Dragon Prince Yuan c1-1251

by Translator: Yeow

  Li Qingchan swept a glance at Zhou Yuan, before she continued, “I’ll admit that he did well in the last purple sash selection test. However, you should know that even Xu Yan lacks the qualifications to participate in the upcoming Heaven task.”

  She was already being very clear. It had taken Zhou Yuan almost everything in order to obtain a pyrrhic victory against Xu Yan. If even Xu Yan lacked the proper qualifications, how could Zhou Yuan possibly possess them?

  After listening, Yaoyao nodded before she repeated herself, “So you refuse to honor the bet?”

  Bang!

  Li Qingchan took two steps forward, as her hands slammed onto the stone table in front of her. Her cool and icy disposition had vanished, her busty chest gently rising as she angrily said, “Don’t you know any other words?!”

  Zhou Yuan secretly gulped by the side. To anger the most well-known ice queen in the Cangxuan Sect such an extent was truly evidence of Yaoyao’s capabilities.

  Yaoyao stifled a yawn with a hand, before she replied, “Zhou Yuan is not the useless ornament you think he is, and he won’t be a burden if you take him along. Furthermore, you are the captain of this task, so it is only right that you get to pick someone personally.”

  Li Qingchan replied in a calm fashion, “I will not know whether he is going to be useful or not. However, in terms of looks, all I can say is that he is merely average-looking, and there are many disciples in our sect that are much better-looking.”

  Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuan feebly said, “Can you guys stick to the topic and stop with the personal attacks?”

  However, no one paid any attention to him.

  The two gorgeous beauties staring at each other, neither giving even a single glance to him.

  Li Qingchan sat down as her brows furrowed deeply. She knew that Yaoyao would not back down so easily after making a request.

  Li Qingchan was feeling quite vexed as she said, “If I knew this was going to happen, I wouldn’t have bet with you.”

  Her expression fluctuated indeterminately. A long while later, she sighed helplessly and said, “Zhou Xiaoyao, you should know that you will not obtain a Heaven Credit just by taking part in a Heaven task.”

  “To obtain a Heaven Credit, you must receive a favorable evaluation and the approval from the majority of your other team mates. Only then, will it be considered a success. Therefore, even if I let Zhou Yuan tag along, if the other disciples disapprove of his performance and reports to the elders, he will not only be denied a Heaven Credit, but also be punished as well.”

  Yaoyao retrieved a jar of wine from her Universe bag and poured a cup for Li Qingchan. “If Zhou Yuan does badly during the task, it will be his own fault.”

  Even though Zhou Yuan was a newly promoted purple sash disciple, he was far less experienced than the vetern purple sash disciples. However, Yaoyao felt that they weren’t much better than him.

  Hence, Zhou Yuan would only have himself to blame if he performed badly.

  Li Qingchan fell silent for a moment. In the end, she gave a faint nod of agreement.

  “Alright, I can help him out on your account. However, this is all I can do. If his performance is lacklustre, and upsets the other members, I will not be able to help him.”

  “Deal.” Yaoyao lifted her cup.

  Li Qingchan also lifted her cup, and toasted the former before downing it.

  Zhou Yuan quickly said, “Thank you senior sister Li Qingchan.”

  Li Qingchan gave him a fairly cold response. Though Zhou Yuan had a stunning showing during the purple sash selection, Li Qingchan felt that he still paled in comparison to Yaoyao.

  In Li Qingchan’s eyes, Zhou Yuan was mostly mooching off Yaoyao.

  This made her rather uncomfortable. Other than her peak master, Yaoyao was the only woman in the Cangxuan Sect who she respected. As long as Yaoyao wanted to, she could become a dazzling existence in the sect. However, it seemed that she was content with staying with Zhou Yuan, and had no interest in anything else.

  This puzzled Li Qingchan. Yaoyao was so talented, so why was she so hung up on Zhou Yuan? She had even taken the initiative to reach out to Qingchan in order to help Zhou Yuan obtain a Heaven Credit.

  This was something that she felt quite indignant about.

  “There is no need to thank me. It will be better for you to think about how to make yourself useful in the upcoming task. Should you perform badly, it will be you who will end up disgraced.” Replied Li Qingchan.

