High Martial Arts: Liver Becomes the Master of the Universe

Chapter 170 Old Rascal Qin Beast! He's back! And stronger than ever!
Just as the atmosphere in the entire arena was brought to a boiling point by the name "Zhou Xiong," and countless students were eagerly anticipating his arrival, subtle ripples began to appear in the exclusive instructor's seat at the very top of the arena.

One by one, figures appeared out of thin air on the row of seats made of special energy crystals that were suspended in the air.

They've arrived.

Contrary to the students' expectations, none of these great figures standing at the pinnacle of imperial martial arts concealed their aura.

On the contrary, they displayed and released their terrifying aura, which was enough to shake the stars and distort reality, in an almost domineering and unquestionable manner, like a silent storm that instantly enveloped the entire arena!
This is not a demonstration, but a most direct and primal form of teaching.

It was a silent declaration, telling the millions of future pillars of the empire below the stage—

This is the goal you are striving for!
This is the true meaning of power!
Raise your head, look up at us, and then give it your all to catch up with us and surpass us!

The first to appear were those dozens of stellar-level mentors.

Although they maintained normal human physiques, they wore various kinds of clothing—some wore flowing classical robes, some wore strict scholar uniforms, and some wore sleek combat armor.

But at this moment, in the perception of millions of students, each of them seems no longer to be made of flesh and blood.

They are like living stars, walking among humanity!
The refined-looking middle-aged mentor, Lü Lan, exuded an aura like a stable star—warm, profound, and radiant, brimming with boundless vitality that inspired a sense of closeness and trust in others.

The red-haired female mentor, Yue Hong, is like a blazing superstar. Her aura is domineering and fierce, as if she can burn everything around her to ashes.

But within this extreme heat lies a chilling coldness akin to absolute zero, a paradox that is both contradictory and harmonious.

Then there was the old man Mulin, who carried a gourd of wine. His aura was the most peculiar, like a raging giant star that kept flashing. Sometimes it was as vast as the sea, and sometimes it was so faint that it was almost imperceptible. It was full of rhythm between movement and stillness, making it impossible for anyone to pinpoint his presence.

Dozens of "stars" of different shapes and colors hung high in the sky. The light and heat they emitted made the blood of all the students present start to rush, and their hearts were filled with endless longing and pursuit for a higher realm!
Next came the seven or eight galaxy-level mentors.

When they appeared, the atmosphere of the entire arena changed abruptly.

If a stellar-level mentor brings warmth and light that one yearns for, then a galactic-level mentor brings something beyond the limits of individual understanding—a vastness and desolation on a cosmic scale.

Qin Feng's mentor, Yu Han, sat there quietly, like a deep and boundless starry sky.

When you look at him, it's as if you're gazing at the universe itself. That vastness, that antiquity, that unfathomable mystery is enough to make anyone with a weak will instantly lose themselves in it and suffer a mental breakdown.

As for Instructor Zai Jing, the head of the Discipline Hall, his aura resembled a giant nebula that was slowly collapsing.

Within that seemingly calm expanse of dust and gas lies a terrifying power capable of giving birth to or destroying countless stars, filled with cold, unquestionable laws and order that inspire awe and fear from the depths of one's soul.

This feeling goes beyond the realm of "powerful"; it is a terrifying pressure akin to a "natural disaster," making one feel insignificant and hopeless.

However, when the last figure appeared on the throne at the very center of the mentor's seat, a throne that was clearly more magnificent than the others, all the awe brought by the stars and galaxies before paled in comparison in an instant.

Zhou Xiong has arrived.

He didn't sit in his seat like the others.

Instead, it stands quietly before the throne, like an ancient and unchanging sacred mountain.

He was wearing a set of specially made power armor that was not flashy, but was full of a sense of iron-bloodedness and vicissitude.

The armor was covered with countless fine, still clearly visible after repairs—eternal medals left behind from a life-or-death struggle against the empire's most formidable enemy.

On his chest were dozens of medals, awarded by the Imperial Military, representing the highest honor.

Each one represents a fierce battle worthy of being recorded in history, and each one is soaked in blood and fire.

He wasn't wearing a helmet, revealing a weathered, angular, resolute face, as if sculpted from granite.

Most strikingly, four metal studs, each gleaming with a different luster, were deeply embedded in his high, prominent brow bone.

—Ten Thousand Battle Nails!

