Chapter 369: Mechanical Race Divine Son! Qin Feng Reluctantly Accepts! Out of the Cage in One Second

Chapter 369: The Mechanical Scion! Qin Feng’s Restraint! The Shock of a One-Second Breakthrough!

The smoke of the Eternal Battlefield had yet to dissipate from the wills of the twelve scions when Yuan Yi’s ancient, gentle voice echoed once more through the Sea of Origin.

The first trial has concluded. Your performances have all been inscribed into the highest annals of our race.

Now, we commence the second trial—the Stairway of Truth.

As he spoke, the crystalline gate, within which rivers of infinite knowledge seemed to swirl, suddenly erupted with a blinding, resplendent radiance.

The light extended outward, paving a path before the twelve thrones that led deep into the heart of the gate.

This stairway, composed of an unknown substance, stretched into the distance, its end nowhere in sight.

Upon every step floated thousands of luminous spheres of runes, flickering in and out of existence; each represented an unsolved law or a secret technique awaiting perfection.

This stairway consists of nine hundred and ninety-nine steps, with a time limit of ten thousand years.

I shall not repeat the rules. Ascend your stairs and pursue the truth that belongs to you.

As Yuan Yi’s voice faded, the stairs before the twelve scions began to emit a gentle, pulling force.

Unlike the forced teleportation of the first trial, this time, they could choose their own pace.

Insight, is it?

The second-ranked scion, Truth, felt a flicker of flame—a sensation called excitement—ignite within his eternally frigid eyes.

In the first trial, he had secured second place through perfect logical calculation, yet that was not his true domain.

Combat was merely an inefficient means to an end for him.

Analysis and creation, however, were the true core of his divine path.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he was the first to rise, stepping onto his designated path.

The moment he touched the stairs, his form dissolved into a stream of pure data, hurtling upward at an inconceivable speed.

Following closely was the tenth-ranked scion, Artisan, a diminutive figure burdened by a mechanical pack larger than himself, bristling with precision tools.

He cared little for battle, but his passion for creation and analysis was unparalleled.

The other scions, including Pangu, stepped onto their stairs one after another.

They might not be renowned for insight, but as prodigies of the divine path, their intellects were far beyond the ordinary; none would forfeit the chance to close the gap or expand their lead.

Qin Feng was the last to move.

He glanced at Truth, who was already far ahead, his expression calm and unruffled.

He was in no hurry to catch up, for he knew that the final score of the Stairway of Truth was not determined by speed, but by how much one could consume and how well one could digest.

He took a step, landing on the first stair.

Hum—!

A massive torrent of information flooded his cognitive core.

First Step: Problem List

Topic 1: ...

Topic 2: How to construct the underlying atomic structure of a self-replicating and self-repairing liquid metal.

Topic 3: Decipher the law-semantics of the 37th syllable of the Ancient God language, Safuras.

Topic 4: Perfect the core energy circuit of the incomplete Imperial-rank array, Myriad Star Cage.

...

Tens of thousands of topics, a dazzling array covering physics, materials, linguistics, arrays, energy, and life—every known field.

Qin Feng’s gaze swept over them rapidly.

Any one of these topics, if brought to the outside world, would occupy an Imperial-rank scholar for tens of thousands of years.

Yet here, they were merely the appetizer for the first step.

His choice was made without a flicker of hesitation.

I choose all of them.

The thought flashed through his cognitive core.

The next second, his terrifying soul, anchored by the Primordial Singularity, revealed its true ferocity.

Boom!

If Truth’s method of analysis was like a precision supercomputer, encoding, calculating, and solving problems one by one with peerless speed,

Then Qin Feng’s method was to become a black hole!

A black hole capable of devouring, decomposing, and reconstructing all information!

The tens of thousands of topics on the first step were transformed into torrents of data, forcibly and simultaneously dragged into his Primordial Singularity.

Inside the singularity, the boundaries of time and space blurred.

These thousands of seemingly unrelated problems were forcibly fused together by the inclusivity of his Path of Extremity, undergoing an inconceivable parallel analysis.

