Chapter Summaries

The Hidden Dragon Assembly began, and Qin Yan was teleported alone into Canglin Ancient Mountain. After defeating sixteen Evil Spirits and earning 3 Points, he set out to identify his location and find a route toward the Jadeite Royal Court in the Northern World.

• The old man opened a vast spatial array and announced the start of the Hidden Dragon Assembly, teleporting the gathered competitors away.
• Qin Yan arrived alone in a valley in Canglin Ancient Mountain and found sixteen Evil Spirits waiting nearby.
• Qin Yan charged the Evil Spirits and killed all sixteen with Ink Trace, his spear.
• Qin Yan's Purification Ring registered 3 Points, and he considered how dangerous higher-level Evil Spirits would be.
• Qin Yan recalled that the Life Grail lay in the Jadeite Royal Court in the Northern World's Core Zone and decided to determine which region he was in.

After discovering that the valley exit was surrounded by an enormous horde of Evil Spirits, Qin Yan ventured deeper into the valley to seek a way out and investigate what had drawn them there. He encountered three Third Grade Peak Evil Spirits blocking the path.

• Qin Yan found at least five thousand Evil Spirits gathered beyond the valley entrance and retreated without being noticed.
• Qin Yan decided to head deeper into the valley rather than risk breaking through the horde outside.
• As Qin Yan advanced, he fought off scattered Evil Spirits and realized their massive gathering might be drawn by a valuable source of energy.
• Qin Yan rounded a bend and found three Third Grade Peak Evil Spirits armed with black energy weapons.

Qin Yan fought his way deeper into an unmarked Valley, killing three Third Grade Peak Evil Spirits in a few breaths and earning 291 Points. As night fell, he stopped to rest, realizing the Valley was definitely dangerous and its abundant powerful spirits were not marked on Princess Anya's map.

• Qin Yan unleashed his full strength and killed three Third Grade Peak Evil Spirits in a rapid attack.
• He continued deeper into the Valley, where powerful Evil Spirits appeared in increasingly large groups and forced him to fight at full strength.
• As night fell, Qin Yan stopped advancing, found a concealed campsite, and rested without lighting a fire.
• Qin Yan checked the Purification Ring and saw that he had accumulated 291 Points.
• Qin Yan recognized that the dangerous Valley and its many powerful Evil Spirits were absent from Princess Anya's map.

Trapped in a seemingly endless valley, Qin Yan fought Third Grade Peak Evil Spirits while conserving his strength and wondering whether to save Skill Points for a crisis. After days of advancing, he noticed the mountain walls drawing closer together, giving him hope that the valley had an end.

• Qin Yan rested in shallow sleep after realizing that powerful Evil Spirits filled the valley and hoping it was not a dead end.
• Qin Yan spent seven days exploring the valley and fighting Third Grade Peak Evil Spirits, while worrying that his food would last only a month.
• Qin Yan reviewed his cultivation progress and decided to save his Skill Points rather than immediately raise his Spear Technique.
• Qin Yan continued onward, killing twenty-five Evil Spirits on April 18th, twenty-seven on April 19th, and thirty on April 20th.
• Qin Yan noticed on April 21st that the mountain walls were gradually narrowing and concluded that the road was not endless.

After fighting through the narrowing passage for fourteen days, Qin Yan emerged into a Black Vine Sea populated by powerful Vine Evil Spirits. As he cautiously climbed down, five Ice Plain Bears were fighting off more than ten Vine Evil Spirits nearby.

• On April 22, Qin Yan fought increasingly frequent Evil Spirits in a path too narrow for sweeping spear techniques and slept against a rock wall.
• On April 23, Qin Yan thrust his way through the passage, destroying a stream of Evil Spirits until he found a faintly glowing crack in the rock wall.
• Qin Yan squeezed through the crack and discovered a Black Vine Sea filled with powerful Vine Evil Spirits connected to the vines.
• Qin Yan began climbing down the cliff carefully, trying not to attract the attention of the Vine Evil Spirits below.
• Five Ice Plain Bears fought more than ten Vine Evil Spirits, smashing weaker ones with their paws and freezing or tearing apart stronger ones.

Bear One led the Icefield Bears through the Vine Maze after two companions withdrew, while other prodigies fought toward the region’s center. Beneath the vines, black smoke from defeated Vine Evil Spirits gathered into a hidden flow of energy, as Qin Yan cautiously searched for a way out.

