147-156

Chapter 147: Taking down number 1

However, the elites ended up in a pathetic state.

Frankly speaking, the results from the Spring Hunting Ground were out of everyone's expectations as every core team that had high hopes placed on them were eliminated.

Those that had survived were the unusual ones that had not been under the spotlight.

Of course, the teachers and principals could not interfere with the results if all the teams were eliminated.

However, there was a team that seemed to stand out among the others, and the dissatisfaction toward them had escalated quickly.

"What had actually happened?"

Qu Kun, the principal of Chengyang University, asked in a deep voice.

It was the same person that had declared the rules of the Spring Hunting Ground before their entry to the grounds, he was an E9-tier ancient warrior.

"That's right, Principal Deng, shouldn't you give us an explanation!"

"All of our students were wounded by internal strength, this student must be an ancient warrior!"

Many among the crowd that were also dissatisfied questioned openly.

The pressure from the crowd had escalated quickly as their dissatisfaction had risen higher.

Deng Nian did not care about the crowd as he was extremely satisfied with Qin Feng's harvest, as well as his accomplishment of eliminating students from other universities!

"I can't help it, as I can't stop the students from performing well, however, it is true that he had just been injected with an awakening potion earlier this year, all of you should have heard his name before!" Deng Nian smiled as he said, "His name is Qin Feng!"

"You are Qin Feng?" Qu Kun frowned and focused on Qin Feng, "The current mayor of Fengli Colony?"

There were a few ambitious E-tier aptitude users from Chengyang City who wanted to advance so they went to the war against the Corpse Corps in hopes that they could emerge victorious and lead a new colony. However, the opportunity was taken by another youngster.

Furthermore, the outstanding achievement in eliminating the zombies single-handedly that made him stood out from the crowd had caught the attention of the higher-ups.

They acknowledged Qin Feng's F-tier capabilities, and he could even achieve E-tier in the near future.

Qin Feng heard Qu Kun speak to him, and he replied.

"Yes, I am, it's my pleasure to meet you, Principal Qu!" Qin Feng reacted neither haughtily nor humbly as his identity as the head of a colony had been discovered, he was no longer an ordinary student!

"So it was you, but I have never heard about you being an ability user!" Qu Kun replied with a slight hesitation in him.

Qin Feng's capabilities had exceeded everyone's expectation, therefore, their curiosity had driven them to find out more about Qin Feng.

Qin Feng replied, "There's nothing significant about my ability, and my results are not good during the test, I was able to take down the rubber dummy by using ancient warrior skills. Therefore, I was numbered as twenty first by the teachers!"

Lin Mao and the others who were staring at Qin Feng were all infuriated.

"He is lying, how could that be insignificant, his ability was definitely overpowered! All twenty of us were defeated by a single hit of his fire ability that covered the radius of more than ten meters, he is trying to fool us!"

Zhou Hao sneered unintentionally at the side.

"Although you are telling the truth, I do feel that it would be better to not diminish your own pride and acknowledge the achievements of the others, just keep it to yourself!"

Lin Mao was instantly enraged and hatred was reflected on his reddish face.

It was as if Lin Mao was advocating Qin Feng's powerful ability while degrading his own status!

The Principal of Xita Colony was solemn.

"Forget about it, students were ranked to help them in finding a better team, while Qin Feng might be ranked as number 21, you should never underestimate your enemies, honour them, and it goes the same to your own life, never belittle anyone!"

Qu Kun ended the dispute with those words.

Subsequently, everyone started to record the number of name tags that were obtained as it would represent their accumulated points.

Without a doubt, Qin Feng and the others who had absolute competitive edge secured the champion title.

"Top ten teams of the Spring Hunting Ground would be automatically entitled a G-tier aptitude user badge"

"First place will be entitled for a G-tier purple ray rune equipment, a choice from a selection of secret manuals ranging from martial arts knowledge, ability knowledge, conscious energy practice, or firearm practice, and also an additional scholarship of 100,000!"

"First and second runner-up will be entitled a blue ray rune equipment, a choice from a selection of secret manuals ranging from martial arts knowledge, ability knowledge, conscious energy practice, or firearm practice, and also an additional scholarship of 50,000!"

"Fourth to tenth place will be awarded with a set of T3 combat fatigues, a choice from a selection of secret manuals ranging from martial arts knowledge, ability knowledge, conscious energy practice, or firearm practice, and also an additional scholarship of 10,000!"

Those who were awarded would definitely cheer for themselves, however, those that were not were not frustrated as they had obtained quite a lot of herbs in the Spring Hunting Ground, and it might even be more rewarding than the awards given.

Communicators were returned by the teachers, and Qin Feng purposely approached the class of gunners and explained Chen Ming's situation.

"Just leave it to me, and I hope that I can have Chen Ming's communicator!"

The teacher who was merely an F-tier became indecisive when standing before Qin Feng who had revealed his true capabilities with his performance earlier, his identity of being the mayor of Fengli colony was also taken into consideration.

"Let me put it this way, I'll give you the communicator, however, you will have to inform Principal Deng about this, as the mutant experiment is quite a significant issue. Furthermore…" The teacher frowned and became worried. "Furthermore, this is related to Deputy Mayor Lin!"

The teacher was aware of the death of Lin Kai and his body that was teleported out, and he also knew that something big was about to happen!

"Hmm, I will inform Principal Deng personally!" Qin Fen nodded.

The battle that lasted for three days had finally ended, some were heavily wounded, while some were extremely exhausted. However, they would still need to return to their colonies immediately.

For those who were ranked within top ten, they could pick their rewards directly from their communicators. Qin Feng immediately picked a pair of G-tier purple ray rune boots and gave it to Zhou Hao as it was not useful for him.

However, he browsed through the secret manuals of motion arts and found a secret manual of Spectre Motion Steps.

"Spectre Motion Steps was improvised by the later generations into a powerful motion arts, such as, the Phantom Motion, Spooky Phantom Motion and others."

"Adding on to that, with the Brahma Sword being the prerequisite, there would be more opportunities to integrate cultivation methods with runes."

"Spectre Motion Steps is the exact match for Dark Runes, it will then explain the usage of my dark abilities!"

"This is it!"

Qin Feng confirmed his selection and immediately obtained the cultivation method.

"Qin Feng, thanks to your contribution!" Deng Nian had a big smile on his face as he was satisfied with Qin Feng's performance in eliminating the other four major universities and also earning respect for Chengbei University!

"It was an easy task for me, however, I do have a favor that I need from you, Principal Deng!" Qin Feng explained the case of Chen Ming, and there was also the presence of the others that had witnessed how Chen Ming had killed Lin Kai!

However, Lin Zheng might put the blame onto Qin Feng as he was the one that had killed Chen Ming.

Even if this had not happened, Lin Zheng would still have hatred for him, and now, the hatred would be multiplied by ten times!

Deng Nian became worried when he heard about Chen Ming.

Chapter 148: Chaos and Confusion

"In regards to this matter, Lin Zheng's definitely gonna find a way to get back at you. However, Chen Ming's mutation must have something to do with Lin Zheng. Whatever filth that's in there, you really have no choice but to continue the investigation. I'm just saying that there's a chance that the situation's gonna get out of control. If that happens, we're gonna be in deep trouble!" Deng Nian said.

Qin Feng responded with a serious nod.

"We've gotta investigate this issue!"

This case did not just involve a dark organisation out to harm innocent people. No, it went deeper than that.

Before his rebirth, the fate of being born as a genius was completely upended and turned into a life full of misery, hardship and anguish—who could understand his struggle?

The higher Qin Feng strived, the more his hatred toward the Z Organisation grew.

Now that he finally had strength that he could call his own, he would continuously build up his powers, up to the point where no one would be able to defeat him. And then, he would wipe out the Z Organisation from the face of this earth, once and for all.

He could not afford to allow such a group to continue existing.

This belief alone was the driving force for Qin Feng to continue growing.

"If you're thinking about it this way, then by all means, go ahead. I'll lend you my strength to block off Lin Zheng!" said Deng Nian.

Qin Feng nodded, appreciating Deng Nian's intentions.

"I'll remain at Chengyang for a few days. You guys go back first!"

"Aye, aye!"

Of course, Qin Feng still climbed into the car and left with them as a group.

"Qin Feng, we've got a lot this time around, don't ya think? How should we divvy up the loot?" asked Zhou Hao.

Qin Feng was truly holding the reins of this entire situation. After all, the group's main efforts were centered around his strength. Still, Zhao Yu and Zhang Tianche were too embarrassed to ask so Zhou Hao was the one to step up and bite the bullet!

"We'll divide it equally!" Qin Feng replied.

"No, no, this isn't right!" Zhao Yu rebutted. "If not for you, we wouldn't have obtained so many items. Not to mention the fact that a great deal of the rewards are ranked."

It was Zhang Tianche's turn to step in. "Qin Feng takes forty percent, we'll get twenty each!"

"Agreed!" Zhou Hao said as he nodded in agreement.

Qin Feng smiled and nodded in unison. They had finally reached a consensus on the allocation of rewards for the time being.

However, in the next moment, Qin Feng sent a message to Zhou Hao. "You can have my share of the rewards. I want each of you to have a conscious fruit!"

