Fierce? Du Peng emerged in the combat stance of a New Human, but now, unless his opponents were blind, they would immediately sense his might.

With bulging muscles complemented by shimmering, smooth scales, Du Peng resembled a general clad in flexible, tight armor—this was the Dragon-type, hailed as the strongest among the combat-oriented New Humans!

Qin Fen watched Du Peng, who had turned a misfortune into a blessing. He was genuinely happy for his comrade, a friend since their rookie days. Since Du Peng had only recently become a New Human, and the research conducted by Lin Liqiang and others on this state was limited, the true special abilities of the Dragon-type would likely only be discovered over time, alongside Lin Liqiang.

Bang! Du Peng’s middle finger, now a Dragon Claw, clenched tightly. The air was squeezed as if an automobile tire had exploded. His eyes locked onto Di Shitian: "This is my current peak strength! Let’s begin!"

Lin Liqiang stared excitedly at the impending spar. This was the first time Du Peng was entering a fight in his human-dragon combat form since becoming a New Human and discovering he was of the Dragon lineage.

Di Shitian stood tall, immovable as a cliff face. As the Chief of the Sacred Martial Hall, his strength meant he required no preparatory combat stance, even when facing Du Peng at the peak of the Sixteen-Star level, regardless of Du Peng’s New Human Dragon-type battle posture.

Purple electrical arcs, visibly interwoven, coiled around Di Shitian, forming what looked like an armor of electricity.

These arcs did not appear thick, yet no one dared mistake them for delicate filaments; they might well be called the Federation's strongest electric net.

Facing perhaps the strongest person in the world of electric martial arts, Du Peng showed no courtesy to Di Shitian. A Dragon Roar erupted from his mouth, instantly shattering every piece of glass in the room. His feet stomped the ground in rapid succession, sounding like hundreds of metal stakes hammering the earth. The power channeled from his waist through his back, his body striking out like a dragon's arm—powerful as a long spear piercing the wind and sun—delivering the fierce and dominant Seven Star Immortal Thunder strike directly toward Di Shitian's vital chest point.

Fierce! Dominating! Qin Fen’s eyes widened as he inwardly sighed. No wonder Lin Liqiang claimed that Du Peng was peerless at the Sixteen-Star level. Today, he possessed more Dragon Majesty than even the Little Dragon King, Yang Lie. The requirements for the body in both the Seven Star Immortal Thunder and the Formless Waterbird techniques were too exacting; even the powerful Du Zhanpeng couldn't master them simultaneously. After two great tribulations, Du Peng had finally integrated these two divine techniques into a single, supreme art!

Du Peng, a Sixteen-Star Human Gang state cultivator, combined with his Dragon-type New Human physique, made this strike possess the momentum of the heavens collapsing. The martial technique of the Seven Star Immortal Thunder now contained the cutting skills of the Formless Waterbird. If anyone mistakenly believed this technique merely involved delivering explosive force into the body and recklessly tried to stop it, their fate would likely be having their limbs sliced apart.

In the small room, by the time the Dragon Roar erupted, Du Peng was already before Di Shitian! Di Shitian, who had never truly attacked in front of Du Peng, took one step out, his arm barring his chest like a chain across a river. The electrical arcs became chains, instantly enveloping Du Peng's arm as if in a vast net. A powerful suction accelerated Du Peng's charge but also destroyed his balance. Within the arcs of electricity, the mighty Thunder God's Hammer descended as Di Shitian clenched his five fingers into a fist.

With his balance forcibly broken, Du Peng stomped his left foot urgently, suddenly whipping his right knee up. His entire body became like a drawn bowstring, bracing to meet Di Shitian's Sixteen-Star Thunder God's Hammer head-on.

The two massive forces collided. Di Shitian transformed his hammer into a sword edge, and a beam of electricity shot out from his pointed fingers at point-blank range, piercing Du Peng's lower abdomen. The pungent, sickening smell of scorched flesh filled every corner of the room. Di Shitian's right foot squarely met Du Peng’s abdomen, kicking him flying.

Tactics! Du Peng lay amidst the ruins where he had crashed through several walls, looking up at Di Shitian. This was the strength of the Chief of the Sacred Martial Hall. In their brute-force Sixteen-Star states, Du Peng of the Dragon lineage was clearly superior, but under Di Shitian’s seasoned tactics, he was instantly overwhelmed a hundredfold.

Qin Fen nodded slightly upon observing Di Shitian's technique. This was the advantage of veteran powerhouses. They might lack the sheer impact of the younger generation of martial artists, but their experience, their tactics, their willpower, and their on-the-spot reactions far surpassed the youth.

