The fine liquor on the table stopped flowing.
The light and shadows in the air stopped flickering.
The smiles on the faces of all the Stellar- and even Galaxy-level instructors present vanished in an instant.
As one, they shot to their feet, their expressions utterly solemn.
At the head of the round table, an illusory projection of light was slowly solidifying from a blur.
Finally, the projection solidified completely, transforming into a Warband Warrior clad in custom deep blue power armor. He was as tall as a mountain, his aura as terrifying as a black hole.
It was none other than the captain of the Ultramarines Chapter’s Seventh Company, a guest instructor at Canaan Star Martial Arts University—Zhou Xiong!
After clearly seeing the man’s face and sensing his aura, all the instructors present, including the Galaxy-level Yu Han, simultaneously gave the figure a formal, standard Imperial Army salute.
"Lord Zhou!"
Their voices were filled with the most sincere and profound respect.
"Time is short."
Zhou Xiong’s gaze, as profound as a Star Sea, swept across the room.
He gave a casual wave of his hand, signaling for them to dispense with the formalities.
Then, his gaze locked precisely onto Yu Han.
He didn’t waste a single word, speaking directly in an imperious, commanding tone that brooked no argument:
"Yu Han, there is a young man among this year’s candidates named Qin Feng. You will take him as your disciple."
"If he refuses you during the instructor selection phase, then ensure he becomes your disciple during the final system-randomized assignment stage."
"Understood."
Yu Han’s heart churned with tumultuous waves upon hearing this.
On the surface, however, he showed no hesitation and nodded firmly in agreement.
"I’m leaving."
Having relayed his instructions, Zhou Xiong seemed to have more important matters to attend to.
His figure once again began to slowly fade.
Finally, he vanished completely, as if he had never been there at all.
Only when that terrifying pressure had completely dissipated did the instructors dare to slowly straighten up, all exchanging glances, their faces etched with shock and confusion.
"Qin Feng? Is that the same kid who got the joint recommendation letter from the Top 100 Star Martial Arts Universities?"
"Who in the world is he? To actually make Lord Zhou, in the midst of his busy schedule, specially send down a Spirit Brand just to give this one order?"
"And... isn’t this practically blatant string-pulling? Directly appointing Senior Yu Han to take him as a disciple? That goes against the established rules of our Canaan Star Martial Arts University!"
"Senior Yu Han, what is going on? Do you... have some inside information?"
All eyes focused on Yu Han.
Yu Han’s brows were tightly knitted.
He shook his head and said in a low voice, "I don’t know either."
The others didn’t press him further, instead leaping into action.
They all summoned the light screens before them and began using their instructor-level access to look up all the detailed information on "Qin Feng."
This included his background, his records, all his match recordings from the Qimingxing Inter-School League, and replays of every single one of his battles in the Qiming High School Private Domain.
Due to confidentiality measures taken by the Imperial Core Battle Group, the match recording where Qin Feng triggered the "Nail of Favor" due to an epiphany during his duel with Zhou Yu had been completely erased from the database and could not be accessed.
Soon, the instructors discovered something unusual.
"The Control Realm!"
The scholarly instructor, Lv Lan, exclaimed in surprise.
"So he’s a genius who has already stepped into the ’Control Realm’!"
"At seventeen, he’s already forged his own path! His comprehension of combat techniques is truly remarkable!"
"No wonder! No wonder over a hundred of the Top 100 Martial Arts Universities went crazy for him! And no wonder he dared to reject all those generous contracts! So this was the source of his confidence!"
In that moment, all their questions seemed to be answered.
"It’s a pity his major combat techniques are still too few. From the looks of it, he only has the *Thousand Army Spear* and *Vicious Bird Fist*."
"You can’t say that. To be able to grasp the underlying principles from just two combat techniques, forge his own path, and even create a powerful killing move of his own... If anything, that’s even greater proof of his high comprehension!"
"..."
The instructors buzzed with discussion, and the gazes they directed at the youth named Qin Feng on the light screen grew fervent.
However, amid this atmosphere of sudden understanding, only Yu Han’s brow furrowed even deeper.
He didn’t understand.
Or rather, he felt things were definitely not that simple.
He had once been a squad leader in Lord Zhou’s Seventh Combat Company, following that black-hole-level Strongest warrior into battle on the most brutal battlefields in the Cosmos for thousands of years.
Lord Zhou was a man who valued "rules" and "efficiency" more than his own life.
A mere genius in the "Control Realm," while certainly outstanding and rare, was far from enough to make Lord Zhou specially send down a Spirit Brand amidst his busy schedule just to say those few words.
What’s more, Lord Zhou had explicitly told him to "break the rules," to use "string-pulling" to forcibly recruit this Qin Feng as his disciple!
It was too strange.
Too abnormal!
’Besides the ’Control Realm,’ what else is so special about this kid, Qin Feng? What could make Lord Zhou pay him this much attention?’
Yu Han’s heart was filled with intense curiosity and doubt.
He no longer participated in the group’s discussion, instead focusing all his attention on the light screen before him.
His finger tapped lightly on the light screen.
Among the millions of squares, the one representing Qin Feng’s figure instantly magnified, filling the entire screen in front of him.
He wanted to see with his own eyes what was so extraordinary about the young man for whom Lord Zhou was willing to make an exception.