou Xiong had arrived.

Unlike the others, he did not sit.

Instead, like an eternal divine mountain, he stood silently before the throne.

He wore a set of special power armor—not ornate, but filled with the aura of bloodshed and time.

The armor was covered in countless fine scars, still visible even after repairs—eternal medals from desperate battles against the empire's most fearsome enemies.

On his chest were dozens of medals issued by the Imperial Military, representing the highest honors.

Each medal signified a brutal battle worthy of being recorded in history, soaked in blood and fire.

He wore no helmet, revealing a weathered, angular face carved like granite, resolute and determined.

Most striking were the four metal studs embedded deep above his high brow, each gleaming with a different luster.

—Ten-Thousand Battle Studs!

These were the marks of honor that only veteran soldiers of the Limitless Warrior Legion who had achieved great feats in ten thousand battles were qualified to bear!

The first stud was a blood-red color.

The second, the orange of a setting sun.

The third, a rusted hue weathered by time.

The fourth, an ancient green patina, as if unearthed from some primordial ruin.

Different colors of Ten-Thousand Battle Studs represented the different levels and difficulties of the terrifying missions their owner had completed—missions capable of eradicating civilizations.

And his aura...

When Qin Feng tried to perceive Zhou Xiong's aura, his brain nearly froze in an instant.

Because what he "saw" was not light, not heat, nor any definable form of energy.

What he "saw" was a true... black hole.

Zhou Xiong stood there, but the space around him, the light, and even all the free-floating psychic energy were being irresistibly attracted and distorted by his seemingly unremarkable body.

He seemed to have transformed into the most extreme celestial body in the universe, forming a boundless accretion disk.

All surrounding matter and energy spun wildly at extreme speeds, emitting dazzling light and heat, only to be absorbed and devoured into his body, as unfathomably deep as a black hole.

That was the ultimate form of power—the infinite condensation of mass—an absolute gravitational singularity from which even light could not escape!

A black hole-level martial artist!

"WAAAGH!!!"

Someone, once again overwhelmed by this miraculous scene, could not contain their excitement and instinctively shouted that iconic battle cry.

The entire arena was pushed to a fever pitch once more.

Students cheered wildly, waving their arms, venting their excitement and adoration in the most primal way.

On the high platform, Zhou Xiong's gaze slowly swept across the boiling sea of people below.

His eyes were calm and profound, as if they could pierce through every soul.

He smiled slightly, and that rock-hard face even showed a trace of warmth.

"When the greenskins go 'WAAAGH!', it's because of their innate love for battle. Fighting, for them, is like our appetite, our need for sleep, or our desire for amusement... It is a pure, instinctive desire born from life itself."

His voice was not loud, yet it clearly and precisely reached the ears of millions present, drowning out all the clamor.

"But we humans are different."

His voice suddenly turned solemn and majestic, filled with the clang of iron and blood.

"We fight to protect!"

"To protect our families, to protect our homes, to protect this great empire that stretches across billions of stars behind us!"

"So, the next time you want to express the excitement and passion in your hearts, do it like this."

The moment he finished speaking, the terrifying aura that had been devouring everything like a black hole vanished without a trace.

He withdrew all his power and pressure, becoming like the most ordinary, most common Imperial soldier.

He suddenly raised his right fist and struck it heavily against the breastplate engraved with the double-headed eagle emblem on his left chest, producing a dull, powerful thud.

Then, his right arm straightened, his palm pressed together, and he lifted it crisply and decisively, stopping it beside his brow.

A most standard, most sacred Imperial military salute!

His gaze swept across the entire arena, and his voice brimmed with an unquestionable, all-consuming loyalty and fervor that could ignite everything!

"Loyalty to the Empire—"

"Loyalty!!!"

That cry of "Loyalty" burst forth like a thunderclap of creation, detonating deep within every soul!

The next moment, a response like a roaring tide erupted from every corner of the arena simultaneously!

"Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! ..."

Hundreds of millions of fists struck their own chests in unison!

That sound, uniform as war drums pounding, converged into a torrent of steel that could make the very stars tremble!

Then, millions of voices merged into a single word!

"Loyalty!!!"

"Loyalty!!!"

"Loyalty!!!"

The roaring, tidal cries transformed into a storm of faith, sweeping across heaven and earth!

At this moment, whether they were freshmen just entering the academy or seasoned graduates about to depart, whether ordinary students or lofty mentors, a single, blazing flame burned in every heart.

