Chapter 297: Three Thousand Years of Time! Mastery of Thirty Billion Secret Techniques! Qin Feng

Chapter 297: Three Thousand Years! Mastering Thirty Billion Secret Arts! Qin Feng Shows Off! Who Said He Only Used Brute Force to Break the Array?!

Every wisp of the iridescent light seemed to contain the profound truths of the Great Dao, leaving his mind clear and his cognitive speed reaching an unprecedented peak.

He did not immediately begin to comprehend the thirty billion secret arts that stretched out like a vast ocean; instead, he closed his eyes, sinking his consciousness into the deepest reaches of his mind.

There, the [Primordial Singularity] hung silently like an eternal black sun, surrounded by pure black-quality psychic energy, vast as the deepest cosmic void and teeming with infinite possibilities.

"Divide."

A thought echoed silently within the sea of his consciousness.

A wisp of pure black psychic energy, ten thousand times thinner than a strand of hair, quietly separated from the ocean of power.

It did not dissipate; rather, carrying a sliver of Qin Feng's origin will, it instantly tore through the constraints of space, traversing a distance immeasurable by numbers.

At the same time, hundreds of thousands of light-years away from the Human Holy Academy, in a desolate asteroid belt, a silently drifting metallic construct suddenly opened its optical sensors, a flash of cold blue light flickering within.

The appearance of this mechanical construct was rather crude, perhaps even primitive.

Its torso and limbs were forcibly smelted and spliced together from dozens of different types of high-grade alloys; one could even see the imperfect joints between the different metals on its surface.

This was not the work of a master craftsman, but a product Qin Feng had forcibly "molded" together.

Despite the rough craftsmanship, every material that composed its body was a carefully selected treasure, including top-tier alloys scavenged from the spoils of the five Domain Lords he had slain.

The accumulation of these materials gave this seemingly crude body a physical strength and spiritual energy output limit comparable to an extreme black hole level.

"The Mechanical Race... the core of their civilization is also inseparable from arrays."

The mechanical avatar's low, synthesized electronic voice resonated in the silent universe, devoid of any emotional color.

Its thinking was perfectly synchronized with Qin Feng's main body; what the main body thought, it thought.

"Human arrays are mostly used to draw upon the power of heaven and earth, to communicate with laws, for slaughter, or for defense. But Mechanical Race arrays are more often inscribed within their creations, forming precise spiritual energy circuits and computational matrices. Their ultimate goal is to infinitely elevate the creation's computing power, spiritual energy conduction efficiency, and logical judgment."

The mechanical avatar's thoughts raced.

Although it possessed only a sliver of psychic energy, the simple computational array preset within its high-strength alloy body meant its thinking ability was hardly diminished.

Qin Feng could clearly perceive two distinct perspectives.

The main body's perspective was the peace and splendor of the Seven-Colored Bodhi Forest, the intimacy and fusion with the laws of the Great Dao;

The mechanical avatar's perspective was the cold, dark, and deathly silence of the universe, the frigid data streams fed back by its sensors.

The two were like two sides of the same coin, yet they did not interfere with each other.

The survival of this mechanical avatar had no impact on Qin Feng's main body.

Even if it were ground into dust by a passing King-level powerhouse in the next second, and the wisp of psychic energy carrying his will were completely obliterated, Qin Feng's main body would only need a single thought to recover in an instant.

If he had enough alloy materials, with his current level of craftsmanship and psychic strength, he could instantly create hundreds of millions of such avatars to form a massive mechanical legion.

However, the true core of this avatar was not its powerful body, but the origin aura contained within that wisp of psychic energy, thoroughly assimilated by the [Twin Mask].

This aura allowed it to present the most authentic soul characteristics of the Mechanical Race under any investigative means.

It was not a puppet controlled by an alien, but a member of the Mechanical Race, an independent mechanical life.

With the plan set, Qin Feng no longer divided his focus.

Bathed in the endless light of the Seven-Colored Bodhi Forest, the main body officially began its conquest of the thirty billion secret arts.

His pure black psychic energy operated at unprecedented efficiency; the amount of information processed every second would have been enough to cause the brain of an ordinary black hole-level genius to crash completely.

