Rumble!

A giant Genesis Qi hand seemed to blot out the sun as it descended, its shadow engulfing the entire mountain. The Genesis Qi in the area instantly began to boil and bubble as if the entire place was about to be torn apart.

Countless disciples turned white with terror, trembling uncontrollably as fear flooded their eyes.

The earlier duel between Zhou Yuan and Wei Youxuan was basically akin to a squabble between children in comparison!

“Shen Taiyuan!”

As the giant hand fell, Lu Hong was also startled. With a roar, Genesis Qi akin to the endless ocean dashed up into the sky, transforming into a titanic Genesis Qi dome that blocked the giant hand.

Rumble!

A loud noise akin to thunder continuously rumbled across the area.

Although they had come to blows, Lu Hong and Shen Taiyuan had still restrained themselves, not daring to let the aftershocks spread such as to prevent injuring any of the disciples. Thus, though the noise was loud, the aftershocks had been suppressed to an extremely tiny area.

Bang!

The remains of Lu Hong’s stone pavilion instantly turned to dust.

The disciples in the vicinity of the pavilion were so terrified that their legs turned to jelly. Even the outstanding Yuan Hong’s face was twitching violently, fear flashing in his eyes.

If the aftershocks from earlier had managed to spread just a tiny bit more, all of the disciples here would have the same fate as the stone pavilion.

“Are you crazy Shen Taiyuan?!” Lu Hong’s face was livid as he roared at Shen Taiyuan. He never imagined that the latter would actually dare to attack him in front of so many people.

If the disciples were killed or gravely injured, both of them would surely be heavily punished by the sect.

At the thought of such a possibility, cold sweat appeared on Lu Hong’s forehead, as white hot rage flowed within him.

Shen Taiyuan’s aged face was covered in frost. He stared right back at Lu Hong and said in a chilling voice, “Lu Hong, are you intending to throw away even your last shred of dignity? What is a loss in the battle between the younger generation, to think that you had the gall to oppress my disciple right before my eyes!”

Lu Hong’s face twitched. “Don’t spout nonsense, my emotions were merely a little unstable earlier, causing me to lose some control over my Genesis Qi.”

There was no way he could admit that in his anger, he had attempted to use Genesis Qi pressure to force Zhou Yuan to his knees earlier.

Shen Taiyuan chuckled icily as he mocked, “Sore loser, if you want to play, I can accompany you till the end!”

Being ridiculed in front of so many disciples made Lu Hong’s expression turn somewhat ugly as his expression darkened. “Humph, do you really think that I’m afraid of you? I’m also interested to find out what you can possibly amount to after hiding away in Saint Genesis Peak for so many years!”

“Try me!”

Shen Taiyuan took a step forward as torrential Genesis Qi poured out, practically engulfing half of the horizon. Under his Genesis Qi pressure, it felt as if the entire world around them was trembling.

“Then I will!” Lu Hong laughed in anger as he also took a step forward.

Two seas of Genesis Qi immediately filled the area, relentlessly crashing into each other, causing the giant mountains in the area to tremble violently as if on the verge of collapse.

The numerous disciples in the vicinity turned white with fear. The aftershocks alone from a fight of this level was not something they would survive.

“Stop!”

Elder Lu Song expression changed as he hurriedly stepped forward and shouted, “Don’t be rash both of you. If the disciples are hurt, sect master and the other peak masters will not let either of you off.”

His figure moved and appeared between the two elders. With a wave of his sleeve, boundless Genesis Qi swept out, breaking up their clashing Genesis Qi.

Shen Taiyuan and Lu Hong viciously glared at each other, but ultimately did not lose all rationality and withdrew their Genesis Qi. Only then did the terrifying Genesis Qi pressure gradually fade away.

Both of them understood that if they really ended up fighting, sect master Qing Yang would surely get involved. Neither of them would benefit when that happened.

As the dreadful pressure faded from the mountain, Zhou Yuan’s tense body was finally able to relax. He breathed a deep sigh of relief as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders, his brow covered in cold sweat.

The Genesis Qi pressure from earlier had made him understand the meaning of terror. A single thought from either elder was likely all it would take to wipe him off the face of this world.

Zhou Yuan’s eyes blazed with passion as he mumbled to himself, “It’s said that the first condition to become an elder of the Cangxuan Sect is to reach the Heavenly Sun stage…”

After the Alpha-Origin stage, one would have to establish the Divine Dwelling, hence why it was called the Divine Dwelling stage.

As the Divine Dwelling developed, a fetus akin to a great sun would emerge in the Divine Dwelling. Thus, the stage after the Divine Dwelling stage was known as the Heavenly Sun stage.

