Lin Chen stared at the characters on the small note, a cold glimmer swirling in his eyes.

It turned out that Zhou Yufei had written a few words on the note: "Disciples from the eight major forces are preparing to join hands to capture you and interrogate you about the secrets of Tianyan."

"If you want to capture me, you'll have to see if you possess the ability," Lin Chen thought to himself.

At that moment, accompanied by the tolling of a bell, an elder announced, "Disciples entering the Spiritual Spring, the reward for this entry into the Spiritual Spring is as follows: the first place will grant one person access into the Tower of Prophecy, the second place will award two people Primordial Pills, and equally, the third place will also award two people a Profound Grade Cultivation Technique. This time, the rewards are the richest of all previous ones. I hope everyone can perform excellently!"

Boom, upon hearing the elder's words, everyone was greatly shocked, especially those disciples from the eight major forces, whose eyes shone with keen light.

The Tower of Prophecy, inside which one has the chance to inherit one of the ancient eight secret techniques.

Primordial Pill, a seventh-grade medicinal pill, possessing a Primordial Pill means one is virtually stepping into the Tianyan Realm.

And the Profound Grade Cultivation Technique is something that's sought but rarely found, a cultivation method potent enough to elevate one's strength by an entire level.

Watching all the competitors' excited expressions, the elder continued, "The rule for this competition is that each person will have our special device on their body, which can record your performance in the Spiritual Spring and determine scores; the highest scorer will be the winner."

"Alright, the competitors can now enter the Spiritual Spring," the elder announced with a grave voice.

Since the Spiritual Spring is a hidden realm, killing is allowed inside, and every battle for the Spiritual Spring has seen numerous martial artists eternally left within. Given the substantial rewards, this time's battle is bound to be a bloody one.

However, inside the Spiritual Spring are countless treasures and natural resources, so despite the dangers, these disciples still choose to enter the Spiritual Spring to enhance their strength without hesitation.

No sooner had the old man's voice fallen than figures already impatiently headed towards the Spiritual Spring, selecting advantageous terrains.

"Let's go too," Lin Chen, Zhao Xiaohua, and Tang Bao'er said as they walked hand in hand into the Spiritual Spring.

However, what frustrated Lin Chen was that although the three of them entered hand in hand, they were immediately separated by a mysterious force as soon as they entered the Spiritual Spring.

When Lin Chen appeared within the Spiritual Spring, he was in a valley.

Lin Chen jumped to a high spot to look around, but there were no people around.

Looking at this valley, a light flashed in Lin Chen's eyes.

The alliance of the eight major forces meant that even Tang Bao'er, Zhao Xiaohua, and himself would find it difficult to withstand so many people, so to confront them, they must outsmart them.

Lin Chen soon thought of a formation. The Eight Trigrams Array he had comprehended last time had enhanced his combat abilities tremendously, but this formation clearly posed some difficulties against the experts from the eight major forces.

"System, do you have an even more badass formation, one that can annihilate many strong opponents?"

"The Thunderfire Array, it should be able to eliminate your current enemies. Would you like to exchange it?"

"The Thunderfire Array?" The name itself sounds extremely badass.

Lin Chen pondered for a moment then continued, "Okay, I'm willing to exchange."

Although it cost him quite a bit of popularity points, when Lin Chen mastered this formation, he knew it was absolutely worth it.

This formation consisted of the elemental properties of thunder and fire; once activated within it, thunder would roar and golden flames would engulf the area, making it a fatal trap even for Innate Realm experts.

After mastering the formation, Lin Chen began to set up the formation in the valley. Half a day later, the grand formation was finally completed.

If not activated, there was nothing unusual about the valley, but once the grand formation was activated, even if the experts from the eight major forces came together, it would still be difficult to breach this formation.

Lin Chen stepped out of the valley and ventured into the jungle to search for Zhao Xiaohua and Tang Bao'er.

Although he was the main target, Zhao Xiaohua and Tang Bao'er were closely connected to him, making them very much in danger as well.

Lin Chen had not walked far before he saw a group of people surrounding a scene a short distance away, where a bloodied young girl with a sword lay on the ground.

Upon seeing the girl lying on the ground, Lin Chen's gaze sharpened—it was Zhou Yufei.

One of the Martial Artists stared at Zhou Yufei with a cold sneer, "Zhou Yufei, I clearly saw you are close to Lin Chen, yet you claim you do not know his whereabouts?"

Zhou Yufei snorted coldly, "I really don't know where he is, and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you."

"What? You brat, you're quite tough, haha! This is the Spiritual Spring, even if we kill you no one will know," the Martial Artist said coldly.

Zhou Yufei, furious, looked at the speaker, "Chen Mo, you and I are both disciples of Sword Mountain. How dare you collude with external forces to bully your fellows!"

Chen Mo burst into laughter, "What if I bully you? At Sword Mountain, I pursued you earnestly, but you wouldn't even give me a glance. Now, in the Spiritual Spring with no master to protect you, I want to see how arrogant you can be, Zhou Yufei. I will torment you thoroughly, and after I'm done, I'll kill you. I believe even if Elder Mu Yun blames me, no one would believe it was my doing."

Watching Chen Mo, his face twisted into a grimace, lunge toward Zhou Yufei, despair surged in her heart.

She would rather die than let her body be sullied by these scoundrels. Thus, as Chen Mo closed in, Zhou Yufei suddenly placed her sword against her neck.

A bitter smile crossed her lips, "Day by day, I've longed for you, and finally seeing you again, Lin Chen, I didn't expect this brief encounter to turn into a farewell."

"Hehe, although I cannot be your lover, I can die for you—that's enough." Saying this, Zhou Yufei was about to commit suicide.

Just then, a cold voice resonated through the woods, "Were you looking for me? Here I am."

As the voice fell, Lin Chen slowly stepped out from the thickets.

"Lin Chen!" Upon seeing the figure that emerged, Chen Mo's face lit up in joy.

"Haha, lucky me, Lin Chen, hand over the Tianyan and I might spare you," Chen Mo said, his eyes greedily fixing on Lin Chen.

"You want the Tianyan? I'm sorry, but a despicable person like you has no right to possess it," Lin Chen said coldly.

As he moved toward Chen Mo, he added, "As a member of Sword Mountain, not only did you fail to look after your junior sister, but you also tried to take advantage of this situation to bully a fellow disciple. You deserve to die."

"Haha, you think you can kill me?" Chen Mo sneered, drawing his sword, and lunged directly at Lin Chen.

Lin Chen's gaze remained icy as he watched Chen Mo, "You wanted to see how formidable Tianyan is? Fine, I'll give you the chance."

As the voice dropped, Lin Chen propelled his body toward Chen Mo with one thrust of his foot.

"Two figures crossed paths." Blood dripped from Chen Mo's sword.

Seeing this, the people with Chen Mo were thrilled, assuming Lin Chen was nothing special and had been easily killed by Chen Mo with one move.

However, their smiles quickly froze, as they saw Chen Mo's body suddenly fall, the blood on his sword his own.

How could this be possible? Chen Mo was a Martial Artist of the Innate Realm, yet he was instantly killed by Lin Chen of the same rank with a single move.

Lin Chen's gaze turned icy as he addressed the group, "You have two choices, surrender or die!"