To defeat Tathagata was not simply about reaching the Heavenly Gang state! Within half a year, the goal was not only to kill Tathagata but to contend for the true title of World's Number One at the Gathering of Elites!

Di Shitian turned back to Qin Fen and stated calmly, "What I needed to say, my previous moves have already explained. Find me a room."

Having said what needed saying, he naturally referred to the tactics. Qin Fen bowed lightly. Regardless of whether his own strength surpassed Di Shitian's, a Master was still a Master! The guidance just provided was more an expression of a master's care for his disciple.

Du Peng had already vanished during the conversation. From the exchange, he had gained the conclusion and experience he sought; staying longer would only be a waste of time.

Compared to others, Du Peng's Star-level strength was significantly lower. His time was the most critical, so naturally, he wouldn't waste a single second.

After settling Di Shitian and Ferrero, Qin Fen let out a long breath. He watched the dozens of soldiers nervously cleaning up the debris Du Peng had created and secretly made a decision.

Seclusion! This period of seclusion would be longer than any before! It would have only one objective: to seek out the Grandmaster, to find Zeng Yicheng, to find Zong Jue Lü and the others, and undergo a specialized training unlike any other.

Seclusion was not unfamiliar to any martial artist. Reaching the threshold of breaking through the Star level was almost the inevitable path chosen by every warrior. Even if one wasn't firmly set on the path of martial arts, but rather a common citizen, an office worker living a life of questionable happiness, when their martial star level showed signs of a breakthrough, they would choose seclusion to advance.

The Federation openly supported martial arts practice for all citizens, with explicit annotations in the Federation Constitution: any person entering seclusion to seek a breakthrough in star power levels must be unconditionally supported by their company or unit, receiving their full salary. Any violation incurred a penalty of a hundred times their salary.

The Constitution, the highest legal code of the Federation, was backed by the groups under the Divine Beast Warriors, meaning other companies naturally would not violate such a fundamental law.

Since truly embarking on the path of martial arts, Qin Fen had entered seclusion more than once or twice. Sometimes this meant sealing himself in a cramped space; other times, it meant abandoning everything and wandering aimlessly.

Seclusion did not necessarily mean completely isolating oneself in a small space. The character bi (closed) in seclusion referred to a closure of the spirit, not necessarily a closure of action.

What Qin Fen intended to do this time was complete seclusion—a collective shutdown of both mind and body, an extended, thorough retreat.

Extended seclusion required special measures. Qin Fen did not want to be trapped in that bizarre space, only to be awakened by extreme hunger during a confrontation with several powerhouses.

Even the strongest martial artists were still human; they required food and nutrition to sustain life, even Heavenly Gang level warriors.

A specialized nutrient fluid tank and a respirator fitted over his mouth and nose—this was a life-sustaining apparatus specially built for Qin Fen by Lin Liqiang’s contacts.

Stripped naked, revealing his strong, aesthetically sculpted muscles, Qin Fen lay quietly within this specialized machine, appearing incredibly serene in slumber.

In the deep, dark, boundless expanse of the void, Qin Fen floated quietly in this unique mental space where his feet could not touch the ground.

Having witnessed the technology of the Founding Council and their research into spatial technology, Qin Fen felt even greater admiration for the Atlanteans, who could create a unique mental space that even the Founding Council could not replicate.

The strange, specialized space rapidly shifted, the four visions gradually gaining other colors. Green, a sea of towering trees everywhere—at first glance, it seemed he had re-entered a Pandora-like space created by humans. But upon closer inspection, the flora here was vastly different from Pandora’s plants; almost every species was one Qin Fen had never encountered.

A massive, roaring sound suddenly exploded. Qin Fen looked toward the roar, his skin instinctively sensing danger before his eyes did—the sensation was like a normal person walking in the wilderness, suddenly realizing they were spotted by a wolf pack behind them.

A flash of light pierced the dim woods. Qin Fen watched the luminous figure floating before him without surprise. This emotionless, cold, mechanical-sounding light being began its explanation: "Simulated survival. Death here means the death of your physical entity. Strive to survive on this planet encountered by the Atlanteans during their interstellar travels."

A planet encountered by the Atlanteans? Before Qin Fen could ask further questions, the light being vanished as abruptly as it appeared.

Qin Fen walked calmly among the gigantic, unfamiliar plants. A single fruit shaped vaguely like an apple hung heavily from the branch of a giant tree, as large as a villa.

The vegetation of any region is usually determined by the other organisms inhabiting it. Seeing such a massive apple, Qin Feng dimly sensed that the creatures he was facing, at least in form, might be unprecedentedly enormous.

The trees not far away swayed. Qin Fen saw a robust physique, towering several stories high; its thick tail, with a gentle flick, could snap thick trees in half.