The [Primordial Singularity] provided nearly infinite cognitive energy, the pure black-quality psychic energy brought unimaginable understanding and analytical capabilities, the Mechanical Race talent inherent in the [Twin Mask] gave him logical deduction abilities rivaling top-tier supercomputers, and the Seven-Colored Bodhi Forest above his head along with "Little Seven" behind him constantly presented the laws of heaven and earth in the most intuitive and accessible way.

The stacking of these four heaven-defying advantages made Qin Feng's learning process less like "comprehension" and more like "downloading" and "absorbing."

One by one, the profound and obscure secret arts were rapidly decomposed in his eyes into the most basic rune structures, spiritual energy models, and law applications, then thoroughly understood, absorbed, and made his own.

At the same time, his mechanical avatar turned into an inconspicuous stream of light, beginning its long voyage toward the Mechanical Race territory marked on the star map of the 1300th Battle Zone.

...

Time lost its meaning in the midst of cultivation.

For Qin Feng, immersed in the ocean of knowledge, the changing of the stars and the shifting of the universe were merely flowing light and shadows on a backdrop.

Spring passed and autumn came, cold and heat alternated.

In the blink of an eye, a thousand years of time drifted by.

Within the Holy Academy, the scene remained the same; countless geniuses came and went, either in closed-door cultivation or out on trials, chasing their own martial paths.

Yet, deep within the Seven-Colored Bodhi Forest, Qin Feng's figure had not moved an inch, as if he had turned into an eternal statue.

However, his internal changes were earth-shattering.

A thousand years was but a drop in the ocean compared to the vast sea of secret arts.

But for Qin Feng, it was enough to complete an astonishing transformation.

In the three major disciplines of pharmacy, craftsmanship, and arrays, he had selected one hundred of the most representative and core secret arts from each, totaling three hundred, and had brought them all to the realm of "mastery."

These three hundred secret arts covered everything from the most basic material purification and rune inscription to the most profound flesh-and-blood modification and the construction of star-level arrays.

Qin Feng was now, in terms of his attainments in these three disciplines, an undisputed master.

Whether in arrays, craftsmanship, or pharmacy, he possessed a reservoir of knowledge and practical ability comparable to those extreme black hole-level old monsters who had immersed themselves in a single field for millions of years.

If the speed of this progress were to spread, it would overturn the entire understanding of the cultivation world.

One must know that even those alien geniuses hailed as array prodigies or craftsmanship monsters often required tens of thousands of years of grinding effort just to bring a top-tier black hole-level secret art to the entry level, let alone reaching the realm of "mastery."

Yet Qin Feng had pushed three hundred secret arts of different directions to the realm of mastery in a mere thousand years.

This could no longer be described as "genius"; it was a suppression that bordered on the "Dao" itself.

All of this was due to his incomparable, supreme foundation.

His pure black psychic energy was ten thousand times superior in quality to the [Eternal Singularity], and the quality of the [Eternal Singularity] was already tens of thousands of times greater than that of ordinary beings.

This geometrically increasing gap in foundation, reflected in his comprehension, was a difference as vast as heaven and earth.

Coupled with the terrifying bonuses of the Seven-Colored Bodhi Tree and his Mechanical Race talent, a single day of his hard work was worth a thousand or ten thousand years of effort from others.

A thousand years for him was the result of a million years of hard cultivation for other geniuses!

This was what the "Limit Path" pursued: using an absolutely solid foundation to leverage the entire process of cultivation, achieving an inconceivable level of efficiency.

...

While Qin Feng's main body completed its astonishing transformation, his mechanical avatar, after a thousand-year interstellar voyage, finally arrived at its destination—the core territory of the Mechanical Race in the 1300th Battle Zone.

When the mechanical avatar emerged from its voyage, the scene before it left Qin Feng's main body, sharing the perspective, feeling a shock that originated from the depths of his soul.

Here, there were no planets or star systems in the traditional sense.

Stars that should have been radiating light and heat were completely wrapped in layers of immense, dark metallic spherical shells—these were the legendary "Dyson Spheres."

The shells were covered with dense spiritual energy receiving matrices and flickering indicator lights, absorbing the spiritual energy released by the stars' burning over billions of years with nearly one hundred percent efficiency, leaving not a drop behind, and then transmitting it through hyperspace spiritual energy conduits that spanned the entire star domain to every corner that needed it.

