As Qingyang's calm words fell,
the entire venue immediately fell silent. Nearly all the noble heirs looked at Qingyang with grim expressions.
Even Second Prince Smith and the long-haired young man beside him looked somewhat displeased.
Although the Purple Thistle Kingdom was not a powerful nation, and those with Individual Might of epic talent were rare, that did not mean there were none.
There were at least four or five people of their generation with epic Individual Might!
Just how much did this Commander Qingyang look down on the geniuses of the Purple Thistle Kingdom?
Second Prince Smith forced out a smile. "Hahaha, Mister Qing certainly knows how to joke."
Qingyang had not thought much of it; he simply felt that one-on-one fights were a waste of time. His tone remained calm. "I'm not joking. I've had a lot to deal with lately."
Pfft!
Guxue could no longer hold it in and burst out laughing.
Others might not know, but she and Guxing knew their boss's capabilities very well.
He had withstood bombardment from Universal Grade ship cannons and come out completely unscathed. This was not a defense that Individual Might users of their generation could shake.
Even if hundreds of them attacked together, it would be the same.
Smith's face darkened further. He barely calmed himself before saying, "In that case, let me see what Mister Qing is capable of."
He then clapped his hands, and a massive white Alloy Sphere rose from the center of the venue.
"This is a Battle Arena built specifically for this purpose. Its internal space is extremely vast, with sides measuring one hundred kilometers."
Prince Smith had already regained his composure as he explained indifferently.
Qingyang nodded and entered through the Battle Arena's entrance without the slightest hesitation.
The surrounding crowd exchanged glances. In the end, more than a hundred people stepped forward, all radiating energy fluctuations around the third rank.
Several of them had even reached the standards of the fourth rank.
They were clearly all exceptionally gifted wielders of Individual Might.
Since Qingyang was being so arrogant and had repeatedly belittled them, they naturally would not be polite.
At the center of the battle arena, Qingyang looked around at the contestants gradually appearing around him. He still wore the same indifferent smile.
At once, dozens of people around him could no longer restrain themselves. Flames, beams of light, lightning, and countless metal spears all shot toward Qingyang.
Yet Qingyang did not evade at all. He merely spread his hands slightly, and a dark gold light screen instantly expanded around him.
Mysterious patterns flowed endlessly across the Dark Gold Light Screen. No matter how the crowd attacked, they could not shake it in the slightest.
Everyone in the arena changed expression. As geniuses with Individual Might, they could naturally tell that this shield was not produced by some external object.
It was a genuine ability of his own!
The more than one hundred geniuses from the Purple Thistle Capital no longer held back. Countless bizarre attacks bombarded Qingyang!
The ground across dozens of kilometers immediately cracked and trembled. Even the entire Battle Arena began to shake slightly.
Individual Might at the fourth rank was enough to trigger a small-scale surface disaster. On the surface of an ordinary planet,
it would not be an exaggeration to say they could split rivers and cleave mountains.
But what they faced was not one person, but the defensive strength of three powerful Starcraft.
Even if they were all fourth-rank, they still could not shake it in the slightest.
As Qingyang endured the barrage, he gazed at the increasingly mysterious Commander's Shield around him, and a realization suddenly dawned on him.
It seemed that as long as someone was within ten kilometers of him, he could give them a shield too?
The commander's powerful Mental Threshold spread out, swiftly locking onto dozens of people around him.
He opened his palm, and dozens of smaller Dark Gold Light Screens appeared, wrapping around those he had locked onto.
Rumble!
Before they could withdraw their attacks, these people were engulfed by their own bombardments. Moreover, because the shield spaces Qingyang had created around them were so narrow, their attacks were continuously compressed, becoming even more powerful!
"Damn it!"
One of the ability users with epic talent slammed his fist heavily against the light screen, but he did not dare attack recklessly again.
However, the light screens soon dissipated once more.
