Chapter 448: Conflict

At the top of the temperate Dragon Stage, Zhou Yuan was smiling widely from ear to ear. A warm jade glow emanated from her body, making her quite a striking sight when combined with her slim body and delicate features.

 

Of course, Zhou Yuan was not someone who was too worried about his appearance. Instead, he was more interested in the overwhelming power that was secretly surging within his body like a giant flood.

 

His five fingers slowly closed. Even without circulating any Genesis Qi, he could feel a strong force rapidly gathering, a force that originated from his flesh.

 

This was a feeling that Zhou Yuan had never felt before.

 

After all, he had never practiced any real outer cultivation techniques. This was his first time that he had developed the power of his body.

 

According to Zhou Yuan's estimations, even though his cultivation was still at the fourth-layer Alpha-Origin stage, with the power of the small Mythical Saint Body, he now possessed the requirements to confront Yang Xuan in a battle. directly fight without borrowing the strength of the Heavenly Yuan Brush.

 

After all, achieving the jade skin stage not only greatly improved Zhou Yuan's strength, but also granted him strong defensive powers. Simply put, it would be very difficult for Yang Xuan to break through Zhou Yuan's current defenses without a Heaven Genesis Weapon.

 

Various emotions stirred in Zhou Yuan's heart, slowly calming down after a long time. With a thought, the jade light flowing on his skin gradually receded, retreating deep into his body.

 

His toes moved away from the stage, his figure jumped into the air and landed on the cliff.

 

However, he was clearly still not used to his new found strength. As a result, the rocks on the ground where he landed were shattered and crushed, leaving deep footprints.

 

"Not bad, you managed to reach the first level jade skin stage in about a month." Old Xuan nodded, evidently very satisfied with Zhou Yuan's progress.

 

"Ordinarily speaking, it would take a normal person a year to reach this stage, and that is only if he or she has numerous precious Genesis resources to nourish the body."

 

"It's all thanks to the old man's guidance." Zhou Yuan's eyes filled with gratitude as he clasped his fists with Old Xuan. If it weren't for the latter's advice, Zhou Yuan would not have chosen the small Mythical Saint Corps.

 

Without the small Mythical Saint Body, the Taiyi Green Wood Mark would also not be able to bring out its true potential.

 

Old Xuan waved his hand and said, “If you didn't have the willpower, you wouldn't have been able to hold on in the Water and Fire Tempering Dragon stage. If so, it wouldn't matter how much guidance I give."

 

Old Xuan clearly understood the pain one had to endure in the water and fire tempering Dragon stage. Furthermore, as someone attempting an external cultivation technique for the first time, Zhou Yuan had surely experienced terrifying pain. However, he eventually managed to persevere, even having the charisma and courage to turn the intensity up a notch. In the end, he managed to push the small Mythical Saint Body into the jade skin.

 

Honestly speaking, even Old Xuan quite admired his boldness.

 

“There is still some time until the selection of the head disciple, and I intend to put it to good use by training here. I hope the old man doesn’t get too upset.” Zhou Yuan smiled. Although he had reached the jade skin stage, his ambitions clearly did not stop here.

 

Old Xuan looked at Zhou Yuan in surprise, evidently not expecting him to be so ambitious. To think that he planned to brave even greater heights… the pain that awaited him was going to be several times greater than it was now.

 

Old Xuan said slowly: "Since you have the determination, this old bag of bones will naturally not be afraid to guide you through this mountain path."

 

Zhou Yuan was delighted with this answer. After all, he definitely needed old Xuan's help to reach the Dragon stage of tempering water and fire. Otherwise, it would be too risky to recklessly enter the sealed area.

 

Zhou Yuan innocently scratched his head and said awkwardly, “There is also something else that I hope the old man can help me with…”

 

"Talk."

 

“Can you spare some time to take me to that Dragon Scale Chinese Scholar Tree again?… I have used up all the tree scales from before, and practicing the small Mythical Saint Body for the past month has exhausted "Taiyi Green Wood brand"

 

Hearing this, Old Xuan immediately cast a sullen glance at Zhou Yuan. “You really are a bit bold. “Do you really think that the Dragon Scale Chinese Scholar Tree is your warehouse of cultivation resources?”

 

Zhou Yuan let out an embarrassed chuckle. He also felt quite helpless in this situation. Practicing the Taiyi Green Wood Mark required rich Qi Yimu, but he currently lacked the means to secure enough ancient wood.

 

Therefore, he could only pin his hopes on the Dragon Scale Chinese Scholar Tree.

 

And to harvest the tree scales, Old Xuan's protection was absolutely crucial.

 

Old Xuan sighed helplessly under Zhou Yuan's pleading gaze, before turning around to leave with his broom.

