Recaps

Magic Capital Martial University defeated Capital Martial University and dominated the freshman round-robin tournament, while Qin Yan stayed out of the remaining matches to protect his reattached hand. The chapter ended with Magic Capital Martial University claiming first place with a perfect record, as Mentor Fang Yan announced that the third-year students had won their division as well.

• Xiao Wangshu defeated Fang Xiang, securing Magic Capital Martial University's victory over Capital Martial University.
• Instructor Anya warned Qin Yan not to fight again because using his reattached hand could leave a dangerous weakness, and he sat out the remaining matches.
• Magic Capital Martial University defeated its remaining opponents, with Lu Qingfeng beating Sifang Martial University's captain after the captain had defeated Leng Feng.
• Magic Capital Martial University finished the freshman round-robin stage with nineteen wins in nineteen matches, ahead of Capital Martial University in second place.
• Mentor Fang Yan announced that Magic Capital Martial University's third-year students had also won their division.

Magic Capital Martial University celebrated its Exchange Tournament championship, with Qin Yan honored at the center of the team photo. After the tournament ended, Qin Yan reunited with old friends and asked Zhou Yuan to keep the brutality of his arena fights from his family.

• Grandmaster Xiao Shan invited Magic Capital Martial University's champions onstage, and Qin Yan stood at the center of the commemorative photo with his teammates.
• The tournament ended, and organizers prepared a traditional gathering for the young competitors while instructors considered Princess Anya's situation.
• Qin Yan walked with Zhou Yuan and his old friends to the university gates, where they struggled to reconcile his arena performance with the Qin Yan they knew.
• Qin Yan asked Zhou Yuan not to tell his family about the bloody fights, hoping to spare his parents and younger sister worry.

After winning the Exchange Tournament, Qin Yan resumed earning Credit Points and training while preparing to attend a celebration with Lu Youyou and Xiao Wangshu. On the way, Lu Youyou told him about the school’s generous rewards and advised him to save his resource-selection opportunity until he had chosen a cultivation art.

• Qin Yan returned to his manor, rested his injured wrist, and slept instead of training.
• Qin Yan made two batches of high-grade first-rank pills, earned 64 Credit Points, and then trained until evening.
• Lu Youyou and Xiao Wangshu met Qin Yan, and the three set off for a gathering at the Haoting Hotel.
• Lu Youyou told Qin Yan that tournament participants would receive at least 3000 Credit Points and access to the Preliminary Resource Repository.
• Lu Youyou advised Qin Yan to wait until he had chosen a breakthrough cultivation art before selecting a resource that could serve as its medium.

After the tournament, Qin Yan, Lu Youyou, and Xiao Wangshu attended a gathering for the top competitors, where Qin Yan drew attention as the champion and the debate over who was the strongest first-year student continued. Qin Yan made a warm impression on the other students, while Lin Qingyue remained angry about her loss and Chen Tian approached him with admiration.

• Qin Yan, Lu Youyou, and Xiao Wangshu arrived at the gathering on Haoting Hotel's thirty-third floor, where the tournament's top competitors had assembled.
• The students continued to debate whether Qin Yan, Lin Qingyue, Chen Tian, or Xiao Wangshu was the strongest first-year student.
• Qin Yan greeted the other competitors and spoke with them courteously, drawing a lively crowd around him.
• Lu Youyou easily joined conversations, while Xiao Wangshu kept her distance with brief replies.
• Lin Qingyue saw Qin Yan smiling and felt anger and resentment over her defeat and the tactics she believed he had used.
• Chen Tian carried his wineglass over to Qin Yan and regarded him with relief and admiration.

At a banquet after the arena battles, Qin Yan befriended Chen Tian and spoke with Liu Ruyan, whose seductive manner contrasted sharply with her cold demeanor in combat. Lu Youyou warned Qin Yan that Liu Ruyan might have two personalities linked to a Forbidden Incident and that her strength and fighting style could change with them.

