"SPURT—"
Zhou Run’s body jolted violently as if struck by lightning.
A sickening series of cracks echoed from the bones in his arms as they were instantly shattered!
His entire body was flung backward, tracing a painful arc through the air before crashing hard against the edge of the arena—against the invisible Energy Shield—and sliding limply to the ground.
He struggled, trying to get up.
But his broken arms could no longer support his body.
Blood gushed from his mouth and nose.
He raised his head to look at the figure who was slowly retracting his Long Spear, his aura as calm and steady as ever—a figure like a god or a demon.
His eyes were filled with shock, confusion, and a hint of... relieved liberation.
In the end, all these emotions melted into a deep bitterness.
He had lost.
It was a complete and utter defeat.
"I... concede."
The two words were forced from Zhou Run’s blood-filled mouth.
His voice was hoarse, yet it carried clearly throughout the silent arena.
When those two hoarse words, "I concede," were forced from Zhou Run’s lips, the entire raucous arena seemed to have been muted, plunging into a strange, deathly silence where one could hear a pin drop.
In that moment, time seemed to stretch on infinitely.
On the platform, the shattered fragments of a longsword still radiated a scorching heat.
The thick smell of blood filled the air.
Zhou Run leaned against the Energy Shield at the edge of the arena, his chest heaving violently as he gasped for breath.
His arms, twisted at bizarre angles, hung limply at his sides. Blood dripped from his fingertips, landing on the ground and blossoming into small, tragic flowers of red.
His face and body were covered in dust and blood, a picture of utter defeat.
However, his eyes, which usually held a hint of flippancy, were now exceptionally bright.
He raised his head, his gaze piercing through the lingering smoke, locking onto the figure standing a hundred meters away, slowly retracting his Long Spear.
Qin Feng stood quietly, holding the Alloy Long Spear, which still glinted with a grim, cold light. He held it inverted, resting the butt of the spear on the ground.
His breathing was steady and deep, his expression unchanged, as if the heart-pounding, three-minute-long ferocious assault he had just endured was nothing more than a routine warm-up.
There was no victor’s ecstasy, no condescending posture. His deep eyes were as calm as a bottomless, undisturbed pool as he simply watched the defeated man before him.
Two medical robots glided in swiftly from both sides of the platform, their movements steady, preparing to administer emergency treatment to Zhou Run.
"Wait."
Zhou Run gestured for the medical robots to stop with a lift of his still-intact chin.
He struggled, using his back to brace himself against the Energy Shield and sit up straighter.
He looked at Qin Feng, the pained grimace on his face slowly relaxing until it settled into an incredibly complex, wry smile.
In that smile was the bitterness of defeat, the frustration of being outmatched, the regret of his misjudgment, and, more than anything, a genuine, soul-deep shock and admiration for absolute power.
"What a shame..."
His voice was still hoarse, but it carried a peculiar resonance that echoed clearly in everyone’s ears.
"I should have recognized the killing move of the Second-level Spear Technique, ’Cold Light,’ right from the start. Its core is speed and sharpness—it’s purely a first-strike spear."
Zhou Run seemed to be speaking to Qin Feng, yet also muttering to himself in a post-battle analysis.
"The moment I saw that point of cold light, it was already too late. In that instant, I should have thrown caution to the wind and attacked, aiming for a mutually destructive opening rather than choosing to block. Once you seized the initiative with that strike, I never stood a chance outside your spear’s range."
He slowly shook his head and gave a self-deprecating laugh.
"Of course... saying all this now is just hindsight."
His gaze once again swept over Qin Feng’s body, which, while not exaggerated in appearance, clearly contained explosive power.
"Even if I had managed to seize the initiative, my chances of winning... would still have been pitifully slim."
"You monster."
Zhou Run let out a long, long breath of foul, blood-flecked air, as if trying to exhale all the frustration and resentment in his heart.
"Losing to you... I am utterly convinced."
He leaned back against the shield and tilted his head up, looking at the azure, artificial sky made of energy. A relieved smile touched his lips—a smile tinged with loneliness and self-mockery.
"After fleecing the flock here for so many seasons and lording it over everyone for so many years... I can’t believe I finally slipped up today."
This quip, so characteristic of him, made many of the students in the audience, as well as Mu Lin and the other instructors on the high platform, chuckle out loud.
It also left countless senior students who were familiar with his style with a mix of complicated feelings.
An era had come to an end.
Just then, the cold, emotionless, synthesized voice of the referee system echoed throughout the arena, putting a final end to this climactic duel.
"Match over!"
"Final victor—Contestant K-4-9527, Qin Feng!!"
That voice was like a signal.
A signal that instantly pushed the entire arena from absolute silence to a fever pitch!
"BOOM—!"
After a brief, hundredth-of-a-second silence, a thunderous roar, like a tsunami that could overturn the heavens and the earth, erupted from every corner of the stands!
"He won! Qin Beast won!"
"Now that’s a real monster! That was Zhou Run! The King who dominated the Fourth Level Division for decades! And he was just suppressed from start to finish, completely powerless to fight back!"
"Qin Feng! In just forty short years, he cultivated the Empire’s most difficult Top-grade Acupoint Opening Technique, the ’Great Sun Acupoint Opening Method,’ to all Three Hundred and Sixty Acupoints!"
"I finally get it! I finally understand why his power is so terrifying! A physique on par with a Starry Sky Giant Beast, combined with the legendary Great Perfection—the most perfect foundation for the Martial Dao!"
"He truly deserves it! A well-deserved monster! From this day on, the nickname ’Qin Beast’ is no longer a joke, but the most fitting and highest praise for him!"
The entire audience was submerged in a sea of celebration.
Countless students leaped to their feet, waving their arms and roaring in the most primal way, venting the indescribable shock and worship in their hearts.
They had personally witnessed the birth of a legend!
A peerless prodigy who, in just forty years, had walked a path that others might not complete in over a century!