[Qin Feng: I’m out of seclusion.]

The very next second after he sent the message...

DING! DING! DING!

Three instant replies popped up simultaneously.

[Lei Meng: Holy shit! Boss, you’re finally out!]

[Xiong Yanfu: Welcome back, Madman Qin! Taotie Residence, seven o’clock tonight. Be there!]

[Tiemu: Mm.]

Qin Feng smiled and replied with a single word: "Okay."

Then, after a moment of thought, he opened his private chat with Shi Potian.

He thought for a moment and decided he should introduce Shi Potian to Xiong Yanfu and the others.

They were all students at Cannan Star Martial Arts University, and they were bound to run into each other eventually. In any case, another friend meant another connection.

Besides, given their talent and character, they were definitely people worth knowing.

[Qin Feng: Potian, I’m out of seclusion. I’m having a small get-together with a few friends at the Taotie Residence in the Food God District. If you’re free, you should come. I’ll introduce you.]

-----------------

「Food God District, Taotie Residence.」

Every private room here was inscribed with an Energy Isolation Array, ensuring that not a single trace of sound, aura, or even unconsciously emitted fluctuations of Mental Power could escape.

The ingredients were sourced from rare and Exotic Beasts across the Cosmos, personally prepared by Grandmaster Level chefs who specialized in "culinary nourishment." Every dish was, in itself, a gentle yet potent Spiritual Energy supplement.

As Qin Feng pushed open the heavy door to the private room—carved from a single block of sound-dampening wood—Lei Meng’s signature booming voice rang out.

"Holy shit, Boss! You’re finally out! I thought you were planning to stay in your dorm and cultivate until the end of time!"

Inside the room, three figures were already seated around a massive, circular jade table.

Lei Meng, with his gleaming bald head and a build as sturdy as an iron tower;

Tiemu, his expression calm and his aura as contained as a mountain;

And Xiong Yanfu, who perpetually wore the easy, familiar smile of someone who had everything under control.

Three years had left few marks of age on them. Instead, their already sharp auras had only grown more profound and condensed.

When their gazes converged on Qin Feng at the doorway, a flicker of almost imperceptible astonishment crossed all three of their faces.

The Qin Feng before them seemed to have changed, and yet he hadn’t.

His face still held the same familiar determination and tranquility, but the overall feeling he gave off had changed completely.

If the Qin Feng of three years ago was a peerless, deadly weapon in its scabbard—sharp edge exposed, radiating an unstoppable, murderous intent—

Then the man before them now was like a bottomless ancient well, or a silent, star-filled sky.

All of his sharpness, his edge, his power—it was all contained within a body that didn’t even seem particularly large.

You couldn’t feel the slightest pressure from him. But if you tried to probe his depths, your consciousness would be involuntarily swallowed by a profound, deathly stillness, making you feel an indescribable sense of insignificance and a shudder that originated from the very depths of your soul.

’A return to true nature.’

The phrase surfaced in both Xiong Yanfu’s and Tiemu’s minds at the same time.

"Looks like you gained a lot during your three years of seclusion, Madman Qin."

Xiong Yanfu chuckled, pushing up a pair of imaginary glasses on the bridge of his nose, though his eyes held a hint of gravity.

"Mm."

Tiemu simply nodded, but his steady eyes were also filled with shock.

To his senses, the surging Spiritual Energy within Qin Feng could no longer be described as a "river." It was more like a terrifying nebula in the midst of a supernova explosion!

"Hahaha, don’t just stand there! Sit down, sit down!"

Lei Meng boisterously stood up and pulled Qin Feng into the empty seat beside him. "Fatty Xiong really spared no expense today. He ordered a whole table of rare delicacies, said he’s going to help you recover your strength! We’re not leaving until we’re drunk tonight!"

Qin Feng smiled and let himself be seated. A warm feeling spread through his chest as his gaze swept over his three friends.

"I’d like to introduce you to a new friend, who’s also an old friend of mine," Qin Feng said, his voice slightly hoarse from disuse but perfectly clear to everyone’s ears.

Just as he finished speaking, the door to the room was silently pushed open again.

A tall, lean, and stern-faced figure walked in.

He wore a well-tailored black Combat Suit. His features were sharp and chiseled, his eyes as keen as a hawk’s. His entire being radiated a pure, aloof aura that warned strangers to keep their distance.

He just stood there silently, yet it was as if he existed in a world of his own, completely at odds with the lively atmosphere of the room.

It was Shi Potian.

"This is Shi Potian."

Qin Feng gestured to the newly arrived Shi Potian, then turned to him. "Potian, these three are friends I made in Canaan: Lei Meng, Tiemu, and Xiong Yanfu."

"A classmate from my high school days, and also my most important comrade-in-arms," Qin Feng added.

He then explained further to Shi Potian, "I met these three ten years ago during our freshman assessment. You could say we have a life-and-death bond."

Qin Feng’s introductions were concise, yet they instantly closed the psychological distance between both sides.

The gazes Lei Meng and the others gave Shi Potian immediately held less scrutiny and more approval.

For someone to be called "the most important comrade-in-arms from his high school days" by a monster like Qin Feng... you didn’t need a brain to know that his strength and talent had to be absolutely extraordinary.