The clamor of the outside world couldn’t disturb Qin Feng in the slightest.
After pushing the recruitment letters from Starry Sky Martial Arts University to the back of his mind, he once again entered a deep state of cultivation.
His physical body sat peacefully in its seat, his breathing steady and deep.
Meanwhile, his consciousness had long since sunk into the vast, boundless sea of his mind, visualizing the majestic figure of the Emperor who trod upon an endless Star River, cloaked in eternal light.
The practice of the *Emperor Meditation* technique was like rowing a boat upstream; not a single day could be wasted.
At the same time, he was also connected to the Holographic Spectator Device, observing the state of the newcomer tournament below.
This was a dual-tasking skill, one Qin Feng found he could perform with ease after achieving initial mastery in his *Emperor Meditation*.
The newcomer tournament progressed quickly.
Under the brutal single-elimination system, the number of participants was dwindling at a visible rate.
In just a day and a half, the thousands of talented newcomers from the various Martial Arts High Schools on Planet Qiming had been whittled down to the final four.
The semi-finals officially began.
One of the matches pitted a junior student from Qiming First High School against a newcomer from Golden Dragon Martial High School.
Qin Feng’s attention was drawn to this particular match.
On the arena stage, the battle was nearing its end.
The student from Qiming First High School wielded a shortsword with agile and swift movements. His Body Technique was elusive and his sword Techniques were vicious—clearly an outstanding prodigy cultivated by the Qi Yi High School educational system.
His opponent, the student from Golden Dragon Martial High School, held a Mountain-Opening Giant Axe. His fighting style was wide and sweeping, brimming with wild aggression.
Every swing of his axe was powerful and heavy, carrying a ferocious aura that seemed to want to shatter both his opponent and the sword.
The two were locked in combat for nearly ten minutes. In the end, the student from Qi Yi High School, being slightly less experienced in actual combat, made a minuscule error—a hesitation of a few tenths of a second while transitioning between moves.
In a duel between experts, such a mistake was fatal.
The Golden Dragon Martial High School student seized this opportunity precisely. He let out a beast-like roar, and the Mountain-Opening Giant Axe in his hands erupted with a blinding Spiritual Energy glow. With a powerful move, "Mountain-Splitting Cleave," he viciously smashed it down upon the junior’s hastily raised shortsword.
CLANG—!!!
A piercing shriek of metal on metal!
The shortsword was sent flying. The immense force struck the junior student like a bolt of lightning, sending him flying backward. His chest heaved as his qi and blood roiled, and a visible depression appeared on his sternum. He had clearly suffered a serious internal injury.
The outcome was decided.
Everyone could see that the student from Qi Yi High School had completely lost his ability to fight.
He struggled, about to open his mouth and say the word "forfeit."
However, in that very instant, something unexpected happened!
The Golden Dragon Martial High School student on the other side, upon seeing his opponent was defenseless, showed no intention of stopping. Instead, a hideous and unconcealed killing intent flashed in his eyes!
Not only did he not cease his attack, but he also poured all his Spiritual Energy into his right leg. Launching himself forward like a cannonball, he aimed a vicious knee strike straight for the downed junior’s head!
If that blow landed, even if it didn’t kill him, his skull would surely crack, and he’d spend the rest of his miserable life in a regeneration pod!
It all happened too fast—so fast that many of the students watching hadn’t even processed it yet.
"Stop!"
At that critical moment, a cold and authoritative shout, like a clap of thunder, echoed across the arena.
A figure in an official referee uniform appeared between the two like a phantom.
He simply extended a hand, and like an impassable iron gate, it perfectly blocked the vicious knee strike.
THUD!
A muffled sound.
The referee’s figure didn’t budge an inch.
But the Golden Dragon Martial High School student let out a grunt, thrown back more than ten meters by a gentle yet irresistible force, and fell to the ground in a pathetic heap.
The referee’s cold gaze, like two sharp swords, was locked onto the student who had launched the sneak attack.
’A student with such murderous intent... if he runs into someone who wants to kill him next, the referee won’t intervene to help.’
"The match is over. The victor has been decided."
The cold words echoed across the silent arena.
Only then did the crowd in the stands snap out of their daze.
Immediately after, the section of the audience belonging to Qiming First High School erupted!
"Fuck! This piece of shit from Golden Dragon Martial High School can’t take a loss, can he!?"
Qian Duoduo shot up from his seat, his chubby face flushed red as he cursed, "Going for the kill just because you can’t stand losing? What the hell is this crap!"
Beside him, Shi Potian remained silent, but his fists were clenched so tight they were cracking. An icy, bone-chilling killing intent uncontrollably spread from his body, causing the air temperature around him to drop by several degrees.
More students from Qiming First High School began directing thunderous, furious curses and boos toward the Golden Dragon Martial High School stands.
"Trash! Everyone from Golden Dragon Martial High School is a sore loser like this!"
"Going for the kill when you can’t win? You’re really bringing honor to your school!"
"What’s that bastard’s name? Someone write it down for me! Don’t let me get matched against him in next year’s senior tournament!"
The crowd was in an uproar, the wave of noise deafening.
Qin Feng slowly opened his eyes.
His brows furrowed slightly.
Qin Feng’s gaze passed over the clamoring crowd and landed on the distant, crimson-gold section of the stands, a hint of confusion in his eyes.
’It’s not necessary.’
’It’s just a newcomer tournament. Victory and defeat are common in battle. There’s absolutely no need to use a killing blow.’
’This is illogical.’
’Unless...’
"Those damn bastards!"
Qian Duoduo was still cursing indignantly. He took a deep breath, seemingly trying to calm himself down.
"What’s going on?"
