Chapter 228: King against King! I Avoid Your Sharp Edge?! Hidden Item "

Chapter 228: King Against King! I Evade Your Sharp Edge?! The Hidden Item "Compass of Rebirth"!

A distance of a hundred thousand miles, within this stellar core thick as an ocean of light, was at once the ends of the earth and a mere stone's throw away.

Qin Feng and Caesar simply stared at each other from afar.

Their gazes pierced through the boiling blazes and the distorted force fields, like two invisible, peerless divine weapons clashing silently in the void hundreds of millions of times.

Under Caesar's calm, almost indifferent gaze, Qin Feng's mind entered a realm of absolute, icy analysis.

He rapidly and precisely evaluated every ounce of his own strength, every single trump card.

"I cultivate the Canaan Sutra, using it as the foundation to construct the Indestructible Tower. My physical body is like this very tower—indestructible and immensely strong. In terms of endurance, speed, and power, there are no shortcomings whatsoever."

"My mental fortitude, after these decades of bitter cultivation, is equally terrifying."

"And my strongest asset is my King-class killing method, which has reached the realm of 'Perfection'—the Heaven-Devouring Fist."

"His degree of construction... is too high."

Qin Feng arrived at a conclusion so cold it made him suffocate.

"My Indestructible Tower is at forty percent, while he... has likely reached eighty percent!"

A gap of forty percentage points!

This was not a chasm that could be bridged by technique, willpower, or an on-the-spot burst of power.

This was a pure, crushing, insurmountable disparity in realm.

"Zero chance of victory."

This thought surfaced with absolute clarity in Qin Feng's mind.

In a head-on clash, he might not even be able to take a single strike from Caesar.

But...

Qin Feng's gaze slowly swept across the surrounding chaotic force fields, which surged sluggishly like slumbering behemoths.

"If it's here... by utilizing the most primal, most violent chaotic force fields deep within this star, it might not be impossible to perish together with him!"

A mad thought germinated and swelled within his heart!

He did not want to shoulder a staggering debt of one billion contribution points, a burden that would utterly drag down his next few centuries of cultivation!

Since a loss was inevitable either way, and since he would be eliminated regardless, then he would drag Caesar down into elimination with him. At the very least, it would delay him for a while!

In an instant, Qin Feng's eyes, which had been as still as an ancient well, gradually turned icy cold, stripped of any remaining emotion.

In its place was a surging intent to kill, akin to a volcanic eruption, capable of burning the cosmic rivers to ash!

Since there was no retreat, then... one must seek life through death!

Boom—!!!

At almost the exact same instant Qin Feng's killing intent boiled over, Caesar moved as well.

Between the two, there was no superfluous speech.

The moment their decisions were made, they simultaneously erupted with their most terrifying power!

Qin Feng's figure transformed into a black divine spear that pierced through heaven and earth. The spear thrust forth like a dragon, enveloped in a fist intent that devoured all creation!

Caesar's figure transformed into a holy, pure sword-light that cleaved through chaos. Wherever the sword-light reached, it was sacred and majestic, purifying all things!

The golden knight's sword and the Star-Devouring spear collided violently at the core of this star!

There was no earth-shattering roar, only an ultimate domain of annihilation that swallowed all light and sound.

This was the collision of the strongest King-class inheritances!

This was a death match without reservation, where two top-tier geniuses drove their own martial wills to the absolute limit!

However, at the very first instant of collision, Qin Feng's pupils contracted violently!

A holy, fire-like pressure of mental fortitude bore down from the tip of the opponent's sword, not a single bit inferior to his own Heaven-Devouring Fist!

"A perfected killing method!"

A tempestuous wave rose within Qin Feng's heart.

Never in his wildest dreams did he expect that Caesar, a genius who already possessed an absolute, crushing advantage in realm, had actually cultivated his killing method to the theoretical limit of the planetary level as well—the realm of "Perfection"!

Crack!

Crack crack crack—!

Under this peerless, monumental force, the already battered power armor on Qin Feng's body shattered and dissolved instantly like ceramics struck by a sledgehammer, turning into countless fragments devoured by the blazes!

His indestructible physical body also began to crack open immediately!

Grisly, blood-colored fissures spread from his fingertips to his arms, and then across his entire body!

The bones within his body produced a strained, tooth-gritting screech as they began to shatter inch by inch!

