What he didn’t know was that Qin Feng’s physique had long since reached the ’Gold Standard Human II’ level.
At the same life force index, Qin Feng’s explosive power, speed, and reflexes far surpassed those of an ordinary person.
His 16.5 life force index, in terms of actual performance, was already on par with an ordinary Martial Artist like him, who had a score of 18.1!
In fact, his endurance and recovery were even greater!
Sun He refused to accept this. With a furious roar, he pushed his staff technique to its absolute limit.
One strike!
Two strikes!
Ten strikes!
One hundred strikes!
On the stage, a blur of staff shadows flew and sparks flew everywhere.
Sun He unleashed all of his strength, his attacks like a raging storm, continuous and unrelenting.
But Qin Feng’s [Thousand Soldiers Guarding] was like a reef amidst a tempestuous sea. No matter how the winds blew or the waves crashed, he remained utterly unmoved.
The battle lasted for five minutes.
Ten minutes.
Fifteen minutes.
Sun He’s assault began to show visible signs of faltering.
His forehead was covered in sweat, his breathing grew heavy, and both the speed and power of his staff strikes were steadily declining.
The prolonged, high-intensity assault had taken a massive toll on his stamina.
Qin Feng, in contrast, still stood in the same spot, his breathing long and steady, his aura calm. It was as if the ferocious assault had had no effect on him at all.
As one side weakened and the other held strong, the tides of battle had quietly turned.
A deep sense of powerlessness washed over Sun He.
He knew that if this continued, his defeat was certain.
The only outcome would be to have his stamina utterly depleted, after which his opponent would defeat him with ease.
’I can’t accept this outcome!’
Just then, he saw a "flaw" appear in Qin Feng’s defensive perimeter.
After one parry, the momentum of Qin Feng’s spear seemed to stall for an instant. The opening on his left flank was wider than it had been at any other point.
’This is my chance!’
’An opportunity that could be a trap!’
The thought flashed through Sun He’s mind.
’But I have no other choice.’
’I’ll risk it!’
A flicker of resolve flashed in his eyes. He squeezed out every last ounce of strength left in his body and channeled it into the staff in his right hand!
His body shot forward like an arrow released from its bow, forcibly breaking through the spear’s blockade and charging toward that fatal flaw!
"[Heaven-Striking Staff]!"
He roared, and the staff in his hand flared with a blinding light, striking straight for Qin Feng’s head with unstoppable momentum!
This was his most powerful killing blow!
However, just as he stepped into that "flaw"—at the precise instant he committed to his attack, his old momentum spent and new strength yet to be summoned!
Qin Feng moved.
Everything had been within his calculations.
With his [Dragon Body Technique] activating, Qin Feng’s entire body seemed to drift backward several meters like a phantom, perfectly evading the brunt of the [Heaven-Striking Staff] while simultaneously creating the perfect distance for a counterattack.
Then, his retreating form came to a sudden halt. He powered the movement from his core, and the Long Spear in his hand thrust upward from an unbelievable angle!
Retreating Horse Spear!
[Flowing Light Chasing Shadow]!
A silvery streak of light, almost too fast for the naked eye, flashed through the air. Though launched second, it arrived first, stabbing toward Sun He’s chest, which was left wide open by his all-out attack!
In that moment, time seemed to slow down.
Every spectator clearly saw the decisive moment.
Sun He’s [Heaven-Striking Staff], carrying an all-destroying aura, stopped just a hair’s breadth from Qin Feng’s cheek.
The fierce wind from the strike even stirred the hair on Qin Feng’s forehead.
But, ultimately, it fell short by that infinitesimal distance.
Meanwhile, the tip of Qin Feng’s spear—that deadly, soul-stealing streak of light—pierced through Sun He’s chest plate, unimpeded and with absolute precision.
"SHINK!"
A faint sound.
The look of grim determination on Sun He’s face froze.
He looked down at the bowl-sized hole in his chest, his eyes filled with utter disbelief.
Then, his entire body dissolved into countless motes of light and vanished from the stage.
[Qin Feng Wins!]
The cold, mechanical voice of the system echoed throughout the spectator channel.
In an instant, the chat room, filled with tens of thousands of people, fell deathly silent.
It was as if an invisible hand had hit the pause button on everyone.
Every student watching, first-year and upperclassman alike, stared blankly at the tall, spear-wielding figure on the stage, and at the look of utter disbelief in Sun He’s eyes just before he dissolved into motes of light.
The dead silence lasted for a full ten seconds.
Then, as if a depth charge had been dropped into a calm lake, the entire spectator channel erupted.
The first to explode were his die-hard fans, who had held a fanatical faith in Qin Feng from the very beginning.
"He won! He won! I knew it! God Qin is a fucking beast!! (voice cracking)"
"Hahahaha! And you all said God Qin wouldn’t last three minutes! How about now?!"
"Now THAT’S a Rookie King! (tactical lean back) This is what you call a high-value victory!"
"Perfect offense and defense, unparalleled tactics! So damn cool! From this day on, I’m the number one member of the Qin Feng fan club!"