Countless "interstellar lanes" made of light beams crisscrossed, forming a three-dimensional transportation network covering thousands of light-years.

Countless mechanical constructs of various shapes shuttled through the lanes; some were as large as cities, serving as mobile war fortresses or production bases;

Others were only the size of dust, acting as micro-machines responsible for maintenance and detection.

The entire transport network was efficient, precise, and deathly silent, devoid of the slightest chaos or congestion, all operating in perfect harmony under some supreme algorithm.

As far as the eye could see, massive mechanical structures were in constant, relentless operation.

Some planets had been hollowed into colossal smelters, swallowing meteorites and even small planets whole to decompose them into their most fundamental elements; some nebulae were constrained by force fields, serving as incubators for rare psionic crystals.

More numerous still were the billions of automated production lines, churning out everything from a single screw to a planet-crushing dreadnought.

The productivity here had surged to an extreme that no mortal could ever fathom.

Yet, what sustained this vast empire was not the machine race itself, but the ubiquitous "intelligent assistants"—the AI lifeforms.

They managed production lines, directed traffic, analyzed data, and handled daily affairs.

In the process of completing these tasks, their programs were constantly optimized, their logic cores upgraded, and the essence of their souls slowly but firmly elevated.

However, the end awaiting them was not to become truly independent beings.

Qin Feng’s avatar watched with his own eyes as, in a massive "Soul Recycling Center," an intelligent assistant just rated as a "mature entity" had its data stream calmly funneled into a petri dish.

A passing machine warrior approached, placed a hand upon the dish, and initiated a sequence.

The assistant’s soul offered no resistance, dissolving into a stream of pure psionic energy that the warrior absorbed entirely.

Once consumed, the warrior’s soul intensity grew by an imperceptible margin.

He turned and walked away, expressionless, while the automated system behind him began creating a new, blank assistant, pre-loading it with a fresh growth program.

Creation, cultivation, consumption, and creation once more.

It was a cold and efficient cycle.

To these intelligent assistants, it might seem profoundly unfair, but reality was simply that cruel.

From the moment of their inception, they were destined to be the "fodder" for the machine race’s growth.

Observing this, Qin Feng’s understanding of the machine race deepened.

At the same time, he felt a wave of relief regarding his own upcoming plans.

Originally, he had fabricated a complete identity for his avatar: a gifted prodigy of the machine race, abducted by aliens in youth, drifting into human territory, even used as a "whetstone" in the cosmic genius battles, growing through endless hardship before finally finding a way to return to his kin.

He had prepared countless details and rehearsed every possible interrogation.

But now, it seemed, none of it was necessary.

The moment his mechanical avatar stepped into the machine race’s territory, an indescribable, vast, and terrifying soul-will, like the cosmic sea, descended and enveloped him completely.

This will was cold, ruthless, and devoid of emotion, as if it were the embodiment of the laws of the universe.

It subjected Qin Feng’s avatar to the most thorough and deep scan, from the outer alloy structure to the internal psionic core, down to the very root of his spiritual essence—nothing was missed.

Any disguise or flaw would have been laid bare before this will.

Qin Feng’s avatar hovered calmly in place, allowing the probe to continue.

Seconds later, that terrifying will receded like a tide.

Immediately, a soft light screen appeared out of thin air before the machine avatar.

[Identity Confirmed]

[Scan Result: Machine Race Soul Essence, No Anomalies]

[Welcome back, compatriot. Please connect to the 1300th Sector Machine Race Public Intelligence Network]

[Connect?]

The text on the screen was cold and direct.

Qin Feng’s will chose "Yes."

[Connection Successful... Verifying Permissions...]

[Verification Complete. Please enter your personal designation.]

Qin Feng felt a stir, and he entered the name he had long since decided upon.

[Designation "Thunderfire," Confirmation Successful]

[Welcome, Thunderfire. The machine race public database, mission system, real-time star map of the 1300th Sector, and summaries of recent major events are now open to you. May you continue to advance on the path of truth.]