• Bear One and the Icefield Bears defeated a group of Vine Evil Spirits, and two exhausted clan members chose to withdraw.
• Bear One let the two Icefield Bears return along their marked route, then continued deeper with the two remaining companions.
• Storm Winged squads, Lava Lizards, Mountain Giants, and other prodigies fought through the Vine Maze toward its depths.
• Black smoke from defeated Vine Evil Spirits sank into the vines, whose patterns brightened as energy gathered beneath the region.
• Qin Yan avoided battles while heading toward the Outer Zone, but he still fought several ambushing Vine Evil Spirits and steadily gained points on his Purification Ring.

Qin Yan encountered two Ice Plain Bears who claimed the black mist blocked the forest’s outskirts, but they tried to ambush him. He defeated and interrogated them, learned about their group and the forest, then killed them.

• Qin Yan asked two Ice Plain Bears how to leave the black vine forest, and they told him the perimeter was blocked by strange black mist.
• The Ice Plain Bears pretended to guide Qin Yan toward the mist, then attacked him from both sides.
• Qin Yan unleashed his full strength and severely wounded both bears with a sweeping spear strike.
• Qin Yan knocked one bear unconscious and interrogated the other about the mist, the forest, and their group following Bear One Prodigy.
• Qin Yan killed both Ice Plain Bears after the interrogation.

After discovering that the Vine Forest was sealed by Black Mist, Qin Yan pushed toward its hidden core, suspecting that destroying it was his only way out. He reached the forest’s deepest point and found a gigantic, withered Black Flower whose sprawling vines appeared to form the entire forest.

• Qin Yan searched the Ice Plain Bears’ packs, gaining supplies, 1,100 Points, and ten drops of Grandmaster True Blood.
• Qin Yan concluded that a core deep within the Vine Forest sustained the Black Mist and set out to find it.
• Qin Yan encountered other trapped prodigies heading toward the forest’s depths, while the Vine Evil Spirits grew weaker and rarer as he traveled.
• On April 30, Qin Yan reached the deepest part of the Vine Forest and saw an enormous withered Black Flower with four main vines, each ending in a Wood Heart.
• Qin Yan realized that the vast black vine forest might consist entirely of branches from the colossal flower.

Qin Yan encountered Su Liuli near the dead Giant Flower, and the two agreed to cooperate over the four Yimu Spirit Hearts. Su Liuli explained that the treasures had been drained to Seventh Grade and that the black vines had killed previous contenders, leaving Qin Yan wary of the danger ahead.

• Qin Yan spotted Su Liuli among the gathered prodigies, and she approached him to propose cooperation.
• Qin Yan agreed to join forces with Su Liuli because they were both humans facing hostile alien factions.
• Su Liuli told Qin Yan that the four Yimu Spirit Hearts had once been Ninth-Rank treasures but had fallen to Seventh Grade as the vines drained their life energy.
• Su Liuli explained that the dead Giant Flower used the spirit hearts to sustain the vast cage of vines around them.
• Su Liuli showed Qin Yan the skeletons of former contenders and said the black vines had drained their life force and turned them into fertilizer.

Qin Yan learned that the four Yimu Spirit Hearts were guarded by powerful Vine Evil Spirits, so the prodigies waited until enough fighters gathered to assault the central area together. On April 30, Bear One and Xuan Shan organized the attack, and Qin Yan and Su Liuli joined the spearhead assigned to face the strongest guardians.

• Su Liuli explained that entering the central area summoned Third Grade Peak Vine Evil Spirits and four Third Grade Limit guardians, leading the prodigies to wait and combine their strength.
• Qin Yan trained his Spear Technique relentlessly while more prodigies arrived in the ring-shaped forest.
• On April 30, Su Liuli called Qin Yan to join a gathering of nearly three hundred surviving prodigies.
• Bear One announced that he and Xuan Shan would confront the four Third Grade Limit guardians while the others held off the remaining Evil Spirits.
• Bear One named the Third Grade Peak fighters for the spearhead, including Su Liuli and Qin Yan.

Qin Yan perfected the Nine Revolutions Golden Body Spear Blood Refining Chapter before Bear One and Xuan Shan led the prodigies into battle against the Vine Evil Spirits. Qin Yan’s group reached the eastern main vine and confronted its Third Grade Limit Evil Spirit, which attacked them with seven black vines.

