“My money is not so easily scammed. Are you certain that the ones behind you will be able to swallow it?” An indifferent voice emerged from Zhou Yuan’s lips.
The man’s mouth immediately closed. He had seen Wei Canglan turned towards him with an apathetic look. The pressure from an Alpha-Origin expert made the man understand that the person before him could not be offended.
“Hehe, the one who put it up for sale is only asking for two thousand Genesis crystals.” It was a rather indignant reply.
Zhou Yuan nodded, not wanting to needlessly waste any more time. “Alright, I’ll take it for two thousand Genesis crystals.”
With a wave of his hand, Liu Tieshan fished out the Genesis crystals and prepared to make payment.
“Wait, I offer three thousand for the jade tile.” However, a chuckle was suddenly heard at this moment.
Zhou Yuan’s eyes narrowed as he turned his head slightly, only to see the crowd part for a group of people. At the very front, a familiar figure entered Zhou Yuan’s eyes.
“Qi Hao?”
An icy look immediately flitted across Zhou Yuan’s eyes when he saw this figure. To think that he was hiding in Blackwater.
Qi Hao grinned at Zhou Yuan before pointing at the black jade tile as he lazily said, “I’ll take three thousand for it.”
Chapter 74 The Black Jade Tile
Qi Hao’s sudden appearance instantly caused the atmosphere to become rather tense. Behind Zhou Yuan, Genesis Qi surged around Lu Tieshan and the rest, their eyes like an eagle’s as they locked onto the former.
Wei Canglan frowned slightly, staring at Qi Hao as he faintly said, “Qi Hao, there should be no need for Qi Manor to interfere in such a matter. It will be better for you to return.”
“I’m afraid that a single sentence from general Wei is not enough to deter Qi Manor.” Qi Hao laughed, his tone filled with mockery.
He had previously been courteous to Wei Canglan because Qi Manor wanted to draw the great general to their side. Since Wei Canglan had now chosen to help Zhou Yuan, Qi Hao naturally would not give the former any face.
“Oh?”
Wei Canglan’s eyes opened slightly wider as an astonishing pressure spread from his body, directed straight at Qi Hao.
In the face of an Alpha-Origin stage expert’s pressure, Qi Hao’s body immediately stiffened.
“Hehe, Wei Canglan, you are still so easily irritable even after so many years.” However, a raspy voice was heard the moment Wei Canglan’s pressure spread. A figure in black robes slowly walked out from behind Qi Hao as black Qi rose, completely blocking Wei Canglan’s aura.
“That’s the Black Venom King!”
The emergence of the black robed figure immediately drew cries of horror from the surroundings. The crowd noisily withdrew, eyes filled with terror. It was clear to see how infamous the Black Venom King was in Blackwater.
“Black Venom King!”
Wei Canglan was first stunned by the appearance of the middle-aged man in black robes, but his expression quickly darkened. Intense killing intent surged out of his body, causing the surrounding Genesis Qi to rebel.
“Oh? Wei Canglan, do you plan on having another bout with me here? Could it be that you have forgotten the suffering I dished out back then?” The Black Venom King let out a sinister laughter, the black Qi around his body churning as a horrible stench spread.
Two gazes clashed, hatred and biting-cold murder raging within them.
“Honoured ones, this little city of mine will not be able to survive a battle between the both of you. With the Battle Puppet ruins right before our eyes, this is no place for the both of you to fight or others will take advantage!” As the auras of both individuals grew stronger and stronger, a loud voice suddenly rang out as a figure flew over from far away and landed nearby.
It was the city lord of Devil Prison City, an individual with the strength of the advance Heaven Gate stage.
Like everyone else, he did not dare to interfere directly in the clash of two Alpha-Origin stage experts. Fortunately, his quick-wittedness with words made Wei Canglan’s and the Black Venom King’s eyes flash and their astonishing auras slowly receded.
Neither party was stronger than the other. If they were to fight and end up injured, it would instead present an opportunity to others.
Wei Canglan icily said, “Humph, if I see you in the ruins, I will definitely kill you!”
“Hehe, it is more likely that you will not be able to leave Blackwater this time.” The Black Venom King matched the former word for word.
