Woo! Woo!

A strong wind blew up the dust on the ground, obscuring one’s vision, while Zhou Yuan’s figure disappeared within. After reaching the advanced level of Ethereal Form, his body gained the ability to become fully ethereal. With a little assistance from his surroundings, he was able to completely conceal himself, and become as elusive as a ghost, making it easy for him to catch an opponent off-guard.

Xu Yan stood amid the dust with a sneer on his face, as he scanned his surroundings. He knew that Zhou Yuan was not using this move to protect himself, but rather to buy time for a counter attack.

“You are quite smart. Unfortunately, you think too highly of yourself.”

Xu Yan’s body shook as green Genesis Qi pulsed from his body like a ring. The Genesis Qi transformed into numerous fine hair-like Genesis Qi threads that quickly began spinning at high speeds in the area around him.

“Even though Ethereal Form is quite remarkable, it is useless against me!”

As the Genesis Qi threads spun, a mocking smile suddenly appeared on Xu Yan’s lips.

“I’ve caught you little rat!”

His body suddenly shot forward, the sword in his hand pulsing with sharpness that could cut even space itself. The sword flickered icily as it stabbed towards a certain direction on his right.

This strike was exceptionally powerful.

Ding!

A snow-white brush tip suddenly appeared out of nowhere, a purple glow pulsing on it as it clashed against the tip of the sword.

However, Xu Yan clearly had the upper hand. His sword flickered, and blew apart the purple glow.

Ch!

However, right after that purple glow scattered, the tip of the brush abruptly split apart. It transformed into brush hair chains that quickly wrapped around the sword, snaking towards Xu Yan’s body like a python.

Xu Yan frowned. A burst of Genesis Qi erupted from within his body in an attempt to shake off the chains.

However, the snow-white hairs were extremely tough, causing him to be incapable of breaking free for a time.

At this moment, Zhou Yuan’s body appeared behind Xu yan. The former’s hands quickly formed a seal, as golden Genesis Qi dashed into the sky.

“Nine Dragons Canon, Nine Dragons!”

With a yell, the sound of howling beasts immediately rang out across the area. Nine beast shaped Genesis Qi shot into the sky, and began to devour one another. In the end, a single Genesis Qi beast an overwhelmingly menacing aura emerged.

Roar!

That several hundred foot large Genesis Qi beast roared, before it ferociously charged towards the binded Xu Yan.

It was a menacing and intimidation sight to behold.

Xu Yan lifted his head and looked at the roaring titan. Its ferocious aura made his eyes narrow slightly, but a derisive smile soon appeared on his lips.

“Advanced Nine Dragons Canon… junior brother Zhou Yuan, if this attack was used against a gold sash disciple, I believe that hardly anyone would be able to block it. Unfortunately, it seems that you’re still underestimating us veteran purple sash disciples.”

Xu Yan’s cheeks abruptly ballooned as green Genesis Qi rapidly gathered in his mouth. A split second later, it transformed into a beam of green light which he spat out from his mouth.

“High tier little Heaven Genesis technique, Green Moon Cone!”

The cone of green light was too fast for the naked eye to see. Countless disciples only managed to catch a flash of green, before it smashed into the Genesis Qi beast.

Boom!

Berserk shockwaves swept outwards, as the two alarmingly powerful attacks destroyed each other.

Xu Yan jerked his body, finally breaking free from the the snow-white hair chains. Meanwhile, the hairs retreated, along with a mottled black brush, before it was caught by a hand.

Zhou Yuan appeared, the Heavenly Yuan Brush in his hand pointed towards the ground.

“A veteran purple sash disciple is indeed a difficult opponent…” Zhou Yuan’s eyes widened a little. Looks like he had gotten a little arrogant due to his recent string of victories. The Cangxuan Sect was after all one of the titans of Cangxuan Heaven, and each of their veteran purple sash disciples was selected from amongst ten thousand individuals. Outside the Shengzhou Continent, any of them would be highly sought geniuses.

Moreover, Zhou Yuan was still only at the third layer Alpha-Origin stage, and the advantage a seventh layer Alpha-Origin stage expert had over him was simply too huge. If not for his peak grade 6 Omni Python Qi, and his special blood-red Qi Dwelling which gave him Genesis Qi that far exceeded the third layer, the Genesis Qi in his body would have likely been destroyed by Xu Yan after a few clashes.

“No wonder the criteria set by the sect is to see who can endure the longest, and not whether we could defeat them…”

The expression in Zhou Yuan’s eyes gradually turned serious. In that case, let’s see who will last longer.

He believed that once he became a purple sash disciple and advanced to the fourth layer Alpha-Origin stage, he would have no longer have to fear any of these veteran purple sash disciples again.

Swoosh!

Zhou Yuan wielded the Heavenly Yuan Brush, as his ethereal body dashed forward like a wisp of smoke.

He was still going to defend by attacking.

Xu Yan let out an icy chuckle when he saw this. His body also shot forth, an aura pulsing around his sword as it transformed into numerous sword shadows that went after the vital points on Zhou Yuan’s body.

Clang! Clang!