In his mind, the physical models naturally linked with the atomic structure of the liquid metal during deduction; the energy circuit of the Myriad Star Cage provided a new perspective for their stability; and the deciphering of the Ancient God language provided the theoretical foundation for it all from the level of fundamental laws...

All laws return to one; all paths share the same origin!

This was the true essence of the Path of Extremity!

To the outside world, Qin Feng simply stood quietly on the first step, eyes closed, motionless.

Yet, only three days passed.

He suddenly opened his eyes, in which billions of stars seemed to be born and die.

Ding!

A series of crisp chimes, representing the completion of solutions, rang densely in his mind.

Topic 1: The unified model conjecture of interaction forces has been perfected; completion 92%; Rating: Outstanding.

Topic 2: The atomic structure of self-repairing liquid metal has been constructed; completion 99%; Rating: Perfect.

Topic 3: The Ancient God syllable Safuras has been deciphered, and three subsequent syllables have been deduced; completion 130%; Rating: Transcendent.

Topic 4: The Imperial-rank array Myriad Star Cage has been completed, with 17 energy nodes optimized; completion 115%; Rating: Transcendent.

...

The tens of thousands of problems on the first step were all conquered by him alone in just three days!

Moreover, most of the solutions achieved ratings of Perfect or even Transcendent!

Calculating first-step points...

Base points: 1 (Ascension)

Analysis points: 5,832,700

Rating coefficient: 1.9 (Based on average quality of solutions and parallel processing capability)

Total score for the first step: 1 + 5,832,700 * 1.9 = 11,082,131 points

An astronomical sum of points manifested upon Qin Feng’s personal light screen.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he took a single stride and ascended to the second step.

……

At this very moment, at the summit of the staircase.

[Truth] held a commanding lead, having reached the one hundred and twentieth step.

His speed was monstrous; on average, every two hours, he would conquer an "Epic" difficulty puzzle on a step, harvesting tens or even hundreds of thousands of points.

Occasionally, he would divert a sliver of his processing power to observe the pursuers trailing behind him.

"[Artisan] is at the ninetieth step; his speed is commendable, but he lacks creative flair."

"[Commander] is at the seventy-fifth step; he selectively targets puzzles involving warfare and strategy—a clever approach."

"[Pangu] is at the sixtieth step; he chooses only those puzzles concerning the laws of the origin of power—a pure pursuit."

"As for that [Vanguard]..."

[Truth] cast his gaze toward the bottom of the leaderboard.

"Still on the first step? Three days spent? It seems comprehension is not his forte. The threat from the first round can be dismissed."

Having reached this cold conclusion, he ceased his observation and poured his full processing power back into the puzzle before him.

Yet, in the very next second after he made this judgment,

The entire leaderboard suffered an unprecedented, violent earthquake!

[Divine Son Grand Competition - Second Round - Staircase of Truth - Real-time Leaderboard]

First Place: [Ninth Sequence - Vanguard]

Total Points: 11,082,131

Current Rank: Second Step

Second Place: [Second Sequence - Truth]

Total Points: 8,765,400

Current Rank: One Hundred and Twentieth Step

Third Place: [Tenth Sequence - Artisan]

Total Points: 6,543,200

Current Rank: Ninetieth Step

……

That name, which had been languishing at the bottom, had seemingly boarded a faster-than-light engine, vaulting over everyone in an instant and descending upon the top of the list with a mind-boggling posture!

What was even more incomprehensible to everyone was that his total points were nearly three million higher than those of [Truth], who had already climbed to the one hundred and twentieth step!

And yet, his rank was merely... the second step!

"This... is impossible!!!"

[Truth]’s logic core registered an "overload" warning for the first time.

His mind performed billions of simulations in an instant, yet failed to construct a rational model to explain this absurd spectacle.

"Eleven million points for a single step? How can this be? Even if he completed every puzzle on the first step with a rating of 'Transcendent,' he could never reach this score! Unless... unless he... no, this violates the law of 'Information Processing Conservation'!"