  Zhou Yuan could hear the indifference in Li Qingchan’s tone. However, he was not bothered by it as he nodded and said, “Senior sister Qingchan, can you tell me more about the mission?”

  Li Qingchan was silent for a moment, before she said, “It will be led by me and Zhao Zhu from Sword Cometh Peak. I am the captain, while he is the vice-captain.”

  “There will be a total of ten menbers. Other than the two of us, the rest will be composed of elite purple sash disciples from the various peaks.”

  “As for the details, we will be headed for the Black Flame Province in the Shengzhou Continent. A volcano that has laid dormant for tens of thousands of years has recently erupted, uncovering the existence of essence flames within it. It is believed to be an essence flame vein.

  “These essence flames are very valuable, and can increase the quality of flame-type Genesis Qi cultivated.”

  “As a result, our sect has rated it as a grade 6 Genesis vein.”

  Zhou Yuan’s eyes widened. The many Genesis veins belonging to the Cangxuan Sect were ranked from grade 1 to 9; grade 1 being the lowest, while grade 9 was the highest. Typically speaking, a grade 7 Genesis vein was already extremely valuable, and could even incite a small-scale war.

  So they were being sent out for a grade 6 Genesis vein. No wonder this was a Heaven level task.

  “This essence flame vein is not under the jurisdiction of any of the six sacred sects, making it difficult to decide who should have control over it. After the news spread, I’ve heard that Sacred Palace, North Sea Dragon Subduing Hall and Hundred Flowers Fairy Palace are interested in vieing for it. Furthermore, there are some powerful local factions in the Black Flame Province that are eager to contest as well. Though there are not as powerful as the six sacred sects, they are the local powers and should not be underestimated.”

  “After rounds of discussions by higher ups of the various factions, they have finally decided to send their disciples to the Black Flame Province to ‘negotiate’ how the essence flame vein will be split.”

  Li Qingchan calmly said, “Therefore, our task is to represent the Cangxuan Sect and fight for a stake in the essence flame vein.”

  Zhou Yuan’s pupils shrank a little. He never imagined that this Heaven task would involve three other sacred sects, Sacred Palace, North Sea Dragon Subduing Hall and Hundred Flowers Fairy Palace. It seems like the mission was going to be much more challenging than he had expected.

  There will definitely be numerous squabbles over such a valuable strategic resource. In fact, there will likely be no lack of bloodshed in the so-called ‘negotiation’.

  A Heaven task truly lived up to its name.

  Li Qingchan looked deeply at Zhou Yuan, as she said, “This task is very important. If it is possible, I hope that you will not participate.”

  She clearly believed that Zhou Yuan was only going to be a burden in a mission of this scale.

  Zhou Yuan naturally knew what she meant. However, he could only laugh bitterly because he was indeed very desperate for a Heaven Credit.

  Zhou Yuan solemnly declared, “Senior sister Qingchan, I believe that at the very least, I will not be a burden to the team.”

  Li Qingchan frowned slightly at his words, clearly not taking them to heart, and believing that he was merely putting on a front. She waved her hand to indicate there was no need to say anything else, before she stood up and headed out of the cave.

  “We will set off for the Black Flame Province in five days.”

  “If yo
u insist on joining, I do hope that you will not let me down. I will be giving truthful report when we return, and you end up disappointing me, you will still be unable to obtain a Heaven Credit.”

  Chapter 394 Protest

  For the next few days, Zhou Yuan stayed in the cave dwelling to stabilize his Genesis Qi cultivation, which had grown rapidly after advancing to the fourth layer Alpha-Origin stage. It was as Li Qingchan had said, the Heaven task was very important, and he intended to do everything in his power to boost his abilities.

  Over this period, the Heaven task was also officially publicized by the sect. It caused a huge commotion as expected, numerous disciples eager for a spot.

  Everyone knew that a Heaven task represented a Heaven Credit, an item so valuable in the sect that even the ten Chosens could not afford to ignore it.

  Therefore, each Heaven task would result in an intense fight between the top disciples of the various peaks. Though these Heaven tasks were filled with danger, no one could resist the allure of a Heaven Credit.

