Qiming First High School, the cafeteria.
Qin Feng, Qian Duoduo, and Shi Potian were having a rare, sumptuous dinner together.
"Old Qin, you’re not even human!"
Qian Duoduo mumbled indistinctly as he stuffed a piece of Fierce Beast Leg Meat, sizzling with rendered fat, into his mouth. "I was just scrolling through the school forums. They’re completely flooded with posts about you!"
As he spoke, he swiped his wrist-mounted terminal, projecting a series of light screens onto the dining table.
They were all posts from the second-year student forums.
[Hot Post #1: Freshman King is going nuts grinding points at the end of the month! He thrashed me three times in one afternoon! Please, have a heart! What kind of monster is this?]
[Hot Post #2: Pictures or it didn’t happen! This year’s Freshman King is terrifyingly strong. Three months after enrolling, he supposedly already has the Combat Power of a top second-year!]
[Hot Post #3: What does everyone think about the Freshman King, Qin Feng, going on a killing spree in the private servers these past two days and wiping the floor with the mid-to-low point brackets?]
Qian Duoduo pointed at the posts, laughing uncontrollably as he teased, "Haha, look at these upperclassmen. You’ve given them all PTSD. The entire second year knows about you now—you’re an absolute, unreasonable beast."
Qin Feng just ate calmly, paying the posts no mind.
"I’m just doing it for the Merit Points."
"Merit Points, Merit Points, that’s all you ever think about."
Qian Duoduo pouted. "Oh, right. Speaking of which, when are you going to apply for the B-rank contract upgrade? With your current Merit Points and the reward from the tournament, you should have more than enough by now, right?"
At those words, Qin Feng’s motion of picking up food with his chopsticks paused for a moment.
’I... I guess I really did forget about that.’
He’d been fighting so obsessively these past two days, his mind completely filled with battles and rankings, that he had completely forgotten about something as important as upgrading to a B-rank contract.
"I’ll apply right now."
With that, he opened his terminal, pulled up his homeroom teacher Lin Yue’s contact information, and sent her his B-rank contract upgrade application, along with a screenshot of his relevant Merit Points.
After finishing his meal, Qin Feng glanced at his terminal again.
His homeroom teacher, Lin Yue, still hadn’t replied.
’Strange, why hasn’t Teacher Lin approved it yet?’
Qin Feng was a little puzzled.
"Eh, she’s probably just busy,"
Qian Duoduo said nonchalantly.
Qin Feng opened his terminal and scrolled through the internal group chat for Class 7 of the second year.
"I asked some classmates."
"Teacher Lin Yue hasn’t been to school for seven or eight days."
Qin Feng said.
"She probably accepted an Imperial mission."
Xiaopang shrugged. "The teachers are Martial Artists too; they have to earn cultivation resources. Just wait. If she’s not back by tomorrow, you can ask another teacher to handle your application."
"That works."
Qin Feng nodded slightly, finished his C-rank Energy Meal, and headed back to the Martial Arts Room to continue practicing his Body Refining Technique.
Inside the Martial Arts Room, the indicator light of the Gravity Regulator cast an eerie blue glow, bathing the entire metal room in a cold, solemn light.
Qin Feng was bare-chested, his bronze skin beaded with sweat that glistened under the light.
His breathing was long and powerful, each exhalation carrying a scorching heat.
His legs were slightly bent, his body like a fully drawn bow, and every movement followed a profound and ancient rhythm.
This was the practice of the Body Refining Technique.
Sleepless all night, he tirelessly repeated each movement of the Body Refining Technique over and over again.
From the stretching of his muscles to the vibration of his bones and the twisting of his fascia, he strove for perfection in every detail.
Sweat dripped from his chin onto the floor, instantly evaporating from the high temperature and leaving behind a faint white ring.
As he completed the final movement, Qin Feng slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, and his entire aura retracted.
A line of data clearly appeared on the virtual screen in front of him.