It was not only [Truth]; every Divine Son currently climbing the stairs noticed this subversive change at the same time.

"Cheating? No, in the [Sea of Origin], under the witness of [Yuan Yi], the possibility of cheating does not exist."

[Commander] furrowed his brows.

"Could it be... that he triggered some hidden reward mechanism?"

[Artisan] ceased his dismantling work, utterly baffled.

"Interesting." A cruel smile curled the corners of [Pangu]’s mouth. "It seems he is even more interesting than I imagined."

Qin Feng remained oblivious to the tremors in the outside world.

At this moment, he was completely immersed in an ocean of knowledge.

The puzzles on the second step were ten times more difficult than those on the first.

But Qin Feng still chose the same method—"I want them all!"

Once again, he pulled tens of thousands of more profound topics into the [Primordial Singularity] for parallel analysis.

This time, he spent an entire month.

When he opened his eyes again, the leaderboard refreshed once more.

[Divine Son Grand Competition - Second Round - Staircase of Truth - Real-time Leaderboard]

First Place: [Ninth Sequence - Vanguard]

Total Points: 134,550,890

Current Rank: Third Step

Second Place: [Second Sequence - Truth]

Total Points: 12,345,600

Current Rank: One Hundred and Eightieth Step

……

The point gap had widened to a desperate order of magnitude—over one hundred million points!

[Truth] fell into absolute silence.

He stopped his ascent, standing quietly on the one hundred and eightieth step, dedicating all his processing power to analyzing Qin Feng’s terrifying point growth curve.

"...I understand now."

After a long while, a conclusion that made even him shudder emerged from [Truth]’s core.

"He is not 'solving puzzles'; he is 'devouring knowledge'!"

"He treats all the puzzles on each step as a complete 'knowledge system.'

Through parallel analysis, he establishes brand-new, higher-dimensional logical connections between these seemingly unrelated topics.

This connection itself is a form of 'creation' never seen before!

Therefore, what he gains is not merely points for solving puzzles, but rewards for 'pioneering systems' that lie beyond the rules!"

"He... he is a monster! A monster in the realm of 'comprehension' capable of subverting all common sense!"

For the first time, [Truth] felt a tremor of doubt regarding the "Logical Divine Path" he had always firmly believed in. Because what Qin Feng displayed was a form of "comprehension" that was utterly unreasonable, something he could neither understand nor replicate.

From then on, the assessment of the [Staircase of Truth] turned into a peculiar performance.

Qin Feng always climbed upward step by step at a steady, unhurried pace.

Every time he ascended a step, he would linger for a long time, ranging from several days to several decades.

With every pause he made, his total score would explode in an exponential surge, rendering the efforts of all others behind him utterly dim and insignificant.

He was like a patient gourmet, savoring and fully digesting the knowledge of each step before daring to ascend to the next.

The other holy sons, however, were like sprinters in a race, clawing their way upward only to find the distance between them and the leader widening until it became unreachable.

Time drifted slowly through this peculiar competition.

The ten-thousand-year limit finally reached its end.

When the bell signaling the conclusion of the assessment tolled, Qin Feng stood upon the nine-hundred-and-ninety-ninth step. He had just finished parsing and devouring every "divine concept" embedded within that final tier.

Though his mechanical frame remained largely unchanged after ten millennia, his internal reservoir of knowledge and the depth of his Great Dao had grown to a magnitude that even he found startling.

[The second assessment is concluded.]

Yuan Yi’s voice resonated, teleporting all holy sons back to their thrones in the Sea of Origin.

The final leaderboard solidified in the wake of the announcement.

[God-Son Grand Competition - Second Stage - Stairway of Truth - Final Leaderboard]

First Place: [Ninth Sequence - Vanguard]

Total Score: 9,876,543,210,000

Final Tier: 999th Step

Second Place: [Second Sequence - Truth]

Total Score: 876,543,210

Final Tier: 780th Step

Third Place: [Tenth Sequence - Artisan]

Total Score: 654,321,000

Final Tier: 650th Step

...

