Chapter 244: Heading to "Cloud Mist Mountain", Encountering Yan Sheng, Imperial Chief

Chapter 244: Heading to "Cloud Mist Mountain", Encountering Yan Sheng, Empire's Chief!

As Qin Feng began to devour the vast resources capable of shaping a galactic-level powerhouse in the dead silence of the "Ninefold Boundless Sea",

each of his breaths and every moment of his tempering tugged at countless gazes across different corners of the human domain.

Together, they witnessed the birth of a legend.

Venus, an utterly ordinary educational planet within the human empire's territory.

Venus First Advanced Martial Arts High School, Martial Arts Comprehensive Training Hall.

This was the starting point of Qin Feng's martial path, yet now it was quieter than ever before.

Dozens of martial artists in instructor uniforms stood breathless, gathered around a massive holographic light screen.

On the screen, a real-time broadcast of the Cosmic Genius Battle unfolded—a boundless, azure ocean suspended in the cosmos, and at its center, a tiny figure drawing an endless vortex of energy.

That figure was Qin Feng.

"Nine hundred layers... The golden section of the 'Indestructible Tower' has reached nine hundred layers."

A young instructor murmured unconsciously.

His own cultivation had just broken through to the planetary level; in his eyes, the stellar level was already something to look up to, while Qin Feng was now striving for the galactic level—a rank sufficient to lead a squad in an interstellar warrior legion.

"Only ninety-nine layers remain until perfection."

Instructor Wu Shangfeng's voice was low and forceful, his arms crossed as he watched his former student on the screen with a complex gaze. "Once he succeeds, he will instantly become a galactic-level powerhouse. This speed... is too fast."

Wu Shangfeng could still vividly recall the boy with eyes as firm as iron back then.

"Indeed, too fast."

Instructor Lin Yue shook her head gently, her gaze holding both relief and a lingering trace of emotion.

The surrounding instructors fell into silence.

Most of them were ninth-level martial artists, and the most experienced and strongest among them were only at the planetary level.

For them, planetary cultivation was a long, almost despairing process of resource accumulation and mental refinement.

It was a tedious journey measured in "millennia," demanding endless patience and vast resources.

Thus, many of them chose to return to their home planet and work part-time as instructors.

Partly to earn resources, and partly to find spiritual solace on this long, solitary path of cultivation, contributing to the transmission of human civilization's flame.

After all, for ordinary martial artists, the planetary level already required biding time.

An old, seasoned planetary-level instructor sighed and said, "I remember back then, that guy Gu Yue, when he broke through to the stellar level and left the school, said he had taught the best student ever to come out of Venus First High—that was Qin Feng..."

"The competition has been going on for nine hundred and forty-two years..."

Wu Shangfeng looked at the time flickering in the corner of the screen. "The major war zone is about to shrink to less than a hundred star systems. The final battle is about to begin."

Everyone's hearts tightened with his words.

On the screen, Qin Feng, seated at the center of the Boundless Sea, had finished his cultivation, and a golden light shot from his eyes.

...

Far from the core region of the human domain, on the "Griffin Spiral Arm," one of the front lines of the myriad races' battlefield.

A cold metal fortress, like a silent giant beast, crouched quietly in the dark cosmos, surrounded by countless wrecked warships and shattered stars, silently telling the cruelty of war.

Inside the fortress, in the crew quarters of the "Thunder Fang" assault ship, belonging to the elite fleet of the 129th Sub-Legion, Seventh Combat Company, of the "Extreme Legion,"

a dozen martial artists in blue standard power armor sat together, enjoying a brief respite after a fierce battle.

Instructor Gu Yue—now a member of the Extreme Legion's elite squad—skillfully used a high-frequency blade to pry open a military ration can stamped with the "Red Rock Ant Ox" logo, chewing loudly on the high-energy synthetic meat inside.

A bit of meat paste clung to his goatee, making him look somewhat unkempt, but his eyes were exceptionally bright.

Before him floated a small personal holographic screen, displaying the very scene of Qin Feng devouring the "Ninefold Boundless Sea."

"Tsk, nine hundred layers... That kid is really about to pierce the heavens."

Gu Yue mumbled praise between bites. "If this were on the battlefield, a single thought could annihilate an entire standard alien fleet, right? What a monster."