That flame was the most fervent, purest, and most unreserved loyalty to the entire civilization of the Human Empire!

Company Commander Zhou Xiong's ability to command the crowd was so formidable it defied belief.

A moment ago, with his iron-and-blood will, he had driven the atmosphere of the entire arena to the fevered peak of loyal faith.

Yet the next second, as the roaring cries of "Loyalty" subsided, the aura of solemnity and authority on him quietly faded, replaced by a gentleness and expectation as soothing as spring rain.

His gaze softened as it swept across the arena, resting on those young, reddened eyes brimming with excitement, and he spoke slowly.

"You are the future of the Empire."

"You are to the Empire what a star is to the life-bearing planets orbiting it. You are the morning sun at eight or nine o'clock, the most vigorous and dazzling hope of the Empire."

"The future is yours."

He paused, a hint of encouraging smile appearing on his face.

"May your martial fortunes flourish. Begin with this Rookie Cup, make your names known, and let them echo across the entire starry sky!"

Finally, he raised his hand and swept it forward, his voice growing resonant and forceful.

"I declare that this Canaan Rookie Cup now begins!"

Boom—!!!

As his words fell, the energy shields on the hundreds of suspended combat platforms at the center of the arena suddenly burst into brilliant light, heralding the official commencement of this grand feast!

First to begin was the Level 4 division, which had the most participants and the fiercest competition.

As for the Level 5 and Level 6 divisions, they would start only after the Level 4 division had determined its top hundred.

On the central screen of the arena, countless contestants' names and IDs began to scroll like a waterfall at dizzying speed.

A massive, efficient random draw involving millions of participants officially began.

Qin Feng sat in the spectator stands, watching his contestant ID "K-4-9527" flash by in the torrent of data, his heart utterly calm.

For him, the outcome of this competition was already beyond doubt.

He had come here for only one purpose—the ten thousand contribution points that would sustain him on his next path of cultivation.

Soon, the first round's match list was finalized.

[First Round, Combat Platform No. 72]

[Match: K-4-9527 (Qin Feng) vs K-4-883412 (Li Mo)]

Qin Feng's figure slowly vanished from where he stood, and the next moment, he appeared on the designated combat platform.

His opponent was a young freshman, seemingly only seventeen or eighteen, just like Qin Feng had been back then.

That freshman, named Li Mo, still bore the nervous excitement of a first-time participant in such a grand event. He looked at Qin Feng, whose aura seemed utterly ordinary, like a mere senior, and his eyes blazed with fighting spirit.

He was clearly a recent enrollee, having never heard the name "Qin Feng," which had long faded into obscurity on the forums, nor did he know what kind of existence he was facing.

[Match Start!]

At the referee's signal, the freshman let out a roar, driving his life force to its peak, and charged at Qin Feng with a war blade in hand.

But in his eyes, Qin Feng seemed only to take a single, light step forward.

Then, he vanished.

"Huh?"

That thought had just flashed through Li Mo's mind.

An irresistible, colossal force struck him from the back of his neck.

The next instant, darkness engulfed his vision. He felt as if he had been hit by a high-speed maglev train, his body involuntarily flung off the platform, crashing heavily onto the cushioning force field below, losing consciousness instantly.

From start to finish, he had not even caught a trace of Qin Feng's movement.

[K-4-9527 (Qin Feng), wins!]

The battle ended in one second.

Qin Feng's figure returned to the spectator stands, the warmth of his seat not yet dissipated.

The second round began quickly.

His opponent was an "older" freshman with a life force index of over three hundred points, already considered outstanding among the new students.

This freshman had apparently done some homework, knowing that Qin Feng had instantly defeated his first opponent, so at the start of the match, he assumed the most impenetrable defensive stance.

But it was meaningless.

Before absolute speed and power, all techniques and defenses seemed utterly feeble.

Again, a blurred afterimage flashed by.

That freshman felt his defensive posture shatter like paper, pierced by an irresistible force, and then darkness took him, following the fate of his predecessor.

Again, an instant kill.

In the third round, the opponent's strength increased further—a top-tier freshman with a life force index of 450 points, just a step away from advancing to Level 5.

But the result remained unchanged.

Instant kill.

A clean, decisive instant kill.

Qin Feng hadn't even used a proper killing technique, yet he could crush any opponent at this level with ease.

His three battles, when added together, took no more than a second.

So fast that they barely caught the attention of the onlookers present.

