In the public Martial Arts Room, Qin Feng was completely immersed in the extreme training of the Imperial Body Refining Technique.
Sweat soaked his clothes again and again, only to be dried by the steam rising from his body.
The vast yet gentle energy from the Mid-Level Spiritual Energy Potion acted like the most loyal quartermaster. Every time his body neared its limit, the energy would appear at just the right moment to repair the damage, replenish his stamina, and push his life’s essence to steadily advance toward a higher level.
In this state of extreme focus, time flew by.
Qin Feng had discovered that ever since he reached the introductory level in the Emperor Meditation technique, he could easily enter the legendary state known as ’flow’.
He had looked up the term and found it was called a ’flow state’.
In this state, time seemed to pass in a blur, and he was completely absorbed.
He also found that above the ’flow state’ was an ’epiphany’ state, just like what he had experienced during his battle with Zhou Yu.
An ’epiphany’ wasn’t just about total absorption; it was a state where his mind and body both operated in overdrive!
It was a rare state that couldn’t be achieved by will alone.
In his flow state, Qin Feng was utterly immersed in his training.
In the blink of an eye, it was noon.
...
Qiming First Martial Arts High School, Cafeteria Number One.
It was the lunch rush. The spacious cafeteria buzzed with the chatter of tens of thousands of first-year students, all replenishing the energy they had expended during their morning training.
Qin Feng, Qian Duoduo, and Shi Potian met up here, just as they always did.
The three of them walked up to a row of automated food dispensers that gleamed with a metallic sheen.
Qin Feng held out his hand and lightly tapped his wrist-mounted terminal on the dispenser’s sensor pad.
BEEP—
A distinct, crisp, and pleasant chime rang out.
The light screen above the dispenser instantly changed from the blue that represented a D-level contract to the red symbolizing a C-level contract.
[C-level Contract verified. Preparing your C-level custom nutritional meal...]
The next second, a lunch completely different from all the surrounding trays was delivered steadily to Qin Feng on a conveyor belt.
It was no longer a simple synthetic meat patty and algae-based nutrient paste.
Instead, it was a ’grand feast’ in the truest sense.
The tray was made of smooth, white jade-porcelain. On it sat a piece of Exotic Beast leg meat, cooked in a secret sauce, that weighed a full two pounds and emanated a rich, unusual aroma;
a colorful salad made from dozens of rare vegetables and mushrooms;
and a bowl of thick, golden porridge, like Jade Dew, that had been simmered for hours with Star Rice and various medicinal herbs.
Just the drifting aroma was enough to make one’s mouth water and appetite stir.
This completely different nutritional meal was like a boulder dropped into a calm lake, instantly sending ripples of shock through the students queuing nearby.
Everyone’s gaze subconsciously focused on Qin Feng and his tray.
First came confusion, then shock, and finally, undisguised envy and astonishment.
"Is that... a C-level nutritional meal?! Am I seeing things?"
"The red tray, and that Exotic Beast leg meat... That’s definitely a privilege only someone with a C-level contract gets!"
"My God! Someone in our first year already got a C-level contract?!"
"Who is it? Who is that guy? How come I’ve never seen him around school before?"
"That’s so fast! School only started a little over a month ago! 100 merit points... How did he do it?"
Whispers spread through every corner of the cafeteria like a rising tide.
Everyone knew what a C-level contract meant.
It wasn’t just an absurdly generous amount of resources. It was the school’s highest form of recognition for a student’s talent and hard work! It was the most direct way to distinguish a ’genius’ from a ’top-tier genius’!
Because Qin Feng, Qian Duoduo, and Shi Potian had spent the past month moving between only three places—the dorms, the Martial Arts Room, and the cafeteria—and rarely participated in other campus activities, most students had only heard their names but had never seen them in person.
As everyone was guessing, a first-year student from Class 3 finally recognized Qin Feng.
His eyes widened as he cried out in shock:
"It’s Qin Feng! Qin Feng from my class! He actually got a C-level contract!"
That cry was like the final detonator.
BOOM. The atmosphere in the entire cafeteria ignited.
"Qin Feng? I think he was the one who ranked first in a single subject and also first for most improved."
"That’s right! Qin Feng is the monster who got a perfect score in the combat simulation, beating the second-place student by almost three hundred points!"
"Oh, it’s him! I heard he’s the marksmanship god that even Professor Gu Yue acknowledged!"
"Getting a C-level contract this fast... he’s a real monster."
Noisy discussions erupted throughout the cafeteria.
Faced with a level of attention that would make any young man feel smug, Qin Feng’s expression remained completely unfazed.
He simply carried his tray and, under the gaze of countless eyes, calmly walked with Shi Potian and Qian Duoduo to their usual corner and sat down.
"Tsk tsk, Qin Feng, you’re really famous now."
Qian Duoduo said, clicking his tongue in envy as he gnawed on his D-level synthetic meat patty and eyed the sizzling, greasy Exotic Beast leg meat on Qin Feng’s tray.
Shi Potian was also smiling, genuinely happy for his brother.
"A calm mind is what’s most important. I just need to avoid arrogance and impatience, and keep working hard."
Qin Feng smiled, picked up his utensils, and began to enjoy his lunch.