Zhou Hao stared wide-eyed at Qing Feng. Through the communicator, he wrote, "But you're an ability user! If it were up to me, I want you to have two conscious fruits then leave the final one for Zhao Yu. It's not a big deal to her that she gets less spirit herbs, or at the very least, it won't negatively hamper her abilities. After all, it's not like you need those things now, right?"

"Even the best ancient warriors need a bit of conscious energy. While it isn't the most important unit of their total power, it can mean either life or death at the most crucial moment. Also, do you really think that a consciousness tree is only able to bear three conscious fruits at once?"

Zhou Hao made a troubled expression.

Qin Feng picked up Xiao Bai and held her near his chest while brushing her soft fur with affection.

At that moment, there was a slight change in Zhou Hao's facial expression that reflected his sudden awareness of something.

It became apparent that his mind had returned to the incident at the Greenhill copper mine.

Back then when Xiao Bai left, she went to steal the conscious fruits!

His thoughts then turned to the bare consciousness tree of today. In remembrance of the principal of Chengyang University, Zhou Hao mentally lit up a row of candles.

How unfortunate!

The exchange between them stopped then and there. Try as they might they simply could not think of anything to say to each other. Even the records on their communicators had been wiped clean.

It was only after they had cleared the gates of the military base did Qin Feng get off the vehicle at a relatively busy street. As he did so, a great number of students looked up at him, eyes full of admiration. This was partly also because it was their first time coming to Chengyang City. Needless to say, just going around this bustling city once was enough for them to learn much more than they would elsewhere.

However, most of these students would not be able to afford to stay around here for too long!

On the other hand, Qin Feng had no such worries.

After all, the huge amount of raw materials brought over from Han Town had not even been processed yet! Qin Feng managed to locate a relatively secluded corner and subsequently, set up a Dark Shroud around its perimeter to prevent prying eyes from looking in.

Bai Li hopped down from his shoulder and morphed into her human form. She then put on some clothes, a cap as well as a pair of dark sunglasses.

"Ah, how stuffy!"

Bai Li had grown to dislike staying in her bestial form now as she could not fiddle with the communicator, nor was she able to wear pretty clothes in that form, boring her out of her mind.

Qin Feng poked at her cute tiny nose. "Alright, after I'm done resting, let's go buy a new outfit for you!"

"Hubby's the best!"

Bai Li wrapped her arms around Qin Feng and licked his cheeks playfully, disregarding the fact that he had not washed himself for the past few days.

They quickly looked for a random hotel to check into. One in which Qin Feng was able to take a nice, long bath. After thoroughly scrubbing himself clean, he threw on a fresh, casual outfit for the first time in what seemed like ages.

Qin Feng, who was not wearing his school uniform but was sporting a casual outfit, appeared sharp nonetheless. Apart from that, due to his height and toned muscles, nobody was able to make out that he was in fact, only a teenager.

On the contrary, most people whose eyes met his would immediately be intimidated by his threatening presence.

An F6-tier ancient warrior.

After waving down a taxi, he brought Bai Li to a marketplace where she was given total freedom to pick whichever item she wanted. It was then that Qin Feng picked up Chen Ming's communicator.

However, there was a password set on the communicator. Luckily, Qin Feng understood Chen Ming inside-out, and after three failed attempts, he unlocked it on his fourth try.

"Liang Kan!"

It did not take long for Qin Feng to find this name.

However, to avoid alerting said person, he refrained from immediately dialling his number and instead, quickly noted down the number.

Qin Feng switched on his own communicator and connected to the battle net, on which he looked for a secret web page.

"Secret door!"

Secret door was a special intelligence agency who, given the right price, would be more than willing to sell any information that you were looking for. They also kept their secrets well-guarded, making them more secure than any other agency.

Qin Feng handed them Liang Kan's name and the number of his communicator. He then stated that he needed a simple overview on the individual before paying forth a million yuan.

To buy such information with one million yuan was way overkill. In fact, so long as the person remained in Chengyang, Qin Feng could discover way more information about Liang Kan for free if he were to put in a small bit of effort.

However, he did not wish to go down a rabbit hole which he felt was inevitable and what was more, he did not have too much time to spare at the moment.

After merely half an hour, the information he seeked was sent over.

"Liang Kan—28 years old—E-tier ancient warrior—Second-in-command of the external patrol unit of Chengyang colony!"

"Liang Kan's photo!"

"Joined Chengyang colony three years ago…"

More and more information about the man appeared below but Qin Feng's eyes were locked onto one of the photos provided.

It showed a close-up of Liang Kan posing during a training session. It must have been a scorching day when the photo was taken as glistening sweat could be seen covering his body. The sweat however, had made the weird tattoos around his neck even more obvious.

Qin Feng stared at these tattoos for a while.

"They look so familiar. I must have seen it somewhere in the past!"

Qin Feng shut his eyes and went searching through his memories. His consciousness was spinning rapidly, like the gears on a train. Memories flashed through his mind like a film reel, moving at near light speed but everything appeared to him, as clear as crystal.

Finally, a scene floated into Qin Feng's mind.

It was before his rebirth, when he was around eighteen years old. At that time, he had already reached F5-tier as an aptitude user. He was wandering around Fu City when he encountered the infamous Black Python Organization.

Of course, back then, the organisation was in its infancy stage with only around a hundred members or so. They were made up completely by mutants, none were aptitude users.

They mainly operated by ransacking caravans and robbing logistic convoys. By sheer coincidence, Qin Feng was working as a guard for one of the targeted caravans. After receiving return fire from the caravan, they retreated back where they came from. One of the guys who went for Qin Feng's position was killed on the spot and had tattoos that looked just like the one in the photo right now.

Obviously that man was not Liang Kan.

"Still, could it be possible that there's a connection between them?"

Somehow, Qin Feng felt that this was merely the tip of a colossal iceberg; he would be facing more chaos and confusion in the near future.

Chapter 149: The Good For Nothing Child of the Xin Family

"Still, this is good news innit?"

At least Qin Feng would not be as clueless as he was in the past, when he did not even have an inkling of an idea about the Z Organisation.

Qin Feng smiled unwittingly at the thought of this.

This smile however, did not last long.

"Hey pretty one, seems like you're really into these clothes. If you like it, why not buy 'em up?" A man's teasing interrupted his thoughts. Raising his head, Qin Feng saw a grimy-looking fellow standing too close for comfort to Bai Li.

Bai Li was completely oblivious as to the man's intentions. She innocently nodded in response to the man's words. "Of course, I'll buy them all!"

Bai Li had tried on quite a number of clothes and all of them looked pretty on her. The only thing left for her to do was to pay up at the counter.

The man who had just entered this place however, boldly assumed that Bai Li would not be able to afford these clothes. He thought that she was just here to try them out and lied about her intention to purchase the outfits.

The one who was truly oblivious here though, was the man. He was unaware of Bai Li's abilities, which were skilfully disguised to make her appear as your average, meek little girl. The only thing that set her apart from any other girl on the street was the color of her hair and her pupils. Still, it was not impossible to get her hair color as hair dyes did exist in their world.

Some people seeked novelty. Her white hair and silver eyes could be included as such. Not to mention the fact that she had an alluring face too!

"The tab's on me then! Name's Xin Jiasheng. I wonder what's the name of m'lady?" Xin Jiasheng asked with a devious smile.

Bai Li glanced at this Xin Jiasheng with a weird look and responded with a simple "oh".

"You're trying to hook up with me? Buy me new clothes, stuff my belly with food? Are you what they call a "rich man's son" on TV? The evil-villain antagonist type?" Bai Li's eyes lit up, followed by a cheeky laugh. "It's my first time seeing such a character in person!"

Xin Jiasheng's smile turned stiff. Still, the exchange made him realise how innocent Bai Li was. She did not show despise for him as regular girls would. Instead, she was just a playful but innocent girl with no underlying intentions. At least that seemed to be the case for him.

A thought arose in Xin Jiasheng's head.

This girl must have been raised in an abnormal family. Given the current state of life for ordinary people, even a twelve year old child, let alone a girl her age, would have already learned many harsh lessons in life!

"Were you raised in captivity at a slave farm? Or are you an artificially raised subject from a laboratory? Your eyes aren't real are they?" Xin Jiasheng felt an urge to stretch his arms out and grab Bai Li's waist and so, he inched closer to her.

Xin Jiasheng's ability had already reached the tier of F6 hence his eyes and ears were sharper than ever. He had only noticed Bai Li's beauty just now but upon closer inspection, he had come to realise that she was not wearing any colored lenses nor were there stains on her hair typically found on people with dyed hair.

Despite her peculiarity, Xin Jiasheng could not help but reach out his grubby hands. Obviously, he was trying to take advantage of the situation. There was something erotic about Bai Li's child-like innocence which caused his hand to itch. An itch which could only be cured by physical contact with the seemingly defenseless girl.

Since aptitude users were infamous in their unscrupulous mannerisms, no one at the scene was willing to chase him away, no one dared to speak up for the innocent young lady.

It was when Xin Jiasheng was about to reach out that Bai Li's innocent gaze turned freezing cold, prompting his arm to jump back as if he had touched a piece of glowing hot iron.

This was because Bai Li had sensed a malicious vibe coming off of Xin Jiasheng's body.

Moments ago, Xin Jiasheng had only planned to flirt with the pretty young lady, perhaps he was drooling over her, perhaps his mind had wandered off into dirty thoughts but none of them were about hurting Bai Li.

But now, the situation was not the same as before!