"I was only testing my ability. I said I'd let you attack for five minutes, so it'll be five minutes."
Qingyang smiled at their confusion.
All he could say was that the knowledge granted by the Star of Truth was truly formidable. This experience-like knowledge brought Qingyang tremendous convenience.
At the very least, he would not need to worry about casualties when messing around with his own combat personnel in the future.
Five minutes passed quickly. The crowd exchanged glances, then helplessly stopped attacking.
The residual energy from all kinds of attacks gradually faded, revealing Qingyang within, looking entirely unchanged.
The Dark Gold Light Screen around him had only dimmed slightly before swiftly returning to its original brightness.
"..."
The arena fell silent again. Was such a gap really possible between people of the same generation?
Prince Smith was even more speechless. He could not help glancing at Guxing and Guxue, who had been following Qingyang all along.
These two probably were not simple either.
Guxue noticed Prince Smith's gaze and said smugly, "Don't take it too hard. Geniuses this despairing are indeed extremely rare in major powers, but you can still find them in powerful nations."
Though her tone was full of boasting, Guxue was not wrong.
At least, in her memory, the Tianxing Empire had two or three such monsters. One of them even seemed to be a commander.
Their combat strength had long surpassed that of their peers.
Smith was speechless. So they were geniuses from a powerful nation?
Then it was no wonder.
Qingyang walked out of the Battle Arena, his expression unchanged.
"Looks like I won."
Smith said helplessly, "Naturally. I won't go back on my word."
The more than one hundred contestants walked out of the arena dejectedly. For a time, the atmosphere throughout the venue became somewhat oppressive.
However, it soon became lively again under the Second Prince's arrangements.
The subsequent activities involving the identification of obscure treasures and difficult knowledge were even less challenging for Qingyang.
Determined not to involve himself in the Purple Thistle Kingdom's factional struggles, Qingyang ended the event very quickly.
After exchanging Second World accounts with several people, he proposed leaving.
Compared to the Star Network, which was only used among commanders and some wielders of Individual Might, the alliance's Second World was the largest virtual network.
Prince Smith watched Qingyang's group gradually depart, his eyes flickering.
"Looks like you failed, Second Brother."
"A genius from a powerful nation... Forget it. Perhaps we'll have a chance to meet again someday."
Smith turned and walked back into the venue.
By the time Qingyang and the others returned to the Starport on the outskirts of Purple Thistle City, two enormous Starcraft and Smith's Star Armament had arrived.
Looking at the gains from this trip, Qingyang could not help smiling.
"Ah, we made an absolute killing this time!"
Guxue covered her mouth and laughed. "Smith was probably the one who lost the most, right?"
Qingyang laughed heartily. Someone was rushing to give him Star Armaments—how could he refuse?
After directly Datafying the two Jianren Type Cruisers, Qingyang immediately felt a sense of saturation spreading through his mind.
He wondered why the commanders of those Gold Fleets had such powerful Mental Thresholds.
Five Starcraft rose into the air and flew straight out of Purple Thistle City.
In the control room, Qingyang happily opened the Star Armament's data.
[Star Armament: Star Cover Phase] [Quality: Purple (Zero Star)] [Basic Effect: Fleet detection range +20%, detection precision +20%] [Additional Effect: When hostile units appear within detection range, red dots will appear on the star map] [Note: Detection equipment energy consumption will increase by 15%. The effect will be reduced for fleets above T6 (Zero Star)]
Not bad. It was exactly the type of Star Armament he needed.
Qingyang loaded the Star Armament into the fleet with satisfaction, then looked toward Guxing.
"How do we enter a Dimensional World for the first time? I don't know much about that."
Guxing explained, "I'm not too sure either. It seems to be a function of the Star Network, but before that, I suggest recruiting some combat forces.
Certain situations in the Dimensional World require an army of a certain scale."
"Understood."
Ah, my sleep quality had been fairly good lately. I'd try updating earlier.
Before you continue