The forums were in an uproar.
Zhou Run’s supporters held the upper hand in the public debate, armed with two pieces of ironclad evidence: "vitality index" and "cultivation time." Their logic was clear, their arguments concrete.
Meanwhile, Qin Feng’s supporters were relying more on intuition—on the hope that the "monster" would create another miracle.
Their arguments boiled down to the same few refrains: "Qin Beast defies logic," "You can’t judge him by normal standards," and "He must have an ace up his sleeve."
...
Amidst the raging storm of public opinion, the semi-finals quietly arrived.
The entire arena was packed to the rafters, the atmosphere already heated to a fever pitch.
The four semi-finalists were "Old Lai Zi" Zhou Run, "New Lai Zi" Qin Beast, and two other highly respected and immensely powerful senior students from the Fourth Level Division.
However, the semi-finals themselves left every spectator who had been anticipating a fierce clash sorely disappointed.
In the first match, Zhou Run faced off against a veteran powerhouse renowned for his ferocious saber techniques.
The powerhouse immediately unleashed a tidal wave of attacks, the light from his blade forming a waterfall that swept across the entire stage.
But Zhou Run just stood there, chuckling, and let the slashes land on his body. He didn’t even activate his Body-Protecting Spiritual Energy. Relying on sheer physical strength alone, he deflected every strike—each one powerful enough to shatter stone tablets—unleashing a series of crisp CLINK-CLANK sounds as sparks flew everywhere.
As his opponent stared in utter horror, Zhou Run yawned and casually swatted at him with the back of his hand.
The saber expert went spinning like a top as he flew off the stage.
Qin Feng’s match, the second of the day, was just as anticlimactic.
He knocked his opponent off the stage with a single move. The fight was over in an instant.
Both semi-final matches ended even faster than the elimination rounds that preceded them.
In this year’s Newcomer Cup, only two Martial Artists in the Fourth Level Division were in a tier of their own: Qin Feng and Zhou Run, both of whom cultivated a Top-grade Acupoint Opening Technique.
Everyone else was just along for the ride.
When the final matchup appeared on the massive central screen, the entire crowd erupted in a tsunami of cheers.
[Finals, Final Battle Platform]
[Matchup: K-4-9527 (Qin Feng) vs. K-4-11011 (Zhou Run)]
Under the watchful eyes of the entire arena, two figures appeared simultaneously on the most magnificent and dazzling of all the stages, the final battle platform, facing each other from a distance.
"Old Lai Zi" and "New Lai Zi" were finally having their historic face-off.
Zhou Run still had that same chuckling, devil-may-care look about him.
He wore a loose-fitting training uniform and looked Qin Feng up and down.
He was the first to break the silence, a smile on his face. "Junior Brother Qin Feng, long time no see. Decades ago, you were just a greenhorn freshman. In the blink of an eye, you’ve become a powerhouse strong enough to stand with me and compete for the championship. Time really flies, doesn’t it?"
His tone was warm and familiar, as if he were catching up with an old friend he hadn’t seen in years.
After a brief pause, his tone shifted, and a slight smile played on his lips. "I remember, during the last Newcomer Cup, Junior Brother Qin Feng chose to forfeit at a critical moment, creating the legend of the ’Uncrowned King’ and winning over countless admirers with your grace. I wonder... what are your plans this time, Junior Brother Qin Feng?"
The implication was obvious.
"Why don’t you do a good deed one more time? Just hand over those championship Contribution Points—which are practically yours for the taking—to me, your senior. I’ve been stuck at a bottleneck for years and really need the money to buy breakthrough resources. I’d be eternally grateful!"
The words were half-joke, half-probe, and his sheer shamelessness made countless students watching the livestream break into knowing smiles.
That was Zhou Run for you. The biggest Lai Zi of them all.
All eyes focused on Qin Feng, waiting to see how he would respond.
At this, Qin Feng smiled too.
His smile was calm and serene, with no hint of hostility.
"I forfeited last time because I wasn’t skilled enough," he stated frankly. "I couldn’t win, so there was no point in going up there just to be humiliated."
Then, meeting Zhou Run’s gaze, he spoke slowly.
"This time, though... I’m a little tight on cash myself. I’m looking to earn some Contribution Points to buy a follow-up Cultivation Technique. So, no forfeiting."
Their conversation had none of the tension, none of the solemn gravity that usually precedes a duel between experts.
Their tone was as casual as if they were haggling over a head of cabbage at the market.
And that "cabbage" was the grand prize for the Newcomer Cup champion: a whopping ten thousand Contribution Points.
Both of them displayed a naked, undisguised desire to claim this huge sum for themselves.
After a moment of silence, the entire Subspace forum absolutely erupted.
"Holy shit!! Did I hear that right?! These two Lai Zi! These two shameless scoundrels! Are they really talking about the champion’s Contribution Points like they’re already in the bag?!"
"Outrageous! It’s like they don’t even see the rest of us contestants! Although... it’s true we can’t actually beat them..."
"LMAO! I’d call this the ’Friendly Negotiation Between Lai Zi’! Too bad the talks broke down! Hahaha!"
"But what’s Qin Beast’s basis for saying that? Zhou Run can talk big because he’s a Great Perfection powerhouse with 3600 points. Where does Qin Beast get the nerve to say he ’won’t forfeit’? He’s openly challenging Zhou Run!"
"Yeah! I still don’t get it! By my count, Qin Beast has been enrolled for forty years, max! For him to be this confident, he couldn’t have actually opened all his Acupoint Shells in just forty years, could he?"
On the forums, a new wave of frantic discussion erupted, more intense than any that had come before.
Qin Feng’s head-on retort had just ignited every last bit of uncertainty.