The sudden voice caused everyone to lift their heads and looked towards the young lady in a black dress leaning against the wall nearby with her hands across her chest. Several pairs of eyes brightened slightly the moment they saw her.
The girl in black was bare-footed, a string of silver bells around the ankles of her fine jade-white legs. A faint mist seemed to linger beneath her feet, making it seem as if she never touched the ground. Her facial features were extremely pretty, and overflowed with seductive charm, like an enticing little enchantress.
Xiao Tianxuan's eyes turned a little graver as he gazed at the girl in black and said, “Zuoqiu Qingyu.”
The pupils of the geniuses around him also shrank slightly, clearly having heard of this name before.
“Is it that Zuoqiu Qingyu of the Zuoqiu clan?” Zhou Yuan's eyes also rippled slightly. It was rumoured that she too was one of the strongest amongst the younger generation of the Cangmang Continent.
Luluo's eyes widened as she curiously stared at the little enchantress before them. She had naturally heard of the latter's reputation, but this was the first time she was seeing this individual in person.
However, every one of these gazes were practically nonexistent to the girl called Zuoqiu Qingyu. Her peach blossom like eyes focused only on Yaoyao.
Her figure suddenly moved, accompanied by the clear twinkling of bells as she appeared in front of Yaoyao like a phantom.
“So quick!”
Practically everyone present was shocked. None of them had been able to clearly see her movements.
“Hey, what's your name? I'm Zuoqiu Qingyu, let's be friends!” Zuoqiu Qingyu beamed as she looked at Yaoyao, the former's limpid eyes filled with curiosity.
This person was actually as pretty as herself!
In addition, the thing that drew her interest the most was Yaoyao's demeanor, especially those eyes that seemed to be both penetrating and empty. When Zuoqiu Qingyu made her entrance earlier, everyone else had their breaths taken away. He was the only one that seemed to have no reaction at all.
Zuoqiu Qingyu could sense that Yaoyao was not pretending, and was truly not interested in the former.
Yaoyao was also slightly taken aback at the sudden appearance of Zuoqiu Qingyu so close to her, but soon regained her wits. She was currently disguised as a guy after all.
However, Yaoyao was not interested in explaining things and casually answered, “Zhou Xiaoyao.”
“Heehee, your name is as pretty as mine.”
The corners of Zhou Yuan's lips twitched. Zuoqiu Qingyu was a little narcissistic, but she did have the assets that were worthy of such narcissism.
Yaoyao paid no attention to Zuoqiu Qingyu. She looked towards Xiao Tianxuan and Gu Ling and said, “Remember my words. If you want it back, come and snatch it after entering the Saint Remains Domain. Such useless and petty tricks are better kept under the table.”
Her tone was light, not even the slightest hint of anger, but it contained a cold authority that no one dared to retort against.
She turned around to leave after finishing, leaving behind a group of stunned young men and women.
Zhou Yuan and Luluo hastily ran after her, while Zuoqiu Qingyu's eyes spun in thought for a moment before also following.
Xiao Tianxuan's handsome face was somewhat ugly as he watched their leaving figures. The matter today was supposed to be have been easily resolved; Zhou Yuan should have given him face as the junior city lord and returned the Gu clan's supreme treasure to Gu Ling.
He was initially debating whether he should make Zhou Yuan apologize and make amends to Gu Ling after returning the treasure. Who could have expected that the other party would have no intention of giving him any face.
Now, not only did they fail to get the treasure back, they had even been intimidated quite a bit.
By the side, a stormy look flashed in Gu Ling's long and narrow eyes, but she made sure to reveal nothing on her face as she let out a bitter laugh and said, “I've really wasted junior city lord's painstaking efforts, I had thought that this matter could be solved peacefully.”
Her words only fanned the flames of rage in Xiao Tianxuan's heart as he replied in a low voice, “Humph, although that person's Spirit is at the Corporeal stage, he's still too arrogant. So what if your Spirit is strong, if you carelessly allow someone to close in, you will still be killed in a single blow.”
The other geniuses echoed in agreement. Though it was true that those who focused solely on Spirit cultivation could borrow the power of Genesis Runes, their bodies were exceedingly weak and a single slip may result in the destruction of their physical bodies.
“Moreover…”
Iciness flashed in Xiao Tianxuan's eyes. “I've heard that Zhou Yuan seems to have a grudge with Wu Huang of the Great Wu Empire.”
“I wonder, will he be able to protect Zhou Yuan from Wu Huang with just his Spirit”
Gu Ling's eyes immediately brightened when she heard this.
