Atop the tempering dragon stage, Zhou Yuan was widely grinning from ear to ear. A warm jade glow emanated from his body, making him a rather eye-catching sight when paired with his slim body and delicate features.

Of course, Zhou Yuan was not someone who was overly concerned about his appearance. Instead, he was more interested in the overwhelming power secretly surging inside his body like a giant flood.

His five fingers slowly closed. Even without circulating any Genesis Qi, he could feel a strong force swiftly gathering, a force that originated from his flesh.

This was a feeling Zhou Yuan had never felt before.

After all, he had never practiced any real outer cultivation techniques. This was his first time he had developed the power of his body.

According to Zhou Yuan’s estimates, even though his cultivation was still at the fourth layer Alpha-Origin stage, with the power of the little Mythic Saint Body, he now possessed the qualifications to tackle Yang Xuan in a direct fight without borrowing the strength of the Heavenly Yuan Brush.

After all, achieving the jade skin stage had not only vastly improved Zhou Yuan’s strength, but also bestowed him with strong defensive powers. Simply put, it would be very difficult for Yang Xuan to break through Zhou Yuan’s current defenses without a Heaven Genesis Weapon.

Various emotions churned in Zhou Yuan’s heart, only slowly calming after a long time. With a thought, the flowing jade light on his skin gradually receded, withdrawing deep into his body.

His toes pushed off the stage, his figure leaping into the air, and landing on the cliff.

However, he was clearly still rather unaccustomed to his new found strength. As a result, the rocks on the ground where he landed were shattered and crushed, leaving behind deep footprints.

"Not bad, you managed to achieve the first level jade skin stage in roughly a month." Old Xuan nodded, evidently very satisfied by Zhou Yuan’s progress.

"Ordinary speaking, a normal person would take a year to reach this stage, and that’s only if he or she has numerous precious Genesis resources to nourish the body."

"It’s all thanks to elder’s guidance." Zhou Yuan’s eyes were filled with gratitude as he cupped his fists together at old Xuan. If not for the latter’s advice, Zhou Yuan would not have chosen the little Mythic Saint Body.

Without the little Mythic Saint Body, the Taiyi Green Wood Mark would not be able to bring out its true potential either.

Old Xuan waved his hand and said, "If you lacked the willpower, you would have failed to endure on the water and fire tempering dragon stage. If so, it would not matter how much guidance I give."

Old Xuan clearly understood the pain one had to endure on the water and fire tempering dragon stage. What’s more, as someone who was attempting an external cultivation technique for the first time, Zhou Yuan had surely experienced terrifying pain. However, he ultimately managed to persevere, even having the charisma and courage to raise the intensity a level. In the end, he succeeded in pushing the little Mythic Saint Body to the jade skin stage.

Truthfully speaking, even old Xuan quite admired his boldness.

"There’s still some time till the chief disciple selection, and I intend to make good use of it by training here. I hope that elder won’t be too bothered." Zhou Yuan grinned. Although he had achieved the jade skin stage, his ambitions clearly did not stop here.

Old Xuan glanced at Zhou Yuan in surprise, evidently not expecting him to be so ambitious. To think that he planned on challenging even greater heights... the pain that awaited him was going to be several times greater than what it was now.

Old Xuan slowly said, "Since you have the resolve, this old sack of bones will naturally be unafraid of guiding you through this mountain path."

Zhou Yuan was overjoyed by this response. After all, he definitely required old Xuan help in order to get to the water and fire tempering dragon stage. Otherwise, it would be far too risky to recklessly enter the sealed area himself.

Zhou Yuan innocently scratched his head as he awkwardly said, "There’s also something else I hope elder can aid me with..."

"Speak."

"Can you spare some time to take me to that Dragon Scale Chinese Scholar Tree again... I’ve used up all the tree scales from before, and practicing the little Mythic Saint Body for the past month has drained the single Taiyi Green Wood Mark I have."

Upon hearing this, old Xuan immediately shot a sullen glance at Zhou Yuan. "You’re really a little too ballsy. Do you genuinely feel that the Dragon Scale Chinese Scholar Tree is your cultivation resource warehouse?"

Zhou Yuan let out an embarrassed chuckle. He too felt quite helpless about this situation. Practicing the Taiyi Green Wood Mark required rich Yimu Qi, but he currently lacked the means to secure sufficient ancient wood.

Hence, he could only place his hopes on the Dragon Scale Chinese Scholar Tree.

And to harvest its tree scales, old Xuan’s protection was absolutely crucial.

Old Xuan helplessly sighed under Zhou Yuan’s pleading gaze, before turning around to leave with his broom.