Right at that moment, a calm, indifferent mental message, bearing even a slight tone of instruction, crossed the violent energy turbulence and flooded directly into Qin Feng's mind.

"We are the same breed of people."

It was Caesar's voice.

"We must all 'fight.' But 'fighting' does not rely solely on martial arts."

"Knowledge is a component just as crucial as martial arts."

"People like us must not only achieve superb cultivation and supreme strength, but we must also become the top military strategists, philosophers, politicians, artists, psionicists, and mentalists of the Human Empire..."

Caesar's voice was unhurried.

It was as though he were not engaged in a life-and-death struggle, but rather conducting an academic seminar.

"One must not only cultivate martial arts, but also study psionic energy and mental fortitude.

Just like the chaotic force fields inside this star—in your eyes, it is a weapon, but in my eyes, it is a research topic..."

"Just like now, you launched this suicidal attack, essentially wanting to detonate the chaotic force fields here to drag me down to destruction with you."

"But in reality, I have already thoroughly researched all one hundred and thirty-seven million basic models of mental and psionic force fields within giant stars.

The trillions of variations derived from these basic models are all fully known to me.

Therefore, I can easily evade all of this.

Only when both mentalistics and psionics meet the standards are we permitted to 'graduate'—or what your warband calls graduation."

Caesar smiled slightly, and that hint of a smile was clearly conveyed to Qin Feng through the mental message.

All of this information flooded into Qin Feng's mind in the span of a spark striking flint.

It was indeed so. Qin Feng's supreme strike just now was not meant to clash head-on with Caesar's blade!

Instead, using the "Perfected" intent of the Heaven-Devouring Fist as a catalyst, he had pried at the chaotic force fields spanning tens of thousands of miles around them, attempting to trigger an irreversible avalanche of force fields that would engulf everything!

This was the sole method of mutual destruction he could think of!

Yet all the patterns of riot he had triggered had already been derived, modeled, and rehearsed within Caesar's "research topic."

Amidst Qin Feng's utterly shocked gaze, Caesar used only a single hand to effortlessly press that golden knight's sword, laden with holy majesty, against the tip of Qin Feng's spear, rendering him unable to advance even a single fraction of an inch further.

Meanwhile, Caesar did not even glance at his surroundings.

He merely manipulated his vast, ocean-like mental power, like an invisible giant hand, and began to "comb" the chaotic force fields around him that were about to be driven into full-scale riot by Qin Feng.

Those raging, furious energies that were about to tear everything apart, under the soothing of his mental power, were like tamed beasts, and within less than three seconds, they returned to stability.

That force-field avalanche, enough to annihilate both of them, was thus effortlessly resolved by him in the snap of a finger.

"I can do it because I have learned."

"It's like facing a math problem: you can brute-force it with clumsy methods, or you can use the model techniques summarized by predecessors..."

"In this regard, you still have a long way to go!"

"Later, when you enter the Myriad Races Battlefield and reach the realm above the Black Hole level, you'll find more complex and extreme mental-psychic convergence environments everywhere, and everyone will have even more disgusting world wonders. How will you survive?"

"If you die there, you die for real!"

"And then you'll have to command large-scale army operations, and navigate alliances and stratagems among all kinds of alien races... If you die, countless others will die with you!"

"If you die on the extraterrestrial Myriad Races Battlefield, your soul can return to the Golden Throne; they will only become cold corpses that can never go home!"

"You are far too lacking!"

"Apart from your cultivation, you are worthless."

Crack—!

Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack—!!!

Qin Feng's physical body could no longer withstand the pure force crushing from the tip of Caesar's sword.

His arm completely exploded into a mist of blood.

Then, his chest, his legs...

Qin Feng's body, like a shattered sculpture, completely collapsed in a series of dense cracking sounds.

In the last moment of consciousness, only Caesar's calm and indifferent voice remained in his mind.

—

Consciousness, from an extreme darkness and void, re-coalesced.

Qin Feng slowly opened his eyes.

What met his eyes was a dim, dead sky.

Beyond the thin atmosphere were several distant stars emitting faint, bleak light.

He sat up and found himself on a vast, boundless, reddish-brown barren plain.

Under his feet were cracked earth and weathered rocks.

This was the edge of Galaxy No. 117, a long-abandoned planet.

His body had perfectly recovered as before.

The power armor that had completely shattered in the stellar core was now repaired, quietly covering his body, emitting the cold metallic luster.

