Zhao Xiansun flicked his finger, and rays of Genesis Qi light gathered above the stone platform. The Genesis Qi brought up some soil and turned it into a clay cylinder holding eight sticks. Each stick was glowing brightly, making it impossible to see their markings.
“The Wanzu Region won the previous nine regions tournament, and according to the rules, they will be allocated the first path.”
Already aware of this, everybody nodded.
Nobody felt that this was a bad thing for the Wanzu Region. Even if the strongest major forces blocked the top path, they wouldn’t be much of a threat to the Wanzu Region.
Moreover, the Wanzu Region had a powerful person like Zhao Mushen.
With him in charge, the top experts would fear the Wanzu Region before the fight had even begun.
“It is said that there is a total of six top forces guarding the first path. But it is unfortunate that they will have to face Zhao Mushen.”
“Yes, the Wanzu Region has grown stronger over the years, and they have even begun to show signs of becoming the nine regions’ leader. Even if the six top forces are extraordinary, the gap between them and the Wanzu Region is still too great.”
“Haha, I think the Wanzu Region will pass through in less than one hour.”
“--”
Countless people in Fallen City were whispering to each other, but it was clear that no one felt the slightest danger for the Wanzu Region taking the first path.
After all, the Wanzu Region possessed extraordinary strength.
“The leaders from the other eight regions, come on stage,” Zhao Xiansun said with a smile.
Swoosh!
As his voice faded, several figures who had been standing atop the manor’s tall buildings landed on the towering stone platform one after another.
And with their appearance, cheers and applause rang out from across the world.
“Chief pavilion master, good luck. It's best to get the sixth path or above, so it would be easier to break through,” Han Yuan said to Zhou Yuan.
“You're not ambitious at all. Even if we get one of the lower numbers, so what? What does the Tianyuan Region have to fear?” Mu Liu pursed his lips.
Han Yuan chuckled, “Our Tianyuan Region only has 2,000 people this year. If we are allocated the fourth path, there will be three different forces joining hands, which means they will have more than double our number of people. It is said that the top forces are going to exert all their strength to attack the Tianyuan Region this year.
“People like Chen Xuandong might even show up.”
Mu Liu scrunched his brows in a frown but didn’t say anything else in the end. If they were to face someone like Chen Xuandong, it would be difficult even for him. Of all the people present, only Zhou Yuan and Lu Xiao could deal with someone like Chen Xuandong.
After all, Lu Xiao’s strength had greatly improved in the past two months.
Zhou Yuan smiled. “I’ll do my best.”
He didn’t say anything more, and he soared into the air with Genesis Qi and landed on the stone platform.
At this moment, eight figures were standing tall on the stone platform, attracting countless gazes within Fallen City.
As Zhou Yuan descended on the stone platform, he could feel the other seven people cast over their gazes, their eyes containing inexplicable emotions.
In those eyes were hostility, curiosity, joy and playfulness.
But there wasn’t a ripple of emotion on Zhou Yuan’s face. He exchanged a glance with Su Youwei, who immediately smiled brightly at him. Her smile was like a warm winter sun, able to ease the tension in people’s hearts.
Zhou Yuan nodded before shifting his gaze to Wu Yao, who was ten steps away. Dressed in a bright red dress, she looked stunning, and she radiated a fierce and domineering aura like an empress.
But Wu Yao didn’t even glance at Zhou Yuan. Instead, her eyes drooped slightly.
Not far from Wu Yao was a tall young man with dazzling blood-red hair who caught Zhou Yuan’s attention. His face was pale, and he wore a harmless smile.
But when Zhou Yuan saw him, he felt a dangerous aura from him.
Wang Xi of the Xuehai Region.
He turned to look at Zhou Yuan and revealed a smile, but that smile sent a chill down Zhou Yuan’s spine.
Next to Wang Xi was a man in white who was graceful and extraordinarily beautiful. He held a folding fan in one hand and looked like a scholar.
Li Tongshen of the Shengwen Region.