A burly teammate with a fierce scar across his face leaned in. His name was Buck, the squad's demolitions expert.

He glanced at the screen and grinned, "Hey, Old Gu, why do you always stare at this kid Qin Feng?

These prodigies aren't from the same world as us.

Back in the day, I was a big shot at 'Sirius Martial University,' but alas, I missed that one breath, couldn't push my killing technique further, or I might have squeezed into the Cosmic Genius Battle myself."

"Who says it isn't so?"

Another lanky teammate, wielding a psionic sniper rifle, joined in. "I had my chance too, but I got cuckolded by a female martial artist, wallowed in despair for three or four years, and then one step slow, every step slow.

On this martial path, talent, resources, and luck—none can be missing."

"Alright, alright, enough of 'back in the day.'"

The squad leader, a middle-aged woman with a steady, mountain-like aura, clapped her hands. "That's all in the past. What does it have to do with us?

Instead of this, why not head to the mission center?"

"Who says it has nothing to do with us?"

A young scout winked mischievously. "Captain, maybe after this Qin Feng big shot finishes the Cosmic Genius Battle, he'll drop straight down and become our direct superior!"

The group burst into laughter.

Buck elbowed Gu Yue and asked curiously, "But seriously, Old Gu, why do you only watch this Qin Feng's broadcast?

Is this kid a genius from your Venus?"

This question instantly drew everyone's attention.

This elite squad was composed of stellar-level experts, all forged through seas of blood and mountains of corpses.

Gu Yue had been transferred in half a year ago; his marksmanship was exceptionally seasoned, but his strength wasn't top-tier in the company.

At first, everyone thought he had connections, that he'd pulled strings to get in.

After all, the elite squad's roster and benefits were places countless ordinary interstellar warriors would kill to enter.

Facing the crowd's curious stares, Gu Yue swallowed the last bit of ant-ox meat, took a big gulp from his water canteen, then slowly wiped his mouth. With a hint of pride and a touch of nostalgia, he smiled:

"Over a thousand years ago, this kid was my student."

"I personally taught him the foundational spear technique—'The Thousand Army Spear.'"

The crew quarters fell into dead silence.

Everyone's eyes widened, staring at Gu Yue as if he were a monster.

"Holy... shit!"

Buck was the first to react, slapping Gu Yue's thick power-armor shoulder so hard the metal rang. "Old Gu, you're something! For real?!"

"Awesome! You... you're practically his mentor, right?!"

The lanky sniper exclaimed in awe.

"No wonder... no wonder the company commander personally ordered you transferred to our squad!"

The captain's usually impassive face also showed a hint of realization. "We thought... ahem, we thought you were a relative with connections."

Everyone suddenly understood.

They finally got it.

What kind of place was the Limitless War Legion? It was one of the most elite military groups of the human empire.

As a peerless prodigy who had risen from within the Limitless War Legion system, every move Qin Feng made drew intense attention.

And Gu Yue, as Qin Feng's clearly recorded "mentor," this bond of gratitude was enough to ensure he received immense favor within the legion.

Joining the elite squad meant the best resource allocation, the finest teammates, the most core combat intelligence, and a higher survival rate in missions of equal danger.

This "pulling strings" was done openly and rightfully.

"Haha."

Gu Yue felt a bit embarrassed under everyone's gaze. He waved his hand and laughed, "It's all old news.

To be honest, when I first chose to return to the home planet as a mentor, I did have a bit of that opportunistic mindset—thinking that if I could teach a genius student, my own path might become smoother later on."

He paused, his gaze turning deep.

"Later, after spending eight hundred or a thousand years at the school, watching batch after batch of students go from naive to resolute, and then set off into the starry sea, that opportunistic mindset had long faded.

Influenced by predecessors like the principal, who truly devoted themselves to education, I unknowingly came to regard nurturing the new generation of humanity as my own cause."

"I can no longer remember how many promising but impoverished students I've funded out of my own pocket."

Gu Yue savored his teaching career, a smile unconsciously spreading across his lips.

He recalled the scene back then when the contract stipulated "twice a month" for mentorship, yet he had given Qin Feng over a dozen extra lessons for free in a single month.

At that time, he had simply admired the tenacity of that young man and couldn't bear to see a rough gem buried.

