Infiltrating the Ape Clan Holy Mountain had taken Qin Feng considerable effort, but the descent was remarkably easy.

The powerhouses on the Ape Clan Holy Mountain were still reveling in the afterglow of the Cyan Forest Banquet. Most of them were busy absorbing the benefits they had gained.

Qin Feng slipped out of the Holy Mountain and reappeared in the ravine below. He stood atop a bluestone, the creek gurgling beneath his feet as the clear spring water SPLASHED over the rocks.

He glanced back at the Ape Clan Holy Mountain, which was shrouded in a thick veil of clouds and mist.

This was the calm before the storm.

Once the Ape Race powerhouses discovered that the Spiritual Light Cave had been plundered and their young prodigies killed, the entire Heaven-Reaching Ridge would likely be torn apart by their frenzy.

A sense of urgency gripped Qin Feng. With a flicker, his form reappeared dozens of yards away. From the foot of the mountain, he scanned his surroundings.

From a distance, the entire Heaven-Reaching Ridge was imposingly tall, shrouded in primeval clouds and mist. It resembled a behemoth sprawling amidst the majestic mountains, so vast and magnificent that its end could not be seen.

Qin Feng gazed toward Heaven-Reaching Ridge, thinking to himself.

’For now, I need to find a place for secluded cultivation. It’ll let me lie low for a while, and it’s also a chance to refine the dense Essence within this Red Lotus Mark!’

Qin Feng raised his hand, his gaze falling upon the uncanny, Nine-Grade Flowering red lotus in his palm. A fervent glint flashed in his eyes.

After a quick glance at his surroundings, Qin Feng’s figure transformed into a streak of black lightning, speeding toward the depths of Heaven-Reaching Ridge.

「One day later.」

A figure in a black robe appeared in a great marsh hundreds of miles away. The area was shrouded in a thin mist and had complex terrain. In the distance, the surface of a vast marsh gleamed, its Water Spiritual Qi exceptionally rich. The place was teeming with Water Attribute Fierce Beasts.

With his keen eyes, Qin Feng found a dry cave within the marsh. His figure flickered, and he appeared outside its entrance.

It was an unremarkable little hill with a large hole at its peak—a snake cave. Qin Feng’s eyes narrowed. The next moment, he channeled his True Qi and stomped his foot down hard.

RUMBLE!

A tremendous force shook the earth. Ripples spread out across the water from the hillock, followed by an invisible wave of power.

HISS!

A sharp gust of wind erupted, carrying a foul stench!

A large snake, dozens of feet long and covered in blue patterns, scrambled out of the cave in a panic. Without a backward glance, it charged toward the great marsh.

A Profound Water Python, a Fierce Beast!

Standing his ground, Qin Feng recognized the large, panicked blue snake.

The Profound Water Python was a Water Attribute Fierce Beast. They typically lived in remote marshes, hiding in the water to prey on other Fierce Beasts that came to drink at the water’s edge.

The strength of this type of Fierce Beast was equivalent to about the Martial Arts Eighth Layer Heaven.

The Profound Water Python dove into the water and quickly vanished. Qin Feng turned, his gaze falling upon the python’s lair. He took a few steps up the hillock, channeled his True Qi, and stomped his foot. With a loud BOOM, the ground beneath him collapsed, revealing a large opening. After a final glance around, Qin Feng headed down into the hole.

The Profound Water Python’s lair was dark and damp, overgrown with a strange type of black vine that carried a faint trace of Spiritual Qi.

It was a rare medicinal herb known as the Black Snake Vine, which could be used to neutralize poisons and mend bones.

Qin Feng glanced at it. At his current level, he had little use for something like this.

After tidying up the cave slightly, Qin Feng sealed the entrance and prepared to begin the refinement of the Essence in his Red Lotus Mark.