If not for the location right now, Bai Li would have already struck at him with her claws immediately after detecting the malicious vibe.

It was then that Qin Feng walked over, sullen-faced.

It did not cross his mind that there would be some creep closing in on Bai Li just after a few minutes of him not looking!

"Apologies mister but my girlfriend here is a bit awkward around strangers. If she has accidentally said anything that offended you, please don't take it to heart." Qin Feng apologised in an attempt to defuse the tense situation. His cautious eyes then shifted down toward Xin Jiasheng's sweaty hands. "However, I sincerely hope you don't make any unsound decisions. Decisions which, when made, will result in consequences you may not be able to face!"

Xin Jiasheng smirked.

A G-tier aptitude user spewing nonsense in his face? This was outrageous.

"Who do ya' think you are? Get outta my face!"

Xin Jiasheng raised his arm, planning to shove Qin Feng aside and to grab at the grand prize hiding behind his back.

Well, he did shove Qin Feng, it was just that the person in front of him did not budge as he had expected he would.

A thick wave of raw internal power came from his core, crashing down on Qin Feng's body.

Of course, Qin Feng would never head into a situation unprepared.

His internal power swelled up in an instant, releasing four times the amount of energy of an F9 user.

The power of both users clashed, resulting in Xin Jiasheng being sent flying backward through the air.

Xin Jiasheng was royally pissed.

Who would have thought that this guy would contain so much power. Though, Xin Jiasheng had not exerted his full strength in his previous attack so he deduced that he could still take down Qin Feng with no problems!

Also, Qin Feng had revealed to his enemy the extent of his abilities, which was up to F6-tier.

Xin Jiasheng cackled. "Oh ho, so your plan is to make me back off with an initial show of force? Do you genuinely think that this is enough to defeat me? I can make a single call and you'll be completely surrounded! You won't make it outta here even if you had wings on yer' back! Now, hand over that little missy behind you!"

Qin Feng's eyes were as cold as ice. "And what if I don't?"

"Then you shall die here today!"

Xin Jiasheng announced as he was about to unleash yet another attack.

His move however, was interrupted by the arrival of yet another aptitude user lurking in the luxury goods shop.

This aptitude user was of F1-tier. It seemed that many forget that the people running such shops were not your average aptitude users. This one wore a formal suit, and pinned on his chest was a label with the words "manager".

"Master Xin, how about giving face to the Cheng family? If you want to teach the ignorant one a lesson, best do it in a combat pit rather than here. Fight proudly in front of everyone while abiding by a fair set of rules!"

Within Chengyang City, especially in such areas where business was conducted, fighting was strictly forbidden unless done in specified areas.

The patrol unit focused their efforts on making this place as secure as possible to facilitate the growth of local businesses. If anything out of the ordinary were to happen, they would arrive at the scene at a moment's notice.

Apart from that, the Cheng family was of significant status in the city. They were not people you would want to mess around with.

With a single sentence from the manager, Qin Feng now knew the name of the man he was facing off against as well as the powers they possessed.

Chengyang was a massive city. Although the strongest man here was the mayor, Bai Tianyang, a D8-tier user, there were also families who had a lineage of aptitude users stretching back generations.

Pu, He, Xin and Cheng, the four great families.

He realised that the two men in front of him were members of said families.

The four great families had fates that intertwined in Chengyang City. The power that they commanded was hard to grasp. It could be said that whoever crossed Xin Jiasheng, even if they were members of his own family, that person would meet his demise shortly after.

But the man that crossed him was Qin Feng.

Upon hearing what the manager had to say, Xin Jiasheng retreated angrily. At least the man was intelligent enough to hold back his fists.

He shot a toxic glare at Qin Feng before leaving.

"Boy, I'll give you two options. One, you and me fight at the combat pit, two, your corpse will be lying on the streets rotting away as soon as you step out from this shop. The choice is yours!"

Xin Jiasheng was not planning to fight here. He also was not planning to let Qin Feng go.

From his perspective, either choice would end with the same result—Qin Feng's death. Xin Jiasheng was a new generation in his family that had exceptional potential for growth, hence the strength he possessed was to an extent, unrivalled. Still, he hoped that Qin Feng would choose the former.

Xin Jiasheng wanted everyone in the city to witness firsthand Qin Feng's humiliating defeat.

Chapter 150: Combat Pit of Chengyang

"Combat pit? Even if only one of us is going to walk out alive at the end of the day?" Qin Feng scoffed.

Xin Jiasheng was even more agitated after seeing Qin Feng's haughty attitude.

"That's right! Only one will remain standing!"

"Very well. We'll settle the score there!"

Qin Feng was fearless in the face of his opponent.

"Manager, allow me to pay for my girlfriend's items!"

"Yes Sir, right away!"

Hoping that these two muscle-headed men would leave his shop as soon as possible, he hurriedly completed their transaction.

"There is no need for you to pay. From today onward, I will be the one paying for that lass behind you. These things that you bought, I'll throw 'em all away!"

Qin Feng chuckled.

"You've got a pretty vivid imagination, don't you?"

Qin Feng raised his arms and stored everything that they had just bought into his own spatial rune equipment before exiting the store.

Xin Jiasheng too, left the place but in contrast, he climbed onto a rather luxurious roadster waiting for him outside.

It was also another form of a hover tank.

Qin Feng stood on the curb and it looked quite obvious that he did not possess a car, which gave Xin Jiasheng a chance to sneer at him. "What's that? You don't even have a…"

Halfway through his sentence, Xin Jiasheng was interrupted by Qin Feng raising his arm. With a simple wave, a hover car materialised out of thin air in front of his eyes.

Xin Jiasheng had no choice but to take back his words, which almost made him choke on his own spit.

The most important thing here was not how badass Qin Feng's car was. No, it was the fact that he had a spatial rune equipment!

How much did a spatial rune equipment eight square meters in size cost, you may ask?

Well, it far exceeded the price of a hover tank itself. It was something that even Xin Jiasheng could not afford!

"You lead the way!" Qin Feng said nonchalantly, as if ordering a small child to do something.

Xin Jiasheng was reaching his boiling point!

"God damn this man! Why the hell is he so c*cky!? I'll show you, regardless of whether it's your girl or your possessions, they'll all become mine!" A greedy look appeared in Xin Jiasheng's eyes.

The hover tank floated into the air before moving forward at a jaw-dropping speed.

Qin Feng followed closely on Xin Jiasheng's six. Despite where they were headed toward, he was focused more on the question of "how to maximise my gains from this fight".

The combat pit of Chengyang City!

What an exciting turnout of events!

Like the underground arena of Chengbei Colony, the combat pit of Chengyang City was a place for aptitude users to slug it out. However, unlike the former which was seen as illegal hence the "underground" in its name, the latter was a place where the rich and wealthy came to entertain themselves as the people below fought for their opponent's blood.

Here, fighting was done more formally. It was a place where the abilities of aptitude users were tested to its full extent! Thus, its official name was the Chengyang Colosseum!

While the place did not reek of irony blood, the death rate of its participants surged higher by the day.

This combat pit was where internal conflict was settled. In fact, the four big families would allow their young ones to slay each other right here every year. This ensured that the men above would remain untouched, thus allowing them to focus on reaping new benefits by engaging in deals with each other.

To settle disputes would be less ideal in other places due to a variety of factors so most people would think of the combat pit, which provided a sense of certainty, whenever instances such as the one Qin Feng was facing right now arose.

For the past few weeks, Qin Feng had been facing a wall which stopped him from further growing his internal strength. Who would have thought that the solution to his problem would conveniently present itself in front of him today?

Sitting beside Qin Feng in the vehicle, Bai Li pouted. "Why are you guys getting into a fight!?"

Qin Feng laughed. "Why, of course it's because of you!"

Bai Li would not have understood what Qin Feng meant by that but because it was not exactly her first time facing this sort of situation, she was able to grasp what had actually happened.

"Are you two fighting over who gets to mate with me? I'm not even mature enough to breed!"

Qin Feng's hand froze, which almost caused the vehicle to smash into a nearby skyscraper. Luckily, his reflexes were quick enough to steer the vehicle back on course. Immediately after that, he activated the auto-pilot system built into the vehicle to free up his hands, which he used to stroke Bai Li's white, flowing hair.

"You're still young yes, but you seem to know a whole lot about other things, don't you?"

Bai Li sulked. "You're going to that combat pit place. Judging from its name, I know that it's a place for fighting. We, silver foxes, remain monogamous throughout the rest of our lives so we pick only the strongest mate to produce the best offsprings. Fighting to the death and all, how could I not know about that!?"

Bai Li wore a Missus know-it-all expression on her face, which left Qin Feng speechless.

Was Bai Li really too young?

With a little bit more time, this smart-alec would develop an ability for cheekiness!

"Alright alright, you understand everything!" Qin Feng said in defeat. He had a complete grasp on where Bai Li triumphed!

To be thinking about mating at this age, it was utterly devilish!

Xin Jiasheng was riding on a roadster in front. Looking back through the rear-view mirror, he observed the duo in the vehicle behind him, conversing and laughing as if they were having a good time. The scene sparked a bonfire within him, prompting him to step mercilessly on the gas pedal.

Driving at such speeds, it was not too long before they arrived at the colosseum.

"I want to observe firsthand, just how much power you can come up with! When we're in the fight, best don't kneel down and beg for mercy!"

