Chapter 61: Mad Demon Staff

Chapter 61: The Mad Demon Staff

The exclusive cafeteria window for Class 1, Grade 3 still served a lavish C-level contract meal.

Steaming meat cutlets exuded a rich aroma, paired with brightly colored, nutritionally balanced vegetables, and a cup of blue beverage that faintly pulsed with energy.

Qin Feng, Shi Potian, and Qian Duoduo occupied a table in the corner of the cafeteria, eating in silence.

The atmosphere today was somewhat different from usual.

Qian Duoduo wolfed down his food, as always.

But Shi Potian seemed distracted, merely poking at the food on his plate with his fork, taking a bite only after long pauses.

“Hey, Old Shi,” Qian Duoduo said, swallowing a large mouthful of meat, his voice muffled. “What’s up with you? You’ve been sulking ever since we left the training room. Did Kro’s axe strike knock your soul out?”

Shi Potian ignored his teasing.

He set down his utensils, lifted his head, and his gaze passed over Qian Duoduo to land on Qin Feng across from him.

“Qin Feng, what are you thinking?” His voice was low.

Qin Feng paused mid-cut of his cutlet.

He looked up, meeting Shi Potian’s probing gaze.

“About what?”

“About Kro.”

Shi Potian was brief.

Qin Feng smiled, placed a piece of cutlet into his mouth, chewed slowly, and swallowed.

“At the time, I was a bit hot-headed,” he admitted frankly. “Especially seeing those dilapidated imperial statues by the mine pit, and hearing Kro’s experiences… anger, disappointment, frustration.”

“And now?” Shi Potian pressed.

“Now?” Qin Feng set down his knife and fork, his expression turning serious. He raised two fingers.

“First, get stronger. The weak don’t even have the right to be angry. Only by becoming a true strong one can you have the qualifications to realize your ambitions, the power to change injustice.”

“Second,” Qin Feng paused, “figure out who are our friends and who are our enemies. Then unite with our friends to strike at our enemies.”

His words were not impassioned or fiery, but carried a rationality beyond his years.

Perhaps this was a result of the slight boost in mental strength from practicing the meditation method.

Shi Potian fell silent.

He lowered his head, as if mulling over Qin Feng’s words repeatedly.

“Only the strong have the right…”

“Friends and enemies…”

After a long while, he raised his head. The confusion in his eyes had largely dissipated, replaced by a renewed firmness.

He nodded heavily at Qin Feng.

“I understand.”

Qian Duoduo, listening to their exchange, couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

“Hey, you two, can you stop acting like old men discussing the rise and fall of the empire here?” He stuffed the last piece of cutlet into his mouth, chiming in boisterously. “Why think so much? Just train hard, cultivate diligently, and that’s it! Go search the ‘Cosmic Forum’—those martial arts school star regions, those star regions in the midst of war, do the warriors there have time to think about this? No! What they think about every day is how to get the next batch of cultivation resources, how to survive the next battle!”

“In short,” Qian Duoduo slammed the table, making his concluding statement, “you guys are just too well-fed! You haven’t figured out who’s giving you this meal.”

His words were crude, indeed.

But they struck like a hammer, shattering the heavy atmosphere instantly.

“Hahaha—” Qin Feng and Shi Potian exchanged glances and burst into laughter.

“You bastard…” Shi Potian pointed at Qian Duoduo, laughing and scolding, “Always with your twisted logic.”

“How is it twisted?” Qian Duoduo stiffened his neck. “It’s the truth of the world! Alright, alright, stop thinking about useless stuff. Let’s talk about what’s next.”

The heavy atmosphere dissipated completely amid their laughter.

“My vitality index has already reached 8.0,” Qian Duoduo said first, a hint of pride on his face. “I got 70 merit points from this mission. Adding what I had before, it’s enough. I plan to upgrade my contract to C-level first, then sign up for the Qiming Star Inter-school League! I want to advance to sophomore year before the league starts!”

“Same plan for me,” Shi Potian chimed in. “Upgrade to C-level contract first, then advance to sophomore year.”

Both of them turned their gazes to Qin Feng.

“Sign up for the league, advance to sophomore year,” Qin Feng said succinctly. “Then train hard until the league begins.”

Their goals aligned perfectly.

“Good!” The three extended their fists and gently bumped them in the center of the table.

After lunch, they didn’t return to the dormitory but headed straight to their respective training rooms.

Qin Feng once again began his daily, monotonous body forging.

He operated the *Primary Imperial Body Forging Method*, trying to squeeze the last bit of potential from his body.

Yet an hour passed, and he still didn’t feel much fatigue.

“Maybe my vitality index is too high?” After breaking through 10.0, this method, which had accompanied him for months, could no longer bring him that muscle-tearing pain of nearing the limit.

No matter how much he increased the load or extended the training time, he couldn’t effectively stimulate his body’s growth like before.

The difficulty was too low!

“It really is like this…”

Qin Feng suddenly understood.

He finally realized why Shi Potian had been able to keep his life force index "stuck" at the bottleneck of 10.0 for so long.

It wasn't that he didn't want to break through, but at this stage, the basic Body Forging Method could no longer provide him with enough "experience points."

To continue improving, he would have to learn the more advanced Intermediate Imperial Body Forging Method.

"It seems I'll have to put this aside for now."

Qin Feng made his decision.

Before advancing to the second year of high school and learning the Intermediate Body Forging Method, continuing such inefficient body forging was no longer meaningful.

He stood up, rinsed himself off, changed into a set of dry clothes, and returned to his dormitory.

The room was empty.

Qin Feng sat cross-legged on the bed, looking at the "Subspace Network Pass" that had transformed into a wrist terminal.

The familiar panel projection appeared.

He closed his eyes, immersing his mind within it.

The next second, his consciousness was drawn by an invisible force, passing through countless bizarre tunnels made of data streams.

When he "opened" his eyes again, he found himself on the familiar Starry Martial Arts Arena, with distant nebulae undulating, and gas clouds like the Pillars of Creation and newborn stars slowly rotating and floating.

The Imperial Arena.

His Thousand Army Spear had reached "Great Mastery," and he had even comprehended two killing moves: "Thousand Army Cleave" and "Flowing Light Chasing Shadow."

It was time to push his rank up again.

Moreover, engaging in high-intensity real combat in the arena and then reviewing it was the fastest way for him to improve his spear proficiency.

Without any hesitation, he directly clicked the ranked match button.

[Matching opponent for you...]

[Match successful!]

[Loading opponent information...]

Qin Feng's gaze fell on the opponent's ID, and the corner of his mouth involuntarily curled into a smirk.

What a small world, indeed.

[ID]: Mad Demon Staff

(End of chapter)