That is a badge of honor that only veterans who have made outstanding contributions in the Ultramarines are qualified to have branded!

The first one was a blood-red color.

The second one is a sunset-like orange.

The third one is a rusty color, weathered by time.

The fourth one has an ancient, greenish-brown patina, as if it were unearthed from an ancient site.

The different colors of the Wan Zhan Ding represent the different levels and difficulties their owners have completed, and are terrifying missions capable of annihilating civilizations.

And his aura...

When Qin Feng tried to sense Zhou Xiong's aura, his brain almost crashed for a moment.

Because what he "saw" was not light, not heat, nor any form of energy that could be defined.

What he "saw" was a real... black hole.

Zhou Xiong stood there, but the space, light, and even all the wandering spiritual energy around him were irresistibly drawn to and distorted by his seemingly unimpressive body.

He seemed to transform into the most extreme celestial body in the universe, forming a boundless accretion disk.

Everything around him, all the energy, was spinning wildly at an extreme speed, emitting light and heat that were dazzling to the extreme. In the end, it was all absorbed and devoured into his body, which was as unfathomable as a black hole.

That is the ultimate form of power, the infinite condensation of mass, the absolute gravitational singularity from which even light cannot escape!

Black Hole-level martial artist!
"WAAAGH!!!"

Someone, once again stunned by this miraculous scene, was so excited that they couldn't contain themselves and instinctively shouted out that signature battle cry.

The entire arena was once again pushed to the peak of frenzy.

The students cheered wildly, waving their arms and expressing their excitement and admiration in the most primal way.

On the high platform, Zhou Xiong's gaze slowly swept over the boiling sea of ​​people below.

His eyes were calm and profound, as if they could see into the soul of every person.

He smiled slightly, and even his resolute, rock-like face showed a hint of gentleness.

"The greens 'WAAAGH!' because of their warlike nature. Fighting is to them what our appetite, sleep, and playfulness are... a pure, instinctive desire."

His voice, though not loud, was clear and precise, reaching the ears of millions present and drowning out all the noise.

"However, we humans are different."

His voice suddenly became solemn and dignified, filled with the resounding clang of iron and blood.

We fight to protect!

"Protect our families, protect our homes, protect the great empire that stretches across billions of stars behind us!"

"So next time you want to express your excitement and passion, do it like this."

The moment the words left his mouth, the terrifying aura emanating from Zhou Xiong, which had been like a black hole devouring everything, vanished without a trace.

He withdrew all his power and pressure, just like an ordinary imperial soldier.

He suddenly raised his right fist and slammed it heavily onto the breastplate on his left chest, which was engraved with the double-headed eagle emblem, producing a dull and powerful thud.

Immediately afterwards, he straightened his right arm, put his palm together, and raised it up cleanly, stopping next to his brow bone.

A most standard and sacred imperial military salute!
His gaze swept across the entire room, his voice filled with an unquestionable loyalty and passion that could burn everything!

"Loyalty to the Empire—"

"loyalty!!!"

That cry of "loyalty" was like a thunderclap of creation, resounding deep within everyone's soul!
The next moment, a thunderous response erupted simultaneously from every corner of the arena!

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!..."

Hundreds of millions of fists pounded heavily on his chest!

The unified, drum-like sound converged into a torrent of steel powerful enough to make the stars tremble!
Then came millions of voices, all converging into a single word!
"loyalty!!!"

"loyalty!!!"

"loyalty!!!"

The roaring cries, like a mountain collapsing and a tsunami crashing, transformed into a storm of faith that swept across the entire world!
At this moment, whether they were freshmen just entering the university or outstanding graduates about to graduate, whether they were ordinary students or high-ranking mentors, everyone's heart was burning with the same fervent flame.

That was the most fervent, purest, and most unreserved loyalty to the entire human empire and civilization!
Company Commander Zhou Xiong's ability to control the situation was unbelievably strong.

Just a moment ago, he used his iron will and blood to push the atmosphere of the entire arena to the peak of fanatical loyalty and faith.

The next second, as the thunderous shouts of "loyalty" subsided, the chilling and imposing aura emanating from him quietly faded away, replaced by a gentle and expectant warmth, like a spring breeze.

His gaze swept gently across the entire room, looking into the pairs of young eyes reddened with excitement, and he spoke slowly.

"You are the future of the empire."

"You are to the Empire what a star is to the life-bearing planet it orbits. You are the great sun at eight or nine in the morning, the Empire's most vibrant and dazzling hope."