Qin Feng was too lazy to think of a comeback. Instead, his eyes studied the structure of the combat pit.

The arena was a vast space with an open-air design.

The total width of the arena was nearly two hundred meters, and there were many stages for sparring matches within. The smallest ones were around ten meters across while mid-range ones were about twice as wide. The biggest however, was a great forty meters wide. Surrounding each stage were platforms for observers, so looking from afar, these stages would appear as little craters that dotted the entire arena's floor. Of course, there were also rooms that were level with the stage itself, reserved for private bookings from wealthy people of Chengyang.

With Xin Jiasheng in the lead, Qin Feng went to the designated counter for the registration of participants.

The facilities here were not at all inferior to the Aptitude User's Verification Hall. In fact, it appeared to be much more comprehensive.

The rule here was that there would be rewards for every victor. However, to prevent people from hiding their true abilities and to promote fair fights, each aptitude user would be tested accurately in terms of their consciousness, their raw muscle strength, their internal powers, etc.

Luckily they did not test their rune abilities, or else Qin Feng would refuse to come here!

Also to prevent fraudulent matches where the combatants would collaborate with each other prior to the match, no rewards would be provided in such matches if the scheme were revealed. Apart from that, each participant must pay ten thousand yuan up front and would be given only half an hour to end their match.

However, ten thousand yuan to regular aptitude users was considered a small change.

Xin Jiasheng was evidently not your average Joe in Chengyang. As soon as he had arrived, the manager of the place hurried over to greet him respectfully.

"Young Master Xin, I see you have time to spare today. You're here to play a match or two, right?"

Xin Jiasheng was not in the mood for small talk. Using his communicator, he picked a battle serial number and with a cold voice, he announced, "There's an ignorant fool who's sent himself here to die today! I've no choice but to teach him a once-in-a-lifetime lesson!"

"Ha!" The manager did not hesitate to kiss the man's ass. "I can't believe someone can be so ignorant. From what I've seen, no one can defeat Young Master Xin! Please give me a moment, Young Master Xin, I'll quickly arrange for you a ring to fight in!"

The manager hurriedly set off to do his task. In just a short moment, a crowd had already formed around the two rivals. These people knew who Xin Jiasheng was, or at least, heard of him, so they all came together to witness his strength.

Suddenly, Xin Jiasheng was caught under a spotlight.

On the other hand, the observers scanned Qin Feng and Bai Li from head to toe with sympathetic eyes. There were however, some that smiled sadistically, thinking that they were about to meet their demise.

"Young Master Xin? So the one you're gonna teach a lesson to is this kid? He's got balls, don't he? Calling you out to the floor and all."

"A G-tier? How can this piece of shit even compare with Master Xin? I bet I can take him down with one arm tied!"

"Bah! I can take him down with both arms tied! One kick's enough to cripple this fella!"

"Haha!"

Xin Jiasheng looked at the people throwing shade at his opponent arrogantly, which actually disgusted him to the point of gagging.

"He's no G-tier! His strength is a force to be reckoned with!" Xin Jiasheng declared, shutting the crowd up. "But so what about it? I will beat him down from the stage regardless!"

It would appear that these words alone were enough to prop his confidence up.

Chapter 151: The Invincible Hero

The sound of the hooligans cheering for Xin Jiasheng erupted in the hall.

Qin Feng remained unyielding despite the lack of support.

His lack of reaction backfired on Xin Jiasheng, who was already nearing his limits. It felt to him as if he had smashed his fists into a pile of soft cotton, doing zero damage to his opponent.

"What's the matter? Are you pulling out now? Your battle numbers are nowhere to be seen. Chickening out I suppose?"

Xin Jiasheng proudly displayed his battle number which quantified his raw strength, internal strength and other specifications. As arrogant as he might be, his stats clearly stated that he was a "talent-class" challenger, meaning he was quite the capable fighter.

His title was not given to himself which was kind of surprising given his narcissistic personality. It was obtained via a unique test available only in this combat pit. The different classes of fighters were, respectively from the bottom, average-class, elite-class, talent-class, hero-class and lastly, the invincible-class.

One could say that for Xin Jiasheng's current abilities, the chance of advancing into an E-tier user in the near future was pretty high. Should that day come, he would undoubtedly consolidate his position in Chengyang City.

Qin Feng was not chickening out. It was just that he did not have a battle number.

After all, it was his first time coming to such a place.

Qin Feng switched on his communicator and linked up with the public network.

"Welcome to the Chengyang Colosseum. Our Colosseum proudly uses state-of-the…"

The voice sounded warm and welcoming. It must have been officially recorded using professional equipment specifically for the combat pit. The voice thoroughly explained to the newcomer the requirements of entering the combat pit.

Xin Jiasheng and his goons were speechless.

"He's a first-timer?"

"Hey, maybe he ain't from Chengyang!"

After coming back to his senses, Xin Jiasheng's anger only grew larger.

For a member of the great Xin family to be casually challenged on the streets by a literal nobody! This was an outright assault on his pride!

"Country bumpkin! I guess you're new to Chengyang Colony huh? No wonder you're challenging me! I'll make sure you die in the most agonizing way possible!"

As the saying goes, even the strongest dragon cannot defeat a mere snake that knows his surroundings. Qin Feng, being the outsider that offended Xin Jiasheng, was no doubt, heading toward his own death!

The people standing around could already foresee what was about to unfold!

"Son, you don't need to listen to every word this thing says. There's a machine over there that gauges aptitude users' abilities. It'll scan your entire body once you stand on it. You'll get your own battle number and it'll be announced when it's time for you to get on the battle stage. You'll be initiating the fight with Young Master Xin, so you just need to confirm that the number called matches yours!"

Hearing the man's words saved Qin Feng quite a significant amount of time. Without hesitation, he stepped onto the equipment placed within the great hall.

It was just like what the man had said. A beam of light from the machine scanned Qin Feng from head to toe.

In the next moment, a series of beeping noises echoed across the hall.

[Bone age test: 16 years old]

[Raw muscle strength: Hero-class]

Hero-class. He was a dragon among men, a challenger chosen by the heavens!

What was more was that Qin Feng was only sixteen! At most, it must have been only three months since his powers had awakened.

Without allowing these people time to react, the machine read out loud.

[Consciousness waves detected.]

[Consciousness: Hero-class]

"What?"

The onlookers started questioning if the machine had been busted!

This was because the raw muscle strength that the machine calculated represented one's overall physical strength. For Qin Feng to possess such levels of power, they were sure that he was an ancient warrior.

And yet, it was hard to imagine that his consciousness was hero-class. The men could not believe their ears.

On the other side of the hall, a stunned expression surfaced on Xin Jiasheng's face.

He had been constantly provided with an endless amount of resources since young and it was only due to this that his abilities were able to advance into the tier of F6, the capability of a "talent-class" fighter. This came as no easy feat, even for him.

It was precisely because of his achievement that Xin Jiasheng acted the way he did, looking down on Qin Feng as if he was nothing but a bug on the ground.

No one else should be able to reach his level, let alone surpass him.

However, right at this moment, all the confidence he had built up was shattered into a million pieces in the face of Qin Feng.

Just what kind of a monster was he? Could a mere sixteen year old be able to command powers that matched his own?

It was not over yet!

[Ancient Warrior Disposition Detected.]

[Internal Strength: Invincible-class.]

This was the pebble that would result in a thousand waves!

Invincible-class!

Who would have come to expect that someone from the Invincible-class to be standing right before them?

If a parallel was drawn between the five classes of fighters and the ultra beasts, then a monster standing shoulder-to-shoulder with an Invincible-class fighter would be a beast king!

Only a D-tier user would be able to possess such a title. The human form of a beast king—it was an utterly terrifying entity.

Cold sweat started pouring out of Xin Jiasheng's pores.

[Analysis Complete.]

The machine announced.

The information had completed installation of itself into Qin Feng's communicator and subsequently, a new combat pit account was created under his name; all the paperwork needed before a match was complete.

Qin Feng stepped down from the machine to find Xin Jiasheng's face as white as a sheet of paper.

"Let's start this thing!"

Qin Feng kept his words concise. However, these words sounded in Xin Jiasheng's ears like the devil's curse itself.

'Let's start this thing?'

'What is there to start?'

'Start my slow march toward demise?'

Xin Jiasheng could no longer keep up his composure. The opponent was Invincible-class in terms of both internal strength and consciousness while his raw muscle strength was Talent-class. Did he really have a choice to refuse when someone this strong was challenging him?

"Son, looks like you're in luck. Just you wait and see, you won't be able to defeat me with your powers alone. Insulting me and my family will only spell disaster for you later on!" Xin Jiasheng bellowed.

Qin Feng's facial expression had finally changed.

"What? Did you swallow your own words? I thought you and I were supposed to see this through till the end, where either one of us will remain standing!? Are you chickening out?"

Qin Feng's attitude reflected just how irrelevant his opponent was in his eyes!

Xin Jiasheng, who was blinded with rage, almost responded to his provocation but stopped midway.

He was too afraid of the consequences!

He feared what would result if he were to clash with Qin Feng. There was no way to go around it, he was chickening out at the last minute.

Feeling that he had already lost all the dignity he had, Xin Jiasheng uttered random words that came into his mind.

"Stay here if you have balls!" These words echoed clearly through the hall but Xin Jiasheng turned and walked away immediately after saying that, as if he was running away from a tidal wave.

