Read Novel Full Chapter 231: Thousand Shadow Ghost Vine, Picking the Peach
Chapter 231: Chapter 231: Thousand Shadow Ghost Vine, Picking the Peach
When Qin Tian walked out of the house, night had already fallen.
As early as two thousand years ago, the Empire had mastered artificial sun technology and had promoted this grand project to all 星域 under its rule. The alternating patterns of day and night had long been deeply etched into the genes of the Empire’s citizens—a memory from the era of the mother星, and the eternal rhythm of civilization’s continuation.
Therefore, the Empire’s law clearly stipulates: any colony planet with a permanent population exceeding one billion must build an artificial sun in synchronous orbit.
Although these artifices still cannot compare with the ancient star orbiting the mother星 in terms of scale, energy level, and stability, they are sufficient to simulate the most basic cycle of day and night in the cold deep space—reproducing perfectly the dim twilight at dawn, the radiant brilliance at noon, and the gentle evening glow at dusk.
These artificial suns are not just simple lighting devices but also a manifestation of the Empire’s cultural care for its citizens.
They rise and set in a constant rhythm, maintaining the most primitive instinct of human routine, allowing travelers scattered across the Galaxy to feel warm and at ease like home, no matter where they are.
"The night has finally arrived."
Qin Tian’s lips curled into a slight arc.
In the darkness, all his attributes increased by 100%, his presence became even more concealed.
The new game begins.
He walked down the street, invisible, with no camera or thermal device able to capture his existence.
His perception ability had significantly grown compared to the daytime, and almost the entire city was within his perception range.
Heat sources, scents, and sounds rapidly integrated, forming a bio-map.
Qin Tian hovered above the city like a ghost.
At night, the city was not quiet.
Each time in the genius competition, the first day is always the most intense and also sees the most eliminations.
This time was no different.
So far, more than 40 geniuses had been eliminated, nearly half of the total participants.
Among the remaining, some had superior combat abilities, like Four star and Five star geniuses, while others excelled in hiding, avoiding detection, or formed early alliances to protect themselves through numerical advantage and eliminate others.
The battles of these geniuses to come are the main highlights of this year’s talent showdown.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Combat fluctuations came from several corners of the city.
Qin Tian sensed it and approached the place with the most heat sources.
However, during his flight, he saw a person.
The night was as thick as ink, and that person stood under the moonlight like an unsheathed sword.
The pure white Gilded Armor glimmered with a cold light in the cool moonlight, each piece of armor leaf seemed to be infused with 星霜, flowing with an unearthly cold glow.
The cloak fluttered in the night wind, its dark base absorbed all light, with only the crimson "God" character blazing brightly in the dark, like a mark of ancient judgment. His faceplate gleamed with metallic coldness under the moon, his heavy battle boots shattered the moonlight beneath him, and the gilded runes on the armor joints carved eerie trails in the night as he moved.
A-level Examiner, codenamed "God".
"This outfit is really cool~"
Qin Tian secretly admired, and casually placed a Hunting Mark on Examiner "God".
The purpose of the mark was not to have designs on "God". By regulation, examiners are not to make a move on each other.
Doing so was just to prepare for future plans.
The Hunting Mark is not a Spiritual Mark, but a breath locked by the Top Hunter, thereby activating the power within the bloodline, greatly concealing the breath, increasing speed by 70%, and attack power by 50%.
Therefore, the marked target feels nothing.
Qin Tian bypassed Examiner "God" and continued flying, and soon afterward, witnessed a very intense battle.
Below, there were three people, one man and two women.
Before the event started, Qin Tian reviewed the evaluations of the participants by various institutions and memorized the information of the one hundred geniuses.
These three were respectively:
Four star Genius, Celestial Wheel Arrow bloodline descendant, Zhong Liying.
Four star Genius, Fish Dragon Bloodline descendant, Ao Zihong.
Three star Genius, Cold Crystal Bloodline descendant, Ji Yufei.
