The next day.

Outside a certain cave dwelling.

Zhou Yuan was all dressed up and ready to go. Yaoyao carried Tuntun in her arms as she looked at him and said, "I initially wanted Tuntun to go with you. However, it lost a great deal of essence blood to help you suppress the Dragon’s Resentment Poison, and is currently still recuperating."

"Therefore, you are on your own for this trip."

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Tuntun snorted from Yaoyao’s arms, a hint of resentment still present in its bright and beady eyes when they swept across Zhou Yuan. Helping Zhou Yuan to suppress the Dragon’s Resentment Poison had really taken quite a toll on it.

Zhou Yuan paid no heed to the creature’s gaze as he smiled and said, "Relax, my many years of travelling has made me fairly experienced."

Yaoyao’s red lips curled slightly downwards, clearly skeptical about how experienced he was.

"The Dragon’s Resentment Poison in your body erupted recently, so don’t use this type of self-destructive method again in the future." Yaoyao warned him.

Zhou Yuan solemnly nodded at her words. He clearly understood the dire consequences he would face when the Dragon’s Resentment Poison in his body erupts. Furthermore, Yaoyao would not be tagging along for this trip, so he would likely lose his life should the Dragon’s Resentment Poison erupt again.

Fortunately, his strength had increased after advancing to fourth layer Alpha-Origin stage, while he also had more options to protect himself.

"Besides..."

Yaoayo paused for a moment, as her clear eyes swept a glance at Zhou Yuan. "You obtained your spot because I put down my pride and asked Li Qingchan to help you. Therefore, you had best not embarrass me."

"Otherwise..."

Even though she did not complete the sentence, the implied threat behind her words was obvious.

Zhou Yuan shivered as he quickly nodded with a forced smile.

Yaoyao’s red lips parted slightly again as she said, "Go then. I will keep an eye out for the materials needed for the Great Dragon Subduing Rune here, while you can also try to search for them on the outside."

The Great Dragon Subduing Rune was capable of genuinely suppressing the Dragon’s Resentment Poison, and even allow one to make use of it. However, the necessary materials were extremely hard to find, and would definitely take a great deal of effort to gather.

When Zhou Yuan heard her words, a warm sensation flowed through his heart. Yaoyao had always maintained a certain distance with others, but after spending all these years together, it was clear that she was slowly starting to regard him as her closest kin.

Zhou Yuan looked at her other-wordly beautiful face and softly said, "Big sis Yaoyao... don’t worry. Once I become really powerful, I will definitely help you to look for master. No matter who tries to hurt you in the future, I will always be standing right beside you."

Yaoyao was stunned. The usual uncaring indifference in the depths of her eyes seemed to thaw a little for a moment. Her eyelids quickly lowered as she said, "The likes if you? You still have a long way to go."

Zhou Yuan’s face turned slightly red as he said in an embarrassing manner, "You have to give me some time."

The corners of Yaoyao’s red lips lifted a little. She looked at that slim young man in front of her and said, "You still have to deal with the troublesome Great Wu Empire too."

Zhou Yuan felt a little resentment at Yaoyao’s teasing and tried to put up a front as he said, "Just wait and see!"

He turned around to leave. As Golden Genesis Qi rose from beneath his feet, he paused for a moment, turning his head to look at Yaoyao as he solemnly declared, "However, I will definitely deliver on my promises."

Without further ado, golden Genesis Qi lifted him up into the sky.

Years ago, Zhou Yuan had met Cang Yuan and Yaoyao in the ancestral land of his clan where Cang Yuan had tasked him to take care of Yaoyao.

However, no one knew better than himself who was being taken care of for the past few years...

If Yaoyao wasn’t by his side, Zhou Yuan didn’t know if he would have reached the same heights he had today. Therefore, he felt extremely grateful towards her deep inside his heart.

He owed her too much, but his current self lacked the ability to repay her.

Nonetheless, he firmly believed that once he possessed sufficient power in the future, he would stand in front of her without a second thought, no matter how powerful her enemies were.

Yaoyao stood at the entrance of the cave dwelling with Tuntun in her arms, her hair dancing with the wind under the glow of the morning sun. Her slim figure had all the right curves, like a perfectly sculpted goddess. As she watched Zhou Yuan depart, a faint smile and a complicated look flashed across her usually uncaring eyes.

