Boom!

Berserk Genesis Qi erupted from Yang Xuan’s body, seemingly covering the entire sky, as countless shocked and horrified gazes were drawn towards him. No one had imagined that even at this stage of the fight, Yang Xuan had still been hiding such an astonishing trump card.

The Genesis Qi undulations that pulsed from his body had already broken past the perfect seventh layer level, faintly stepping into the eighth layer!

Although it was still somewhat unstable, everyone could clearly sense that it had risen.

"God damnit!"

Bai Li and the other Cangxuan Sect disciples could not help but curse with pale faces. Yang Xuan’s strength had greatly surpassed their expectations.

One must know that the eighth layer Alpha-Origin stage had the qualifications to compete with the chief disciples of the various peaks in their Cangxuan Sect.

Far away, Li Qingchan’s hands could not help but clench tightly when she saw this. This turn of events had instantly snuffed the sliver of hope she had earlier.

This was the eighth layer Alpha-Origin stage! In the face of such a huge gap in cultivation, it would be basically impossible for even Zhou Yuan to make a comeback.

Zuoqiu Qingyu lightly stamped her foot as she gnashed her teeth and said, "This is too shameless!"

Though she said so, she also knew that this was no child’s game, but a true life or death struggle. The ability to conceal one’s power was also part of one’s skill.

It was only because she had a closer relationship with Zhou Yuan, and naturally hoped for his victory.

But from the looks of it, that was now going to be a little difficult to achieve.

Amidst the countless gasps that seemed to fill the sky, Zhou Yuan’s expression turned extremely grave. The powerful Genesis Qi ripples spreading from Yang Xuan’s body made the former feel a tremendous amount of pressure.

The eighth layer was just far too powerful.

While Zhou Yuan was tense and waiting, Yang Xuan slowly raised his gaze that was filled with cruelness, as he locked onto Zhou Yuan like a tiger finding its prey.

Due to the whims of fate, Yang Xuan had once obtained a peculiar sealing technique.

This sealing technique could seal one’s Genesis Qi, allowing it to condense time after time inside one’s body. When the day finally came for the seal to be broken, all of the sealed Genesis Qi would suddenly grow at an explosive rate.

This final seal had originally been prepared for the chief disciple selection of the twelve halls, but Zhou Yuan had forced him to break it here and now...

Breaking the seal ahead of time would naturally lead to repercussions. This was the main reason why his eighth layer Alpha-Origin stage was not stable.

If he had been allowed to wait a little longer, his Genesis Qi foundations would surely have risen to even more amazing heights.

Unfortunately... everything had been ruined by Zhou Yuan.

"I will make you beg for death today!"

A chilling voice escaped from the cracks between Yang Xuan’s teeth. In the next instant, he made a grabbing motion with his hand, and the Heavenly Bone Whip swiftly landed within it. An even more terrifying burst of Genesis Qi immediately exploded from his body.

Swish!

He took a step forward, and his figure instantly disappeared.

Zhou Yuan’s expression changed the moment he saw his opponent’s figure disappear, as he rapidly began to retreat.

Just as he was about to move, however, a frightening Genesis Qi undulation pulsed behind him, causing even space itself to tremble.

Zhou Yuan cast a glance from the corner of his eye, and saw that Yang Xuan had appeared behind him. A flood of Genesis Qi surged from the bone whip in his hand, its presence so overwhelming that it made one’s scalp turn numb.

Zhou Yuan tightly gripped the Heavenly Yuan Brush with both hands as he swung it horizontal to his body.

Clang!

The whip slammed into the mottled body of the brush, creating a thunderous clang. The air within a ten thousand feet radius exploded, as a piercing boom resounded across the land.

Zhou Yuan’s body was sent flying as if struck by a heavy blow, travelling over a thousand feet before managing to forcibly steady his body.

When he finally managed to stabilize himself, the spot between his thumb and index finger had been ripped apart, turning his hand into a bloody mess, while even the skin on his arms had split open at several places. Fortunately, a dark green light emerged from his flesh, causing it to squirm as his wounds recovered.

After a single blow, Zhou Yuan had fallen into a completely disadvantageous situation.

Numerous sighs of pity sounded across the area. As expected, when Yang Xuan approached the eighth layer, Zhou Yuan was no longer able to contend.

Yang Xuan’s eyes were filled with cruel savagenes as he stared at Zhou Yuan. There were traces of blood on the deathly white bone whip from when blood had splattered from Zhou Yuan’s arms earlier. Yang Xuan gave the whip a little jerk to shake of the blood as he said in an eerie voice, "What do you think? How many strikes of my whip will it take to shatter all the bones in your body?"

However, Zhou Yuan did not answer. His body swiftly began to etherealized as he immediately turned around and fled like a wisp of smoke.

*Uproar*

Zhou Yuan’s actions immediately caused an uproar to sweep over the area.

No one had expected him to flee when faced with a clearly much more powerful Yang Xuan.

Bai Li bit into her lips when she saw this. Although she knew that this was the best choice of action, her eyes still dimmed a little in disappointment.

The morale of the other Cangxuan disciples also plummeted at this moment.

In contrast, the Sacred Palace disciples roared with laughter, laughter filled with mockery and disdain.

An amused look emerged in Yang Xuan’s eyes as he watched Zhou Yuan’s fleeing figure, before he shook his head and said in a cold, emotionless voice, "Isn’t it a little too late for you to run?"

"I’ve already said that I will make you pay a painful price today!"

Swish!

Yang Xuan’s figure abruptly disappeared as his voice faded, turning into a blur as he gave chase. He clearly had no intentions of letting Zhou Yuan off.

As such, two figures streaked across the sky under countless watching eyes.

After a few dozen breaths.

The two figures appeared several dozen miles away.

Yang Xian had become quite impatient. The bone whip in his hand transformed into a flash of light as it lashed out, tearing through the air as it darted towards Zhou Yuan’s head.

Zhou Yuan gave the Heavenly Yuan Brush a slight shake. Its snow-white brush hairs streamed out, swiftly interweaving into a thick white net behind him that was covered in Genesis Qi.

Ch!

The bone whip struck the white net, causing it to stretch at an alarming angle. With its outstanding flexibility and toughness, it ultimately managed to stop the bone whip.

However, the force that seeped through was still able to lash at Zhou Yuan’s back, jerking him forward as a sinister looking wound appeared on his back.

Yang Xuan made use of this opportunity to appear in front of Zhou Yuan, cutting off his path of escape.

With a grabbing motion, the bone whip returned to Yang Xuan’s hand. He pointed it at Zhou Yuan, as a cruel smile akin to a cat toying with a mouse appeared from the corners of his mouth.

"Little mouse, did you really believe you would be able to escape?"

Yang Xuan smiled a little, before he continued, "If you break both your legs and kneel, I may consider letting you keep your life. How about it?"

In the face of Yang Xuan’s suffocating pressure, Zhou Yuan took in a deep breath. He ignored the former’s mocking words, a grave expression on his face as his hands slowly came together.

The ground under his feet began to faintly tremble.

Numerous rays of light burst out from under the ground, swiftly joining together as they enveloped the area within a thousand feet.

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Rumble!

Thunder boomed as the temperature began to rise.

Yang Xuan looked downwards at the ground as he focused. His expression soon turned frosty as he said, "A boundary? So you were planning on luring me here?"

Zhou Yuan did not reply. With a sudden stamp of his foot, an icy and serious look filled his eyes.

"Heavenly Lightning and Mystical Fire Boundary!"

"Rise!"

In the next instant, lightning and fire began to pour out.