But "the top 100,000" was a seemingly attainable goal, one filled with deadly temptation!

In an instant, the look in everyone’s eyes changed.

They glanced at the other contestants around them—who were just strangers moments before—with a newfound sense of vigilance and competition.

They knew that in the formal competition to come, every single person here would be a potential enemy on their path to advancement.

Qin Feng and his three companions exchanged glances, each seeing a sliver of gravity in the others’ eyes.

"Let’s go. We’ll pass the qualifiers first," Dragon Jade said in a low voice.

The four of them hesitated no longer, following the surging crowd toward the hundreds of thousands of "Qualification Verification Gates" formed by beams of light ahead.

Qin Feng casually chose an archway and stepped inside.

The moment he passed through the Light Gate, he felt as if he had entered a small, independent space.

He was surrounded by pure white, with no points of reference. A soft, electronic voice sounded in his ear:

[Please display your Imperial Arena rank and enable real-time monitoring of your vitality index.]

With a thought, Qin Feng pulled up his Imperial Arena panel.

[ID: Qin Feng]

[Current Rank: 4]

[Current Points: 98]

At the same time, he disabled the concealment of his vitality index.

[Real-time Vitality Index: 18,000.0]

[Verification passed.]

[Contestant: Qin Feng. Rank meets requirements. Vitality index meets the standard for the Sixth-level Martial Artist division.]

[Generating qualifier Virtual Space... Generation complete.]

The pure white world before him instantly transformed, becoming a standard, circular alloy arena approximately one kilometer in diameter.

On the other side of the arena, a stream of data materialized from thin air, quickly coalescing into a humanoid creature about Qin Feng’s height, with a blurred face and a Standard Alloy Long Spear in hand.

This was the qualifier’s examiner—a Virtual Puppet.

[Qualifier assessment, begin.]

The moment the system prompt sounded, the puppet moved.

Its movements were textbook-perfect. Its footwork was steady, and with a flick of its Long Spear, it executed a standard Level 4 Spear Skill killing move, thrusting straight for Qin Feng’s face.

Spiritual Energy gathered at the tip of the spear, creating a sharp, piercing sound as it cut through the air.

’A vitality index of Ten Thousand Points, and a Fourth-level Killing Technique at the Minor Accomplishment stage.’

For the vast majority of contestants who had just advanced to Sixth-level Martial Artist and whose killing techniques were still lingering at the Beginner stage, this was indeed a considerable challenge.

But for Qin Feng...

He didn’t even draw the [Raging Tide] long spear in his hand.

Facing the powerful, heavy thrust, he simply raised his right hand calmly.

The instant the spear tip was about to reach him, his figure flickered slightly. He sidestepped at an incredible angle to dodge the sharp point, and at the same time, his right hand opened—five fingers like an iron clamp—and precisely grabbed the shaft of the rapidly thrusting spear!

VMMMM—!

The Virtual Puppet’s strike, containing Ten Thousand Points of vitality, was easily stopped single-handedly by Qin Feng. The spear shaft vibrated violently in his palm but couldn’t advance another inch!

The next instant, Qin Feng’s five fingers clenched with sudden force!

CRACK!

The sturdy spear shaft, forged from high-strength alloy and capable of withstanding tens of thousands of points of force, was actually twisted and warped by his bare hand, letting out a grating metallic screech!

And Qin Feng had already closed the distance.

He channeled the pure physical power of his body—comparable to that of an Embryonic Stage Starry Sky Beast—into his right fist and threw a punch!

[Jade Shatter]!

BAM!

His fist landed squarely on the Virtual Puppet’s chest.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a muffled thud, like a fist hitting a worn-out cowhide drum.

The Virtual Puppet’s body, made of data, caved in and contorted as if it had been struck head-on by an invisible mountain. Then, with a BOOM, it exploded into a cloud of primitive data motes that filled the air.

[Target defeated.]

[Congratulations, you have passed the qualifier.]

[You have obtained a spot in the formal competition. Transporting you to the formal competition waiting area...]

The cold electronic voice sounded again. The arena world before him quickly dissipated, replaced by a vast, seemingly endless plain.

The sky here was a dreary gray, and the ground was cracked, dark-red earth.

This was the waiting area for the formal competition.

Qin Feng scanned his surroundings and saw that a number of contestants who had passed the qualifiers were already scattered across the massive plain.

There were many of them—several million by his estimate—and it seemed they had been here for a long time.

Some were sitting cross-legged in meditation, while others were practicing their killing techniques.

Apparently, the one million people on the passenger ship they had just been on were not the only contestants.

This was just the beginning.

Sure enough, in the time that followed, new figures began to teleport into this space continuously.

Flashes of white light appeared one after another as powerful Sixth-level Martial Artists materialized in every corner of the plain.

The number of people was growing at a terrifying rate.

Soon, Dragon Jade, Nissan, and Ning Jing were also teleported in one by one and regrouped with Qin Feng.

They too had passed the qualifiers with ease.

"More and more people are showing up." Nissan clicked his tongue as he watched the ever-increasing number of contestants.

"This is just the beginning," Dragon Jade said, his expression extremely grave. "’This Star Zone’ governs hundreds of millions of star systems. And this time, the Starry Sky Cup is a grand competition jointly held by dozens of surrounding Star Zones. Just think about it—how many top-tier Martial Arts Universities like our Canaan will there be? How many students will come to compete? And how many from the top one hundred Martial Arts Universities?"

No one could accurately calculate that number.

But one thing was certain: the total number of Sixth-level Martial Artists gathered here would reach a horrifying, astronomical figure!

Hundreds of millions? Billions? Or even more!

Billions of geniuses of the same level, fighting in a brutal, unending battle royale on this pre-set battlefield!

Suffer a serious injury, and the system would deem you "eliminated" and automatically teleport you out.

Only the top 100,000 who survived to the very end would earn the right to continue in the competition!

Even Qin Feng couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath after he fully grasped the terrifying reality of the situation.

The Starry Sky Cup had only just begun, yet its prestige and brutality were already at such an extreme level!

Nissan looked at the unfamiliar opponents around them, each with a different expression and a powerful aura, and couldn’t help but muse in a low voice, "How can you even call this the ’formal competition’...? It would be more accurate to say that this stage before the top 100,000 is the real ’mass audition’..."

Qin Feng nodded in deep agreement. "Exactly. If you don’t have some real skill, you probably won’t even qualify to set foot on the actual Starry Sky Cup stage."