Soon after, he looked towards Zhou Yuan and cupped his fists together. “Grand elder Zhou Yuan, if it does reach that step, please show mercy.”
Zhou Yuan chuckled. “She’s no pushover. I’m afraid that I’ll be slain by her the moment I concede a single step.”
Zhou Yuan’s gaze covertly swept across the two of them, his sharp senses telling him that Guan Qinglong seemed to be a little too concerned about Wu Yao, while Wu Yao did not seem to be very interested.
Guan Qinglong laughed and did not speak any further on the topic. He did not intentionally linger and walked straight towards the black round table. Each step was taken with an emperor’s dignity as an extraordinary aura spread, causing the eyes of several beautiful girls present to dazzle.
Guan Qinglong might not be handsome, but his charm transcended mere superficial looks.
Even Zhou Yuan could not help but nod inwardly. As the one who had managed to suppress numerous prided geniuses and stably hold onto his number one seat on the Heavenly Sun List, Guan Qinglong was more than exemplary. It was somewhat similar to Zhao Mushen in the nine regions tournament previously, but Guan Qinglong was clearly much calmer and reliable, making him even more immeasurable.
Zhou Yuan’s gaze shifted back to Wu Yao as he smiled and said, “Your senior brother will be quite a problem. If you’re going to work together with him against me, I’ll have no choice but to avoid you guys for the time being.”
Wu Yao icily replied, “Do you think I’m you? If your girlfriend didn’t help you in the Great Wu Capital, I would have killed you long ago.”
She was obviously referring to Yaoyao.
Zhou Yuan blinked and said righteously, “Are you the same as us? I’ll have you know we’re a couple. What about you? What’s your relationship with Guan Qinglong?”
Wu Yao’s brows nearly turned vertical as she gave Zhou Yuan a vicious glare. “Shameless.”
His skin was really thick.
She, too, did not linger and quickly brushed past him.
Zhou Yuan shrugged as he gazed at her slender-as-a-willow figure. Ever since the nine regions tournament, there had been a little less hostility between them when they met. Perhaps, Wu Yao had felt that he had let her off previously, but it was not like he had a choice. After all, he was not capable enough to kill Wu Yao while supreme sovereign Wu Shen was watching.
However, if he did defeat Wu Yao again and take back the final sacred dragon blessing, wouldn’t she die?
Would supreme sovereign Wu Shen hold a grudge against him?
Zhou Yuan clawed at his head in distress. He honestly preferred the previous raw and bloody hostility between them. At the very least, he did not need to show any mercy nor think about the consequences of retaliating and killing her.
Qin Lian suddenly remarked in an interested tone, “There seems to be quite a story between you and Wu Yao.
“Guan Qinglong also seems to be a little interested in her. Tch tch, this is so rare. I’ve known him for so many years, but I’ve never heard of him showing interest in any girl. It is as if he was made from stone and would never have feelings for anyone. But Wu Yao is indeed a remarkable beauty, and she is top-class in both appearance and presence.”
Qin Lian stared at Zhou Yuan, displaying a rarely seen gossipy side. “Is this the legendary love triangle?”
The corners of Zhou Yuan’s mouth twitched. He ignored her and walked away.
Qin Lian quickly caught up. There appeared to be some pity in her voice as she said, “But your rival is Guan Qinglong, and I honestly don’t think you’ll be his match. His strength and magnanimity far outclass you.”
Veins popped on Zhou Yuan’s forehead as he gritted his teeth and said, “There’s nothing between us! We’re mortal enemies! Do you know what that means? It means either she dies or I die!”
“A love-hate relationship, huh? What a great story.”
Zhou Yuan’s face turned black. He truly never imagined that Qin Lian, who was usually cold and distant, would become so gossipy on such matters. He paid her no further attention and quickened his pace.
The two descended the stone steps, one seemingly running, the other closely pursuing.
Zhou Yuan looked towards the black round table at the center. Guan Qinglong had already seated himself, while Wu Yao was seated one row behind him. Evidently, only the spokespersons from the various factions would have a seat at the table.
Zhou Yuan pondered for a brief moment before taking a step to the side, putting himself on the path towards one of the stone seats on the stairs.
However, Qin Lian grabbed his arm before he could take another step.
