Guan Qinglong also nodded and said, “It’s better to have someone in charge. Otherwise everyone would be like scattered sand. My Hunyuan Heaven has no objection.”
Gazes shifted to Jiang Jinlin, whose face was livid. He evidently didn’t expect Ai Qing to make such a proposal. If Zhou Yuan became the commander-in-chief, wouldn't he be superior to me and I would have to listen to his command?
However, while Jiang Jinlin was silent, he could feel the Wanshou Heaven troops’ gazes becoming a little unfriendly. He had no other choice but say, “We only have three heavens here. Qiankun Heaven and Wuxing Heaven aren’t present, how can we decide the commander-in-chief for the five heavens?
"I heard the Qiankun Heaven’s Heavenly Sun stage leader is a rare talent.”
Although Hunyuan Heaven was the strongest among the five heavens, Hunyuan Heaven wasn’t invincible and Qiankun Heaven was the one most threatening to Hunyuan Heaven.
The title strongest of all heavens belonged to Qiankun Heaven in the past, but Hunyuan Heaven suddenly caught up and surpassed them.
However, the strength of Qiankun Heaven shouldn’t be underestimated. It was always on the lookout for opportunities to regain the title strongest of all heavens.
Therefore, it would be extremely unwise to underestimate Qiankun Heaven.
Zhou Yuan felt a little helpless. In truth, he had little interest in the commander-in-chief position, so he wanted to slip away from the responsibility through Jiang Jinlin’s words.
However, Guan Qinglong said solemnly, “Grand elder Zhou Yuan, we asked you to be the commander-in-chief not because of selfishness, but the Sacred Race is extremely strong and our five heavens would be utterly defeated in Guyuan Heaven if we are like scattered sand.
"The price we would pay then is unimaginable, and in the worst case, all races in the five heavens could be wiped out.”
“Therefore, since you have such strength, you shouldn’t refuse!”
Chi Qing nodded and said: "If Qiankun Heaven isn’t convinced, we could have a match then.”
After the two expressed their stance, Jiang Jinlin realized everyone was staring at him again. He roared in anger in his heart because he knew his excuse didn’t work. Even Ai Qing was looking at him with an icy expression.
He could only grit his teeth and say, “Our Wanshou Heaven has no objection.”
Countless eyes stared hopefully at Zhou Yuan.
Zhou Yuan realized that he had no choice but to accept the position. He just nodded slightly without saying anything. In his view, commander-in-chief was just a meaningless name.
As he nodded, countless people showed lit up with joy and cheers erupted in waves, causing the mountains to shake.
“Congratulations, commander Zhou Yuan!”
“Congratulation, commander Zhou Yuan!”
“...”
Chapter 1163 Unacceptable
Zhou Yuan had bafflingly become the overall commander of the heavens. However, he did not really care about such status. If it did not help slightly uniting the five heavens, he would honestly have zero interest in the position.
Because if things went wrong, he would be the target of everyone’s blame. After all, the higher the position the greater the responsibility.
Despite this, Zhou Yuan could not reject. In the face of the mysterious and powerful Sacred Race, the three heavens needed someone to place their hopes and belief in. Guan Qinglong or Jiang Jinlin could originally fulfil the role, but after Zhou Yuan’s cultivation breakthrough, they were now rather lacking in comparison.
If he had not stepped forward, the troop’s morale would have been substantially affected.
In any case, the most important thing now was to fight for nine main channels that would soon arrive!
Compared to this grand event, the ancestral qi branch channels and mystic ruins were not even worth mentioning.
The power of the nine main channels was so great that it could even affect an entire heaven.
Such power was unimaginable to Heavenly Sun practitioners like Zhou Yuan and the others. If not for Guyuan Heaven’s special rules, practitioners with their cultivation would never have the qualifications to participate in a battle of such stakes.
However, it was also a huge opportunity for them. Even a tiny sliver of the power contained within the nine main channels was enough for them to undergo a complete transformation.
It was a one in a million opportunity.
Hence, after becoming the overall commander, Zhou Yuan immediately ordered every member of the three heavens to begin rushing towards the central region, where the nine main channels disturbance was originating from.
