Chapter 205: Beheading Shi Dang! The Nemesis and Bane of Chaos! The Future

Chapter 205: Slaying Shidang! The Bane and Nemesis of Chaos! The Road Ahead!

Time is the most merciless ruler in the universe.

In the pursuit and hunt, another three years slipped away unnoticed.

During these three years, Qin Feng piloted the heavy cruiser seized from the "Skullcrusher," like a death-dealing wraith, relentlessly tailing Shidang.

His footsteps spanned every most chaotic and darkest corner of the Taranis Star Spiral.

Qin Feng treated this revenge as an unprecedented cultivation.

Every day, aside from necessary navigation and enemy tracking, he devoted all his time and energy to comprehending and honing that sixth-level killing technique—"Star Breaker."

Inside the ship's training room, Qin Feng held the eighth-level "Starfall Iron" spear, his eyes tightly shut.

Within his spiritual sea, a full hundred "spiritual-psychic convergence modules," each a hundred times more complex than the fifth-level technique "Hundred Boats Vying for the Current," were arranging, combining, and resonating at a nearly frenzied speed!

This was the essence of a sixth-level killing technique—a hundred minds in one!

It was the ultimate art of extreme compression and manipulation of spiritual power, psychic energy, and one's own life force!

"Hum—"

As he infused his spiritual power, the space before the spear tip began to warp visibly.

A hundred psychic modules, driven by his will, perfectly merged into a whole, forming a highly condensed energy singularity radiating an aura of destruction.

"Already mastered..."

In these three years, Qin Feng had repeated such practice tens of thousands of times.

Sometimes he groped and experimented alone; other times he practiced in real combat against Shidang and numerous pirates.

By now, the sixth-level technique "Star Breaker" had been thoroughly understood by Qin Feng. Every principle of spiritual-psychic convergence was etched into his mind, fully entering his technique repository!

However, although the middle three levels of techniques were also considered mastery, they differed vastly from the lower three levels.

Lower-level techniques emphasized skill and force application, so upon achieving mastery, it was easy to adapt better force methods and create original moves.

But middle-level techniques were different.

Due to the existence of spiritual-psychic convergence, creating original moves was extremely difficult. Achieving mastery only meant understanding the principles; to fully integrate and forge one's own path required immense effort.

"Hammer, deploy T-7 target drone."

"Command received."

At the other end of the training room, a disc-shaped target drone over thirty meters in diameter, made of ultra-high-strength alloy, was slowly pushed out by a mechanical arm.

This was a standard military target for testing main cannon power, its frontal armor capable of withstanding a volley from a small starship.

Qin Feng slowly opened his eyes, his gaze instantly sharp as a blade!

He moved.

No superfluous actions—just a simple step forward and a thrust of the spear!

"Star Breaker!"

"Boom——!!!!!"

A supremely condensed energy point, seemingly capable of devouring light, erupted abruptly from the spear tip!

The T-7 target drone, which could withstand naval artillery bombardment, saw its energy shield vanish like a dreamy bubble without even a ripple!

Then, the drone's alloy armor began to crack inch by inch from the center, and then disintegrated with a roar!

The entire drone, in less than a thousandth of a second, was completely decomposed by that wild, unmatched force into the most basic metal particles!

The surging energy aftermath slammed heavily into the training room's force-field walls, stirring up intense ripples of energy.

The entire heavy cruiser shuddered slightly from the impact.

"Phew..."

Qin Feng slowly withdrew his spear and let out a long breath.

After three years of relentless honing and pursuit, he had successfully pushed this terrifying sixth-level technique "Star Breaker" into the realm of "mastery"!

Now, with a single casual strike, he could unleash a fearsome power capable of instantly destroying a small starship!

And during these years of hunting, Shidang had not stood still.

As a candidate for the Great Daemon blessed by the Chaos God "Khorne," his battle will and instinct to survive in desperate straits had also been honed to a terrifying degree.

