241: Chapter 241 The First Battle!

The old man did not say anything, but slowly raised the wooden staff in his hand. The emerald gemstone inlaid at the top of the staff erupted with a sun-like radiance.

He lightly tapped the void in front of him.

"Buzz—!"

A deep, distant hum, as if echoing from ancient times, resounded through heaven and earth.

Centered on the spot tapped by the wooden staff, rings of profound and esoteric green spatial ripples rapidly spread out in all directions.

Immediately following, under the gaze of countless eyes, the space ahead seemed to be torn apart by an invisible giant hand, and a rift with edges flowing with silver spatial turbulence abruptly appeared.

The rift quickly expanded and deformed, finally stabilizing into an incomparably massive and extremely complex emerald green circular formation diagram!

The diagram was composed of countless fine runes, ancient totems, and lines resembling star trajectories.

It rotated slowly, emitting vast, ancient, and majestic spatial fluctuations.

The diagram continuously expanded as it spun!

One hundred zhang, one thousand zhang, ten thousand zhang... Finally, a giant green Seal formation diagram with a diameter exceeding one hundred thousand zhang descended like an inverted canopy of the heavens, enveloping the teams of all races below!

The light of the diagram was not harsh, but it cast a green hue across the faces of the hundreds of thousands of Geniuses below.

At this moment, all sounds ceased.

All noise, all whispers, all energy fluctuations seemed to be awed into silence and absorbed by this enormous formation diagram.

The old man floating before the ancient tree gazed deeply, sweeping his eyes over the Prodigies of the myriad races below.

His aged yet powerful voice clearly reached the ears of every living being:

"The Hidden Dragon Assembly officially begins!"

The moment his voice fell, the giant green Seal formation diagram covering the sky suddenly burst forth with brilliant light a hundred times stronger than before!

Qin Yan felt his vision flooded with boundless emerald green. His body seemed weightless, yet enveloped and drawn by a gentle but irresistible force.

The figures of his companions and the images of the massive teams of other races quickly blurred and faded in the green light.

The light flashed.

The next moment, the hundreds of thousands of figures on the open ground, along with the suffocating, complex aura and clamor, instantly vanished without a trace.

Only the receiving ancient tree remained standing quietly, and the giant diagram in the sky slowly dimmed and dissipated, eventually returning to nothingness.

It was as if the magnificent scene of the myriad races gathering moments ago had just been an illusory dream.

...

Canglin Ancient Peak.

After a strong sensation of spatial pulling, the brilliant green light enveloping his body suddenly dissipated.

Qin Yan felt solid ground under his feet; he had stepped onto unfamiliar land.

His vision quickly recovered, and he vigilantly surveyed his surroundings.

What came into view was a deep, secluded valley surrounded by steep mountain walls.

However, the air was permeated with a slightly decaying and cold aura.

Looking up, the mountain walls on both sides towered high, obscuring most of the sky, allowing him to see only a narrow, grayish strip of daylight.

The teleportation was random.

Qin Yan did not see any Human Race or Elf Clan companions nearby.

This was expected, but it instantly put him on high alert.

Alone in this perilous Forbidden Ground, any oversight could be fatal.

However, his vigilance was immediately met with a 'response'.

About several dozen meters in front of him, on a relatively open area strewn with rocks, sixteen figures stood distinctly!

They maintained human-like silhouettes, but their bodies were composed of thick, black mist that constantly churned and twisted.

Within the black mist, scarlet eyes were fixed tightly on Qin Yan, who had just appeared.

They were filled with pure greed, malice, and the desire for destruction.

Almost at the same moment Qin Yan's gaze fell upon them, the sixteen Evil Spirits simultaneously let out a piercing shriek!

The next moment, they charged toward Qin Yan with rolling black Qi from different directions!

"Are these Evil Spirits?"

Qin Yan's eyes narrowed, but he was not flustered.

He quickly scanned them. The strongest of these sixteen Evil Spirits only emitted a blood Qi fluctuation equivalent to the third grade early stage.

Most of the others were at the second grade level.

For him now, an enemy force of this scale did not pose a substantial threat.

"Perfect, I'll test my skills on you!"

Facing the surging Evil Spirits, Qin Yan advanced instead of retreating.

He exerted force with his feet, kicking up fine dust from the ground, and actively met the attack!

The long spear 'ink trace' in his hand let out a clear, crisp hum, and golden Spear Light extended along the shaft.

"Puff!" "Hiss!"

"Awoo—!"

The golden light streaked through the dimly lit valley like bolts of lightning.

Qin Yan's figure shuttled through the crowd of Evil Spirits. Every time he paused, the tip of his spear precisely struck an Evil Spirit.

The four-foot Spear Light, combined with the sharp Spear Aura, made dealing with these low-level Evil Spirits incredibly simple.

The struck Evil Spirits did not scream or bleed.

The moment the Spear Light pierced their bodies, their forms, composed of grayish-black mist, instantly stiffened, followed by a light 'puff'.

Their entire forms instantly disintegrated, turning into a denser mass of black Qi.

Immediately after, they rapidly transformed into countless fine gray light dots.

They scattered like dust in the wind, eventually leaving behind only a few wisps of extremely thin black smoke.

The entire process was silent and bizarre.

In just over a dozen breaths, the sixteen shrieking Evil Spirits that had charged were completely annihilated.

The valley returned to silence, leaving only the lingering, uncomfortable residual Evil Qi in the air that had not completely dispersed.

Qin Yan stood with his spear lowered, frowning slightly.

"As expected, they are bizarre, not physical entities, but more like aggregates of some kind of evil energy."

He looked down at the 'purification ring' on his left wrist.

He saw that the surface of the originally warm jade-white bracelet was currently emitting a faint glow.

Under Qin Yan's gaze, a clear number appeared in the center of the bracelet—3.

"3 points?"

Qin Yan's mind stirred, and memories regarding point exchange surfaced.

According to the rules: killing one third grade early stage Evil Spirit was worth 1 point;

third grade mid-stage, 3 points;

third grade late stage, 6 points;

Third-Rank Peak, 12 points;

and Third Grade Limit was as high as 30 points.

The sixteen Evil Spirits just now, the strongest few were third grade early stage.

The rest were weaker, and the total accumulated was exactly 3 points, which matched the calculation.

The difficulty of obtaining points was evident.

To accumulate a high score, hunting high-level Evil Spirits was the key.

And the strength and danger level of high-level Evil Spirits would inevitably rise in a straight line.

After a brief rest, Qin Yan decided to first investigate the surrounding environment to determine his location.

He recalled the map of Canglin Ancient Peak in his mind.

The Canglin Ancient Yue region was extremely vast; otherwise, it could not accommodate hundreds of thousands of Geniuses competing within it.

The entire Ancient Yue was broadly divided into four main regions: East World, West World, South World, and Northern World.

One of his goals for participating in the Hidden Dragon Assembly—the holy grail of life—was placed in the core area of the Northern World.

Within ruins called the "Jade Court."

"I need to figure out which 'World' I am in first."

Qin Yan pondered.