[Contestant: Qin Feng]

[Status: Reborn]

[Tip: You have entered the 'Hunting Period'.]

[Points: 0]

[All resources you obtained within this competition zone have been completely lost.]

[All your personal items are safely stored in the subspace storage unit.]

The prompt information from the competition jade tablet clearly appeared on his HUD interface.

An extremely complex expression appeared on Qin Feng's face.

He had lost.

Lost without any suspense, lost completely and utterly.

Even his final trump card to drag the enemy down with him seemed like a childish joke in front of the other.

Caesar...

That man, as powerful as a god, and the words he spoke before his consciousness dissipated, lingered in his mind like a nightmare, impossible to shake off.

Combat is not everything...

Military strategist, philosopher, politician, artist, psychic scientist, mental power scientist...

Studying psychic power, studying mental power...

At that moment, for the first time, a sense of self-doubt arose in Qin Feng's heart.

A feeling of wavering toward the pure, extreme path of martial arts he had steadfastly walked for centuries.

Had I really taken the wrong path?

That feeling was like a swordsman who had trained all his life in swordsmanship, only to be easily shot from a hundred paces away by a child holding a firearm.

The impact of that dimensional reduction attack from a higher dimension, at the level of knowledge, was overwhelming.

But then, just a few seconds later, this sense of self-doubt was completely severed and cast aside by Qin Feng's rock-solid will!

Qin Feng's eyes became clear and determined again.

His path was not wrong!

Qin Feng's mental power had already reached an extremely profound level.

His thinking ability, logical ability, and discerning reasoning ability far exceeded ordinary people by hundreds or even thousands of times, so he could naturally understand the crux of the matter.

He immediately called up his intelligent assistant—Hammer.

"Hammer, use 'knowledge', 'martial arts', 'Black Hole level', 'Domain Lord level' as keywords to search all relevant public literature on the Empire Forum."

"Yes, master."

Blue data streams flashed rapidly across the HUD interface.

In just a few tenths of a second, hundreds of millions of documents were filtered, organized, and summarized by Hammer, presented before Qin Feng's eyes in the most concise and core abstracts.

Qin Feng's gaze, like the most precise scanner, rapidly swept over this information.

Soon, he understood.

"Knowledge and martial arts... these are the only two paths by which human civilization survives and continuously grows stronger."

Qin Feng murmured to himself.

His thinking, supported by a vast amount of information, entered an unprecedented, grand perspective.

"Through 'knowledge', humans can analyze the fundamental laws of the universe, create devastating psychic weapons, and develop mental power weapons.

A planetary-grade S-level psychic particle gun can easily destroy a planet.

Humans can even create psychic weapons capable of erasing black holes..."

"And through 'martial arts', humans can explore the mysteries of their own life, continuously enhance the strength of their physical body, and raise the energy level of their mental power."

"In the end, one can attain a state where the physical body is immortal and indestructible, allowing the spirit to slip into the subspace and roam the interstice between reality and illusion."

"These two paths are not superior or inferior to each other; they are the two legs of human civilization, and neither can be dispensed with."

"But..."

Qin Feng's gaze sharpened.

"...before the Black Hole level, these two paths are relatively independent."

He soon found the answer in a paper written by a Domain Lord-level martial artist.

"After becoming a Black Hole-level martial artist, one's own martial path has actually reached a temporary end.

To continue upward and advance to the legendary 'Domain Lord' level, one must forge a completely unique 'Dao' of one's own and create one's own method."

"And to forge this 'Dao,' one must possess nearly infinite 'knowledge' as a foundation.

You need to understand the laws of the universe, to perceive the mysteries of life, to comprehend the essence of the soul... at this point, 'knowledge' becomes the only key to breakthrough."

"But human energy is ultimately limited."

"Especially in the early stages of martial arts, before the Planetary level, the martial artist's body is weak, the spirit is low, and life is relatively short.

In such a limited time, you cannot simultaneously pursue both paths."

"So..."

A wry expression appeared on Qin Feng's face.

"...so, aside from the infamous 'Blood Angels' chapter, where everyone is known to be mad, no other chapter has ever advocated the so-called 'theory of knowledge' before the Planetary level."

"Of course, after the Planetary level, they don't deliberately advocate it either.

Because any martial artist who can cultivate to the Black Hole level through sheer perseverance and talent will naturally understand the importance of 'knowledge' without needing anyone to remind them."

