After all, even the trio of Lu Yan, Zhou Tai and Zhang Yan had been beaten. Even if Zhou Yuan were defeated, it would not hurt his reputation.
Over at the area Shen Taiyuan’s faction was occupying, numerous disciples were silent as they watched Zhou Yuan being blasted away by Yuan Hong time and time again, tenaciously gritting his teeth each time, and stubbornly charging forward once more. Soon, they began to grow angry as they turned their gazes towards Yuan Hong.
“Zhou Yuan!”
No one knew who had suddenly shouted.
“Zhou Yuan!”
“Zhou Yuan!”
More and more of Shen Taiyuan’s disciples began to roar, the sounds ultimately gathering together to boom across the land like thunder.
This was the method they chose to cheer and encourage Zhou Yuan.
As their roars grew louder and louder, Lu Song’s disciples looked at each other, before also beginning to shake their arms and yell.
“Zhou Yuan!”
“Zhou Yuan!”
“……”
More and more voices began to gather, alarming everyone. Even the disciples from the other peaks cast their gazes over, complicated expressions rising in their eyes when they saw the tenaciously fighting figure.
A sight like this would always touch the hearts of the people.
The disciple called Zhou Yuan was teaching them the meaning of being unafraid.
Yaoyao sat on a boulder, listened to the booming voices echoing around her, as her clear eyes focused on the chief disciple peak far away.
Roar!
Tuntun released an angry roar from her lap, as its tiny body began to show signs of growing. Ferocity swirled in its eyes as it stared at Yuan Hong’s figure.
Although it often fought with Zhou Yuan and looked down on him, it was likely that no one could truly comprehend the inborn pride in its heart. The nobleness flowing in its blood gave it the right to ignore ordinary humans.
Hence, taking the time to play with Zhou Yuan showed that Tuntun had already accepted the latter.
In its heart, only Cang Yuan, Yaoyao, and now Zhou Yuan were the only ones that it had accepted.
Hence, Tuntun felt that though it may bully Zhou Yuan, others were absolutely forbidden from doing so, because such an act would be a challenge to its dignity.
Yaoyao gently caressed Tuntun’s head, calming the somewhat out of control rage in its body. The expression on her gorgeous face was completely unchanged, but when her gaze swept across Yuan Hong’s figure, a faint icy light flashed past in her eyes.
…
Lu Hong’s disciples were rather taken aback by the sudden thunderous cheering. They tried to cheer on Yuan Hong too, but their voices were immediately drowned out by the din.
Lu Hong merely watched with indifferent eyes as he laughed, completely unfazed by it.
These were merely the cries of despair that belonged to the weak.
But even if all of you broke your throats cheering, Zhou Yuan will still be incapable of turning the tables!
He must pay the price for his earlier arrogance!
As Lu Hong gazed upon the pitiful figure on the mountain top, a pleased smile slowly crept up from the corners of his mouth.
…
On the messy mountain top.
Zhou Tai, Zhang Yan and Lu Yan’s expressions turned somewhat ugly as they watched the bitter scene.
Zhou Tai's jaw was tightly clenched, his eyes practically spitting fire as he glared at Yuan Hong. If not for his elimination, he would have dragged his heavily injured body over to duke it out with the latter.
Zhang Yan’s expression was likewise rather ugly. He clearly could see that Yuan Hong was merely toying with Zhou Yuan. As a disciples from their faction, being toyed in this manner was naturally akin to stepping on their faces.
Lu Yan was also watching the with a complicated expression. Zhou Yuan tenacity had touched even her heart, while also making it feel extremely unbearable to watch.
She softly mumbled, “Please don’t get up anymore… and admit defeat.”
As long as he admitted defeat, Yuan Hong would no longer be able to intentionally humiliate him in this manner.
In addition, admitting defeat at his juncture would not sully his reputation, because his performance was already extremely perfect.
At this current moment, the thunderous voices from outside the chief disciple peak faintly echoed on the mountain top.
“Zhou Yuan!”
