Qian Duoduo immediately slipped into his role as the Intelligence Officer. He cleared his throat and explained:
"It’s pretty easy to understand. Think about it: the official ranked matches in the Imperial Arena pair you up with registered Martial Artists from billions of planets across the entire Endless Star River. The scope is enormous, so you get to see all sorts of Martial Artists."
"But this ’Qiming High School Private Domain,’ as the name implies, means our principal or the dean’s office used their authority to create a private Subspace Network domain just for our school’s second-years. You can think of it as a LAN, or a private server. The server owner is probably the principal himself."
He grew more excited as he spoke. "In this private domain, your opponents are only other second-year students and the legendary graduates who left behind combat recordings. The points are separate, too. They don’t affect your rank or points in the official ranked matches at all."
"As for the completely random matchmaking that doesn’t lock your vitality index..."
Qian Duoduo chuckled slyly. "Now *that’s* the most brutal part. In ranked matches, the vitality index is locked so everyone’s physical strength is identical. But in the private domain, they don’t lock it. That means however strong your physical body is in reality, that’s how strong you’ll be in the fight."
He looked at Qin Feng and Shi Potian and summarized, "This isn’t just simple competition anymore. It’s forcing you to give up any possibility of relying on tricks and to fight with everything you have. Your Slaughter Realm, physical strength, combat intelligence, Will... everything will be put to the test. This is a competition of the purest form of—Hard Power!"
Hard Power.
Qin Feng and Shi Potian silently repeated the two words, feeling their immense weight.
"Then what about the practical combat classes?" Qin Feng asked, more concerned with this aspect.
Qian Duoduo nodded. "That’s also very different. First-year practical combat classes were team-based. You had a teacher leading the group and classmates providing support, with more emphasis on developing your teamwork and basic battlefield survival skills."
"But the second-year solo combat classes are completely different. ’Solo’ doesn’t mean you go on missions all by yourself. It means for every mission, the school only sends one student—you—and one mentor. You might be dropped into some corner of the Star River to wipe out greenskins with teammates who accepted the same mission. Or you might act as Mercenaries, joining a Wandering Merchant’s crew to protect them as they cross a dangerous Meteorite Belt. You could also be assigned an independent reconnaissance or assassination mission."
"Because these missions are extremely random and dangerous, and require mentors to carefully select and tailor them to each student’s specific traits, they’re said to be available at irregular times. Whether you get good missions, and how many you get, depends on your strength, your luck, and even more so on how dedicated your mentor is to you."
After hearing Qian Duoduo’s explanation, Qin Feng and Shi Potian fell silent once again.
After a long moment, Shi Potian spoke slowly, a hint of awe in his voice, "Every single second-year student needs a mentor to personally screen missions for them... There must be at least ten thousand second-years, right?"
"Yes."
Qin Feng nodded as well, adding, "And not just screening. The follow-up tracking, assessment, and wrap-up for the missions... the workload must be unimaginable."
They finally understood the immense responsibility Wu Shangfeng shouldered behind his cold facade.
Every teacher here was exhausting themselves for the growth of every student.
Qiming First High School truly lived up to its name as one of the top seven high schools on the Educational Planet of Qiming.
The discussion in the dorm room gradually died down. Qian Duoduo smacked his lips, still wanting to say more, but ultimately settled down and began his own cultivation.
Faced with the new system for second-years, he felt more than just envy; he channeled it into motivation to catch up.
Dorm 402 returned to its usual tranquility.
Qin Feng sat cross-legged on his bed, mentally reviewing all the information he had just received to ensure he had a clear understanding of the new rules for second-years.
Then, he raised his wrist and, with a thought, summoned his Subspace Network Pass.
A light blue virtual screen, filled with a sleek, technological aesthetic, silently unfolded before him.
It was an interface he was all too familiar with, displaying his personal ID and Empire citizen number at the top.
But today, he keenly noticed that below the top information bar, the path indicating his affiliation had changed.
It used to display: [Subspace Network - Qiming First Martial Arts High School].
Now, that line of text had changed to: [Subspace Network - Qiming First Martial Arts High School - Private Domain].
The two added words, "Private Domain," marked his promotion in a subtle yet distinct way.
This wasn’t just the addition of a suffix; it represented his transition from a regular student to someone within the school’s core training circle.
Qin Feng’s gaze lingered on this new path for a moment before he reached out and gently tapped the light screen.
Upon his touch, the entire interface rippled like the surface of water.
The original general panel quickly faded and contracted, replaced by a brand-new, completely different interface.
The new panel’s overall color scheme had shifted from the original sky blue to a deeper, more textured dark gold.
The layout was also more concise and efficient, with all function modules listed clearly in a modular fashion on the left, visible at a glance.
At the top of the screen was his core personal information.
[Name]: Qin Feng
[Student ID]: GY1031488
[Status]: Qiming First Martial Arts High School · Second-Year Student
[Class]: Second Year, Class (7)
His gaze moved down, and he saw several new function modules glowing with a soft light.
The first module was under the "Resource Center" category.
[Refinement Method Resources]: Intermediate Imperial Body Refining Method (Instructional Video)
It was currently glowing white, signifying that Qin Feng now had the qualifications to view and learn it.
The second module was a separate, highlighted option.
[Mentor System]: Apply for school mentor guidance (Uses remaining: 2)
Because Teacher Gu Yue had given him two private lessons, Qin Feng hadn’t used the mentor guidance function from his C-rank contract. He now had two accumulated uses waiting.
This was one of the core benefits exclusive to C-rank contract students.
Each session meant receiving one-on-one, personalized instruction from a mentor who held at least the Fighter Rank.
Professor Gu Yue’s three "special sessions" had made him deeply understand how precious such opportunities were.
And now he had two opportunities he could apply for himself.
Qin Feng’s gaze finally settled on the module at the very bottom, the one that took up the most space.
[Imperial Arena]
But unlike before, below this module was an additional, eye-catching line indicating the server.
[Current Matchmaking Domain: Qiming High School - Second Year - Private Domain]
This was the only channel for second-years to earn points, the core battlefield where their strength would be measured, their GPAs determined, and their rankings established in the future.
The Subspace Network - Qiming First Martial Arts High School - Private Domain had transformed the projected panel into a highly integrated, personal cultivation terminal designed specifically for elite second-year students.
From Cultivation Technique studies and guidance from famous teachers to an exclusive competitive platform, everything was built around the core goal of "improving individual strength."
Qin Feng stared quietly at the screen before him, his finger hovering over the new modules, but he didn’t immediately tap any of them.
’Completely self-study, solo combat, private server ranked matches, duels against the recordings of legendary upperclassmen...’
After some thought, Qin Feng tapped on the instructional video for the Intermediate Imperial Body Refining Method. His consciousness was immediately pulled into another space, where a teacher appeared before him, demonstrating the Intermediate Imperial Body Refining Method.
However, the teacher’s movements were rigid and mechanical; it was clearly a pre-recorded video.
This kind of 3D video instruction for refinement methods and slaughter methods was the standard teaching format for techniques purchased from the Imperial Exchange.
Qin Feng took a deep breath and immersed himself in learning the Intermediate Imperial Body Refining Method.
His second year of high school had begun.