Chapter 20: Imperial Arena

Chapter 20: The Imperial Arena

In the small living room, the air grew heavy with tension because of that black metal card.

Qin Dahai and Wang Ming both stared fixedly at the pass in Qin Feng's hand, their expressions shifting from initial delight to profound shock.

"This..."

Wang Ming's voice was a bit hoarse as he pointed at the card, "Xiaofeng, this thing is... a subspace network pass...?"

"The school gave it to me."

Qin Feng placed the card on the table and explained calmly, "Teacher Li Weiguo said he used the teacher bonus the school awarded him, and also applied for some subsidies from the school, to help me get this pass."

He paused, then continued, "He also activated three permissions: the Imperial Arena, the Subspace Exchange, and the Subspace Teleportation Network."

A long silence fell over the living room.

Qin Dahai extended his calloused single arm, picked up the card, and examined it closely.

His fingers traced the cold runes on the card, moving very slowly.

"Teacher Li..."

Wang Ming murmured, his expression incredibly complex, "He actually... he actually managed to do this much."

An ordinary middle school teacher, with such breadth of mind and sense of responsibility.

He remembered clearly that before, Li Weiguo had wanted to shunt Qin Feng away.

Qin Dahai placed the card back on the table, raised his head, and looked at his son, revealing a faint, barely perceptible relief.

"Originally, I was planning to get one for you too."

His voice was as steady as ever, "Once you enter the Martial High School, this thing will be essential for everyone. Without it, you'd be cut off from the entire empire, truly working in isolation. I was planning to go to the factory in a few days and draw half a year's salary in advance."

He glanced at the pass.

"Now it seems I've saved the trouble. Your teacher has a good heart."

Qin Dahai turned his gaze to Wang Ming.

"Ah Ming, from now on, if Teacher Li's family ever needs a hand, you be sure to look after them."

"Brother, rest assured, I understand!" Wang Ming nodded emphatically.

"Dad, Uncle, how do I use this thing?" Qin Feng pushed the card toward them.

"Drop blood to verify your identity," Qin Dahai said succinctly.

Wang Ming leaned in and added, "Right, I heard a young technician at our factory say so. This thing binds to your genetic and mental imprint; the imperial citizenship is the first lock. Once activated, it becomes your unique key—useless if stolen or snatched."

Qin Dahai extended a finger and tapped the silver vortex at the center of the card.

"Right here. Prick your fingertip with a needle and let a drop of blood fall on it."

Qin Feng nodded.

Without hesitation, he fetched a clean metal skewer from the kitchen and pricked his fingertip lightly.

A drop of bright red blood oozed from the pad, like a full ruby.

He aimed his finger at the vortex rune at the card's center, and the drop fell precisely onto it.

*Hum—*

As if an ancient machine slumbering for a thousand years had been awakened, a low hum resonated through the living room.

The instant the blood touched the card, it was greedily absorbed by the silver vortex rune, transforming into countless fine red threads that raced along the card's intricate surface patterns.

The entire black card lit up in an instant.

A soft, non-dazzling silver beam shot up from the card's center, projecting a slowly rotating imperial double-headed eagle emblem made of countless data streams into midair.

[Verifying imperial citizenship...]

[Citizen ID: EC7351-G34-998109... Verification passed.]

[Scanning gene sequence... Match successful.]

[Binding mental imprint... Binding complete.]

[Subspace network pass activated successfully.]

The beam slowly retracted, and under everyone's gaze, the black metal card began to change its form.

Its edges became smooth, its material flowing and reshaping like liquid metal.

In just a few seconds, the rigid card had transformed into a wrist terminal with a simple design and a matte black finish.

Qin Feng picked it up; it felt warm to the touch, much lighter and thinner than his old terminal.

He put it on his right wrist—it fit perfectly, neither too big nor too small.

He raised his hand and, with a thought,

A three-dimensional holographic screen, clearer and more stable than before, projected from the new terminal.

The interface was no longer the crude style of the Morning Star local network, but filled with the weight and majesty of imperial core technology.

On a deep, dark-gold background, three huge, slowly rotating icons occupied the central position of the main interface.