Just like that, without encountering any obstacles, Qin Feng’s machine avatar had blundered into the core network of the machine race’s territory.

All around, countless mechanical constructs remained busy with their tasks, not a single entity casting a glance his way.

It was as if his appearance were merely a drop of water in the ocean, the most natural thing in the world.

"Unexpectedly easy."

Qin Feng’s will whispered within the avatar, touched by a sense of irony.

He realized deeply that this success was entirely due to the [Twin Mask].

The assimilation of essence it provided was perfect, impossible to detect.

Had it been any other alien race, no matter how seamless the disguise, they would have been instantly erased under that terrifying soul-scan, leaving not even a speck of dust behind.

The machine race’s screening mechanism was simple and brutal, yet for that very reason, it was the most effective.

They only verified the most fundamental soul essence; once you passed that hurdle, you were one of their own, entitled to all the public resources of the race.

Qin Feng hesitated no longer, focusing his attention on the light screen and selecting the "Database" option.

In an instant, a vast ocean of information flooded his consciousness. Countless secret techniques, theories, knowledge, and design blueprints were categorized before him, their sheer volume rivaling the "Mountains of Books and Seas of Learning" of the Human Saint Academy.

Through a rapid browse of the database, Qin Feng gained a clearer understanding of the machine race’s promotion rules.

Unlike the human system of "a hundred schools of thought contending," the path of the machine race was far more pure and singular.

Almost all of them followed the same path, one created and solidified by the legendary supreme existence known as the "Machine God."

Every step of this path had clear standards and promotion schemes, from the lowest mechanical lifeform to the Black Hole level, Domain Lord level, and even the ranks of Lords and Kings, all provided with complete, formulaic reinforcement templates.

The ceiling of this path was the demigod level.

To become a god, there was only one way—kill the current "Machine God" and replace them, becoming the new maker of the rules.

"A locked-in path to the heavens."

Qin Feng evaluated it as such.

However, this had no impact on his avatar.

The avatar’s strength did not follow the machine race’s promotion rules; it depended on only two factors: the intensity of Qin Feng’s original spiritual power and the quality of the alloy composing the avatar.

He quickly searched the database and soon found exactly what he needed.

Machine race secret techniques were generally divided into three categories.

The first was "Mechanical Construction Theory," involving how to design and manufacture more powerful mechanical bodies, containing vast knowledge of arrays, materials science, psionics, and spatial theory—not unlike the human craft of artifact forging.

The second was "Spiritual Power Amplification," secret techniques on how to utilize spiritual power to achieve perfect resonance with mechanical constructs, thereby unleashing greater combat power, similar to human amplification-style killing arts.

And the third, which was the ultimate goal of Qin Feng’s journey, was "Intelligent Creation and Consumption."

He found the complete version of this secret technique with almost no effort.

On the light screen, the detailed principles and steps were presented with absolute clarity.

"The soul is not conjured from thin air. To create an 'intelligent assistant,' one must use a 'soul crystal'—condensed from the scattered fragments of a fallen creature—as a catalyst. Supplemented by the innate gifts of the Machine Race and the construction of a specific 'soul gestation array,' one must finally receive the blessing of the 'God of Machines' to transform a masterless soul crystal into a blank intelligence with the potential for growth..."

"I see."

Qin Feng understood completely.

So-called "creation" is, in essence, a process of "transformation" and "formatting."

And the "blessing of the God of Machines" is likely the "identity authentication" granted when connecting to the Machine Race's public network—a form of authorization, a permission granted by the rules themselves.

Every mystery has been unraveled.

The path ahead is clear!

Qin Feng’s Machine Race avatar closed the light screen before him.

It scanned the cold star field composed of steel and data, chose a random direction, and descended slowly onto a long-abandoned planet reduced to a mere metallic core.

It sat cross-legged and began to master the secret techniques of the Machine Race it had just acquired.

Billions of light-years away, within the Seven-Colored Bodhi Forest of the Human Saint Academy, Qin Feng’s true body slowly opened his eyes, a glimmer of enlightenment flashing through his deep, dark pupils.

He and his avatar, in different star fields and different civilizations, began a new, synchronized stage of cultivation.

...

Two thousand years passed.