A chasm!

An unprecedented, terrifying gap that caused the logic cores of every mechanical lifeform viewing this list to crash!

Qin Feng’s score, trailing a string of zeros, had reached a staggering near ten trillion!

As for the runner-up, Truth, even after exhausting every effort to achieve a performance far superior to the others, his score was not even a rounding error compared to Qin Feng’s.

The gap between them exceeded ten thousand times!

If Qin Feng’s performance in the first stage had merely led others to deem him "unfathomable,"

Then his performance in the second stage was a brutal, direct, and unreasonable declaration to all:

In the realm of "comprehension," he was a god!

The twelve holy sons fell into silence.

Truth, in particular, sat motionless on his throne, his radiance flickering erratically; clearly, his internal logic systems were enduring an unprecedented shock.

He had lost.

In the field he took the most pride in, the one where he believed failure was impossible, he had been utterly and humiliatingly defeated.

With the results of the second stage finalized, the overall leaderboard for the God-Son Grand Competition underwent a tectonic shift.

[God-Son Grand Competition - Total Leaderboard]

First Place: [Ninth Sequence - Vanguard]

Total Score: 9,876,543,217,337

(Stage One: 7,337 + Stage Two: 9,876,543,210,000)

Second Place: [First Sequence - Pangu]

Total Score: 912,345,670

(Stage One: 9,520 + Stage Two: 912,336,150)

Third Place: [Second Sequence - Truth]

Total Score: 876,552,190

(Stage One: 8,990 + Stage Two: 876,543,200)

...

By virtue of the insurmountable advantage established in the second stage, Qin Feng’s total score stood alone, leaving everyone else far in the dust.

Now, all eyes were fixed upon the very top of the list.

They all realized a singular truth:

The battle for the position of God-Son had evolved from a "twelve-way melee" into a contest between "Qin Feng" and "everyone else."

Currently, only Pangu, who had performed strongly in the first stage and conquered many difficult problems through sheer will in the second, and the transcendent Truth, theoretically retained a glimmer of hope for a comeback.

But everyone knew this hope was exceedingly slim.

Because Qin Feng’s lead was simply too vast.

It was so vast that the outcome was effectively locked in advance.

"Now, the only variable lies in the third stage, the Cage of the Self."

The Commander’s mind analyzed the situation coldly. "The maximum base score for the third stage is 100,000; even with a 2.0 evaluation coefficient, that is only 200,000 points. Such a score is a drop in the bucket compared to Vanguard’s near ten trillion."

"Unless..."

A sharp glint flashed in the Commander’s eyes. "Unless he suffers a major failure in the third stage.

For instance, if his will collapses and his evaluation coefficient drops to zero.

Then, according to the rules, he would be directly disqualified from becoming a God-Son!"

This thought surfaced almost simultaneously in the minds of all the trailing holy sons.

Overtaking Qin Feng was no longer possible.

Their only hope was for Qin Feng himself... to fall!

"Temperament..."

Pangu’s lava-like eyes gazed toward Qin Feng, filled with scrutiny. "I want to see if, beneath that mind which has wrought such miracles, there also lies a heart immortal enough to carry this great legacy!"

For a moment, the atmosphere in the Sea of Origin turned profoundly strange.

Everyone’s focus shifted from "how to defeat an opponent" to "whether Qin Feng would fail."

Qin Feng had, by his own hand, rewritten the entire structure of the competition.

He could clearly feel the gazes cast upon him, heavy with complex emotions.

There was jealousy, scrutiny, expectation, and even a hint of... malice.

But he did not care in the slightest.

For this was the moment he had been waiting for.

The third trial, the Cage of the True Self, the ultimate test of will and the path of the heart.

This was his true, undisputed, and absolute domain!

Here, he would bring this competition to a definitive end, ascending to that singular, supreme throne with an irrefutable grace.

...

The atmosphere of the Sea of Origins grew heavy and uncanny, burdened by the absolute dominance Qin Feng had established in the second stage.