[Imperial Arena]

[Imperial Trading House]

[Subspace Teleportation Network]

At the top of the interface, a line of personal data was clearly listed.

[Name: Qin Feng]

[Vitality Index: 1.237]

[Martial Artist Level: First-Level Martial Artist]

"Let's check the arena first."

Qin Dahai guided from the side, "That's where you'll go most often. On the path of martial arts, 'refining methods' is the foundation, but 'killing methods' are the means. Learning without practice is just a show."

Qin Feng obeyed, reaching out to lightly tap the [Imperial Arena] icon.

The interface switched instantly.

A background of an arena filled with iron, blood, and glory appeared on the screen.

[Name: Qin Feng]

[ID: Not set]

[Rank: None]

[Record: 0 Wins 0 Losses]

[Points: 0]

[Self-Introduction: None]

[Enemy Evaluation: None]

"Set the ID first."

Wang Ming reminded him from the side, "This thing is pretty much like the games we usually play—you need a screen name. But you can't just pick anything; once it's set, you only get one chance to change it per year, and it costs money."

Qin Feng thought for a moment, then entered two characters in the ID field: 【Qin】.

【ID 'Qin' has been set successfully.】

"Rank is the only standard for measuring strength in the arena."

Qin Dahai pointed to the "Rank" column and explained, "From the lowest, first rank, to the highest, ninth rank, each rank represents vastly different combat skills. Above that are Gladiator, Strongman, Expert, Master, Grandmaster, and Martial Saint. Those who reach that level are all peerless experts renowned across the star sea."

He paused, then continued, "In the arena, to ensure absolute fairness, all newcomers' physical data are forcibly locked to a standard value by the system. Look at the rule description below."

Qin Feng's gaze moved downward, catching a line of small text at the bottom of the light screen.

【Novice Matching Rules: For all participants with a rank of 'None,' the life force index will be uniformly locked at 10, and all physical attributes will be equalized. At this stage, only skill and combat awareness are tested.】

Life force index 10.

This was a standardized combat unit, erasing all physical disparities brought by talent and resources, leaving only the purest contest of combat technique.

Qin Dahai pointed to the second icon.

"The Imperial Trade Exchange—just take a look inside. It's a gathering place for the empire's wealth and resources. From a bottle of nutrient fluid to the ownership of an administrative planet, as long as you have money, you can buy anything. And sell, of course."

Qin Feng tapped 【Imperial Trade Exchange】. The light screen instantly expanded, transforming into a vast, boundless matrix of goods.

Countless items, categorized and displayed as holographic images, flowed slowly before his eyes.

【Resource & Potion Zone】: Basic Psychic Potion, Intermediate Gene Optimization Fluid, Dragon Blood No. 3, Phoenix Tears...

【Cultivation, Killing, and Nurturing Methods Zone】: 《Imperial Basic Body-Training Method (Complete Mastery Edition)》, 《Seven-Kill Blade Art》, 《Thunderclap Fist》, 《Spiritual Meditation Introduction》...

【Divine Weapons & Legendary Tools Zone】: C-Grade Alloy War Blade, B-Grade Psychic Spear, A-Grade High-Frequency Chainsword, S-Grade Star Destroyer Main Cannon...

【Teaching & Service Zone】: One-on-One Guidance by Eighth-Level Martial Artists, Tickets to Planetary-Level Strongman Lectures, Private Customized Training Chamber Rentals, Gene Maps of Ten Thousand Races...

【Items of Ten Thousand Races Zone】: Heart of a Flame Demon (Damaged), Complete Corpse of a Crystal Scorpion, Wreckage of a Lost Civilization's Starship, a Habitable Planet in the Butterfly Nebula...

The dazzling array of goods left Qin Feng overwhelmed.

Every item here represented endless possibilities and immense power, as well as astronomical prices.

He closed the exchange and tapped the last icon.

【Subspace Teleportation Network】

A vast star map of the empire's territory, measured in hundreds of millions of light-years, slowly unfurled before him.

Countless points of light flickered on the map, each representing a star system, a planet.