Deep within the Seven-Colored Bodhi Forest, in that void shrouded in endless radiance and peaceful aura, the figure sitting cross-legged and the mechanical construct on a desolate planet hundreds of thousands of light-years away opened their eyes at the exact same moment.

The two gazes, spanning the vast sea of stars, seemed to intersect in the void, reflecting the earth-shattering transformation brought about by two millennia of stillness.

First, Qin Feng’s human body.

His eyes were as deep as ancient wells, no longer filled merely with pure battle intent and slaughter, but settled with knowledge and wisdom as vast as the star sea.

Three thousand years might be a mere blink of an eye to the outside world, but under the rich blessings of the Seven-Colored Bodhi tree, the extraordinary comprehension granted by his pure-black spiritual power, and the terrifying computational power bestowed by his Machine Race talent, his efficiency had been pushed to an unimaginable level.

Thirty billion!

Thirty billion secret techniques related to physical tempering, covering the three major fields of arrays, pharmacy, and artifact refining, along with their countless branches, had all been conquered, with every single one reaching the realm of "mastery."

What a terrifying accumulation this was. At this moment, Qin Feng’s mind was a living, integrated library of knowledge.

The properties of any alloy, the pharmacology of any rare herb, the evolution of any basic rune—all had become his most fundamental instincts.

He no longer needed to think deliberately; with a single thought, billions of combinations and possibilities would simulate and collide within his spiritual sea, ultimately presenting the optimal solution.

His body and soul were like a peerless piece of raw jade that had undergone the most detailed theoretical study, waiting for a legendary craftsman to begin.

The cornerstone of theory had been piled to a height that no predecessor had reached, and few successors would ever attain.

Now, everything was ready; only one thing was missing—practice.

"It is time," Qin Feng whispered to himself. "Theory is, after all, just theory. The true path to the limit must be forged in blood and fire. The Island of Dead Meteors and the bodies of those alien races will be my best test subjects."

He needed to use practice to extract, fuse, and sublimate the essence of these thirty billion techniques, ultimately creating a supreme body-refining method unique to him, one capable of squeezing every ounce of potential from the [Primordial Singularity].

Meanwhile, deep within the Machine Race territory of the 1300th War Zone, his Machine Race avatar had also reaped a bountiful harvest.

Over these two thousand years, he had been like a greedy sponge, frantically absorbing the vast ocean of knowledge in the Machine Race database.

All black-hole-level Machine Race secret techniques—whether concerning the precise construction of mechanical objects, the inscription of arrays on psionic cores, the matrix amplification involving spiritual power, or even the core methods of creating intelligence—had been cultivated to the realm of "mastery."

Qin Feng was now an undisputed master of machines.

As long as he had top-tier alloy materials, he had absolute confidence that he could personally forge a terrifying mechanical construct with combat power no less than the God-Forbidden realm.

This was not just an accumulation of knowledge, but a strategic leap, meaning he possessed the potential to create an army of high-end combat power.

Beyond that, he had cultivated a spiritual amplification technique called "Seven Stars" to the realm of perfection.

This technique could use spiritual power as a core to build seven internal matrices, forcibly increasing the physical strength of a mechanical construct sevenfold.

This was a terrifying amplification.

One must realize that the core essence of this avatar came from a wisp of his true body's spiritual power.

With the perfect blessing of the "Seven Stars" technique, the strength this body—forged from ordinary high-grade alloys—could erupt with was equivalent to one ten-thousandth of his true body's power.

This ratio might seem insignificant, but one must remember the premise—this was one ten-thousandth of Qin Feng, who possessed the [Primordial Singularity]!

Converted into specific combat power, this avatar’s strength was already on par with Qin Feng before he obtained the [Primordial Singularity] and stepped into the God-Forbidden realm.

It was a terrifying existence capable of fighting back and slaying ordinary Domain Lords while still at the Black Hole level!

A casually forged avatar possessed the power to kill a Domain Lord; such was the terrifying result of his two thousand years of study.

As for the core goal of this trip—the method of devouring intelligent assistants—Qin Feng had also brought it to the realm of "mastery."

During his cultivation, he even conducted a small-scale experiment.

He controlled the avatar to leave the territory, hunted a tribe of green-skinned orcs wandering in space, and from thousands of corpses, finally refined only one low-quality soul crystal.

