At the "Crown of the North Pole" arena, on the top floor of a cloud-piercing Observation Tower.
This was no ordinary viewing box, but a private room with a minimalist design that exuded solemnity and authority at every turn.
A massive, one-way, floor-to-ceiling window overlooked the entire arena, shutting out the clamor from the hundreds of fighting rings and hundreds of thousands of spectators below.
Gathered inside the room were a dozen or so individuals, each radiating a powerful aura.
They were the lead instructors from the seven most elite Martial Arts High Schools on Qiming Star.
Professor Gu Yue of Qiming First High School was, of course, among them.
The instructor from Dubhe Martial High School was a stern, unsmiling middle-aged man; the one from Star River Military Affiliated High School was an old man with a ramrod-straight posture and the heavy air of a military veteran; the instructor from Golden Dragon Martial High School wore a black robe with a golden dragon embroidered on the sleeve...
Although they were rivals, they were also the pillars of the same planet’s educational community and had known each other for years. Thus, the atmosphere of their conversation at this moment was quite harmonious.
"Lao Gu, your school’s doing well this year. You’ve registered over two hundred people for the freshmen tournament—quite a few more than us at Dubhe."
The instructor from Dubhe Martial High School said with a smile, holding a cup of hot tea.
Professor Gu Yue waved his hand dismissively. "What’s the use of quantity? Quality is what matters. That student of yours, Lei Yi, was this year’s top scorer on the entrance exams. He’s all the rage right now."
"Haha, it’s all just the youngsters roughhousing. Nothing to make a fuss about, nothing at all."
The mood among them was friendly.
However, everyone’s gaze, intentionally or not, drifted toward the center of the room, to a figure standing alone before the floor-to-ceiling window, his back to them all.
It was a tall Martial Artist clad in deep blue power armor.
The power armor was archaic and heavy, steeped in an aura of iron blood and slaughter. Its edges were covered in scratches and dents left from countless battles.
Most unsettling of all, his pauldrons and chest plate were stained with the still-wet, dark purple blood of some unknown creature, which emitted a faint, acrid stench.
His helmet was tucked under his arm, revealing a weather-beaten face with sharp, defined features.
His eyes were like two unsheathed swords. Merely by gazing silently at the arena below, he seemed to make the temperature in the room drop by several degrees.
All the instructors present were men of extraordinary power.
But in their perception, this tall man in power armor was like a supernova on the verge of exploding, or a black hole devouring all in its path. He contained an unimaginable, world-destroying, terrifying energy within him.
His presence was as deep as an abyss, as oppressive as a prison.
"Lord Zhou."
In the end, it was the old man from Star River Military Affiliated High School who broke the delicate balance in the room, speaking with utmost respect.
"For you to grace our Qiming Star’s inter-school league with your presence... it truly leaves old folks like us feeling overwhelmed by the honor."
Hearing this form of address, the instructors from the other schools all chimed in, their words filled with a heartfelt reverence.
Lord Zhou.
Captain of the Seventh Company, Third Sub-Chapter, of the Ultramarines Chapter.
He also held another title: an instructor at the Canaan Star System’s most prestigious institution, Canaan Starry Sky Martial Arts University.
The Ultramarines Chapter was one of the Empire’s most elite legions of Interstellar Warriors, a great wall of steel that guarded Human Territory against the Alien Races and chaos.
Any one of its company captains was a true pillar of the Empire, forged in mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
And Canaan Starry Sky Martial Arts University was the number one Sacred Land that every Martial Dao prodigy across the hundreds of billions of Life Planets in the Canaan Star System would break their backs to get into.
For such a prominent figure to suddenly appear on an Educational Planet like Qiming Star, in the viewing stands for a "high school" level competition, was in itself an utterly unbelievable event.
Lord Zhou slowly turned around, his sharp gaze sweeping over every instructor present.
Anyone his eyes fell upon felt as if their heart was being squeezed by an invisible hand, making it difficult to breathe.
"I am merely passing through Qiming Star on some private business and thought I would stop by to have a look."
His voice was like grinding metal, low and powerful. "There is no need for any of you to be nervous. If I happen to see any promising saplings, I will naturally give a few pointers."
Hearing this, all the instructors present felt a jolt in their hearts, and they secretly clenched their fists.
The previously relaxed atmosphere instantly grew taut.
Give a few pointers!