After seeing both of them back down, Zhou Yuan’s gaze turned towards the seller of the store who currently had an agonized look on his face. Neither side was going to be accommodating, and he did not dare to offend either one.
“Five thousand Genesis crystals.” Zhou Yuan did not waste his breath and flatly gave his offer.
“Six thousand.” Qi Hao immediately responded. Although he did not know what use the black jade tile would be, he was hell bent on making things difficult for Zhou Yuan.
“Ten thousand.” Zhou Yuan’s voice remained emotionless.
Qi Hao’s eyes flashed. “Fifteen thousand.”
“Twenty thousand.”
An uproar broke out around them, everyone secretly licking their lips. No one could have imagined that such a seemingly worthless object would cause such a crazy bidding war. Of course, from what they could see, Zhou Yuan was purely unwilling to back down due to pride.
Qi Hao was likewise somewhat stunned. He stared at the black jade tile for a long time, but was unable to discover anything. Not even the tiniest wisp of Genesis Qi could be detected from the black jade tile.
Hence, he laughed and said, “Your highness is truly generous. As the saying goes, a gentleman should not take what another wants. I’ll yield this item to you.”
There was a trace of mockery on his lips as he spoke. The original price of two thousand Genesis crystals had been raised to twenty thousand by him, a fact that was enough to screw Zhou Yuan over this time.
As such, Qi Hao’s pent up frustration due to the previous incident had finally been let out.
The surrounding onlookers looked at Zhou Yuan as if he was a fool. This was not a small sum, spending twenty thousand Genesis crystals to buy a useless black jade tile was really somewhat dumb.
It was obvious that prince Zhou Yuan had been tricked by Qi Hao.
Zhou Yuan ignored the surrounding gazes and instructed Lu Tieshan to pay as he grabbed the black jade tile. He did not sense anything even after some observation and thus passed it to Yaoyao as he softly muttered, “It is worth it?”
The truth was, even he himself felt a little foolish, but he still bought it because he trusted Yaoyao’s judgement.
Twenty thousand Genesis crystals was no small amount. The Qi Nourishing stage Genesis Masters present who possessed ten to twenty thousand Genesis crystals after toiling for many years were already considered rather rich.
As for prince Zhou Yuan, his many years of savings only equated to about fifty thousand Genesis crystals, almost half of which had been spent in the past few minutes.
Yaoyao gently felt the jade tile with her hand as she observed the ancient patterns on it. With a sudden laugh, she replied, “You’ll know later on whether it’s worth it or not.”
Zhou Yuan could only helplessly shake his head.
At this moment, the Black Venom King walked over, his eyes fixed on Zhou Yuan as black Qi surged around his body.
Wei Canglan took half a step forward, his eyes vigilant as he stared at the Black Venom King.
The Black Venom King glanced at Wei Canglan before turning towards Zhou Yuan as his raspy voice sounded, “Hehe, are you the prince of the Great Zhou Empire? I’ve heard that you managed to neutralize my Devil Miasma Poison.”
Evidently, he had found out from Qi Hao that Zhou Yuan had neutralized the poison in Wei Bin’s body.
“The Devil Miasma Poison is not that great, neutralizi
ng it is nothing strange.” Zhou Yuan’s expression was calm.
The Black Venom King’s eyes opened slightly wider. “What an arrogant little brat!”
With a sinister smile, he said, “Do not feel so confident just because Wei Canglan is protecting you.”
He cast a sideways glance at Wei Canglan as he continued, “Even he suffered quite a bit at my hands. I’m afraid that you’ve bet wrongly this time.”
Wei Canglan’s face turned black with anger. The Devil Miasma Qi of the Black Venom King was extremely difficult to deal with. Due to its poisonous nature, it had indeed caused him much suffering and even affected Wei Bin.
The Black Venom King smiled. “Kid, Qi Manor promised to give me three cities after completing this task, if you give me six cities, I will help you instead.”
Upon hearing this offer, fury flashed in Zhou Yuan’s eyes, A chilling look appeared in his eyes as he looked towards Qi Hao. To think that this bastard actually dared to do a transaction with Great Zhou’s land and citizens.
However, Qi Hao merely smiled nonchalantly in response.
