Qin Lian nodded, and the two followed the path back and quickly returned to the others. As they darted from the deep pit, they saw that the Tianyuan Region troops were gathered around the pit and the ground was strewn with rat corpses. The stench of blood saturated the air.
Bian Buji, Mu Youlan, Han Jinhe and the others darted over to greet Zhou Yuan and Qin Lian.
"The rat tide has receded, but we lost more than 30 people…"
Zhou Yuan and Qin Lian both nodded. It was inevitable that an attack of that level resulted in casualties. The Tianyuan Region would have to compensate their families, but this was handled by other departments.
Zhou Yuan ran his eyes across everyone. He knew what everyone was looking forward to, so he didn't say anything pointless. He waved his hand and said, "Everyone, get ready. We will receive the ancestral qi vein next!”
Cheers broke out, and everyone’s eyes blazed with anticipation. They had crossed the heavens and come to the dangerous Guyuan Heaven precisely for the ancestral qi.
Although the majority of ancestral qi in the ancestral qi vein would flow into Hunyuan Heaven, they could still absorb the first wave of ancestral qi, and that was a great enough harvest to them.
As Zhou Yuan waved his sleeve, a ray of light shot out and descended into an open space on the hill.
Boom!
The light expanded as it met the wind, and it turned into a black altar. The altar was marked with countless ancient Genesis Runes, and those runes were so mysterious that even Zhou Yuan, who had great accomplishments in Spirit, couldn’t see through their mystery.
This altar was the ancestral qi receiving platform that Zhuan Zhu had refined.
It could not only connect to Hunyuan Heaven but also protect the ancestral qi vein. Most importantly, it would guide almost half of the vein’s ancestral qi to the Tianyuan Region.
With a slight movement, Zhou Yuan appeared in the center of the altar and folded his hands in a seal. As his seal changed, the black altar vibrated and its ancient Genesis Runes bloomed rays of dazzling light. The light swiftly gathered and tore a crack in the space. The flow of light pulled the gap wider and wider, and it gradually formed a spatial channel that constantly lengthened and shortened.
Buzz!
A mysterious force erupted within the spatial channel and enveloped the ancestral qi vein below. Then, a terrifying explosive force sucked it in.
The ancestral qi vein had an instinct to seek good fortune and avoid misfortune. Therefore, it instinctively resisted, but the power that erupted from the spatial channel was too powerful. No matter how it resisted, in the end, it was slowly uprooted from the earth’s depths.
The billowing mysterious pale yellow current rose, and the entire mountain range quaked violently. Looking down from the sky, it resembled a tremendous yellow dragon being pulled out from depths of the underground.
The yellow dragon whizzed towards the spatial channel under the suction force.
"Everyone, stay alert, concentrate and absorb. Don't make any noise!" Zhou Yuan’s thunderous voice rang in everyone’s ears as he stared at the ancestral qi vein roaring over.
The 2,000 team members sat cross-legged in front of the altar, ignoring the bloodstains on the ground.
The place where they sat was exactly where the ancestral qi vein needed to pass, which meant the yellow dragon would shroud them as it rushed past.
Everyone closed their eyes and frantically absorbed ancestral qi, causing their Genesis Qi to surge up and down.
The yellow dragon didn’t enter the spatial channel but instead steadily instilled it with ancestral qi.
After Zhou Yuan monitored the process for a while and found no problem, he appeared in front of the channel and sat down cross-legged. His eyes blazed as he watched the mysterious ancestral qi roar over like a torrent.
If the ancestral Qi treasure was said to improve his Heavenly Yuan Brush and Silver Shadow, then the nourishment from ancestral qi would greatly improve his strength.
“Come on, let me see how wonderful your ancestral qi is!”
Zhou Yuan drew a deep breath and gradually closed his eyes.
The yellow dragon gushed over and engulfed Zhou Yuan's figure.
Chapter 1093 Toxic
The moment the surging yellow dragon enveloped his body, Zhou Yuan could feel his Divine Dwellings shake violently. Even the two Heavenly Sun hanging high above his Divine Dwellings released rippling waves of desire.
Bang!
Zhou Yuan folded his hands together, and wisps of platinum dragon qi spiraled up from his body, forming a platinum dragon head where his head was.