Sitting cross-legged, he gazed at the eerily lifelike red lotus on his palm, unable to conceal the fervent glow in his eyes. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

The Red Lotus Mark contained the pure Essence of eight Ape Clan Kings, as well as the Essence Blood plundered from the two or three dozen Ape Race prodigies Qin Feng had slain.

Although Qin Feng only received a small fraction of the power from the Red Lotus Mark, the amount that had accumulated was now truly formidable.

If he could refine it all, he might even be able to break through to the Condensing Vein Realm.

If he succeeded in breaking through to the Condensing Vein Realm, Qin Feng would finally catch up to the veteran elites of the academy.

...

「In a ridge within the Cangmang Mountain Realm of Heaven-Reaching Ridge.」

A flock of nearly one hundred beautiful young women had gathered here, surrounded by several hundred veteran elites in the forest.

From time to time, some of the young men would cast their gazes upon the women, a subtle, peculiar light in their eyes.

Most of these gazes, however, were fixed upon a stunningly beautiful woman in a pale yellow palace dress.

While many of the young women in the forest were great beauties in their own right—the kind who would be the center of attention anywhere they went—they were all instantly eclipsed in this woman’s presence, all their radiance stolen away.

"Big Sister, we’ve pretty much cleared out the new students in Heaven-Reaching Ridge. The vast majority withdrew from the Hidden Dragon Points Competition on their own. The few who stubbornly resisted were killed by us. Apart from a select few on the list—like Elder Xuanwu, Celestial Monarch Lu; Elder White Tiger, Chi Ling’Er; and Elder Cyan Dragon, Qin Feng—most of the other new students have been eliminated!"

In the forest, a green-clothed maiden at the First Secret Realm of Vein Condensation was reporting to the young woman in the yellow palace dress.

"As for the ones who are left, they’re hidden extremely well. It seems they saw through our intentions early on and went into hiding. It will be difficult to find any trace of them for the time being!"

Nearby, an elegant beauty in a white palace dress smiled. "It no longer affects the overall situation. Those newcomers are powerless to turn the tide. What comes next is the showdown between our Top Ten Teams!"

If Qin Feng were here, he would surely recognize the elegant beauty in the white palace dress who had just spoken.

She was none other than Venerable Xuelian, the one who had presided over the Seventh Palace, the Silver Palace, during the Snowfield Trial.

Venerable Xuelian had a very special status: she was a former Elder of Cyan Dragon Academy.

This status afforded her immense prestige among the young women, making her the strongest powerhouse in the group, second only to Lin Fei.

Just then, a powerhouse from Heaven’s Edge Sea Pavilion laughed. "This time, although the Top Ten Teams are stacked with experts, Senior Sister Lin Fei’s number one position on the Hidden Dragon Ranking is solid as a rock. Advancing a White Lotus Mark to a Red Lotus Second Grade... that’s a feat so rare you could count the number of times it’s happened in past competitions on one hand!"

"That’s right! Senior Sister Lin Fei is a once-in-ten-thousand-year prodigy of All Stars Academy. In this Hidden Dragon Points Competition, people like Jin Ruyi, King Luo, Ouyang Yu, Luo Lie, Ye Youming, and the Blood Bat King are all exceptionally talented, but compared to Senior Sister Lin Fei, they all fall short!"

"Senior Sister Lin Fei has already cultivated the *Mixed Element Star Technique* to the 3rd Layer and perfected the Houtu Divine King Body! Her power is already beyond what any ordinary genius could hope to match!"

...

Listening to the lighthearted laughter of the other women, Xuelian moved with graceful steps, quietly walking a dozen paces to a secluded spot. Her expression grew complex as she gazed into the distance, a sharp, cold light flashing intermittently within her beautiful, shimmering eyes.

’Qin Feng... Elder Cyan Dragon... you damned brat...’

The memory of what happened in the Silver Palace made Xuelian bite her lower lip fiercely, her stunning face covered in a layer of frost.

’You little bastard... you better hope I don’t find you. Or else...’