"Don’t anybody stop me, I’m going to the forums to make a 10,000-post hype thread for God Qin!"
Their posts were filled with the ecstatic joy of vindication and boundless adoration for their idol, instantly flooding the chat with a sea of celebration.
Following them was the much larger group of ordinary first-year students.
Their reactions were far from simple joy. Instead, it was more a sense of speechlessness and confusion after being struck by the sheer size of the gap between them.
"...Is he... really in the same year as us?"
"I was feeling smug about placing in the top 3,000 on the monthly exam, and he’s already defeating the top upperclassmen from the second year... The gap is despair-inducing."
"Every one of Senior Sun He’s attacks was terrifyingly powerful. If it were me, I wouldn’t have been able to block a single strike. But Qin Feng... he actually won. Is this really a freshman who started school with me?"
"That final trap was terrifying."
"I heard Qin Feng’s rank on the entrance exam was something like sixty-thousandth place. He barely got in."
"Don’t say any more. I’m getting depressed."
"I thought getting into Qi Yi High School made me one of heaven’s chosen, but now I realize that in front of a real monster, we’re no different from ordinary people."
These freshmen’s posts were filled with the sense of defeat that came from being confronted with such a vast difference in reality.
Previously, when Qin Feng became the Rookie King, many students didn’t think much of it.
After all, many freshmen hadn’t even signed up for the Qiming League, so they naturally hadn’t watched. Besides, a Rookie King, no matter how impressive, was still just the king among rookies.
But now, Qin Feng had defeated an upperclassman!
And not just any upperclassman, but Sun He—a top-tier student who had mastered a Perfect Killing Skill!
Qin Feng’s victory was like a mirror, reflecting the unreachable chasm between them and a true, top-tier genius, making them question their own "genius" status for the first time.
But the most shocked reactions came from the second and third-year upperclassmen.
After a brief silence, their chat channels were flooded with a torrent of posts filled with shock and technical analysis.
"This has to be fake, right? I must be seeing things. Sun He... lost?"
"How did he lose? Can someone explain it to me? Sun He had reached Perfection in his > and was dominating the whole fight. How did he get reverse-killed by a single spear strike at the end?"
"Did you not get it, poster-above? The key wasn’t the final counter-kill, it was everything that came before! Sun He couldn’t break his defense at all! And what’s more, his strength and endurance are all wrong!"
"Exactly! His strength! I just pulled up the data replay. The peak force of Sun He’s all-out strike was 19,800 kilograms, but the force feedback from Qin Feng’s block with his spear shaft actually reached 19,500 kilograms! That’s not the kind of power someone with a 16.5 life force index should have!"
"And his endurance! That’s the most terrifying part! Sun He launched a high-intensity assault for fifteen minutes and was almost out of stamina, but look at Qin Feng—his breathing is barely even disturbed! What is his body made of? Is he a Starry Sky Giant Beast?!"
"His tactics are too veteran. From start to finish, he used [Thousand Soldiers Guarding] to drain Sun He’s stamina and force him to make a mistake. That final opening he ’sold’ was timed perfectly. He calculated that Sun He’s stamina was low and that he would have no choice but to go for a desperate, all-or-nothing move."
"A monster... He’s not a genius anymore, he’s a genuine monster. He’s only a first-year, just three months into the school year... I can’t even imagine what he’ll be like by his third year."
"Who was it that said they’d eat their entire B-Grade Energy Meal tray if Sun He lost? Get out here. I’ll supervise."
The upperclassmen’s shock stemmed from their deep understanding of the power system.
And it was precisely because they understood that they could truly appreciate the significance of Qin Feng’s victory.
A Martial Artist whose killing skill was greatly accomplished, despite being completely outmatched in ’hardware,’ had relied on unbelievable strength, endurance, and flawless tactics to defeat a more physically powerful expert whose own killing skill had reached Perfection.
In their view, Qin Feng’s only advantage was the weapon match-up.
But that advantage alone shouldn’t have been enough for Qin Feng to win. And yet, he had.
Outrageous.
Absolutely outrageous.
...
「In the cafeteria.」
Seated before the pure black meal tray, the figures of Qin Feng and Sun He both flickered almost simultaneously as clarity returned to their eyes.
Their consciousnesses had withdrawn from the Subspace Network.
Sun He sat in his chair, his eyes still holding a trace of the daze and disbelief from the end of the battle.
He stared blankly at his own hands, as if still reliving that helpless feeling on the stage.
He had lost.
Lost so completely there were no excuses to be made.
He had imagined he might get injured from underestimating his opponent, but he had never thought he would be defeated so utterly—by having his stamina completely drained and ultimately being lured into a tactical trap.
After a long moment, he let out a long breath.
That breath seemed to carry away all his shock and unwillingness to concede, leaving only a sense of relief and heartfelt emotion.
He raised his head and looked at Qin Feng opposite him, a complex smile on his face. There was bitterness in it, but even more, there was a genuine, heartfelt admiration.
A month ago, this underclassman before him couldn’t even last thirty seconds against him.
A month later, he could now defeat him in a way that was tantamount to a complete rout.
That rate of growth could no longer be described as mere ’genius’.