Xin Jiasheng had run away. The people who initially cheered for the coward wore awkward looks on their faces—none of them dared to look Qin Feng in the eye.

Despite them trying to hide mentally from the challenger, Qin Feng pointed his finger toward a random hooligan.

"You! Didn't you say that you could take me down with a single hand?"

Being pointed out so suddenly, the man desperately tried to save himself from humiliation.

"No no no, my class is miles lower than yours. There's no point fighting me!"

Qin Feng sneered and just like Xin Jiasheng from moments ago, the man started running for his life.

Qin Feng then shifted his gaze to another man.

"You. Wanna have a match? Both hands tied right? One kick would take me down right?"

Beads of sweat decorated his forehead.

This man appeared to be of a higher tier than Qin Feng, at F7. However, his raw muscle strength was just that of a regular person. So what if his level was higher than Qin Feng? In an actual combat situation, he would be decimated within the first minute!

"Ah, I gotta go take a shit! Owh, it hurts! I gotta go to the loo!"

That man ran off with his tail between his legs!

Most of the people there knew that rationally, this was the best choice to make. Pride did not matter when one's concern was that of survival.

"Is there anyone here that would like to step up to the challenge? I, a COUNTRY BUMPKIN, came here from a humble village and would like to learn a trick or two from you masters by way of the fist!"

Qin Feng emphasised on the words country bumpkin.

None of them believed that Qin Feng was a country bumpkin anymore!

At such a young age, with such powers, even if Qin Feng were to say that he hailed from the one-and-only Emperor Dragon City of the Eastern Mainland, they would all eat it up like the idiots they were.

"Hehe, I think I left the stove on at home!"

"Ah, my favorite TV show is premiering live right now!"

"Hello? Wifey? Ah, you're going into labour? I'll be there in a sec!"

Within a matter of moments, these people acted as if they did not even know who Xin Jiasheng was, nor sneered at Qin Feng just minutes ago. All of them, at the same time, had matters to tend to elsewhere and after giving extremely lame reasons, they scattered off like rats when a cat enters the barn.

Chapter 152: Don't Let Him Leave The Arena Alive

Qin Feng sneered in disgust at the cowardly bunch but made no effort to stop them from leaving.

Right around then, the manager who went off to make arrangements for their match returned, only to realise that Xin Jiasheng, one of the fighters, had vanished.

It was not just him that had disappeared but the rest of his goons too, leaving Qin Feng standing by himself in the middle of the hall.

The manager who was famous for sucking up to members of the Xin family wore a troubled look on his face. He looked over at Qin Feng in contempt. "Where's Young Master Xin?"

"He ran off!" replied Qin Feng.

The manager couldn't understand why the young master would do such a thing. Though, it did not take long for him to come up with a plausible explanation using his imagination. "Is it because of your crappy stats? You're scared out of your wits right now, I presume? I bet you pulled out of the fight with Young Master Xin at the last minute."

"Hoho!"

Qin Feng ignored the manager's disrespectful words. Since he was already here, why not fight a few matches before leaving?

Qin Feng had been running short on liquid assets recently, so with his abilities, he should be able to get a sizable amount of reward by the end of the day.

With this in mind, Qin Feng submitted his application.

Ding-Dong!

[Your battle number has been logged into the combat pit. Currently selecting an opponent fighter!]

Since the manager had completed the arrangements for their match, an empty stage had been reserved and was ready to be used. Coincidentally, an opponent was matched with Qin Feng not too long after he put forth his submission for a new match.

[Your class is F6-tier. Ability rating, Hero-class. Your opponent is also an F6-tier participant with four consecutive wins. Your enemy's battle number is XXXX. Each victory will grant you 1 point. Reward for the first match is set at 5,000 yuan. Your assigned stage, number three!]

The reward was mediocre. In fact, it might even result in a net loss for Qin Feng. He still had to pay for occupying the stage. No matter how long or how short their match was, the participants still had to fork out 10,000 yuan for using it.

Even if Qin Feng were to win the match, he would face a loss of 5,000 yuan.

Leaving the great hall, Qin Feng, with Bai Li trailing behind, walked over to stage number three. Perhaps because of the special treatment of Xin Jiasheng by the manager, the first ten stages were the type that was twenty meters wide.

Qin Feng did not have to wait long for his opponent to arrive.

He was a burly-looking man with a grim look on his face. Clutched in his veiny hand was a giant axe that shone with a purple hue under the arena's lighting.

Just a glance was enough for Qin Feng to deduce that his opponent was an ancient warrior who engaged in parallel training.

However, his opponent's raw strength remained unknown. Still, Qin Feng took note of the fact that the man already had four consecutive wins under his belt. One more victory and he would be able to challenge higher tier fighters and thus, reap greater rewards!

Too bad, his opponent of today was Qin Feng.

"Engaging!"

"After you!"

Qin Feng unveiled his own blend of ancient warrior combat tactics.

With just a few swift steps, he dodged a wide-arcing attack of his opponent.

Qin Feng's speed in the ring was exceptional, owing to his absorption ability, which boosted all of his stats equally.

Dodging the attack, Qin Feng went straight for his opponent's exposed sides.

Raising his hand, a fist then travelled through the air with such speed that a sonic boom could be heard as it barrelled toward the opponent's waist.

The sudden attack startled the man, who underestimated how nimble of a fighter Qin Feng was. He quickly withdrew his arm and, drawing out his internal strength, he focused on increasing his own speed. In just a split-second, the face of his giant axe came down to block the attack.

Clang!

The axe that was struck by Qin Feng's fist rang out like a metallic drum. The formidable internal strength of both fighters clashed, resulting in ripples forming around the area of impact.

The burly man could physically feel a massive wave of energy surge into him through his axe, almost overwhelming him. His hands, which could not withstand the entire force from the impact tossed aside the axe.

"Such a powerful force!"

"C'mon, let's go again!" Qin Feng said with a slight grin.

After crushing a series of rookies for the past few days, he had finally stumbled upon an opponent that could take all of his force, an opponent that was worthy of his powers. The opponent, Qin Feng, started releasing, bit by bit, the powers contained within his body.

He was desperately thirsting for some exercise to warm-up his body.

It soon became clear after the battle had started, that the match was entirely a one-sided fight. Qin Feng threw ten or more punches, all of which were taken without resistance by the man.

Qin Feng had not even reached twenty moves when the man was beaten out of breath.

"I give up!" He shouted.

He knew that Qin Feng held back his punches. If not for that, he would have been dead after the first blow. Still, if he had allowed the match to continue, even the softened blows could result in internal injuries that might potentially cause his death.

As such, it was a wise choice to tap out. The man could only take this loss as a sign of him having a bad day.

[Congratulations on your victory. You can pay ten thousand yuan to continue reserving this stage for the next thirty minutes. Would you like to continue with a new fighter?]

Without any hesitation, Qin Feng accepted.

Ding-Dong!

[Your battle number has been logged into the combat pit. Currently selecting an opponent fighter!]

Although the combat pit was a popular spot in Chengyang, it did not mean that anyone on the streets was eligible to participate in fights at the arena. Qin Feng still had to wait for an opponent that possessed strength that was on par with his.

It was then that the manager's call got through to Xin Jiasheng.

"Young Master Xin, the brat that you wanted to teach a lesson to is now on stage. Would you like me to teach him a lesson?"

As the manager was not present when the incident unfolded, he thought that Qin Feng was the one who backed out of the challenge and that Young Master Xin saw no meaning in fighting such a "weak" challenger. Now that the brat was on stage, the manager thought that this was the perfect chance to show how dedicated he was to Xin Jiasheng.

Xin Jiasheng was already in his vehicle, ready to head home when the call came. Hearing what the manager had said, his nose wrinkled out of anger.

He was not exactly going to walk away from the challenge and forget about the whole matter as if it did not happen. No, he was just performing a tactical retreat which would allow him time to coordinate a plan using his family's power in order to fight Qin Feng from the shadows.

It did not, however, cross his mind that Qin Feng would have the balls to not run, but stay on and fight more matches in the combat pit.

This alone inflicted the greatest damage to Xin Jiasheng's pride.

Within the span of a second, feelings of humiliation and rage swelled up in his heart.

'However, a new opportunity has finally presented itself!' thought Xin Jiasheng.

'Since you're so adamant on staying there, then don't even think of leaving this place alive.'

"Find someone, make sure he's dead by today! Don't let him leave the stage alive! I'm coming back! Arrange a private observation room for me!"

"No problem! Enjoy the show, Young Master Xin!"

After saying that, the manager shifted his focus onto Qin Feng. A new plan floated into his mind. This time, he would arrange for a higher tier fighter to face off with Qin Feng, one that was powerful enough to kill him with a single blow!

By then, a new fighter had been selected by the system as Qin Feng's opponent. Looking up at who this opponent was, the manager's jaw dropped.

"What the hell!? Why was he matched with Zhang Tian!?"

This Zhang Tian man was a freak for fighting. He was a frequent visitor of the colosseum as a participant, which was why his face was so familiar to the manager.

However, for Qin Feng to face off with Zhang Tian, that must mean that the brat was an F6-tier aptitude user!

"This man's an F6-tier user?" The manager doubted his own eyes. The situation was not as simple as he had initially thought. As such, he quickly checked Qin Feng's battle number.

