In the inn.

After what had happened previously, everyone’s expression had become a little grave. They understood that the collaboration between Qi Manor and Black Venom City would undoubtedly become their biggest obstruction.

Zhou Yuan wore a serious expression as he looked towards Wei Canglan and inquired, "General Wei, what are you chances of winning against the Black Venom King?"

Wei Canglan hesitated for a moment before he slowly answered, "There are nine levels to the Alpha-Origin stage and both the Black Venom King and myself are at the second level. Neither of us should be able to gain the upper hand if we go at it for real... but the Black Venom King has the Devil Miasma Qi, a top-tier grade 4 Genesis Qi. It is an overbearing poison Qi that can easily infect an opponent in a fight without him knowing, hence why I suffered at its hands back then."

"This Devil Miasma Qi is a huge headache."

Afraid that their morale will suffer, Wei Canglan hastily added in. "Although I am wary of the Devil Miasma Poison, I will definitely be able to stall the Black Venom King when the time comes."

Zhou Yaun had a look of complentation on his face. This was no insurance at all. If anything unexpected happened, the situation would become far too unfavorable for them.

After some thought, he suddenly cast his gaze at Yaoyao, smiling as he asked, "Big sis Yaoyao, could you think of something?"

Yaoyao currently had her head lowered as she studied the black jade list while carrying Tuntun. She lifted her head, showing her pretty face as she glared at Zhou Yuan. "I just knew that you were going to ask me."

On the way back, she had felt Zhou Yuan look towards her from to time to time.

However, she also knew that this was a matter of paramount importance. Hence, after glaring at Zhou Yuan, her hand reached towards the Universe bag on her hip and retrieved a green scroll which she then placed on the table. "This is known as the Thousand Wood Poison Safeguard Rune, a top-tier grade 3 Genesis Rune. When activated, it will be able to guard against all kinds of poisons and the Devil Miasma Poison should be unable to break its defences."

"A top-tier grade 3 Genesis Rune?" Wei Canglan, Wei Qingqing and the rest stared in amazement at Yaoyao. Was this young lady before them, who did not give off even the slightest Genesis Qi undulation, really have such high mastery in the art of Genesis Runes?

Such a Genesis Rune stood at the pinnacle even in the entire Great Zhou Empire.

Only now did Wei Qingqing realise why Zhou Yuan always insisted on having this seemingly burdensome girl at his side.

"Great! With the aid of this Genesis Rune, the Black Venom King will no longer pose any threat towards me. I will be able to attack without worry and thoroughly suppress him. In fact, I may even find a chance to kill him!" As Wei Canglan grasped the scroll, his face turned slightly red due to intense emotions.

His hatred towards the Black Venom King had long seeped deep into his bones, and he had tried everything he could to eliminate the latter. Unfortunately, his fear of the Devil Miasma Poison had ultimately made him lose out in their previous exchanges.

Now that he had this top-tier grade 3 Genesis Rune, the Thousand Wood Poison Safeguard Rune, the Black Venom King’s greatest weapon no longer posed any threat towards him.

Everyone in the room gave a slight sigh of relief after hearing Wei Canglan’s confident declaration.

Zhou Yuan also smiled and nodded. "I’m relieved that general Wei is confident. Since our information gathering is almost complete, we shall move out tomorrow and enter the Battle Puppet Sect ruins."

No one had any objections.

...

Night fell. The gates of Devil Prison City were tightly shut, while countless Genesis Beast howls resounded in the mountain forests outside the city. Blackwater was even more dangerous at night.

In one of the rooms in the inn, Zhou Yuan was seated on the bed, his eyes tightly shut and his body faintly trembling. The faint roar of a dragon could be heard as Genesis Qi pulsed around his body, transforming into white threads that flowed into his body through his nose.

After meeting Qi Hao and the Black Venom King today, Zhou Yuan now felt a sliver of danger. Although he had the protection of a group of elites, the most dependable thing after all was one’s own strength.

Hence, his seven channel strength had began to feel rather lacking in Blackwater. It was time for him to advance to the Qi Nourishing stage.

Zhou Yuan’s chest rose and fell in cycles as Genesis Qi surged within his meridian channels, continuously attacking the increasingly loosening eighth meridian channel. After these past few days of dogged daily training, he could sense that unblocking the eighth meridian channel was just around the corner...

Genesis Qi continuously surged within the meridian channels inside his body.

Suddenly, Zhou Yuan’s body violently jerked, activating the Dragon Breath technique as another stream of Genesis Qi was absorbed into his body. Like a wave, it ferociously slammed into the final bit of obstruction in the eighth meridian channel.

Pop!

A faint sound was heard, as if a membrane had been broken.

Zhou Yuan opened his eyes and lowered his head to look at his hands. He could feel a feeling of transparency and lightness flood his body.