The dragon opened its mouth wide and sharply inhaled.
Dragon Breathing!
Gugu!
As a result, the numerous strands of ancestral qi were forcibly absorbed, and they madly poured into Zhou Yuan's body. The absorption was much faster than everyone else’s, including Qin Lian’s.
The tremendous influx of mighty ancestral qi immediately caused huge changes within Zhou Yuan's body. The first was his Genesis Qi. As his Genesis Qi fused with the strands of ancestral qi, it expanded and grew more vigorous at an astonishing speed.
A stream of vigorous Genesis Qi pulsed through every meridian in Zhou Yuan's body and brought him tremendous strength. Then, the strengthened Genesis Qi eventually flowed into his Divine Dwelling and poured into his two Heavenly Suns.
The two glass Heavenly Suns gradually grew more dazzling, and the waves of Genesis Qi radiating from them were continuously strengthened.
Upon a careful look, one would even notice that runes were extending from the four claws that covered the glass sky suns…a sign that the fifth claw was being refined!
This scene made Zhou Yuan indescribably happy. As expected, his senior brother was right. The ancestral qi in Guyuan Heaven could indeed gradually refine the Dragon Claw Heavenly Sun. But without enough ancestral qi, Zhou Yuan had a feeling the legendary Nine-Claw Heavenly Sun might not appear!
Thus, he even more frantically absorbed ancestral qi!
As increasing amounts of ancestral qi poured into his body, Zhou Yuan suddenly felt a special aura spreading inside him. That feeling was as though the aroma of a pure and sacred incense was drifting within his body. It gave him a sensation of sudden enlightenment.
The aura entranced Zhou Yuan's mind, and at a certain moment, he seemingly opened his eyes.
He found that he was on a tall mountain peak with endless clouds and mist hovering around.
Buzz!
In the midst of the billowing clouds and mists, a figure emerged. The figure was identical to him. The figure flashed, and wings stretched out, absorbing the Genesis Qi between heaven and earth to strengthen itself.
Zhou Yuan stared at the figure and was stunned for a moment. He recognized that it was the Omega Saint Spirit Art!
At the same time, another figure of Zhou Yuan appeared in the clouds and mist around him. It suddenly roared skywards, and its body rapidly swelled. The incomparably tough body exuded an astonishing power.
Mythic Saint Body!
Understanding dawned on him. And to confirm his understanding, figure after figure appeared among the clouds, each performing a different Genesis art.
Sword qi whistled as an incomparably fierce sword shadow tore apart the world—the Devil Sweeping Sword Orb!
A lightning prison descended, and an incomparably fierce and overbearing clap of thunder roared—the Lightning Prison Art!
A greenish-yellow qi turned into marrow fluid and dripped down…
...
These were the seven Cangxuan arts that Zhou Yuan had cultivated!
Staring at the multiple figures performing the seven arts, Zhou Yuan felt his speculations become stronger. He knew that this might be a sign that the seven Cangxuan arts were about to merge.
He had waited for years; was this finally the moment?
Buzz!
When each of the seven Cangxuan arts was performed to its peak
state, the seven figures suddenly shot out and collided like streams of light. At that moment, the clouds and mist surged frantically and twisted into a tremendous vortex. Little by little, the rays of light gathered at the center.
Zhou Yuan stared at the center of the vortex, curious to know what would appear from the integration of the seven Cangxuan arts!
Under his intense gaze, a blurry shadow finally formed at the center of the vortex, which seemed to be the outline of a certain object…
But just when Zhou Yuan squinted his eyes to look more closely, he suddenly felt the incense-like smell completely dissipate, and the entire sea of clouds rapidly melted. Everything in front of him vanished into thin air.
“Bastard!”
Zhou Yuan opened his eyes and couldn't help cursing out loud.
He disappointedly raised his head, only to see the last ancestral qi pass through him and drill into the spatial channel opened up by the altar.
Evidently, the previous enlightenment was interrupted because all the ancestral qi had left.
Fortunately, the seven arts had shown signs of integration, and with enough ancestral qi, the seven arts would no doubt complete their fusion.