From what was displayed, Qin Feng's abilities reached the tier of F6 and it did not just end there. All his stats from the machine's analysis were Hero-class and above, which caused the manager to break out in a cold sweat.

What was he supposed to do now?

He had just guaranteed to Xin Jiasheng that this brat would be dead by the end of the day. He definitely did not expect Qin Feng to turn out to be such a strong fighter.

The manager had definitely screwed up big time.

Gritting his teeth, the manager hurriedly dialled up a handful of veteran fighters of the colosseum.

"Big K, I need you to fight a match at the combat pit. I'll make sure that you're well-compensated after this!"

"Door God[1], you resting today? There's this pretty good fighter that I need you to take care of!"

"Rat man, hurry up and come over to the combat pit!"

A series of phone calls had successfully summoned veteran fighters to the arena. Some of them liked fighting just for the sake of it while some enjoyed the challenge of triumphing over a worthy opponent.

Only after hanging up the final phone call could the manager sigh in relief.

[1] Door God is a reference to Menshen, divine protectors in Chinese mythology. Look it up on Wikipedia, there's a pretty interesting story behind it.

Chapter 153: Insane Win Streak

Soon, Xin Jiasheng returned to the combat arena and entered the private room. When focusing the internal force in his eyes, the wide area of the private room allowed him to see Qin Feng in the ring below.

Of course, if someone did not want to use their internal force, there was also a large screen in the private room that allowed the user to switch to whichever combat platform at any time.

Qin Feng was on stage number three which was not small, and it was surrounded by quite a number of spectators. Qin Feng easily defeated his third competitor, and the spectators grew ever more excited while those who were lower rank aptitude users drew close, hoping to learn some combat techniques.

The colosseum's biggest benefit came from its expensive ticket prices, many lower rank aptitude users could use combat competitions like these as a good learning platform.

This was the essence of the big city.

"Three consecutive wins!"

"Amazing!"

"Those moves and reactions, that's inhuman!"

"His stance seems to be the Spectre Motion Steps, how is it so strong? Isn't the Spectre Motion Steps only a stance with E tier potential?"

"Maybe it depends on who's using it!"

People were discussing amongst themselves, Qin Feng proceeded to challenge his next opponent. After facing three people, he had yet to face a strong opponent and only had been warming up.

Within the private room, Xin Jiasheng sullenly said, "These were the people you looked for, nothing as good as me! A pile of waste!"

With cold sweat dripping down his forehead, the manager quickly said, "Fret not Young Master Xin, even you know that this person's strength is not bad. Nobody in the same rank as him could face him, but since he's winning so easily he definitely will take the rank bypass challenge. Then, we will send someone in to stop him, this is completely justified!"

Xin Jiasheng's expression did not improve, but instead his bad mood seemed to have gotten worse!

How could the manager not, at this time, understand that Xin Jiasheng had realized that this person was too strong so he escaped! Now that the other party was getting stronger, how could he not feel jealousy and anger?

This really was a hot potato.

On the third ring, Qin Feng surmounted all of the obstacles, every fight lasted no longer than five minutes. The remaining two F6-tier fighters were both defeated by him!

[Congratulations on your five match win streak, double your rewards, double your points and continue to challenge!]

To win five matches in a row, the rewards were five thousand, ten thousand, fifteen thousand, twenty thousand and twenty five thousand. It just so happened to be a reward of one hundred thousand.

"Continue!" Qin Feng did not hesitate about his choice.

At the same time, the broadcast around the arena had also garnered more publicity.

[Dingdong! The Third Ring has achieved a five match win streak! Rank bypass challenge incoming!]

There were announcements like this everyday, but whenever there was the call for a rank bypass challenge, people would pay extra attention to it.

The audience were attracted one after the other, checking the news update on the third ring and seeing that those defeated ones were F6 aptitude users, which made them all excited.

The largest form of income for the colosseum was the tickets which were worth five thousand yuan each. It was not cheap and most of the audience were aptitude users who had come to watch and learn from the experience of their seniors.

Now, there were more and more people spectating Qin Feng's ring and his prize money had increased tenfold.

The sixth match started with fifty thousand, then one hundred thousand, then a hundred fifty thousand, two hundred thousand and five hundred thousand!

[Ding Dong! Your battle serial number has been inserted into the ring…]

After seeing that Qin Feng was continuing on with the challenge, the manager was extremely excited.

"Big K! Get him!"

The manager had already made preparations and rigged the battle serial number to match the new challenger's serial number.

Qin Feng very quickly welcomed his new opponent.

"Boy! Prepare to die!" This person's attacks were fierce. It was as if he really did want to kill Qin Feng as the battle started to get intense.

Qin Feng also got pretty angry, "It seems that you really do want to kill me." He let out a frosty laugh as he approached his opponent while using a voice that only the two of them could hear.

Big K grinned. "Who asked you to offend someone you should not have offended?"

Qin Feng was enlightened by his words. He seemed to be Xin Jiasheng's people.

Perfect timing. At that moment, Qin Feng gave the man a smile.

In Big K's eyes, that smile made his heart get this weird feeling and a chill ran down his spine. It was as if he was being stared down by a massive feral beast.

"Murderer, murderers will be killed!" Qin Feng violently struck out.

"Asteroid Assimilation!"

Before, Qin Feng had been holding back, he did not want to use Asteroid Assimilation but since this person wanted to kill him, Qin Feng decided that he was going to be merciless.

The move burst out, and a large wave of absorption power came out from Qin Feng's hands, pulling at Big K's body, making the man feel as if he was getting electrocuted, trembling and shaking with no power to resist against it at all.

His internal force was under the control of Asteroid Assimilation, and his limbs could not be controlled, only bending to the other's will.

"Argh!" Big K screamed in horror, his internal force had been drained away! It was too late!

Qin Feng relentlessly absorbed the other party's internal force, the F7-tier Big K had seven groups of internal force mist and each one was very solid!

This kind of solid energy also allowed Qin Feng's own force mist to increase rapidly.

"Repulsion!"

After the absorption was completed, Qin Feng did not hold back and killed Big K.

"Puh!" Big K spat out a bit of blood, let out a gasp and collapsed onto the ground looking very much dead. The attendants around the ring quickly rushed up to drag Big K's body off the ring.

In the private room, both the manager and Xin Jiasheng felt a chill run down their spines and a cold hand grasping their hearts.

Qin Feng continued the challenge.

Sixth match, win!

Seventh match, win!

***

Tenth match, win!

All the matches were won by Qin Feng. Among them, Qin Feng would compare notes and battle tactics with those randomly matched against him, but once he learned that someone had entered with the intent of killing him, he would not hold back.

Therefore, everyone that the manager dispatched to kill Qin Feng were all killed by their target!

"Find someone else!" Xin Jiasheng said with a fierce expression. Qin Feng's strength made Xin Jiasheng extremely wary. Such a force was to be reckoned with and should be smothered early before it could cause future problems.

"Yes, yes!" The manager wiped sweat off his face and found another group of people. This time they were F8-tier combatants.

Actually, within the colosseum, there were not that many people like that. Only with the manager and Xin Jiasheng's intervention, Qin Feng's battles kept on going.

After killing several people, Qin Feng's body was full of internal force. His opponents' energy was all absorbed away by his ability, recovering his body to a state of full strength and not feeling even the tiniest bit of exhaustion!

The eleventh match!

Qin Feng's body was like that of a beast king's, his internal strength was invincible and four times stronger than the average F9-tier aptitude user. It was just that mechanical estimation had its limits, Qin Feng's invincibility was not just within the F6-tier. F8-tier challengers were no match against him.

While his opponents were indeed getting stronger and stronger, Qin Feng seemed to be getting more and more carefree!

"Victory!"

"Another victory!"

"Fifteen consecutive wins!"

The group of people spectating was pleasantly surprised. It seemed that the ticket they bought this time really was money well spent! Qin Feng's skills and resilience really astounded them!

Now, Qin Feng's prize money had reached up to 11.1 million!

"Challenge Round 16!"

This time his opponent was F9-tier. For him, there was no difference between someone in F8 or F9-tier, his opponent was taken down and killed without a moment of hesitation.

First!

Second!

Third!

Qin Feng once again won three matches in a row, advancing forward.

Chapter 154: The Elder of the Xin Family Makes A Move

When it reached the fourth round, time dragged on but the next challenger was nowhere to be seen!

The manager was drenched in cold sweat and looking like he was about to cry. Some of these people were gold medalists in the combat pit and some were personally invited by him.

Unexpectedly, Qin Feng did not hold back and had managed to kill off all of them!

His huge network of people, all of it for this Xin family, had folded in on itself! He was regretting his move.

"Young Master Xin, there's nobody left! I have… I have nobody left!" The manager said with a trembling voice.

It looked as if Xia Jiasheng had gone mad.

"Elder Tao!" Xin Jiasheng gritted his teeth before angrily calling out.

The manager was confused, but in the next moment, a person suddenly appeared in the private room.

Tao Shichang, the honored elder of the Xin family, was a servant of the Xin family during his early years and was favored by the family. Now, he had gained the title of an honored elder, albeit still doing what he did when he was a servant.

He was assigned to protect Xin Jiasheng, the most promising member of the current generation of the Xin family.

"Elder Tao! This person must not continue on!" Xin Jiasheng was actually fretting deep down, he was unsure if Tao Shichang would take action because of a trivial thing like this.