Yet, on the subspace network, in those virtual forums where information flowed far faster than in the real world, some sharp-eyed, memory-gifted seniors had already recognized that familiar yet unfamiliar figure from the blur of motion.

A new undercurrent began to stir quietly in some obscure corner of the forum.

At first, it was just a couple of posts filled with uncertainty.

[Question] That instant-kill guy on Platform 72 just now? I feel like I've seen him somewhere?

[Upstairs, you're not wrong! I saw it too! That ID is K-4-9527! I specifically checked the historical data—this number belongs to a king without a crown from forty years ago—Qin Feng! Nicknamed the Beast!]

This news, like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, instantly stirred up a thousand ripples.

More and more seniors, drawn by the news, flooded into the relevant discussion threads.

New posts began to emerge at an astonishing speed, their popularity skyrocketing.

[It's him! It really is him! That former uncrowned king, the monster 'Beast'! He's back!]

[Hiss—Wasn't this guy gone without a trace for almost thirty years? I thought he hit a bottleneck or died on a mission! And now he's back?]

[I wonder how strong he really is now? These three rounds, the opponents were too weak—can't tell at all. All instant kills, like child's play.]

[Hard to say. It's not even about strength. Twelve years ago, when he had only a little over 500 life force, killing opponents of this level was as easy as drinking water. Now he's definitely stronger—can't gauge his depth at all.]

As the discussion deepened, a guess that made many seniors grit their teeth began to surface in everyone's minds.

[Damn, brothers, I have a bad feeling... That Beast guy—could he be trying to turn into another Zhou Run?]

As soon as this guess appeared, the entire thread exploded.

[Highly possible! The Beast cultivates the 'Great Sun Acupoint Opening Method,' which is harder and takes longer! He's been in school for forty years—another seventy or eighty years before he can advance to Level Five, totally normal!]

[Damn, if you calculate it that way, Zhou Run won't be fighting next term. Doesn't that mean the sky of the Level Four division will change from the surname Zhou to the surname Qin?]

[No way! Zhou Run hanging around for decades is bad enough, but this Beast guy, cultivating a top-tier acupoint method, averages a hundred years to advance! He's only been at it for forty years—meaning he'll be a 'leech' in the Level Four division for at least another sixty or seventy years?!]

[I'm gonna puke! One leech leaves, another comes! Is the championship wool of the Canaan Freshman Cup that easy to shear? Give the newcomers a break!]

For a time, the forum buzzed with discussion.

In the eyes of the vast majority, although Qin Feng was powerful, he still had no chance against Zhou Run, that old monster who had cultivated the top-tier acupoint method to perfection and reached a life force index of 3600. Most leaned toward the idea that Qin Feng had only come back to fight for second place, and then he would take over Zhou Run's 'position,' becoming the next 'big leech' entrenched in the Level Four division, driving countless newcomers to despair.

...

While the outside forum was stirred up by Qin Feng's appearance, on the high platform—the domain belonging to true powerhouses—the atmosphere was completely different from the earlier ease.

Dozens of stellar-level mentors, seven or eight galaxy-level experts, all sat upright, solemn and respectful, each with eyes fixed on their noses, noses fixed on their hearts, like schoolchildren listening to a lecture.

The entire mentor's seat was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

They dared not speak aloud; all communication was conducted through invisible, secret mental fluctuations in each other's minds.

All because that living legend, Company Commander Zhou Xiong, was watching the matches on the various battle platforms with great interest, thoroughly enjoying himself.

At that moment, within the mental network of a few mentors who knew the inside story, a secret conversation was taking place.

A stellar-level mentor sent a mental fluctuation: "Lü Lan, Yue Hong... Company Commander Zhou Xiong... did he come for that little guy named Qin Feng?"

This mental fluctuation instantly fell into the perception of Yu Han, Lü Lan, Yue Hong, and Mu Lin.

They were all witnesses to Qin Feng's entrance exam back then, or those whom Yu Han had hinted at during the year Qin Feng won the Freshman Cup.

They all knew that Qin Feng bore the enormous secret of being 'The Emperor's Chosen.'

The red-haired female mentor Yue Hong: "Some things are not for our level to discuss casually."

The gourd-wielding old man Mu Lin also let out a "heh heh," his mental fluctuation full of amusement: "I'm quite curious—what level has that little monster grown to after decades apart?"

Yu Han was the calmest, merely sending a faint thought: "Wait and see."

The attitude of these big shots immediately silenced the other informed stellar-level mentors, who dared not ask another question.