The army swiftly set off, making no pit stops in between. In fact, they even decisively abandoned any branch channels that were drawn out due to the nine main channels’ imminent emergence.
Everyone knew that all the other heavens, including the Sacred Race heavens, were heading towards the main channels at full speed.
The faster they reached, the more time they would have to prepare.
...
Countless Genesis Qi clouds whizzed past in the sky.
Zhou Yuan was seated on a cloud at the very front. His eyes were lightly shut, concentrating on the numerous changes that had occurred in his body.
He had honestly benefited a lot from the stone tablet.
Not only had his cultivation advanced to the advanced Heavenly Sun stage, his Genesis Qi foundations had also soared to the 4.3 billion level, completely surpassing the 4 billion barrier. Do not underestimate this barrier, it was something that countless amazing heaven prides had ultimately failed to cross.
Even someone like Guan Qinglong would find it very difficult to increase his Genesis Qi foundation in the Heavenly Sun stage without some kind of amazing encounter, leaving him no choice but to attack the Nascent Source stage instead.
Moreover, there was a substantial gap between a practitioner who stepped into the Nascent Source stage at the 3.9 billion level and the 4 billion level. In fact, it would even affect their future cultivation progress during the Nascent Source stage.
Wu Yao, Su Youwei and Zhao Mushen had the qualifications and potential to reach the 4 billion barrier, because they were more talented than Guan Qinglong.
As such, one can see just how praiseworthy it was for Zhou Yuan to reach the 4.3 billion level. This was also the reason why the three heavens had unanimously agreed for him to be the overall commander.
Such strength and foundations was more than enough to make them submit.
However, the 4.3 billion Genesis Qi foundation was not the only thing Zhou Yuan had gained.
The seventh dragon rune on his Heavenly Sun had reached full completion.
In other words, he now had a seven claw Heavenly Sun.
He was not far from the highest nine claw Heavenly Sun. From what senior brother Zhuan Zhu had told him, a heaven-defying evolution would occur when he achieved a nine claw Heavenly Sun and stepped into the Nascent Source stage.
Initial, advanced and perfect were the three levels of the Nascent Source stage.
While others would reach the initial stage after ascending from the Heavenly Sun stage, a practitioner with a nine claw Heavenly Sun would be able to directly form an advanced Nascent Source!
This was essentially skipping an entire lesser cultivation realm.
Only Nascent Source experts would understand how much time, effort and luck was needed to advance from the initial stage. Hence, such a breakthrough would definitely make them go crazy with envy.
“It becomes increasingly difficult to form the subsequent dragon runes. If I wish to achieve the nine claw rank, I’ll need the power of the first channel!”
There were nine main channels, and the strongest among them was known as the first channel.
For Zhou Yuan to reach the nine claw rank, he would require the most powerful first channel. The others were just not enough.
Red-hot desire surging out from his heart, Zhou Yua
n opened his eyes and peered into the distance, his gaze filled with fierce determination.
The battle for Guyuan Heaven was supposed to be extremely cruel after all. Hence, regardless of whether it was for Hunyuan Heaven or himself, he would try to compete for the first channel in the final fight!
Even if his opponent was the most mysterious and immeasurable Shengzu Heaven!
The next ten days were spent travelling at full-speed.
On the tenth day, Zhou Yuan finally felt the ancestral qi undulations surge wildly. This meant that they were finally entering the central zone where the nine main channels would appear.
However, just as they entered, Zhou Yuan suddenly raised his hand.
The endless stream of clouds came to a sudden halt behind him.
Guan Qinglong, Jiang Jinlin and the others frowned slightly as they looked towards the front. They had sensed the appearance of a great number of Genesis Qi undulations.
The scale did not lose much to their side.
Guan Qinglong asked in a solemn voice, “Is it the Sacred Race?”
Zhou Yuan shook his head as surprise emerged on his face. “Not the Sacred Race. It’s...Qiankun Heaven and Wuxing Heaven.”
“Oh?” It was Guan Qinglong’s turn to be surprised. He had not expected Qiankun Heaven and Wuxing Heaven to be together.
