Lei Meng opened his mouth. He wanted to make a tough-guy pledge—"Don’t worry, Boss. From now on, I’ll protect your family"—but the words caught in his throat.
He knew that with Qin Feng’s pride, he would never need such cheap sympathy.
All he could do was offer his heartfelt admiration.
The playful look on Xiong Yanfu’s face had long since vanished without a trace.
As the roar of tens of millions of spectators converged into a torrent powerful enough to shake the heavens, a majestic and solemn voice echoed through every corner of the Glory Colosseum.
"Silence!"
With just a single word, the overwhelming roar was instantly suppressed by an invisible force, plunging the entire magnificent colosseum into an eerie, pin-drop silence.
A colossal holographic projection appeared directly above the colosseum, depicting an old man with white hair and a beard, clad in a luxurious, dark-gold long robe. His face held an innate authority, intimidating even without a hint of anger.
He looked down upon the tens of millions of contestants and spectators below, his gaze as deep as the Star Sea.
He was none other than one of the vice-chancellors of Canaan Starry Sky Martial Arts University, a powerhouse who had long ago reached the black-hole level—Sikong Wang.
"The once-a-decade Canaan Newcomer Cup officially begins today!"
Sikong Wang’s voice contained no Spiritual Energy, yet it clearly penetrated the depths of everyone’s soul.
"The rules are the same as always!"
"1v1, single-elimination!"
"No power armor, no Spiritual Weapons, and no recovery Potions allowed."
"Now, first-round matchmaking begins!"
The moment his voice fell, the simulated blue sky and white clouds on the massive Energy Dome in the center of the colosseum vanished instantly. In their place appeared a deep, digital Star River composed of an endless data stream.
Twenty-two million, eight hundred thousand points of light, each representing a contestant, flickered, collided, and intertwined madly within it.
In the stands, Qin Feng and his friends held their breath, watching the rapidly scrolling matchmaking interface on their personal terminals.
VMM—
A soft chime sounded.
The data stream froze.
Everyone’s first-round opponents were decided.
[Contestant: Qin Feng (Student ID: GX7382901)]
[First Round Arena: Sector B-71, Ring No. 1314]
[Opponent: Li Mu (Student ID: GX9527483)]
[Teleportation Countdown: 60 seconds]
"My opponent is a tenth-year veteran. A bit tricky."
Xiong Yanfu frowned.
"Mine too. He’s a comrade from my Warband. His vitality index hit 400 last year."
Lei Meng scratched his bald head, his face filled with excited battle intent.
Shi Potian and Tie Mu didn’t speak, just nodded silently. Clearly, their opponents were no pushovers either.
"Everyone," Qin Feng said calmly to the group, "may you have good fortune in battle."
"You too, Boss! Go kick their asses!"
Before the words were even out, a soft white light enveloped each of them.
The next second, the world spun.
When Qin Feng’s vision cleared, he was standing on a massive ring, a kilometer to a side, paved with an unknown black alloy.
A faint blue energy shield, like a giant inverted bowl, completely isolated the ring from the clamor outside.
The absolute silence made one’s senses incredibly sharp.
A hundred meters away, his first opponent, Li Mu, appeared at the same time.
He was a very young man, still with a touch of youthful immaturity about him.
He wore a brand-new set of the most basic, standard-issue light armor and gripped a standard-issue Alloy Longsword tightly, his palms already slick with nervous sweat.
Clearly, like Shi Potian, he was a freshman who had just enrolled this year.
The moment he saw Qin Feng, a flicker of despair flashed in Li Mu’s eyes.
The way Qin Feng stood there—as profound as a deep abyss, as immovable as a mountain—naturally gave off the aura of a Grandmaster.
It was obvious this was a powerful "veteran" he had absolutely no hope of defeating.
But no one who managed to get into Canaan would surrender without a fight.
"Please... please instruct me, senior!"
Li Mu summoned all his Courage and let out a great roar to bolster his own morale.
He stomped his foot, and his entire body shot toward Qin Feng like an arrow loosed from a bow!
The longsword in his hand traced a textbook-perfect thrusting arc.
However, in Qin Feng’s eyes, all of this was as slow as a snail and riddled with openings.
Qin Feng didn’t even move his feet an inch.
He just stood there quietly, casually raising his right hand and nonchalantly extending the three-meter-long Level 4 Alloy Long Spear forward.
There was no sound of wind and thunder, no brilliant flash of a special move.
Just a simple thrust.
As if he were merely practicing the most basic of motions.
And yet, the timing, angle, and speed of this utterly simple spear thrust were all precise to a terrifying degree.
It struck second but arrived first, as if it had long predicted all of Li Mu’s movements and appeared directly at the end point of his charge.
CHK—
The cold spear tip, devoid of any killing intent, came to a silent halt just a millimeter from Li Mu’s throat.
The focused power in the spear’s shaft generated a sharp wind that had already broken the skin on his neck, bringing a cold, stinging pain.
Li Mu’s charging figure came to an abrupt halt.
He froze on the spot, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints from extreme fear as cold sweat poured down his forehead.
He could feel that if the opponent’s spear tip advanced just one more millimeter, his throat would be instantly pierced through.
He was defeated.
A complete, crushing, and undeniable defeat.