“Zhou Yuan!”
“……”
As if hearing these voices, the rubble began to move as a figure slowly crawled to his feet once more, while fresh blood dripped from the surrounding rocks.
Lu Yan tightly gritted her teeth as she looked away, unable to continue watching.
“Junior brother Zhou Yuan… please, ad… admit defeat!” Zhou Tai eyes had already turned red.
Zhang Yan was also tightly clenching his jaw. Although he had always found Zhou Yuan to be an eyesore, the latter’s tenacity had begun to stir even his heart a little.
Yuan Hong stood in the air with his arms across his chest. His indifferent gaze looked towards the moving rocks, before he tilted his head slightly, as if listening to the noise faintly echoing from outside the chief disciple peak.
Yuan Hong seemed to chuckle as he said, “It seems that you’re quite popular.”
He shook his head and said, “However, I feel that you do not deserve this as the loser.”
“I’ve had my fun. If you still refuse to admit defeat, I can only break one of your legs and see whether you’ll still be able to stand…”
Alarming Genesis Qi frantically converged towards the tip of Yuan Hong’s figure as a loud rumbling noise began to shake the ground.
Bzzbzz!
As the Genesis Qi gathered, an enormous Genesis Qi sword slowly appeared in front of Yuan Hong.
The moment the sword appeared, a torrential flood of sword Qi of matchless sharpness ferociously unfurled, tearing open deep gorges on the surrounding ground.
Anyone could see that this sword would be able to cleave even a giant mountain into two. If it landed on Zhou Yuan’s body, the latter would surely be unable to bear its power.
Zhou Tai, Zhang Yan and Lu Yan’s expressions changed drastically.
“Stop!” All three of them yelled out in unison.
However, a trace of mockery merely rose from the corners of Yuan Hong’s lips as he ignored them and flicked his finger.
Bzz!
Everyone could only watch as a flash of sword light sliced across the land.
Such speed was as fast as lightning.
Many people could only see the ground being torn open rapidly torn open, as the countless boulders scattered near the wall split apart, revealing interiors that were smooth as mirrors.
A flash of sword light headed directly for the figure that was still struggling to its feet.
It arrived in an instant.
“It’s over.” Yuan Hong nonchalantly declared.
Sword light swept past, splitting countless boulders as it charged into the wall.
Sword Qi swept outwards, devastating the surroundings. A smooth, glossy cut seemed to instantly appear on the wall, before he began to fall apart.
A cloud of dust rose in the air.
Countless individuals could not help but close their eyes, unable to watch on.
Yuan Hong shook his head, and proceeded to turn around to declare the end of the chief disciple selection.
Boom!
However, just as he was about to turn, Genesis Qi suddenly exploded from the mountain of rubble, blowing countless rocks away.
Countless gazes immediately looked over in astonishment.
Yuan Hong was a little stunned as he muttered in surprise, “You still have some strength left?”
He lifted his head to look towards the shattered remains of the wall. The pile of rocks had already been blown away, revealing a standing figure.
Amidst the dust,
it could be seen that the figure’s hands were outstretched, tightly grabbing something in front of it.
A glow appeared, revealing the ‘something’ to be a giant Genesis Qi sword!
Yuan Hong’s pupils violently shrank at this moment.
The sword was obviously the attack he had sent out earlier. But why… was it being firmly grabbed by Zhou Yuan with his bare hands?
Why had it not chopped off his arms?
“How can this be?!” Confusion flashed in Yuan Hong’s eyes.
A clamour rose from the area like a wave.
*Spit*
Zhou Yuan’s entire body was drenched in blood, his lacerated flesh a gruesome sight to behold. He spat out a mouthful of spit mixed with blood, before slowly lifting his head. Silver light seemed to slowly swirl in the depths of his pupils, making him look extremely mysterious.
“Are you…”
As he panted, a voice was slowly spat out from between his bloody teeth.
“done attacking?”
When the final word sounded,
Crack!
