Dragon Prince Yuan c1-1251

by Translator: Yeow

  Originally they thought that with Fang Ao’s strength, even if their assassination failed, it wouldn’t be difficult to escape unscathed. But no one thought that Zhou Yuan would improve so much in such a short period of time that he would be able to kill Fang Ao in one move.

  Adding to this, even hall master Xi Guang couldn’t ultimately get rid of Zhou Yuan, he had almost gotten himself into danger.

  If sect master Xuan Kun hadn’t intervened and pushed all the crimes onto Fang Ao alone, even Zhu Lian would have been affected.

  “His foundation has reached 20 million Genesis Qi stars, and only the three pavilion masters can suppress him now.” Lu Xiao took a deep breath, his face growing overcast and troubled. The speed of Zhou Yuan’s progress made him feel fear.

  “We have all underestimated him. If I’m not mistaken, that guy’s Divine Dwellings are most likely variations of nine Divine Dwellings.”

  All deputy pavilion masters’ expressions changed when they heard this. Nine Divine Dwelling variations were incredibly rare, and there weren’t many people on the Divine Dwelling List of the Hunyuan Heaven possessing nine Divine Dwelling variations. It was no wonder that Zhou Yuan had such an astonishing foundation even if he was only at the intermediate Divine Dwelling stage. Previously, they had only speculated that Zhou Yuan possessed a seven Divine Dwelling variation. But it seemed they had all underestimated Zhou Yuan.

  “Even though he now has 20 million Genesis Qi stars, it still won’t be difficult to suppress him if I want to.

  “But the premise is that we can’t let him continue to make huge progress in his cultivation level before the battle for the chief pavilion master position.

  “So, the Heaven Flame Ritual next month...”

  A biting cold flashed through Lu Xiao’s eyes. “We must stop the Wind Pavilion from getting any benefits from it!”

  The benefits from the Heaven Flame Ritual were supposed to be distributed according to the allocated share, and the Fire Pavilion would receive 40%. But an elder had delivered the message that the Heaven Flame Ritual would take a free fight approach and they would compete for a share.

  That meant the coming Heaven Flame Ritual would be unexpectedly intense.

  Having witnessed Zhou Yuan’s dangerous ability, everybody in the Fire Pavilion, including Lu Xiao, dared not underestimate him anymore. They had no doubts that if they were to relax in the slightest, Zhou Yuan would definitely obtain a huge amount of benefits from the Heaven Flame Ritual. If his strength soared once again, he might very well pose as some threat to Lu Xiao during the battle to become the chief pavilion master.

  When the elder had come to pass on the message, he had also subtly warned them of this.

  “Zhu Lian, in the Heaven Flame Ritual we need to use the power of the Spirit as a net to capture the Heavenly Sun Flame, and when it comes to the cultivation level of the Spirit, you are considered the strongest in our Fire Pavilion. So this time you will act as the core in the Heaven Flame Ritual,” Lu Xiao said to Zhu Lian.

  The Heavenly Sun Flame could incinerate Genesis Qi, so the method of capturing it required Spirit power. Although Lu Xiao had the strongest combat strength, he wasn’t as strong as Zhu Lian when it came to Spirit cultivation level. Therefore his role in the Heaven Flame Ritual wasn’t as important as Zhu Lian’s.

  Zhu Lian immediately reassured, “Pavilion master, don’t worry. The overall strength of our Fire Pavilion is far better than the Wind Pavilion’s. We will certainly become the biggest winner at the Heaven Flame Ritual.”

  He didn’t have the courage to fight against Zhou Yuan with Genesis Qi, but if it was a contest between Spirits, he wouldn’t be afraid. After all, his Spirit cultivation level could be said to be one of the best among the young generation of the Heavenly Spirit Sect.

  And in the Heaven Flame Ritual, the most important thing wasn’t one’s cultivation of Genesis Qi but of the Spirit!

  Lu Xiao shook his head. “You’re wrong, our goal this time isn’t to make the Fire Pavilion the biggest winner...” An icy coldness flashed through his eyes. “Our goal is to make the Wind Pavilion win nothing so that Zhou Yuan would have no opportunity to further grow his strength!!”

  Zhu Lian was taken aback at first, and then he said hesitantly, “But even if the Fire Pavilion can suppress the Wind Pavilion with our strength, I think they will still be able to win a share of the Heavenly Sun Flame. After all, there is no way we can directly block them.”

