As Qin Dahai dished out a bowl of rice for Qin Feng, he rambled on, "It’s your dad who’s getting old. Look, my hair has a lot more gray in it."
Qin Feng looked at the indeed graying hairs at his father’s temples, and a pang of sorrow tugged at his heart.
Although Martial Dao cultivation could extend one’s life, his father had started too late and was held back by the Mental Power threshold. In the end, the ravages of time had still crept up on him silently.
"Dad, you’re not old. A Fifth-level Martial Artist is considered a master in the Qiming Metropolitan Area."
Qin Feng picked up a glistening piece of fatty meat and put it in his mouth. The familiar taste exploded on his palate, making him squint his eyes in bliss.
"Hah, what master? It’s just an empty title."
Qin Dahai waved his hand dismissively and poured himself a glass of wine. "Compared to you, my little bit of strength is nothing. By the way, how long are you planning to stay this time?"
"I’m not sure. Could be a few years, could be a few decades."
Qin Feng swallowed his food and said, "I’ve hit a bottleneck at school, and there are some things I can’t figure out. I wanted to come home to quiet my mind and settle myself."
"If you can’t figure them out, then don’t think about them."
Qin Dahai took a sip of wine and smacked his lips. "If the sky falls, there will be someone tall enough to hold it up. You, you’ve always been one to get bogged down in details since you were a kid. Did something happen out there? Were you wronged?"
His father’s eyes held a trace of heartache, barely perceptible.
A warmth spread through Qin Feng’s heart, and he shook his head. "I wouldn’t say I was wronged. It’s just... my mind is a bit of a mess."
He didn’t mention Shi Dang, nor the cold figure of "three million," and certainly not the confrontation that had overturned his perception of reality.
These things were too heavy. He didn’t want his father to worry about him.
"That’s just how it is."
Qin Dahai nodded and put another piece of food on Qin Feng’s plate. "You know, the longer a person lives and the more they see, the messier their mind becomes.
Your dad doesn’t have any great abilities, and I don’t understand those grand principles of yours about the stars and the sea.
All I know is that when you’re living your life, you have to be able to face your own conscience.
If you think something is right, then go and do it without hesitation.
If you think something is wrong, you can’t do it, even if everyone else says it’s right."
"I’m not asking you to become some great, important figure. I just hope that wherever you go, you can hold your head high and sleep soundly at night."
These simple, unvarnished words instantly struck the softest spot in Qin Feng’s heart.
’That’s right, to be able to face my own conscience.’
’To hold my head high.’
’To sleep soundly at night.’
’All I want is a clear and untroubled mind!’
"Dad, I understand."
Qin Feng nodded heavily and polished off every last grain of rice in his bowl.
"As long as you understand."
Qin Dahai smiled, the wrinkles on his face smoothing out. "Hurry and eat. When you’re done, tell me about your two cousins, Wang Hao and Wang Jie. Your uncle contacted me a couple of days ago. He said the two boys ran into you at the Starry Sky Cup and have been training like madmen ever since they got back, like they’ve been injected with stimulants. He can’t even stop them."
"Yeah, I ran into them. They’re both doing great now, they’re elites at Du Na Star Martial Arts University."
A smile appeared on Qin Feng’s face as well at the mention of his two cousins.
Under the warm light, the father and son ate the most ordinary of home-cooked meals and chatted about the most trivial family matters.
Outside the window, the night grew darker.
The myriad lights of Qiming flickered on, one by one, converging into a brilliant Star River.
-----------------
After dinner, he helped his father clear the dishes and returned to the room he had lived in since childhood.
He pushed open the door, and a familiar scent washed over him—a mixture of sunlight, old book pages, and the faint fragrance of soapberry.
It was a small bedroom, less than fifteen square meters, with an extremely simple layout.
A bed, a bookshelf, and a desk.
For someone like him, now two meters tall with a physique as burly as a god or demon, the space felt a little cramped.
The bed wasn’t even long enough for him to fully stretch out.
But this small, slightly crowded space gave Qin Feng an unparalleled sense of peace he hadn’t felt in a long time.
Here, he didn’t need to be "Qin Beast," the one who had dominated the Canaan Newcomer Cup.
Here, he was just Qin Feng.
The boy who had once despaired when his foundation was damaged, who had rejoiced upon being admitted to Qiming First High School, and who had shed blood, sweat, and tears for every single improvement in his strength.
His fingertips gently traced the surface of the desk.
On it, there were still faint traces of the character for "Diligence" that he had carved with a small knife in his youth.
