Chapter 717 - 228: Promotion to Stellar Rank! The 999-Story Immortal Tower! Duel of Titans! Target: Champion

Chapter 717: Chapter 228: Promotion to Stellar Rank! The 999-Story Immortal Tower! Duel of Titans! Target: Champion

Thirty years of suppressed tension and thirty years of worry for the future all erupted into a joyous roar at this very moment.

They had won! In this high-stakes gamble that determined the life and death of everyone involved, they were the ones who laughed last!

In stark contrast was the scene in the distant Galaxy 118, a sector of the cosmos bathed in the glow of holy wings.

All the Martial Artists from Galaxy 99 stared intently at the Jade Tokens in their hands. The looks of nervous anticipation on their faces instantly froze, then quickly soured into ashen disbelief.

An expression of agony, as if their very souls had been ripped from their bodies, appeared on every face.

They had lost.

The colossal debt of one billion Contribution Points descended upon them like an invisible mountain, crushing their spirits.

Deep within the ice cavern, Qin Feng also gazed at the message on his Jade Token. The tension he had held for thirty years finally melted away, and a genuine smile spread across his face.

He had won.

At the last possible moment, in a frantic race against time, he had ascended to become a Constant Star-level Powerhouse just three seconds before Caesar!

Those three short seconds had decided the fates of all the Martial Artists across six galaxies, clinching the ultimate victory in the Betting Order!

"I actually... won."

Qin Feng exhaled slowly. ’It still feels surreal,’ he thought.

’It seems the advantage of the Ten-Complete Hand Nourishing Technique over other top-tier ones is even greater than I imagined.’

He knew that without the quantum leap in cultivation efficiency he’d gained after mastering the Ten-Complete Hand, it would have been impossible to pull off such a monumental comeback from a desperate 40% deficit.

Qin Feng smiled, feeling more at ease than ever before.

Not only had he avoided a debt that could crush anyone, but he had also gained access to a top-tier location rich in Constant Star-level Resources.

This swing in fortune had established a clear advantage.

Now, as long as he developed steadily, he could snowball this slight advantage into something much greater.

Qin Feng hadn’t forgotten his ultimate goal: to rank in the top one hundred of the Great War Zone.

If he could break into the top one hundred, he would gain the invaluable opportunity to enter the Battlefield of Ten Thousand Races directly and reap the massive, top-tier fortuitous encounters accumulated by the Human Race over countless ages of blood and sacrifice.

However, the joy of Qin Feng and the million Martial Artists from the five allied galaxies did not last. At the exact same moment, the smiles on their faces froze solid.

Because, right after the victory message, a new line of chilling text had appeared without warning on everyone’s Jade Token!

[Galaxy 99 Martial Artist "Caesar" has activated a hidden Competition item: "Forced Duel Order"!]

[Selected Duelists: "Qin Feng" (Galaxy 117), "Caesar" (Galaxy 99)]

[Duel Time Limit: 10 years]

[Caesar’s Victory Conditions & Rewards: Kill Qin Feng within the time limit.

Reward: The debt of all Galaxy 99 Martial Artists will be erased, and they will gain access to the Constant Star-level resource location "Eternal Furnace" won by Galaxies 115-119.]

[Caesar’s Draw Conditions & Rewards: Both duelists are alive at the end of the time limit.

Reward: The debt of all Galaxy 99 Martial Artists will be erased.]

[Caesar’s Failure Penalty: None.]

[Qin Feng’s Victory Conditions & Rewards: Kill Caesar within the time limit.

Reward: None.]

[Qin Feng’s Failure Condition: To be killed by Caesar within the time limit.

Penalty: All Martial Artists from Galaxies 115-119 will be burdened with a 1,000,000,000 (1B) Contribution Point debt and will permanently lose access to the Constant Star-level resource location "Eternal Furnace".]

[Qin Feng’s Draw Penalty: None.]

This grossly unfair dueling contract instantly extinguished everyone’s joy, appearing clearly on the Jade Token of every Martial Artist across the six galaxies.

A deathly silence was followed by a tidal wave of fury from the Martial Artists of the five allied galaxies!

"Damn it! Another hidden item? This is such a dirty move! They just pull this crap out because they lost?"

"This is sickening! No reward for winning, but a massive penalty for losing? What kind of bullshit rule is this!"

"How the hell do you even get these hidden items? Why don’t we have a single one? This is unfair!"

"What is this? This is just thuggery!"

"We’re screwed... If Qin Feng loses, we’ll be stuck with that damned debt after all, and we’ll lose the resource location we fought so hard to win..."

"..."

The crowd was in an uproar!

The million Martial Artists, who moments ago were reveling in their victory, now felt as if a bucket of ice water had been viciously dumped over their heads, chilling them to the bone.

All eyes, as if by unspoken agreement, turned toward the frozen planet, converging on their only hope—Qin Feng.

VMMMM—

Space rippled faintly, and Qin Feng’s figure emerged from the frozen planet where he had been in seclusion for thirty years. He now stood silently in the void.

Ignoring the noisy chatter around him, Qin Feng immediately opened the private forum, quickly scanning through everything that had happened over the past thirty years.

Soon, a look of surprise crossed his face.

He saw that after the celestial phenomenon signaling his breakthrough had appeared, the Martial Artists from the five allied galaxies, who had once been a disorganized rabble, had spontaneously split into two groups.

One group, heedless of their own safety, stood guard outside his place of seclusion, using their lives to fend off the frantic assaults from Galaxy 99.

The other group, composed of even more ferocious and death-defying powerhouses, had taken the initiative to go on the offensive. They continuously harassed the secluded Caesar, willing to pay the price of elimination just to buy Qin Feng another precious second of time!