"The future belongs to you."

He paused, a hint of encouragement appearing on his face.

"May you all have great fortune in your martial arts. Starting from this Rookie Cup, may you make your name known throughout the entire starry sky!"

Finally, he raised his hand, waved it forward, and his voice became loud and powerful.

"I hereby declare the Canaan Rookie Cup officially open!"

boom--! ! !
As he finished speaking, the energy shields on the hundreds of floating battle platforms in the center of the arena suddenly burst forth with dazzling light, announcing the official opening of this grand event!
The first to start was the fourth-tier competition zone, which had the largest number of participants and was also the most competitive.

As for the Level 5 and Level 6 competition zones, they will start successively after the top 100 teams are determined in the Level 4 competition zone.

On the central screen of the arena, the names and numbers of countless contestants began to scroll rapidly like a waterfall.

A massive and efficient random draw, affecting millions of participants, has officially begun.

Qin Feng sat in the audience, watching his contestant number "K-4-9527" flash by in the flood of data, feeling completely calm.

For him, the outcome of this match was already a foregone conclusion.

He came here for only one purpose—to obtain 10,000 contribution points, enough to support him in embarking on the next stage of his cultivation journey.

Soon, the matchups for the first round were finalized.

[Round 1, Battle Platform No. 72]

[Matchup: K-4-9527 (Qin Feng) vs K-4-883412 (Li Mo)]

Qin Feng's figure slowly disappeared from the spot, and the next moment, he appeared on the designated battle platform.

His opponent was a young freshman who looked just like him back then, only seventeen or eighteen years old.

The freshman named Li Mo still had a mix of nervousness and excitement about participating in such a grand event for the first time. He looked at Qin Feng, who seemed unremarkable and just an ordinary senior, with a fighting spirit in his eyes.

He was clearly a freshman who had only enrolled in the last few years and had never heard of the name "Qin Feng," which had been dormant on the forum for decades. He had no idea what kind of person he was facing.

【Game start! 】

As the referee's voice rang out, the freshman roared, unleashing his life force to its limit. Wielding a battle sword, he charged towards Qin Feng.

However, in his eyes, Qin Feng across from him seemed to have simply taken a step forward.

Then, it disappeared.

"what?"

The thought had just flashed through Li Mo's mind.

An irresistible force came from the back of his neck.

Immediately afterwards, he felt his vision go black, as if he had been hit by a high-speed maglev train. He was thrown off the platform and crashed heavily into the buffer field below, instantly losing consciousness.

From beginning to end, he couldn't even catch a glimpse of Qin Feng's movements.

[K-4-9527 (Qin Feng), Victory!]

The battle ended in a second.

Qin Feng's figure returned to the audience seats, and even the warmth of his seat had not yet dissipated.

The second round began quickly.

His opponent was a "veteran" freshman with a vitality index of over 300 points, who was already considered one of the best among the freshmen.

This freshman had obviously done some research and knew that Qin Feng would instantly kill his opponent in the first round, so he adopted the most rigorous defensive stance as soon as the match started.

But that makes no sense.

Faced with absolute speed and power, all skills and defenses seem so pale and powerless.

It was just a blurry afterimage that flashed by.

The freshman felt his defensive stance as if it were made of paper, instantly pierced by an unparalleled force. Then, everything went black before his eyes, and he followed in the footsteps of his previous opponent.

As always, it was a single, instantaneous kill.

In the third round, the opponent's strength increased again. He was a top freshman with a vitality index of 450 points, and he was only one step away from advancing to level five.

But the result was the same.

Instant seconds.

A crisp and decisive instant.

Qin Feng didn't even use a single decent killing technique, yet he was enough to crush all opponents of this level.

His three battles, combined, took less than a second in total.

It was so fast that it didn't even attract much attention from the audience.

However, on the subspace network, in that virtual forum where information flows at a speed far exceeding that of the real world, some sharp-eyed seniors with exceptional memories had already recognized that familiar yet unfamiliar figure from the blurry, fast-moving silhouette.

A new undercurrent began to quietly stir in some inconspicuous corner of the forum.

At first, there were only one or two posts filled with uncertainty.

[Question] That guy on channel 72 who could instantly kill someone? I feel like I've seen him somewhere before?

[Upstairs, you read that right! I saw it too! The ID is K-4-9527! I specifically checked the historical data, and this number belongs to an uncrowned king from forty years ago—Qin Feng! Nicknamed Qin Beast!]