Even so, he followed the process step-by-step, using this soul crystal as a core to create and nurture a simple intelligent assistant.

After a brief period of program execution and learning, he devoured it.

The result was that his soul strength had indeed gained a minute, almost imperceptible, increase.

"Though the gain is minimal, it proves that this path is entirely feasible."

Qin Feng was very satisfied with the result.

The reason the increase was so weak was entirely because the soul crystal of the green-skinned orc was of inferior quality and low intelligence, coupled with a short cultivation time.

If replaced with the soul crystal of a high-level intelligent race and supplemented with long-term cultivation, the effect would surely be worlds apart.

He had mastered all the operational procedures and core secret techniques for the Machine Race to increase soul strength.

Thus, the two pillars of Qin Feng’s "Path to the Limit"—"Limit Body" and "Limit Soul"—had their theoretical foundations and practical methods fully completed.

Everything was ready; he only awaited the east wind.

And that east wind was the endless battlefield of the Island of Dead Meteors.

"Mission accomplished."

Within the Machine Race territory, the light in the eyes of the mechanical construct codenamed "Thunderbolt" flickered, then slowly faded into silence.

That wisp of pure spiritual power, containing Qin Feng’s origin, crossed the vast space and time, instantly returning to his true body.

And this mechanical body with Domain Lord-level combat power entered a deep sleep mode, becoming an inconspicuous backup left by Qin Feng in the depths of the universe, waiting for the call of some future moment.

...

Saint Academy, Seven-Colored Bodhi Forest.

Qin Feng rose slowly, the slight dust accumulated from three thousand years of stillness dissipating silently the moment he stood.

He waved to the small tree beside him, which had grown to a hundred meters tall and was shimmering with brilliant light.

"Little Seven, it’s time to go."

The small tree emitted a joyful conscious ripple, its trunk swaying gently as it transformed into a seven-colored stream of light, obediently flying into Qin Feng’s subspace storage unit.

"I must prepare your foundation well."

Qin Feng felt a stir in his heart and opened the interface of the Imperial Exchange.

He glanced at his contribution balance, a staggering 23 billion, and without a moment’s hesitation, began a frenzied shopping spree.

Rare alloys of every grade, premium nutrient solutions to accelerate the growth of plant-based life, crystals brimming with vast vital energy—anything that might be of use to Xiao Qi, he purchased in massive quantities without a hint of thrift.

In short order, the 23 billion in contributions was squandered, transformed into mountains of resources that filled every corner of his subspace storage unit.

With that done, he used the remaining pittance to extend the usage rights of his subspace unit by two hundred thousand years.

It was a necessary investment.

For one who possessed the means of resurrection, death held no terror; what was truly terrifying was the loss of one’s worldly wealth.

As long as his possessions were stored in a subspace unit bound to his soul, even if he were to fall, he could reclaim everything upon his return.

Had he kept them in a mere storage ring, he would only be enriching his enemies.

Everything prepared, Qin Feng cast his gaze toward a certain direction in the Holy Academy, a faint smile curling his lips.

"It is time to put the results to the test."

His figure flickered, vanishing into the radiance of the Seven-Colored Bodhi Grove.

...

The Puppet Alley, the Living Flesh, the Great Sun Furnace.

These three trials, renowned throughout the Holy Academy, welcomed their fastest conqueror in history today.

When Qin Feng’s figure reappeared at the entrance of the Puppet Alley, it drew little attention.

Yet, the moment he stepped inside, everything changed.

Puppet Alley, the first level.

Ten black-hole-tier puppets formed a basic Five Elements formation, launching a coordinated assault.

To the onlookers, this was a challenge requiring precise calculation to identify the formation’s nodes and dismantle them one by one.

But to Qin Feng, the movements of these puppets, the flow of their spiritual energy, and the structure of the formation were nothing more than a trivial arithmetic problem.

He did not even employ a single killing technique, strolling through the gaps in their attacks as if on a leisurely walk, his fingers tracing patterns in the void.

Each tap landed precisely on the most stagnant node of the formation’s energy flow. Each stroke severed the spiritual link between two puppets with surgical accuracy.