A dinosaur! Qin Feng looked at the absurd creature before him. It turned out that even in the Atlantean era, other living planets hosted dinosaurs.

The multi-story dinosaur opened its mouth and roared skyward. It charged forward maniacally, seemingly paying no attention to Qin Fen blocking its path.

It was afraid? Qin Fen read a surprising implication in the dinosaur's small eyes. Such a colossal creature felt fear? During the dinosaur age on Earth, dinosaurs were the undisputed overlords, the absolute apex predators. Yet, the dinosaur here seemed fearful and timid?

"Ow-ow-ow-ow,"

Several calls—wild, yet possessing a rhythmic, excited strangeness—sounded behind the dinosaur. They were creatures resembling humans, walking upright, with four eyes atop their heads—two in front, one on each side. Their skin was blue, and they possessed tails. They stood about two meters tall.

Compared to the size of the dinosaur, these beings, riding creatures that looked almost like "wild boars," were minuscule. Yet, it was these small creatures chasing the massive dinosaur in flight.

It was clear the pursuers were leisurely, treating it more like a game than a hunt.

Qin Fen good-naturedly moved to the side, an action that drew the attention of the pursuers. He pulled the mane on the back of his boar-like mount, his eyes scrutinizing Qin Fen strangely. Suddenly, he clapped a hand over his mouth and let out an "ow-ow-ow" call. The boar unleashed its six hooves and charged toward Qin Fen like a mad beast.

Hostility! Prey! Qin Fen instantly perceived two meanings in the pursuer's eyes. This creature, which had been chasing the dinosaur, no longer wished to hunt the dinosaur but intended to hunt Qin Fen.

Instantly, Qin Fen felt danger.

This was a strange sensation. Since reaching the Heavenly Gang Qi State, few beings among the Federation, or even among the monstrous beasts, could trigger such a sense of looming danger in him. Yet, one of these blue-skinned beings here managed to make him feel alerted.

Bang! The charging boar suddenly exploded into a slurry of flesh, emitting no cry of agony before being annihilated by the force exerted by the blue-skinned being.

Attack! The blue-skinned monster moved swiftly. Its right arm, with four splayed fingers, swept toward Qin Fen like a loose net, subtly concealing several potential shifts in attack.

With no time for further speculation, Qin Fen bent his arm and drove his elbow forward like a spear, his Heavenly Gang Qi permeating his entire body. He met the blue-skinned monster head-on in a full collision. His Ten Dragons Ten Elephants strength was like a bulldozer facing a dilapidated building, directly blasting the blue-skinned monster backward.

So strong! Qin Fen hadn't expected the blue-skinned monster before him to possess the ability to counter the Heavenly Gang Qi. Although its power wasn't the true Zhenqi of Earth's martial arts, it was a peculiar energy that seemed to contain a solar quality.

After sending the feigning, blue-skinned monster flying with one move, Qin Fen dared not relax even slightly. From the contact, he could clearly tell this creature had an overwhelming aggressive drive; it hadn't been hunting the dinosaur merely for food, but purely for sadistic slaughter.

As the blue-skinned monster flew back, landing on its feet, Qin Fen executed a Dragon Cannon maneuver, propelling his body forward at high speed. Crashing through heavy tree obstructions, he brought a palm strike down from above.

In a moment of life and death, the blue-skinned monster let out a long howl toward the sky, a sound that echoed through the clouds and shook the heavens.

Bang! The blue-skinned monster’s long cry stopped abruptly as Qin Fen's punch drove him directly into the ground. All its bones shattered only after impacting the earth, followed immediately by the explosive tearing of its muscle tissue.

After dispatching the aggressive blue-skinned monster with a palm strike, continuous howls erupted from different locations surrounding the jungle.

Unlike the mournful cry of the blue-skinned monster before its death, Qin Fen could discern that these long howls were filled with fury and grief.

"So many?"

Qin Fen frowned hard. Though he had won multiple group battles since starting his journey, he had never faced such a large number of opponents, and they were all brimming with rage.

A plea for peace? Qin Fen believed that the blue-skinned monsters on this planet, much like humans on Earth, occupied the highest position on the food chain; other creatures were merely their food. Who in the world would negotiate peace with their food?

Tigers are stronger than humans, yet humans never propose peace with tigers; they still organize forces to hunt them down and kill them.

The blue-skinned monsters were extremely fast. Within ten seconds, one had appeared at the battle site, its four enraged eyes searching everywhere for the killer of its companion.

After searching for two seconds, the blue-skinned monster confirmed the culprit was not present. It turned to look at its fallen comrade in the pit.

At that exact moment, intense killing intent erupted from the treetop. The blue-skinned monster snapped its head around, staring in shock at Qin Fen plummeting from above. Its arms were only halfway raised when Qin Fen's axe-like right leg smashed violently into its skull, the force driving straight through its body.