He had never imagined that that small, pure kindness would bear such a glorious fruit a thousand years later.

"Alright, enough of that."

Gu Yue turned off his personal holographic screen, stood up, and brushed the dust off his clothes. "That kid, I think he should have no problem taking first place. Let's focus on the present."

He looked at the captain, his expression turning serious: "Let's check the mission.

I heard that in the next rotation, we're heading to the 'Throat of the Abyss' star sector to clean up the remnants of the Zerg forces. The difficulty of that mission is no small matter."

The captain's expression also grew grave: "Indeed. Before we set off, everyone, follow the old rules."

The atmosphere in the rest pod instantly shifted from lighthearted gossip to grim solemnity.

"First, write your wills."

Buck took a data slate from his equipment case and said calmly.

"Alright."

"No problem."

In the starry expedition, life and death are unpredictable.

Gu Yue, who had already broken through to the Stellar level, had to struggle for survival, resources, and glory on the battlefield in order to advance further.

...

In a certain super-giant interstellar hub within human territory.

On a starry square vast enough to accommodate several planets, hundreds of millions of young figures gathered. They came from different minor war zones, each exuding a sharp and powerful aura.

They were the newest generation of human prodigies, about to step into their universe genius war—the major war zone.

Ning Jing, Nissan, and Long Yu stood quietly in a corner of the crowd.

Their auras were more condensed and profound than those of their peers, clearly marking them as the top existences within their respective minor war zones.

Beside them was another figure, burly and resolute-faced—Shi Potian, who had caught up from behind and also qualified for the major war zone.

Their gazes were all fixed on the holographic screens before them.

The screens were playing highlights from the previous genius war—the one from Qin Feng's era.

At that moment, the image froze on the stunning scene of Qin Feng single-handedly slaughtering tens of thousands of peers of the same rank in the "Ninefold Boundless Sea."

The half-golden, half-silver towering pagoda, the overbearing and unparalleled martial intent—it left this group of proud young prodigies collectively speechless.

"Qin Feng... he has already reached this point."

Ning Jing's voice was filled with complex emotions—admiration, longing, and an indescribable pressure. "We're still preparing for the upcoming major war zone, and he's already about to put a perfect end to his era."

"More than perfect."

Long Yu said, "Qin Feng will probably soon claim first place and receive the 'Empire's Chief' medal."

Nissan remained silent, just watching quietly.

Among Qin Feng's old friends, Shi Potian, Long Yu, Nissan, and Ning Jing were all participating in the next universe genius war, while Xiong Yanfu and Tie Mu didn't qualify this time and would have to wait for the one after next.

The universe genius war opens once every five hundred years.

Five hundred years is a long time for mortals, but for martial artists who often go into seclusion for centuries, it's but a fleeting moment.

This high-frequency selection acts like a vast and precise screening machine, mercilessly throwing generation after generation of human prodigies into it, tempering and filtering them, until only a few of the most dazzling remain.

One step behind, and you might be forever left behind by the wheels of the era.

Their generation was the second after Qin Feng.

Xiong Yanfu and the others would have to wait for the third.

"What we can do is walk our own path."

Ning Jing took a deep breath, reigniting his fighting spirit. "Qin Feng is Qin Feng, and we are we. His brilliance is our guiding light, not a mountain crushing us."

"Exactly!"

Long Yu's battle intent was also ignited. "Maybe we can't reach his heights, but at least in this major war zone, we'll carve out a name for ourselves!"

They knew that when the genius war of Qin Feng's era came to an end, it would be their generation's turn to take the stage.

The entire empire's gaze would shift from Qin Feng to them.

The weight of this inheritance made their blood boil.

"In fact, Qin Feng should have been in our generation, but that guy was too monstrous—his cultivation speed too fast—so he ended up competing in the universe genius war with the older students from the previous generation."

...

Duna Star Martial Arts University.

This was the top martial arts academy in the Duna star system, and the place where Wang Hao and his brother Wang Jie studied and grew up.

At this moment, in a retro-style tavern within the university, the two brothers sat facing each other.

On the table floated several energy drinks emitting strange glows, but neither had the heart to taste them.

Their full attention was fixed on the holographic screen projected on the tabletop.

In the screen, that familiar yet unfamiliar figure was stirring up storms across the starry sea.