This news, like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, instantly stirred up a thousand ripples.

More and more returning students were drawn to this news and flocked to related discussion threads.

New posts began to emerge at an astonishing rate, and their popularity soared rapidly.

[It's him! It really is him! The former uncrowned king, the monster 'Qin Beast'! He's back!]

[Hiss—wasn't this guy supposed to have disappeared for almost thirty years? I thought he'd hit a roadblock or perished during a mission! He's actually back?]

[I wonder how strong he really is? In these last three rounds, his opponents have been too weak; it's impossible to tell. They were all instant kills, like it was child's play.]

[It's hard to say. This isn't a matter of strength at all. Twelve years ago, when he only had a little over 500 points of vitality, killing an opponent of this level was as easy as drinking water. Now his strength is definitely much greater; it's impossible to gauge his true power.]

As the discussion deepened, a guess that made many senior students feel a bit nauseous began to surface in everyone's minds.

[Holy crap, guys, I have a bad feeling... Is Qin Shou planning to become another Zhou Run?]

This speculation immediately caused an uproar in the entire post.

[Very likely! Qin Shou cultivates the much more difficult and time-consuming "Great Sun Awakening Method"! He's been in school for forty years; it's perfectly normal for him to advance to level five in another seventy or eighty years!]

[Damn, if that's the case, Zhou Run won't be competing next year. Doesn't that mean the power structure in the Tier 4 division will change from Zhou to Qin?]

[No way! Zhou Run can be lazy for a few decades, but Qin Shou, who cultivates a top-grade Qi Opening Technique, has an average advancement time of one hundred years! He's only been practicing for forty years, which means he'll be a 'lazybones' in the fourth-level competition zone for at least another sixty or seventy years?!]

[I'm disgusted! It's like they say, "One scoundrel gets rid of one, another comes along! Is it really that easy to fleece the Canaan Rookie Cup champions? Give the rookies a break!"]

Immediately, the forum was abuzz with discussion.

In the eyes of most people, although Qin Feng is powerful, he still has no chance of winning against Zhou Run, an old monster who has cultivated the supreme enlightenment technique to perfection and whose vitality index has reached 3600 points. Most people believe that Qin Feng's return this time is only to compete for second place, and then he will take over Zhou Run's "position" and become the next "big bastard" who dominates the fourth-level competition area and makes countless newcomers despair.

……

Just as the outside forums were stirred up by Qin Feng's appearance, the atmosphere on the high platform, in that domain belonging to the true strong, was completely different from the previous relaxed and comfortable atmosphere.

Dozens of stellar-level mentors and seven or eight galaxy-level powerhouses were all sitting upright with solemn expressions, each with their eyes downcast and their minds focused, like students listening to a lecture.

The entire mentors' panel was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

They dared not speak aloud; all communication took place in each other's minds through invisible, hidden fluctuations of mental energy.

This was because the living legend, Company Commander Zhou Xiong, was watching the matches on the battle platforms below with great interest.

At this moment, a secret conversation is taking place within the mental network of several mentors who are aware of the inside story.

A stellar-level mentor sent out a mental wave: "Lü Lan, Yue Hong... Company Commander Zhou Xiong... he came for that little guy named Qin Feng?"

This mental fluctuation instantly entered the mental perceptions of Yu Han, Lü Lan, Yue Hong, and Mu Lin.

They were all people who had personally experienced Qin Feng's entrance exam or who had been hinted at by Yu Han when Qin Feng won the Rookie Cup.

They all knew that Qin Feng carried the enormous secret of being "the Emperor's Chosen One".

Red-haired female mentor Yue Hong: "Some things are not for people at our level to discuss casually."

The old man with the wine gourd, Mulin, chuckled, his mental fluctuations filled with amusement: "I'm quite curious how much this little monster has grown since I last saw him decades ago."

Yu Han was the calmest; he simply uttered a thought: "Let's observe the situation."

The attitude of these bigwigs immediately silenced the other knowledgeable stellar-level mentors, who dared not ask another question.

Meanwhile, the instructors who were completely unaware, such as Zai Jing, the head of the Discipline Hall, and most of the other Hengling Star-level instructors, were completely bewildered and confused.

Even Zai Jing's face, which was as cold as ice, showed a rare hint of confusion.