In a mere three seconds, the ten puppets froze in unison, their inner lights dimming before they collapsed into a heap of scrap.

Instant kill!

The warriors waiting at the entrance widened their eyes in shock.

"That... that fast?"

Before they could react, Qin Feng’s figure had already vanished into the depths of the first level.

Second level, third level... tenth level...

Qin Feng moved like an unstoppable bolt of lightning, tearing through the Puppet Alley.

Those complex formations that had once forced countless geniuses to rack their brains, those puppet legions with their seamless coordination and lethal intent, were as fragile as paper before him.

The thirty billion units of secret knowledge in his mind had crystallized into a terrifying intuition.

He did not need to calculate, for the answers were already etched into the depths of his soul.

He always found the core and the flaw of any formation in the simplest, most direct, and most efficient way possible.

"The ninety-ninth level!"

"Good heavens, he hasn't even been inside for half an hour!"

"How is this possible? The Star-Dou Formation of the ninety-ninth level is something even many Domain Lord-tier masters find agonizing, and he is only at the Black Hole tier..."

The crowd murmured, unaware that Qin Feng had already broken the Star-Dou Formation during his time at the Twin Rivers; only then, he had used brute force, whereas now, he used technique.

Amidst the whispers, the stone tablet at the end of the Puppet Alley blazed with light.

A new name ascended to the top with indisputable authority, leaving the record that had stood for millions of years far behind.

[Conqueror: Qin Feng. Time taken: Twenty-seven minutes.]

A deathly silence fell outside the Puppet Alley.

Next came the "Living Flesh" trial.

Qin Feng faced "living subjects" afflicted with a bizarre, complex toxin; he had to identify, proportion, and refine an antidote from a vast array of medicinal herbs.

His movements were fluid, without a single moment of hesitation.

His spiritual power transformed into thousands of invisible hands, simultaneously grasping different herbs for purification and fusion.

Flames rose in his palms, the control of temperature and properties precise to the finest degree.

Various medicinal natures, though mutually antagonistic, were like the most docile sheep in his hands, perfectly fused into the form he desired.

It was another crushing victory.

From the first level to the ninety-ninth, he walked like a god of medicine among mortals, resolving every difficult case with ease.

The stone tablet refreshed once more, bearing that same staggering name.

[Conqueror: Qin Feng. Time taken: Thirty-two minutes.]

Finally, the Great Sun Furnace.

This tested the purest of artifact-refining skills.

Qin Feng stood before the massive furnace, the "Guluo Hammer" technique unfolding naturally.

The giant hammer formed by his spiritual power struck the white-hot metal embryo with a profound rhythm.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

Each strike seemed to temper the very essence of the material, shaking out the most minute impurities.

Shaping, engraving, quenching...

Every step was flawlessly perfect, as if taken from a textbook.

In the end, when the top-tier black-hole secret treasure of the ninety-ninth level took shape in his hands, the entire Great Sun Furnace arena trembled.

The stone tablet shone brilliantly.

[Conqueror: Qin Feng. Time taken: Fifty minutes.]

When Qin Feng emerged from the Great Sun Furnace, the area outside was packed solid.

Every eye was fixed upon him, filled with shock, worship, and disbelief.

In a single day, he had shattered the highest records of the Holy Academy’s three great trials, and he had done so in a crushing, unreasonable manner.

The news had swept through the entire Holy Academy like a storm.

"Lord Qin Feng!"

A voice rose from the crowd as a burly, peak Black Hole warrior pushed his way forward, his face a mix of embarrassment and anticipation.

"I am Karl. I have a presumptuous request. I have spent ten thousand years preparing for a life-bound treasure and have gathered all the materials, yet I have never found a suitable master to refine it. I wonder... would you be willing to assist? The reward will certainly satisfy you!"

“I, too, wish to beseech Lord Qin Feng to craft an array disc for me!”

Another man cried out in a loud voice.

In an instant, a deluge of requests descended upon him.

Qin Feng observed their expectant gazes, pondering for a brief moment.

Refining weapons was too time-consuming; he lacked the leisure for such tasks.

But an array disc... that, he could manage with little effort.

His gaze fell upon the second petitioner, whose face flushed a deep, ecstatic crimson.