From the mountains in the distance, several streaks of Genesis Qi rose into the sky and swiftly approached.
Guan Qinglong’s voice immediately rumbled like thunder, “Friends from Qiankun Heaven and Wuxing Heaven, Hunyuan Heaven, Wanshou Heaven and Cangxuan Heaven have already elected the Hunyuan Heaven’s Tianyuan Region’s captain Zhou Yuan as the overall commander for the five heavens. We’d like to invite your commanders to come over for a discussion.”
Guan Qinglong did not hide anything. Instead, he dived straight into the most important topic to see what response Qiankun Heaven and Wuxing Heaven would have.
After all, they needed to somehow unite the five heavens before the imminent final clash with the Sacred Race.
The approaching figures came to a stop when they heard his words, before returning to the mountain range.
It was silent for a long time.
In the end, a voice that was neither angry nor happy echoed from the mountains, “Qiankun Heaven does not accept your decision.”
Chapter 1164 Bai Xiaolu
When the calm voice rang out from the mountain range, an uproar swept through the three heavens side. Many people revealed angry looks, clearly feeling that this was way too arrogant of Qiankun Heaven.
Zhou Yuan’s expression remained impassive. The other party’s response did not surprise him.
After all, he had only been acknowledged by Hunyuan Heaven, Wanshou Heaven and Cangxuan Heaven, and had yet to gain approval from Qiankun Heaven. Moreover, Qiankun Heaven was essentially Hunyuan Heaven’s greatest rival, and they had clashed countless times over the years. Qiankun Heaven claimed that they were no weaker than Hunyuan heaven, and thus refused to fully acknowledge Hunyuan Heaven’s title as the leader of the heavens.
In a manner of speaking, Hunyuan Heaven had gone and elected an overall commander behind Qiankun Heaven’s back. How could Qiankun Heaven possibly acknowledge him?
Jiang Jinlin glanced at Zhou Yuan. “I’ve heard that Qiankun Heaven’s commander is no ordinary person this time, and is a disciple of Nirvana Palace, one of the oldest factions which is also the current leader of Qiankun Heaven’s eight great factions. Elders in my clan have told me that their greatest Heavenly Sun expert in this generation is an astounding genius that only comes once every thousand years, and is likely not any less talented than captain Zhou Yuan.”
There was a slight bit of gloating in his eyes. After all, he had been outshone by Zhou Yuan, which was naturally not a great feeling. Since someone who could compete with Zhou Yuan had now appeared, he was certainly more than happy to watch them fight it out.
Zhou Yuan smiled and said, “I don’t really care about the position. If captain Jaing Jinlin was capable enough to take it up, I would have given it up to you without any hesitation.”
Jiang Jinlin’s face twitched. How could he not understand what Zhou Yuan was trying to say? Zhou Yuan had blatantly declared that he wasn’t capable enough to become overall commander.
Guan Qinglong said, “I am confident in captain Zhou Yuan.”
Soon after, he made a gesture and the three heavens group descended from the sky. A black sprawling mass quickly filled the mountain forest.
“If Qiankun Heaven has any objections, you should come out and discuss with us. If you have a better suggestion, we three heavens will not reject it without consideration.” Guan Qinglong’s strong voice rang out.
Not long after, something seemed to stir deep in the mountain. The ground shook a little as figure after figure flooded out like a tide.
It was the Qiankun Heaven and Wuxing Heaven main force. Their numbers were pretty comparable to the three heavens.
All five heavens were finally gathered.
Zhou Yuan’s gaze swept across the group and could not help but feel somewhat amazed. Qiankun Heaven was powerful indeed, and it was no wonder they could compete with Hunyuan Heaven. After a quick sweep, he had already discovered several strong Genesis Qi undulations.
He estimated that there were no less than five experts with Genesis Qi foundations that surpassed 3 billion.
Wuxing Heaven was much weaker compared to Qiankun Heaven, but was still clearly stronger than Cangxuan Heaven. This made Zhou Yuan feel a little helpless. It seemed that Cangxuan Heaven was destined to be the weakest.