In this endless flight, he had broken through his limits several times and gained insights into techniques.

Unfortunately, his opponent was Qin Feng.

A Qin Feng with a deeper foundation and a stronger will.

More fatally, under Qin Feng's suffocating pursuit these past years, Shidang had no chance to launch any decent battle that could please the Blood God, nor could he perform large-scale sacrifices to earn Khorne's favor.

His rate of strength growth was firmly suppressed by Qin Feng.

With one side rising and the other falling, the scales of victory had long tipped completely in Qin Feng's favor.

"Hammer, report Shidang's latest position."

"Reporting to master, based on the latest analysis of star-domain jump traces, the target is heading toward planet K412."

On the light screen, a planetary coordinate with a blinking red dot was clearly marked.

"Planet K412, huh?"

Qin Feng looked at the coordinate, a cold sneer flashing in his eyes.

According to intelligence gathered over the years from annihilated pirates and Chaos cultists, this barren mining planet was Shidang's main base.

No doubt it held his last remnants and his final trump card.

"It seems he's truly been cornered by me."

"Very well."

Qin Feng slowly stood up, his gaze falling upon the blood-stained planet.

"That place is both your stronghold and your final grave."

He turned and strode toward the bridge.

"Full speed ahead! Target: Planet K412!"

...

Scene shift.

Planet K412, surface.

This was a planet reeking of rust and gunpowder.

On the dark red earth, abandoned mining facilities and huge pits were scattered everywhere.

At this moment, amid the ruins of an abandoned smelting factory, a brutal battle was underway.

Dozens of warriors in standard power armor had formed a defensive formation, resisting an assault by several times their number of frenzied Blood God cultists.

These cultists, their bodies daubed with eerie blood runes, wielded all sorts of crude, deadly chain-axes and boltguns, launching wave after wave of fearless charges.

The battle had already reached its most intense stage.

On the martial artists' side, nearly everyone was wounded.

Their power armor was covered in savage scratches and bullet holes; several members had even lost limbs, relying only on their comrades' cover to mount a final resistance.

"Captain! We can't hold out much longer! These bastards are nothing but a pack of mad dogs!"

One martial artist roared, the barrel of his bolter glowing red-hot.

At the forefront of the formation, a lithe female martial artist wielded a long blade shimmering with psionic flames, cutting down charging Chaos cultists in two, again and again.

Her power armor was the finest in the squad, but even it was now battered and scarred.

The visor of her helmet was splattered with the foul blood of the enemy.

"Abandon the mission."

Her voice, transmitted through the communicator, reached every member of the squad.

"I'll buy you time. Activate the 'Psychic Field Stabilizer' immediately and teleport back to the Martial Hall!"

If Qin Feng were here, he would surely recognize this female martial artist—who, even in the face of certain death, was trying to trade her life for her comrades' survival—as the very first opponent he had faced in the Imperial Arena years ago: the one dubbed "Thunder Dojo's Top Loser," Zhou Yu.

Time had long since honed her youthful naivety into the resilience and courage she now possessed.

Just as Zhou Yu and her team were preparing to retreat, a harsh engine roar tore through the distant sky.

A pirate vessel, savage in design and steeped in Chaos aesthetics, ripped through the planet's hazy atmosphere and drifted slowly into view.

At the sight of this ship, the Blood God's cultists, who had been attacking with frenzied abandon, seemed injected with the most potent stimulant. They halted their assault, raised their weapons high, and let out earth-shaking roars filled with worship and ecstasy!

"Our lord has returned!"

"Boss!!"

"For the Skull Throne!!!"

In an instant, their battle lust surged even higher, and they charged once more at Zhou Yu's defensive line with renewed ferocity!

"It's over..."

A young martial artist stared at the ship radiating an ominous aura, his voice laced with despair. "Their leader... is back."

"The intelligence was a catastrophic failure! This is no ordinary cultist camp!"