Everything became clear.

"At the Planetary level, spending a great deal of time learning that vast ocean of knowledge will naturally lead to a significant reduction in the time you spend honing your body, tempering your spirit, and practicing killing techniques, ultimately slowing down your martial cultivation."

"Caesar... is indeed a peerless genius."

A hint of sincere admiration flickered in Qin Feng's eyes.

"He studied such an immense amount of 'knowledge' and built that terrifying force-field model database, yet his own martial cultivation is still so formidable, reaching 80% completion."

"If he had devoted all the effort he spent on studying that 'knowledge' to martial cultivation, his current cultivation would probably be even stronger."

Qin Feng took a deep breath, and the slight gloom in his heart caused by the defeat was swept away.

A blazing fighting spirit rekindled in his eyes.

He was not as worthless as Caesar had claimed; he was not without merit.

The truth was that Caesar himself was a madman, a bigot, an out-and-out freak!

He believed, almost crazily and stubbornly, in the doctrine of his 'Blood Angels' chapter that 'knowledge and martial arts must always go hand in hand.'

And then he would forcibly instill this doctrine, which he considered 'truth,' into every opponent he defeated.

"However, I have to admit that 'knowledge' has a tremendous amplifying effect on combat power."

Qin Feng recalled the scene where Caesar effortlessly neutralized the chaotic force field at the core of a star, and still felt a trace of shock.

"But to achieve what he did, the effort and time invested must be astronomical.

This is a wrong path for me.

In the short term, I don't need to consider these things at all."

Qin Feng shook his head, thoroughly strengthening his resolve.

Caesar was a worthy, even perfect, opponent.

His cultivation progressed extremely fast, like a snowball, leaving his peers far behind.

His killing techniques were exceptionally powerful, having also cultivated the King-Sealing inheritance to the 'Perfection' realm.

He also possessed a vast, despair-inducing knowledge base, which elevated his combat ability even further beyond his already unparalleled level.

He was also well-versed in politics, military affairs, history...

Without a doubt, Caesar was a perfect six-sided warrior with no weaknesses.

A light never seen before shone in Qin Feng's eyes.

He had already set Caesar as a target he must catch up to and surpass on his martial path.

—

After strengthening his own martial path, Qin Feng's mind returned to a state of clarity.

He did not rush to leave this barren planet, but quietly sat cross-legged, opened the subspace forum in his competition jade token, and began browsing the latest developments in the joint private domain of galaxies 115-119.

The experience of defeat gave him a clearer and more macroscopic understanding of the overall war zone situation.

The forum was still as lively, or rather chaotic, as ever.

Countless posts were refreshing at lightning speed.

[Battle Report! A great battle erupted at the 'Pioneer Furnace' in Galaxy 116. Over a dozen of our 'Boundless Sea' fighters joined forces to repel a raid by the 'Blood Axe Squad' from Galaxy 99!]

[Reinforcements Needed! The 'Void Sunflower' in Galaxy 115 is about to mature. At least three elite squads from Galaxy 99 are converging on this location. Requesting all nearby comrades to rush to support!]

[Intelligence! Galaxy 99 is carrying out a comprehensive strategic strangulation against us. They seem to have grasped the respawn patterns of all of us, striking specifically during our weakest 'Hunting Period'!]

[Rage! Those idiots from Galaxy 118 again! To snatch a 'Furnace Core Fragment,' they actually backstabbed our brothers from Galaxy 117!]

Each piece of information was filled with the breath of blood and fire.

Qin Feng's eyes calmly swept over this noisy stream of information, quickly grasping several key points.

First, all the geniuses from the five galaxies were still fighting independently as before, engaging in brutal and chaotic scrambles around various stellar-level opportunity points.

Second, the martial artists from Galaxy 99, like a persistent bone infection, had fully infiltrated every corner of the five galaxies. Operating in squads, they acted efficiently with clear objectives, specifically targeting the living forces of the five galaxies for precise and relentless harassment and hunting.

Clearly, this was the second great net Caesar had cast outside the 'Beast Graveyard.'

Just then, a post that was pinned and highlighted in red instantly caught all of Qin Feng's attention.

[Top genius of Galaxy 117, Boundless Sea-level powerhouse Yan Wu, has been officially eliminated today!]

This news, like a boulder thrown into an already turbulent lake, stirred up a thousand waves.

It also made Qin Feng's pupils contract slightly.