"Big brother... he's already about to become a Galactic-level powerhouse."

In Wang Hao's eyes, an undisguised admiration flickered, his voice trembling slightly with excitement.

Wang Jie beside him remained silent, but his clenched fists betrayed the turmoil within.

As the saying goes, an elder brother is like a father.

Though they were not Qin Feng's blood brothers, but merely the sons of his maternal uncle,

in their hearts, Qin Feng's image stood towering and immense.

Their memories were clearly divided into two segments.

One was a blurry, gray childhood.

In that memory, their family was merely the most ordinary working-class household on Qiming Star; their father, Wang Ming, toiled tirelessly for their martial arts initiation resources, his brow perpetually furrowed with worry.

The other segment began after Qin Feng's stunning reversal in the high school entrance exam, when his life started to blaze with brilliance.

Because of Qin Feng, they obtained primary cultivation resources far beyond their peers, racing far ahead from the starting line.

Because of Qin Feng, when they were admitted to Duna Star Martial Arts University, the school directly granted them S-level resource contracts—the top-tier treatment that countless students could only dream of after struggling to reach the Sixth Level of Soaring Sky and earning great merits.

And they, merely at the Fourth Level, had already enjoyed all this due to the identity of "Qin Feng's younger brothers."

Their classmates, mentors, and even the principal all regarded them with special favor.

They were geniuses from Qiming Star, rising stars with some renown in the Duna Galaxy.

Yet now, gazing at Qin Feng on the light screen, they truly felt how insignificant their so-called "genius" was.

Over twelve hundred years had passed in the blink of an eye.

The two brothers, having exhausted all their strength and drained the countless resources the school had lavished upon them, had only barely broken through to the Planetary Level not long ago, and were now planning their post-graduation futures.

This pace, on the scale of the entire human empire, was merely average, even slightly slow.

But their elder brother already stood at the pinnacle of billions of geniuses, on the verge of touching the legendary Galactic Level.

"Brother... are we... too useless?"

Wang Hao's voice was tinged with dejection. "Big Brother has given us so much, yet we don't even have the right to catch up to his shadow."

"Don't talk nonsense."

Wang Jie patted his younger brother's shoulder and said in a deep voice, "Why should we catch up to Big Brother? We're not meant to chase him, but to avoid bringing shame to him. While he fights bloody battles ahead, his family behind is also striving to live and grow stronger."

He picked up the drink on the table and downed it in one gulp.

Wang Hao, hearing this, suddenly saw the light. The confusion in his eyes vanished, replaced by a resolute gleam.

"Brother, I understand!"

The two brothers exchanged a smile, and everything was understood without words.

...

Year 942 of the Tournament.

The Great War Zone.

Qin Feng's eyes, closed for forty years, slowly opened.

In that instant, two beams of golden divine light, condensed as if solid, shot forth from his pupils, piercing through layer upon layer of special force fields, reaching the cold universe beyond the planet, extending several light-years into the void before gradually dissipating as their energy waned.

Even an unconscious gaze contained such terrifying power.

He slowly stood up and examined his inner self.

His consciousness sank into that spiritual domain uniquely his, that foundational realm existing within the concept of subspace.

A towering, cloud-piercing indestructible tower, as if spanning past and future, stood silently.

The [Indestructible Tower] had now undergone earth-shaking changes.

The entire tower had nine hundred and ninety-nine levels; from the base upward, a full nine hundred levels had been dyed a dazzling, pure gold.

On each golden level, billions upon billions of rune imprints, condensed from pure spiritual power, slowly revolved, interlinking to form a vast, boundless golden ocean.

They exuded an immortal, eternal aura that suppressed the ages.

Above these nine hundred golden levels, only the final ninety-nine remained, still maintaining the silver-white color representing the basic form of spiritual power.

Gold and silver interwove, half sacred and solemn, half poised for action.

"Nine hundred levels... only ninety-nine steps remain from true Galactic Level."

Qin Feng murmured to himself, his voice echoing in the empty cave dwelling.

He gently clenched his fist, feeling the immense power within him, enough to easily crush stars and shake galaxies.

Now, he stood at the apex of the Stellar Level, one foot already across the threshold to a higher realm—truly a "Half-Step Galactic Level."

"Such strength is more than a hundred times greater than forty years ago."