  This time was not going to be an exception.

  As such, the moment the ‘Black Flame Province’ Heaven task was announced, an earth-shaking fight quickly broke out among the finest of the purple sash disciples.

  There were after all many purple sash disciples, but only ten spots for this Heaven task. Furthermore, two of them were already taken by the captain Li Qingchan and vice-captain Zhao Zhu.

  Hence, only eight spots remained, and one could easily imagine how crazy the fight for these spots would be.

  While the other purple sash disciples were competing fiercely among themselves, Zhou Yuan had already secured a spot thanks to Yaoyao. Thus, he could remain in his cave dwelling and concentrate on his training.

  Five days quickly passed in this manner.

  ...

  Inside the cave dwelling.

  Zhou Yuan was seated atop a boulder near the edge of a cliff, while several pieces of green wood hovered in front of him. These green wood pieces were of different shapes and sizes, and the only thing they had in common were the vestiges of time left on their bodies.

  All of them were clearly rather ancient wood pieces that were filled with Yimu Qi.

  Zhou Yuan had spent a great sum of money to purchase these century-old wood pieces from the Glittering Jewels Pavilion. His goal was to practice the Taiyi Green Wood Mark.

  “The first step is to form a Taiyi Mark inside my body. Only after forming this mark, will I be able to infuse the Yimu Qi from these ancient wood into my flesh.” Zhou Yuan muttered to himself.

  To carve a Taiyi Mark on his body, he also needed Yimu Qi from such ancient wood.

  Zhou Yuan took in a deep breath, and gently shut his eyes. He then interlocked his fingers, as he began coating the ancient wood pieces with his Genesis Qi. Wisps of green Qi soon seeped out from the ancient wood pieces, before flowing into Zhou Yuan’s body through his nose.

  Zhou Yuan’s Spirit immediately took control of the green Qi, which was filled with life energy. He carefully manipulated it, fusing it into his flesh, slowly but steadily leaving faint, tiny and complex markings.

  Drawing a Taiyi Mark was an extremely complicated process. The mark had to cover nearly Zhou Yuan’s entire body, and had to be fused into his flesh. Moreover, even the slightest error would result in immediate failure.

  As such, the first step to mastering the Taiyi Green Wood Mark was already no mean feat.

  Zhou Yuan was completely immersed in his training. Four hours quickly flew by, before he gradually opened his eyes. He looked at his arm, seeing a faint green glow appear, before slowly receding.

  “Only one percent has been completed after several days of hard work…” Zhou Yuan let out a bitter laugh. He had given his all during these past few days, but had only made little progress. Looks like it would take a substantial amount of time for him to complete the Taiyi Mark in his body.

  Of course, the most important factor was that there was too little Yimu Qi.

  Zhou Yuan glanced at the ancient wood pieces in front of him. They had begun to turn to dust after their Yimu Qi was drained.

  These ancient wood pieces were at most a century old, and did not possess rich Yimu Qi. However, it was a little difficult to find thousand-year ancient wood in the Glittering Jewels Pavilion.

  Zhou Yuan sighed. With a wave of his sleeve, the dust in front of him was blown away.

  “Oh?”

  He sensed something in his mind after finishing his training. His body quickly turned slightly ethereal as he transformed into a shadow and dashed forward. In less than a few dozen breaths, he had reached the entrance of the cave dwelling.

  He found Shen Wanjin waiting here while he wiped his sweat.

  “Little Yuan bro, you’re done with your training session?” Shen Wanjin was overjoyed when he saw Zhou Yuan walking out.

  Zhou Yuan nodded with a smile, “What happened?”

  Based on Shen Wanjin’s appearance, he seemed to have been waiting for quite a while.

  A solemn expression appeared on Shen Wanjin’s plump face as he replied in a low voice, “Tomorrow is the departure day for the Heaven task. Therefore, the members must be finalized by today.”

  “Over the past few days, the top purple sash disciples have fought bitterly for these eight spots.”

  “I’ve heard that the members have mostly been finalized… and your participation has also been revealed.”

  Shen Wanjin hesitated for a moment, before he continued, “It is rumored that many have objected against this.”