As for those mentors completely in the dark—like Zhai Jing, the overseer of the Discipline Hall, and most other stellar-level mentors—they were now full of confusion and bewilderment.

Even Zhai Jing's face, usually as cold as eternal ice, showed a rare hint of puzzlement.

His mental fluctuation probed directly toward Yu Han: "Yu Han, what's going on? Why would Company Commander Zhou Xiong be so interested in a mere Level Four division?"

"I don't know."

Yu Han's mental fluctuation was as calm as an ancient well, revealing no information.

Zhai Jing then turned to Lü Lan, Yue Hong, Mu Lin, and the others.

"Don't understand."

"No idea."

"Drink, drink."

All he got were watertight, nonchalant answers.

This only made Zhai Jing and the other uninformed mentors more curious and suspicious.

They keenly sensed that behind this seemingly ordinary Freshman Cup, there seemed to be a secret that even they were not qualified to know.

—

When the Freshman Cup qualifiers entered the fourth round, the atmosphere in the entire arena grew increasingly intense.

Those who had emerged from millions of participants and successfully passed three rounds were either elites among the freshmen or experienced seniors.

On every battle platform, fierce fights unfolded, sparks from clashing weapons rising and falling, a splendid spectacle.

Yet, on Qin Feng's battle platform, the scene was completely different.

In the fourth round, his opponent was a senior with a life force index of 570 points, who also mastered a killing technique at the control level.

This senior had clearly learned from the mistakes of previous rounds. At the start of the match, he pushed his defense to the extreme while retreating rapidly, trying to create distance and find an opportunity.

But it was all in vain.

Still, an instant kill.

Fifth round.

The opponent was a long-range attacker skilled in throwing knives, whose trajectories were tricky and carried corrosive toxic spiritual energy.

As the match began, dozens of throwing knives turned into a rain of death, a dark green deluge descending from all directions.

Qin Feng didn't even glance at them. He simply swung his spear, forming an impenetrable barrier.

All the throwing knives, upon hitting the barrier, shattered as if striking the toughest alloy wall, bouncing off without even causing a ripple.

Then, Qin Feng's figure vanished from the spot.

When he reappeared, he had already knocked the long-range attacker off the platform, right in front of the opponent's horrified gaze.

Instant kill.

Sixth round.

Instant kill.

Seventh round.

Instant kill!

...

In the eighth round, when Qin Feng once again blasted his opponent off the platform with a single, unreasonable punch, he had successfully broken into the top one hundred thousand of the fourth-level division of this year's Freshman Cup!

Eight consecutive rounds, eight battles.

His opponents ranged from ordinary rookie freshmen to seasoned veterans, and even elites with special abilities.

But without exception, all were instantly killed in one move!

His battles were so fast that even the referee in charge of that platform found them boring and began to yawn.

Meanwhile, in the audience, Qin Feng's friends watched these scenes with varied expressions.

"Damn! Old Qin is still such a freak!"

Xiong Yan, his mouth stuffed with some unknown roasted meat, mumbled indistinctly, "It's been eight rounds, and no one has even made him use a second move! Is he even human?"

"His speed and power have improved by more than a notch compared to decades ago."

Lei Meng's gaze was serious, "But I can't see through him at all. How many acupoints has he opened? What level is his vitality index? There's no way to judge."

"Can't see through him."

Tie Mu was a man of few words, but his brows were tightly furrowed, "The feeling he gives me... is like an unfathomable abyss. You can only see darkness, but you never know what lies hidden beneath it."

Shi Potian said nothing. He just quietly watched the familiar figure on the platform, his handsome face as calm as still water.

He too could not see through Qin Feng.

But his martial artist's instinct was frantically warning him.

It was a primal tremor... the kind one feels when facing a being of the same kind but with a far superior life level.

In another corner not far from them, Shi Dang's sharp eyes were fixed unblinkingly on Qin Feng's figure.

His fingers unconsciously tapped lightly on the armrest, his brain operating at high speed, frantically analyzing every move Qin Feng made.

"His speed is faster than I expected. His pure physical explosive power is probably close to the range of a fifth-level martial artist."

"His strength is equally unfathomable. He doesn't even use any killing techniques, yet he easily breaks through his opponents' defenses."

"It's certain that he's staying at the fourth level. But... just how deep has he accumulated at this level?"

"How many of the ultimate acupoint-opening techniques has he mastered?"