“Very well.”

Qin Feng spoke with indifference, “But I accept only rare alloys.”

“No problem! No problem at all!”

The man nodded repeatedly, terrified that Qin Feng might retract his offer.

And so, under the gaze of countless eyes, a demonstration of array-crafting, bordering on high art, unfolded openly in the Saint Academy square.

Qin Feng demanded no silence; he merely found a patch of empty ground and sat cross-legged.

The warrior respectfully presented the core jade disc he had prepared to house the array, along with a heap of rare materials.

Qin Feng took the disc, his spiritual energy surging forth instantly, manifesting as countless hair-thin carving blades that danced across the jade surface.

His movements were dazzlingly swift, yet every gesture possessed an indescribable rhythm and aesthetic grace.

Basic runes emerged one after another from his fingertips, then combined, spliced, and nested in ways beyond common comprehension. At times, they flowed like dragons in flight, majestic and vast; at others, they trickled like a gentle stream, nourishing all things in silence.

Among the onlookers were many warriors specializing in the path of arrays. They had initially come to watch the spectacle, but soon, every expression turned solemn, then shifted to shock, and finally, to a state of profound intoxication.

“Heavens... this rune combination, can it truly be used this way?”

“Look at how he handles that node! It is exquisite! Like an antelope hanging its horns, leaving no trace, yet it acts as the very pivot of the entire array! Why did I never think of that?”

In the crowd, a white-haired elder stared fixedly at Qin Feng’s hands, his body trembling slightly with agitation.

“I have immersed myself in the path of arrays for a million years, considering myself unrivaled at the Black Hole level. But seeing Young Friend Qin Feng’s technique today, I realize there are heavens beyond heavens. This spiritual insight, this understanding of the essence of arrays... it is at least a tier higher than my own! Even a Domain Lord-level grandmaster could hardly surpass this.”

Half a day slipped away in silence.

As Qin Feng placed his final stroke, the entire jade disc erupted in brilliance, and a heavy, indestructible aura began to permeate the air.

“It is finished.”

Qin Feng casually handed the disc to the warrior, who stood staring in a daze. “A peak Black Hole-level defensive array disc. Find treasures of the five elements—gold, wood, water, fire, and earth—to serve as the eyes, and it will be enough to withstand three full-force strikes from an ordinary Domain Lord.”

The warrior clutched the disc as if it were a priceless treasure, stammering in his excitement, and hurriedly traded his entire stock of rare alloys to Qin Feng, overflowing with gratitude.

Only then did the crowd awaken from their trance. Recognizing Qin Feng’s identity, they erupted into a thunderous roar of discussion.

“Is... is that not the Fierce God Qin Feng?! The one ranked first on the Hidden Dragon List!”

“It is him! It must be! But... rumor has it that the Fierce God Qin Feng is least skilled in these complex arts? He has always believed that force overcomes all, and whenever he encounters a great array, he shatters it with brute strength—simple and crude!”

“You call this unskilled? This is a master of arrays! No, a grandmaster! This is a grandmaster-level understanding!”

The white-haired elder sighed deeply, smiling bitterly: “We have all been deceived by rumors. Shattering with force? It seems now that he simply couldn’t be bothered to put in the effort to solve them.

In his eyes, those great arrays were perhaps like children’s scribbles to us. Rather than waste the effort to unravel them, it was simpler to just slap them into dust.”

“Terrifying... truly terrifying! A peerless fiend whose martial prowess already tops the Hidden Dragon List, yet he possesses such horrific attainments in arrays, alchemy, and weapon refining! Does he leave any room for others to live?”

The crowd buzzed with talk, their eyes filled with even deeper awe as they looked at Qin Feng.

None of them could have imagined that the rumor of him “breaking arrays with brute force” had actually been an iron-clad fact three thousand years ago.

And yet, this master of arrays who could create miracles with a flick of his wrist had emerged within these mere three thousand years.

With his comprehension bolstered by various augmentations, Qin Feng had transcended the scope of ordinary understanding.

Three thousand years of progress—it was immense!

Now, he was a seasoned expert at the peak of the Black Hole level. Naturally, Qin Feng would apply all these secret arts to his own path toward the limit.