Grinding to Become the Master of the Universe

Qin Feng’s brow twitched slightly.

He didn’t want any trouble.

To him, this kind of on-campus challenge was far less valuable than a satisfying ranked match at the Imperial Arena.

There, he could hone his killing moves and test his training without holding back.

Those matches were truly exhilarating, leaving him feeling refreshed and utterly clear-headed.

Sparring with classmates whose Slaughter Realm hadn’t even reached Minor Success was just a waste of time. It offered him no improvement whatsoever.

The burly man walked up to the table, stopping about three steps away from Qin Feng.

His gaze locked precisely onto Qin Feng. There was no hostility in his eyes, only pure battle intent.

"Hello, Qin Feng."

His voice, like his build, was steady and deep. "My name is Tie Lin. You didn’t accept the friend request I sent, so I had to come find you in person."

Tie Lin’s posture was humble, and his words were polite.

"I saw your perfect score in the combat simulation. It was staggering. So, I’d like to request a match with you in the school’s public training hall. I just want to experience firsthand how big the gap is between me and a perfect score. I hope you’ll grace me with your instruction."

Though his words were courteous, all the students watching in the cafeteria could hear the defiance hidden beneath the politeness.

The second-ranked in combat challenging the first in their year.

This was undoubtedly a highly anticipated clash of titans.

Murmurs began to ripple through the crowd.

"It’s Tie Lin! I knew he’d come looking for Qin Feng."

"This is going to be good. Tie Lin chose the Thousand Army Spear, and so did Qin Feng."

"But Qin Feng got a perfect score in combat. That score is insane. It’s over two hundred points higher than Tie Lin’s."

"Fight! Fight!"

"Yeah, I want to see what a two-hundred-point gap looks like! Fight!"

Faced with Tie Lin’s challenge and the surrounding chatter, Qin Feng’s expression remained unchanged.

He seemed not to notice the challenging tone in Tie Lin’s words, instead focusing precisely on that final phrase—"grace me with your instruction."

Qin Feng stood up. He was shorter than Tie Lin by half a head, but his presence was no less imposing.

"What do you practice?"

Qin Feng asked.

Tie Lin froze for a moment, not expecting that question, but he answered truthfully, "I major in spear arts. The Thousand Army Spear."

"Good."

Qin Feng nodded, then said something that no one expected: "If it’s the Thousand Army Spear, then I can indeed teach you a thing or two."

"Alright, a match won’t be necessary."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over Tie Lin, and continued, "If we really fought, you wouldn’t learn a thing."

The moment he said this, Tie Lin’s face flushed red, and his fists clenched subconsciously.

The surrounding students also erupted in an uproar, feeling that Qin Feng’s words were far too arrogant.

However, Qin Feng ignored everyone’s reaction.

He turned and walked to a corner of the cafeteria, where several long-handled iron rods used for cleaning leaned against the wall.

Qin Feng casually picked one up, tested its weight, then walked back to the center of the open space.

"Watch closely."

The instant the words left his mouth, Qin Feng’s entire demeanor changed abruptly.

One moment, he was a fair-faced student with a placid expression.

The next, he held the iron rod, his feet slightly apart, knees bent, his waist and back sinking down. His whole body was like an ancient pine tree rooted deep in the earth.

The unremarkable cleaning rod seemed to come alive in his hands. Its tip drooped slightly, pointing toward the ground, while the shaft formed a perfect line with his spine.

He just stood there silently, assuming the most fundamental defensive stance of the Thousand Army Spear—Coiling Dragon.

There was no earth-shattering aura, no brilliant glow of external energy, yet a profound, unassailable presence, as still as an abyss and as solid as a mountain, emanated from him.

The clamor in the cafeteria died down in an instant.

Everyone’s gaze was drawn to the figure standing with the rod in the center of the room.

Tie Lin, who was facing Qin Feng directly, felt it most keenly.

The moment Qin Feng assumed the stance, he felt an immense sense of powerlessness wash over him like a tide.

The charges, sweeps, and fierce thrusts he had practiced countless times in his mind could find no opening, no path of attack, against this stance.