Zhou Yuan withdrew his gaze and said in a calm voice, “It’s enough that general Wei is with me. As for the Great Zhou Empire’s land, anyone who dares to hope for a share shall be killed.”
The Black Venom King was taken aback. Soon after, he laughed and pointed at Zhou Yuan.
“What a charismatic kid. Excellent. Pray hard that you will never land in my hands, because I really want to have a taste of what it will be like to boil the prince of Great Zhou.”
“I will not even bother to boil you. A single chop to remove your dog-head is all that is needed.” Zhou Yuan revealed an icy smile. He had intense hate for someone who repeatedly infringed on Great Zhou’s borders and slaughtered her citizens.
By the side, Qi Hao let out a mocking laugh and prepared to speak.
“Qi Ritian [1], your fate will be the same if you land in my hands.” Before Qi Hao could speak however, Zhou Yuan’s cold gaze swept over. The fact that this son of a bitch used Great Zhou’s land in a transaction infuriated the former even more. Zhou Yuan would not be merciful if Qi Hao landed in his hands.
“Qi Ritian?” Qi Hao was stunned. Soon after, he burst into rage as he frostily said, “Zhou Yuan, you dare to humiliate me?!”
Zhou Yuan retorted, “The only thing in your family’s bones is rebellion, so what if I humiliate you?”
Qi Hao smiled angrily. “You think you are so great. You’ve not even reached the Qi Nourishing stage and yet you dare to speak to me in such a manner. If no one was protecting you, I would have killed you where you stand.”
He was a true-blue advance Qi Nourishing stage practitioner, while Zhou Yuan had only unblocked seven meridian channels. It would be easy to slay Zhou Yuan in a direct clash.
“You will have your chance. When the time comes, we will see exactly who will be killing who.” Zhou Yuan’s voice was emotionless. Once he reached the Qi Nourishing stage, even without the first level of the Ancestral Dragon Scripture, the Omni Python Qi, he may not necessarily fear Qi Hao if he were to utilise the power of his Spirit and Genesis Runes.
Qi Hao’s expression darkened after being smothered by Zhou Yuan’s words. The former knew that there was not much point in continuing to compare whose tongue was sharper. Therefore, he shot a eerily cold glance at Zhou Yuan, before waving his hand as he turned and left with the Black Venom King and the rest of the party.
Zhou Yuan watched them leave as his expression became grave. Although it had been easy beat them with words, he did not dare to underestimate them in the slightest.
“Our most troublesome foe is the Black Venom King that even general Wei will not have much of an advantage over in a fight. Looks like we have to think of a way to deal with the Black Venom King’s Devil Miasma Poison, or the situation will become extremely unfavorable to us if anything unfortunate befalls general Wei…”
Zhou Yuan’s eyes flickered in thought. In the end, he looked towards Yaoyao as a smile emerged on his lips. The twenty thousand Genesis crystals must not be spent in vain.
[1] * &
The ‘Hao’ ( ) character from Qi Hao’s name is made up of two characters, ‘Ri’ () and ‘Tian’ ()
Hence, Zhou Yuan is making mockery of Qi Hao’s name by calling him Qi Ritian.
Chapter 75 The Eighth Meridian Channel
In the inn.
After what had happened previously, everyone’s expression had become a little grave. They understood that the collaboration between Qi Manor and Black Venom City would undoubtedly become their biggest obstruction.
Zhou Yuan wore a serious expression as he looked towards Wei Canglan and inquired, “General Wei, what are you chances of winning against the Black Venom King?”
Wei Canglan hesitated for a moment before he slowly answered, “There are nine levels to the Alpha-Origin stage and both the Black Venom King and myself are at the second level. Neither of us should be able to gain the upper hand if we go at it for real… but the Black Venom King has the Devil Miasma Qi, a top-tier grade 4 Genesis Qi. It is an overbearing poison Qi that can easily infect an opponent in a fight without him knowing, hence why I suffered at its hands back then.”
“This Devil Miasma Qi is a huge headache.”
Afraid that their morale will suffer, Wei Canglan hastily added in. “Although I am wary of the Devil Miasma Poison, I will definitely be able to stall the Black Venom King when the time comes.”