"Fine, as the saying goes, one should help till the end. Since I’ve already helped you so much, a little more wouldn’t hurt. Go back today and rest, I’ll bring you to chop some tree scales tomorrow..."

"Let’s hope that violent tree won’t go crazy."

Zhou Yuan was overjoyed. He hurriedly caught up and snatched away old Xuan’s broom with a fawning expression.

"Elder is truly a good person. I’ll help you carry this so you won’t become too tired."

Zhou Yuan’s attitude made old Xuan unsure whether he should laugh or cry. He could only shake his head and play along with the little fellow.

After leaving the sealed area, Zhou Yuan bid his goodbyes to old Xuan, before soaring into the air on his Genesis Qi. He passed by several peaks, and eventually arrived in front of his cave dwelling.

His figure descended as he somewhat tiredly stretched his back. Although spending an entire day tempering his body did not exhaust his vital energy, the mental stress due to the intense pain still took quite a toll on him.

Moments after he landed, however, his eyes suddenly paused as he caught sight of a figure anxiously walking to and fro in front of his cave dwelling. The figure seemed to be about to call out into the cave several times, only to shrink back time and time again.

"What is it?"

Zhou Yuan’s voice rang out. He had recognized the visitor as a disciple from the same faction, though not a very well known one.

The disciple hurriedly jerked his head around upon hearing the voice. His eyes immediately lit up with joy at the sight of Zhou Yuan, as he hastily ran over and said, "You’re back at last senior brother Zhou Yuan! Quick, you’ve got to go save Shen Wanjin!"

"Shen Wanjin?" Zhou Yuan was taken aback, before he soon began to frown. "What’s going on?"

The disciple sighed and answered, "I believe senior brother Zhou Yuan should be aware of what the atmosphere has been like recently in our Saint Genesis Peak."

Zhou Yuan nodded. Due to the fast approaching chief disciple selection, the atmosphere over Saint Genesis Peak had turned exceptionally tense, mainly because of Lu Hong’s faction.

Lu Hong’s disciples were basically acting as if the chief disciple position was already theirs. In their opinion, they would surely become the master faction of Saint Genesis Peak in the near future.

Once they became the master faction, their status would increase. In contrast, the other two factions would be reduced to mere secondary factions, creating a rift of status between the former and the latter. As a result, Lu Hong’s faction had gradually grown more and more arrogant and unbridled over the past month.

The disciples of the other two factions were naturally very irritated by this change in attitude. As such, the number of conflicts in Saint Genesis Peak was even greater than it had been in the past six months combined.

"While we were training on a cultivation platform today, one of Lu Hong’s disciples was accidentally struck by stray strike from the spar between Shen Wanjin and someone else. In the end, a huge group of Lu Hong’s disciples chased us away and captured Shen Wanjin, refusing to let him go no matter what we said."

"The one leading them was Wu Hai..."

"Wu Hai?" Zhou Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly. He had heard this name before. Wu Hai was quite famous in Lu Hong’s faction, and was also one of the six participants in the upcoming chief disciple selection.

However, why would someone like that make things difficult for a bunch of ordinary disciples?

"Shen Wanjin is quite timid, and is not one to provoke others. And yet Wu Hai and gang were clearly targeting him..." Zhou Yuan softly chuckled. "It seems that they have an ulterior motive."

In Saint Genesis Peak, there was no one who did not know that Zhou Yuan had close ties with Shen Wanjin. Instead of going after others, Lu Hong’s disciples were clearly focused on Shen Wanjin... the implication behind this was obvious. They were after Zhou Yuan himself.

As for Shen Wanjin, he had merely been implicated.

The disciple nodded with a bitter smile when he heard this, and said in a hushed voice, "Wu Hai said to you have to personally go over to claim Shen Wanjin back. If you do not arrive by sun down, he will throw Shen Wanjin off the mountain."

Zhou Yuan could not help but chuckle. Lu Hong’s faction had truly become quite arrogant recently.

"Senior brother Zhou Yuan, shall I go inform senior brother Zhou Tai first?" Asked the disciple in a hesitant manner. He had also guess that the other party was after Zhou Yuan, and was afraid the latter would not be able to handle the situation.

Zhou Yuan waved his hand.

"There’s no rush, I’ll go and have a look first."

With a wave of his sleeve, Genesis Qi rose from under his feet as he soared into the air.

"I’m interested to see just how capable this Wu Hai thinks he is to dare to throw my friend down from the mountain!"

A faint voice echoed, tinged with a trace of iciness.

To think that Lu Hong’s faction had already grown so arrogant. Did they really believe that they would definitely win the chief disciple selection?