Qin Lan and Yin Jing didn’t stand on ceremony. After a word of thanks, they sat down next to Tiemu and Shi Potian.

Yin Jing was as cold and taciturn as ever. She simply gave Qin Feng a slight nod as she sat down, a silent greeting.

Their arrival immediately made the small group even more conspicuous.

This was especially true for Qin Lan. As a well-known senior and a beauty from the Fearless Warband, her presence immediately drew the gazes of many of the males nearby.

Perhaps because there were too many Martial Artists around and too many prying eyes, both Qin Lan and Yin Jing tacitly avoided asking Qin Feng directly about his current strength.

It was inappropriate to reveal one’s strength right before the competition began.

After some brief pleasantries, there was still about an hour until the competition officially started.

This time was for the competitors to make their final adjustments and familiarize themselves with the competition rules.

Everyone simultaneously opened their personal terminals and accessed the private forums of Cannan Star Martial Arts University.

At this moment, the forums were already completely flooded with posts related to the "Newcomer Cup," and the hype was insane.

Qin Feng’s gaze was soon drawn to the titles of several pinned and featured popular posts.

[A Trial of Blood and Fire! This Year’s Newcomer Cup, Level 4 Martial Artist Bracket: An Analysis of Top Contenders and Experts! (Continuously Updated)]

[Authoritative Data & Statistics: Level 4 Martial Artist Bracket, Pyramid Model of Registered Contestants’ Combat Power Distribution!]

[Must-Read! Newcomer Cup Level 4 Bracket Top 100,000 Ranking Prediction! See if Your Name Is on the List!]

Qin Feng casually clicked on the "Top 100,000 Ranking Prediction" post.

The post’s content was a complex mathematical model created by a highly credible data analysis team on the forums. They had based it on data from previous Newcomer Cups combined with the publicly available registration information for the current one.

The post began with a shocking summary.

"...According to our model’s projections, the competition in this year’s Newcomer Cup, Level 4 Martial Artist bracket, will be as fierce as ever. To battle through the massive sea of participants, break into the top one hundred thousand, and secure the most basic guaranteed prize, a contestant’s Hard Power metrics must meet the following minimum standards:"

"First, Life Force Index must be at least 500."

"Second, one must have mastered at least seven First-level Killing Techniques to the ’Perfection’ realm."

Below this summary was a densely packed, continuously scrolling list of one hundred thousand names—the contestants the model predicted had a chance of meeting the criteria.

Qin Feng’s eyes swept rapidly over the list, but he didn’t find his own name. He wasn’t surprised by this.

After all, he had enrolled not long ago and had spent most of his time in seclusion, leaving him with almost no public track record for them to analyze.

His attention was drawn more to another set of data below the post, this one officially released and mind-numbing in its scale.

"This year’s Canaan Newcomer Cup, Level 4 Martial Artist bracket, total registered participants: 22,800,000."

"Format: 1v1 single-elimination bracket all the way through, until a final champion is decided."

"Projected total rounds: 24 or 25."

Seeing this number, even Qin Feng, whose state of mind was usually as calm as a still well, couldn’t help but be secretly astonished.

Twenty-two million, eight hundred thousand Level 4 Martial Artists!

And only the top one hundred thousand would even qualify for the guaranteed prize.

This meant an elimination rate of over ninety-nine point five percent!

To survive this bloody meat grinder, one would have to win at least eight consecutive matches!

’The competition is actually this intense...’

Qin Feng thought with a sigh of emotion.

’My Life Force Index is over 500, so I’ve more than met that requirement. But the killing techniques...’

He frowned slightly.

To maximize his strength before the Newcomer Cup, he had to make a trade-off, betting everything—all his time and resources—on raising his Life Force Index, the most fundamental attribute.

’Still, it wasn’t a bad trade.’

Qin Feng quickly adjusted his mindset.

’The Life Force Index is the foundation. With a strong enough foundation, learning killing techniques will be twice as effective. Once this Newcomer Cup is over and I’ve collected my rewards, I’ll head straight to the Warband’s Cultivation Technique library and exchange for a few powerful Second-level Killing Techniques to practice.’

’Of course, with the Dragon-Snake Spear at the Control Realm and my Perfect Wind and Thunder Staff, I’m starting to understand the shared principles between spears and staves. That should be enough for now.’

He murmured to himself, his plans for the future becoming increasingly clear.

Just then, the personal terminal on his wrist vibrated gently.

It was a private message from the Subspace Network.

The sender was Qin Lan, who was right beside him.

[Qin Feng, not bad at all. After three years in seclusion, your aura has become so profound I can’t even see through it.]

[Spill it, what’s your Life Force Index now? Are you confident you can make a run for the top hundred in this Newcomer Cup?]

Qin Feng glanced at Qin Lan beside him. She was pretending to be engrossed in the forums, but he could see her peeking at him from the corner of her eye. He couldn’t help but chuckle.

He thought for a moment before replying.

[It’s alright. I should be able to contend for it.]

He didn’t give her a specific number. This was both a way of keeping a card up his sleeve and a show of confidence.

Seeing his reply, Qin Lan’s beautiful, phoenix-like eyes instantly lit up.

For Qin Feng to say he could "contend for it" basically meant he was extremely confident!

That monster! As expected, he had once again surpassed everyone’s expectations!

Qin Feng didn’t pay any more attention to the private message. His focus was now captured by another type of extremely popular post on the forums.