Zhou Yaun had a look of complentation on his face. This was no insurance at all. If anything unexpected happened, the situation would become far too unfavorable for them.
After some thought, he suddenly cast his gaze at Yaoyao, smiling as he asked, “Big sis Yaoyao, could you think of something?”
Yaoyao currently had her head lowered as she studied the black jade list while carrying Tuntun. She lifted her head, showing her pretty face as she glared at Zhou Yuan. “I just knew that you were going to ask me.”
On the way back, she had felt Zhou Yuan look towards her from to time to time.
However, she also knew that this was a matter of paramount importance. Hence, after glaring at Zhou Yuan, her hand reached towards the Universe bag on her hip and retrieved a green scroll which she then placed on the table. “This is known as the Thousand Wood Poison Safeguard Rune, a top-tier grade 3 Genesis Rune. When activated, it will be able to guard against all kinds of poisons and the Devil Miasma Poison should be unable to break its defences.”
“A top-tier grade 3 Genesis Rune?” Wei Canglan, Wei Qingqing and the rest stared in amazement at Yaoyao. Was this young lady before them, who did not give off even the slightest Genesis Qi undulation, really have such high mastery in the art of Genesis Runes?
Such a Genesis Rune stood at the pinnacle even in the entire Great Zhou Empire.
Only now did Wei Qingqing realise why Zhou Yuan always insisted on having this seemingly burdensome girl at his side.
“Great! With the aid of this Genesis Rune, the Black Venom King will no longer pose any threat towards me. I will be able to attack without worry and thoroughly suppress him. In fact, I may even find a chance to kill him!” As Wei Canglan grasped the scroll, his face turned slightly red due to intense emotions.
His hatred towards the Black Venom King had long seeped deep into his bones, and he had tried everything he could to eliminate the latter. Unfortunately, his fear of the Devil Miasma Poison had ultimately made him lose out in their previous exchanges.
Now that he had this top-tier grade 3 Genesis Rune, the Thousand Wood Poison Safeguard Rune, the Black Venom King’s greatest weapon no longer posed any threat towards him.
Everyone in the room gave a slight sigh of relief after hearing Wei Canglan’s confident declaration.
Zhou Yuan also smiled and nodded. “I’m relieved that general Wei is confident. Since our information gathering is almost complete, we shall move out tomorrow and enter the Battle Puppet Sect ruins.”
No one had any
objections.
…
Night fell. The gates of Devil Prison City were tightly shut, while countless Genesis Beast howls resounded in the mountain forests outside the city. Blackwater was even more dangerous at night.
In one of the rooms in the inn, Zhou Yuan was seated on the bed, his eyes tightly shut and his body faintly trembling. The faint roar of a dragon could be heard as Genesis Qi pulsed around his body, transforming into white threads that flowed into his body through his nose.
After meeting Qi Hao and the Black Venom King today, Zhou Yuan now felt a sliver of danger. Although he had the protection of a group of elites, the most dependable thing after all was one’s own strength.
Hence, his seven channel strength had began to feel rather lacking in Blackwater. It was time for him to advance to the Qi Nourishing stage.
Zhou Yuan’s chest rose and fell in cycles as Genesis Qi surged within his meridian channels, continuously attacking the increasingly loosening eighth meridian channel. After these past few days of dogged daily training, he could sense that unblocking the eighth meridian channel was just around the corner…
Genesis Qi continuously surged within the meridian channels inside his body.
Suddenly, Zhou Yuan’s body violently jerked, activating the Dragon Breath technique as another stream of Genesis Qi was absorbed into his body. Like a wave, it ferociously slammed into the final bit of obstruction in the eighth meridian channel.
Pop!
A faint sound was heard, as if a membrane had been broken.
Zhou Yuan opened his eyes and lowered his head to look at his hands. He could feel a feeling of transparency and lightness flood his body.
It was as if he had suddenly broken free of chains and shackles.
The surrounding Genesis Qi voluntarily surged towards his body as the quality of his body swiftly rose.
The eighth meridian channel had finally been unblocked!
Zhou Yuan’s body shook as an indescribable feeling rose in his heart. After half a year of hard work, he had finally unblocked all eight meridian channels.
Dragon Prince Yuan c1-1251 Page 48