Only a handful of individuals amongst the younger generation of the Cangmang Continent could compare to Wu Huang. He was after all someone who had slayed an AlphOrigin expert with the strength of the advance Heaven Gate stage.
Though that handsome pretty boy did possess a Corporeal stage Spirit, he would not be able to find any advantage against Wu Huang.
“The Saint Remains Domain is filled with mystery and anything can happen there, and he cannot possibly protect Zhou Yuan all the time. Once they're separated, killing Zhou Yuan will be as easy as a flip of the hand.”
Xiao Tianxuan looked towards Gu Ling as he continued, “That's why there's no need to worry. A mere Qi Nourishing stage kid won't be able to create any splashes.”
Gu Ling smiled faintly, her gaze seemingly much gentler when she looked towards Xiao Tianxuan.
Xiao Tianxuan suddenly said, “The envoys from the six sacred sects will arrive at Saint Remains City tomorrow. I believe that the Saint Remains Domain will open soon.”
Joy and anticipation were revealed in the eyes of Gu Ling and the other geniuses.
The Saint Remains Domain was surrounded by a giant holy river. It was said that even a leaf would sink when it fell into the waters of the holy river, while fog dominated the sky above the river all year long.
This fog was extremely strange. Anyone who entered would immediately lose his sense of direction, and a single wrong turn was all it would take to fall into the river and drown.
Fortunately, the mist would grow thinner every once in a while. As long as a powerful practitioner took advantage of this timing, a route could be torn open, allowing people to be sent in.
There were no practitioners of this level in the Cangmang Continent, only the six sacred sects had such power. Hence, they would send out envoys to help open the Saint Remains Domain, which also gave them first pick of the prided geniuses that managed to distinguish themselves from the rest.
The arrival of the envoys from the six scared sects meant that the Saint Remains Domain everyone yearned for even in their dreams was about to open.
...
“I'm so mad! That bastard Xiao Tianxuan. I'll definitely teach him a lesson if we meet in the Saint Remains Domain!” Along the way, Luluo was still seething, clearly rather miffed that Xiao Tianxuan had actually dared to not give her face.
Zhou Yuan chuckled, but did not say anything about this topic. Although there were some twists and turns, they had ultimately succeeded in obtaining the Underworld Spirit Fruit and Vermillion Blood Grass. Tonight, he would borrow the power of these two Genesis resources to absorb a drop of Spirit source energy. Once he did so, he would surely break into the advance Illusory stage.
He suddenly turned his head somewhat helplessly and looked in Yaoyao's direction, only to find Zuoqiu Qingyu grinning widely as an unending stream of words left her mouth, “Brother Xiaoyao, where are you from?”
“I can see that although you do not have any Genesis Qi, your Spirit is extremely powerful. We should team up so we can watch each other's backs in the Saint Remains Domain.”
Yaoyao was split between being annoyed and amused, but she could not be bothered to explain things, so she ended up ignoring Zuoqiu Qingyu.
Yaoyao said to Zhou Yuan, “I'm hungry, let's eat.”
A smiling Zuoqiu Qingyu quipped, “Everyone, since fate has brought us together, let me treat all of you to a meal. The delicacies of the House of Geniuses is number 1 in Saint Remains City!”
Yaoyao paid her no attention, Luluo's large eyes began sparkling when she heard the word delicacies, while Zhou Yuan was naturally indifferent. Although Zuoqiu Qingyu was a little odd, she was indeed very strong, and having more friends was something Zhou Yuan would not reject.
Hence, the group was led to the upper floors of the House of Geniuses by Zuoqiu Qingyu. However, Zhou Yuan's footsteps suddenly froze the moment he stepped onto a certain floor.
He lifted his head as if sensing something, and looked towards the far right where a figure in gold robes was peacefully seated next to the window. The seats around him were empty because of the astonishing aura that swirled around his body, an aura that made everyone wary.
Bzz!
When Zhou Yuan's gaze fell upon the figure in gold, the Omni Python Qi in his body involuntarily began to heave as if releasing an angry roar.
The Dragon's Resentment Poison on his palm also hissed as an intense pain pulsed from his hand.
The emotions on Zhou Yuan's face were cut away bit by bit, still as a statue as he stared at the figure in golden robes.
The figure in golden robes also seemed to sense something, the moving tea cup in his hand pausing slightly, before he slowly turned his head.
The gazes of the two met at this moment.
The entire world seemed to fall into silence.
Rumble!
Thunder rumbled in their bodies as their blood began to boil.
In an instant, both of them simultaneously knew who the other party was.
Great Zhou Empire, Zhou Yuan.
Great Wu Empire, Wu Huang.