Although she had previously reached the Qi Nourishing stage, the Genesis Qi in her body had remained at the most basic attributeless state because she had not learnt any Qi cultivation methods. This naturally meant that her attacks did not have any special effects and was much weaker than others.
*Clap clap!*
While Su Youwei was happily watching the two types of Genesis Qi, applause was suddenly heard. She lifted her head to look and found Zhou Yuan standing nearby, a huge grin on his face as he clapped.
“Your highness.” Su Youwei revealed a faint smile.
“Congratulations. Now that you’ve mastered these divine techniques, unifying the world is just around the corner!” Zhou Yuan teased.
Su Youwei’s gaze were somewhat charming as she rolled her eyes at him. She then raised her hand and let out a soft snort. “Want to test its power?”
Zhou Yuan’s smile twisted awkwardly. Su Youwei’s battle power had undoubtedly soared after successfully learning the two grade 4 Genesis Qi. She may only be at the initial Qi Nourishing stage, but in a real fight, it was likely that even an advance Qi Nourishing stage expert would find it difficult to beat her.
After all, wielding two types of Genesis Qi was enough to give her opponents a huge headache.
Zhou Yuan was confident that he was not weaker than the Su Youwei when she had initially stepped into the Qi Nourishing stage. But now, it was likely that he was no longer Su Youwei’s match. He would have to reach the Qi Nourishing stage and borrow the powers of Genesis Runes to have any chance of matching the current Su Youwei.
Of course, that was under the precondition that he had not learnt the first level of the Ancestral Dragon Scripture and obtained the Omni Python Qi.
“The Ancestral Dragon Scripture is really difficult.” As these thoughts churned his head, Zhou Yuan involuntarily let out a sigh. In Su Youwei’s case, although many Genesis resources were needed to learn the Flame-Thunder mantra and the Niflheim sutra, these resources could be bought with Genesis crystals. This was how Su Youwei was able to successfully master them with her talent in about ten days.
In contrast, he had yet to even gather the Genesis resources he needed, a comparison that really made him want to cry.
Fortunately, his eighth meridian channel was growing increasingly loose due to his efforts. It would not be long before it was completely unblocked.
“Let’s go, we will be heading to Blackwater today.” Zhou Yuan withdrew his frustrations and smiled towards Su Youwei.
Su Youwei gave a small nod in response and followed Zhou Yuan out of the general’s residence after tidying up a little.
Wei Canglan was already waiting outside the residence. Beside him was a slender and elegant figure clothed in red soft-armor, battle skirt and battle boots, Wei Qingqing.
Her slightly high battle boots really emphasized those unreasonable pair of fair, long and slender legs. Even Zhou Yuan could not help but cast them a second glance.
Wei Qingqing might not be able to match Su Youwei’s and Yaoyao’s peerless looks, but her impressive long legs were a huge boost to her points and made one unable to forget them.
Behind Wei Canglan and Wei Qingqing were five figures. Powerful Genesis Qi surged around them, evidence that they were experts of the Heaven Gate stage.
Even further behind was a squad of roughly a dozen elites. Every single one of them had the strength of the Qi Nourishing stage.
This group was probably the most powerful force in Canglan County.
Beside Wei Canglan’s group was the squad from the imperial guards. Lu Tieshan led the group of three Heaven Gate stage experts and twelve Qi Nourishing stage practitioners.
The combination of both line-ups was pretty grand indeed.
“Are you ready your highness?” Wei Canglan smiled upon seeing Zhou Yuan emerge.
Zhou Yuan nodded.
Wei Canglan was a swift and decisive individual. With a wave of his hand, he yelled, “Then let us set off.”
As his shout rang out, the two groups began to move. They surged out of the city like a flood, speeding towards Blackwater.
…
Blackwater, Black Venom City, residence of the city lord.
A familiar figure was seated in the guest room. It was Qi Hao, who had slipped away from Canglan County some time ago.
“Oh? Qi Manor wants to cooperate with me?”
