238: Chapter 238 Long Yin

Everyone took out the tents they had prepared in advance.

Most of these tents were made of exquisite materials, not only windproof and waterproof,

but also possessed a certain degree of concealment and basic protective functions, making them standard equipment for long-distance adventures.

Qin Yan and the few human companions beside him exchanged glances and also took out tents from their own packs.

For a Third-Rank Martial Artist, braving the elements for a few days might be tolerable.

But the Hidden Dragon Assembly would last for three months, and they could face battle at any moment.

A safe, stable campsite that could provide basic rest and recovery was crucial.

After all the human members had set up their tents and settled in somewhat,

Dean Su Zhiming gathered everyone to a relatively open clearing in the center of the camp.

Once the crowd had gathered, Su Zhiming wasted no time on pleasantries and got straight to the point: 'The specific competition rules for the Hidden Dragon Assembly have just been officially issued by the Elf Clan authorities and have now been conveyed to me.'

He paused briefly before continuing:

'First, some basic information about the competition grounds—the Canglin Ancient Peak.'

'This place is an extremely ancient and dangerous forbidden ground of the Elf Clan.'

'Within the Ancient Peak, it contains many unimaginable opportunities and rare treasures. It's said there are even legacy caves left behind by super-powerful experts.'

'But at the same time, it is also filled with natural treacherous locations, dead ends, and creatures spawned by the special environment.'

'However, your main opponents and targets within the Ancient Peak this time are not the other participants, but—Evil Spirits!'

'Evil Spirits?'

This term was extremely unfamiliar to the vast majority of the Human Prodigies present.

Everyone looked at each other, confusion evident in their eyes.

Qin Yan also frowned slightly. This term had never been emphasized in Hua Country's education system or common alien bestiaries.

Su Zhiming had clearly anticipated everyone's reaction and began to explain: 'Evil Spirits... you can understand them as a... special race.'

'Or rather, an extremely evil, chaotic, and terrifying supernatural existence.'

'They are not naturally born creatures, but more like manifestations of some twisted rule or ultimate evil energy.'

At this point, Dean Su's tone suddenly turned serious: 'Evil Spirits often possess terrifying combat prowess within the same rank, rarely having rivals.'

'They come in various forms, difficult to comprehend with common sense.'

'What's even more troublesome is that Evil Spirits possess a dreadful characteristic—'Devouring Evolution'.'

'They can rapidly recover themselves, strengthen their power, and even achieve rank ascension by devouring any existence containing life energy or spirit energy—whether it's flesh-and-blood creatures, energy entities, or spiritual bodies!'

Hiss—

Hearing this, many people sucked in a sharp breath.

Rarely have rivals in the same rank? Rapid evolution through devouring?

What kind of monstrous thing is this!

'However,' Su Zhiming shifted his tone to reassure everyone, 'you don't need to panic excessively.'

'The Evil Spirits in this assembly's venue—the Canglin Ancient Peak—are not the complete form of the Evil Spirit race.'

'They are what remains after a supremely powerful 'Evil Spirit Taboo' expert fell here.'

'Over a long period, the massive evil energy and resentment left behind after its death,'

'combined with the Ancient Peak's special environment, gave rise to these transformed 'Secondary Evil Spirits'.'

'Their strength and intelligence are greatly diminished compared to the true Evil Spirit race, making them relatively 'ordinary'.'

'But even so, the numbers and threat posed by these Secondary Evil Spirits should not be underestimated.'

'The environment of Canglin Ancient Peak is special, naturally spawning a new batch of Evil Spirits every year.'

'To maintain the peace of their ancestral land and prevent the spread of evil energy,'

'the Elf Clan needs to organize forces to enter and purge them at regular intervals, often incurring significant casualties.'

'This time coincides with the Hidden Dragon Assembly. Setting the venue here serves multiple purposes—it can utilize the power of the various clans' prodigies to purge the Evil Spirits, reducing the Elf Clan's own losses, while also using this as the assembly's assessment content. It's a time and effort-saving measure.'

So that's how it is, everyone realized.

'Your core mission upon entering the Canglin Ancient Peak this time is to kill these Evil Spirits!'

'Every Evil Spirit killed will be converted into corresponding 'points' based on its specific strength.'

'The stronger the Evil Spirit killed, the higher the points naturally earned.'

'Ultimately, the assembly's rankings will be primarily determined by these points.'

As he spoke, he waved his wide sleeve.

A soft white light scattered down like raindrops, precisely suspending itself in front of every human member.

As the light faded, it revealed simple, ancient-looking bracelets with a warm, jade-like luster.

'This item is called a 'purification ring'.'

Su Zhiming introduced, 'Forged by the Elf Clan, it contains a purification rune array.'

'When you kill an Evil Spirit, the ring will automatically capture the dispersing Evil Spirit essence aura and calculate and record the points based on the aura's intensity.'

Qin Yan reached out and took the ring floating before him.

It felt slightly cool to the touch, with a texture that was neither metal nor jade, and was very light.

He put it on his left wrist. The ring automatically adjusted its size to fit his skin.

Other than that, there was no other special reaction, nor could he see any display screen or interface.

'In addition to the purification ring,' Su Zhiming continued, 'there are two other crucial pieces of information, which I have sent to your personal terminals.'

'One is the *Brief Analysis of the Strength of Major Participating Race Prodigies in the Eternal Song Star Realm*, and the other is the *Map of Canglin Ancient Peak and Some Known Areas (Survey Version)*.'

'These two documents were hard to come by. They were specially provided to our side by Her Highness Anya, who utilized the Elf Clan's intelligence network.'

'I hope you will study them carefully and keep them in mind.'

After saying this, Su Zhiming said no more.

He signaled for everyone to review the information on their own, then walked to the side, found a flat piece of ground, and sat down cross-legged.

He slightly closed his eyes, placing his hands on his knees in a strange hand seal.

Immediately, an extremely faint yet incredibly solid layer of golden light began to flow faintly over the surface of his skin.

His breathing also became deep and prolonged, as if resonating mysteriously with the dense energy of heaven and earth around him.

He was clearly engaging in some form of cultivation.

Seeing this, everyone began checking their information.

Qin Yan first opened the file named *Brief Analysis of the Strength of Major Participating Race Prodigies in the Eternal Song Star Realm*.

Upon opening the file, the first thing that caught his eye was a concise yet weighty ranking list.

There were no pictures, only cold text and data.

Qin Yan's gaze fell on the top line of information, which held the highest position:

[First Place: Long Yin]

[Race: Dragon Descendant]

[Strength: Third Grade Limit]

[Identity: Fourth-generation grandson of the True King 'Dragon Tai'!]

[Known Martial Arts Skills: Fist Technique, Fourth Stage Mid-level; Palm Technique, Fourth Stage Mid-level. Suspected of mastering claw-type skills.]

'Third Grade Limit...!'

Qin Yan's pupils contracted sharply, his heart surging with shock!

He himself had just broken through to Third-Rank Peak and knew full well that each step from Peak to Limit, and then to touching the barrier of the next realm, was incredibly difficult, requiring a vast amount of accumulation.

This Long Yin had actually already reached this stage!