He clenched harder as the space around his hands seemed to slightly distort. Next, countless gazes stared in shock as the enormous Genesis Qi sword shattered with a loud bang in Zhou Yuan’s hands!
At the same time, Zhou Yuan’s chilling voice rang out.
“If you’re done…”
“It should be my turn, right?!”
Chapter 471 Silver Bone Stage!
Bang!
The enormous Genesis Qi sword shattered due to the sudden force exerted by Zhou Yuan. Sword Qi violently swept outwards, slicing deep cuts in the ground around him.
Zhou Yuan stood amidst the destruction, still as a statue.
His body was still covered in blood, making him look extremely pitiful, but as his back gradually straightened at this moment, an exceedingly terrifying undulation seemed to slowly pulse from his body.
A faint silver glow emerged from the depths of his flesh and blood.
There appeared to be something different about the current Zhou Yuan...
The scene of him crushing the giant sword naturally landed in the eyes of the countless onlookers outside the chief disciple peak. A torrential uproar immediately exploded, innumerable disciples dumbstruck, their eyes overflowing with disbelief.
They could not understand how Zhou Yuan, who was basically being steamrolled moments earlier, had suddenly released such power.
Based on their senses, Zhou Yuan’s Genesis Qi had not grown stronger. So where had this power come from?
Only the six imposing figures high up in the sky released low gasps of surprise.
Hongya Peak master Gu was the first to speak in a voice filled with amazement. “This power… comes from the body. This kid… has achieved the silver bone stage?”
The second stage of the Hongya Peak’s Mythic Saint Body was known as the silver bone stage, which the external cultivation technique practiced by Zhou Yuan clearly originated from. Of course, it naturally could not be compared to the true divine silver bone, but its power was still clear for all to see.
“Tch tch, to think that this kid has managed to achieve the silver bone stage in such a short amount of time. He’s basically a genius of external cultivation!” Peak master Gu was full of praise, his eyes filled with approval as he looked towards the bloody figure on the mountain top.
He clearly understood how difficult the path of external cultivation was. What’s more, the technique practiced by Zhou Yuan originated from the Mythic Saint Body, making it even harder to master than ordinary external cultivation techniques.
In the Hongya Peak, only Shang Chunqiu alone had been able to reach the divine silver bone stage.
Sect master Qing Yan also slowly nodded and said, “He had not reached the silver bone stage earlier. If I’m not wrong, he had intentionally chosen to endure Yuan Hong’s ferocious attacks with his body to temper it, forcing him to his limits to achieve a breakthrough.”
He then exclaimed with a sigh of admiration, “Such decisiveness and boldness is truly praiseworthy.”
The other peak masters, with the exception of peak master Ling Jun, faintly nodded in agreement. A disciple that could display such traits was indeed very amazing.
Peak master Lianyi glanced at the now frowning and less certain peak master Ling Jun, as she softly chuckled and said, “It seems that the situation has begun to change?”
Peak master Ling Jun took in a deep breath, his youthful and handsome face maintaining its calm as he replied, “It’s a little too early to say such things. A breakthrough of such nature is extremely taxing on one’s vital energy. I’m afraid that Zhou Yuan does not have much strength left.”
However, anyone could tell that he no longer completely neglected Zhou Yuan like he had in the beginning.
It was likely that the chief disciple selection of Saint Genesis Peak had only truly begun at this moment.
…
On the peak that was currently the focus of nearly the entire Cangxuan Sect.
Yuan Hong gazed at the bloody figure before him with a somewhat dark expression. The astonishing power displayed by Zhou Yuan was likewise out of his expectations.
The feeling of things slipping out of his control caused fury to surge in his heart.
At the same time, he was also quite puzzled. Zhou Yuan appeared incapable of putting up any resistance at all just moments earlier, so how was he suddenly able to block that attack?
What exactly had he done?
Nearby, Lu Yan, Zhou Tai and Zhang Yan were also watching with uncertainty, confusion and surprise.