His mental fluctuations directly probed Yu Han: "Yu Han, what's going on? Why is Company Commander Zhou Xiong so interested in a mere Level 4 competition zone?"

"I don't know."

Yu Han's mental state remained calm and composed, revealing no information whatsoever.

Zai Jing then turned to Lü Lan, Yue Hong, Mu Lin, and others.

"I don't understand."

"I do not know."

"Drink, drink."

All I received were watertight, composed answers.

This made Zai Jing and the other mentors, who were unaware of the truth, even more curious and suspicious.

They keenly sensed that behind this seemingly ordinary rookie cup lay a secret that even they were not qualified to know.
-
As the preliminary rounds of the Rookie Cup entered their fourth round, the atmosphere on the field became increasingly intense.

Those who stand out from millions of participants and make it through three rounds are either the elite among the newcomers or experienced veterans.

On each battle platform, fierce battles unfolded, with sparks flying from the clashing of weapons, creating a spectacular scene.

However, the scene on the battle platform where Qin Feng was located was completely different.

In the fourth round, his opponent was a senior student with a vitality index of 570 points who had mastered the Control Realm Killing Technique.

This veteran had clearly learned from the lessons of the previous rounds. The moment the match began, he pushed his defense to the limit and retreated rapidly, trying to create distance and look for an opportunity.

But it was all in vain.

As always, it was a single, instantaneous kill.

The fifth round.

The opponent is a ranged attacker skilled in using throwing knives, whose trajectories are unpredictable and imbued with corrosive, poisonous psionic energy.

As the match began, dozens of throwing knives transformed into a dark green rain of death, sweeping across the land.

Qin Feng didn't even look at it, but simply brandished his spear, forming an impenetrable barrier.

All the throwing knives, upon hitting the barrier, were as if they had struck the most solid alloy wall, and were all blasted away and bounced off without even causing a ripple.

Immediately afterwards, Qin Feng's figure disappeared from the spot.

When it reappeared, it had already knocked the ranged attacker off the stage, leaving him in a horrified state.

Instant seconds.

Round six.

Instant seconds.

Round 7.

A split second!

……

In the eighth round, when Qin Feng once again punched his opponent off the platform in an unreasonable manner, he had successfully entered the top 100,000 of the fourth-level division of this year's Rookie Cup!
Eight rounds, eight battles in a row.

His opponents range from ordinary freshmen to experienced seniors, and then to elites with special abilities.

Without exception, they were all killed in a single move!

His battles were so fast that even the referees in charge of the platform were getting a little bored and started yawning.

Meanwhile, in the audience, Qin Feng's friends watched these scenes with varying expressions.

"Holy crap! Old Qin is still as monstrous as ever!"

With his mouth full of some unknown roasted meat, Xiong Yanfu mumbled incoherently, "This is the eighth round already, and no one has even given him a second chance! Is he even human?"

"His speed and power are now several levels higher than they were decades ago."

Lei Meng's eyes were solemn. "However, we can't see his true strength at all. How many acupoints has he opened up? What level has his vitality reached? There's no way to judge."

"Can't see through."

Temu was a man of few words, but his brows were furrowed. “The feeling he gave me was like a bottomless abyss. You can only see the darkness, but you will never know what lies hidden beneath it.”

Shi Potian didn't speak. He just quietly looked at the familiar figure on the platform, his handsome face expressionless.

He also couldn't see through Qin Feng.

But his martial arts intuition was frantically warning him.

It was a kind of instinctive stirring when facing someone of the same kind, but whose level of life far surpassed one's own.

In another corner not far from them, Shi Dang's sharp eyes were fixed intently on Qin Feng's figure.

His fingers tapped unconsciously on the armrest, his brain working at breakneck speed, frantically analyzing Qin Feng's every move.

"The speed is even faster than I expected. The pure physical explosive power is probably approaching the level of a fifth-level martial artist."

"His strength is equally unfathomable. He can easily break through his opponent's defenses without even using any killing techniques."

"It's certain that he's at the fourth level. But... just how much power has he accumulated at this level?"

"How much of the supreme enlightenment method has he unlocked?"

In Shi Dang's mind, countless data streams collided and were calculated.

"With my current strength, I'm at the peak of the fifth level of the Qi Integration Realm and about to break through to the Sky Soaring Realm. If I were to face him... what are my chances of winning?"

"Once we break through to the Sky Soaring Realm and learn to use our mental power to interfere with reality, what are our chances of winning?"