Bitterness welled up in Zhou Yu's heart as well.

This time, they might truly be doomed.

Everyone gritted their teeth. No one retreated. They fought on desperately.

Then, the pirate vessel swiftly landed above the battlefield.

A towering, oppressive figure leaped out from the hatch.

It was Shi Dang!

But he didn't even glance at the battlefield below.

His face bore an expression of extreme urgency. The moment he landed, he turned into a blur, charging madly toward the deepest part of the cultist camp.

"Where is my stuff?! Where is my treasure chest?!"

He roared like a wild beast.

"Boss! Here! Right here!"

A cultist leader scrambled out of a hidden bunker, carrying a chest carved from a single piece of "Void Stone," inscribed with complex sealing runes.

"Give it to me!"

Shi Dang snatched the chest and roughly opened it.

"Crack—"

The moment the lid lifted, a thick, cloying stench of blood burst forth.

Inside the chest lay a fist-sized, blood-red crystal fragment that pulsed slowly like a beating heart.

Its shape and aura were seven-tenths similar to a "Yuan Qiao"!

Shi Dang's eyes blazed with unprecedented ecstasy and greed.

Without hesitation, he grabbed the blood-red fragment and, under everyone's gaze, forcibly pressed it into the skull position of his power armor helmet!

"Sizzle—"

Accompanied by a sickening sound of burning flesh, the fragment directly merged into his head!

"Ahhh—!"

Shi Dang let out a scream of unbearable agony, but his aura skyrocketed at an inconceivable speed!

His body began to swell violently; bulging muscles tore through the lining of his power armor.

Veins, red as molten lava, writhed madly beneath his skin.

The demonic horns on his head grew even more savage and massive, as if they would pierce the very sky!

"Haha...!!!!"

After the endless pain came the ultimate ecstasy!

Feeling the unprecedented, terrifying power surging within him, about to break all shackles, Shi Dang burst into manic laughter!

"Qin Feng!!"

He howled to the heavens, his voice making the entire battlefield tremble!

"I endured for four years! Four whole years!

I put up with your boring cat-and-mouse games, all for today!

For the chance to live and return to this planet, K412!"

"Hahahaha! In the end, you were still too slow!

If you had been just a little faster, the outcome would have been completely different!"

"Now, I lack... nothing!!"

Zhou Yu and her team felt the terrifying pressure radiating from Shi Dang—already infinitely close to, even half a step into, the threshold of "Planetary Rank." Despair and shock were written on every face.

A Khornate demon on the verge of ascending to Planetary Rank!

A being blessed by the Dark God!

As for the name "Qin Feng," Zhou Yu had no recollection of it.

Just as Zhou Yu and her team's hearts sank to the abyss, believing it was all over—

Just as Shi Dang roared with laughter, reveling in the ecstasy of his rising power—

Just as the Khornate cultists madly slaughtered the last defenders, offering the bloodiest cheers to their master—

Another engine roar tore across the sky.

Another, even larger and more ferocious pirate warship violently crashed into this airspace.

Then, a figure wielding a long spear, wrapped in endless killing intent and fury, leaped down from ten thousand meters high!

He was like a burning meteor, dragging a long tail of flame, carrying an earth-shattering roar, and plummeting fiercely toward the laughing Shi Dang!

"Star—Shatter—!!!!"

That spear light seemed truly like a star falling from the highest heavens!

It blazed with fierce spiritual energy flames, turning the dim yellow sky into a blinding white daylight!

Its target was only one!

That was Shi Dang!

"Come well!!"

Feeling that terrifying aura that could threaten his life, Shi Dang's wild laughter abruptly stopped.

On his fully demonized face, a ferocious smile appeared.

Shi Dang pulled out the massive broadsword from his back, gathered all the power that had just surged within him, and slashed upward at the meteor descending from the sky!

At this moment, time seemed to freeze for an instant.

The spear tip and the blade edge collided precisely in midair.

