And "Control"... that was a domain reserved for legends and Demons!

"T-two... two disciplines... of Control?"

Wang Ming stared at Qin Feng on the screen, utterly astonished.

Qin Dahai’s mouth fell open, but he couldn’t utter a single word.

He could only feel his heart pounding wildly in his chest.

An indescribable mix of ecstasy, pride, and even a sense of unfamiliarity instantly welled up in his eyes, blurring his vision.

A genius?

No, "genius" was no longer a word that could describe his son.

He was... a monster!

A Demon!

His talent was simply breathtaking!

There was no other way to put it.

After a long moment, Qin Dahai took a deep breath, wiped his face forcefully, and said with the utmost solemnity, "Good... Good! That’s my son! Dad is so proud of you! Go fight with confidence. We... we’ll be right here watching you! Watching you win that ’Qiming General Star’!"

His worries had vanished into thin air the moment he heard the word "Control."

All that remained was an overflowing sense of pride.

After a bit more small talk and reminding his parents to take care of themselves, Qin Feng ended the call.

Silence returned to the Martial Arts Room.

Qin Feng sat cross-legged, the overjoyed expressions of his father and uncle replaying in his mind. A warm smile involuntarily graced his lips.

’To protect this warmth, I have to become stronger.’

He slowly closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into his sea of consciousness. He began to visualize the towering, boundless figure of the Emperor and drifted into a deep sleep.

He slept particularly soundly that night.

...

「The next morning.」

As the light of the artificial sun, Qiming Star, began to blanket the campus of Qiming First High School, the entire school was already buzzing with a cacophony of noise.

Qin Feng, Shi Potian, and Qian Duoduo walked side-by-side down the tree-lined avenue leading to Beikai Tower.

"Damn, there are way too many people today!"

Qian Duoduo clicked his tongue as he stared at the dense, dark crowd ahead.

As far as the eye could see, there were students dressed in Qi Yi High School uniforms.

They were gathered in small groups, their faces filled with excitement and anticipation, flowing like a tide toward the Beikai Tower plaza, the designated assembly point.

Qin Feng’s gaze swept over this sea of youth and vitality, but a feeling of disconnect, as if a lifetime had passed, rose in his heart.

He still clearly remembered being one of them just a year ago.

Back then, he had just passed the freshman tournament selections and was gathering before Beikai Tower for the first time.

He could clearly feel the surging, almost tangible life force radiating from the second and third-year upperclassmen around him.

Their powerful auras converged, forming a deep and bottomless ocean that made him, a fledgling freshman, feel both intimidated and suppressed.

But now...

Qin Feng’s pace didn’t falter in the slightest; he continued forward at the same speed.

However, the crowd before him parted automatically to both sides, like the Red Sea for Moses, clearing a path wide enough for an anti-gravity vehicle to pass through.

Whenever anyone’s gaze landed on Qin Feng’s calm face, they would instantly look away as if they’d received an electric shock.

Their eyes no longer held scrutiny or curiosity, only a clearly visible, heartfelt... awe and fear.

The entire plaza, filled with several thousand students, was a cacophony of voices.

But wherever Qin Feng passed, an eerie silence fell, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"Tsk tsk, Old Qin, your prestige is getting more and more impressive," Qian Duoduo teased in a low voice from the side.

Qin Feng just gave a noncommittal smile.

Soon, they spotted Sun He, Tie Lin, and other familiar faces in their designated area of the plaza.

"Qin Feng!"

Sun He immediately came over to greet him, a bright smile on his face.

He clapped Qin Feng firmly on the shoulder, his eyes full of sincere blessings and anticipation. "It’s all up to you today! Bring back the Qiming General Star trophy!"

"Alright!"

Qin Feng nodded.

After the simple greetings, everyone waited quietly for the master to arrive.

Before long, a familiar figure emerged from Beikai Tower.

It was Master Gu Yue again.

He wore a sharp Combat Suit, his gaze electric as it swept over all the participating students present.

"All competitors, board the shuttle!"

His voice was as concise and powerful as ever.

At his command, an immense, streamlined, silver-gray Planet-Class Transport Shuttle rose silently from the landing pad behind Beikai Tower and hovered over the plaza, casting a massive shadow.

The students began to board the shuttle’s interior in an orderly fashion via a tractor beam.

The space inside the shuttle was extremely spacious, large enough to accommodate tens of thousands of people.

Qin Feng found a window seat, and Shi Potian and Qian Duoduo naturally sat down beside him.

Soon, the shuttle shuddered slightly and began its smooth ascent into the sky.

Through the massive porthole, the futuristic cityscape of Qiming First High School’s campus rapidly shrank.

Next came the magnificent sight of the entire Qiming Metropolitan Area.

Skyscrapers stood like a forest, piercing the clouds.

Countless anti-gravity shuttles zipped back and forth on preset routes like streaks of light, forming a dazzling web of light that covered the entire city.

The artificial sky emitted a soft glow, making the great city look as ethereal as a dream.

He had seen this same scenery a year ago.

But now, Qin Feng’s state of mind was completely different from back then.

A year ago, seeing this sight had filled his heart with awe for the big city and a yearning and desire for the future.

Now, however, his gaze had long since moved beyond the city’s borders.

In his mind’s eye, he saw the world-ending spectacle within the Qiming Thunder Pool, where billions of bolts of lightning raged and roared, tempering all creation. He saw himself standing on the battlefields of Purgatory-VII, looking up at an eternal crimson sky stained blood-red by the artillery fire of the Alien Race. He saw the magnificent, colossal nebulae he had witnessed through the Subspace Network, slowly spinning within the dazzling Star River...

The splendor of this mortal world was indeed magnificent.

But compared to the vast and majestic Cosmos, it seemed so insignificant.

An indescribable heroic passion surged and churned in his chest.

He gazed at the boundless sky outside the window, at the artificial sun radiating endless light and heat. Unconsciously, a line of poetry from an ancient text of a distant era surfaced in his mind—a line filled with boundless heroism and wild ambition.

"I long to challenge Lord Heaven’s height."

He murmured it under his breath, his voice soft yet filled with a resolve that could move mountains.

"Huh? Old Qin, what did you just say?"

Qian Duoduo, who had sharp ears, immediately leaned in and asked curiously, "What’s ’Lord Heaven’? And ’challenge his height’? Where’d you hear phrases like that?"

Qin Feng snapped out of his reverie, smiled, and answered:

"I think I saw it in some ancient text. I can’t quite remember which one."

The shuttle was extremely fast. After breaking through the atmosphere, it entered its high-speed cruising mode.

The view outside the window transformed into a deep darkness, dotted with brilliant stars.

Just over ten minutes later, the shuttle began to decelerate and re-entered the planet’s atmosphere.

They had arrived at their destination.

The shuttle descended slowly, finally coming to a stop in the central plaza of a colossal, magnificent architectural complex that resembled a white crown.

This was the venue for every Qiming School-Level League—the Arctic Crown.