Bai Qingyan froze for a moment. Then her gaze toward Qin Mu turned solemn.

"Qin Mu, I don't care whether you were a Grandmaster yesterday. With your talent, returning to that level won't be a problem."

"There are three Ninth-Rank Dragon's Nests on the Dragon Star.

"The one stationed in Jiangcheng is currently the weakest among them. Even so, with my grandfather personally overseeing the situation and the Alliance dispatching hundreds of Grandmasters, we still wouldn't dare confront the Dragon's Nest head-on."

As expected

Qin Mu already knew they couldn't deal with the Dragon's Nest.

"So if you won't tackle it, you're just letting things be?

"It's enough as long as we can hold it."

What did she mean-as long as we can hold it?

Bai Qingyan frowned slightly, clearly perplexed by what Qin Mu was implying.

"In a standoff, Grandmasters can't act recklessly. Neither can Great Grandmasters. But what about the other Vicious Beasts? Are we just going to ignore them?"

"At this pace, in less than three years, Dragon Star could be in an even worse state than during the Great Cataclysm."

Three years?

None needed.

One year is enough.

Feeling more reassured, Qin Mu stood up and had started to eat the takeout.

"Qin Mu, you…?"

Bai Qingyan was really perplexed as to his reaction.

"I'm telling you all this so you don't slack off—to make you understand the responsibility on your shoulders. You need to secure a spot in the Martial Arts Tournament, pass the Dominion Trial, and obtain the cultivation technique."

Slurp—

Qin Mu swallowed a big chunk of barbarian beef and nodded in satisfaction.

"If that's so, why not give me a direct spot?"

Pfft!

Bai Qingyan almost spat blood.

"You—wouldn't that completely undermine the Alliance Leader's painstaking efforts?"

"This Martial Arts Tournament isn't just about allocating spots. It's meant to awaken a sense of crisis among Dragon Star's martial artists. Without the will to compete, how can anyone walk the Dao of martial arts?"

"During the Great Cataclysm, my grandfather—the Alliance Leader—along with Lei Ren, Dao Kuang, Qiang Wang, and countless seniors, who among them didn't temper themselves on the edge of life and death?"

Oh?

Many thanks, I suppose.

Qin Mu shook his head lightly.

"The Dragon's Nest is this dangerous, you can't even deal with Lu Tian wandering outside… and you still want to organize a Martial Arts Tournament? Isn't that just inviting trouble?"

"Oh?"

A glimmer of understanding flashed across Bai Qingyan's eyes.

"So it is you."

"You're worried about being ambushed by Lu Tian and the others once you leave the city."

Hmph!

She sniffed coldly.

"A dignified Grandmaster, afraid of a sneak attack by Martial Artist Grandmasters?"

Qin Mu smiled calmly and finished his breakfast in two mouthfuls.

"First of all, I'm not a Grandmaster.

"And second, even Dominion Grandmasters fear sneak attacks. If you're so fearless, why don't you take down Lu Tian yourself—then storm the Dragon's Nest and slay that super-Rank Dragon Beast?"

Bai Qingyan's face flushed, then turned pale. She looked away.

"No need to provoke me. If the situation demands it, I'll naturally charge into the Dragon's Nest."

"And you don't have to concern yourself with ambushes.

"The Martial Arts Tournament has been switched to an online format—full-simulation combat using virtual equipment."

"Virtual equipment?"

Qin Mu frowned.

"This isn't a game. There's latency, power mismatch. Fighting like that is meaningless—how can it determine superiority?"

Bai Qingyan smiled smugly.

"You've never seen real virtual equipment, have you?"

"That's normal. A place like Jiangcheng Martial Arts Hall can at most afford two or three full-virtual devices, and even then, usage time is strictly limited."

She opened her palm as she spoke.

A small white hairpin appeared.

"Martial God Hall."

"Full virtual immersion. One hundred percent environment simulation. One hundred percent martial artist simulation."

"Even a Great Grandmaster can unleash their full combat power."

"Quantum communication-zero latency."

"If you can't defeat someone in the Martial God Hall, you won't beat them in real combat either."

What the hell?

Perfectly simulating combat power?

Quantum communication was one thing-but this level of holographic technology?

Qin Mu was shocked.

Why does Dragon Star's tech tree feel so. weird?

"Interested~?"

Bai Qingyan lifts an eyebrow, her eyes gleaming.

"Join the Myriad Sword Pavilion as an outer member, and I'll give you one for free."

Outer member?

Not even core?

Figures.

There is no free lunch in this world.

If the entire Jiangcheng Martial Arts Hall only has two or three units, the price of this thing must be terrifying.

"Goodbye. Take care. No need to see you out."

Now that he knew the competition was online and allowed full power output, Qin Mu had nothing left to consider.

Just upgrade.

As for the Martial God Hall-he could buy it once he had the money.

"You…?"

"You really aren't considering it?"

Bai Qingyan wasn't surprised.

"Only outer members you know. Not many regulations~"

"Goodbye."

Qin Mu half-pushed, half-shoved the too insistent Bai Qingyan out the door.

Later that day, Guo Youwei came by as well, offering to apply for extended usage time in the Martial God Hall.

Qin Mu refused.

He gained another upgrade point that night.

"The tournament's in three days. After using this one, there'll be three points left."

"The question now is—does victory depend on mental power, or dominion?"

If it's mental power, cultivate.

If it is dominion, improve the method.

"Cultivation technique uplifts/upgrade."

"Ding! Sole Focus upgraded successfully. Current Rank: 8."

Qin Mu summoned his flying sword.

After testing it, he frowned.

"Something's wrong."

"B-Rank cultivation techniques also amplify mental powers."

"Hm."

"I leveled too fast before, and the technique upgraded too quickly to notice."

"A single Rank-1 method increases mental strength by at least sixty percent."

Hiss—

Sixty percent.

That was huge.

Rank-8 meant a 4.8× multiplier.

Base attack: 90,000.

After amplification: 430,000.

Full output—over six million!

And the Azure Flame Flying Sword?

Another fifty percent increase.

Through twelve currents of mental force

Over nine million attack!

"Hahaha!"

"Ninth-Rank Grandmaster!"

Qin Mu roared with laughter.

That old bastard Lu Tian-he's only Ninth-Rank too, right?

B-Rank cultivation techniques were terrifying.

"Flying Blades."

The blades materialized.

Full deployment

Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—

They tore through the air.

"Fourteen blades."

Qin Mu's eyes narrowed.

"Two more than before."

"Unbelievable."

Ten million attack—firm breakthrough.

"I wonder… is even the starting power of a Great Grandmaster ten million?"

Information on Great Grandmasters was sealed off to him.

No cultivation techniques.

His authority only reached Dominator level.

Still—

"My real fight power definitely isn't worse than an ordinary Grandmaster."

"Even if I face someone like Bai Qingyan—nearly invincible among her peers—I still have room to fight."

As his strength surged, Qin Mu finally felt at ease.

After all—

He was getting stronger day by day.

Way stronger.

"Ten million attack… can that warehouse really stop me?"

A faint smile curved his lips. Enough chitchat. Time to act. "Let's go."

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