Those four words, coming from the mouth of a company captain from an Ultramarines Sub-Chapter and an instructor at the Starry Sky Martial Arts University, carried the weight of a mountain!
If a student from their own school could catch the eye of such a great personage—even if it was just a word of praise, or a casual recommendation—their future would be a smooth road, a straight shot to the top!
In an instant, a raging fire ignited in the hearts of all the instructors.
They began to compete silently, each hoping their own prodigy would put on a good show for Lord Zhou and earn his approval.
Just then, Lord Zhou’s gaze fell upon Professor Gu Yue.
"Professor Gu Yue."
"Lord Zhou."
Professor Gu Yue’s eyes showed his confusion, wondering why he had been singled out.
"I heard that your Qiming First High School has a new student this year named ’Qin Feng’?"
Lord Zhou asked with a smile.
Professor Gu Yue was taken aback by the question.
He never expected such a prominent figure to know Qin Feng’s name.
"Yes, that’s correct."
Suppressing his surprise, he answered truthfully, "He’s a promising sapling. Very hardworking, with high comprehension."
"Mm."
Lord Zhou gave a slight nod and said no more, turning his gaze back out the window.
However, that brief question was like a bombshell, setting off a tidal wave of shock in the hearts of the other instructors.
Disbelief and confusion were written all over their faces.
Qin Feng?
’Who in the world is that?’
They wracked their brains but couldn’t recall the name.
Several instructors discreetly opened their terminals and began a quick search of their internal databases.
[Name: Qin Feng]
[Affiliated School: Qiming First Martial Arts High School]
[Entrance Exam Ranking: #67,352]
When they saw this ranking, all the instructors who had searched were dumbfounded.
Over sixty thousand?
A student who ranked over sixty-thousandth on the entrance exam was personally singled out by a company captain from an Ultramarines Sub-Chapter?
’How is this possible!’
For a moment, a sense of indignation welled up inside all of them.
’What a joke!’
Lord Zhou’s gaze seemed to pierce through tens of thousands of meters, through layers of buildings, to land precisely on the young man resting with his eyes closed in the Qiming First High School’s viewing area.
His eyes were profound; no one knew what he was thinking.
In truth, not long ago, the Ultramarines Chapter had received a message from the Thunder Warriors Chapter. It was a video of a ranked match from the Imperial Arena.
In it, Zhou Yu and Qin Feng had a great battle, and Qin Feng revealed the Nail of Favor.
His true purpose for coming to Qiming Star under the pretext of "just passing through" was to see for himself the current state of this young man who had been marked as the "Emperor’s Chosen."
The Ultramarines Chapter’s stance on the "Emperor’s Chosen" had always been consistent: during their early stages of growth, they would never actively interfere, only observe from the shadows.
They were to be allowed to grow along a normal trajectory—attending a Martial Arts High School, then testing for the Starry Sky Martial Arts University.
Only after they graduated from a Martial Arts University, when their minds and strength had reached a certain standard, would the Chapter formally make contact. They would then be put through trials of blood and fire, forged in the crucible of brutal warfare into qualified, true Imperial Interstellar Warriors.
From there, they would climb step by step, becoming powerful guardians of their own sectors and true cornerstones of the human Empire.
’Life force index 14.03, mastery of slaughter techniques... In less than three months since matriculation, to grow from the sixty-thousandth rank on the entrance exam to this level...’
’So unremarkable. What’s so special about him that he caught the Emperor’s eye?’
The thoughts flashed through Lord Zhou’s mind in an instant.
Perhaps Qin Feng’s performance made him a powerful prodigy at Qiming First High School—his comprehension was high, and his life force index had caught up—but in the eyes of a worldly company captain from a Sub-Chapter... it truly wasn’t enough to qualify.
Lord Zhou didn’t know what was so outstanding about Qin Feng that he would be favored by the Emperor.
Meanwhile, the other instructors present were lost in their own swirling thoughts.
They watched the arena quietly, all of them wanting to see what was so special about this Qin Feng whom Lord Zhou had singled out.
’Could he really have improved from a rank of over sixty thousand on the entrance exam to become even stronger than the likes of Shi Dang, Lei Yi, and Li Qing?’
The undercurrents in the Observation Tower did not affect the arena below.
With a long, resonant toll of a Bell that echoed throughout the "Crown of the North Pole"...
The competition officially began!