There was no earth-shattering sound.

Only a moment of utter silence.

Then, an indescribable, destructive shockwave erupted from the point of impact!

The earth wailed!

The ground for hundreds of miles around was pressed down violently, as if by an invisible giant hand, instantly forming a bottomless huge depression!

The surging force turned into a visible, outward-spreading spiral of annihilation, grinding everything in its path—abandoned factories, hard rocks, and those Blood God followers who couldn't dodge—into dust!

"Defense!!"

Zhou Yu screamed hoarsely.

Yet she found that the shockwave did not sweep toward them.

That being who descended from the sky could finely control such terrible destructive power!

How powerful must that be?!

Zhou Yu was stunned.

The shockwave came quickly and went quickly.

When the light and heat that destroyed everything completely vanished,

the whole world seemed to fall into utter silence.

In the drifting smoke and dust, a tall figure stood quietly at the center of the giant pit, holding a long spear.

On the tip of his spear, a head that refused to close its eyes, still bearing expressions of shock and disbelief, was held high.

And beside it, Shi Dang's massive, headless corpse.

The headless corpse still maintained the posture of swinging the blade upward, but it was kneeling on the ground.

All the vitality and life force within him had been utterly annihilated by Qin Feng's supreme strike, "Star Shatter."

Shi Dang was dead!

At the center of the giant pit, there was dead silence.

Qin Feng stood quietly with his spear, the spear made of eighth-grade "Starfall Iron" now undergoing the strangest test since its creation.

On the spear tip, Shi Dang's head, which refused to close its eyes, was undergoing some eerie transformation.

Patches of blood-red color, which had dimmed as life force dissipated, like living tides, seeped out from the depths of the skull again.

This blood color carried a sinister madness from the deepest chaos, and in an instant, it covered the entire head!

"Sizzle—"

Accompanied by a teeth-grinding sound of flesh burning, the entire demon head burst into flames out of thin air!

The dark red flames carried no heat but were filled with extreme resentment and unwillingness.

In the flames, Shi Dang's twisted flesh, knotted muscles, and even his ferocious demon horns were burned away in visible sight, turning into wisps of black smoke that dissipated into nothingness.

In just a few seconds, only a strange skull remained on the spear tip, translucent like jade yet full of ominous aura, red and white.

White was the skull's own color, hard and grim.

Red was countless eerie blood-colored lines, like blood vessels covering the skull's surface, still seeming alive, slowly pulsating on the skull.

Qin Feng's brow furrowed slightly.

He could feel that within this skull was an extremely pure yet extremely evil aggregate of spiritual power.

He flicked his wrist, trying to fling this ominous thing off the spear tip.

But at the moment he exerted force, the red-and-white skull suddenly burst into a blinding blood light!

It wasn't flung away; instead, it turned into a blood-colored streak that couldn't be caught by the naked eye, directly diving into Qin Feng's brow in an unreasonable manner!

The speed was so fast that Qin Feng didn't even have time to react!

"Buzz—!"

Just as that blood-colored streak was about to invade his spiritual sea, the golden nail imprint on his brow bone flashed faintly!

A barely noticeable golden light flickered and vanished.

That blood-colored streak, originally full of violence and madness, upon contact with that golden light, seemed to meet its natural enemy; all evil thoughts and resentment were instantly purified and erased!

Only the purest, most massive spiritual power essence remained!

Then, this vast spiritual power, like rivers finding their home, surged mightily into his spiritual sea, which had already reached the limit of a hundred points!

Qin Feng felt his head suddenly grow heavy, followed by an unprecedented clarity and transparency!

His spiritual sea, originally like a full lake, began to expand wildly!

Originally, his spiritual power index of a hundred points had been condensed into a perfect, crystal-clear droplet of spiritual power in his sea.

Now, with the influx of that external spiritual power, a second droplet, identical to the first, was rapidly condensing and taking shape in visible sight!