"Yan Wu... eliminated?"

This news shocked him greatly.

He knew very well that the elimination mechanism of the 'Universal Genius Battle,' though cruel, was not so easily triggered.

Each death came with a ten-year 'Hunting Period' as a buffer.

Within these ten years, as long as you could successfully kill a participant, you could eliminate the risk of 'elimination' and regain a precious official competition spot.

For a top genius of Yan Wu's level, finding a weak opponent within ten years to complete a 'hunt' was not difficult.

To have a genius of this level 'officially eliminated' was extremely difficult.

But now, Yanwu, once a prodigy equal to Cang and himself, had truly been eliminated.

Qin Feng immediately opened that post.

The post was written by a warrior from Galaxy 117 in an extremely bitter and indignant tone.

“…The first time, Yanwu was slain in the ‘Beast Graveyard’ by ‘Yan Hu’ of Galaxy 99.”

“After rebirth, Yanwu, alone, endured the arduous ‘Hunting Period.’”

“And he successfully seized a stellar-level resource located in Galaxy 119—the ‘Stone Giant’s Hand’—greatly enhancing his strength.”

“Later, to wash away his shame, Yanwu took the initiative and sought out ‘Yan Hu’ again, igniting a earth-shattering battle.”

“In that battle, Yanwu ultimately lost by a narrow margin, but he lost with honor!”

“However, just as Yanwu was reborn a second time and entered the ‘Hunting Period’… he was soon ambushed by another strongman from Galaxy 99, ‘Yu Hai.’”

“In a desperate fight with ‘Yu Hai,’ ‘Yan Hu’ appeared again, joining forces with ‘Yu Hai’ to besiege Yanwu…”

“In the end, Yanwu fell. He failed to complete the ‘Hunting Period’ task and was formally eliminated.”

“I strongly suspect that Galaxy 99 has mastered a special competition item that detects resurrection locations, much like a betting token.”

Below the post were countless replies from warriors of Galaxy 117, filled with anger and resentment.

Qin Feng silently closed the post, but understood in his heart.

However, using such an item to pinpoint rebirth locations and thus formally eliminate someone was indeed going too far.

“If it were about contending for opportunities, that would be one thing, but directly kicking someone out of the arena, depriving them of centuries of future opportunities—that truly breeds a deep grudge.”

Qin Feng mused.

According to past conventions, even if one played it safe, followed the main force to pick up scraps, or even found a teammate to mutually survive the Hunting Period, one could still become a stellar-level powerhouse and even walk more than half the path of a stellar-level being.

But now, being eliminated before even reaching the planetary level…

Such hatred had reached the level of mortal enmity.

…

Qin Feng continued scrolling through the posts, and soon he discovered a new, extremely peculiar phenomenon.

On the forum, negative posts about warriors from Galaxy 118 were exploding in number.

“It’s those scum from Galaxy 118 again! I’m out here fighting for my life against Galaxy 99, and they’re behind me stealing our spoils!”

“Damn it, now I feel sick just seeing the emblem of Galaxy 118! A bunch of selfish, useless trash!”

“In the end, if it weren’t for those people from Galaxy 118 stubbornly guarding the entrance to the ‘Beast Graveyard’ and not letting us in, wasting so many years, how could we have been beaten so badly by Galaxy 99?”

“Right! The root of all evil is Galaxy 118!”

A wave of extreme pessimism and resentment was spreading wildly across the entire joint private domain.

And the warriors of Galaxy 118 had become the perfect outlet for this resentment, almost like rats crossing the street, with everyone shouting to beat them.

Targeted, ostracized, even hunted by warriors from other galaxies…

All kinds of internal conflicts emerged endlessly.

Qin Feng saw all this without any emotional fluctuation.

“It’s already a lost cause.”

Qin Feng shook his head.

The five galaxies were nothing but a heap of loose sand.

When external pressure reached a certain level, instead of uniting, they began frantically and irrationally searching for a “scapegoat” from within.

How could such a faction possibly win?

He had already done everything he could.

During those forty years in the “Beast Graveyard,” he had risked his life, single-handedly greatly delaying Caesar’s advancement.

Inside that star, Qin Feng estimated that he had devoured about 30% of the total resources.

And the ten million warriors of the five galaxies, in the final melee and subsequent scattered skirmishes, had consumed roughly another 30% in total.

The remaining 40% was monopolized by Caesar alone.

