[Battle Start!]
The moment the system prompt sounded, Shi Dang moved.
He didn’t charge. Instead, he viciously slammed the blade of his War Axe into the ground beneath him!
"Iwamori!"
He let out a sky-shaking roar.
With his body as the epicenter, the pure white ground instantly fractured. Countless rock elements gathered frantically, coalescing over his body to form a set of incredibly thick rock armor!
This was his strongest defensive stance!
He knew that with his speed, he stood no chance of landing the first blow against Qin Feng.
The only thing he could do was push his defenses to the absolute limit, withstand Qin Feng’s first wave of attacks, and then figure out his next move!
He stared intently at Qin Feng, his muscles tensed to their breaking point. His mental Will was focused to the extreme, trying to catch every single one of Qin Feng’s subtle movements.
However, the Qin Feng opposite him simply stood there quietly.
He didn’t even draw a weapon. He just casually took a single step forward.
One step.
Just that one simple step.
In Shi Dang’s vision, Qin Feng’s figure seemed to blur for an instant where he stood.
And then... there was no ’and then’.
Shi Dang’s pupils dilated to their absolute limit, his mind going completely blank.
Because he found that he had lost track of Qin Feng.
The space a hundred meters in front of him was empty.
Qin Feng had vanished into thin air.
’Where did he go?’
That thought had barely flashed through his mind.
When an unstoppable, terrifyingly immense force—a force beyond any description—struck him in the back without any warning.
The force was so gentle, it felt as if someone had merely given him a light pat.
But that single touch instantly pierced through the Iwamori he was so proud of—a defense constructed from both his bloodline talent and his killing arts.
That incredibly thick rock armor was as fragile as a sheet of paper, silently shattering inch by inch.
Then, the force surged into his body.
His organs, his limbs, his bones—every single cell in his body was instantly and utterly disintegrated into the most primitive Energy Particles.
He didn’t even feel the slightest trace of pain.
In the final moment before his consciousness faded, it was still fixated on that one question.
’Where is he?’
[Defeat]
A single, cold, enormous red word filled his entire vision.
With a flash of light, Shi Dang’s figure re-formed in the pure white Virtual Space.
He was still in his defensive stance, but his entire body was trembling violently, uncontrollably.
His face was drained of all color, his eyes were vacant, and his pupils were unfocused. He looked like a statue that had lost its soul.
Across from him, Qin Feng’s figure had, at some point, returned to his original spot, as if he had never moved at all.
An instant kill.
A complete and utter annihilation—a crushing blow from a higher dimension of power, so fast he couldn’t even track his opponent’s movements.
Shi Dang didn’t even know how he had lost.
He only knew that the battle had begun, and then it was over.
The entire process might not have even lasted a thousandth of a second.
’Is this the gap between us?’
Shi Dang stood there, motionless.
Qin Feng gave him a calm glance but didn’t say a word.
He had done what needed to be done.
The rest of the path was for Shi Dang to walk alone.
He gave the other man a slight nod as a farewell.
Then he exited the battle space directly.
When his consciousness returned to his dorm room, Qin Feng’s expression was completely placid.
For him, the battle with Shi Dang was merely an insignificant interlude on his long path of cultivation.
He had agreed to fight out of consideration for them being from the same hometown, and nothing more.
Where his former opponent went from here—whether he would fall into despair or rise from the ashes—had nothing to do with him.
Everyone must walk their own path.
Qin Feng didn’t give the matter another thought. His entire focus had already shifted back to the most important task ahead of him.
—Secluded cultivation!
He opened the Subspace Network and entered the Imperial Trading House.
A dazzling array of goods, like a vast Star Sea, scrolled rapidly across the light screen.
From the most basic recovery Potions to blueprints for a Star-annihilating Cannon capable of arming a small fleet, you could buy almost anything here as long as you had enough Contribution Points.
Qin Feng’s gaze locked directly onto the high-level cultivation resources section.
His personal account displayed his current balance.
[Contribution Points: 5,139.]
This was a huge sum, enough to make the vast majority of Acupoint Opening Realm students green with envy.
But Qin Feng knew that for someone like him, who cultivated the "Great Sun Acupoint Opening Method," these Contribution Points were only enough to support a single decent session of secluded cultivation.
"I have to be meticulous with my spending."
His brain began to operate at an astonishing speed, planning the use of every single Contribution Point.
"First, I’ll set aside five hundred Contribution Points to buy the killing art recommended by my mentor. The remaining four thousand six hundred-plus points will all be invested in this cultivation session."
"As for the duration of my seclusion... the preliminary plan is for about ten years."
Qin Feng had a vague timeline in mind.
Ten years from now would be the next Canaan Newcomer Cup.
If he could make it in time, he wouldn’t mind experiencing it again.
But if his cultivation required more than ten years, that was fine too. Qin Feng didn’t want a competition to disrupt the focused momentum he needed for his training.