In just a few breaths, when everything settled, Qin Feng carefully sensed his changes, and a look of incredulous shock flashed in his eyes.

His spiritual power had doubled!

From a hundred points, it had directly soared to two hundred points!

In his spiritual sea, there were now two droplets of spiritual power!

"Is this the great benefit that Tutor Yu Han mentioned after killing Shi Dang?"

Qin Feng's heart was in turmoil.

He couldn't understand, nor could he grasp the principle behind it.

Why would slaying a fallen devotee of Chaos bring about such an incomprehensible elevation in oneself?

Consider this: how long had it taken him to cultivate a hundred points of psychic power?

Nearly a century!

The early steps were arduous; only after establishing a foundation of ten psychic points and switching to the "Crystal Meditation Method" did his psychic power begin to rise swiftly—yet the toil along the way, Qin Feng knew all too well.

With a flicker of thought, he tried to locate that "culprit" within his own body.

The next instant, a flash of light in his palm—and that red-and-white skull, now smooth as jade, radiating not a trace of evil aura, appeared in his hand as if from nowhere.

Qin Feng attempted to toss it away.

But no matter how far he threw it, the moment he willed it, the skull would instantly return to his grasp.

This thing seemed utterly bound to him, impossible to shake off.

"..."

Qin Feng was silent for a moment, gazing at the uniquely shaped skull in his hand. At last, slowly, he let out a breath. He found a tough alloy cable, securely fastened the red-and-white skull, and then, with crisp efficiency, hung it at his waist.

Since he couldn't shake it off, he might as well keep it.

Let it be—an eternal monument of vengeance, reclaimed for his dear friend Lei Meng.

Just then, the warrior squad that had survived the shockwave in the distance finally snapped back from that apocalyptic scene.

At their head, Zhou Yu was the first to remove her power-armor helmet, revealing a resolute face mingled with awe, gratitude, and shock.

She turned toward Qin Feng and executed an impeccably standard Imperial salute.

"Thank you, Senior, for your aid!"

Behind her, all the surviving members doffed their helmets in unison, offering a crisp Imperial salute.

"Thank you, Senior, for saving our lives!"

Their voices came from the depths of their hearts.

For this unparalleled powerhouse—who, clad in no power armor, armed only with a single spear, had obliterated a Khornate daemon on the verge of ascending to planetary rank—they felt nothing but the purest reverence.

The title "Senior" had nothing to do with age; it was tied solely to strength.

Hearing this, Qin Feng turned his head.

When his eyes fell upon Zhou Yu's face—both familiar and strange—he couldn't help but pause for a moment.

Qin Feng recognized her.

But he offered no further explanation.

He merely smiled faintly and said in a calm voice, "No matter. I was merely pursuing him here—just a coincidence."

With that, he lingered no longer. Turning, he took a single step, and his form shot upward like a cannonball, landing precisely inside his heavy cruiser, which hovered midair.

With the roar of engines, the warship changed course and soon vanished beyond the dusky horizon of planet K412.

Only Zhou Yu and the others remained, staring blankly at the direction of his departure.

"So familiar."

Zhou Yu shook her head, her brow tightly furrowed.

She felt an indescribable sense of recognition.

But no matter how she searched her memory, she couldn't recall where she had seen him.

In truth, when they first met, Qin Feng had been a callow youth.

Now, after countless battles and endless cultivation, his features were more rugged and resolute, his stature taller, his aura utterly transformed.

It was only natural that Zhou Yu couldn't remember.

...

Inside the cruiser's bridge.

Qin Feng sat in the commander's seat and opened the mission panel.

He found the blood-red assassination mission that had long been on his list.

[Assassination Mission B: Eliminate the Imperial traitor and Khorne devotee, Shi Dang.]

[Mission Status: Completed.]

[Final evaluation in progress... Evaluation complete. Target's final strength exceeded the mission's initial rating. Mission reward upgraded.]