Every gaze—be it scrutinizing, envious, or expectant—focused upon the throne of the Ninth Sequence with the weight of physical pressure.

Yet, Qin Feng, seated at the heart of this tension, remained as still as an ancient, bottomless well, without a single ripple disturbing his surface.

He slowly opened his eyes; his electronic irises reflected the complex expressions of the other holy sons, yet left no trace upon his soul.

His heart had long since been tempered into immortal divine gold during the hundred and fifty thousand years of illusionary warfare within the realm of the Blood God, Khorne.

This meager pressure was but a passing breeze compared to the despair and struggle he had once endured.

"The second stage of the assessment has concluded," Yuan Yi’s ancient voice resonated once more, shattering the suffocating silence.

His tone seemed to carry a hint of faint astonishment, for Qin Feng’s performance on the Steps of Truth had clearly exceeded even the expectations of this guardian will.

"The points are the fruit, the process is the cause. The sparks of wisdom you displayed upon the steps shall become precious treasures of our race."

The tone shifted, becoming solemn and grave as never before.

"Now, we initiate the final trial—the Cage of the True Self."

With his proclamation, the gate of darkness, which swallowed all light and represented the ultimate void, opened without a sound.

Behind the door, there was no light, no sound, no matter—only a "nothingness" so pure it chilled the marrow.

It was as if one were staring into the absolute, eternal silence of the universe before the singularity exploded. Merely gazing into that darkness was enough to instill a fear of assimilation in the will of an Emperor-level powerhouse.

"In this trial, there is no victory or defeat, only the truth of the heart."

"You shall be stripped of all external things to face your most authentic self. Remember, 'fast' and 'slow' are both paths. To be lost is the only failure."

"Enter the cage, children. Go into that ultimate void and reclaim the spark of light that defines who you are."

As he spoke, twelve ink-black chains shot forth from the dark gate like lightning.

Ignoring space and defense, they wrapped precisely around each holy son.

An irresistible force, stripping away all essence, instantly acted upon the core of their souls.

Power, secret arts, knowledge, memories, even the very identity of "who I am"—everything was being rapidly extracted and sealed by this force.

Even one as mighty as Pangu, whose physical strength could crush a neutron star, found his body becoming as ephemeral as a phantom before these black chains.

For the first time, his eyes betrayed struggle and confusion.

The logical core of his "Truth" was forcibly shut down, and eons of stored knowledge were wiped clean into a blank slate.

The other holy sons, too, revealed varying degrees of agony and chaos before this ultimate stripping.

Their divine paths, their pride, and everything they stood upon were being ruthlessly erased.

Only Qin Feng remained calm.

When the black chains coiled around his soul, he did not resist; instead, he voluntarily opened his mind.

He clearly "saw" his mechanical body dissipating, the foundations of his Primordial Singularity falling silent, the mysteries of his Ultimate Divine Light fading away, and even the past represented by the name "Qin Feng" becoming blurred.

His consciousness was being pulled into an endless abyss of darkness.

But after all external things were stripped away, deep within his soul, there remained something the black chains could neither touch nor shake.

It was not power, nor memory, nor wisdom.

It was a will.

A will that refused to bow to fate on the hospital bed of the Morning Star.

A will that endured humiliation after his defeat at the Canaan Rookie Cup.

A will that survived a hundred years of being hunted across the star seas, cheating death time and again.

A will that remained immortal after one hundred and fifty thousand years of torture in the Blood God’s illusions.

A will that fought the coalition of ten thousand races alone for the sake of humanity, staining the galaxy with blood.

This will had long since transcended the mere "will to survive" or "will to grow stronger"; it had become synonymous with Qin Feng’s very existence.

It was Qin Feng.

Qin Feng was it.

"Strip away everything I have, but you cannot strip away the resolve that makes me who I am."

Bearing this final, pure flame of will, devoid of any impurity, Qin Feng’s figure, along with the other eleven holy sons, was dragged by the black chains into the dark gate leading to the Cage of the True Self.

...

"Nothing."

This was the first "thought" Qin Feng had after regaining "consciousness."