Two blurry figures clashed like lightning in the arena, after-images appearing one after another. A clear clang could be heard at every clash, accompanied by an astonishing shockwave of Genesis Qi.

However, everyone could see that Zhou Yuan’s figure would be pushed back after each clash. He was clearly being suppressed in this direct confrontation.

This caused the numerous watching disciples to shake their heads inside. Zhou Yuan was after all merely at the third layer Alpha-Origin stage. Even if he had many tricks up his sleeve, it was still a stretch for him to fight against someone like Xu Yan, who was four layers above him.

Under the many pitying gazes, Zhou Yuan expression remained rather calm while locked in an intense battle with Xu Yan. As the former continued to fight, a faint dragon roar seemed to echo with each breath he took.

Genesis Qi was being continuously absorbed into his body, before being swiftly refined to replenish his stamina.

Dragon Breathing.

Although Zhou Yuan did not have as much Genesis Qi as the seventh layer Xu Yan, the former was able to make use of Dragon Breathing to continually replenish his depleted Genesis Qi, and drag out the fight.

It would be hard for his current self to defeat Xu Yan, but if Zhou Yuan only wanted to drag out the fight, it would not be so easy for Xu Yan to kick him out either...

Wounds would appear on his body from time to time due to the opponent’s sword aura, but the majority of the damage was neutralized by the Heavenly Serpent Scales and the Ethereal Form technique, and hence did not affect his combat abilities.

As such, time slowly passed while the fight between the two grew increasingly intense.

By this point, many disciples began to realize that something was amiss. Even though Zhou Yuan was being overwhelmed by Xu Yan and seemed to be in quite a desperate state, he was still able to doggedly hang on despite Xu Yan’s ferocious barrage of attacks.

“Eh?” Even Li Qingchan gasped softly, clearly realising that there was something strange about this situation as well.

Zhou Yuan’s Genesis Qi may not be as abundant as Xu Yan’s, but it seemed to last for an impossibly long amount of time.

It was also clear that Zhou Yuan no longer entertained any thoughts of defeating Xu Yan, but instead made the logical decision to stall for time.

Clang!

The Heavenly Yuan Brush clashed with the sword again, pushing Zhou Yuan’s body back once more. However, Xu Yan’s expression was gradually turning stormy as he gazed upon Zhou Yuan’s figure.

He had cast a glance behind him, only to find that a fifth of the giant incense stick behind had already been burnt.

His original plan was to kick Zhou Yuan out within this period of time. However, judging by the current situation, though Zhou Yuan appeared to be suppressed, the latter was still full of vigor, and his Genesis Qi showed no signs of depletion.

“This guy… is basically a tortoise. He is not only extremely tough, but also very hardy as well!”

Xu Yan took in a deep breath, as a cold expression flowed in his eyes.

This cannot continue. Since you are good at wasting time, I will take the most direct approach and destroy all your defenses with a single attack!

Xu Yan shot an icy glance at Zhou Yuan, before releasing the sword in his hand, allowing it to slowly rise into the air.

The Genesis Qi in the vicinity gradually began to stir at this moment.

Swoosh!

The sword shot into the sky as all the Genesis Qi in the area gathered towards it. Resplendent green light gradually appeared, transforming into a green crescent moon in the sky.

Moonlight spread from the crescent moon like an endless torrent of sword aura, a sight that would make one’s scalp turn numb.

Dreadful undulations ripples from the green crescent moon.

Outside the mountain range, numerous disciples stared at this scene in shock, before erupting into an uproar a split second later.

“Isn’t this a little too ruthless of Xu Yan. To think that he would even use a Heaven Genesis technique on a mere gold sash disciple!”

“That should be the Moonfall technique of Sword Cometh Peak! It’s a genuine low grade Heaven Technique!”

“This is going to reflect very badly on him…”

Many disciples whispered among themselves, clearly quite critical of Xu Yan’s actions. He already had the absolute advantage in terms of Genesis Qi cultivation, and yet he was still going to use a Heaven Genesis technique?

Does he think he’s fighting against another vetern purple sash disciple?

This bullying was definitely a little overboard.

However, Xu Yan would not be affected at this moment no matter how they expressed their displeasure. He stood in the middle of the arena, as his icy gaze locked onto Zhou Yuan.

How could he not know that using a Heaven Genesis technique against Zhou Yuan would reflect badly on him. However, Zhou Yuan was simply too hardy. In fact, based on his current estimation, he knew that he was not going to deplete Zhou Yuan’s Genesis Qi before the incense stick was completely burnt.

Therefore, he was forced to take drastic measures, and use overwhelming power to destroy Zhou Yuan.

He looked at Zhou Yuan with icy arrogance, before he slowly clapped his palms together.

“I heard that Wei Youxuan used an incomplete low grade Heaven Genesis technique on you previously. Since that is the case, allow this senior to open your eyes and show you today…”

“What a complete Heaven tier technique is like!”

“Moonfall technique!”

Buzz!

The instant his voice sounded, the green crescent moon hanging in the sky abruptly fell.

A flash of green light seemed to split the sky into two.