[Congratulations! You have received mission reward: Contribution Points 300,000.]

Gazing at his suddenly swollen contribution balance, Qin Feng's face showed not a ripple.

He closed the mission panel and asked in his mind, "Hammer, is there any way to convert the spoils from these years of pirate suppression into contribution points?"

"Reporting to Master."

Hammer's voice was, as always, cold and efficient. "There are two conventional methods for processing spoils. First, if your warp storage unit has sufficient space, you can bring all spoils back to Imperial territory and sell them through the Imperial Exchange, directly converting them into Imperial credits or contribution points."

"Second, if your warp storage unit lacks space, you can only abandon them in the deep void of space."

Qin Feng glanced at his storage unit, already crammed full of various materials, equipment, and energy blocks.

Then he looked at the pirate vessel, tens of kilometers long.

"The current storage unit space is far from sufficient."

"Then discard them."

"I'll purchase a larger warp storage unit later."

"Hammer, initiate the warp transit network."

"Destination: Canaan Star Martial University."

—

The central transit platform of Canaan Star Martial University was as bustling as ever.

With the characteristic energy hum that marked the end of a spatial jump, portals of light opened out of nowhere and silently closed.

Gifted martial artists hurried to and fro, gathering here and departing from here to their respective battlefields.

Qin Feng's figure slowly materialized within one of those portals.

As far as his eyes could see, there were only young, unfamiliar faces.

They were full of vitality, their eyes gleaming with hope and ambition for the future—just as he himself had been, years ago.

"Opening apertures took forty years."

"Fusing apertures took thirty years."

"From first entering the seventh-level Mountain-Sea Realm to reaching the end of the Fourth Great Limit took less than twenty years."

"Plus... the four years spent hunting Shi Dang."

Qin Feng calculated silently in his heart.

"Now, I am nearly one hundred and ten years old."

A sigh, barely audible, silently passed through the depths of his heart.

Time had left no mark upon his formidable, fleshly frame.

Yet those eyes, which had witnessed too much life and death, stained by too much blood and fire, had long since settled into a depth and world-weariness befitting his years.

Qin Feng dwelled no further on it. With practiced ease, he opened his personal terminal and submitted a request for guidance to his mentor, Yu Han.

Almost the instant he submitted it, the request was approved.

Yu Han’s reply was, as always, succinct.

【Martial Immortal District, come quickly.】

…

Light and shadow shifted.

When Qin Feng opened his eyes again, the bamboo grove—so tranquil it seemed to wash away all worldly clamor—greeted his sight.

A gentle breeze came, rustling the bamboo leaves.

By the stone table, Yu Han was still in his usual languid pose, leisurely pouring himself a cup of fragrant tea.

Seeing Qin Feng’s figure appear, he didn’t even turn his head, only said with a faint smile:

“Back? It seems you’ve come to terms with it?”

“No, I was tricked.”

Qin Feng walked slowly to the stone table, pulled out a stone stool, and sat down without ceremony.

He picked up another teacup on the table, poured it full himself, and drained it in one gulp.

He smiled—a smile tinged with relief and self-mockery: “These past few years, I’ve been to the Chaotic Star Region, and I’ve seen the empire’s most remote prison planet.”

“Mm.”

Yu Han also smiled.

He could hear in Qin Feng’s tone a trace of complaint, but it no longer carried the fierce questioning and anger of those earlier years.

“So, coming back this time, do you want to ask me about the path ahead? Or perhaps, you want some advice about the future?”

Yu Han set down his teacup and looked at him with composed ease.

“Both.”

Qin Feng’s expression turned serious.

“But before that, I encountered something… very strange.”

Then he recounted to Yu Han, in full detail, everything that had happened after he killed Shi Dang.