[Body Refining Technique Proficiency: +170]
[Refining Method]:
Intermediate Imperial Body Refining Method (Major Accomplishment)
[Proficiency]: 320 / 10,000
A whole night of practice, one hundred and seventy proficiency points.
Qin Feng calculated silently.
This speed was more than double what it was before.
He estimated that if he practiced the Body Refining Technique nonstop all day, it would take him less than a month to steadily break through the 20-point mark in his vitality index and officially become a Third-level Martial Artist.
"Soon."
He muttered to himself, then shut down the Martial Arts Room’s system and walked toward the attached recovery area.
A Middle Level Deep-Repair Medicated Bath Package was tossed into the recovery pod.
A crimson liquid churned within the recovery pod, emitting a thick, herbal aroma.
Qin Feng stepped inside. The warm liquid instantly enveloped his body, and a tingling sensation seeped through his skin, soothing every muscle fiber that was exhausted from the high-intensity training.
He closed his eyes, leaned against the inner wall of the recovery pod, and felt his body rapidly regenerating.
Ten minutes later, the medicated bath had turned clear. Qin Feng stepped out of the recovery pod, all his fatigue gone, replaced by a feeling of invigorating comfort.
’It used to take half an hour to fully absorb the medicated bath, but now it only takes ten minutes.’
’Is this the change brought about by my body’s potential?’
Qin Feng mused.
Other students, even a genius like Shi Potian, would need an hour to fully absorb one Middle Level Deep-Repair Medicated Bath.
Qin Feng changed into a clean training uniform and returned to his dorm.
The dorm room was sparsely furnished; aside from a bed and a desk, there was almost nothing else.
Qin Feng sat on the edge of his bed and glanced at the time.
After a moment of thought, he opened his contact list and placed a video call to his father.
He had originally wanted to share the good news with his family right after the freshman tournament ended.
But the situation at the time had been unique. Lord Zhou Xiong had personally intervened to help him completely absorb the residual power of that vial of Type II Starry Sky Giant Beast Potion, a process that took a full five days.
By the time he returned to the academy, he had thrown himself headfirst back into grinding points on the private servers and training, so the matter was delayed.
BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...
After a few short rings, the call connected.
A holographic image projected from the communicator, coalescing into a clear, life-sized, three-dimensional picture in the empty space of his dorm room.
The scene that appeared wasn’t the familiar, somewhat cramped old living room he knew.
Instead, it was a lavishly decorated hall, so spacious and bright it seemed almost excessive.
His father, Qin Dahai, and his uncle, Wang Ming, along with his family, were all standing inside, beaming.
Qin Feng’s gaze passed over them to a massive, open alloy door behind them.
Outside the door, several workers in blue factory uniforms could be seen carefully carrying a brand-new punching power tester inside.
Next to them were the packing boxes for a speed tester and dozens of rolls of new soundproof mats.
"Dad, Uncle, Aunt."
Qin Feng first greeted them politely, then asked in confusion, "What’s going on? Aren’t you guys at home?"
His father, Qin Dahai, chuckled and waved his hand, the wrinkles on his face smoothing out. "We are, we are! This is our new home."
"New home?"
"That’s right," his father said, gesturing at the surroundings with a voice tinged with incredulous excitement. "The factory assigned it to us. It’s a detached villa with a yard. I heard them say a house like this costs three or four million Imperial Coins! The factory director personally approved it, said it was a special reward for our family to celebrate you becoming Qiming’s ’Freshman King.’ It just so happened the factory had one housing slot left this year."
Qin Feng nodded slightly.
’So that’s how it is.’
’Before, my uncle’s housing application was getting stonewalled, but now that I’ve become the Freshman King, the factory immediately gifts us a villa.’
’This preferential treatment is based on my potential.’
’Of course, when comparing potential to actual strength, strength is more important.’
Qin Feng understood this perfectly.