A raspy voice echoed in the guest room. If one turned to look, one would find a middle-aged man dressed in a black robe wearing a superficial smile on his face. His nose was sharp and black specks dotted his face. Wisps of black Qi rose around him, spreading a faint stench.
This middle-aged man in black robes was the infamous lord of Black Venom City, the Black Venm King!
Facing the infamous Black Venom King caused cold sweat to emerge on Qi Hao’s forehead. However, he was able to maintain his bearings as he nodded and cupped his fists together. “With regards to the ruins that have appeared in Blackwater this time, the Great Zhou royal clan and Wei Canglan have already joined forces. Although Black Venom City can be said to be the overlord of Blackwater, as the saying goes, a single tree cannot support an entire forest. If you cooperate with Qi Manor, we will definitely be able to cause them heavy losses.”
“I do not fear Wei Canglan.” The Black Venom King chuckled, his expression eerie as he stared at Qi Hao. “Moreover, do you really believe I do not know that Zhou Qing has not come. Without another Alpha-Origina stage expert like him, Wei Canglan will not be able to handle me.”
“Therefore, I conclude that you’ve come with the hopes of borrowing my power to deal with Wei Canglan.”
“Since that is so, show me your sincerity, or else…”
The rising black Qi around the Black Venom King caused Qi Hao to freeze for a second. Soon after, he said in a low voice, “Black Venom King should know that Wei Canglan views you as a giant thorn in his side and seeks to eliminate you at all times.”
“I believe that you too wish to eliminate this huge danger, am I right?”
The Black Venom King’s eyes narrowed slightly. Wei Canglan had stationed himself in Canglan County, carefully observing every single movement from Black Venom City. The moment they made a move, Wei Canglan would immediately react and stop them, causing numerous problems for the Black Venom King over the past few years. Hence, the Black Venom King similarly viewed Wei Canglan as a huge problem that needed to be solved.
“As long as Black Venom King helps Qi Manor obtain the Fire Spirit Grain, when we finally overthrow the royal clan, Canglan County will belong to Black Venom City.”
“Oh?” The Black Venom King raised an eyebrow. “So certain that you will be able to overthrow the royal clan?”
Qi Hao laughed coldly. “Qi Manor has the backing of the Great Wu Empire. Does Black Venom King believe that a pitifully struggling Great Zhou royal clan will be able to match the Great Wu Empire?”
The Black Venom King was silent for some time, before he slowly said, “A treasure like the Fire Spirit Grain is very valuable to Black Venom City.”
Qi Hao flatly replied, “But Black Venom City will not be able to obtain it. If you do, Qi Manor will not let this matter rest, nor will the Great Wu Empire behind us allow it.”
The Black Venom King snorted disdainfully when he heard the front half of Qi Hao’s words, but the former’s expression changed upon hearing Great Wu Empire as fear flitted across his eyes.
After all, the current Grea Wu Empire was nothing like Great Zhou. Great Wu was a flourishing nation that had numerous experts, an existence that greatly exceeded his Black Venom City. If they offended Great Wu, he, the Black Venom King, would end up a stray dog.
What the Black Venom King did not know however, was that Great Wu was currently warring against two other empires, and did not have any attention to spare to a remote place such as Blackwater.
The Black Venom King’s eyes flickered with thought. A long while later, he slowly said, “I can cooperate with you.”
Joy immediately lit up Qi Hao’s face.
“However…” The Venom King paused before he coldly said, “Canglan County alone isn’t enough to move me, I will need the two other cities neighbouring Blackwater.”
Qi Hao’s expression instantly changed when he heard this. There were only thirteen cities in the entire Great Zhou Empire and the Black Venom King planned to swallow three of them, including Canglan County. This was practically a quarter of Great Zhou’s land. Such an appetite could only be described as enormous.
The Black Venom King said in an indifferent voice, “If you do not agree, please return to where you came from.”
The expression in Qi Hao’s eyes fluctuated rapidly, before he eventually gritted his teeth and gave his answer. “Alright. As long as you aid us in obtaining the Fire Spirit Grain, those three cities will belong to Black Venom City in future!”