  “The Fire Pavilion alone can’t, but we can join forces with others,” Lu Xiao said coldly. “I have already notified Han Yuan. We will join forces with the Mountain Pavilion to completely block the Wind Pavilion so that the Wind Pavilion can’t get any of the Heavenly Sun Flame.”

  “The Mountain Pavilion?”

  Lu Xiao’s eyelids drooped, and he said, “To be on the safe side, I will go see Mu Liu of the Forest Pavilion today. If the Forest Pavilion is willing to join hands with us this time, I will guarantee that the Forest Pavilion gets a 30% share of the Heavenly Sun Flame.”

  “30%?” Zhu Lian gasped. If this was the case, then the Fire Pavilion was really generous this time. In the past the Forest Pavilion had at most obtained 20% of the Heavenly Sun Flame.

  It seemed that Lu Xiao was really doing everything he could to deal with Zhou Yuan.

  “We aren’t that close with Mu Liu...will he agree to join forces with us?” a deputy pavilion master asked.

  Lu Xiao calmly said, “They don’t really need to join forces with us. It will be enough if they stick to one side and block off some of the Heavenly Sun Flames. Besides, when we’re blocking the Wind Pavilion, they can just stand by and watch.”

  “Mu Liu also isn’t friends with Zhou Yuan, so I don’t believe he would refuse such a great benefit for Zhou Yuan, right?”

  The others looked at each other. The plan was to completely isolate the Wind Pavilion.

  Zhu Lian’s eyes blazed as he said, “If that’s the case, we should be able to completely block the Wind Pavilion and stop them from receiving anything from the Heaven Flame Ritual.”

  It was said that Zhou Yuan had also stepped into the Transformative stage, the same stage as him. But no matter how strong a person’s Spirit was, there would still be a limit!

  This time, he had to make Zhou Yuan taste what it meant to be powerless!

  And as long as the position of chief pavilion master fell into their hands, he could overturn all of his disadvantages.

  Lu Xiao lifted his head, peering coldly in the direction of Wind Island.

  “Zhou Yuan, you think you can close the gap between us with the help of grand elder Chi Jing, but I can tell you that your thinking is too naive!”

  Chapter 850 Spirit Seizes Flame

  “Do you know the place the Heaven Flame Ritual is held? It’s the Great Flame Mountain, where there is a huge crystal glazed cauldron that was personally refined by supreme sovereign Cang Yuan. It is specially used for the Heaven Flame Ritual, so it is called the Heaven Flame Cauldron.

  “And to activate the Heaven Flame Cauldron requires 99 Heavenly Sun experts to instill Heavenly Sun Fire into it with all their strength. The Heaven Flame Cauldron will then strengthen the Heavenly Sun Flame, making the flame extraordinarily pure and mighty.

  “Additionally, one’s body can’t enter the Heaven Flame Cauldron—only the spirit can—because the Heavenly Sun Flame inside the Heaven Flame Cauldron is too strong. If the body enters, it may be directly incinerated. Only the Spirit can avoid this.

  “So, if you want to capture and collect the Heavenly Sun Flame in the Heaven Flame Cauldron, you will need to rely on the power of the Spirit.

  “Although your Spirit is at the Transformative stage, your strength alone may not have much effect because it depends on everybody’s strength. After all, no matter how strong your Spirit is, you can’t beat hundreds of Spirits of the Corporeal stage right?

  “So the best way to win a share of the Heavenly Sun Flame during the Heaven Flame Ri
tual is to use your Spirit of the Transformative stage as the core to coordinate and direct the Spirits of the other members of the Wind Pavilion. It will be as if you are the general and they are the soldiers.”

  “---”

  In the pavilion master building of the Wind Pavilion, Ye Qiushui was providing important information about the Heaven Flame Ritual to Zhou Yuan.

  “I see.”

  Zhou Yuan nodded. He could be said to have completely understood the mechanism of the Heaven Flame Ritual.

  But it was somewhat different from what he thought. At the Heaven Flame Ritual, the strength of Genesis Qi didn’t matter; instead, the strength of the Spirit of everybody as a whole was the most important.

  “But even if it depends on the power of the Spirit. Our Wind Pavilion is still considered to be last of the four pavilions. Do you know how much we won in the Heaven Flame Ritual last year?” Ye Bingling sighed, stood up and lifted one finger.

