My Arts Evolve When Perfected

The purple mist was impenetrably thick. Jiang Qiu stood at the head of the group, his long spear held at a slant in his right hand, eyes narrowed. A massive toad, two to three stories tall, squatted in the middle of the road. With its every inhale and exhale, the surrounding mist was driven away.

A clearing in the purple mist, over two hundred meters in diameter, formed around it—an area more than twice the size of King Niu’s. Its round, shimmering blue eyes stared wide and unblinking, like two small blue moons suspended in the air.

"CROAK~"

Its massive maw opened, spitting out a dozen or so unconscious youths. It rolled its tongue and glanced at Jiang Qiu, whose aura was utterly unremarkable. In a puzzled tone, it said, "That fellow King Niu who fled from Dongqi Lake couldn’t even defend his own territory?

I can’t let Lady Spider Mother’s offerings escape..."

Muttering to itself, the Toad King inhaled sharply. The air formed a vortex that spiraled into its mouth, pulling in gravel and dust from the ground as if brewing a storm.

BOOM—

Suddenly, the shadow of a blood-red Azure Dragon flashed past. A huge chunk of flesh and a spray of blue blood erupted from the Toad King’s back. Its two large blue eyes bulged even wider. Before it, the image of the young man slowly dissipated, leaving only spiderweb-like cracks on the ground.

’Wha... What was that?!’

THUD—

Everyone in the group froze. They watched as a gaping hole was torn in the Toad King’s massive body before it crashed to the ground, revealing Jiang Qiu standing behind it, drenched in blue blood. With a flick of his spear, he sent viscera and shredded flesh splattering in a crescent arc.

’Now that I’ve just entered the Jade Sinew Realm, my attacks are much sharper.’ 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Jiang Qiu glanced back at the Toad King’s corpse, his eyes suddenly narrowing. A tiny, faint flame was still burning within the massive body. ’It’s not completely dead?’

SLASH—

A flash of silver light, swift as lightning. The spear’s tip sliced open a two-meter-long gash across the Toad King’s warty back. Blue blood sprayed out, and a small, fist-sized toad tumbled out. With its pitch-black webbed feet clutching its head, it looked up, saw the Double Arc Blade Spear Head, and shuddered.

"CROAK! Don’t hurt me! Don’t hurt me!"

Suddenly sensing killing intent, the little toad’s eyes flew wide open. Its large mouth chattered rapidly, "I can lead you guys out!"

VMM—

The tip of the charging spear froze an inch from its tiny nostrils. THWAP. The force of the wind from the sudden stop flipped its fist-sized body over. Its belly heaved with panicked gasps, rising and falling like a frantic heart.

’So it’s a coward.’

Jiang Qiu’s eyebrow twitched. He slowly pressed the tip of his spear into its belly. "I don’t need you to tell me how to get out. A moment ago, you said we were offerings. What did you mean by that?"

’It was already extremely rare for a Top Tier Demon Beast to appear during the entrance exams. What’s more, the caliber of this year’s exams was said to be the highest in history. Even if one of the Ten Great Demon Marshals came in person, they couldn’t expect to escape unscathed. And Demon Marshals are the supreme commanders of the Demon Race on the main front in the Northwest Province.’

’Why would a Top Tier Demon Beast come to the exam grounds just to get killed, unless it absolutely had to?’

’And it looks like there’s more than just one or two. Most likely, the Demon King Red Flame Spider Mother is plotting something again...’

"CROAK-ha-ha, you misheard, you misheard..." the little toad chuckled sheepishly. SQUELCH. An organ was pierced. Its pupils contracted. "You didn’t mishear!"

The spear tip withdrew slightly. The little toad wiped non-existent cold sweat from its brow with its right webbed foot and panted, "Actually... what I said was ’supplements’..."

Its voice was so soft that the group of students not far away couldn’t hear it.

After a pause, it timidly looked up at Jiang Qiu’s eyes, which were as calm and deep as an abyss. It gulped, its stomach gurgling nervously. "Lady Spider Mother has been pregnant for a hundred years and is due to give birth this year. That’s why she needs supplements. The prodigies of the Human Race are the most exquisite supplements. Even the ones with poor Talent right now will have a fine effect after soaking in the soup pot for a while."