Zhou Yuan’s gaze hovered over him a little longer because the Shengwen Region was the region specializing in Genesis Runes. The region was somewhat similar to the Spirit Rune Peak of the Cangxuan Sect, but obviously, the Spirit Rune Peak couldn’t compare to them.
Li Tongshen's spirit cultivation and mastery in Genesis Runes must be quite terrifying.
Zhou Yuan suddenly felt that someone was staring at him, and he immediately twisted around to see a beautiful woman. The woman was dressed in a black robe, but even the large robe couldn’t conceal her beautiful and slim figure.
She was carefully studying Zhou Yuan.
Jiu Gong of the Xuanji Region.
Seeing Zhou Yuan turn around, Jiu Gong swept an indifferent glance over him and turned back around slowly to avoid meeting eyes.
Zhou Yuan didn’t care about her attitude and continued to look at the other leaders.
His gaze collided with Xu Ming of the Yaogiu Region, whom he had met yesterday.
And Yuan Kun of the Yushou Region was a chubby and pale man. His face was greasy, and he was constantly wiping away the sweat on his face with a handkerchief. His round body was like a ball.
He cast a sidelong glance at Zhou Yuan, revealing an envious expression, and then turned to look at Su Youwei and Wu Yao not far away.
Zhou Yuan withdrew his gaze. Although he had only swept a glance over them, he could feel the dangerous aura they were exuding. They weren’t ordinary. Zhou Yuan knew that if a battle broke out, he would have trouble defeating half of them even if he fought with all his strength—unless he could open up the ninth Divine Dwelling.
“Get ready to draw lots,” Zhao Xiansun's voice sounded from above.
The seven people all came forward one after another and stretched out their hands to draw a stick from the clay cylinder.
The buzzing city fell utterly silent all of a sudden.
Zhou Yuan stared at the stick in his hand as the intense Genesis Qi gradually dissipated and revealed a number.
His pupils shrank.
The character ‘two’ was clearly visible.
How was he so unlucky as to draw the path almost as difficult as the first path?!
Chapter 930 There’s Me
The clearly visible ‘two’ on the stick made Zhou Yuan knit his brows in a deep frown. He shot a glance at Zhao Xiansun’s figure in the void above. He had drawn the worst of the eight; was his luck really that bad?
Maybe.
But drawing lots like this wasn’t fair because Zhao Xiansun controlled everything. Perhaps someone with his status and identity wouldn’t do such a thing, but who knew?
Seeing that everybody had drawn a lot, Zhao Xiansun said with a smile, “Please show the stick in your hand.”
Everybody on the stone platform held up their stick.
Su Youwei was number five, Wu Yao number three, Wang Xi number four, Li Tongshen number eight, Jiu Gong number nine, Xu Ming number six, and Yuan Kun was number seven.
Zhou Yuan also held up his stick expressionlessly.
The character ‘two’ suddenly caused a commotion in Fallen City.
However, gloat laced the majority of the voices. Who would have thought that Zhou Yuan would actually draw the worst number for the Tianyuan Region?
The second path was only slightly easier than the first path.
If the Wushen, Zixiao, or Xuhai Regions took this path, perhaps it wouldn’t be a big deal. But who would have thought the path would fall to the Tianyuan Region?
Would their eligibility to participate in the nine regions tournament be taken away?
Lu Xiao’s, Yi Qiushui’s and the others’ expressions changed dramatically when they saw the ‘two’.
“How could his luck be so bad?” Yi Qishui uttered suspiciously.
Lu Xiao, Han Yuan and Mu Liu didn’t utter a word. Their luck was so bad that it made them wonder if someone was secretly targeting the Tianyuan Region.
After all, drawing lots might seem fair, but there were a lot of loopholes.
Despite the possible problems, they didn’t question the fairness because that meant questioning Zhao Xiansun, a Law Domain stage expert. The wrath of a Law Domain expert wasn’t something a little Divine Dwelling stage expert could withstand. Therefore, no matter what suspicions they had, they could only swallow them in the end.