The Exotic Beast Meat melted in his mouth, transforming into streams of life energy that were far purer and easier to absorb than a Mid-Level Spiritual Energy Potion, quickly replenishing the immense amount he had consumed during his extreme morning training.
"By the way, Fatty Duoduo."
Qin Feng swallowed a mouthful of meat and looked at Qian Duoduo. "That Qiming League you mentioned before, when is it usually held?"
"Oh, that,"
Qian Duoduo’s information radar immediately kicked in. "According to past years, it’s usually held in the last week of the third month after school starts. By my count, that’s a little less than two months from now."
"Almost two months..."
Qin Feng nodded and asked, "If my life force index is close to breaking 10.0 by then, should I hold back my level and compete as a first-year freshman, or should I just advance to Second Level Martial Artist?"
"If I advance to the second level, does that mean I’ll have to fight against the second and third-year upperclassmen? If so, it’ll probably be tough to get a good ranking."
This was indeed a problem that required some forethought.
"Hahaha, you’re overthinking it!"
Qian Duoduo couldn’t help but laugh after hearing him.
He shoveled down the food on his plate in a few bites, wiped his mouth, and explained:
"How could the school set up such an unreasonable rule? The Qiming League is divided into two sections: the ’Freshman Tournament’ and the ’Upperclassman Tournament.’"
"The Freshman Tournament, as the name implies, is only open to students who enrolled this year. It doesn’t matter if your life force index is below 10.0 or has already reached 15, 20, or even 100. As long as you’re a new student who enrolled this year, you’ll be competing in the Freshman Tournament."
"The Upperclassman Tournament, on the other hand, is open to students who’ve been enrolled for over a year. It’s a free-for-all for the second and third-years, teeming with geniuses and monsters. The winner of the Upperclassman Tournament receives the title of ’Qiming’s General Star’ and gets a huge advantage in the interviews for Starry Sky Martial Arts University. That’s why you even see monsters who deliberately hold their life force index at 30 and don’t graduate, just so they can win the General Star title."
"I see."
Qin Feng nodded slightly upon hearing this, breathing a sigh of relief.
’This way, he didn’t have to worry about a thing.’
’All he needed to do in the time remaining was to focus single-mindedly on frantically raising his life force index.’
’The stronger he was, the better his chances of getting a good result in the Freshman Tournament.’
"Fatty, how do you know so much?"
Shi Potian, who was beside them, asked curiously.
Even he had only heard bits and pieces of this information, nothing nearly as detailed as what Qian Duoduo knew.
Qian Duoduo puffed out his chest proudly, then looked at Qin Feng and Shi Potian as if they were aliens.
"I mean, seriously, do you two not even browse the school forums?"
"School forums?"
Qin Feng and Shi Potian glanced at each other, both wearing the same blank expression.
Seeing their reaction, Qian Duoduo put a hand to his forehead, a look of helplessness on his face.
"My God... You two Martial Fools, how have you even survived this long?"
He cleared his throat and began to educate these two ’internet cavemen’.
"Do you guys remember? Back on Planet Gamma-7, didn’t Teacher Wu Shangfeng adjust the permissions on all our Subspace Passes? That was to officially transfer our ’affiliation’ from our respective middle schools to Qiming First Martial Arts High School."
"This so-called ’affiliation’ is like the ’personal files’ or ’household registration’ from the Dark Age. The entire human Empire relies on this massive affiliation system, built on the Subspace Network, to manage its population layer by layer. Otherwise, how could a vast Empire spanning countless Starry Sky Great Walls and possessing innumerable Life Planets achieve unified and efficient governance?"
"And as long as your affiliation is at a certain level, like ours is now with Qiming First High, you automatically get access to that level’s internal forums. Our school forum is a great place—it’s got all sorts of information, resources, gossip, and guides. Details about the C-level contract, the rules for the Qiming League, even which instructors specialize in what, the names of the prettiest girls in each class, campus beauty rankings, power rankings—it’s all on there!"
Qin Feng nodded thoughtfully at this. Following Qian Duoduo’s logic, he asked tentatively, "So, does that mean Teacher Wu Shangfeng’s own affiliation is also tied to Qiming First High?"
"Yes, but not entirely."
Qian Duoduo explained, "A Martial Artist can have multiple affiliations. Teacher Wu is definitely affiliated with Qiming First High, but he’s likely also holding positions elsewhere, like being an Honored Guest Elder for some Merchant Wanderer Group, a nominal professor at a Power Armor Research Institute, or even an officer in the Extreme Warband. All of those create affiliations."
"I get it."
"Right. So, your affiliations were transferred a long time ago, and your forum access has been active all this while. You should go ’lurk’ a bit when you have time, read some posts. It won’t hurt you."
As Qian Duoduo spoke, he couldn’t help but look the two of them up and down with an incredulous expression.
"I still don’t get it. When you log into the Subspace Network, what do you even do besides play in the Imperial Arena? The forum button is huge, it’s bright, and it’s right next to the Arena icon. Have you really never seen it?"
"Nope."
Qin Feng and Shi Potian once again exchanged a knowing glance, then shook their heads honestly and in unison.
For these two pure Martial Fools, the Subspace Network was basically synonymous with the Imperial Arena.
Everything else was just fluff.
...
Qian Duoduo was utterly speechless.
He could only give the two of them a heartfelt thumbs-up.
"You two are monsters."