As the Heavenly Sun grew, source energy would be born from it. Therefore, the next stage was called the Nascent Source stage.

After the Nascent Source, the Law Domain would begin to form.

Divine Dwelling, Heavenly Sun, Nascent Source and Law Domain.

These were the four greater stages after the Alpha-Origin stage.

It was clear that the three elders Lu Hong, Shen Taiyuan and Lu Song were experts of the Heavenly Sun stage. Even in the entire Cangxuan Heaven, they were existences could intimidate an entire region.

This was also the cultivation level Zhou Yuan was striving for.

“The Cangxuan Sect is indeed a hegemon level sect in Cangxuan Heaven.” Zhou Yuan sighed inside. His greatest enemy at the moment was king Wu of the Great Wu empire, who was only a Divine Dwelling stage expert, someone who would not even be qualified to become an elder in the Cangxuan sect.

Of course, king Wu may be insignificant to the Cangxuan Sect, but he was still a behemoth in Zhou Yuan’s eyes.

For the sake of obtaining strength that could match king Wu, Zhou Yuan needed to continue working hard in the Cangxuan Sect.

These churning thoughts in his mind were ultimately suppressed by Zhou Yuan. He raised his head under the attention of numerous watching disciples and looked towards Lu Hong without any fear in his eyes. “Elder Lu Hong, is it time to announce the result of today’s cave match?”

His voice was calm, showing that he was not afraid even after witnessing Lu Hong’s dreadful presence earlier.

This was the Cangxuan Sect, and even an elder like Lu Hong had to abide by the rules. If not, sect master Qing Yang and the other peak masters would not easily let him off.

Lu Hong’s was ugly with anger as he viciously glared at Zhou Yuan.

Shen Taiyuan smiled icily. “Elder Lu Hong, aren’t you going to announce the results?”

In the past, Lu Hong had mercilessly provoked him after winning. Since such a rare opportunity to return the favor had come, Shen Taiyuan was naturally going to vent some of his past frustration.

Under Zhou Yuan and Shen Taiyuan’s joint ‘assault’, Lu Hong’s expression turned even more ugly, a stormy look filling his face.

Lu Song helplessly sighed, and decided to step in as a mediator before the situation degraded any further. “The outcome of the cave match is already clear. Elder Shen’s faction has won, does anyone have any objections?”

All the disciples all over the mountain shook their heads. The cave match today had been filled with twists and turns, the final outcome also exceeding everyone’s expectations.

At the start, no one would have imagined that the one who remained standing in the end would be Zhou Yuan, whom appeared to be at the third layer.

Countless gazes were cast towards the youthful figure on the broken stage, complicated expressions in their eyes.

They knew that Zhou Yuan’s reputation would rise in the Cangxuan Sect after today.

They had originally come here to see Zhou Yuan make a fool of himself. Who could have expected that they would instead be treated to the sight of Zhou Yuan’s astonishing and breathtaking rise.

If Zhou Yuan was said to have relied on luck during the Genesis Marrow Baptism, his achievement this time would be based on genuine battle ability.

Green and white interlaced on Lu Hong’s face. In the end, he stormed off, clearly still seething with rage.

His disciples silently followed.

Lu Xuanyin’s fists were tightly clenched, an unresigned in look in her eyes as she looked towards Zhou Yuan and forcefully grinded her teeth.

While this happened, Xu Yan walked to her side with a faint smell, taking small whiff of her fragrance as he said in a gente voice, “No need to be angry junior sister Xuanyin. The truth is that Zhou Yuan is indeed quite capable. Why not I get someone to call him over and apologize to you so we can wipe clean the slate between you two.”

Before Xuanyin could reply, he nodded towards a disciple at the side.

Zhou Yuan just so happened to fly up onto the cliff as that particular disciple approached and gave him Xu Yan’s message.

Zhou Yuan raised his head and looked in Xu Yan’s direction, seeing the latter display a faint smile.

Zhou Yuan smiled in response, before turning around and walking towards Shen Taiyuan, not going to apologize to Lu Xuanyin as Xu Yan had asked.

From what Zhou Yuan could see, there was no need for him to do so.

Xu Yan was a little taken aback as he watched Zhou Yuan turn around. Soon after, the former chuckled softly.

“So he’s trying to show off…”

Mumbled Xu Yan, before looking towards Lu Xuanyin. As he turned around, a voice was left behind.

“Let’s go junior sister Xuanyin, if there is a chance in the future, your senior brother will make sure he gives you a proper explanation.”

“Hehe, it seems that this junior brother Zhou Yuan of ours… has never suffered before…”