"I will need a lot more ancestral qi,” Zhou Yuan speculated. But no matter how much was needed, he would definitely meet the requirement because he felt that he would be very satisfied with the integration of the seven Cangxuan arts.
While Zhou Yuan was still a little dejected, the Tianyuan Region’s Heavenly Sun experts were finally awakened. They immediately felt the changes within their bodies. The next moment, countless cheers of joy resounded like thunder and quaked the entire mountain range.
Their strengths had evidently rocketed.
Zhou Yuan stretched his back and similarly sensed the changes with his body. Then, he couldn’t help raising his brows.
“My Genesis Qi foundation has increased by...20 million?!”
Facing this kind of increase, even Zhou Yuan, who was always calm and composed, was a little dazed. Generally speaking, it would take a long period to gain 20 million Genesis Qi stars if one were to cultivate normally in Hunyuan Heaven, even with glass Heavenly Suns. More importantly, this growth was after breaking the upper limit.
Zhou Yuan hadn’t reached the Heavenly Sun stage’s limit. He only needed to continue to raise his strength if he wanted to increase his Genesis Qi foundation. But many people in the advanced Heavenly Sun stage had reached their limit, and to further increase their foundation required a lot of effort and resources, even if it was an increase of a few thousand Genesis Qi stars.
But a short period in Guyuan Heaven had allowed them to obtain benefits that they could never imagine.
The ancestral qi was clearly terrifying!
At that moment, Zhou Yuan was itching to capture ten more ancestral qi veins to raise his Genesis Qi foundation by another few hundred million!
Zhou Yuan took a look at his Divine Dwellings and found that a part of the fifth dragon's toe had formed.
If he were to come to Guyuan Heaven a few more times, his four-claw Heavenly Sun would likely transform into a five-claw Heavenly Sun!
“What a great opportunity and blessing…”
Zhou Yuan couldn't help sighing emotionally. Whether it was the increase in his Genesis Qi foundation, the addition of dragon runes on his Heavenly Suns, or the divine enlightenment brought by the smell of burning incense, they could only come with luck, yet they had all appeared at the same time.
Zhou Yuan knew how happy everyone was, so he let them celebrate. Just as he stood up lazily, Qin Lian suddenly came over.
"How was it? How much did your Genesis Qi foundation increase?" Zhou Yuan asked with a smile.
“Around seven million,” Qin Lian replied, then bit her red lips, staring at Zhou Yuan with a strange and resentful gaze.
“What's with your expression?” Zhou Yuan asked puzzledly.
Qin Lian gritted her teeth and uttered in a trembling voice, "Zhou Yuan, do you have some sort of infectious toxin?”
“What are you talking about?” Zhou Yuan sounded perplexed.
A Heavenly Sun emerged behind Qin Lian. She pointed to a spot on the sun. “Then why did such a thing suddenly appear on my Heavenly Sun? That is clearly something that only exists on your Heavenly Sun! What did you do to me?”
Zhou Yuan followed her gaze and couldn't help but freeze for a moment. He repeatedly rubbed his eyes. He noticed a small mottled pattern on Qin Lian’s originally pure and flawless glass Heavenly Sun. That familiar mark was…a dragon rune?
Zhou Yuan distinctly remembered that there wasn’t such a dragon rune on Qin Lian’s Heavenly Sun before. In other words, her Heavenly Sun underwent a change after absorbing ancestral qi.
This wasn’t unbelievable. Zhuan Zhu had told him the Dragon Claw Heavenly Sun could either exist innately or be acquired. One with an innate Dragon Claw Heavenly Sun would see dragon runes appear while refining a Heavenly Sun. To acquire a Dragon Claw Heavenly Sun, however, one needed to encounter great opportunities and blessings after reaching the advanced Heavenly Sun stage, thus allowing their Heavenly Sun to change, possess a dragon rune and turn into a Dragon Claw Heavenly Sun.
However, since it was divided into innate and acquired power, there was a clear difference in strength. According to his senior brother, an acquired Dragon Claw Heavenly Sun would be close to its limit at the six-claw Heavenly Sun level, and it would be near impossible to reach nine claws.