They were battling against a very strange vine, which was semi-transparent and could merge into the darkness. Unlike the Deathwillows on Huxin Island fixed in one place, it slithered along the ground like a venomous snake, launching surprise attacks from shadowy corners at times, and splitting into dozens of illusions, making it hard to discern the true from the false.
"Watch the right side."
Zhong Liying’s cold shout pierced the night sky, the Crimson Flame Longbow "Scorching Sun" in her hand emitted dazzling light, as nine Golden Red Arrows soared through the air like a phoenix spreading its wings, trailing fiery tails.
Where the arrows passed, the air twisted, precisely nailing into the wriggling vine in the street corner shadow.
As the flame ignited, the semi-transparent vine convulsed violently, emitting a piercing shriek like a baby’s cry. The dark blue sap spurted from its wound, corroding white smoke onto the bluestone.
Ao Zihong leaped into the air, fully activating the Fish Dragon Bloodline.
His arms transformed completely into dragon arms, with green scales glimmering with cold light under the moon, and ten fingers extended into three-foot-long sharp claw glows.
"Cut it for me!"
With a bellow, the dragon claws sliced through the air with a tearing whistle, severing the wounded Ghost Vine at the waist.
The severed vine twisted like a dying venomous snake, spraying dark blue sap from the cut, which condensed into sharp spikes in mid-air, shooting towards the three.
Ji Yufei’s eyes turned cold, her delicate foot lightly tapped the ground.
"Congeal."
Her red lips parted lightly, and the power of the Cold Crystal Bloodline surged like a tide. Icy frost spread rapidly around her as the center, covering the entire street in an instant.
The flying toxic spikes froze in the air and shattered to the ground with a series of crisp sounds.
More terrifyingly, the frost spread counter-current along the Ghost Vine’s sap, freezing those remnant vines trying to burrow into the ground in retreat into a glittering ice sculpture forest under the moonlight.
The Thousand Shadow Ghost Vine was driven to its limit.
Just as the three thought victory was assured, a sudden mutation occurred!
The frozen vines suddenly exploded at the same time, countless ice shards spewing dark blue sap in all directions.
The shadows on both sides of the street began to writhe wildly, dozens of new vines burst from every dark corner in a surprise attack.
These new vines were even more peculiar, their surfaces covered in densely packed human face patterns, each face emitting a silent wailing.
"Watch out! It’s burning its origin!" Zhong Liying quickly retreated, opening and closing her longbow rapidly, a curtain of arrows falling like rain.
Ao Zihong advanced instead of retreating, his dragon claws dancing a green light web.
Ji Yufei formed a seal with her hands, an ice blue barrier forming instantly around the trio.
The dying counterattack of the Ghost Vine came and went quickly.
With one of Zhong Liying’s arrows piercing the core vine, Ao Zihong’s dragon claws shredding the last line of defense, and Ji Yufei’s extreme cold qi completely freezing its Power of Regeneration, the battle finally concluded.
The Ghost Vine let out an unwilling shriek, the core vine contracting violently, then exploded with a "bang".
This time, the dark blue sap condensed into droplets in the air, falling like rain, striking the bluestone floor with crisp sounds.
Under the trio’s watchful eyes, a pair of blue boots fell from the shadows with a clang.
This was the Guardian Artifact of the Thousand Shadow Ghost Vine.
"Boots? I’ll take this. As an Archer, I need a pair of Spirit Boots to enhance my dodging ability." Zhong Liying spoke.
"Agreed."
Ao Zihong and Ji Yufei nodded in agreement. Over the half-day of their alliance, a certain level of trust had been established between them, reaching a preliminary agreement on the division of spoils: if an artifact suited someone, they would get it first, but they would need to compensate with future spoils.
Seeing the two agree, a smile appeared on Zhong Liying’s pretty face.
However, before she could approach the boots, a hand suddenly stretched out from the shadows, grabbing the boots and running off while the three were caught off guard.
What!!!
Seeing this, the three were first stunned, then almost exploded with anger.
The hard-earned spoils were snatched by someone else.
Who could tolerate that!
"Chase!"
Zhong Liying’s pretty face was furious, her clear voice carrying a trace of icy chill.