Zhou Yuan helplessly asked, “What is it?”
Qin Lian pointed at the black stone table and said, “Are you joking? You’re a grand elder of our Tianyuan Region whose status is much higher than mine. Do you expect me to sit there instead of you?”
Zhou Yuan could not help but roll his eyes. Don’t you know that I’m just a mascot?! Outside of the Tianyuan Region, who in Hunyuan Heaven would take me seriously as a Tianyuan Region grand elder?
However, Qin Lian quickly pushed him forward and took the position behind the main seat.
Zhou Yuan was powerless. He could only step forward and seat himself at the black round table under numerous watching gazes.
Amused gazes were observing him, but no one said anything. Although Zhou Yuan’s intermediate Heavenly Sun stage cultivation was extremely out of place, the Tianyuan Region was no longer the same as it had been in the past. Following Zhuan Zhu’s return as a Saint, the Tianyuan Region’s power had grown tremendously. Hence, no one was inclined to offend the Tianyuan Region anymore.
Zhou Yuan ignored their gazes and closed his eyes to rest until the meeting began.
After a long time, he suddenly heard a disturbance in the hall. He immediately opened his eyes and looked over.
Two beautiful figures had arrived together.
The first figure was quite pretty, but her aura was far too cold. Even the air nearly froze at the chilling presence that emanated from her body, causing several people to shiver uncontrollably.
Most of the gazes looked towards the figure a step behind her.
It was a girl wearing a purple dress. Her beauty was peerless, and though somewhat hidden by the purple dress, her willow-like waist and long legs were still extremely attention-grabbing. In contrast to Wu Yao, her demeanor was kindly and gentle. If Wu Yao was a glaring ruby, she was a refreshing and calming jade.
Her appearance likewise drew amazement from the many watching gazes, the eyes of several men even glowing brightly as they observed her.
However, such gazes were quickly discovered by the ice-cold girl in front of her. Her frosty gaze immediately swept over them, causing the many admiring gazes to withdraw.
When Zhou Yuan saw the girl in purple, a happy smile emerged on his face.
It was Su Youwei.
Su Youwei was clearly searching for a certain figure after entering. They saw each other at nearly the same time, causing a joyous look to surface on her pretty face. Her lips could not help but curl slightly as she cheekily winked at Zhou Yuan. It was a very lovely sight.
Zhou Yuan grinned at her.
But before his smile could fully blossom, he saw the piercingly frosty gaze of the girl in front of Su Youwei lock onto him as if in warning.
Zhou Yuan was a little baffled. He did recognize this young lady. She was the Zixiao Region’s Dong Ye, ranked third on the Heavenly Sun List.
But there was no grudge between them, right? Why did it seem that she hated him deeply?
Puzzled, Zhou Yuan could only restrain himself and give a small nod to Su Youwei.
The arrival of the Zixiao Region representatives was followed by several extremely famous individuals in Hunyuan Heaven. The entire hall began to grow lively as the black round table was gradually filled.
This was a gathering of heroes.
The nine regions tournament paled in compari
son to this gathering, but this was not strange. After all, the waters of the Heavenly Sun stage were much deeper than the Divine Dwelling stage.
“Oh! Looks like almost everyone is here.” Clear laughter suddenly sounded amidst the lively atmosphere. Everyone looked over to see a man in gaudy clothes entering with a wide smile.
He looked rather sloppy, but his peach-blossom eyes made others feel uneasy. When he appeared, looks of wariness and fear flitted across the eyes of several individuals present. The new arrival was the main pillar of the Heavenly Sun stage in the Wanzu Region, the one ranked second on the Heavenly Sun List, Wang Xuanyang.
Wang Xuanyang toyed with a black and white fan as his gaze swept across the hall, pausing slightly on Wu Yao and Su Youwei.
Zhou Yuan paused his gaze on Wang Xuanyang before suddenly looking behind him, finding a familiar face.
Excellent posture, chiseled features and as dazzlingly handsome as a sun. It was Zhao Mushen.
However, Zhao Mushen appeared to be much more reserved. His hands were hidden in his sleeves as he silently stood behind Wang Xuanyang, making himself appear as invisible as possible. Zhou Yuan could not explain why, but he felt that this Zhao Mushen was even more dangerous.