His opponent was like a mountain—a perfect, seamless mountain.

Any attack he could conceive was doomed to fail before it even began.

An expert’s touch is unmistakable.

With just a single opening stance, Tie Lin understood the insurmountable chasm between himself and a "perfect score."

Fine beads of sweat broke out on his forehead. His once-burning battle intent was completely extinguished, replaced by a deep sense of shock and awe.

"Your turn."

Qin Feng took a step and tossed the iron rod to Tie Lin. "Show me your Coiling Dragon."

Tie Lin caught the rod subconsciously.

Hearing Qin Feng ask him to perform the Coiling Dragon stance, he felt like a student being called on by a teacher to demonstrate his homework.

His heart pounded.

Tie Lin took a deep breath to calm himself and assumed a standard Coiling Dragon stance, a sense of anticipation for Qin Feng’s critique welling up inside him.

"The Coiling Dragon stance is the foundation of the Thousand Army Spear’s defense, and also the source of its myriad transformations."

Qin Feng stared intently at Tie Lin for a long moment before speaking.

His voice wasn’t loud, yet it carried clearly throughout the silent cafeteria.

"You appear to be in a defensive posture, but the energy throughout your body is too rigid."

"Remember, you must be like a fully drawn bow, ready but not yet released. Your center of gravity should be low, your feet rooted like a tree—this is the ’foundation.’ Your vital energy should be contained, circulating between your organs and limbs, ready to explode at any moment—this is ’energy containment.’"

As he spoke, he picked up another iron rod and performed the "Coiling Dragon" himself, subtly adjusting his posture to let Tie Lin see more clearly.

"If the enemy doesn’t move, I don’t move. If the enemy moves, they will reveal an opening. The spear tip may seem to point at the ground, but it actually locks down the entire one-hundred-and-eighty-degree arc in front of you. No matter which angle the enemy attacks from, you can transition from defense to offense with the smallest movement and the fastest speed. This is ’adaptability.’"

Qin Feng’s explanation held nothing back.

He broke down his understanding of the move, analyzing it piece by piece for Tie Lin.

"Your power is too rigid; you must be focusing only on fierce force. Wide, sweeping movements may look powerful, but they’re full of openings. True spear arts aren’t about mindless aggression, but about controlling your power freely, balancing offense and defense. First, learn to stand firm, then you can think about killing."

"Coiling Dragon... its essence is to seek opportunity from a defensive stance. Imagine yourself as a fully drawn bow, waiting to be released..."

Tie Lin listened, utterly mesmerized, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.

Every word Qin Feng spoke was like a heavy hammer striking the bottlenecks in his training, leading to a sudden epiphany.

Many details that he had puzzled over endlessly before were now crystal clear.

So, *this* was the true Thousand Army Spear.

Unconsciously, he had let go of all his defiance, leaving only the devout focus of a student before his teacher.

He knew that Qin Feng had definitely cultivated the Thousand Army Spear to the Great Success Realm!

No wonder he got a perfect score.

For first-year combat, reaching Minor Success was enough to get a perfect score.

Qin Feng scored 500 points only because the maximum score for combat was 500 points!

Tie Lin was completely and utterly convinced.

When his explanation was finished, Qin Feng relaxed his stance and casually returned the iron rod to the corner.

His imposing aura vanished, returning to normal. It was as if the profound spear master from a moment ago had just been a collective illusion.

"Did you understand?"

He asked Tie Lin.

Tie Lin took a deep breath, faced Qin Feng, and bent respectfully at the waist into a deep, ninety-degree bow.

"I did! Thank you for your guidance, Qin Feng!"

His voice was loud and sincere, filled with heartfelt gratitude.

The surrounding students were all completely dumbfounded.

They had expected to see a cataclysmic battle, but instead, they witnessed a one-sided "live teaching session."

He had been asked to "grace him with instruction," and he had done just that—instructed him.

And he had taught so thoroughly, so unreservedly.

Faced with such open-handedness and power, no one any longer thought Qin Feng’s earlier statement, "you wouldn’t learn a thing," was arrogant. It was merely a statement of simple fact.