Countless streams of data collided and calculated in Shi Dang's mind.

"With my current strength, at the peak of the fifth-level acupoint-merging stage, about to break through to the soaring stage. If I were to face him... what are my chances of victory?"

"After breaking into the soaring stage and learning to interfere with reality using mental power, what are my chances then?"

One battle model after another was generated in his mind, only to be overturned one by one.

"If his vitality index is merely high and his killing techniques remain at the level they were back then, I have a seventy percent chance of suppressing him with my mental advantage."

"But if... over these decades, he has comprehended new, stronger killing techniques..."

At this thought, Shi Dang's gaze grew even deeper.

"No, I cannot lose."

A stubborn thought uncontrollably rose from the depths of his heart, "Once I break through to the soaring stage and master the ability to interfere with reality using mental power, I will be invincible in terms of combat dimension! No matter how strong his physical body is, it will be leveled by the true gap in realms!"

He slowly exhaled, forcibly suppressing the restlessness and unease in his eyes.

In its place was an almost icy confidence.

...

As the matches progressed, Qin Feng's devastatingly dominant advancement finally caught the attention of more and more people.

The title "Qin Beast," dormant for decades, seemed to be injected with new fuel and began to spread across the subspace forum like a virus.

Posts about him grew increasingly popular, quickly climbing to the trending list.

This naturally sparked intense curiosity among countless new students who had enrolled in recent years and knew nothing of the truth.

Beneath those hot posts, similar questions could be seen everywhere.

[Newbie asks]: Um... seniors, could you explain who "Qin Beast" really is? Why is everyone so excited? I checked the Hall of Fame, and he's not there.

Below this comment, a senior quickly replied.

[Helpful senior]: Kid, don't ask too many questions. Just know that he's an unreasonable monster. As for the rest, you'll find out slowly later.

[Insider]: Ahem, let me enlighten you, junior. The so-called "Qin Beast" originated forty years ago when he first enrolled. During his physical potential test, his data directly burst the testing pod, and the system judged him to have a monster-level aptitude comparable to the simulation model "Star Beast," hence the name "Qin Beast."

[Supplement to above]: That's only part of it. Later, during the Freshman Cup, as a freshman, he mastered multiple killing techniques at the mastery level and swept through a large number of seniors, so his title evolved into "Invincible Qin Beast."

[Spectator]: Ohhh! So he's that amazing! Then why isn't he famous?

[Veteran]: Because after he finished the Freshman Cup and got his ranking, he vanished like he evaporated for decades. So you newcomers naturally haven't heard his legend.

[Pessimist]: But soon, you'll remember him well. Because his title is about to evolve again into "Invincible Lazy Qin Beast."

This reply instantly exploded the entire thread.

[Confused newbie]: Huh? Why? How could such a talented genius be a lazybones?

[Old hand]: Sigh, kid, you're still too young. Think about it—he practices the hardest ultimate acupoint-opening technique and has stayed in the fourth-level division for over forty years. Old lazybones Zhou Run is leaving after this tournament. Who do you think will take his place, squatting in the fourth-level division to leech off newcomers?

[Everyone realizes]: Damn! So that's it!

[Girl's prayer]: Wuwuwu, no! Brother Qin Beast looks so handsome and strong, why must he walk the path of a big lazybones! Come on! Defeat that Zhou Run! Don't be a lazybones!

[Super troll]: Go for it, big brother who loves to ambush people from "Hidden Dragon"!

This troll comment made countless seniors who saw it burst into laughter.

They could already foresee that in the coming decades, another cloud of despair would hang over the fourth-level division, making all newcomers feel hopeless.

And that cloud would be named Lazy Qin Beast!

The qualifying rounds of the Freshman Cup, like a precise and brutal giant screening machine, operated at full speed.

Millions of participants, within just a few days, were rapidly eliminated like sand sifted through a sieve, leaving only the most elite.

The ninth round...

The tenth round...

The eleventh round...

Qin Feng's path to advancement remained as monotonous, dull, and without suspense as ever.

His opponents' strength kept increasing.

From rookie freshmen to seasoned veterans, to those who had immersed themselves in the fourth-level division for decades and mastered one or two killing techniques at the mastery level.

These so-called "experts" in the eyes of ordinary students were no different in essence from the weaker ones before them in front of Qin Feng.

He didn't even bother to use any killing techniques.

His battles could no longer be described as "instant kills."

They were more like... a dimensional reduction strike.

The two sides were simply not fighting on the same dimensional plane.