The several other figures on the stone platform also looked at Zhou Yuan in surprise.
Only Su Youwei raised her eyebrows and revealed a look of worry.
“Chief pavilion master Zhou Yuan, it seems that your luck is terrible,” Xu Ming remarked with a mocking smile.
“The Tianyuan Region has to be careful. There are five top forces on the second path and many super dark horses like you. If the Tianyuan Region can’t break through, your eligibility to participate in the nine regions tournament will have to be taken away.
“At that time, your Tianyuan Region will ruin the face of the nine regions.”
Zhou Yuan cast an indifferent glance at him. “You should take care of your own matters. You don’t need to worry about my Tianyuan Region.”
“Chief pavilion master Zhou Yuan is really courageous. I look forward to seeing what happens.”
Zhou Yuan didn’t respond. He instead turned to look at the void above because whatever they said was useless. Only Law Domain experts were qualified to change the outcome.
Countless people shifted their gazes to the void where a figure was exuding terrifying power.
There, Chi Jing shot a look at Zhao Xiansun as she asked, “Is the luck of my Tianyuan Region really that bad?”
Zhao Xiansun said with a smile, “It is a little bad.”
He then tilted his head slightly. “From what grand elder Chi Jing said, it seems you think I rigged the outcome?”
“Only you will know.” Chi Jing smiled coldly.
Zhao Xiansun gave a helpless smile. “If grand elder Chi Jing really thinks this way, the Law Domain experts present can vote for a redraw.”
“What does everybody else thinks?” He looked at the other Law Domain experts in the void.
The other six Law Domain experts remained silent. They didn’t support Chi Jing or Zhao Xiansun.
But in addition to the six Law Domain experts from the nine regions, there were also several other Law Domain experts from the other top forces. They smiled slightly and stated, “There is no problem with the draw, and there is no need to redraw.”
Of course, they were glad to see the Tianyuan Region having bad luck because that meant they would have an opportunity.
If the Tianyuan Region failed to pass through the trial, its reputation would be greatly impacted. And that impact would be greater than the previous provocation from the Tri-Mountain Alliance.
Chi Jing cast a cold look at the Law Domain experts. She knew that, given the present state of the Tianyuan Region, everybody would want to push them down, the collapsing wall. All this was because the Tianyuan Region didn’t have a Saint expert. If supreme sovereign Cang Yuan was around, how would the forces of Hunyuan Heaven dare provoke the Tianyuan Region?
“Zhao Xiansun, when my senior brother Zhuan Zhu comes out of his closed-door cultivation, I will ask him to come to greet you.”
Zhao Xiansun's smile froze on his face for a moment. He then said with a smile, “I heard he has been in closed-door cultivation for many years, and nobody has heard anything from him. Would he have perished inside?”
“Coward, you have no chance of winning in a face-to-face confrontation, so you used such a contemptuous tactic,” Chi Jing said contemptuously.
Zhao Xiansun's face finally darkened. He coldly stared at Chi Jing, who didn’t reveal a hint of fear. She instead sent him back a cold glare. “What? You want to fight? I also want to see whether you have improved over the years after my senior brother defeated you.”
And just when the two were about to break into a fight, the grey-robed old man from the Zixiao Region, Lu Xuangang, cleared his throat and said, “You two shouldn’t delay the nine regions tournament.”
Zhao Xiansun’s eyes were icy cold as he said, “Chi Jing, don’t think that your pestering can change anything today. The result of the draw remains the same. If you aren’t satisfied with it, your Tianyuan Region doesn’t have to participate!”
When he finished speaking, he ignored Chi Jing and ran his eyes across Fallen City. His voice rang out, “The draw has been decided. Everybody get ready!”
Low voices could be heard from Fallen City. The Law Domain experts standing in the void above had decided not to redraw after much deliberation.
The Tianyuan Region was indeed not as good as before!
Of course, if they were still as tough as they used to be, there was nothing to worry about even if they had drawn number 2.
The audience sighed as though they could see that a huge mountain was about to collapse.