• Qin Yan and Chen Tian praised each other's performance in the arena, exchanged contact information, and agreed they would be glad to spar again.
• Qin Yan continued drinking and talking with the gathered Prodigies at the banquet.
• Liu Ruyan approached Qin Yan in a charming manner, toasted him, and praised his bearing and spear techniques.
• Qin Yan noticed that Liu Ruyan's alluring demeanor was strikingly different from her cold, decisive arena persona.
• Lu Youyou told Qin Yan that Liu Ruyan might have split personalities after a Forbidden Incident, possibly connected to the Old Dean of Longhua Martial University.
• Lu Youyou warned Qin Yan that Liu Ruyan's strength and fighting style could change with her personality, and urged him to keep his distance.

Qin Yan took Lu Youyou’s warning about Liu Ruyan’s hidden dual personality seriously, while Princess Anya invited the Martial Universities to join the dangerous Hidden Dragon Assembly. The representatives postponed their decisions, and Anya ended the meeting by offering them the Elf Clan’s Monkey Wine.

• Lu Youyou warned Qin Yan that Liu Ruyan had a dual personality and that her strength could change, and Qin Yan promised to remember her warning.
• Qin Yan watched Liu Ruyan mingle with other captains while considering the secrets beneath her charming appearance.
• Princess Anya asked the Martial University representatives to consider sending students to the Hidden Dragon Assembly, but they cited its risks and requested time to consult their deans.
• Anya accepted their hesitation and asked them to give her their answers later.
• Anya offered the representatives First Cry from Dawn Forest, also known as Monkey Wine.

Anya hosted a banquet where her Elf Clan wine strengthened the mentors and demonstrated her sincere desire for an alliance with humanity. After the gathering, Qin Yan returned to campus, trained, and calculated that he was close to perfecting his spear art and reaching Second Grade Perfection.

• Anya served the mentors rare Elf Clan wine, whose effects stirred their blood and qi and manifested their Qi Condensation Beasts.
• The mentors praised the wine’s benefits, while Anya offered to maintain a friendly alliance with humanity and the academies regardless of the Hidden Dragon Assembly’s outcome.
• The young prodigies ended their gathering, exchanged farewells, and Qin Yan returned to Magic Capital Martial University with his group.
• Qin Yan trained until before midnight and calculated that his Nine Revolutions Golden Body Spear had reached 78% progress.
• Qin Yan estimated that he could perfect the spear art in about three days and temper all twenty-nine skull bones within six days.

On New Year's Day, Qin Yan reassured his family during a call, then attended a meeting where Fang Yan announced the Exchange Tournament rewards. Qin Yan received three unrestricted free choices from the Preliminary Resource Repository, and Fang Yan turned solemn as he prepared to address the team further.

• Qin Yan spoke with Qin Xiaoxi and his parents, sharing good news while concealing the dangers and hardships of his training.
• Qin Yan attended a class on the third-rank Blood Exchange Realm and met Fang Yan afterward with the Exchange Tournament participants.
• Fang Yan announced that tournament participants had received Credit Points and gained partial access to the Preliminary Resource Repository.
• Fang Yan revealed that each reserve member could choose one free resource and each official team member could choose two, while Qin Yan earned three choices for his outstanding performance.
• Fang Yan's expression grew solemn, and the gathered students turned their attention to him.

Anya Dawnlight revealed that she was the Elf Clan’s Ninth Princess and asked the students to retrieve the Life Grail from Canglin Ancient Mountain. She explained that only those under twenty years old could pass through its Time Seal, leaving the young team as the only people she could ask to enter.

• Fang Yan gathered the students to discuss a matter that could endanger their lives.
• Anya appeared in Fang Yan’s office through a green book and introduced herself as Anya Dawnlight, the Elf Clan’s Ninth Princess.
• Anya asked the students to enter the forbidden Canglin Ancient Mountain and retrieve the Life Grail.
• Anya explained that a Time Seal barred anyone whose Life Ring had reached twenty natural cycles, regardless of their strength.