“This guy…” Zhou Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly.
While Zhou Yuan was observing Zhao Mushen, the latter’s eyes rippled for a moment and also looked over, meeting Zhou Yuan’s gaze.
Zhao Mushen displayed no anger when faced with the formidable foe who had defeated him previously. He merely looked deeply at Zhou Yuan before slowly withdrawing his gaze, returning his deep eyes to Wang Xuanyang’s back.
“It seems that the battle for Guyuan Heaven will be much more interesting than the nine regions tournament.” Zhou Yuan rubbed his chin.
Under numerous fearful gazes, Wang Xuanyang flamboyantly seated himself on the final empty spot at the round table. He leaned forward, propping his face with one hand as he continued to play with the black and white jade fan with his other. His peach-blossom eyes swept across the table before coming to a stop on Zhou Yuan’s figure.
He nonchalantly smiled and said, “Since when could an intermediate Heavenly Sun practitioner sit at a meeting between top-tier Heavenly Sun experts?”
At his words, the eyelids of several people in the stone hall jumped a little.
Wang Xuanyang was making things difficult for the Tianyuan Region’s Zhou Yuan.
Chapter 1081 Wang Xuanyang
When Wang Xuanyang’s cheerful voice rang out, the originally lively hall immediately fell silent as numerous varied gazes were cast at Zhou Yuan.
No one was surprised by Wang Xuanyang’s words.
The Wanzu Region had basically been backing the Great Five Alliance in their war against the Tianyuan Region. However, the Wanzu Region had failed to achieve its desired outcome. Zhuan Zhu had returned as a Saint, completely messing up the Wanzu Region’s schemes.
In the end, the Wanzu Region had not only returned empty-handed but had also caused their underlings to sustain grave losses. Take the Tri-Mountain Alliance for example. It had been forced to relocate, losing tremendous resources and face.
These losses also indirectly affected the Wanzu Region.
As such, it could be said to be the Wanzu Region’s loss.
This undoubtedly frustrated the entire Wanzu Region. After all, they had already grown used to a smooth-sailing life over the years, and they had never encountered anything remotely resembling a setback. How could they possibly accept getting their heads bloodied after butting heads with the Tianyuan Region, which they looked down upon?
In turn, this led to a little hostility between the Tianyuan Region and the Wanzu Region. Given Wang Xuanyang’s character, there would naturally be no lack of provocation during their meeting.
Most importantly, Zhou Yuan was sitting at the black round table, and it gave Wang Xuanyang an excellent reason to create trouble. After all, everyone else at the table was at the advanced Heavenly Sun stage, making an intermediate Heavenly Sun expert akin to a wolf that had stumbled into a tiger den.
Zhou Yuan’s expression remained unchanged, clearly unaffected.
Qin Lian, on the other hand, was unable to sit still. Her face turned frosty as she said, “Wang Xuanyang, Zhou Yuan is a grand elder of my Tianyuan Region. If he doesn’t have the qualifications, you wouldn’t even be allowed to enter the door.”
Wang Xuanyang leisurely replied, “Grand elder? Hehe, since he’s a grand elder, shouldn’t he be going to the Law Domain conference? Why has he come here instead to mingle with junior Heavenly Sun practitioners like us?”
A few people chuckled inwardly. In accordance with status, Zhou Yuan did have the right to participate in the Law Domain conference. However, the thought of such a scene was just too comical.
If Zhou Yuan was compared to a wolf among tigers here, he would likely be an ant in the Law Domain conference...
Smiling, Wang Xuanyang stared at Zhou Yuan and said, “It’s your business if your Tianyuan Region likes to play childish games like randomly giving away a grand elder position. Hence, don’t expect other factions like us to acknowledge such things.
“Since you’re here, don’t bring up this ‘grand elder’ thing again. It’ll only make you look like a joke to the rest of us.”
Zhou Yuan raised his gaze and smiled at Wang Xuanyang. “Then what should I be bringing up?”
“Your own strength, of course. Otherwise, will you be using your grand elder status to scare off teams from the other heavens in Guyuan Heaven?” Wang Xuanyang smiled superficially.
Zhou Yuan nodded. “I feel that I've just barely made the cut, so there’s no need for you to worry. As for what I’ll do when encountering other teams in Guyuan Heaven, that’s none of your business, is it?