Zhou Yuan’s face remained expressionless when he heard Zhao Xiansun’s voice. He didn’t care about the gloating look of other people, and he instead lifted his head to look at Chi Jing. Her cheeks were covered with frost, and it was obvious that she had had a dispute with Zhao Xiansun, but in the end, she had been unable to change the draw’s outcome.
Zhou Yuan nodded to Chi Jing with a smile.
Don't worry, senior sister; I will handle everything.
Do they think it’s that easy to knock down the Tianyuan Region?!
Chapter 931 Trial starts
When the draw was decided, numerous silhouettes sped away and skimmed across Fallen City’s sky.
The top forces were making preparations.
Several miles outside Fallen City was an ancient mountain range with incredibly complex terrain, and behind it was Fallen Abyss.
While the whole Fallen City was buzzing with excitement, Zhou Yuan descended in front of the people of the Tianyuan Region.
He scanned around and saw that Lu Xiao, Mu Liu, Han Yuan and the others all scrunched their brows in a worried frown. They were clearly worried about the difficulties they would face.
“Information on the second path has come. This time there will be people from five different forces blocking us. There are around 4,000 people, which is slightly more than us, and among them are 900 people at the advanced Divine Dwelling stage,” Zhou Yuan explained.
Everybody’s heart sank. Their opponents were double their number and had 500 extra people at the advanced Divine Dwelling stage. If they fought, they would be greatly pressured.
Although the combat strength of the Tianyuan Region was a little stronger, it wasn’t enough to make up for the difference in number between the two sides.
Lu Xiao cast a glance at Zhou Yuan and said, “The most troublesome thing is that there will be some dark horses hiding, and they are likely not weaker than Chen Xuandong.
“I can beat one of them, but that's my limit.”
Mu Liu and Han Yuan pondered for a moment before they said, “We each can try to stop one of them, but the chance of winning won’t be high. We can stall them at most.”
In terms of strength, they were both weaker than Lu Xiao. They knew that they could at most stall an expert with strength similar to Chen Xuandong.
Everyone knew that once the supe
r dark horses charged over, their defensive line would quickly fall, and their situation would collapse. In the end, facing the attacks of thousands of Divine Dwelling experts, they would be utterly defeated even with Zhou Yuan leading them.
Feeling the gloomy atmosphere around them, Zhou Yuan went silent for a moment before saying, “The dark horses of the other forces—you don’t have to deal with them.
“Leave them all to me. You guys only have one task: stall the 4,000 people to buy some time for me so that I can kill them and get the flag!”
Even Lu Xiao was surprised by his words. “Leave them to you? Do you know that there are most likely more than three dark horses as strong as Chen Xuandong!”
Although Zhou Yuan had defeated Chen Xuandong, his opponents this time were several Chen Xuandongs!
Zhou Yuan calmly explained, “It isn’t beneficial for us to get caught in a large-scale fight. We can’t suffer too much of a loss; otherwise, the situation will become even more unfavorable before we even step into Fallen Abyss.
“They must have thought about this too, so they are likely willing to accept this since it will minimize their losses.”
Mu Liu hesitated and said, “How confident are you?”
If the other side captured or defeated Zhou Yuan, the morale of the Tianyuan Region’s 2,000 people would crumble, and the Tianyuan Region would completely lose face.
Zhou Yuan smiled. “If I say I’m confident, would you believe me?”
Mu Liu and the others exchanged a glance with each other, feeling a little awkward because it was true they didn’t have much confidence in him.
Zhou Yuan didn’t try to explain more but said, “There is no better way, anyway, so let’s go with this plan.”
Seeing he had made up his mind, they could only nod their heads.
Fallen City quietened, but everyone knew that the silence was just the calm before the storm.
After an hour had passed, in the void above, Zhao Xiansun flung his sleeve, and a melodious bell rang throughout the world.
“It is time—the nine regions tournament starts now! Everybody get ready!”
Dragon Prince Yuan c1-1251 Page 486