Princess Anya and Fang Yan warned Qin Yan and the other students that the Hidden Dragon Assembly was a deadly competition, prompting them to investigate its history. After reading past records, Qin Yan learned that the assembly was a struggle between races over influence and resources, and realized Azure Dragon Ancient Mountain and the Life Grail carried high stakes.

• Princess Anya explained that the Life Grail would attract powerful young talents and allies from other races, and that the trials could become fights to the death.
• Fang Yan warned the students that only six of thirty Human Clan participants had survived the previous assembly, an eighty percent casualty rate.
• Anya said Azure Dragon Ancient Mountain would open on April tenth, offered help to anyone who chose to participate, and departed.
• Fang Yan told the students the university would leave participation up to them and recommended they study the library's records before deciding.
• Qin Yan and the others went to the library, where Qin Yan read an account explaining that the Hidden Dragon Assembly ranked young talents and determined races' influence, resources, and disputed territories.
• Qin Yan concluded that Azure Dragon Ancient Mountain was this year's trial ground and that the Life Grail must be valuable.

Qin Yan completed the Bone Forging Realm and discovered that refining his skull had greatly increased his Mental Strength. The next day, he and Lu Youyou went to Teacher Xiao Huo’s Alchemy Chamber, where they found three unfamiliar visitors.

• Qin Yan set aside his worries about the Hidden Dragon Assembly and returned to training.
• Qin Yan reached Complete Mastery in the Bone Forging Chapter and tempered two skull bones in four hours.
• Qin Yan tempered his final skull bone, perfected the Bone Forging Realm, and saw his Mental Strength rise from 62 Hz to 68 Hz.
• Lu Youyou told Qin Yan that Teacher Xiao Huo had summoned them to his Alchemy Chamber.
• Qin Yan and Lu Youyou entered the chamber and found Xiao Huo with two unfamiliar men and an unfamiliar woman.

Qin Yan and Lu Youyou met their Third Senior Sister Ye Hongxiao and Fourth Senior Brother Chu Feng after they returned from the Alien Battlefield. Chu Feng revealed he could provide common pills from First Grade to Fifth Grade, prompting Lu Youyou to wonder if he was a Fifth Grade Alchemist.

• Ye Hongxiao praised Qin Yan and Lu Youyou’s talent before Chu Feng teased her for interrupting Xiao Huo.
• Ye Hongxiao apologized to Xiao Huo, who welcomed her and the other returning disciples back from the Alien Battlefield.
• Xiao Huo introduced Ye Hongxiao as Qin Yan and Lu Youyou’s Third Senior Sister, and she promised to support them.
• Xiao Huo introduced Chu Feng as their Fourth Senior Brother and praised his skill on the Alchemy Path.
• Chu Feng said he had or could refine nearly every commonly used pill from First Grade to Fifth Grade, and Lu Youyou asked if he was a Fifth Grade Alchemist.

Qin Yan and Lu Youyou met their senior brothers, who gave them valuable cultivation gifts, before Xiao Huo asked about their plans for the Hidden Dragon Assembly. Lu Youyou chose not to participate, and Xiao Huo turned his concern toward Qin Yan.

• Chu Feng introduced himself as a Fifth Grade Alchemist nearing the Sixth Grade threshold and gave Qin Yan and Lu Youyou top-grade Bone-Nourishing Pills.
• Gu Yue introduced himself as their Second Senior Brother and gifted each of them a drop of Grandmaster True Blood.
• Ye Hongxiao felt embarrassed that she had no gift to offer because a recent battle had depleted her resources.
• Xiao Huo asked Qin Yan and Lu Youyou what they thought about Princess Anya's proposed Hidden Dragon Assembly.
• Lu Youyou told Xiao Huo she had decided not to participate because of the danger and her family's support for a steadier cultivation path.
• Xiao Huo accepted Lu Youyou's decision and worried instead about what Qin Yan would choose.