Zhou Yuan wiped away the blood at the corner of his mouth. Silver light flowed in the depths of his eyes as he lifted his head and looked towards Yuan Hong, while he stretched and twisted his body a little, releasing cracking noises.
Dark green light glowed faintly as a warm energy spread, swiftly replenishing the depleted vital energy in Zhou Yuan’s body.
“You seem to be very surprised?” Zhou Yuan grinned, revealing a set of sinisterly white teeth.
Yuan Hong’s expression darkened even further as he icily smiled. “It’s just some kind of trick!”
“I am very interested to find out whether this confidence you have is just a pretense!”
His foot slammed into the ground as torrential Genesis Qi rose around him, transforming into ten giant swords. Every sword gave off an alarming sharp sword Qi.
Bzz!
Ten swords soared into the sky, lining up one after another as their tips faced downwards. It was an impressive sight indeed.
Yuan Hong had evidently been angered for real, and no longer planned on playing around.
Swish!
Ten swords rapidly grew in Zhou Yuan’s pupils. He lifted his head, and took in a deep breath as silver light emerged from the bones in his body. If one were to take away all of his flesh and skin at this moment, one would discover that Zhou Yuan’s skeleton appeared to be made from silver, a very peculiar sight indeed.
Silver bones shook faintly as a frightening power surged.
Zhou Yuan tightly clenched his five fingers into a fist and punched.
Silver light blossomed in his flesh.
Boom!
A sonic boom accompanied his punch as cracks rapidly grew on the ground below his feet, as if a giant invisible hand was tearing it apart.
Silver light spread, causing Zhou Yuan’s outstretched arm to appear as if it was made of silver.
Little Mythic Saint Body, Silver Bone Stage!
Bang!
Under the countless watching gazes, Zhou Yuan’s silver punch smashed into the descending swords, causing a shockwave to violently unfurl.
The shockwave spread, wreaking havoc around them.
Crack!
A faint crack sound was heard from where fist and sword met. Every could only watch in shock as cracks began to appear on the sword before it ultimately shattered with a bang.
After shattering the first sword, the s
ilver light continued along its path, slightly distorting even the air itself as the second and third swords were destroyed in succession!
By the time the silver light was done, all ten swords had crumbled to pieces.
Torrential cries of shock rang out once more.
Yuan Hong’s expression had turned extremely ugly. Even if the previous time could be said to be a fluke, the power Zhou Yuan had displayed this time made it clear that he was already capable of facing Yuan Hong directly.
In addition, it also proved that Zhou Yuan was not trying to put up an act.
“The power is from his body!” At this moment, Yuan Hong finally understood where the sudden explosion of power had come from. It originated from that external cultivation technique!
Yuan Hong’s face turned so dark and ominous, it was as if rain would start falling from it at any moment. He knew that Zhou Yuan’s body had not been so powerful half an incense stick ago!
And yet, after a vicious beating from him, Zhou Yuan’s body appeared to have been reforged.
It was obvious. A breakthrough had happened right under his nose.
Zhou Yuan had made use of Yuan Hong’s power to temper his body in hopes of breaking through his limits.
Yuan Hong on the other hand had been totally in the dark as he helped Zhou Yuan complete this process...
In the face of a situation he had personally created, even Yuan Hong could not help but feel his heart churn with regret. If he had known earlier, how could he possibly have intentionally humiliated his opponent? He should have used his strongest attack to utterly crush Zhou Yuan, giving him no chance to turn recover!
In a manner of speaking, Zhou Yuan’s transformation had been Yuan Hong’s handiwork.
Rumble!
While regret was churning in Yuan Hong’s heart, Zhou Yuan’s body lowered slightly into a crouching position, like a cheetah that was about to pounce at this prey. Inside his body, his bones flickered with silver light as a terrifying power gathered.
In the end, the gathering power erupted with magnificent force.
Swoosh!
The ground under his feet crumbled as his figure instantly disappeared.
So fast that countless disciples were unable to see anything with their naked eyes.
Dragon Prince Yuan c1-1251 Page 256