A glint of wisdom shone in Zongyun’s eyes. "Just think about it. When you can attach the Energy Aggregation Module from a Fourth-level Killing Technique to your Second-level Spear Technique, [Wind and Thunder Chasing Shadow], is the strike it unleashes still a Second-level Killing Move? No! It can erupt with destructive power comparable to a *true* fourth-level killing move! That’s the truly terrifying aspect of the Perfection realm!"
"So that’s how it is."
Realization dawned on Qin Feng, and his world suddenly opened up.
A brand-new path to a higher realm of power unfolded clearly before him.
All his past efforts—the dozen or so first, second, and third-level killing techniques he had painstakingly mastered at Qi Yi High School, in the Newcomer Cup, and during countless missions, all of which had already reached the Control Realm—would now become the fuel for his surge in power!
Once he understood this, his mind immediately leaped to the next question.
"Senior,"
Qin Feng pressed on, "so what about the Control Realm, the one above Perfection?"
"Uh—"
The question seemed to catch in Zongyun’s throat.
The composed, expert-like expression on his face instantly faltered, replaced by obvious embarrassment.
"Well... ahem, I’m not too sure about that either."
Zongyun scratched his head, looking rather sheepish. "I only reached Perfection myself a short while ago," he said. "I’m still a million miles away from the Control Realm. Since I haven’t experienced it firsthand, I can’t just make things up. I wouldn’t want to lead you astray."
He quickly added, as if trying to save face, "But I *can* tell you this: in every Starry Sky Cup, the ones who ultimately win the championships in their respective regions are, without exception, all monsters who have cultivated a Fourth-level Killing Technique to the Control Realm."
"All I know is that for killing techniques of the fourth level and above, breaking through from Perfection to the Control Realm is hundreds of times harder than achieving the Control Realm with techniques from the lower three levels. The specific secrets are probably only known to those true prodigies and the masters."
Seeing Qin Feng’s pensive expression, Zongyun quickly changed the subject to make up for his earlier awkwardness.
"But hey, even though I don’t know about the Control Realm, I *can* tell you about the fundamental differences between the Fifth Level and Level 6 Killing Techniques and the fourth-level ones. That, I *have* researched."
"I’m all ears!"
Qin Feng’s eyes lit up instantly.
His seniors, Liang You and Chu Qi, had mentioned High-level Killing Techniques before, but his cultivation level had been too low back then, and he’d been completely lost. Now that he had achieved Perfection in a Fourth-level Killing Technique, listening again would be a completely different experience.
"Mm."
Zongyun cleared his throat, reassuming his profound and mysterious air. "Remember what we said earlier about the issue of ’sequence’? A Fourth-level Killing Technique is single-threaded. It can only execute one ’Mental Power-Spiritual Energy aggregation’ process at a time."
"As for a Fifth Level Killing Technique, its core requirement is ’One Heart, Ten Uses’!"
"In other words, you need to simultaneously build and run ten or more ’Mental Power-Spiritual Energy Aggregation Modules’ in parallel within your body at the exact same instant! This places an insanely demanding requirement on your Mental Power’s strength, resilience, and precision of control.
"Generally speaking, only those who have cultivated their Mental Power to a strength of 30 points or more, and have gone through a massive amount of excruciatingly tedious training, have a chance of getting started."
"As for a Level 6 Killing Technique..."
A look of yearning and awe crossed Zongyun’s face. "That would be ’One Heart, One Hundred Uses’! It requires you to simultaneously construct hundreds of aggregation modules in a single instant! The most basic threshold for your Mental Power is a strength of 100 points.
"And the difficulty isn’t just a simple tenfold increase from a Fifth Level Killing Technique; it’s an exponential leap. It’s a whole other concept."
’One Heart, Ten Uses... One Heart, One Hundred Uses...’
Qin Feng repeated the phrases in his mind, the light in his eyes growing ever brighter.
This time, he completely understood.
From single-threading to multi-threading, and then to massive-scale parallel computing—this was the essence of High-level Killing Techniques!
A crystal-clear path of progression—from Fourth-level Perfection, to the fifth level, and then to the sixth—laid itself out completely in his mind.
"Alright, junior, that’s all the important stuff. I won’t keep you from heading back to digest it all."
Zongyun clapped Qin Feng on the shoulder with a smile. "I need to hurry to the mission center to report in and collect my guardian reward. Oh, right, one last thing."
"The latest Starry Sky Cup Martial Dao Tournament is about to open for registration. If you want to participate, you need to contact your master as soon as possible so you don’t miss the deadline."
"Alright. Thank you, senior."
Qin Feng thanked him sincerely.
"Haha, it’s nothing. I’ll be looking forward to your performance in the Starry Sky Cup! I’m off!"
With a carefree laugh, Zongyun waved to Qin Feng, then turned and strode off. His figure quickly vanished into the crowd on the Teleportation Platform.
Qin Feng watched him leave, then immediately tapped open the personal terminal on his wrist.
He found that familiar name in his contact list—Yu Han.
A brief, direct message was instantly sent through the Subspace Network.
[Student Qin Feng, requesting to register for the upcoming Starry Sky Cup Martial Dao Tournament.]
A soft chime from his personal terminal confirmed the message had been sent.
Qin Feng stood quietly on the bustling Teleportation Platform, the surrounding noise and chaos seeming to fade away. His mind was already completely absorbed in his plans and expectations for the future.
The Starry Sky Cup.
He had learned of this grand event from Master Gu Yue, who had stressed its critical importance for his future on the Martial Dao. And now, he finally had his ticket in.