Ye Hongxiao advised Qin Yan about the dangers and rewards of the Hidden Dragon Assembly and recommended that he participate. Qin Yan then asked Xiao Huo about obtaining a powerful Cultivation Technique, leaving the choice unresolved as Xiao Huo warned him about the Five Elements Sect’s demands and advised him to favor fire- or wood-attribute techniques.

• Qin Yan asked Xiao Huo for guidance on whether to enter the Hidden Dragon Assembly, and Ye Hongxiao revealed that she had survived the previous assembly five years earlier.
• Ye Hongxiao described the assembly’s deadly dangers and powerful rival races, then urged Qin Yan to participate for its valuable rewards and the chance to gain Princess Anya’s favor.
• Qin Yan considered her advice but asked Xiao Huo and the others about the Cultivation Techniques in the school’s Mystic Tower.
• Xiao Huo said he had no technique stronger than the Five Elements Sect’s inheritance and warned Qin Yan that its techniques required exceptional talent and extensive resources.
• Xiao Huo advised Qin Yan to prioritize fire- or wood-attribute Cultivation Techniques because they could benefit his future in the Alchemy Path.

Qin Yan learned that beginning the Five Elements Sect’s core techniques required rare Seventh Grade resources, though substitutes could open the path and their shortcomings could later be remedied. After training and strengthening his bones and Mental Strength, he saved his growing Skill Points for the Blood Refining Chapter of his spear technique.

• Xiao Huo explained that most Five Elements Sect techniques required a matching Seventh Grade resource for a perfect beginning, along with several Sixth Grade auxiliary resources.
• Lu Youyou told Qin Yan that substitute mediums could let him begin a technique, with the flaws repairable before reaching the Grandmaster realm.
• Qin Yan returned to his manor, took a Bone-Nourishing Pill, and bought and consumed Mind-Calming Dew to strengthen his bones and Mental Strength.
• Qin Yan trained through the afternoon and evening, gaining 12 Skill Points and bringing his total to 32.
• Qin Yan decided to save his Skill Points for cultivating the Blood Refining Chapter after reaching the Second Grade limit and challenging the Mystic Tower.

Qin Yan accelerated his Bone Forging cultivation by spending 2,000 Credit Points on Earth Marrow Stone Milk. He then visited Princess Anya and volunteered for the Hidden Dragon Assembly, which she accepted.

• Qin Yan judged that the Bone-Nourishing Pill and Nine Revolutions Golden Body Spear were helping him approach the Second Grade limit, but he wanted to progress faster before the possible Hidden Dragon Assembly.
• Qin Yan searched the Preliminary Resource Repository for bone-refinement resources and chose Earth Marrow Stone Milk for its effects on consolidating Bone Forging and challenging the Second Grade limit.
• Qin Yan exchanged 2,000 Credit Points for twenty jin of Earth Marrow Stone Milk to support his cultivation.
• On January 6, Qin Yan visited Anya at her temporary residence and declared that he wanted to take part in the Hidden Dragon Assembly.
• Anya, who had learned that Xiao Wangshu and Lu Youyou had declined, accepted Qin Yan's decision and gestured for him to sit beside her.

Qin Yan accepted Anya’s offer to join the Hidden Dragon Assembly and received two drops of Grandmaster True Blood. Wen Ning arrived in distress, asked to leave human territory for the Elf Clan’s land immediately, and went with Anya, leaving Qin Yan puzzled about what had happened to her.

• Anya gave Qin Yan a book about Canglin Ancient Mountain and the Eversong Star Realm, along with two drops of Grandmaster True Blood for agreeing to participate.
• Qin Yan promised Anya he would do everything in his power to find the Life Grail at the Hidden Dragon Assembly.
• Wen Ning arrived pale and bloodshot, applied to participate in the assembly, and requested to leave human territory immediately for the Elf Clan’s territory.
• Anya took Wen Ning with her, while Qin Yan stayed behind, troubled by Wen Ning’s apparent grief.
• Qin Yan returned to his manor at noon, put away Anya’s gifts, and consumed several cultivation resources.