His heart was filled with emotion.

Without delay, Qin Feng moved his mind and checked the information on his personal jade token.

The first thing that caught his eye was the star map of the entire Great War Zone.

Compared to forty years ago, the edges of the star map now showed distinct dark red patches representing "rule annihilation," and the entire territory was visibly shrinking toward the core region.

"By year 950 of the Tournament, only the core zone's hundred galaxies will remain..."

Then, Qin Feng looked at the number of surviving warriors.

That number made his pupils contract sharply.

"Ten thousand three hundred and twenty-seven..."

Though he had anticipated it, seeing the precise figure laid out so starkly still filled him with deep shock.

From one hundred million warriors in year 900 to now, year 945—in just forty-five years—99.99% of the warriors had been eliminated!

This meant that at each of the ten thousand-plus Galactic-Level resource points, brutal, bloody struggles had erupted.

At every resource point, nearly ten thousand former prodigies had fallen, leaving only one, or a very few, to fight their way out and survive to this day.

"Those who survived are all formidable."

Qin Feng immediately assessed the situation.

He quickly analyzed the current state: "These people have almost all seized the output of an entire Galactic-Level resource point, so their strength must have undergone a qualitative leap.

Those like Caesar should now be in the first tier; their golden spiritual power refinement likely exceeds sixty percent.

The rest form the second tier, probably reaching around thirty percent."

Qin Feng's mind was clear.

The process of refining spiritual power accelerates from difficulty to ease.

The first one percent, the first ten percent, are the hardest starting phases.

Once this initial accumulation is complete, subsequent improvement speeds up increasingly.

"Everyone has passed the toughest starting phase. Now, everyone's strength will enter an explosive period, efficiency will increase, and resources will become scarcer."

"Now, Galactic-Level resources continue to refresh, but as the territory shrinks to a hundred galaxies, the absolute quantity of resources will inevitably plummet, making the struggle even fiercer and the elimination rate even higher."

"And I..."

A sharp glint flashed in Qin Feng’s eyes. “My advantage lies in the absolute efficiency brought by the Tenfold Hands—I’ve already left them far behind. Now, I can no longer waste precious time like them, scrambling for resources at the same level.”

“My goal should be to use this window, while they’re still locked in a frenzied struggle to break through to the galactic level, to hunt down the most valuable prey—the prodigies of myriad races and the Chosen of the Evil Gods!”

“Plundering their points—that’s the key to securing the final victory.”

With his strategic objective instantly clear, Qin Feng’s mind became as calm as an ancient well.

He opened the combat power ranking list, which he hadn’t checked in a long time.

On the list, his name stood prominently in tenth place.

“Tenth place?”

Qin Feng was slightly surprised. He remembered clearly that forty years ago, after he had slain his way through the Ninefold Boundless Sea, his rank was seventeenth.

For the past forty years, he had been in seclusion, achieving nothing, yet his rank had risen instead of fallen. There was only one reason.

“The seven people ahead of me have been eliminated.”

Those prodigies of myriad races, freed from the restrictions of the subspace chains, had transformed into the most efficient “cleaners” on this battlefield, specifically hunting down the top-ranked elites.

Then, he opened the major war zone forum.

Unlike the bustling scene of tens of thousands of posts flooding in at once, the forum was now as desolate as a graveyard.

Only ten thousand survivors remained, all in the final sprint, racing against time, with hardly anyone having the leisure to come here and chat.

The few posts that existed were terse, filled with bloody and cold intelligence value.

Qin Feng’s gaze was soon firmly drawn to one of the posts.

The post’s title was simple—[Yan Sheng, Cloud Mist Mountain].

Opening the post, the content was even more concise: “Yan Sheng appeared at the galactic-level resource ‘Cloud Mist Mountain.’ Coordinates below. Just eliminated ‘Gu Sang,’ originally ranked twelfth on the combat power list. Target still active nearby.”

“Cloud Mist Mountain…”

In Qin Feng’s eyes, both battle intent and killing intent surged.

“Good, this is the place!”

He made his decision instantly.

“Yan Sheng, the thirty-year vendetta of pursuit—today, we settle it all.

Perfect timing—there should still be some resources left in Cloud Mist Mountain. After I slay you, I’ll use those resources to complete the final ninety-nine layers of tempering and officially step into the galactic level!”