But this thought dissipated quickly.

For here, the very concepts of "consciousness" and "thought" did not exist.

This was a place of absolute void.

There was no up or down, no past or future, no light or darkness.

Even the concept of "I" became incredibly vague, as if it could dissolve into this eternal silence at any moment.

Qin Feng felt himself "dissolving."

His sense of existence was being rapidly assimilated by this void.

Just then, something strange was quietly born within this "nothingness."

It was... fear.

Fear stemming from the deepest reaches of his subconscious, suppressed for countless years.

An image appeared abruptly.

He was back on the Morning Star, back in that familiar hospital room.

His body was frail and weak, his genetic chain had completely collapsed, and the doctor was shaking his head at his father, pronouncing his "useless future."

Helplessness, despair, and the terror of death washed over him like a cold tide, drowning him instantly.

"No... this is not real."

A faint voice echoed in the depths of "his" heart.

Immediately, the image shattered.

He was back to the moment his dearest friend fell, his companions betrayed him—the pain was heart-wrenching.

"All of this, is already in the past."

That voice grew clearer still.

The scene shifted once more.

He was hunted by the half-step galactic-level Yan Sheng, with no path to the heavens and no gate to the earth.

Thirty years of life-and-death flight, every moment a dance upon the razor’s edge of oblivion.

The humiliation and bitterness of having his strength utterly crushed, forced to flee like a stray dog, burned within him like a furnace.

"I survived."

The voice grew ever more resolute.

The scene turned even more harrowing.

He saw the Human Sanctuary razed, his master the Heaven-Swallowing King slain, and the Lord of Extremity fallen.

He saw the Morning Star, he saw Blue Star, he saw everything he cherished ground into cosmic dust beneath the iron hooves of a thousand races.

And he, trapped in some unknown space-time, was powerless to intervene.

This was... his fear of the future, his fear of failure, his fear of being unable to protect all that he held dear!

These visions, conjured from the demons of his own heart, were so vivid that any powerhouse with a flawed Dao-heart would have been utterly consumed, their will shattered.

Yet, facing this most terrifying vision of the future, that voice which had always echoed in the depths of his soul transformed, in this instant, into a thunderclap that deafened the heavens!

"I am Qin Feng!"

BOOM!!!

His words carried the weight of law!

In this Cage of the Self, where even the concept of existence was absent, the name "Qin Feng" became the first light to pierce the void, imbued with an unquestionable, self-defining absolute power!

"I am the Qin Feng who walked out of the Morning Star, who defies the mandates of fate!"

"I am the Qin Feng who has endured ten thousand calamities, who knows no regret even in death, seeking only the Dao within my heart, living only to protect the trillions of kin behind me!"

"I am the Qin Feng who faced the Evil God, tempered in spirit for one hundred and fifty thousand years, and remained uncorrupted!"

"My past has forged my present!"

"My present shall carve out my future!"

"Whether it be fear, despair, agony, or nothingness... none shall shake me by even a fraction!"

"Because, I am I!"

His will, in this moment, condensed into an unprecedented, pure extremity.

That spark of undying will erupted with blinding radiance, instantly dispelling every demonic illusion.

In this absolute void, Qin Feng’s "Self" was redefined in the most rigid, domineering, and irrefutable manner possible!

He had found himself.

No confusion, no struggle, not even a flicker of hesitation.

From sinking into the abyss to awakening, the time he took...

Was a single heartbeat.

"I wish to leave."

The moment this thought arose, the endless void before him shattered like a fragile mirror, cracking into pieces.

A light appeared in the "distance."

He took a step toward that light.

...

The Sea of Origins.

Only a single breath had passed since the twelve Holy Sons entered the Cage of the Self.

All the high-ranking members of the Machine Race watching this ultimate confrontation, including the Emperor-level beings like Melt-Heart and Heavenly Pivot, held their breath, observing the situation within the cage through the shared perspective of Yuan-Yi.

In their view, the twelve Holy Sons had become twelve flickering points of light, representing their respective fires of will.