Having killed two blue-skinned monsters, Qin Fen sensed more approaching at high speed. Some possessed only the Gang level strength, many were at the Heavenly Gang level, and there were even beings faintly existing above the Heavenly Gang level.

If he stayed here, he might manage to assassinate a few more monsters through stealth, but he couldn't possibly kill them all. There was no other reason: even though he was at the Heavenly Gang level and had fought in multiple group battles, he didn't believe he could be the ultimate victor if several hundred Heavenly Gang level opponents swarmed him simultaneously.

This wasn't an issue solvable by sheer dominance! On the razor's edge of life and death, hesitation was impossible. Qin Fen turned and unleashed his full strength, sprinting away.

The enraged blue-skinned monsters pursued him rapidly. The vast forest instantly transformed into a massive battlefield, everywhere ravaged by the pursuit.

A week might pass in the blink of an eye for many people, but for Qin Fen, seven days felt agonizingly long. At times, he even wished he hadn't asked Lin Liqiang to customize that bizarre survival machine, so he could have awakened sooner from starvation.

He had been left in this place by that utterly emotionless light being for a full week. Qin Fen had intended to enter his mental space to spar with the Eight Great Masters to hone his martial arts, but instead, he was dumped here, never imagining such terrifying monsters existed in the world.

On the first day, Qin Fen clearly remembered the hours spent fighting desperately. On the second day, he still vaguely recalled fighting for two days straight in tracking, ambushing, and executing kills.

By the third day, Qin Fen had completely lost track of time, pouring all his focus into this battle against what felt like a massive encirclement.

For a week, Qin Fen spent all his time entangled with these blue-skinned monsters, save for minimal rest and eating periods.

He initially thought there were only about a hundred blue-skinned monsters, but as time passed and the area expanded, Qin Fen was shocked to find at least three hundred of these beings.

They not only possessed immense strength but also intelligent minds, skillfully employing military tactics and traps.

This was no longer a mere battle; it was an actual war! Qin Fen alone against all the blue-skinned monsters.

After one week, the number of blue-skinned monsters had decreased from an initial three hundred to just over two hundred. Qin Fen killed an average of over a dozen monsters daily, including situations where he fought several Heavenly Gang-level opponents simultaneously.

These blue-skinned monsters were not only powerful but also possessed strange abilities: breathing fire, ice, sulfuric acid, or thick smoke—almost everything imaginable.

Qin Fen gasped for breath, looking at the blue-skinned monster he had just slain at his feet. The surrounding trees and mountains had been completely flattened by the force of their clashes.

This was the most arduous battle in seven days, and perhaps the strongest among the blue-skinned monsters they had encountered so far!

In recent days, after suffering continuous heavy losses, the blue-skinned monsters had used the lives of several companions to set a trap, ultimately forcing Qin Fen into it—the very situation leading to the confrontation with the monster he had just killed.

Qin Fen couldn't afford to linger. After the fight, he had to leave quickly, or being surrounded by the other blue-skinned monsters would make retreat nearly impossible.

Whether death here truly meant permanent death, Qin Fen didn't know if the light being was deceiving him, but he dared not test it. Moreover, facing these aggressively attacking monsters, he had no desire to dodge or evade.

Compared to the sparring matches with the Grandmasters, where they held back their power, Qin Fen preferred this life-or-death struggle.

Half a month later, the last living blue-skinned monster fell at Qin Fen's feet.

Surveying the barren landscape, devoid of any life, Qin Fen couldn't help but marvel at the brutality of the final confrontation. He had single-handedly fought twenty-six Heavenly Gang level blue-skinned monsters. Nearly every bone in his body had shattered and reformed once before he managed to wipe them all out in one surge—recalling it was a truly insane feat.

For half a month, Qin Fen felt as if he had lived half a century. For every thousandth of a second, his spirit was tightly coiled; any lapse could mean death.

In half a month, Qin Fen felt he was no longer the warrior who had just entered the Heavenly Gang level. His power seemed smooth and round, without sharp edges, yet when fighting demanded sharpness, countless angles could erupt instantly.

The bright sky suddenly flashed again. Qin Fen looked up at the emotionless light being suspended in the air.

"The tester has passed the first trial and possesses the preliminary qualification for true Star Power Infusion. Preparing to initiate the second trial."

"I-" Before Qin Fen could voice his intention to spar with the Master, the scenery before his eyes warped once more. This time, the setting shifted away from the bizarre and unfamiliar environment to a colossal ancient city. Walls towering over twenty meters high formed a massive defensive fortress, nearly impenetrable against the age of cold steel.

Lian still has a chapter tonight.