However, Xin Jiasheng felt an unprecedented sense of danger. This opponent was too strong, his potential was too great.

Seemingly indifferent, Tao Shichang who had always been in the dark, also felt the same way!

"Young Master, be rest assured. This old one will take action."

After saying that, Tao Shichang suddenly pulled a leather mask over his face, turning his face into that of a middle-aged person's. He was a senior citizen and had a special status, for him to face off against Qin Feng was too unreasonable!

The rank-bypass challenge was not too difficult to achieve, some children of the rich families could do it. However, for the F6-tiers and other weaker tiers, three rank-bypass challenges was unheard of. Not only that, Qin Feng went through the rank-bypass challenges in one fell swoop.

Eighteen consecutive wins was shocking enough.

Even the top-ranking people of Chengyang City had taken notice. They were using various image projecting devices to keep track of the situation in the colosseum.

Not only that, there were still some people trickling over to watch.

Qin Feng had been sitting in the ring for twenty minutes, and after looking at his watch he realized that it was nearly eight o'clock. He had not eaten dinner yet! If nobody were to show up, he was going to just leave.

At that moment, a short and thin figure appeared in front of Qin Feng.

The man had a very ordinary looking face. When thrown into a crowd, he would be easily lost. However, he had a pair of eyes that gave off a chilly aura.

This was probably an expert killer!

Qin Feng's face finally became serious.

"Finally, someone that looks promising!" Qin Feng stood up.

"Your potential is incredible, what a shame…" The person said, "The tallest trees would be toppled by gale force winds!"

Qin Feng chuckled. Someone had told him something like that before. Now, he did not feel like saying anything back!

"Come at me then!"

Tao Shichang nodded, and in the next moment his body became an afterimage, and what felt like a strong gust of wind suddenly appeared. With the gust of wind came the cold glint of a poniard, rapidly approaching Qin Feng's neck.

Qin Feng was shocked, it was too fast to defend against it!

Boom!

A loud explosion rang out! A huge burst of flame rose into the air, runes were flying about as the shockwave pushed the two apart.

It was Qin Feng's fire ability. The Spring Hunting Ground was not without its benefits. Qin Feng's consciousness level had increased exponentially, to the point where he was able to remember every single thing he had seen. Once a power had been released by someone, as long as he could see it, he could mimic its properties and do the same.

This move was indeed the Fire Impact ability.

Whoosh!

Tao Shichang was flung out, bouncing across the ring a few times before reaching the edge of the ring, avoiding the huge runes.

There were surprised shouts from the stands!

"An ability!"

"How!? Isn't he an ancient warrior?"

"A double cultivation of ancient martial arts and abilities!"

Everyone cried out in excitement. "Wow, that's seriously amazing!"

Tao Shichang had been following Xin Jiasheng the entire time and knew all that Qin Feng had tested. Although consciousness could also be used by gunners, to reach the level of hero-class, that was something only ability users could achieve.

As such, he remained guarded whenever around Qin Feng.

Qin Feng also put on a serious expression. "It seems like this time, I need to get serious!"

He looked at the silver glint of his opponent's poniard and raised his hand. The Verdant Emperor Saber appeared in his hand.

Those people before were not worthy of the Verdant Emperor Saber, but now he really did have to get serious. After all, those people fought like they were trying to take down an enemy. Tao Shichang fought like he wanted to kill.

The situation was incredibly dangerous!

After seeing Qin Feng pull out the Verdant Emperor Saber which looked like a similar silvery rune equipment that seemed to be giving off a faint golden light, Tao Shichang's eyes narrowed and he was more alert.

The two of them were staring closely at one another, as if trying to find the other's flaws.

In the next moment, the two moved at the same time.

Whizz!

The two flashed toward each other. There was no sound of weapons clashing, and they both reappeared at the edge of the ring.

Qin Feng's bangs seemed to be blown aside by his breath, lightly fluttering to the ground.

Rip!

There was the sound of fabric tearing and a scratch had appeared on Tao Shichang's waist. His clothes had been damaged, revealing the silver inner armor underneath, and the armor seemed to have been damaged as well.

The corner of Tao Shichang's mouth twitched, and because of the human skin mask, the movement seemed very unnatural.

The cheering crowd went pin-drop silent and quietly looked at the two people in the ring, feeling that the tension in the air had gotten so thick that they had to hold their breath. The murderous atmosphere made it extremely hard to breathe.

Qin Feng carried himself even more seriously now in the ring as the two launched another assault.

Clang clang!

The dual sounds of weapons clashing reverberated throughout the pit, slashing at one another as the bodies wielding them shifted and rapidly struck out.

The two of them were getting faster and faster.

Qin Feng felt as if his entire person was in a moment of extreme crisis, but his muscle perfection exercise allowed him to surpass his previous offensive methods and achieve one-hundred percent of his combat ability.

It was like dancing on the tip of the saber of death.

Gradually, the recently learned moves of the Spectre Motion Steps became more and more familiar. Not only that, Qin Feng's body seemed to be slowly shrouded in a dark shadow, causing his aura to pulse.

Even his murderous intent began to converge.

Tao Shichang's pupils dilated. The killer and target had suddenly swapped places, originally he had been chasing Qin Feng but it was now Qin Feng who was chasing him. His sight could not keep up with Qin Feng's speed. The situation was getting too dangerous.

"Stab!"

Tao Shichang's body was once again wounded. While the wound was not fatal, it severely damaged Tao Shichang's spine.

With this thought, Tao Shichang suddenly became fiercer. In his other hand, a black device was revealed.

Chapter 155: Victory, Next Challenge

Tao Shichang was a person that hid in the dark, assassination was his strong suit. Fighting in the ring meant that he was at a disadvantage.

"I didn't want to use this, but… there is no other way, you have to die!"

Tao Shichang suddenly poured his internal force into the device, aimed it at Qin Feng and pulled the trigger.

The moment Qin Feng saw what he was holding, his body became highly alert.

"Fescue Needles!"

A concealed weapon!

Among ancient warriors, there were some special magical armors as well as weapons that brought great harm. In particular, when these weapons were injected with internal force, the effects would be horrifying. These were all rune weapons, not something that could be compared to ordinary firearms.

Qin Feng had been around for quite some time before his rebirth, how could he not know the power of such things.

At the moment, the release mechanism was activated, Qin Feng called upon his consciousness. Then, a dark drizzle was sprayed toward him.

"Asteroid Assimilation!"

Qin Feng pushed forward all of his internal energy This internal force combined with the previous absorptions meant that its mass was at least a hundred times bigger, nine times the number of the other party's.

"Repulsion!"

The huge wave of force was sent out, curling wildly toward the fescue needles.

The tiny, hair-like needles were used to break the internal energy's protection on the body, but Qin Feng's Asteroid Assimilation was able to absorb existing internal force. The internal force within the needles were swept up and sent back to its sender.

Poof poof poof!

Tao Shichang's face was then covered in tiny red pockmarks. When he looked closely, he realized that they were pinholes made by the fescue needles.

His aura had been extinguished, Qin Feng's absorption ability began to activate and devour the other party's internal force and strength!

Tao Shichang died with his eyes still open!

It was not until Tao Shichang was killed that the audience around him started to breathe heavily, as if someone had been strangling their necks.

Qin Feng sat cross legged without hesitation in the face of many onlookers and adjusted his aura. His inner power was out of balance, his face was pale and he seemed to have exhausted a lot of energy, his forehead was covered with sweat.

Everyone else also thought that he had used a lot of his energy.

In actual fact, while he had exhausted a lot of his energy, the harvest gained was even bigger. Since Qin Feng's meridians had been engulfed by the internal force he had previously absorbed, the recovery speed was extremely fast. The originally exhausted internal force was restored, with the addition of Tao Shichang's internal force, Qin Feng's dantian felt like it was boiling.

Maybe it was when he was in G-tier, he trained himself well, combined with the forty solid mist groups from before, Qin Feng's dantian was able to keep itself stable!

At this time the dantian was filled with mist. A quick scan and one might realize that there were now seventy four new clusters in the newly added mist group.

"Ability, absorb!"

Qin Feng called on his ability and frantically devoured the internal force. Soon, a part of the internal force expanded his meridians and the other part was returned to the dantian.

After such a long period of use, Qin Feng knew that after each absorption the return was about a quarter or a third. This time the weakest challengers were still elite F-tier ancient warriors. The internal force that was returned was more than thirty clusters.

The internal force of a standard F-tier in their peak was only ten clusters. Qin Feng's was now seven times that!

Not only that, with so many people slain, especially Tao Shichang being the last one, Qin Feng's body had also begun to experience changes.

"F7 tier!"

The audience erupted into uproarious applause and cheering.

An on-spot tier-up! Everyone that was around were extremely impressed!

While it seemed that it was easy for Qin Feng, in the eyes of the others it was an extremely difficult task.

Moreover, every step of the climb took time and effort, unlike Qin Feng, who, within a few hours of combat matches, had tiered-up in one fell swoop!

Of course, the tier-up would not affect Qin Feng's winning streak or raise the requirements. According to the rules of the combat pit, Qin Feng could even take a day off after five matches and then continue the next time. As such, being able to tier up within a week was normal, otherwise having to fight fifteen people in a row would be extremely exhausting.

Qin Feng exhaled. He opened his eyes, the surrounding audience watched him with eager faces as if waiting for him to continue on with the next challenge.