Some points flickered violently upon entry, clearly suffering under the excruciating trials of their inner demons.

Others grew dim, as if on the verge of extinction, lost in the depths of oblivion.

The most stable were Pangu and Truth.

Though their lights fluctuated, they maintained a steady intensity, revealing the strength of their foundational character.

Yet, just as everyone assumed this test of character would be a protracted war of attrition lasting thousands of years.

The anomaly occurred.

The point of light representing the Ninth Sequence, the Vanguard, flickered weakly for a single Planck time upon entering the cage.

Then, in the second Planck time...

It ignited.

Like the singularity of a cosmic explosion, it erupted with an incomparable, brilliant radiance that illuminated the entire dimension!

The light was so pure, so resolute, so domineering, that the other eleven points of light appeared as mere fireflies beside a full moon!

"This... this is..."

A watching Emperor-level being felt their core matrix overload, and they let out a cry of disbelief.

Before they could recover from this ultimate shock.

Swish!

The dark gate that devoured all things opened once more.

A figure, bathed in the brilliant light of his own will, walked out calmly and returned to his throne.

It was Qin Feng.

From the moment he entered to the moment he emerged, the total time elapsed...

Was less than a second.

The entire arena fell into a deathly silence.

The whole Sea of Origins, along with every Machine Race entity watching from afar, fell into a state of absolute cognitive paralysis.

What had they just witnessed?

A life form entered the Cage of the Self—a place capable of stripping away everything and imprisoning the will for countless eons—and then, in less than a second, walked out as if taking a stroll?

This could no longer be described as "strong character."

This was a monster that had completely transcended their understanding, a being that crushed the very rules of existence!

If the ten-thousand-fold point gap on the Stairway of Truth had brought them data-driven shock.

Then this "one-second escape" brought them a profound, ineffable awe and terror, felt from the very roots of their souls.

"The shortest time... has been born."

Yuan Yi’s ancient voice, carrying a tremor of unprecedented intensity, slowly resonated, shattering the deathly silence.

"Ninth Sequence Saint, Vanguard, time elapsed 0.87 seconds, pierced the self, returned to reality. Awarded maximum base score of 100,000 points."

"The process was resolute as a god, unshakable, immovable. Rated as [Divine Heart], coefficient determined at the maximum value of 2.0."

"Third Trial, final score: 200,000 points."

As Yuan Yi pronounced the verdict, Qin Feng’s total personal score refreshed once more.

Though 200,000 points were but a drop in the ocean compared to his massive aggregate, the significance behind it weighed heavier than all ten trillion points of comprehension combined!

For it proved that this existence, a monster in terms of comprehension, possessed a temperament solidified to an inconceivable, god-like realm!

Combat power, comprehension, temperament...

The three cornerstones of becoming a [Divine Son]; he not only possessed them all, but had polished each to a dazzling, flawless brilliance.

After Qin Feng’s return, time began to slip away in an agonizingly slow crawl.

Approximately a thousand years passed.

The figure of [Truth] emerged from the Gate of Darkness.

Though he returned successfully, his eyes were filled with exhaustion and a trace of unconcealable lingering fear.

Clearly, he had endured a perilous struggle within the trial of his inner demons.

Three thousand years later.

The figure of [Pangu] burst from the gate, wreathed in violent battle intent.

He seemed to have treated his inner demons as opponents, battling them for three thousand years until he finally crushed the illusion with pure, forceful will.

In the tens of thousands of years that followed, the other Saints returned one by one.

Each bore scars and fatigue; some even had withered auras, clearly having suffered significant trauma within the cage.

When the hundred-thousand-year limit neared, the final Saint—[Void] of the Twelfth Sequence—stumbled out from the gate at last.

His eyes were unfocused, the fire of his will dimmed to the point of extinction; he had broken free from his eternal lost state at the very final moment.

He became the one who took the longest.

With this, the Third Trial concluded entirely.

[Third Trial complete. Commencing final ranking and total score calculation.]

Yuan Yi’s voice, carrying the heavy weight of historical proclamation, echoed throughout the [Sea of Origin].