  Zhou Yuan’s expression was quite calm in the face of this news. He was not surprised by this outcome. At the end of the day, he was a newly promoted purple sash disciple, and was still lacking compared to the veteran purple sash disciples.

  Many of these veteran purple sash disciples had failed to obtain a place in the team, while a newly promoted purple sash disciple like him was a part of it. This would naturally result in a rather huge backlash.

  Furthermore, numerous disciples felt that he had used connections to obtain this spot, though that was indeed the case this time.

  “Senior sister Li Qingchan should be able to handle these complaints, right?” Asked Zhou Yuan. Li Qingchan was the captain and team leader after all, and naturally had the right to nominate a team member.

  Shen Wanjin gave a bitter laugh as he said, “Senior sister Li Qingchan has been able to quell the dissent. However, the problem lies with Zhao Zhu from Sword Cometh Peak. He has been strongly opposing her decision as the vice-captain.”

  “Furthermore, Zhao Zhu is also one of the Chosens, and has a very valid reason for objecting her decision. As a result, he has managed to garner quite a bit of support…”

  “Zhao Zhu insists on kicking you from the team.”

  Zhou Yuan’s eyes narrowed. Zhao Zhu again...

  “Normally speaking, the participating members must be approved by both captains. Since the captain and vice-captain are in disagreement, it has become somewhat troublesome…”

  Shen Wanjin looked at Zhou Yuan and said, “Senior sister Li sent me here to ask you to head down to the mission hall.”

  Shen Wanjin was quite worried. There were quite a number of purple sash disciples gathered at the mission hall at this time.

  If Zhou Yuan went to the mission hall now, all it would take was a small accident for him to lose his spot.

  Shen Wanjin slowly said, “Little Yuan bro, senior sister Li said that she will try her best to protect you. However, Zhao Zhu has been vehemently opposing her. When the time comes, you will have show your mettle, otherwise…”

  Zhou Yuan’s expression remained unchanged, no panic visible on his face.

  “I understand.”

  He nodded. He had not expected Zhao Zhu to create such a huge fuss.

  Li Qingchan likely intended for him to make a trip down to display his abilities. If he could show his value, Li Qingchan would be in a better position to fight for him.

 
; However, if he performed terribly, even Li Qingchan would not be able to protect him.

  “Let’s go.”

  His eyes narrowed as he lifted his head. With a stomp, Genesis Qi appeared beneath his feet and propelled him into the sky.

  So you guys want my spot...

  Do you really think that I am some soft persimmon?!

  Chapter 395 Dispute

  The mission hall was located in the southwest region of Cangxuan Sect. It was a large and majestic hall that stood atop a misty peak, from which a long stone stairs extended from the mountain top. It was quite a majestic sight to behold.

  The mission hall was one of the most popular places in the Cangxuan Sect. Numerous disciples would fly over everyday to receive and hand in tasks from the mission hall.

  At this present time, the mission hall was exceptionally rowdy.

  Many purple sash disciples from the various peaks were gathered here, as they quarreled with one another. They were clearly bickering over who should have a spot in the Black Flame Province Heaven task that was set to begin tomorrow.

  “The selection process for this Heaven task is simply too unfair. I am fine with the others, but Zhou Yuan is merely a newly promoted purple sash disciple. What gives him the right to participate in this Heaven task?!”

  “That’s right. Even though Zhou Yuan is quite talented, he is still lacking in experience. He may have the qualifications In one or two years, but I am afraid he is still lacking now.”

  “Heh heh, I heard he was nominated by senior sister Li Qingchan. To think that he could actually catch her eye, I wonder what’s so special about him.”

  “Bullshit. Stop trying to insinuate something. Just think about senior sister Li Qingchan’s status, and how many talented geniuses has she seen over the years. How can someone like Zhou Yuan possibly catch her fancy? There must be some other reason behind it.”

  　　“......”

  Noisy discussions continuously rang out across the mission hall, with no lack of bitter voices amongst them. Zhou Yuan had after all been strongly recommended by the Cangxuan sect’s most famous ice queen, Li Qingchan. Countless disciples were huge fans of her, and naturally felt rather sullen at the sight of their goddess pushing so hard for Zhou Yuan.