One battle model after another was generated in his mind, and then overturned one by one.

"If he simply has a high vitality index and his killing techniques are still at the level of those days, I am 70% confident that I can suppress him with my mental strength advantage."

"But if... in these decades, he has mastered new and stronger killing techniques..."

Thinking of this, Shi Dang's eyes became even more profound.

"No, I can't lose."

A stubborn thought rose uncontrollably from the depths of his heart: "Once I break through to the Sky Soaring Realm and master the ability to interfere with reality with my mental power, I will be invincible in the dimension of combat! No matter how strong his physical body is, it will be wiped out in the face of a true difference in realm!"

He slowly exhaled, forcibly suppressing the restlessness and unease in his eyes.

Instead, there is an almost cold confidence.

……

As the number of matches increased, Qin Feng's overwhelming advancement finally attracted more and more attention.

The name "Qin Beast," which had been dormant for decades, has been revived and is spreading like wildfire on the subspace forum, as if fueled by new energy.

The posts about him gained popularity and quickly rose to the top of the trending list.

This naturally aroused strong curiosity among countless freshmen who were unaware of the truth and had only enrolled in recent years.

Similar questions can be found everywhere under those popular posts.

[Newbie Question]: Um... seniors, could you please explain who "Qin Beast" is? Why are you all so excited? I checked the Hall of Fame, but there's no such person.

A senior student quickly came out to answer the question below the comment.

[Helpful Senior]: Kid, don't ask too many questions. Just know that he's an unreasonable monster. You'll find out the rest later.

[Informed source]: Ahem, let me give you a little background information, junior. The earliest origin of the term "Qin Beast" comes from when he first entered the university forty years ago. During a physical potential test, the data completely overwhelmed the testing chamber, and the system judged him to have monster-level aptitude comparable to the similar model "Starry Sky Behemoth." Thus, he was named "Qin Beast."

[Adding to the above]: This is only one aspect. Later, because he mastered multiple killing techniques at the Control Realm level in the Rookie Cup as a newcomer, sweeping away a large number of senior students, his title evolved into "Invincible Qin Beast".

[Netizen]: Oh my god! He's so amazing! Then why isn't he famous?
[From someone who's been there]: After he finished the Rookie Cup and won a prize, he vanished like he disappeared from the face of the earth, never to be seen again for decades. So naturally, you newcomers haven't heard of his legend.

[Pessimist]: But soon, you'll be very impressed with him. Because his title is about to evolve again, becoming the "Invincible Rascal Qin Beast".

This reply instantly ignited the entire thread.

[Newbie confused]: Huh? Why? How could such a brilliant genius be a scoundrel?

[Old Hand]: Sigh, kid, you're still too young. Think about it, he's cultivated the most difficult and supreme enlightenment method, and he's been stuck in the fourth-tier competition zone for over forty years. This time, the old scoundrel Zhou Run will leave after this season. Who do you think will be the next one to take his place and entrenched in the fourth-tier competition zone, profiting from the competition?
[Everyone suddenly realized]: Oh my god! So that's how it is!

[The Girl's Prayer]: Waaaaah, no! Brother Qin Shou looks so handsome and strong, why did he have to go down the path of a scoundrel?! Go for it! Take down that Zhou Run! Don't be a scoundrel!
[Super Big Skewer]: Keep it up, big brother who loves to "hide the dragon" and trick people!
This cryptic comment made countless alumni burst out laughing.

They seemed to have foreseen that in the coming decades, another dark cloud would drift over the fourth-tier competition zone, bringing despair to all newcomers.

And the dark cloud is named Lai Zi Qin Beast!

The preliminary rounds of the Rookie Cup were like a sophisticated yet brutal giant selection machine, running at breakneck speed.

Millions of participants were quickly eliminated in just a few days, like gold being sifted from sand, leaving only the most outstanding ones.

Ninth round...

The tenth round...

Eleventh round...

Qin Feng's path to advancement remained as tedious, boring, and predictable as ever.

His opponents are becoming increasingly powerful.

From the initial rookie newbies to the experienced veterans, and then to those who have been immersed in the fourth-level competition for decades and have mastered one or two control-level killing techniques.

These individuals, who would be considered "experts" by ordinary students, were no different from the weaklings in front of Qin Feng.

He didn't even have the interest to resort to killing methods.

His fighting style can no longer be described as "instant kill".

That's more like... a dimensional reduction attack.

