"Not bad."
Another elegant instructor clapped his hands in admiration. "The Hidden Dragon Ranking, a newcomer straight to the top one thousand! Yu Han, we’re all so jealous!"
For a moment, the high platform was filled with an endless stream of praise, all of it laced with pointed questions.
All their remarks ultimately pointed to the same core question.
While they lavished praise on Qin Feng’s monstrous performance, their eyes constantly sent Yu Han the same message:
—Stop pretending! Just lay your cards on the table!
—A monster like that... if you’re telling us he doesn’t have some earth-shattering secret, if you’re saying Squad Leader Zhou Xiong singled him out just because he’s talented, then only a ghost would believe you!
Facing the almost tangible gazes of his colleagues, burning with the fires of gossip, the corner of Yu Han’s eye twitched almost imperceptibly.
He picked up his teacup, wanting to deflect them by drinking tea, just as he had before.
But this time, he realized it wasn’t going to work.
Everyone’s eyes were locked onto him, their posture making it clear that if he didn’t provide a reasonable explanation today, he wouldn’t be leaving his chair.
Yu Han sighed helplessly in his heart.
He put down his teacup, forced a calm smile onto his face, spread his hands, and said in a matter-of-fact tone:
"Heh, Senior Brothers and Sisters, haven’t you all already stated the answer?"
He pointed down below, at Qin Feng, who was chatting happily with his friends.
"You’ve all seen it with your own eyes. Qin Feng is a genius, an out-and-out monster."
The smile on Yu Han’s face grew even more "sincere."
"Just think about it. He’s cultivating the most difficult Top-grade Acupoint Opening Technique. In just ten years since enrolling, his life force index has reached five hundred thirty-two. On top of that, he has four Control Realm killing techniques."
"For a talent like that, a monster like that, to be valued by Lord Zhou Xiong and personally singled out for special attention... isn’t that enough?"
He tried to use Qin Feng’s publicly known, world-shocking talent to fob them off.
However, this time, he had miscalculated.
"Not enough."
On the high platform, dozens of instructors shook their heads in unison, speaking almost as one.
Their eyes were clear and firm, as if to say: ’Yu Han, don’t take us for fools.’
The sagely Senior Brother Zhang spoke earnestly, "Junior Brother Yu Han, that’s not how this math works."
"True, this Qin Feng is indeed a Demon the likes of which you see once in ten thousand years. Debuting on the Hidden Dragon Ranking at number one thousand is enough to prove his potential. But..."
His tone shifted, and his gaze became incredibly sharp.
"You have to understand, of the nine hundred and ninety-nine people ranked ahead of him, which one of them has less potential?"
"And yet, we have never heard of Lord Zhou Xiong personally sending down his Will for any one of them."
Senior Brother Zhang paused, then enunciated each word, voicing what was on everyone’s mind.
"Therefore, Yu Han, talent is just a superficial reason."
"What we want to know is the real... deep-seated reason that moved even Lord Zhou Xiong."
Yu Han’s mind began to race.
His gaze swept back and forth across the faces of the instructors, each one written with "curiosity," before he finally gave a mysterious smile.
He heaved a heavy sigh, as if he were finally caving to the pressure and preparing to compromise. He picked up his teacup, took another sip, and then, in an extremely helpless tone—as if he were about to reveal a family scandal—lowered his voice and said:
"Sigh... Fine, fine."
"Since all you Senior Brothers and Sisters are so curious, I suppose there’s no harm in telling you. However, I must ask you all to keep this confidential. It must not be spread, lest it... affect Lord Zhou Xiong’s reputation."
Seeing Yu Han’s "I’m about to drop a bombshell" posture, all the instructors’ ears instantly pricked up, and the raging fires of gossip flickered in their eyes.
A highly complex expression appeared on Yu Han’s face, a mixture of "hard to talk about" and "it’s only human."
He began to speak slowly, in the tone of someone recounting a long-forgotten past:
"You all should know that Lord Zhou Xiong... has spent his life on the battlefield, fighting for the Empire for ten thousand years. He has dedicated his entire being to the Empire and to humanity."
"He has no children, nor has he ever had a Dao Companion."
Hearing this, the instructors all nodded, their faces showing expressions of admiration.
This was something the entire Empire knew.
Zhou Xiong was a true hero of the Empire, a role model for all soldiers.
"But..."
Yu Han’s tone shifted again, becoming even more mysterious.
"Man is not grass or wood; how can he be without feelings? Although Lord Zhou Xiong has no direct descendants, his family, back on their home planet, was once a rather large clan. Though their bloodline has thinned after countless wars, in the end... some distant relatives, separated by who knows how many generations, have survived."
He paused, as if giving everyone a moment to digest this.
Only then did he throw out the final "answer."
"This Qin Feng, it’s said that if you go back a few tens of thousands of generations in his ancestry, his great-grandmother’s maternal cousin’s paternal uncle came from the same village as one of Lord Zhou Xiong’s ancestors."
"So, if you do the math, he’s... a junior related by some distant connection, separated by who knows how many generations, to a distant relative of a distant relative of Lord Zhou Xiong."
By the time he finished, his face was written all over with a "you all get it" expression.
"Lord Zhou Xiong has been selfless his entire life, but in the end, moved by this tiny shred of a blood connection, he couldn’t bear to see a descendant of his family, a pearl gathering dust, so he... gave him a little special attention."