On the bookshelf, old textbooks were neatly stacked, ranging from *Basic Martial Dao Theory* to *Advanced Gunnery Analysis*. The corners of every book were frayed and curled from repeated reading.
On the wall, there was still a propaganda poster for the Imperial Expeditionary Army. On it, an Interstellar Warrior clad in Terminator Power Armor stood proudly atop a mountain of alien corpses.
The poster’s colors had faded to a slight yellow, but it was the vessel of all the passion and dreams of his youth.
He lay on the bed that was now a bit too short for him, hands clasped behind his head, and stared quietly at the ceiling.
In the midst of this tranquility, his personal terminal on his wrist emitted a soft BEEP, signaling the arrival of a new message.
Qin Feng raised his wrist, and a screen of light projected into the air.
The sender was—[Qiming First Martial Arts High School Human Resources Department].
His heart stirred slightly as he opened the email.
[Dear Qin Feng:]
[Greetings! We have received your teaching application. On behalf of the entire faculty and staff of Qiming First High School, we are extremely grateful for your willingness to return to your alma mater and contribute to the cause of Martial Dao education on Qiming. We have unanimously approved your application.]
[You are hereby formally appointed as the Advanced Martial Arts Combat Instructor at our school.]
[Regarding salary and benefits, we are pleased to offer you the following package:]
[1. Monthly Salary: 300,000 Imperial Coins (after tax).]
[2. Contribution Points Subsidy: 1 point per month.]
[Addendum: This Contribution Points subsidy is provided by the ’Kindling Flame Project,’ a joint initiative by the Imperial Ministry of Education and the Military Department.
This project aims to encourage High-level Martial Artists to return to the foundational education system, thereby strengthening the roots of the Empire’s Martial Dao.]
Any Martial Artist at the Seventh Level of the Mountain and Sea Realm or higher who teaches at an Imperially certified key Martial Arts High School is eligible for this subsidy.]
[3. Special Bonus: If you successfully cultivate a new ’Qiming General Star’ during your tenure, the school will apply for an additional one-time bonus of 50 Contribution Points on your behalf.]
[4. Promotion Path: Should you be interested, you may apply to be transferred to the position of ’Martial Arts Class Instructor’ at any time.
A Class Instructor has greater authority and is responsible for resource allocation, combat mission selection, and safety assessments for an entire class. The Contribution Points subsidy for this position is also increased to 10 points per month.]
[If you agree to the above terms, you may report to the school tomorrow. We look forward to your arrival!]
[Sincerely, The Office of the Principal, Qiming First Martial Arts High School]
Looking at the email, an expression of surprise appeared on Qin Feng’s face.
A monthly salary of 300,000 Imperial Coins was a drop in the bucket for him now; it wasn’t even enough to buy the most basic high-level cultivation Potion.
He didn’t care about that at all.
What truly surprised him was the subsidy of "1 Contribution Point per month."
Contribution Points were the hard currency of all hard currencies within the Empire’s system, their value far exceeding that of Imperial Coins.
In Canaan, one had to risk their life on even the lowest-level missions to earn just a few meager Contribution Points.
And now, just by being a high school teacher, he could stably earn 1 point every month.
That was 12 points a year.
Compared to the efficiency of his previous Hell-level and nightmare-level missions, where he could reap thousands or even tens of thousands of points at a time, this pace was naturally as slow as a snail’s crawl.
But... it was stable and completely risk-free.
There was no need to struggle on the brink of life and death, no need to battle ferocious members of the Alien Race and bizarre Chaos Beasts.
All he had to do was teach a group of energetic junior students at his most familiar and comforting alma mater to obtain a resource that was considered incredibly precious by the outside world.
For Qin Feng, whose mind was in turmoil and who desperately needed a period of peace to settle himself and contemplate his path forward, this was undoubtedly the best choice.
And the part about the extra reward for cultivating a "Qiming General Star" made him chuckle.
As for the "Martial Arts Class Instructor" position, Qin Feng merely glanced at it before skipping over it.
What he needed most right now was to cast aside all unnecessary chores and immerse his body and mind in the purest form of cultivation and reflection.
Being a Class Instructor meant being responsible for the safety of dozens of students, a heavy responsibility he didn’t have the energy to bear at the moment.
Without the slightest hesitation, Qin Feng’s fingertip tapped lightly on the light screen, replying with a concise and to-the-point email.
[Agreed. Will report tomorrow.]
After sending it, he turned off his personal terminal.
Qin Feng closed his eyes, his breathing gradually becoming long and steady.
On his first night back home, he slept more soundly than he had in a long time.
And as Qin Feng fell into a deep sleep, his Mental Power actually began to increase at a relatively rapid pace.