As his voice faded, Qin Feng’s figure had already vanished from the ice cave dwelling.

The subspace channel opened instantly, and his form disappeared, teleporting toward Cloud Mist Mountain.

…

At the edge of the universe, in a vast, boundless dark starfield, lay a towering mountain of such immense scale that it defied all reason.

It was the size of a standard galaxy, spanning nearly a hundred thousand light-years.

This mountain was not made of rock or soil, but of the remains of countless powerful beings who had fallen here over billions of years—broken star-ship wreckage, solidified energy storms, and endless cosmic dust and meteorites.

Upon this vast cosmic graveyard, due to some unknown, naturally formed runes and imprints, the spirits and psychic energy of the dead had not fully dissipated. Instead, they intertwined and combined with complex force fields, ultimately forming a peculiar, cloud-like phenomenon that never dispersed.

This was Cloud Mist Mountain.

Nourished by these special “clouds,” a strange fruit grew on the mountain’s surface.

They drew nutrients from the corpses of myriad races, sprouting forth, their color as red as blood, brimming with immense vitality and pure spiritual energy. The contestants called them “Blood Fruits.”

And at the summit of Cloud Mist Mountain, where the remains of the most powerful beings gathered, a fruit even more precious than the Blood Fruit was born—the “Corpse Fruit.”

When Qin Feng stepped out from the ripples of space, he found himself at the foot of Cloud Mist Mountain.

His divine sense spread like a tide, instantly covering a region tens of thousands of light-years in radius.

He could clearly sense, scattered across various parts of this massive mountain, dozens of powerful life signatures.

These signatures maintained an extremely safe distance from each other, like hunters in a dark forest, none wanting to clash with their kind prematurely unless necessary.

Everyone tacitly searched for “Blood Fruits,” silently accumulating strength.

Yet beneath this fragile understanding, occasionally, a warrior would inadvertently intrude upon another’s perception range, sparking brief but fierce battles.

The victor took everything; the loser was eliminated.

“Blood Fruit, Corpse Fruit… interesting.”

Qin Feng’s gaze pierced through the layers of clouds, landing on the strange fruits rooted in the shattered bones of gods and demons, a hint of approval in his eyes.

“This place is truly a natural treasure trove.

Transforming endless death, through natural runes and force fields, into renewable resources—the wonders of the cosmos are indeed marvelous.”

He did not linger long at the foot of the mountain.

According to forum intelligence, Yan Sheng’s last known location was at the summit of Cloud Mist Mountain.

Without hesitation, Qin Feng’s figure merged into the void once more, teleporting directly toward the peak shrouded in the densest “corpse-energy clouds.”

…

At the summit of Cloud Mist Mountain.

The space here was much smaller than at the foot, only about the size of several star systems.

On the ground, enormous bones exuding terrifying auras were scattered everywhere. Among them, a few, even after eons of decay, still radiated a residual pressure that could make ordinary stellar-level warriors tremble.

Seventeen or eighteen figures, like phantoms, were spread across this area, separated by vast distances.

They were the top prodigies who had fought their way out of tens of thousands of resource points and still survived.

Each possessed the terrifying strength of a half-step galactic-level warrior.

At this moment, everyone had tacitly stopped their work of picking “Corpse Fruits” and turned their gazes toward the center of the summit.

The battle there was nearing its end.

“Boom—!”

A sun burning with holy white flames clashed with a giant axe entwined with a destructive black dragon in a final collision.

The master of the holy flame sun was none other than Yan Sheng of the Holy Spirit Fire Clan.

He was bathed in flames, like a sovereign of fire wielding destruction.

The indestructible projection behind him had already turned more than eighty percent into a dazzling gold, emitting a pressure that nearly ignited the entire space.

His opponent, the warrior wielding the giant axe with an indestructible projection of the “Destruction Dragon Axe,” was Luo Yi, a top prodigy from the Fire Dragon War Group, ranked twelfth on the combat power list, with his golden mental power tempered to an astonishing forty percent.

Yet in this duel, the gap in strength was mercilessly magnified.

“Aaaah—!”

Luo Yi let out a roar of unwillingness. He had given his all, but his “Destruction Dragon Axe” shattered inch by inch under the scorching of the holy flame sun.