Golden routes woven from psychic energy connected these points, forming an invisible web covering the entire empire.

Qin Feng randomly selected two points on the star map.

【Departure: Canaan Star System - Dawn Star】

【Destination: Butterfly Nebula - Hope Star】

【Teleportation Distance: Approximately 170 million light-years】

【Estimated Time: 58 seconds】

【Required Fee: 1,000,000 Imperial Credits】

With just a pass and a payment of one million Imperial Credits, one could cross 170 million light-years in under a minute.

This inconceivable power utterly stunned Qin Feng.

He closed all interfaces, and his heart, which had been slightly stirred by his middle school exam results, now settled completely.

He had glimpsed a broader, more magnificent, and more brutal world.

He stood up.

"Dad, Uncle, I want to try the arena."

"Go ahead and try."

Qin Dahai nodded. "For the first time, winning or losing doesn't matter."

Qin Feng returned to his room and closed the door.

He sat on the bed, put on the new wrist terminal, and closed his eyes.

【Connecting to the Imperial Arena...】

【Mental Synchronization Rate: 100%...】

【Connection successful. Welcome to Subspace.】

In an instant, his consciousness felt as if it were pulled from his body by an invisible force, plunging into a tunnel of endless light streams.

When he regained his senses, he found himself standing on a massive platform suspended above a vast nebula.

The platform was forged from an unknown cyan metal, with energy patterns slowly flowing beneath his feet.

Above his head, a magnificent storm of stardust, woven in purple and gold, swirled.

In the distance, newborn stars radiated brilliant light and heat.

【Matching opponent for you...】

【Match successful.】

On the opposite side of the platform, a flash of light appeared, and a figure slowly materialized.

It was a tall girl in a sleek black outfit, holding a slender war blade.

Their information appeared simultaneously above the platform.

【Qin (No Rank) VS Zhou Yu (No Rank)】

Qin Feng looked at her details.

【ID: Zhou Yu】

【Rank: None】

【Points: 10】

【Self-Introduction: Skilled in using the Ninefold Thunder Blade.】

【Enemy Review (1): The biggest noob at Thunderclap Martial Arts Hall on Dawn Star.】

Before each of them, a virtual weapon rack and armor rack appeared.

【Please choose your weapon】

【Please choose your armor】

Qin Feng's gaze swept over the array of weapons, finally selecting the most basic standard-issue spear.

For armor, he chose a set of lightweight composite armor that didn't hinder movement.

Opposite him, Zhou Yu still held her blade, choosing no additional armor.

【Selection complete. Battle begins in ten seconds.】

[10, 9, 8...]

The countdown began, and the energy shields around the arena slowly rose.

Qin Feng gripped his gun with both hands, assuming a standard defensive stance, his eyes locked tightly on his opponent across the way.

[...3, 2, 1!]

[Battle start!]

The moment the word "start" appeared, Zhou Yu on the opposite side moved.

Her figure seemed weightless; with a single step, she crossed tens of meters and instantly appeared before Qin Feng.

A blade of light, dazzling and seemingly imbued with the might of thunder, suddenly flared in Qin Feng's vision, faster than the limit of his neural reflexes.

Before he could even raise the thought of blocking with his gun, that blade of light had already, lightly and without obstruction, swept across his neck.

The world before his eyes spun instantly.

[You lost]

[Score unchanged]

The cold system prompt sounded, and the surrounding scenery receded like a tide.

Qin Feng's consciousness returned to his body; he was still sitting on his bed, but his forehead was covered in cold sweat.

The death experience of that instant was so real.

He raised his head, looking at the familiar surroundings of the room, that impossibly fast blade of light still replaying over and over in his mind.

Anyone he happened to meet was terrifyingly strong.

Their physical qualities and life force indices were exactly the same, but the gap in skill was vast.

"The path of martial arts is long."

"There is still much to learn."

Qin Feng smiled, put away the subspace network, and walked out of the room.

"So fast? Got wrecked, huh."

Qin Dahai laughed heartily, guessing almost exactly right.

"Yeah."

(End of chapter)