Qin Yan learned that Wen Ning had allegedly killed Zhao Hao and that Princess Anya had intervened in the case at Demon City Jiaotong University. Worried about his inability to protect those he cared about, he left the classroom and trained with his spear, resolving to grow stronger.

• Lu Youyou told Qin Yan that Wen Ning was suspected of killing Zhao Hao, the son of a powerful mentor at Demon City Jiaotong University.
• Lu Youyou said Princess Anya had personally gone to the university and that the case had been sealed off from outsiders.
• Qin Yan attended a lesson on breaking through to Mid-Rank Martial Artist and wondered whether he could protect himself and Qin Xiaoxi from future threats.
• Qin Yan returned to his manor, reaffirmed his commitment to becoming stronger, and struck an alloy target with a spear attack infused with Blood Gang.

After Wen Ning left Blue Star under Princess Anya’s protection, Qin Yan focused on training and reached the Second Grade limit, forging all 206 bones into Jade Bones. He planned to challenge the Mystic Tower’s twentieth floor the next day before preparing to break through to Third Grade.

• Lu Youyou told Qin Yan that Princess Anya had taken Wen Ning from the university to her territory, and Qin Yan hoped she would find a fresh start there.
• Qin Yan intensified his training, consuming Bone-Nourishing Pills and Earth Marrow Stone Milk as he practiced the Nine Revolutions Golden Body Spear.
• On January 20, Qin Yan completed the final refinement of all 206 bones and reached the Second Grade limit, the Jade Bone realm.
• Qin Yan checked his status and found that his Blood Qi had reached 665 Cal, his Mental Strength had reached 72 Hz, and he had accumulated 212 Skill Points.
• Qin Yan resolved to challenge the Mystic Tower’s twentieth floor the next day, then use his Skill Points to advance the Blood Refining Chapter before pursuing the Third Grade Blood Exchange Realm.

Qin Yan stormed through the Mystic Tower’s floors with his Jade Bone strength and reached the 20th Floor, where he needed to defeat the White Puppet to earn the Five Elements Imprint. The puppet revealed three-foot fist light, but Qin Yan recognized that he still held the advantage.

• Qin Yan entered the Mystic Tower and instantly defeated the Early Second-Rank White Puppet on the 11th Floor.
• Qin Yan swept through the White Puppets on the 12th through 18th Floors with one decisive spear strike each.
• On the 19th Floor, Qin Yan used one layer of Stacked Qi to overpower the puppet’s fourth-stage fist light and destroy its core.
• Qin Yan reached the 20th Floor, where the White Puppet extended its fist light to three feet.
• Qin Yan relaxed and smiled confidently after judging that he had the advantage over the 20th-Floor puppet.

Qin Yan defeated the 20th Floor Guardian Puppet in three moves and received the Mystic Tower’s reward. He inherited deeper Spear Glow insights, mastered a three-foot Golden Spear Glow, and then received the tower’s five-colored light.

• Qin Yan used Stacked Qi Double Layer to break the White Puppet’s fist light and destroy it with three successive spear attacks, clearing the twentieth floor.
• The Mystic Tower sent a white sphere into Qin Yan, imparting an inheritance of deeper Spear Glow insights.
• Qin Yan absorbed the inheritance and extended his Golden Spear Glow to three feet.
• A five-colored sphere entered Qin Yan’s forehead, causing the mark from clearing the tenth floor to emerge and glow.

Qin Yan fused the Five Elements Imprint and continued his Mystic Tower challenge, defeating the guardians on the twenty-first and twenty-second floors with ease. He reached the twenty-third floor, where he faced a Third Grade Mid Stage puppet and prepared to meet its powerful punch head-on.