As Zhou Yuan stared at the giant army, a figure walked out. It was a man wearing long robes. His robes were decorated with glowing earth, wind, water, fire and lightning runes that seemed to flow on its surface.
“I am Wuxing Heaven’s Li Fu. Greetings friends from Hunyuan Heaven, Wanshou Heaven and Cangxuan Heaven.” Although the man looked ordinary, his eyes were exceptionally striking. They seemed to occasionally flash with light of the five elements, accompanied by a faint melodious five element sound.
Zhou Yuan, Guan Qinglong and Jiang Jinlin cupped their hands together. Li Fu was extremely strong, and their senses told them that his Genesis Qi foundation was over 3.6 billion. He was most likely Wuxing Heaven’s commander.
“It seems that captain Li Fu has also discovered a mystic ruins and benefited substantially from it.” Guan Qinglong slowly said. It was very improbable to reach this level without some luck.
Li Fu displayed a gentle smile and said, “You must be Hunyuan Heaven’s captain Guan Qinglong. What keen eyes, we did find a mystic ruins previously, but also bumped into the Shengming Heaven main force there.
“We nearly lost to them, but fortunately, Qiankun Heaven’s captain Bai made a timely arrival and helped us repel them.”
Although Shengming Heaven was last among the four Sacred Race heavens, only a fool would underestimate them.
“So that’s what happened.” Everyone was struck by a flash of understanding. It was not strange for there to be more than one mystic ruins in the vast Guyuan Heaven.
Guan Qinglong said, “Captain Li Fu, could you invite Qiankun Heaven’s captain Bai over to meet us? It will be better for us five heavens to stand united in the upcoming battle.”
Li Fu awkwardly said, “Captain Bai does not wish to meet you guys.”
Zhou Yuan, Guan Qinglong, Jiang Jinlin and the others frowned. If Qiankun Heaven was unhappy with them, a representative should come out and explain things properly. Hiding away and refusing to meet them honestly made them somewhat speechless.
Li Fu helplessly said, “Captain Bai has only heard of Hunyuan Heaven’s Guan Qinglong, and the name Zhou Yuan is completely unfamiliar. What right does he have to be the five heavens’ overall commander?”
Guan Qinglong’s expression darkened, while Jiang Jinling chuckled inwardly.
No anger was visible on Zhou Yuan’s face. Instead, he slowl
y walked forward with a faint smile. “I’m Hunyuan Heaven’s Zhou Yuan. If captain Bai has any complaints, feel free to come forward and tell me. Why are hiding behind others like a girl?
“Won’t you know whether I’m qualified once you test me?”
Li Fu’s expression instantly changed, but before he could speak, all of them heard an icy shout from the mountains behind.
Humph!
Rumble!
The entire mountain range suddenly began to shake. The three heavens watched in shock as a giant mountain rose from the mountain range.
They were shocked not by the giant mountain, but by the figure lifting it with a single hand from below.
Rumble!
The figure threw the mountain, and its enormous shadow loomed over Zhou Yuan.
Zhou Yuan’s eyes widened slightly. He could tell that the thrower had not used a single wisp of Genesis Qi, relying solely on raw strength.
Lifting a mountain with a single hand.
Such strength was overwhelming.
However, it was naive to think that this could intimidate him.
Zhou Yuan’s five fingers slowly clenched into a fist as burning magma runes spread on his body. An aura of violence filled the air as the ground below him melted into a magma pool.
He allowed the mountain to continue along its trajectory before punching just as it arrived.
Boom!
His figure was as tiny as an ant compared to the mountain, but when he punched, the mountain froze in the air. A terrifying head erupted, turning the entire mountain to ashes.
After the blessings from the stone tablet, Zhou Yuan’s Great Flame Devil had reached the advanced level.
After turning the mountain to dust, his gaze turned towards the front where a figure was falling from the sky.
When he saw the figure, he could not help but be stunned.
It was a little girl dressed in white. Her skin was fair as snow, and she looked very cute. A hammer leaned on her tiny shoulder, its giant shadow burying her entire body.
“I’m the captain of Qiankun Heaven, Bai Xiaolu.
Dragon Prince Yuan c1-1251 Page 597