• Qin Yan cultivated the Nine Revolutions Golden Body Spear Blood Refining Chapter to Ninth Turn Perfection, boosting his combat ability and mastery of Stacked Qi.
• Bear One assigned Qin Yan, Su Liuli, and five other Third Grade Peak prodigies to attack the eastern main vine and its Third Grade Limit Evil Spirit.
• Bear One and Xuan Shan ordered nearly three hundred prodigies to charge into the Core Zone, where the four main vines summoned a growing army of Vine Evil Spirits.
• Qin Yan and his group fought through the battlefield and reached the eastern main vine, where they found its towering Third Grade Limit Evil Spirit.
• The eastern Evil Spirit formed seven thick black vines and lashed them toward Qin Yan and his companions as Qin Yan raised Ink Trace to strike.

Qin Yan and the Spearhead Squad fought an Evil Spirit whose black vines resisted their attacks, while Su Liuli held her own against one vine. After Frost Whisper was killed and Flowing Maple faced a deadly attack, Qin Yan increased his Spear Qi and launched a decisive strike.

• Qin Yan exchanged blows with a black vine but could only leave shallow marks on its nearly unbreakable surface.
• Qin Yan saw that Shadow Sting, Blaze, Jia Shan, Flowing Maple, and Frost Whisper were being overwhelmed, while Su Liuli skillfully suppressed her vine.
• Frost Whisper was pierced through the shoulder, infected with evil energy, and killed by a black vine.
• A vine turned on Flowing Maple and aimed for his throat, prompting Qin Yan to decide he had to end the fight quickly.
• Qin Yan used Stacked Qi to raise his total to sixty-eight Spear Qi strands and charged with a killing blow.

Qin Yan broke through the Vine Evil Spirit’s defenses and struck its main body, but the battle turned disastrous as three of his companions died. He fought a newly fused vine while Su Liuli held off another, and Jia Shan remained close to defeat.

• Qin Yan shattered one black vine and charged toward the Vine Evil Spirit’s core while Flowing Maple and Su Liuli restrained the other attackers.
• Qin Yan pierced the joint beneath the Vine Evil Spirit’s trunk, but two vines struck at him from behind and forced him to break off his attack.
• Qin Yan saw that Flowing Maple, Blaze, and Shadow Sting had been killed, while Jia Shan was badly wounded and Su Liuli faced a strengthened vine.
• Two vines fused into a massive attacker, and Qin Yan fought it to a standstill with his spear.
• Qin Yan evaded the fused vine’s downward strike and shouted inwardly, “Condense!”

Qin Yan defeated the fused vines, then coordinated with Su Liuli and Jia Shan to attack the Vine Evil Spirit’s main body. As the Prodigies’ defensive line neared collapse, the three prepared to strike its roots and seize or destroy the Yimu Spirit Heart.

• Qin Yan used Stacked Qi to tear apart the fused vines and destroy them with a barrage of spear strikes.
• Qin Yan joined Su Liuli against another vine, then asked her to restrain the Vine Evil Spirit’s main body while he rescued Jia Shan.
• Su Liuli agreed and struck the main body’s roots with her whip as Qin Yan freed Jia Shan from the vine threatening him.
• Qin Yan, Jia Shan, and Su Liuli regrouped and agreed that Jia Shan would take the front, Qin Yan would deal damage, and Su Liuli would attack from a distance.
• The three prepared to attack the Vine Evil Spirit’s roots while the Prodigies’ defensive line continued to falter.

Qin Yan and Jia Shan attacked the weakened Vine Evil Spirit, but its flower bud suddenly transformed into a massive maw and swallowed Jia Shan. Su Liuli struck the bud with her powerful whip, allowing her and Qin Yan to destroy the eastern Vine Evil Spirit, though Jia Shan’s fate remained unknown.

• Jia Shan and Qin Yan attacked the Vine Evil Spirit as its Black Mist weakened.
• The flower bud snapped open and swallowed Jia Shan, while Qin Yan narrowly escaped its bite.
• Su Liuli struck the flower bud with her Blood Prison Binding Twister, splitting it open.
• Qin Yan and Su Liuli attacked the wounded flower bud together and destroyed it in an explosion.