A smile finally appeared on the Black Venom King’s sinister-looking face when he heard these words.
“Since that is so, Black Venom City will accept this transaction.”
Qi Hao secretly sighed in relief. As he raised his head, a vicious look flitted across his eyes as he looked towards the distant Canglan County.
Zhou Yuan, don’t be so happy just because you managed to win over Wei Canglan. The victor in this battle for the ruins has yet to be decided!
Chapter 73 Into Blackwater
Blackwater, a land fraught with danger.
But at the same time, a place that was overflowing with opportunity.
In the far past, numerous powerful factions existed within Blackwater. Every one of these factions was stronger than the empires currently bordering Blackwater. Due to some unknown reason, the factions within Blackwater disappeared one after another, allowing more and more Genesis Beasts to flood Blackwater, transforming it into the Genesis Beast heaven it is today.
However, although these ancient factions had disappeared, some things would ultimately be left behind, things that made countless Genesis Masters madly scramble towards them.
In Blackwater, luck would occasionally favor certain fortunate souls, allowing them to ascend to the skies in a single step and let their names echo loudly across the land.
Over time, more and more Genesis Masters swarmed towards this place, risking all sorts of dangers as they searched for opportunities in hopes of becoming the next individual to earn luck’s blessings.
But the ones who are graced by luck are ultimately few in number, and majority end up as part of the piles of bones buried under this bloody and chaotic land.
…
Blackwater was a place of chaos and killing, a place where the strong preyed on the weak.
However, Zhou Yuan’s group was obviously not weak prey. Thus, although they drew countless eyes wherever they went in Blackwater, no one dared to make any moves against them.
Many factions of various sizes existed within Blackwater, each king of their own territories. The passing of Zhou Yuan, Wei Canglan and the rest of the group would cause these factions to be on high alert.
After all, anyone who spent most of their time in Blackwater knew that there were two factions that could not be offended. One was the infamous Black Venom King, and the other was great general Wei Canglan of Canglan County.
Zhou Yuan’s group may be few in number, but all of them were elites. Moreover, there was an Alpha-Origin expert with them, Wei Canglan. This line-up was enough to easily sweep away any faction with the exception of Black Venom City.
Hence, upon seeing Zhou Yuan’s group, the Blackwater factions would fall into a state of panic, afraid that this terrifying party would pounce on them in the next moment.
However, Zhou Yuan and the rest obviously paid no attention to these factions. As long as they did not obstruct the former, Zhou Yuan and gang would quickly pass through.
This situation continued for several days as Zhou Yuan and the rest gradually approached their destination…
Devil Prison City, the city closest to the ruins. The city lord was an advance Heaven Gate stage expert and was rather famous in Blackwater. He was after all capable enough to govern a city here.
Although Devil Prison City was normally a rather bustling place, ever since news of the ruins had spread, the city had immediately become a lodging point for the numerous factions that had come in search of treasures. Thus causing the population of the city to rise dramatically.
Countless people journeyed to the ruins every day, though none dared to venture too deep. After all, there were all kinds of bizarre battle puppets inside, which would potentially become a thorny problem if one caught their attention. Yet, there were also some fortunate fellows who stumbled into certain places and brought out several strange ‘toys’. Such items were very popular and sold for handsome sums of Genesis crystals, allowing these lucky fellows to earn a small fortune…
None of the city guards dared to stop Zhou Yuan, Wei Canglan and the rest when they entered Devil Prison City, allowing the latters to do as they pleased.
In Devil Prison City, Zhou Yuan and gang booked an entire inn, settling everyone's accommodations.
After helping everyone settle down, Wei Canglan found Zhou Yuan and suggested, “Your highness, this is the closest city to the Battle Puppet Sect ruins and quite a number of people have already made their way to the ruins from here. We should be able to obtain information regarding the ruins here so I suggest that we take a look.”
Zhou Yuan was pretty much fine with anything. Their non-stop travels over the past few days had been exceptionally dull. Did no one else see the looks of interest on Su Youwei’s, Wei Qingqing’s and even Yaoyao’s faces when they heard Wei Canglan make his proposal?