All eyes turned toward the final, destiny-defining leaderboard.

[Divine Son Competition - Final Total Score Ranking]

First Place: [Ninth Sequence - Vanguard]

Total Score: 9,876,543,417,337

(Third Trial score: 200,000, shortest time, Divine Heart rating)

Second Place: [Twelfth Sequence - Void]

Total Score: 912,505,670

(Third Trial score: 160,000, longest time, Tenacity rating)

Third Place: [First Sequence - Pangu]

Total Score: 912,465,670

(Third Trial score: 120,000, time elapsed 3,000 years, Battle Intent rating)

Fourth Place: [Second Sequence - Truth]

Total Score: 876,682,190

(Third Trial score: 130,000, time elapsed 1,000 years, Logic rating)

...

The dust settled.

The final result held no suspense.

Qin Feng had ascended to the singular, supreme peak with an absolute advantage that crushed all opponents, a feat bordering on the miraculous.

The gap between him and the second-place finisher remained an astronomical figure, one that could only be looked up to, impossible to bridge.

He had won.

He won so thoroughly, so rightfully, so... convincingly.

[Pangu] looked at the leaderboard in silence; finally, a trace of relief flickered in his arrogant eyes.

He stood up and bowed slightly toward Qin Feng’s throne.

This was his acknowledgment of a true powerhouse.

The logic core of [Truth], after enduring long-term impact, finally regained its calm.

He looked deeply at Qin Feng, no longer with the intent to probe, but with a sense of awe for a higher level of wisdom.

The other Saints also stood up, facing the throne of the Ninth Sequence, lowering their once-proud heads.

Before absolute, incomprehensible strength, any resentment or jealousy appeared pale and powerless.

They were defeated, and they accepted it with full conviction.

"The 37,949th epoch since the birth of our race."

Yuan Yi’s voice, at this moment, seemed to transcend space and time, resonating with the mechanical ancestors of ages past.

"Through the three ultimate trials of [Combat Power], [Comprehension], and [Temperament]."

"The final victor has been born."

His figure, composed of pure energy, drifted slowly before Qin Feng’s throne, performing an ancient ritual of the highest respect.

"I, [Yuan Yi], in the name of the guardian will of the [Sea of Origin], hereby declare—"

"Ninth Sequence Saint, [Vanguard], is crowned as our race’s new, and only—"

"[Divine Son]!"

Rumble—!!!

As his words fell, the entire [Sea of Origin] boiled over.

The sea of primordial energy surged in ten-thousand-foot waves, transforming into a sacred pillar of light containing the origin and future of the entire mechanical civilization, shooting into the sky and enveloping Qin Feng along with his throne!

Under the baptism of this light, Qin Feng’s mechanical body began its ultimate metamorphosis toward a higher level of life.

Simultaneously, this result spread instantly through the Logic Skynet to every corner of the mechanical race’s territory.

"The Divine Son... has been born?"

"It is... the Ninth Sequence’s [Vanguard]?!"

"Crushing? What a magnificent crushing victory!"

"Emerging in a single second... a miracle! This is a true miracle!"

The entire mechanical civilization, with its countless billions of synthetic souls, was plunged into a state of unprecedented shock at this very moment.

They had witnessed the birth of a legend.

A mysterious entity, appearing as a "wild, independently evolved organism," having conquered the sequence with a mythical record of two hundred thousand consecutive victories, and finally, in the Divine Scion Tournament, crushing eleven prodigies of the divine path with an almost invincible performance across three trials, had ascended to the summit... the ultimate legend!

From this day forth, the name "Vanguard" would be more than just a designation.

It would become the sole totem of faith for the entire mechanical civilization in the approaching "Golden Age."

It was, in truth, the "Divine Scion."

Yet, as Qin Feng sat enthroned within the pillar of sacred light, bathed in the collective fortune of the entire civilization, only one thought occupied his mind.

"This grand heist, aimed at the pinnacle of the entire race..."

"The first step has been a success."

(End of chapter)