From how Shi Dang’s head had eerily self-ignited, turning into a red-and-white skull;

to how that skull had transformed into a streak of blood-colored light, forcibly diving into his own brow;

and finally, under the infusion of that vast spiritual power, how his mental index had doubled from one hundred points to two hundred, condensing a second droplet of mental energy in his sea of consciousness.

Having finished, Qin Feng pointed at the red-and-white skull hanging at his waist, tied with an alloy cord, smooth as warm jade.

“And this thing—now I can’t get rid of it. It feels… weird.”

After listening to his account, Yu Han’s face showed not the slightest surprise, as if everything had been within his expectations.

“Mm. This is what I called back then—‘a great boon.’”

Yu Han’s gaze fell upon the skull at Qin Feng’s waist, a strange glint in his eyes.

“Within the vast territory of the human empire, there exist an extremely rare class of martial artists. They are sworn enemies of Chaos.”

“This kind of martial artist can, by slaying those minions blessed by the Chaos gods, forcibly strip, absorb, and purify the power they received from that blessing, thereby directly enhancing their own mental strength or strengthening their physique.”

Yu Han’s voice was calm and clear, yet it stirred a monstrous wave in Qin Feng’s heart!

“They are the bane of Chaos.”

“At the same time, they are also the beings Chaos most desires to corrupt.”

Here, Yu Han lifted his head, his eyes meeting Qin Feng’s directly, and said word by word:

“And you belong to this special class of martial artists.”

“As for this skull…”

Yu Han pointed at it, “You can think of it as a ‘mark’ left on you by Chaos. You can easily destroy its physical form, but you cannot erase the imprint it has left on the essence of your soul.”

“It serves two purposes.”

“First: from now on, any Chaos demon, when approaching within a certain range of you, will clearly sense your location coordinates.

At the same time, through the aura emitted by this skull, it can roughly discern how many Chaos demons of its kind you have slain.”

“Second: conversely, you can also use it to clearly sense the presence of all Chaos demons within a certain range.”

“As for the size of this ‘range,’ it depends on how many Chaos demons you have killed, as well as the rank and strength of those you have slain.”

Yu Han picked up his teacup and took a gentle sip.

“So, consider this skull a special trophy. Many of the empire’s top powerhouses have the habit of collecting the heads of their prey. It is a symbol of honor.”

“I see.”

Qin Feng suddenly understood.

He looked down at the red-and-white skull at his waist, his expression somewhat complicated.

“What do you plan to do next? Your great revenge is fulfilled.”

Yu Han smiled.

“Not sure.”

Qin Feng smiled frankly, the smile carrying unreserved trust in his mentor. “So I’ve come specially to ask for your guidance.”

Seeing him like this, Yu Han’s face also broke into a smile.

“Your path is actually very clear.”

Yu Han extended a finger and traced a great road on the stone table.

“First step: participate in the latest ‘Star Cup’ and achieve a sufficiently dazzling ranking—at least the top hundred. This is to earn you a ticket to the Cosmic Genius Tournament.”

“Second step: after finishing the Star Cup, push through your shackles in one go and advance to a planetary-level lifeform.”

“Third step: apply for graduation. Then immediately sign up for the ‘Cosmic Genius Tournament’!”

“Finally, earn the formal qualification to join the ‘Extreme Warrior Legion’!”

“As for your killing method,”

Yu Han shifted the topic, “You have already mastered a sixth-level killing method at the ‘Mastery Realm.’ For your current stage, that is more than sufficient. Your path, your true starting point, lies after you advance to planetary level.”

He looked at Qin Feng, his expression becoming unprecedentedly serious.

“You must remember: for the vast majority of martial artists, after reaching planetary level, whether in terms of physique or life force, they are all pulled back to the same starting line.”

The accumulation below the planetary level will be largely erased."

"Most martial artists who cultivate superior aperture-opening techniques and possess superior primal apertures will be stuck at the 108,000 Fourth Great Limit for a long time. This is because their physical constitution is insufficient, requiring painstaking, gradual effort to approach the standard of a planetary lifeform. This process takes centuries."