After defeating the Vine Evil Spirit, Su Liuli explained how she had used Qin Yan as bait to expose its weakness, deepening his distrust of her. The two cautiously retrieved the Yimu Spirit Heart, which Su Liuli caught with her whip.

• Qin Yan confronted Su Liuli for withholding the Vine Evil Spirit's weakness, and she explained that its roots and stems were its true vulnerability while the bud was its strongest attack.
• Su Liuli admitted she had kept the bud's danger secret so Qin Yan would attack without hesitation and draw out the Vine Evil Spirit's Bud Devour.
• Qin Yan grew more wary of Su Liuli despite her assurance that she would protect him, and she told him to retrieve the Yimu Spirit Heart.
• Qin Yan refused to approach the Spirit Heart alone, so Su Liuli offered to retrieve it alongside him.
• Su Liuli wrapped her whip around the Yimu Spirit Heart and pulled it safely into her hand.

Qin Yan and Su Liuli reached the North Battlefield and found its defenders nearly slaughtered and the outer line broken. They joined forces to devastate the northern Vine Evil Spirit, but as Qin Yan struck its roots, its flower bud opened and lunged to devour him.

• Su Liuli stored the Seventh Grade Resource in her Storage Ring and led Qin Yan toward the North Battlefield.
• Qin Yan and Su Liuli found a Mountain Giant fighting the northern Vine Evil Spirit amid fallen prodigies, while ordinary evil spirits surged through the collapsed outer defense.
• Su Liuli and Qin Yan unleashed their full attacks together and shattered the Vine Evil Spirit’s massive black vine.
• Qin Yan rushed beneath the evil spirit, drove his spear into its roots, and severely damaged its origin.
• The Vine Evil Spirit’s flower bud opened into a fanged maw and lunged down to devour Qin Yan.

Qin Yan was swallowed by Bud Devour and fell into a hidden underground cavern, where he found Jia Shan’s remains and discovered a central Vine Evil Spirit receiving energy from the four main vines. He suspected the surface guardians were merely extensions of this more powerful core, whose secret he had stumbled upon.

• Qin Yan was swallowed by the flower bud after ordinary Vine Evil Spirits pinned Su Liuli in place.
• Qin Yan slowed his fall through the darkness with Ink Trace Spear and eventually passed through an opening into an underground space.
• Qin Yan found Jia Shan’s remains and cracked shield beside the eastern opening.
• Qin Yan cautiously explored the vine cavern and reached its central area.
• Qin Yan saw a refined Vine Evil Spirit connected to the four main vines and realized it was absorbing energy from the surface guardians.

Qin Yan fought the central Vine Evil Spirit, which formed Vine Flood Dragons while bombarding him with Black Cannonballs. After taking wounds, he seized an opening to attack its true body and began condensing all eighty-one streams of Spear Qi into one strike.

• The central Vine Evil Spirit fired Black Cannonballs at Qin Yan and formed a Nine-Palace Formation that created a Vine Flood Dragon.
• Qin Yan clashed with the first Flood Dragon, discovered its strength was around 3500 Cal, and fought while dodging the spirit's cannonballs.
• The Vine Evil Spirit formed a second Flood Dragon as Qin Yan maneuvered closer to its true body, suffering several wounds along the way.
• Qin Yan used the first Flood Dragon's rebounding force to launch himself at the Vine Evil Spirit, which raised a giant vine shield.
• Qin Yan shouted "Return to One" and began merging all eighty-one streams of Spear Qi into a single attack.

Qin Yan destroyed the central Vine Evil Spirit with his ultimate spear technique, then collapsed from his injuries and exhaustion. A mysterious Black Seed remained among the ruins as the Vine Forest began to wither, revealing a way out and the devastating loss of nearly all the prodigies.

• Qin Yan used Return to One to shatter the vine shield and pierce the central Vine Evil Spirit's core.
• The central Vine Evil Spirit exploded, causing the two Vine Flood Dragons and the nine-grid formation to dissipate.
• Qin Yan collapsed after his victory, while a Black Seed appeared and absorbed energy from the four main vines before falling among the debris.
• The black vines and mist barrier across the Vine Forest began to wither and disappear, opening a path to survival.
• Only a dozen or so prodigies remained standing in the core plaza, out of nearly three hundred who had entered.