But even so, a Dragon Claw Heavenly Sun had much greater potential than an ordinary glass Heavenly Sun. After all, it was considered a legendary Heavenly Sun…
So, Zhou Yuan was stunned for a moment, then his face darkened as he looked at the woman who had failed to understand how blessed she was.
“You're the toxic one, your whole family is toxic!”
Chapter 1094 Return to the City
It was already the evening of the second day when the Tianyuan Region’s great army rushed back to Hunyuan Heaven Town.
Although everyone looked worn-out, unconcealable joy and excitement were gushing from their eyes. Their first harvest in Guyuan Heaven had already exceeded their expectation.
This was especially the case for unaffiliated cultivators. Although unaffiliated cultivators obeyed orders, they always appeared slack and resisted discipline. But this was normal. After all, they were carefree and were not used to being controlled all the time. However, they had become very different after experiencing the impact of the ancestral qi.
The massive increase in their Genesis Qi foundation thoroughly stirred up the morale of the unaffiliated cultivators.
In the past, they had to fight with their lives to slightly improve their Genesis Qi foundation, but the harvest they had received from the ancestral qi’s influence was much greater than all those resources that they had exchanged for with their lives.
After personally experiencing it, they completely understood how great the opportunities in Guyuan Heaven were.
One after another, they cast their gaze to the young figure at the forefront, their eyes full of obedience and admiration. They didn’t forget that it was Zhou Yuan who had brought about all this.
Their leader indeed possessed unimaginable ability. It was indeed an opportunity and blessing to be able to follow Zhou Yuan.
They needed to firmly hold onto this opportunity!
Many unaffiliated cultivators glanced at one another, and they all saw the blazing look in each other’s eyes.
Han Jinhe, Xue Qingmei and Wang Su, the deputy captains of the unaffiliated cultivators, also noticed the change in their attitudes. Their expressions turned complex. After all, the unaffiliated cultivators respected and admired them the most, and they would carry out whatever tasks the three told them. This was also the main reason why Zhou Yuan had appointed them deputy captains.
But after this matter, Han Jinhe and the others understood that Zhou Yuan’s status might have surpassed theirs in many unaffiliated cultivators�
�� hearts. Although they sighed emotionally, they weren’t unhappy because they agreed about Zhou Yuan's ability. They all came to Guyuan Heaven to improve their strength, and if Zhou Yuan could lead them to obtain greater harvests, they truly didn’t mind who led them.
The Tianyuan Region’s great army naturally attracted a lot of attention when they entered the city. Many couldn’t help feeling puzzled and surprised to see the unconcealable excitement on the Tianyuan Region faces. After all, the matter that the Tianyuan Region had chosen an area weak in ancestral qi under Wang Xuanyang's scheming had spread all around in the past few days.
Many forces gloated over the Tianyuan Region’s misfortune when they had learned of the matter. After all, without the Tianyuan Region competing for a good area, it meant they had a stronger chance. Although they were all fighting for ancestral qi for Hunyuan Heaven, who wouldn’t want people from their side to do better?
Additionally, those who guided the ancestral qi to Hunyuan Heaven could also enjoy the first wave of ancestral qi, and their region or force would benefit more. Therefore, many forces had hoped the Tianyuan Region would choose wrong every time.
But why is everyone from the Tianyuan Region team full of joy, and why don’t they look disappointed?
Zhou Yuan paid no attention to the puzzled and investigative gazes. He directly led his team back to the Tianyuan Region’s resting area and said, “Everyone, take a break while we wait for the next opening of the Qi Observation Platform.”
Everyone responded and then dispersed. The majority returned to the resting place to make the best use of the time to train and adapt to their increased Genesis Qi. In Guyuan Heaven, a place full of hidden dangers, the stronger one was, the higher chance one had of surviving.
They didn't want to suffer the same outcome as their comrades who were buried in the mountains.
Zhou Yuan watched everyone disperse and then turned to say to Qin Lian, “Go and inquire about the other forces’ situation and see how many forces have returned successfully.”
The Qi Observatory Platform could observe the flow of ancestral qi between heaven and earth within a radius of tens of thousands of miles. It was impossible to scan such a huge area in one detection, so there were always no fewer than five detections before the entire area was scanned.
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