In just a few seconds, the giant dragon-axe projection collapsed completely. Then, the holy flame surged forward, instantly engulfing Luo Yi’s physical body.

Flesh, soul, and all the “Corpse Fruits” he had just gathered were transformed into the purest energy by the domineering flames, all absorbed by Yan Sheng.

Another top human prodigy had fallen.

"Ha ha ha ha—"

Yan Sheng laughed uproariously to the heavens, his laughter brimming with boundless arrogance and contempt.

"The human race is the most disunited of all!"

He spread his arms, his gaze sweeping over the dozen or so grim-faced martial artists atop the peak, his voice rolling like thunder: "If you had all struck together just now, I might not have been able to kill a single one of you, and might even have had to retreat.

But you wanted these 'Corpse Fruits' too badly, and you were too selfish! You always hoped others would die while you reaped the benefits.

Now look—Luo Yi, Wang Mu, Li Jian... the three strongest among you have all been picked off one by one! Next, it's your turn!"

The moment his words fell, a chaotic and violent psychic field erupted from Yan Sheng like a tsunami, instantly engulfing the entire mountaintop!

Woom—!

Space trembled violently; the stable structure of subspace was utterly shattered, and every attempt to construct a spatial passage failed in an instant.

This place had become a prison of despair.

"It's over!"

"He's sealed off the space!"

On the mountaintop, all the martial artists' faces changed drastically, their hearts sinking in unison.

They had miscalculated.

When Yan Sheng first arrived at the peak and began attacking Luo Yi and the others, they had indeed adopted a wait-and-see attitude.

On one hand, Yan Sheng's strength was too terrifying—no one wanted to be the first to stick their neck out;

on the other hand, Luo Yi and his group were their strongest rivals for harvesting the 'Corpse Fruits'—why not let Yan Sheng eliminate them?

They all remembered that when they first entered Cloud Mist Mountain, Yan Sheng had encountered them several times but never attacked, as if he looked down on these 'weaklings.'

This gave them the illusion that Yan Sheng's targets would only be the top fighters on the power rankings.

But they never expected that after devouring the three plumpest antelopes, this tiger would slaughter the entire herd!

"It's over! Yan Sheng is too strong! We're no match!"

"What a pity! Such a pity! If I could refine all the 'Corpse Fruits' I obtained this time, I might have been able to fight him, or even kill him and claim that precious thousand points!"

"Yes, what a pity! If only I had time to refine these 'Corpse Fruits,' by around the nine hundred and eightieth year of the competition, my strength would definitely reach ninety percent golden psychic power, just a step away from the galactic level!

But it's too slow! If only I had thirty more years, the outcome would be completely different!"

"Such bad luck! If I hadn't encountered the prodigies of ten thousand races, I could have held out until the end and made it into the top hundred!"

Waves of despair and unwillingness surged wildly in the hearts of the martial artists.

They were all victors who had crawled out of billions of corpses, each with a bright future.

With enough resources, advancing to the galactic level was almost a certainty for them.

But now, their martial path was about to end here, cut short by a single wrong judgment.

In their eyes, the prodigies of ten thousand races at this stage were invincible.

They felt their luck was simply too terrible!

Despair, like the deepest darkness, shrouded every heart.

Yet, in the midst of this dead silence of despair, a faint but unmistakable spatial fluctuation abruptly appeared at the edge of the prison.

A figure stepped unhurriedly out of the spatial ripple, emerging above the void.

He had black hair and black eyes, a calm expression, and held an ancient long spear. His body bore no earth-shattering aura, yet he seemed to be a universe unto himself, causing all the surrounding chaos and violence to fall still the moment he appeared.

All eyes, including those of the arrogant Yan Sheng, focused at once on this uninvited guest.

The newcomer was none other than Qin Feng.

Qin Feng glanced at the crowd, their faces full of shock and despair, then turned his gaze to the domineering figure wreathed in sacred flames. A brilliant and icy smile slowly curled at the corners of his mouth.

He burst into laughter, a heroic laugh brimming with unparalleled confidence, instantly dispelling the despair that shrouded the mountaintop and shaking the entire Cloud Mist Mountain.

"Ha ha ha ha—"

"Yan Sheng!"

"I've come to kill you!"

(The chapter ends)