“However, that 40% of resources is certainly not enough for Caesar to truly advance to the stellar level.”

Qin Feng’s gaze flickered.

“To fully complete 100% construction, he will still need decades of accumulation.”

Qin Feng checked the progress of his own [Undying Tower].

40% construction progress—by any galaxy’s standards, it was a remarkable achievement.

But the resources needed to reach 100% completion were still an astronomical figure.

“Forget it.”

Qin Feng stood up and brushed the dust off his clothes.

“The urgent task now is to complete the ‘Hunting Period’ mission, lest I run into bad luck, encounter Caesar early, and be eliminated outright.”

He quietly gazed at the real-time updated, massive star map covering all five galaxies within his competition jade token.

On the star map, countless light points representing participants were densely marked.

Among them, the red light points of Galaxy 99 and the blue light points of his own faction were interlocked, scattered everywhere.

Qin Feng’s spiritual power slowly swept across the map, finally locking onto two red light points that were extremely close and exuded a dangerous aura.

Yan Hu.

Yu Hai.

“You’re the ones.”

A cold killing intent flashed in Qin Feng’s eyes.

If he remembered correctly, the warrior with 12% construction progress whom he had personally slain inside the star was named Yan Hu.

And just now, it was this same Yan Hu who had driven Yanwu into a corner and ultimately caused his elimination.

They had indeed gone too far.

Qin Feng planned to teach them a lesson and also see what that item capable of detecting resurrection coordinates was.

From the positional coordinates on the map, this Yan Hu and the warrior named “Yu Hai” seemed to be in the same place right now.

Perfect, catch them all in one net.

Without any further hesitation, Qin Feng directly opened the subspace transmission network, precisely locking his spiritual power onto the coordinates of those two red light points.

The next second, his figure vanished from this desolate plain.

…

This was a dead, silent rocky planet long abandoned by civilization.

No atmosphere, no water, only a vast, boundless gray desert scorched by cosmic rays for billions of years.

In the shadow of an unremarkable crater within this desolate desert, two figures stood like sculptures fused with the rock, suppressing every trace of their presence, hiding with desperate stillness.

They were Yu Hai and Yan Hu.

Like venomous snakes lurking in the grass, they watched the flat clearing at the crater’s center with patient, icy gazes.

That spot was one of the few regions on this planet where spatial coordinates remained relatively stable.

They were waiting for prey.

Sure enough, before long, a spatial ripple materialized out of thin air.

Then, a warrior clad in the standard power armor of the 118th Galaxy System shifted from void to solidity, appearing in the clearing.

His aura had reached the “Boundless Sea” realm, but the construction degree of his [Undying Projection] was extremely faint—barely around 2%.

Clearly, he had just fallen on some brutal battlefield and was reborn here.

This warrior from the 118th Galaxy System had not yet fully emerged from the shadow of defeat.

He glanced around the unfamiliar environment, looked at the prompt on his competition jade token, and then, instinctively, like most contestants, opened the subspace network forum to see what new changes had occurred in the battle while he fought to the death.

That moment of distraction sealed his fate.

“Now!”

A savage killing intent blazed in the eyes of Yu Hai and Yan Hu simultaneously!

The next second, like two arrows loosed from a bowstring, they struck from left and right in a sudden assault!

In Yu Hai’s hand appeared a pitch-black dagger, silently stabbing toward the warrior’s back.

On Yan Hu’s fist, power like a collapsing mountain and raging sea condensed, smashing violently toward his head!

Both were experts with [Undying Projection] construction degrees around 20%, and they launched this fatal ambush while his mind was completely unguarded.

That warrior from the 118th Galaxy System, with only 2% construction, couldn’t even mount a semblance of resistance.

A flash of extreme shock and bewilderment flickered in his eyes, then his entire body was shattered by their combined ferocious strike, evaporating instantly!

Another newly reborn contestant was eliminated on the spot.

“Hmm, not bad—another one done.”

Yu Hai flicked the nonexistent blood from his dagger, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.

This ambush-style hunting, though despicable, was remarkably efficient.

Beside him, Yan Hu frowned slightly, a trace of undisguised worry on his face.

He stepped closer to Yu Hai and asked in a low mental voice, “Yu Hai, about killing Yan Wu earlier—I reckon it’s already blown up on their private forum. Since our first ambush failed and that guy ran for a while, the news must have spread everywhere.”

