Chapter 49: Terrifying Progress

Chapter 49: The Terror of Progress

The afternoon sunlight streamed through the tall windows of the martial arts room, casting a warm halo of light.

Qin Feng’s figure moved and shifted continuously within that glow.

Once again, he had entered that wondrous state known as "flow."

The entire world seemed to grow quiet.

The noise and distractions of the outside world were completely sealed off by an invisible barrier.

In his consciousness, only the standard movements of the *Imperial Body-Tempering Method* remained—only the ultimate control over his muscles, bones, and vital energy.

Every exertion of force, every breath inhaled and exhaled, achieved perfect harmony and unity with the rhythm of his body.

The vast energy of the intermediate spiritual energy potion flowed steadily and efficiently within him, like the most precise fuel, continuously powering his high-speed cultivation machine.

His mind was intensely focused, yet utterly relaxed.

Time, in such a state, seemed to lose all meaning.

In the blink of an eye, an entire afternoon slipped away.

It wasn’t until the electronic clock on the wall pointed to 7:30 PM that Qin Feng slowly withdrew his practice, emerging from that state of self-forgetting "flow."

He let out a long, hot breath of white vapor, which condensed into a straight arrow in the cool air, lingering for a long time—a sign of the abundant and refined spiritual energy within him.

An unprecedented, powerful sensation filled every limb and bone.

He could clearly feel that his body had undergone earth-shattering changes compared to just a day ago.

Qin Feng raised his hand, summoning his system panel while simultaneously opening the body data monitoring function on his wrist terminal.

Two light screens floated side by side before him.

**[Name]**: Qin Feng

**[Life Force Index]**: 3.42

**[Martial Artist Rank]**: First-Level Martial Artist

**[Cultivation Method]**:

*Imperial Body-Tempering Method* (Minor Completion)

**[Proficiency]**: 618 / 1000

**[Effect]**: At the current stage, passively increases Life Force Index by 0.001 per hour.

*Imperial Meditation Method* (Beginner)

**[Proficiency]**: 0 / 100

**[Effect]**: Nail of Favor x1: Your meditation speed is slightly amplified.

**[Combat Art]**:

*Thousand-Army Spear* (Minor Completion)

**[Proficiency]**: 489 / 1000

**[Mastered Lethal Move]**: Thousand-Army Repulsion

**[Real-Time Body Data]**

**[Name]**: Qin Feng

**[Life Force Index]**: 3.42

Gazing at the crystal-clear data on the light screen, Qin Feng gained an intuitive understanding of his rate of improvement.

In one day, with the support of top-tier resources, his proficiency in the body-tempering method had surged by 200 points.

His Life Force Index had also steadily increased by 0.21, and after a night’s sleep, it would likely rise a bit more.

Considering the "positive feedback acceleration" effect—where greater strength leads to higher absorption efficiency—he could easily push his Life Force Index to 10.0 within a month.

Such a pace of progress was truly astonishing.

In the days ahead, all Qin Feng had to do was repeat today’s monotonous yet efficient cultivation routine day after day.

First, raise the Life Force Index to 10.0. Then, continue to hone himself relentlessly, pushing his strength to the utmost limit before the Qiming League began.

"If it were just a D-level contract, D-level energy meals, and two bottles of basic spiritual energy potions per month, the recovery speed would be ten times slower."

"Relying solely on passive gains, it would take half a year to reach 10.0."

"But now, with resources replenished, I can reach 10.0 in a month—that’s the charm of resources."

Qin Feng sighed in admiration.

Understanding the importance of resources, he knew he had to achieve a good ranking in the upcoming Qiming High School League and strive for a B-level contract!

... At 8 PM, the cafeteria had far fewer people.

Qin Feng, Qian Duoduo, and Shi Potian each carried their trays and sat in their usual spots.

While enjoying his C-level nutritional meal, Qin Feng opened his wrist terminal, planning to follow Qian Duoduo’s advice and browse the legendary "campus forum."

But the moment he connected to the subspace network, a rapid series of "beep-beep-beep" notification sounds erupted wildly from his terminal.

**[User "Sword Dance of the Beauty" requests to add you as a friend.]**

**[User "Mad Blade Li" requests to add you as a friend.]**

**[User "Sikong Yao" requests to add you as a friend.]**

**[...]**

In just one afternoon, his friend request list had piled up nearly a hundred entries.

He opened the list and skimmed through it briefly.

The IDs were all sorts of strange, but without exception, their personal profiles all marked the same affiliation—Qiming First Martial Arts Senior High School.

A hint of confusion crossed Qin Feng’s face.

"What’s going on?"

Beside him, Qian Duoduo leaned over, glanced at the dense list of friend requests on his light screen, and immediately burst into laughter.

"Hahaha, I knew this would happen!"

He said with schadenfreude, "Qin Feng, news of you getting a C-level contract has completely blown up on the campus forum! After you left at noon, someone uploaded a video of you getting your meal. Now that post has over ten thousand replies!"

"Now the whole school knows that a freshman who’s only been here for a little over a month has landed a C-level contract. Nine out of ten of these people adding you want to spar with you in the Imperial Arena and see your skills firsthand. Of course, they’re definitely not convinced."

Qian Duoduo chuckled slyly. "After all, your practical simulation score is nearly 300 points higher than the second-place guy. To many, that’s unbelievable. They won’t believe it until they fight you themselves."

"A bunch of restless energy."

Shi Potian, sitting nearby, offered a rare smile and commented, "Your 500 points is because the full score is 500. Their 200-something points is because their strength only deserves 200-something. They won’t understand the gap until they fight you."

Hearing this, Qin Feng simply shook his head.

He reached out and swiped across the light screen.

**[Reject All Friend Requests with One Click]**

[Confirmation]

Hundreds of friend requests were cleared in an instant.

He had neither the time nor the energy to deal with these challenges, to prove anything to anyone.

Was it useful to him?

It was not.

His time now was immeasurably precious.

Every minute, every second, must be spent on improving his own strength.

He had to race against time, before the Qiming League began, to push his strength to its peak, to strive for a good ranking, to obtain the generous grade point rewards, and then to be promoted to a B-level contract.

This was the broad road that would allow him to achieve a snowball effect of resources, leaving others far behind.

As for others' opinions and challenges, what did they have to do with him?

The strong never need to prove themselves to the weak.

Qin Feng considered this his strength: he could clearly know what he needed most at the moment, thus distinguishing priorities and making the most correct decisions.

(The end of this chapter)