’Such immense strength... such overwhelming pressure...’
Qin Feng quickly calmed down and began to review the fight.
"Again!"
Qin Feng wasn’t discouraged. The fighting spirit in his eyes rekindled.
If once wasn’t enough, he’d try ten times! If ten times wasn’t enough, he’d try a hundred!
He refused to believe he couldn’t find a single flaw!
...
「Half an hour later.」
[Challenge Failed.]
For the seventeenth time, Qin Feng’s figure was smashed into motes of light by the Stone Race Warrior’s hammer.
He exited the challenge space, feeling a bit numb.
In that half-hour, he had tried every tactic he could think of.
He tried using the extreme penetrating power of [Wind and Thunder Chasing Shadow] to attack his opponent’s joints and Energy Core. The result: his Long Spear shattered, while his opponent remained unscathed.
He tried using the deceptive footwork of [Dragon Snake Spear] to engage in a drawn-out fight, hoping to find an opening. The result: his opponent used a "Ground Stomp," and the resulting shockwave made his Spiritual Energy roil, immobilizing him. Then, one swing of the hammer finished him off.
A complete and utter beatdown!
Strength, defense, speed, technique, realm... there wasn’t a single area where he held an advantage.
"Hooo..."
Qin Feng let out a long breath and shook his head helplessly.
He knew he had reached his limit.
Challenging it again would be futile.
’The gap in our vitality indexes, the gap in our Slaughter Realms, and the gap in Racial Talents... The combination of these three is just too vast.’
He recognized this with perfect clarity.
’It seems that until my vitality index catches up, or until I learn a few more Control Realm Killing Techniques, it’s impossible for me to defeat this Stone Race Warrior.’
Qin Feng wasn’t dejected. Instead, his next goals became even clearer.
He had already gained a great deal from this tower run.
He opened his personal panel and glanced at his Contribution Points.
[Contribution Points: 4,639.]
Excluding the 18 points he had left over and the 3,000 points from the Newcomer’s Cup award...
...this tower run, from the fourth floor to the thirtieth, had earned him a total of exactly 1,621 Contribution Points!
This was definitely a pleasant surprise!
Satisfied, he exited the Canaan Tower’s Virtual Space, and his consciousness returned to his dorm room in the real world.
He habitually opened the private forum for Canaan Starry Sky Martial Arts University, ready to check for any new information.
However, the moment he opened the forum, a glaring, massive banner that stretched across the entire screen suddenly popped up, filling his entire field of vision!
The banner was a vivid, blood-red color, with a line of incredibly eye-catching text written in large, gilded characters:
[Congratulations! Qin Feng (Student ID: GX7382910) of the Fearless Warband has bravely pushed forward and successfully cleared the 30th floor of the Canaan Tower! This announcement is made in recognition of his achievement!]
"Hm?"
Qin Feng froze for a second.
He hadn’t expected that just by climbing the tower, he would end up on a university-wide announcement.
Immediately after, he discovered that the entire forum had been completely flooded with posts related to him.
The titles of the few pinned hot threads were each more exaggerated than the last.
[The Crowned Newcomer King is Terrifying! The Newcomer’s Cup Just Ended, and He’s Already Conquered 30 Floors of the Canaan Tower!]
[In-Depth Analysis: The Significance of Qin Feng Clearing 30 Floors, and Why He’s Called ’Qin Beast’!]
[A Bold Guess: Is It Possible for This Generation’s Qin Beast to Leave His Shadow at the Top of the Tower Before Graduation?]
Qin Feng casually clicked on the first thread.
"Bros, did you see it?! The school’s red banner! Qin Feng! That monster of a newcomer who caused a bloodbath in the Newcomer’s Cup just now tore his way from the fourth floor all the way to the thirtieth in one go! I specifically checked the records, and it took him less than three—HOLY SHIT! For real? He cleared twenty-seven floors in three hours? That’s an average of only six or seven minutes per floor? Is he even human?"
"What’s so surprising? That’s Senior Qin Feng! A monster who could even defeat Senior Ba Yan in the ring. Clearing a measly thirty floors should be a piece of cake for him, right? The title of Crowned Newcomer King is well-deserved!"
"The thirty-first floor’s Gatekeeper is the ’Stone Race Champion Warrior,’ with a vitality index of 610. You could say that the thirty-first floor and above are designed for people who practice a ’Top-grade Acupoint Opening Technique.’ Qin Feng placed third in the Newcomer’s Cup, so it’s perfectly normal for his strength to cap out here."
"I see, I learned something today. So Senior Qin Feng is still a total beast!"
"Tsk tsk, I wonder if Qin Feng can leave his shadow above the 600th floor before he graduates. Now *that* would be truly badass!"
The moment this comment appeared, the tone of the thread instantly changed.
"The guy above me is dreaming. Leave his shadow? Do you have any idea what’s above the 600th floor of the Canaan Tower? Do you know what kind of monsters the Gatekeepers up there are?"
"Let me educate the newbies. From the 600th to the 999th floor of the Canaan Tower, all the Gatekeepers are the shadows left behind by the absolute most demonic graduates from our Canaan Starry Sky Martial Arts University across all eras and all realms in its 2.2 billion-year history! And what’s more, this list of shadows gets refreshed and updated!"
"For example, let’s say you challenge and defeat the shadow on the 602nd floor. Congratulations, your combat recording will become the new Gatekeeper for the 602nd floor. And the unlucky bastard who was on the 602nd floor will be pushed down to the 601st. As for the even unluckier guy who was on the 601st, he’ll be kicked off the list entirely, disappearing forever."
"Do you understand what this means? It means that over the course of 2.2 billion years, the shadows on this list have been constantly filtered, reshuffled, optimized, and strengthened by generation after generation, era after era of peerless demonic geniuses! The ones who still remain on that list today are all monsters among monsters, demons among demons! They are the Strongest, who were truly unrivaled among their peers!"
"Holy shit... that sounds terrifying! 2.2 billion years’ worth of monsters, all competing with each other?"
"Exactly. So forget about Qin Feng. Our university hasn’t produced a single student who could successfully leave their shadow above the 600th floor at graduation for over a thousand years! The difficulty is insane! No matter how much of a genius or a monster Qin Feng is, can he compare to the ultimate freaks accumulated over 2.2 billion years? I don’t think so."
Reading the intense discussion on the forum and learning about the cruel rule of "leaving a shadow," Qin Feng’s gaze was once again drawn, involuntarily, to the top of the tower on the Canaan Tower application—a spire that soared into the clouds, seemingly without end.
Above the 600th floor.
’The shadows of the Strongest from the last 2.2 billion years of the university’s history are gathered there, huh...’
An indescribable battle intent suddenly surged within Qin Feng’s heart. This was far more significant than leaving a shadow in the Qi Yi High School private domain; it was a chance to challenge the top prodigies of the Cosmos.
His Battle Intent surged, boiling over.