“If Caesar finds out and blames us for acting without orders, he might even kill us with his own hands.”

Yan Hu’s voice was thick with awe and fear of that godlike man.

“No matter.”

Yu Hai waved dismissively, a cruel smile curling on his lips.

He lowered his voice and said, “Yan Hu, what are you afraid of? Caesar’s entire focus is on breaking through to the stellar level. He has no time for us.”

“Back then, when we took advantage of Qin Feng distracting Caesar, didn’t we sneak plenty of golden fragments from the core zone of the ‘Beast Graveyard’? He never knew, did he?”

“Besides…”

A glint of greed flashed in Yu Hai’s eyes.

“…we still have this ‘elimination item.’

We only need to eliminate two more people to complete this hidden elimination task.

The reward is incredibly generous—enough for both of us to advance smoothly all the way to the stellar level!”

“Stellar level!”

Yan Hu’s breath quickened instantly.

That word held a fatal allure for any planetary-level warrior.

“Think about it,” Yu Hai continued. “After we get the reward, we’ll find a place to hide, train hard, and once we reach stellar level, who cares who Caesar is?”

“Then, if we feel like it, he can still be our boss. If not…”

Yu Hai’s eyes turned ruthless.

“I’ll put him six feet under.”

This treasonous talk made Yan Hu’s heart jolt.

But soon, the craving for the stellar level overwhelmed all fear.

A similar greed and resolve surfaced on his face.

“Alright! Let’s do it!”

Seeing Yan Hu finally make up his mind, Yu Hai nodded with satisfaction.

Each of them took out half a palm-sized fragment from their subspace storage units—pieces that looked like parts of an ancient stone disk.

One fragment was pitch-black like ink, the other pure white like jade. When combined, they formed a Tai Chi pattern resembling a yin-yang fish.

This was the “elimination item” they spoke of—the [Rebirth Compass].

They quietly watched the compass fragments in their hands, waiting for the coordinates of the next prey.

But they didn’t get prey.

What came for them was death.

Just as their attention was fully fixed on the compass fragments, an indescribable, vast aura—so immense it could make the entire planet tremble—descended without warning!

Yu Hai and Yan Hu’s bodies froze instantly!

The greed and confidence on their faces were replaced by boundless, soul-deep terror!

They looked up sharply.

Above them, in the murky yellow sky, a towering silver-white ancient pagoda had appeared, built from endless runes, blotting out the heavens!

It seemed not to exist on this planet but to press down from a higher-dimensional spacetime!

Beneath the pagoda, a figure floated silently.

He wore battered power armor, held a pitch-black spear, and his icy, emotionless eyes gazed down at them with cold disdain.

“Qin Feng!”

“No! Quick—”

A horrified roar escaped Yu Hai’s throat.

But it was too late.

There was no ripple in Qin Feng’s eyes.

For these two who had caused Yan Wu’s fall and were still using despicable means to hunt contestants, he couldn’t be bothered to waste a single word.

One move, [Swallow Heaven], struck out directly!

In the perception of Yu Hai and Yan Hu, the entire world had vanished.

The sky, the earth, the stars... all of it, in that instant, was devoured by an incomprehensible force; everything around them solidified, as if even light could not escape!

Their bodies could not move.

The pitch-black spear tip touched their brows.

Pfft.

A soft sound.

Two experts whose [Immortal Projection] construction had reached 20% transformed into the most basic light particles, completely dissipating on this barren planet.

Instant kill!

Now, after constructing the [Immortal Tower] to 40%, Qin Feng's strength had achieved a level of superiority that left others in the dust!

Except for Caesar, everyone else on this battlefield could be instantly killed by Qin Feng!

With the death of the two, a series of notification messages came from Qin Feng's competition jade token.

[You have successfully completed the 'Hunting Period' mission.]

[You have slain 'Yu Hai' (Galaxy No. 99).]

[You have slain 'Yan Hu' (Galaxy No. 99).]

[You have obtained resources dropped by 'Yu Hai': [Rebirth Compass] Fragment x1, [Beast Fragment] (Gold) x8...]

[You have obtained resources dropped by 'Yan Hu': [Rebirth Compass] Fragment x1, [Beast Fragment] (Gold) x10...]

[Detected that you have collected all fragments of the [Rebirth Compass]...]

[Congratulations, you have obtained the hidden item of the competition: [Rebirth Compass]!]

[...]

(End of chapter)