 

“Well, as the saying goes, one should help until the end. Since I've already helped you a lot, a little more wouldn't hurt. Come back today and rest, I will take you to cut some tree scales tomorrow…”

 

"Let's hope that violent tree doesn't go crazy."

 

Zhou Yuan was delighted. He hurriedly caught up with him and snatched Old Xuan's broom with a fawning expression.

 

“Elder is really a good person. “I’ll help you carry this so you don’t get too tired.”

 

Zhou Yuan's attitude made Old Xuan unsure whether he should laugh or cry. He could only shake his head and play together with the little one.

 

After leaving the sealed area, Zhou Yuan bid farewell to Old Xuan, before flying through the air on his Genesis Qi. He passed several peaks, and finally arrived in front of his cave dwelling.

 

His figure descended as he stretched his back somewhat tiredly. Although spending an entire day tempering his body did not deplete his vital energy, the mental stress due to the intense pain still affected him quite a bit.

 

Moments after landing, however, his eyes suddenly stopped when he saw a figure pacing anxiously from one side of the cave to the other. The figure seemed to be about to call out to the cave several times, only to retreat again and again.

 

"What is it?"

 

Zhou Yuan's voice sounded. He had recognized the visitor as a disciple of the same faction, although not well known.

 

The disciple hurriedly turned his head upon hearing the voice. His eyes immediately lit up with joy upon seeing Zhou Yuan, as he hurriedly ran over and said, “You have returned to the last big brother, Zhou Yuan! Quickly, you have to go save Shen Wanjin!”

 

"Shen Wanjin?" Zhou Yuan was taken aback, before he soon began to frown. "What's going on?"

 

The disciple sighed and replied, “I think Senior Brother Zhou Yuan should be aware of what the atmosphere has been like recently on our Saint Genesis Peak.”

 

Zhou Yuan nodded. Due to the rapid selection of core disciples, the atmosphere above Saint Genesis Peak had become exceptionally tense, mainly due to Lu Hong's faction.

 

Lu Hong's disciples were basically acting as if the position of head disciple was already theirs. In their opinion, they would surely become the master faction of Saint Genesis Peak in the near future.

 

Once they became the master faction, their status would increase. In contrast, the other two factions would be reduced to mere secondary factions, creating a status gap between the first and second. As a result, Lu Hong's faction had gradually become more arrogant and unrestrained over the past month.

 

The disciples of the other two factions were naturally very irritated by this change of attitude. As such, the number of conflicts on Holy Genesis Peak was even higher than the past six months combined.

 

“While we were training on a cultivation platform today, one of Lu Hong's disciples was accidentally hit by a stray blow from the combat between Shen Wanjin and another person. At the end, a huge group of Lu Hong's disciples chased us and captured Shen Wanjin from a distance, refusing to let him leave no matter what we said.”

 

"The one who led them was Wu Hai..."

 

"Wu Hai?" Zhou Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly. I had heard this name before. Wu Hai was quite famous in Lu Hong's faction, and he was also one of the six participants in the upcoming core disciple selection.

 

However, why would someone like that make things difficult for a group of ordinary disciples?

 

“Shen Wanjin is quite shy and does not provoke others. And yet, Wu Hai and his gang were clearly targeting him… ” Zhou Yuan laughed softly. "It seems like they have an ulterior motive."

 

On Saint Genesis Peak, there was no one who did not know that Zhou Yuan had close ties with Shen Wanjin. Instead of going after others, Lu Hong's disciples were clearly focused on Shen Wanjin… the implication behind this was obvious. They were behind Zhou Yuan himself.

 

As for Shen Wanjin, he had simply been implicated.

 

The disciple nodded with a bitter smile when he heard this, and said in a low voice, “Wu Hai told you that you should go personally to claim Shen Wanjin. If you don’t reach the sun, it will throw Shen Wanjin off the mountain.”

 

Zhou Yuan couldn't help but laugh. Lu Hong's faction had become truly arrogant recently.

 

"Senior Brother Zhou Yuan, should I inform Senior Brother Zhou Tai first?" The disciple asked hesitantly. He had also assumed that the other party was after Zhou Yuan, and was afraid that the latter would not be able to handle the situation.

 

Zhou Yuan waved his hand.

 

"No hurry, I'll go and take a look first."

 

With a wave of his sleeve, Genesis Qi rose from beneath his feet as he rose into the air.

 

"I'm interested to see how capable this Wu Hai thinks he is of daring to throw my friend off the mountain!"

 

A faint voice echoed out, tinged with a trace of ice.

 

To think that Lu Hong's faction had already become so arrogant. Did they really believe that they would definitely win the main album?