"Pregnant for a hundred years?" Jiang Qiu’s lip twitched. "What in the world is she pregnant with?"

’The image of the Red Flame Spider Mother’s True Form, which he had glimpsed using the [Demon King’s Origin], flashed through his mind. She did indeed seem to be nurturing a new life.’

’With a body that large, could she be pregnant with some kind of jumbo spider?’

’No, breeding spiders shouldn’t take that long...’

Jiang Qiu’s heart tightened, and his gaze grew cold. "You were able to snatch so many people from right under the noses of the exam organizers?"

"CROAK~" The little toad gave a sinister chuckle, the corners of its mouth splitting wide to reach its eyes. "Take a guess."

In that instant, ripples spread from its mouth as if a droplet had fallen into a still lake. A pebble hidden in its stomach had finished preparing.

Jiang Qiu’s pupils contracted, and the hairs on his arms stood on end. SQUELCH. The spear tip plunged downward. A burst of Strength erupted, shredding the little toad’s body to pieces.

In that moment, an image flashed through his mind: a colossal body with sixteen pillar-like legs, forcing him to crane his neck to see its eight enormous, green, moon-like eyes. A wisp of aura that had burst from the pebble matched it, resonating with an invisible pulse from the deepest part of the purple mist.

VMMMM.

"A Secret Realm fluctuation? Why is the Secret Realm activating now?!"

"We’re doomed! We’re doomed! We’ll never get out of this purple mist!"

Cries of panic erupted from the back of the group. Jiang Qiu’s heart skipped a beat. In the blink of an eye, the gray world began to melt away. The faintly visible flames were swallowed by darkness, and the outlines of houses, streets, and abandoned cars were wiped away as the purple mist was violently dispersed.

’We’re entering a Secret Realm!’

Gradually, the outlines of a structure emerged. A wall over twenty meters high, constructed from stone slabs carved with dragons and phoenixes, towered over them. Looking up, they could see a circular staircase spiraling up, level after level, to the very top.

Over three thousand people had been teleported here simultaneously, yet they occupied only a small corner of the great hall. A large, circular lake took up three-quarters of the central space, its blood-red liquid slowly churning.

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP!

The moment they entered the great hall, their hearts began to pound erratically. Their eyes locked onto the center of the lake, drawn like ants to the scent of cream. A single thought exploded in their minds—’Jump in and feast!’

The aura it exuded was welcoming, familiar, and seductive, yet it also carried a primeval quality, as if it had been brewing for countless ages, absorbing the very essence of the world.

[Status: Reincarnated Medium]

[Description: A Secret Technique of reincarnation from Ancient Times. You have obtained a sliver of the medium. After stepping into the Jade Sinew Realm, you can intercept the Heaven and Earth Spirit Charm at its Origin to forge the Ancient Returning Jade Sinews.]

The panel popped out. The five words "Heaven and Earth Spirit Charm" struck Jiang Qiu like a physical blow, making his very soul tremble. "How can there be such a dense concentration of Heaven and Earth Spirit Charm here?!"

’Is this a case of getting food when you’re hungry and clothes when you’re cold?’

"I... I... holy shit! Fire Marrow... that’s Fire Marrow!" a student stammered, his finger trembling as he pointed to the center of the lake, his lips quivering. "I... I’ve seen the pictures released by the Northern Wilderness auction house online, but that thousand-year-old treasure was only the size of a fingernail, and it wasn’t nearly this bright!"

Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing and saw, to their astonishment, a red jade stone the size of a small hill resting at the bottom of the lake, dozens of meters deep. Though submerged, it seemed to be on fire.

The blood-red water was also exceptionally clear. Despite its color, it was completely unclouded, and the bottom of the lake was perfectly visible. Colorful jades and Lantern Fruits that pulsed as they expanded and contracted were strewn across the lakebed—a scene of competing splendor.

SPLASH.

Suddenly, the corpses of King Niu and the Toad King were hurled into the lake. The massive splash drenched the students near the edge, who shrieked and leaped back as if scalded by hot oil.

Jiang Qiu’s heart lurched. He tightened his grip on his spear and glared at a sullen-looking, droopy-eyed student. "What are you doing?"

The student patted the hand he had just used to toss the demon beasts in and sighed. "Well, they’re supplements. The more, the better, of course."