• Qin Yan fused the five-colored streamers with his original imprint, creating the Five Elements Imprint, and decided to postpone choosing a cultivation technique until he reached the thirtieth floor.
• Qin Yan entered the twenty-first floor and instantly defeated its Third Grade Early Stage White Puppet with his Golden Spear Glow.
• Qin Yan cleared the twenty-second floor with another spear strike and continued to the next challenge.
• Qin Yan recognized that the twenty-third-floor puppet was at the Third Grade Mid Stage and measured the immense power of its one-foot Fist Light.
• Qin Yan erupted with Qi-Blood, formed his Three-Foot Golden Spear Glow, and activated Stacked Qi Double Layer as the puppet attacked.

Qin Yan cleared the Twenty-Third and Twenty-Fourth Mystic Tower floors with single spear strikes, but the Third Grade Late Stage puppet on the Twenty-Fifth floor overwhelmed him and sent him out of the tower. After recovering, he returned to his manor and used all 212 Skill Points to learn the Blood Refining Chapter, beginning a new round of training.

• Qin Yan used his full-strength spear thrust to destroy the Twenty-Third Layer puppet, then defeated the Twenty-Fourth Layer puppet in one strike as well.
• Qin Yan faced the Third Grade Late Stage puppet on the Twenty-Fifth Layer, but its punch broke through his defense, injured him, and forced him out of the Mystic Tower.
• Qin Yan rested outside the tower and assessed that he could defeat ordinary Third Grade Mid Stage opponents but could not yet match a Third Grade Late Stage one.
• Qin Yan set his next goal as reaching perfection in the Blood Refining Realm and eventually challenging the Third Grade Limit.
• Qin Yan returned to his manor and spent all 212 Skill Points on the Blood Refining Chapter of the Nine Revolutions Golden Body Spear, then began training as impurities seeped from his skin.

Qin Yan broke through to the Third-Rank Blood Refining Realm and discovered that his improved stamina and training efficiency greatly accelerated his progress. After spending his new Skill Points, he pushed the Blood Refining Chapter closer to its Third Revolution and committed to sixteen-hour training days.

• Qin Yan completed the Blood Refining Chapter’s training, expelled black impurities, and confirmed he had reached the Third-Rank Clear Blood Realm with 765 Cal of Blood Qi.
• Qin Yan considered the possibility that reaching the limit of all three low-grade realms could help him develop a unique Body Tempering Technique.
• Qin Yan resumed spear training and found that his Third-Rank physique let him train longer before fatigue set in.
• Qin Yan checked his panel after twelve hours of training and found he had earned 30 Skill Points, averaging ten every four hours.
• Qin Yan spent all 30 Skill Points to raise the Blood Refining Chapter from 68% to 84% of the Second Revolution, then increased his daily training to sixteen hours.

Qin Yan trained relentlessly through the approach of winter break, advancing the Blood Refining Chapter of Nine Revolutions Golden Body Spear to the Fourth Revolution and nearing the Activate Blood Realm. As the New Year approached, he packed for his trip home to Linhai City, resolved to reunite with his family and continue planning for the Hidden Dragon Assembly.

• Qin Yan sustained sixteen hours of spear training each day and spent his Skill Points on the Blood Refining Chapter of Nine Revolutions Golden Body Spear, while using affordable resources to support his cultivation.
• Qin Yan saved the Grandmaster True Blood from Princess Anya and Senior Brother Gu Yue for when his body could make better use of it.
• After nine days of training, Qin Yan had invested 360 Skill Points and advanced to the Fourth Revolution at 17%, drawing closer to the Activate Blood Realm of the Third Grade Mid Stage.
• As winter break arrived, Qin Yan packed clothes, study notes, resources, and gifts for his family before returning to Linhai City.
• Qin Yan reflected on his transformation since leaving home seven months earlier and prepared to reunite with his family while keeping the Hidden Dragon Assembly in mind.