  “Only 10% of the Heavenly Sun Flame.

  “Last year the Heaven Flame Ritual was hosted by the Profound Crystal Clan. The Mountain Pavilion had a fixed 40% of the Heavenly Sun Flame, while the Fire Pavilion won 30% and the Forest Pavilion took 20%.”

  “So even if the rules of this year’s Heaven Flame Ritual changed to a free competition between the contestants, given our ability, in the end, we will still win around 10%.”

  Yi Qiushui shook her head. “There is no need to be so pessimistic. The Wind Pavilion performed poorly at the Heaven Flame Ritual in previous years because they didn’t have a pavilion master, just senior sister Ye and Chen Beifeng. Also, Chen Beifeng leaned towards the Fire Pavilion’s side, so the Wind Pavilion wasn’t united at that time and was considered to be like a tray of loose sand.

  “This year we have Zhou Yuan as the pavilion master, and now all the people of Wind Pavilion have united together. If we all do our best, I think 20% of the Heavenly Sun Flame will be achievable.”

  “Yes, we believe in the pavilion master’s ability!”

  “If the pavilion master is here to guide us, our Wind Pavilion will certainly win 20% of the Heavenly Sun Flame!”

  Xiao Hong and other pavilion leaders nodded one after another, looking at Zhou Yuan with awe and respect. In the past few months, the ability Zhou Yuan showed had subdued all the members of the Wind Pavilion and had made their confidence in him greatly rise.

  Seeing everyone’s hopeful gazes, Zhou Yuan calmly said, “The Fire Pavilion has suffered such a big loss, they will definitely do something at the Heaven Flame Ritual.”

  He pondered for a moment, then looked at Yi Qiushui and asked, “How many people in the Wind Pavilion have Spirits at the Corporeal stage?”

  “There are two hundred and thirty-two people with Spirits at the Corporeal stage, but most of them are in the initial stage.”

  Yi Qiushui thought for a moment and then added, “And on the Fire Pavilion’s side, Zhu Lian’s Spirit has reached the Transformative stage, and there are more than 500 people at the Corporeal stage.”

  Zhou Yuan narrowed his eyes. Whether it was the Divine Dwelling experts of the Wind Pavilion or the Fire Pavilion, the majority hadn’t practiced the orthodox Spirit tempering method; it was just that as their Genesis Qi cultivation level grew, their Spirit also strengthened.

  Generally speaking, as long as one’s Genesis Qi reached the Divine Dwelling stage, their spirit would also slowly break through to the Corporeal state.

  There weren’t many young heaven prides like him who cultivated both Genesis Qi and Spirit and made such great progress in both. For example, although Zhu Lian’s Spirit was at the Transformative stage, if he were to fight against Zhou Yuan with only Genesis Qi, Zhou Yuan could easily kill him with one slap.

  Another example was Lu Xiao. Although he possessed a stronger Genesis Qi foundation than Zhou Yuan, if they were to fight with only Spirit, then Zhou Yuan could burn Lu Xiao’s Spirit into nothingness with his Spirit Flame within a few seconds.

  Of course, this comparison didn’t make much sense. Zhu Lian would never be that stupid to compete with him using Genesis Qi alone, and Lu Xiao wouldn’t be stupid enough to fight with him with only his Spirit. No one would choose to fight with their weaknesses and ignore their strengths.

  Ye Bingling, Xiao Hong, Shang Xiaoling and the others’ expressions also became solemn. The difference in overall strength between the two sides was so great it made them feel great pressure.

  The Fire Pavilion’s overall strength was far stronger than their Wind Pavilion’s. If the Fire Pavilion really wanted to target the Wind Pavilion, there indeed could be a lot of trouble.

  When Zhou Yuan noticed the depressed atmosphere, he couldn’t help saying, “We will take appropriate measures when the situation calls for it. We don’t need to be too afraid. After all, no matter how bad it is, would this year be worse than previous years?”

  Hearing his unusual words of comfort, everyone couldn’t help but laugh, and their expressions gradually relaxed. Indeed, the Wind Pavilion was already the worst in previous years, and no matter how miserable it will be this time, it can’t be any worse than before, right?

  “For the next few days, the pavilion leaders must coordinate well with the members. Gather in front of the pavilion master building every morning. Before the great battle, we must train with some Spirit exercises to deal with what’s ahead of us,” Zhou Yuan commanded.