His name, "Qin Feng," and his even more resounding alias, "Qin Beast," surged in popularity across the subspace forum like a wildfire.

Finally, when he once again, with an unreasonable, crushing demeanor, blasted a well-known senior—who had broken into the top hundred in the previous freshman cup and mastered seventeen first-level perfected killing techniques—off the arena with a single strike, successfully advancing to the top sixty-four, the entire forum exploded because of him!

If the earlier instant kills could still be explained away as "the opponent being too weak,"

Then this time, as one after another recognized, genuine powerhouse was defeated in the same effortless manner, everyone realized one thing.

It wasn't that the opponents were too weak.

It was that this man named "Qin Beast" was simply... too absurdly strong!

[Sticky Highlight Post]: #Monster Returns# 'Qin Beast' Qin Feng, eighteen rounds of instant kills, dominates his way into the top sixty-four! Strength unfathomable!

The moment this post was published, it was thrust to the top of the hot list, followed by a massive, blood-red "Explosive" character!

Beneath the post stretched dozens of pages of replies, refreshing at a rate of thousands per second.

"Here he comes! Here he comes! I knew it! I knew this man wouldn't let us down! Too fierce! He's practically inhuman!"

"I carefully analyzed his battle footage from these eighteen rounds and reached a conclusion that sent chills down my own spine—he never actually attacked. Or rather, he hasn't used a single true 'killing technique' so far! All his attacks stem from pure, raw physical strength!"

"Calm down, calm down. Standard procedure, don't overreact. After all, he's the man who once burst the potential detection pod. Isn't it perfectly normal for his physique to be a bit monstrous? [Dog head]"

"So... just how strong is he? Can any senior give us a straight answer?"

This question voiced the thoughts of everyone.

Thus, the fierce debate over who was superior between Qin Feng and Zhou Run—the two most dazzling and "cheeky" existences in this year's fourth-level division—officially kicked off.

[Hot Debate Post]: #Clash of the Century# 'Old Cheat' Zhou Run vs 'New Cheat' Qin Beast: Who Is the True King of This Year's Fourth-Level Division?

[Pro Side, First Debater]: Need we even ask? It's definitely Senior Zhou Run! He's a true powerhouse who has cultivated to the great perfection of three hundred and sixty orifices! His life force index is 3600 points—this is backed by official data! No matter how strong Qin Beast is, he's only cultivated for forty years; at most, he's opened a little over two hundred orifices, and his life force index can't exceed 2000 points. That's a gap of over a thousand points—how can he possibly fight?

[Con Side, First Debater]: Upstairs, you only look at data, not performance. Is Qin Beast an ordinary person? His physical potential is on the level of a cosmic giant beast! His comprehension of killing techniques is monstrous! Who knows if he's grasped some insane, cross-level challenge move? Don't forget, decades ago, he was already using [Dragon's Vault] to ambush people!

[Pro Side, Second Debater]: Hah, no matter how strong the killing technique, it needs sufficient power to support it. One force overcomes ten techniques! In the face of an absolute life force index crushing, all skills are just flashy nonsense! I'll put it this way: Senior Zhou Run is a sure win!

[Con Side, Second Debater]: That's not necessarily true! I always feel that this guy Qin Beast is hiding too much! That carefree, indifferent look of his—he doesn't even seem to take the competition seriously. I bet Qin Beast can create a miracle!

The supporters of both sides argued fiercely in the thread, citing classics, listing data, and neither able to convince the other.

And the sharp-eyed bookmakers immediately seized this explosive point.

The championship betting pool, which had been closed due to Zhou Run's overly low odds, was now grandly reopened!

Only this time, there were only two names on the board.

Zhou Run.

Qin Feng.

[Canaan Freshman Cup Fourth-Level Division Championship Pool]

[Contestant One: Zhou Run]

[Win Probability: 85%]

[Odds: 1:1.1]

[Contestant Two: Qin Feng]

[Win Probability: 15%]

[Odds: 1:6.5]

The new betting round instantly ignited the passion of all students.

A massive flood of Imperial currency surged into the funds pools represented by these two names.

Although, judging by the odds, the vast majority still favored the data-backed strength of the "Old Cheat" Zhou Run,

Qin Feng's high odds of 1:6.5 also attracted countless "dreamers" eager to bet small for a big win.

The entire Canaan Star Martial Arts University, because of these two "cheats," had plunged into an unprecedented frenzy.

(End of chapter)