He paused, then made a suggestion that surprised even Qin Feng.
"So, let’s not have a live-fire battle, and let’s not enter a private domain. We’ll go to a custom room in the Imperial Arena and lock our vitality indexes at 7,200! We’ll compete solely on our killing arts and combat techniques! How about it?"
Qin Yonglin looked at Qin Feng, the desire for battle in his eyes practically burning.
"I’m just dying to see what your spear can do."
This was a true Martial Fool.
A pure Martial Artist—the kind who would willingly discard his greatest advantage just for a fair duel against a worthy opponent.
***
Qin Yonglin’s battle intent was scorching, as pure as a flame without a single impurity. Faced with such fervor, Qin Feng found he couldn’t refuse—nor did he want to.
Dueling with powerful opponents was what he craved most.
Moreover, to ensure a fair duel, his opponent was willing to voluntarily give up his greatest advantage in vitality, putting them both on the same starting line to compete in the purest contest of killing arts and skill.
This display of magnanimity and integrity, so characteristic of a true Martial Artist, earned Qin Feng’s sincere respect.
"Alright!"
Qin Feng’s reply was equally crisp and decisive.
He gave Qin Yonglin a solemn nod. "We’ll do as you say, senior!"
And so, an agreement for a pinnacle duel was made.
Without any delay, the two immediately added each other as friends on the Subspace Network via their personal terminals.
Immediately after, an invitation to a custom Imperial Arena room, created by Qin Yonglin, appeared on Qin Feng’s list.
Unlike public ranked matches, custom rooms are private; only those invited by the host or friends of the host can enter to spectate.
When Qin Feng confirmed and entered, the handful of spectators already in the room immediately noticed his arrival.
These people were mostly Qin Yonglin’s friends from his Warband—another group of Martial Dao fanatics with powerful auras.
Upon seeing Qin Feng’s ID, they all cast curious and scrutinizing glances his way.
And as Qin Feng entered, a spectator notification simultaneously popped up for those on his own friends list.
Dragon Jade, Nissan, and Ning Jing naturally clicked to join at the first opportunity.
However, the next moment, when Qin Feng saw several familiar names light up one after another in the spectator list, he couldn’t help but be slightly stunned.
[Lin Yue has entered the spectator channel]
[Gu Yue has entered the spectator channel]
[Wu Shangfeng has entered the spectator channel]
"Huh?"
"Master Lin Yue? Master Gu Yue? Master Wu Shangfeng?"
A look of shocked surprise appeared on Qin Feng’s face.
These three were the very mentors from his time at Qiming First Martial Arts High School who had taught him meticulously and helped him immensely!
He never would have thought that a spontaneous sparring match would attract these three mentors, who had long since become Planet-level Strongmen.
Almost at the same instant he saw the notification, an encrypted private message was sent directly to his inbox.
The sender was none other than his stunningly beautiful and dashingly cool former homeroom teacher, Master Lin Yue.
[Lin Yue]: Well now, if it isn’t our resident genius, Qin Feng!
I just got out of a mind-numbingly boring meeting and had nothing to do when your room notification popped up, so I thought I’d drop in and see the show.
[Lin Yue]: Speaking of which, it’s been what, thirty or forty years, and you haven’t bothered to send your teacher a single message, you heartless brat?
[Lin Yue]: Let your teacher guess your current progress... a locked vitality index of 7,200. I’m guessing... you’ve at least completed half of your acupoint fusions? That speed is insane.
[Lin Yue]: No, wait. Based on what I know about you, I’ve definitely lowballed it again, right?
A warm smile involuntarily touched Qin Feng’s lips as he read the string of messages in her familiar tone.
He felt as if he had returned to those days at the Martial Arts High School, filled with youth and passion.
He thought for a moment, then simply replied with a smiley face emoji and a single sentence.
[Qin Feng]: Master, I was fortunate enough to reach the Tengkong realm a month ago.
After he sent the message, there was silence on her end for a full ten seconds.
Then, a message brimming with shock and disbelief popped up again.
[Lin Yue]: Damn! You call THAT "fortunate"?! You monster! So you’re saying you’ve already fused all your Primordial Acupoints?! Give you a few more years, and you’ll be surpassing your master, won’t you?
Besides his three mentors, some of Qin Feng’s other friends were also in the spectator channel, like Zheng Dong, Wan Shuang, Zou Yun, and Qin Lan.
But in total, the entire room only had a dozen or so spectators.
After all, it was just a friendly spar, and neither of them intended to make a big fuss. The only people watching were trusted friends, not the type to gossip.
After the simple pleasantries, Qin Feng gathered his focus, concentrating all his attention on the opponent before him.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the battle countdown reached zero.
[BATTLE START!]
On the virtual arena stage, the figures of the two were instantly constructed from streams of data.
Qin Feng was dressed in light armor, wielding an Alloy Long Spear.
His opponent, Qin Yonglin, was likewise dressed in light armor and wielded a Bronze Long Staff.
Both of their vitality indexes were forcibly locked by the system at exactly 7,200.0 points.
At this moment, they stood on a perfectly even starting line.
The only things being contested were the purest forms of killing arts, technique, and Combat Will!
The battle erupted the instant it began!