She had personally witnessed every step of his journey. From how this once feeble boy had slowly made his way out of the tiny Great Zhou Empire, till now, where he had already established a place for himself in a sect that was an overlord like existence even in the entire Cangxuan Heaven.

She knew that there was something special about this young man. If not, grandpa Hei wouldn’t have chosen him all those years ago...

In the future, this young man who came from a small empire would reach astonishing heights that everyone would marvel at.

However, she had a certain premonition for some unknown reason.

When that point in the future came, she would not want to implicate Zhou Yuan.

...

Outside the Cangxuan sect.

Zhou Yuan descended from the sky on his golden Genesis Qi, landing on a certain mountain peak, where nine individuals were already waiting. The one at their head was also the most eye-catching person of the group.

It was naturally the famous ice-queen, Li Qingchan.

She was still dressed in white today, and gave off an icy aura that would keep everyone else a thousand miles away. However, her indifference was somewhat different from Yaoyao’s. Yaoyao gave off a feeling that had no interest in anything at all, while Li Qingchan had cultivated her aura to help her to avoid certain problems.

Behind Li Qingchan, stood Zhao Zhu with his distinctive long and narrow eyes, a sharp aura spreading from his body. He lifted his head, sweeping a casual glance at Zhou Yuan, before turning away.

Though Zhao Zhu didn’t say a word, the young man standing behind him called Qin Hai, revealed a fake smile and said, "Junior brother Zhou Yuan, although you’re not going to be of much help for this mission, isn’t it a little too much of you to have kept all of your senior brothers and sisters waiting?"

Including Zhao Zhu, there were four Sword Cometh Peak disciples participating in the mission, and Qin Hai was one of them.

Beside Qin Hai stood a female disciple from Sword Cometh Peak. She had quite a lovely face, though there was an unconcealable haughtiness between her brows. She glanced at Zhou Yuan, a skin-deep smile on her face as she said, "After yesterday’s event, every disciple in our sect now knows of junior brother Zhou Yuan turtle shell like Genesis technique. He will naturally have no issue keeping himself safe."

It was clear that the Sword Cometh Peak disciples were not fond of Zhou Yuan at all, their words filled with hidden insults.

Zhao Zhu showed no signs of stopping them, merely narrowing his eyes, while acting as if he hadn’t heard anything. This was clearly condoning their behaviour.

Zhou Yuan frowned a little. Before he could speak, however, Li Qingchan cast her icy gaze at the Sword Cometh Peak disciples and said, "Since we’re on this mission together, all of us are teammates. If anyone tries anything funny, don’t blame me for showing no mercy."

Only upon seeing the angered Li Qingchan did Qin Hai and the rest finally shut their mouths in embarrassment.

Li Qingchan let out an icy snort, before she waved her hands. A surge of light shot out from her palm, and rapidly grew against the wind. In less than a second, it had transformed into a several feet wide flying yacht.

Numerous Genesis Runes were carved on the body of the yacht, making it appear quite beautiful when paired together with its sleek, streamline shape.

"The Black Flame Province is quite some distance from our Cangxuan sect. Therefore, we have to fly over on a Genesis artifact. Given the speed of this ’Willow Leaf Yacht’, we should be able to reach our destination in ten days."

"Everyone, let’s board the ship."

As her voice rang out, Bai Li and the rest quickly launched themselves into the air and landed on that spacious flying yacht. After sending a lazy glance at Zhou Yuan, Zhao Zhu also led the others onboard.

Li Qingchan walked to Zhou Yuan’s side and said, "For this trip, you only need to speak and do as little as possible. If we run into a powerful foe, leave it to the rest of us."

Even though Zhou Yuan’s defensive Genesis technique had wowed the crowd the day before, in the eyes of Li Qingchan and the rest, it was more of a passive or reactive technique. It only meant that Zhou Yuan had some way of protecting himself during the mission.

After she spoke, she too leapt onto the flying yacht.

Zhou Yuan shrugged helplessly. Though he had showed some of his strength yesterday, it seemed that it was still not enough. It was all because of Wang Lei. Why did he have to suggest that one move challenge, why couldn’t he have proposed a proper duel instead...

Coward.

Zhou Yuan secretly swore, before he jumped onto the flying yacht and found a seat.

Next, Genesis Qi light converged towards the flying yacht. In the next instant, the flying yacht transformed into a rainbow like streak as it ripped through the sky, and disappeared into the horizon in few breaths.