  Zhou Yuan had never had the experience of commanding many Spirits before in a battle, so in order to prepare himself, he had to do some training exercises to enhance his experience.

  The many pavilion leaders gave cupped fist salutes and then turned away.

  Watching them leave, Zhou Yuan’s relaxed expression gradually turned serious. The free fight in the Heaven Flame Ritual was an opportunity that his senior sister Chi Jing had obtained for him, so of course he wouldn’t be satisfied with not doing worse than previous years as he had previously told everyone.

  He even thought that 20% was too little!

  The battle for the chief pavilion master position was near, and the Heaven Flame Ritual was a great opportunity for him. If he grasped it well, he could even gain the strength to compete with Lu Xiao.

  But the overall Spirit strength of the Wind Pavilion was indeed much inferior to the Fire Pavilion’s.

  Zhou Yuan knitted his brows in a deep frown. With such a huge difference in strength, the Wind Pavilion wouldn’t be able to get much benefits, so he, the pavilion master, also wouldn’t gain much.

  The Heaven Flame Ritual this time was very important to him.

  And Lu Xiao most likely had already guessed this. The Fire Pavilion had already suffered losses in the several battles before, so if Zhou Yuan were Lu Xiao, he also wouldn’t underestimate him and would gather all the strength of the Fire Pavilion to completely suppress him.

  Zhou Yuan gradually closed his eyes and muttered to himself.

  “It seems that I have to think of a way to deal with this.”

  Chapter 851 Spirit Training

  The next day, at the training ground next to Mirror Lake.

  All members of the Wind Pavilion were gathered together. The endless crowds filled the area. Although the Wind Pavilion was deteriorating before Zhou Yuan came, a broken ship still had some uses. They still had an extraordinary foundation.

  At this moment, countless gazes were fixed on a slender and tall figure standing on the bluestone platform in front, with awe and respect.

  “Pay respect to the pavilion master!”

  Thousands of people bowed simultaneously. It was a spectacular sight.

  Zhou Yuan gave a wave of his hand and sat down cross-legged. That day he needed to prepare for the coming Heaven Flame Ritual by training the Spirit of everyone in Wind Pavilion.

  “Bring out your Spirit.” Zhou Yuan’s voice rang in everyone’s ears.

  Hearing Zhou Yuan’s command, everybody sat down cross-legged, and the space between their brows glowed. The next moment, thousands of S
pirits rose from the top of their heads, floating above them.

  The scene of thousands of Spirits appearing at the same time was so incredibly spectacular that even Zhou Yuan couldn’t help but smack his tongue. He ran his eyes across the thousands of Spirits and saw that the two hundred at the front appeared extraordinarily solid, like real people.

  They were Spirits of the Corporeal stage!

  And behind them, all other Spirits felt unreal, which showed that those Spirits were only at the Illusory stage. But from the brilliance that they emitted, they should be at the advanced illusory stage.

  The gathering of thousands of Spirits together seemed particularly messy, and adding to this the wind that roared around Wind Island all year round caused the Spirits of the Illusory stage to sway as if they would be swept away.

  It was clear that the people of the Wind Pavilion were extremely confident in their bodily strength and Genesis Qi but paid very little attention to their Spirit. This was normal. Besides people like Zhou Yuan, who cultivated both Genesis Qi and Spirit, people who solely cultivated Genesis Qi rarely put their minds on their Spirit. In their opinion, if there was time, it would be better to absorb and refine more Genesis Qi.

  Zhou Yuan stared helplessly at the chaotic scene. He flicked his sleeve, and dozens of beast spirit crystals shot out.

  Roar!

  The spirit crystal shattered, and dozens of beast spirits immediately roared out. These beast spirits were all previously grade-5 Genesis beasts.

  “Destroy these beast spirits,” Zhou Yuan roared.

  Dozens of beast spirits rushed out baring their fangs towards everyone’s Spirits. Immediately everyone revealed panicked looks because, as spirits, they couldn’t mobilise their Genesis Qi and they weren’t proficient in the control of their Spirits. So very quickly, the dozens of grade-5 Genesis beast spirits broke the battle formation of the thousands of Spirits.

  But fortunately not everyone was useless. In the end, some people had control over their Spirit power, and numerous spirit needles gathered together to fight against the beast spirits.