Therefore, after tidying up a little, the group left the inn along with a few bodyguards.
Devil Prison City was not as grand as Great Zhou City or Canglan County, the former gave off a rather simplistic feeling and was filled with disorder.
Two waves of men would clash from time to time on the streets, every strike from each individual fatal in nature. This resulted in still warm bodies being thrown out occasionally, causing the entire city to be blanketed in an aura of cruelness.
Zhou Yuan and his group drew several gazes as they walked in the city. Of course, the majority of these gazes were aimed at Yaoyao, Su Youwei and the long-legged Wei Qingqing.
Beauties of such calibre were clearly very rare in such a place.
However, those that could survive till now in Blackwater were at least somewhat discerning. Hence, no one dared to come forward although the gazes filled with various intentions continued to size-up the three girls.
After a few turns, Zhou Yuan and the rest eventually arrived at a comparatively cleaner street, a street overflowing with people and clearly much busier and exciting than everywhere else.
Stores filled the street. The dazzling goods on display very attention grabbing.
“Come, come and take a look. We have newly arrived stock from the ruins. All kinds of treasures can be found here so be sure not to miss out!”
Zhou Yuan and gang followed the shouting and arrived at the biggest store, where an assortment of objects in various states of disrepair were on display inside a crystal cabinet. Every item gave off an ancient aura as if they had just been excavated.
“Have a look everyone, this is a Genesis Weapon we uncovered from the Battle Puppet Sect. It likely used to be a Black tier Genesis Weapon and we’re offering it at a hugely discounted price. Just one thousand nine hundred Genesis crystals and you’ll be able to take it away!” Someone yelled from inside the store.
Zhou Yuan turned to see a long bronze spear in the man’s hands. Its body was quite damaged, and it gave off a dim Genesis Qi pulse. Let alone a Black tier Genesis Weapon, it was likely that it would not even match a Normal mid grade Genesis Weapon.
But this was only logical. If it was truly a Black tier Genesis Weapon, it would cost at least ten thousand Genesis crystals, not a measly thousand nin
e hundred.
Few responded to the spear and only a scattering called out their bids. In the end, it was sold for two thousand five hundred Genesis crystals and it could be assumed that the buyer had purchased it with the mentality of hoping to find a treasured pearl under the dust.
Several broken-looking items appeared in succession, each one likely obtained from the Battle Puppet Sect ruins. Zhou Yuan took a look, but nothing piqued his interest. With his Spirit perception, he could sense that these items were indeed completely damaged and no longer had any value.
After a while, Zhou Yuan intended to leave with everyone.
Just as he turned his body, Yaoyao suddenly pulled him, her snow-white chin indicating towards crystal display cabinet. “Buy the item at the bottom left corner.”
Zhou Yuan was stunned. His gaze shifted, only to find an object that resembled a black jade tile. The surface of the jade tile was mottled, and several cracks could be seen, but a faint pattern was barely visible.
Zhou Yuan was somewhat confused, because he could sense that there was not even the slightest trace of Genesis Qi from the black jade tile.
“What is it?” He asked in a low voice.
Yaoyao smiled faintly as she said, “The jade tile itself is not worth anything, but there seems to be a rather peculiar incomplete Genesis Rune on it. Something that can give me such a feeling should be rather special to the Battle Puppet Sect.”
The corner’s of Zhou Yuan’s mouth twitched for a moment. You’re pretty arrogant little miss, I won’t possibly dare to refute your reasoning.
As he shook his head inside his heart, Zhou Yuan did not probe any further and pointed at the jade tile and asked directly, “How much?”
The seller’s lips puckered slightly like a monkey. A single look was all it took to know that this was a shrewd man. Although he too did not know the function of this black jade tile, when he saw Zhou Yuan ask for a price, his eyes seemed to rotate in thought as his mouth opened, intending to ask for a very generous sum.
Dragon Prince Yuan c1-1251 Page 47