"But you shaped an exceptional primal aperture ahead of time, and your physical constitution is quite remarkable, so you can easily break through the Four Great Limits in a single breath and ascend to a planetary lifeform, because the gap between you and a planetary lifeform is not that great."

"..."

"The planetary level is a new starting point."

"But you are a special kind of person."

"When you can hunt down one planetary-level Chaos Demon after another, or even those above the planetary level, your strength will soar without end!"

"After the planetary level, you will still be the most outstanding prodigy!"

Yu Han slowly stood up, the wind in the bamboo grove stirring his robes.

"That's all I have to say."

"I'll be waiting for you in the Ultramarines Chapter."

Yu Han's words illuminated all the fog in Qin Feng's heart.

A clear and distinct path of martial arts unfolded before his eyes.

"Mentor,"

Qin Feng looked at Yu Han, who was slowly rising as if preparing to leave, and couldn't help asking, "Are you leaving?"

"Yes."

A relieved smile appeared on Yu Han's face: "We've been apart too long; it's time to return to the Chapter."

He turned around, not looking at Qin Feng again, leaving only a broad back.

"The next time we meet,"

His voice came with the wind, clearly reaching Qin Feng's ears, "we should be comrades-in-arms."

"Good!"

Qin Feng nodded heavily.

---

After leaving the Martial Immortal District, Qin Feng opened his personal terminal and connected to the subspace network within the Empire.

The first thing he opened was the registration interface for the "Starry Cup" hosted by the Empire's Martial Arts Department.

[Starry Cup, Ninth-Level Division, Registration Channel.]

Without any hesitation, he filled in his information and clicked confirm.

[Registration successful. Respected Canaan Star Martial Arts Academy student Qin Feng, your participation qualification has been confirmed.

The preliminary selection will officially begin three months from now in Imperial Standard Time.]

After doing all this, Qin Feng turned his attention to his private messages, which had piled up like a mountain and gone unprocessed for many years.

Opening the mailbox, a series of familiar names came into view.

The vast majority of the messages were from his former comrades-in-arms in the Dreadnought Chapter—Long Yu, Nissan, and Ning Jing.

The earliest message was sent six years ago.

[Sender: Nissan]

[Content: Qin Beast! Where did you run off to? Why did you disappear without a word? Is it about that guy Shi Dang? If you need help, just say the word!]

[Sender: Long Yu]

[Content: Qin Feng, reply when you see this. We confirmed from the mentor that you're still alive. If you need anything, contact us anytime.]

[Sender: Ning Jing]

[Content: Don't die.]

...

After that, they sent messages one after another, asking about his recent situation and suggesting they meet up when they had time.

Between the lines, the most sincere concern was revealed.

As for his other close friends—Xiong Yanfu, Shi Potian, and Tie Mu—their mailboxes were completely empty.

Back then, during the Chapter ranking competition, they had also amassed a huge amount of prestige and contribution points.

Now, they were surely still in deep seclusion, making their final efforts to break through to higher realms.

Once upon a time, when they first entered the academy, they couldn't settle down to cultivate and were eager to go out on missions. But after all these years, everyone had grown, and solitary cultivation had become the norm for them.

Besides Long Yu and the others, one more name stood out prominently in the mailbox.

[Sender: Qin Yonglin]

[Content: Junior Qin Feng, I heard you've come out of seclusion. My staff technique has improved again. Dare to fight?]

[Sender: Qin Yonglin]

[Content: Location: Imperial Arena. I'll be waiting for you.]

[Sender: Qin Yonglin]

[Content: Why aren't you replying?]

...

This martial-obsessed senior's messages came almost every so often.

The content had shifted from initial challenges to challenges tinged with confusion and bewilderment.

Qin Feng smiled helplessly.

He marked all these messages as read, then opened the chat with Long Yu and the others to send a message.

"I'm back."

(End of chapter)