It was as if he had suddenly broken free of chains and shackles.

The surrounding Genesis Qi voluntarily surged towards his body as the quality of his body swiftly rose.

The eighth meridian channel had finally been unblocked!

Zhou Yuan’s body shook as an indescribable feeling rose in his heart. After half a year of hard work, he had finally unblocked all eight meridian channels.

Eight meridian channels were fully opened once again after over a dozen years.

Zhou Yuan violently sucked in two breaths of air, allowing himself to regain his cool before closing his eyes. Now that all eight meridian channels had been unblocked, it was time to open his Qi Dwelling.

Only after opening the Qi Dwelling would one be considered to have truly stepped into the Qi Nourishing stage.

"Come!"

Zhou Yuan’s eyes burned with excitement and anticipation. He had waited far too long for this day to come.

An almost inaudible dragon roar echoed from within Zhou Yuan’s body. This time, the output from activating Dragon Breath had increased drastically. The Genesis Qi in the room shuddered violently, transforming into much thicker white threads that were ultimately swallowed into Zhou Yuan’s body with a single gulp.

The Genesis Qi in his body swiftly converged towards his lower abdomen, transforming into a swirling vortex.

When the rotation of the vortex reached its peak, Zhou Yuan suddenly felt a dot appear at the center of the vortex. The inside of this Genesis dot seemed akin to a mysterious domain, sometimes present yet sometimes not.

Infinitely small, yet also infinitely massive.

The moment this Genesis dot appeared, the flowing Genesis Qi in his body seemed to have been given a sudden tug. Genesis Qi surged inside his channels, pouring into the Genesis dot.

Following the influx of Genesis Qi, it was as if life had emerged from the formless mass of creation inside the Genesis dot. Space began to develop, forming the Qi Dwelling.

It was at this very moment that the Qi Dwelling in Zhou Yuan’s body was finally created. At long last, the Genesis Qi he absorbed during his daily training now had a place to be stored, allowing it to gradually grow stronger. It would be nothing like the past, where the majority of the absorbed Genesis Qi would subsequently fade after improving the quality of his body.

Zhou Yuan’s Spirit entered the Qi Dwelling and a unique domain entered his eyes where Genesis Qi flowed in an endless cycle. Subsequently, he saw green light begin to blossom, dying the entire Qi Dwelling green.

A newly created Qi Dwelling was classified into four different ranks based on one’s talent and the innate potential of the body. These four ranks were denoted by color: colorless, green, purple and gold.

Zhou Yuan’s Spirit nervously watched the transformation of the Qi Dwelling.

Although he knew that the rank of the Qi Dwelling was not an absolute representation of one’s future accomplishments, it could not be denied that the higher rank the Qi Dwelling, the greater the advantage.

Green light grew richer and deeper until a speck of purple light began to emerge within it. Purple light spread, giving the Qi Dwelling a new color.

"Purple Qi Dwelling."

Upon seeing his Qi Dwelling turn purple, Zhou Yuan finally nodded, clearly very satisfied with this outcome.

The Qi Dwelling seemed to stabilize at purple, causing Zhou Yuan to breathe a sigh of relief as he began to leave the Qi Dwelling.

Rumble!

At this moment however, the Qi Dwelling suddenly began to shake. Zhou Yuan abruptly sensed a clearly very foreign, yet extremely familiar Genesis Qi surge out from the depths of the Qi Dwelling.

The purity level of this new Genesis Qi shocked Zhou Yuan. Moreover, it gave off a very faint primal aura, as if it was origin of all life, the very first breath of Source Genesis Qi predating the formless mass of creation.

"What is going on?!" However, Zhou Yuan was even more shocked by the origin of this mysterious Genesis Qi. He could clearly sense that it had not come from his training.

But why, why was there a familiar feeling?

As millions of thoughts flickered across Zhou Yuan’s mind, a flash of understanding suddenly struck him, causing him to blurt out in astonishment, "Could it be... when I was born and my eight meridian channels connected to the Qi Dwelling, this Genesis Qi had hidden itself in the depths of my Qi Dwelling?"

Zhou Yuan’s eight meridian channels were naturally open when he was born. Logically speaking, the opening of his Qi Dwelling should naturally followed. However, due to the unforeseen calamity that struck, a wisp of Source Genesis Qi had hidden in the deepest recesses of his uncomplete Qi Dwelling. Now that Zhou Yuan had successfully opened his Qi Dwelling again, the Source Genesis Qi that had hidden for fourteen years had once again emerged upon sensing his presence.

A dazed Zhou Yuan felt the pure Genesis Qi as complicated feelings churned in his heart.

Meanwhile, the Source Genesis Qi surged into his Qi Dwelling and Zhou Yuan was shocked once again as he watched a trace of gold slowly blossomed like a rising sun within the deep purple light.

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