What they did not know was that in that period of time, there was a hidden silver light floating around the area. Bai Li had created a space around Qin Feng that separated him from his surroundings, if anyone were to enter that space they would be decimated.

It was a good thing nobody approached him.

"Will he continue?" Everyone was asking the same question deep down.

It was at this time that Qin Feng's communicator made a beeping notification noise.

[Serial number XXXX challenges you! Rank: F9, can be added to win streak!]

At this time, a figure was already standing at the side of the ring.

"Qin Feng, how are you? I'm Cheng Zhou, an ability user. I was wondering if I could spar with you? Of course, I will try my best to interrupt your streak. I hope you would not mind!"

The voice of the person beside the ring naturally came into Qin Feng's ear. He looked to the side at the other person, realizing that this person's aura was slightly cold, the way he spoke was also very stiff and his pupils were a dark-iron like color.

Not waiting for Qin Feng's reaction, the people around suddenly screamed.

"Cheng Zhou!"

"The Cheng family's youngest generation prodigy!"

"He's already reached F9-tier at twenty years of age!"

An ability user who was on the cusp of becoming E tier.

It was known that combat was usually carried out among ancient warriors. The number of ability users was low and they were a rare breed. They were also not good at close quarters combat skills.

Gunners facing off against each other would also use a lot of bullets, and their battles were too destructive. This required large venues as the local tyrants liked to play sniper, but it was all for entertainment. In the words of the poor, it was like using money to light fireworks.

As such, gunners were banned from combat pits and ability users would not participate in them. It was just that Qin Feng's eighteen consecutive victories had caused a stir in Chengyang City. Of course, after killing Tao Shichang, it was already nineteen!

After seeing Qin Feng release his ability, Cheng Zhou wanted to compete with him.

Qin Feng also understood the meaning behind Cheng Zhou's eyes. This person probably was not sent by Xin Jiasheng to embarrass him. If so, then Cheng Zhou could directly match up with him whenever he wanted to.

Thinking of this, Qin Feng simply nodded.

"Sure!" Qin Feng pressed the 'Confirm' button on his communicator. Cheng Zhou, outside the platform, finally had the right to step into the ring!

"I will apply for a venue, a place like this is too small for us!" Cheng Zhou said.

Qin Feng also had no objection.

Qin Feng's effective range was within three hundred meters, meaning that Qin Feng's abilities could be extended to that far of a range!

In the beginning, he could only use his Hellfire Carpet to cover a small street, which was spectacular enough. Now, what he could do was three times that of a school's track-and-field runway!

The two ability users' attacks would not be intentionally huge and exhaustive, which was a wasteful use of their consciousness, but it was definitely not something the current combat pit could accommodate!

Chapter 156: Versus Cheng Zhou

The audience in the stands felt a slight quake and the stands began to recede back. Steel plates on the ground layered on top of each other as the ring quickly expanded by an extra one hundred meters.

The battles on the other rings had already stopped, everyone's eyes now fell on the two of them in the ring.

Nobody had expected to see a battle between two big shot ability users.

In the private room, Xin Jiasheng saw that Cheng Zhou had stepped into the ring and his face became pale. Tao Shichang was dead, Xin Jiasheng was already at a loss for words, and now Cheng Zhou had arrived.

Qin Feng looked like an arrow at the end of its flight, at least to everyone that was watching.

Cheng Zhou would definitely win. After all, he also had a Hero-class consciousness. He was a true genius among the four major families. Younger and stronger than Xin Jiasheng. How could something like this not make him uncomfortable?

Now, even if Cheng Zhou were to defeat Qin Feng, Xin Jiasheng would not be happy. This would become Cheng Zhou's prestige and it would have nothing to do with Xin Jiasheng making his reappearance!

No matter what, Xin Jiasheng felt suffocated, even with the wide ring, the distance between Qin Feng and Xin Jiasheng was incredibly short.

"It would be best to give me your all. Of course, I hope that you will use your abilities to face off with mine, I'm pretty sure yours are not weak!" Cheng Zhou said as a large glove appeared beside him.

The gloves could almost wrap around the entire arm. Under the control of his consciousness, it levitated in the air. After Cheng Zhou put on the glove, the red crystal on the back of his hand shimmered with a ray of light.

Metal rune!

F9 Steel Torrent, a silver light rune equipment.

Qin Feng sheathed his blade, hanging the Verdant Emperor Saber at his waist. "You have a metal based ability, in this case, you might lose!" Qin Feng said, raising his hand to summon the Scarlet Fire Claw!

Easier said than done, in reality, Qin Feng had to stay vigilant. Ability users hardly dueled, their destructive powers were terrifying, one false move or a misstep and the results could be yards of devastation.

Qin Feng equipped the Scarlet Fire Claw on his left arm and his entire body ignited with flames.

Cheng Zhou seemed to be well-informed.

"Your flame seems to be a mutated version. In that case, it is indeed stronger. Still, my strength is stronger than yours so we're evenly matched!"

Qin Feng nodded, and since the other party did not mind, the battle could begin!

Both of them immediately backed away from one another, jumping back about fifty meters. With the confirmation that the battle had started, the two of them raised their hands.

Fire runes and steel runes lept from their arms and began to condense. The shimmering images were more than three meters high!

"Steel Cannon!"

Black steel quickly condensed and was shot at in Qin Feng's direction.

"Fire Impact!"

A large burst of flames exploded from Qin Feng's hand, forming a straight line of fire.

The attacks collided against one another with a loud bang. Looking closely it seemed that the two abilities were comparable in strength.

Sparks floated down to the ground, burning the steel and the ground was splashed with layers of molten metal.

"Condense. spear!" Cheng Zhou's consciousness shifted, and so did the molten steel on the ground as it rushed toward Qin Feng.

Qin Feng took a step and instantly hopped in another direction. The large, roaring Steel Cannon was like a massive dragon snaking its way toward him. Not only that, the spear that was made out of molten metal was nailed where Qin Feng originally stood.

"Hellfire Carpet!"

To not reciprocate was against etiquette, Qin Feng sent a wave of hellfire rushing toward Cheng Zhou.

The hellfire's area of effect was very big, Cheng Zhou wanted to dash out but he would end up eating a full brunt of the attack. The ability user's body was weak, so that meant that he would definitely get injured.

Cheng Zhou was a genius ability user, maybe it was because of age, or strength, or combat experience, he thought of a way in an instant, pressing his hands to the ground.

Suddenly, an iron pillar erupted from the ground, shielding him from the fire attack.

Qin Feng's consciousness was also very fast, as the flame wrapped around the pillar like it was a large fire snake, rushing toward Cheng Zhou as if trying to swallow him in a single bite

"Condense!"

Cheng Zhou quickly formed a meter long metal disc near him and stepped on it, he swiftly evaded the attack with the flight of the disc!

Qin Feng let out a laugh as his consciousness surged. There was an ability that allowed gunners and ability users to snatch objects out of the air so the ability users could control anything that was in flight, even people.

The fatal flaw was that if the opponent's consciousness was higher than his own, he would be robbed of the control over the object.

Just like the time when the four major universities were fighting over the conscious fruits, no one could be his opponent.

Cheng Zhou knew that Qin Feng was strong but he thought that Qin Feng's consciousness would not be able to match his own, which was why he flew up.

But was Qin Feng really unable to match that?

Cheng Zhou's consciousness may be of the Hero-class, Qin Feng's talent potential was already at the SS tier, and was able to have more acute control.

"Fall!"

Qin Feng's consciousness struck out, instantly striking that metal disc.

Cheng Zhou was stunned and rolled off. Fortunately, he was only two meters above the ground, and he even rolled to break his fall so that he would not suffer much damage.

He had also left the effective range of the Hellfire Carpet!

"Copper Wall, Iron Bastion!"

With one wave of Cheng Zhou's hand, a two meter high wall was erected in front of him, and at this time Qin Feng happened to send out his fire beam. The beam impacted against the wall and if Cheng Zhou had done it any second later he would have been hit!

"Such a pity!"

Qin Feng smiled, he did not mind much. He could see Cheng Zhou's position clearly because of his perception and the flames condensed again!

In an instant, the flames fell from the sky and surrounded Cheng Zhou!

Cheng Zhou raised his hand, and the previous steel wall immediately extended horizontally over him to intercept the fire above his head.

This time Cheng Zhou was completely safe, but he also felt like a tortoise retreating into his shell.

The battle of ability users was a dazzling mess for the eyes, but it was a dazzle that you could not peel your eyes away from. Not only that, the battle confirmed one thing. The lethality of the ability users was tremendous, one man who could take a hundred was not an exaggeration.

From the beginning, the battle between the two people only had Cheng Zhou attacking once and was forced into retreat by Qin Feng. There were only so many available runes, before mobilizing them again they would have to take their runes back, then launch another assault. Things like this took time.

However, those with many runes in their hands could unleash tens of abilities and had no need to recycle them, making it difficult for people to fight back.

The battle had only gone on for ten minutes. Even people who did not understand could see the difference between the two.

"Qin Feng is actually pushing Cheng Zhou back!"

"He's got more runes that Cheng Zhou!"

"How can this be?!"

They could not believe what they were seeing. With how talented Cheng Zhou was, who would have expected such a twist?

The battle raged on and both of them had reached the battle's climax but Cheng Zhou's forehead had begun to sweat.

He had expended too much energy.