The two sides are not even on the same combat level.

His name, "Qin Feng," and his more famous nickname, "Qin Beast," have become incredibly popular on the subspace forum.

Finally, when he once again used an unreasonable and overwhelming force to knock out a well-known senior student who had made it into the top 100 in the previous Rookie Cup and mastered seventeen first-level perfect killing techniques, and successfully advanced to the top 64, the entire forum was completely ignited by him!

If the previous instant kill could be explained as "the opponent was too weak".

So when one after another, recognized and genuinely strong person was defeated so easily in the same way, everyone realized one thing.

It's not that the opponent is too weak.

But this man named "Qin Beast" is just... ridiculously strong!

[Pinned Featured Post]: #MonsterReturns# 'Qin Beast' Qin Feng, with eighteen rounds of instant kills, powerfully advances to the top sixty-four! His strength is unfathomable!

The moment this post was published, it topped the trending list, followed by a huge and bright red "hot" sign!

Below the post were dozens of pages of replies, refreshing at a rate of thousands per second.

"Here he comes! I knew it! I knew this man wouldn't let us down! He's incredible! He's inhuman!"

"I carefully analyzed his eighteen rounds of combat footage and came to a conclusion that even chills me to the bone—he never actually made a move. Or rather, he hasn't used a single real 'killing technique' so far! All his attacks stemmed from the purest physical strength!"

"Calm down, calm down. It's basic stuff, don't be ridiculous. After all, he's the man who could burst the potential detection chamber back then, so isn't it normal for him to be physically strong? [doge]"

"So... just how strong is he? Can any senior give me a definite answer?"

This question expressed the thoughts of everyone.

Thus, the heated debate about who is better between Qin Feng and Zhou Run, the two most dazzling and "cheap" contestants in this year's fourth-level competition.

[Hot Topic Post]: #Clash of the Century# 'Old Scoundrel' Zhou Run vs. 'New Scoundrel' Qin Shou, who is the true king of this year's Level 4 competition?
[First Speaker for the Affirmative]: Is there even a question? It's definitely Senior Zhou Run! He's a genuine, hardcore cultivator who has reached the Great Perfection of 360 Apertures! His Vitality Index is 3600 points—this is officially certified! No matter how strong Qin Shou is, he's only cultivated for forty years; at most, he'd open a little over two hundred Apertures, and his Vitality Index would be at most 2000 points. That's a difference of over a thousand points—how can he possibly win?
[First Speaker for the Opposition]: Upstairs, you only look at the data, not the performance? Is Qin Shou an ordinary person? His physical potential is at the level of a star beast! His comprehension of killing techniques is at the level of a prodigy! Who knows if he has mastered any abnormal killing moves that can challenge opponents of higher levels? Don't forget, decades ago, he could use [Dragon's Lair] to ambush people!

[Second speaker for the affirmative side]: Haha, no matter how powerful a killer move is, it needs sufficient strength to support it. Brute force can overcome any technique! Faced with overwhelming vitality, all skills are just fancy tricks! I'm putting my opinion here: Zhou Run is a sure winner!
[Second speaker for the opposition]: That's not necessarily true! I always feel that Qin Shou is hiding his true intentions too well! His nonchalant attitude doesn't seem like he takes the competition seriously at all. I bet Qin Shou can pull off a miracle!
The supporters of both sides argued fiercely in the thread, citing various sources and listing data, but neither side could convince the other.

The astute traders immediately seized this opportunity.

The champion betting odds, which had been closed due to Chow Yun-fat's low odds, have now been reopened with great fanfare!
However, this time, there were only two names on the betting odds.

Zhou Run.

Qin Feng.

[Canaan Newcomer Cup Level 4 Regional Champion Set]

[Contestant 1: Zhou Run]

Win rate prediction: 85%

Odds: 1:1.1

[Contestant 2: Qin Feng]

Win rate prediction: 15%

Odds: 1:6.5

The new betting game instantly ignited the enthusiasm of all the students.

A massive amount of Imperial Coins, like a tidal wave, poured into the pool of funds represented by these two names.

Although judging from the odds, most people still favor Chow Yun-fat, who has a proven track record of financial strength and data support.

However, Qin Feng's odds of 1:6.5 also attracted countless "dreamers" eager to win big with small bets.

The entire Canaan Star Martial Arts University was plunged into an unprecedented frenzy because of these two "scoundrels".

(End of this chapter)