Qin Feng looked at him and asked calmly, "Is there a personal grudge between them?"
"A personal grudge?"
Qian Duoduo sneered, the anger on his face gradually replaced by a heavy sense of history, tinged with the smell of blood.
"Old Qin, this is more than a personal grudge."
"This is a fifty-year-long blood feud between our Qiming First High School and their Golden Dragon Martial High School!"
"Fifty years ago?"
Qin Feng’s brow furrowed even deeper.
"That’s right."
Qian Duoduo nodded and began to recount the blood-soaked history for Qin Feng.
"About fifty years ago, during an inter-school league tournament, a talented senior from our school was in the arena against a student from Golden Dragon Martial High School. Due to some personal feud, the Golden Dragon student disregarded the rules and broke all of our senior’s meridians, shattering his Martial Dao foundation. Although they managed to save him, his physical aptitude regressed, he was left with chronic health issues, and his cultivation speed became less than a tenth of what it was before. That senior, utterly disheartened, committed suicide."
"Ever since then, the bad blood was set in stone."
"For the past fifty years, every inter-school league has become a battlefield for us to get revenge on each other. Dirty tricks, underhanded moves, all sorts of tactics are used endlessly. Every year, students from both sides get seriously injured in the arena."
Qian Duoduo’s voice grew lower as he spoke.
"Take last year, for example, when you were in the newcomer tournament. Over in the senior tournament, Sun He fell into their trap!"
"I remember."
Qin Feng’s gaze instantly hardened.
"Back then, Sun He was up against a Golden Dragon Martial High School student named Zhao Mang. That Zhao Mang’s fighting style was completely insane. He used a nearly suicidal technique and managed to severely injure Sun He. If Sun He’s foundation hadn’t been so solid, he would have died right there on the stage!"
"Later,"
"During the quarter-finals, Feng Ruyun was matched against that Zhao Mang."
"In that match, Brother Feng really went all out. Before that Zhao Mang could even shout ’forfeit,’ he chopped off his head with one slash!"
"Killed him on the spot! It was considered blood vengeance for Sun He! But Brother Feng was also seriously injured and didn’t recover properly, which is why he couldn’t make it into the top ten. That’s also why Sun He respects Brother Feng so much and sees him as a brother for life."
Hearing this, Qin Feng finally understood.
He understood why Sun He was willing to swallow his pride and beg him for Feng Ruyun’s sake.
It wasn’t just friendship; it was a life-and-death bond, forged with a life!
"So,"
Qian Duoduo let out a long, heavy breath and concluded, "Last year, Brother Feng killed one of their top talents. This year, this bunch of Madmen from Golden Dragon Martial High School will definitely retaliate twice as hard."
"Everyone from our school who’s a contender for the top ranks is a key target for them. Especially... you."
Finally, Qian Duoduo’s gaze fell upon Qin Feng.
Qin Feng, last year’s newcomer king, the person most likely to win the title of "Qiming’s General Star."
Without a doubt, he would be Golden Dragon Martial High School’s primary, number-one "hunted" target.
"I understand."
Qin Feng nodded slowly, his expression returning to calm.
He once again turned his gaze toward the Golden Dragon Martial High School section.
This time, his gaze seemed to pierce through the distance, meeting another line of sight in mid-air with perfect precision.
The owner of that gaze was none other than the leader of Golden Dragon Martial High School’s current generation—"Golden Dragon" Chen Tian.
The moment their eyes met, a brilliant, sunny, and friendly smile bloomed on Chen Tian’s face.
He even gave Qin Feng a friendly nod, as if the murderous conflict just now had nothing to do with him or Golden Dragon Martial High School.
Expressionlessly, Qin Feng withdrew his gaze.
...
「The scene changed.」
In the Golden Dragon Martial High School viewing area.
"Golden Dragon" Chen Tian slowly retracted his gaze from Qiming First High School. The smile on his face vanished in an instant, replaced by a bone-chilling indifference.
He opened his wrist terminal and entered a group chat channel with only a handful of people.
The channel consisted of all the top senior students from Golden Dragon Martial High School whose vitality index had reached 30.0.
With his fingers, he quickly typed out a cold and concise command.
[Target: Qin Feng, last year’s newcomer king.]
[Senior tournament. Whoever gets matched against him, remember one thing.]
[Don’t hold back. Fight to kill.]
Message sent.
Several replies immediately popped up in the group chat.
[Roger, Brother Tian.]
[Don’t worry, leave it to me.]
[Perfect. I’ve been wanting to see what this newcomer king is really made of.]
Chen Tian looked at the replies from his subordinates, a cold sneer tugging at the corner of his mouth.
He knew that some might think his order was an overreaction.
So, he added another message.
[Don’t underestimate him. This guy’s talent is more terrifying than we imagined. We might be able to suppress him this year, but next year, ’Qiming’s General Star’ will definitely be his for the taking.]
[We can’t give him that chance.]
[I know it’s extremely difficult to kill someone in the arena under the strict supervision of the referees. The timing, the place, the people—everything has to align perfectly. Last year, Zhao Mang was careless, which is why that Feng Ruyun was able to seize the opportunity to trade his life for his.]
[Our plan isn’t to necessarily kill him.]
[The idea is to aim for the maximum to achieve the minimum.]
[The goal for all of you is to attack with the intent to kill in every single move. That way, even if the referee intervenes in time, it will be enough to seriously injure him! We can waste a month or two of his cultivation time, disrupt his training rhythm, or even damage his Martial Dao foundation!]
[As long as we can achieve that, our strategic objective will be met.]
[Is that understood?]
The cold text laid their malicious and venomous plan bare in the group chat.
[Understood!]
[Got it, Brother Tian!]