The final few words caused the eyes of several people in the hall to widen a little as they looked towards the faintly smiling Zhou Yuan.
No one had expected this Tianyuan Region grand elder to be so...direct...and that he would give no face to Wang Xuanyang.
However, there seemed to be nothing to fault about his attitude. Although Zhou Yuan was only at the intermediate Heavenly Sun stage, no one could deny his Tianyuan Region grand elder status. He honestly didn’t need to give any face to Wang Xuanyang.
On the Zixiao Region side, Dong Ye was expressionless. She did not have any good feelings towards Zhou Yuan and Wang Xuanyang. She slightly tilted her head backward and said to Su Youwei, “He’s too rude.”
Su Youwei softly chuckled. Her eyes seemed to glitter as she stared at Zhou Yuan and said, “Not really, I feel he’s being very genuine.”
The corners of Dong Ye’s mouth could not help but twitch. How can you call this genuine? You’re even worse than him!
Dong Ye was somewhat irritated. She had originally hoped for Su Youwei to take a proper look at Zhou Yuan, but the girl’s eyes could only see his virtues. She was basically hopeless.
“What’s so good about him…” Dong Ye felt a sense of helplessness. Given Wang Xuanyang’s character, he would not be able to tolerate Zhou Yuan’s rudeness.
Sure enough, it went exactly as Dong Ye predicted. The smile on Wang Xuanyang’s face slowly disappeared, and the black-white fan in his hand suddenly snapped shut.
Swish!
A beam of black and white shot out swifter than thunder as it dashed towards Zhou Yuan. A strange fragrance spread in its wake.
“Yin Yang Poison Miasma?”
Several people recognized the strangely fragrant black-white beam, and their eyes immediately widened in shock. It was one of Wang Xuanyang’s unique techniques: a poison made from his own Yin Yang Genesis Qi and numerous secret ingredients.
Once affected by this poison, one would be overwhelmed by carnal desires and lose all rationality.
The poison was extremely difficult to deal with, as it could penetrate Genesis Qi and directly infect the Spirit. Even experts of the same cultivation level were very cautious of this p
oison and did not dare to let it touch them.
Wang Xuanyang’s intentions were very evil. He did not hope to poison Zhou Yuan to death but to make him humiliate himself in front of everyone and lose all face. In turn, this would greatly shame the Tianyuan Region.
Wang Xuanyang’s seat was rather near to Zhou Yuan, and the attack was far too swift and sudden. Hence, even Qin Lian, who had been vigilant since the start, was unable to respond in time. She could only watch helplessly as the black and white beam shot towards Zhou Yuan.
Zhou Yuan’s Genesis Qi automatically surged out in response, swiftly creating a barrier in front of him.
Ch!
However, the beam instantly pierced the barrier and shot into Zhou Yuan’s head.
Black-and-white light blossomed between Zhou Yuan’s brows.
Several gazes in the hall filled with interest, anticipating the subsequent entertainment. They could already imagine how much a fool Zhou Yuan would make of himself after succumbing to Wang Xuanyang’s poison.
Smiling, Wang Xuanyang also propped up his chin and stared at Zhou Yuan. However, his eyes were filled with an ice-cold cruelness.
The hall fell silent as every gaze converged on Zhou Yuan.
However, the black and white light between Zhou Yuan’s brows did not continue to spread. Neither did his eyes lose their rational shine. Invisible flames began to rise from his body, and the black-and-white light swiftly melted away upon encountering them.
In a short few breaths, all of the light had been cleanly burned away.
Several gasps sounded in the hall. “Self-protective Spirit Fire?”
“Such strong Spirit Fire. They must come from an intermediate Transformative stage Spirit, right?”
“An ordinary intermediate Transformative stage Spirit can’t create such powerful flames. His Spirit cultivation has likely reached the peak of the intermediate stage…”
The crowd was amazed at the sight of the still composed Zhou Yuan. It was no wonder he did not fear the poison. Although the Yin Yang Poison Miasma could directly target the Spirit, Zhou Yuan’s Spirit was strong enough to produce Self-protective Spirit Fire. Hence, it was impossible for the poison to invade his Spirit.
Dragon Prince Yuan c1-1251 Page 558
