Bang!

The enormous Genesis Qi sword shattered due to the sudden force exerted by Zhou Yuan. Sword Qi violently swept outwards, slicing deep cuts in the ground around him.

Zhou Yuan stood amidst the destruction, still as a statue.

His body was still covered in blood, making him look extremely pitiful, but as his back gradually straightened at this moment, an exceedingly terrifying undulation seemed to slowly pulse from his body.

A faint silver glow emerged from the depths of his flesh and blood.

There appeared to be something different about the current Zhou Yuan...

The scene of him crushing the giant sword naturally landed in the eyes of the countless onlookers outside the chief disciple peak. A torrential uproar immediately exploded, innumerable disciples dumbstruck, their eyes overflowing with disbelief.

They could not understand how Zhou Yuan, who was basically being steamrolled moments earlier, had suddenly released such power.

Based on their senses, Zhou Yuan’s Genesis Qi had not grown stronger. So where had this power come from?

Only the six imposing figures high up in the sky released low gasps of surprise.

Hongya Peak master Gu was the first to speak in a voice filled with amazement. “This power… comes from the body. This kid… has achieved the silver bone stage?”

The second stage of the Hongya Peak’s Mythic Saint Body was known as the silver bone stage, which the external cultivation technique practiced by Zhou Yuan clearly originated from. Of course, it naturally could not be compared to the true divine silver bone, but its power was still clear for all to see.

“Tch tch, to think that this kid has managed to achieve the silver bone stage in such a short amount of time. He’s basically a genius of external cultivation!” Peak master Gu was full of praise, his eyes filled with approval as he looked towards the bloody figure on the mountain top.

He clearly understood how difficult the path of external cultivation was. What’s more, the technique practiced by Zhou Yuan originated from the Mythic Saint Body, making it even harder to master than ordinary external cultivation techniques.

In the Hongya Peak, only Shang Chunqiu alone had been able to reach the divine silver bone stage.

Sect master Qing Yan also slowly nodded and said, “He had not reached the silver bone stage earlier. If I’m not wrong, he had intentionally chosen to endure Yuan Hong’s ferocious attacks with his body to temper it, forcing him to his limits to achieve a breakthrough.”

He then exclaimed with a sigh of admiration, “Such decisiveness and boldness is truly praiseworthy.”

The other peak masters, with the exception of peak master Ling Jun, faintly nodded in agreement. A disciple that could display such traits was indeed very amazing.

Peak master Lianyi glanced at the now frowning and less certain peak master Ling Jun, as she softly chuckled and said, “It seems that the situation has begun to change?”

Peak master Ling Jun took in a deep breath, his youthful and handsome face maintaining its calm as he replied, “It’s a little too early to say such things. A breakthrough of such nature is extremely taxing on one’s vital energy. I’m afraid that Zhou Yuan does not have much strength left.”

However, anyone could tell that he no longer completely neglected Zhou Yuan like he had in the beginning.

It was likely that the chief disciple selection of Saint Genesis Peak had only truly begun at this moment.

…

On the peak that was currently the focus of nearly the entire Cangxuan Sect.

Yuan Hong gazed at the bloody figure before him with a somewhat dark expression. The astonishing power displayed by Zhou Yuan was likewise out of his expectations.

The feeling of things slipping out of his control caused fury to surge in his heart.

At the same time, he was also quite puzzled. Zhou Yuan appeared incapable of putting up any resistance at all just moments earlier, so how was he suddenly able to block that attack?

What exactly had he done?

Nearby, Lu Yan, Zhou Tai and Zhang Yan were also watching with uncertainty, confusion and surprise.

Zhou Yuan wiped away the blood at the corner of his mouth. Silver light flowed in the depths of his eyes as he lifted his head and looked towards Yuan Hong, while he stretched and twisted his body a little, releasing cracking noises.

Dark green light glowed faintly as a warm energy spread, swiftly replenishing the depleted vital energy in Zhou Yuan’s body.

“You seem to be very surprised?” Zhou Yuan grinned, revealing a set of sinisterly white teeth.

Yuan Hong’s expression darkened even further as he icily smiled. “It’s just some kind of trick!”

“I am very interested to find out whether this confidence you have is just a pretense!”

His foot slammed into the ground as torrential Genesis Qi rose around him, transforming into ten giant swords. Every sword gave off an alarming sharp sword Qi.

Bzz!

Ten swords soared into the sky, lining up one after another as their tips faced downwards. It was an impressive sight indeed.

Yuan Hong had evidently been angered for real, and no longer planned on playing around.

Swish!

Ten swords rapidly grew in Zhou Yuan’s pupils. He lifted his head, and took in a deep breath as silver light emerged from the bones in his body. If one were to take away all of his flesh and skin at this moment, one would discover that Zhou Yuan’s skeleton appeared to be made from silver, a very peculiar sight indeed.

Silver bones shook faintly as a frightening power surged.

Zhou Yuan tightly clenched his five fingers into a fist and punched.

Silver light blossomed in his flesh.

Boom!

A sonic boom accompanied his punch as cracks rapidly grew on the ground below his feet, as if a giant invisible hand was tearing it apart.

Silver light spread, causing Zhou Yuan’s outstretched arm to appear as if it was made of silver.

Little Mythic Saint Body, Silver Bone Stage!

Bang!

Under the countless watching gazes, Zhou Yuan’s silver punch smashed into the descending swords, causing a shockwave to violently unfurl.

The shockwave spread, wreaking havoc around them.

Crack!

A faint crack sound was heard from where fist and sword met. Every could only watch in shock as cracks began to appear on the sword before it ultimately shattered with a bang.

After shattering the first sword, the silver light continued along its path, slightly distorting even the air itself as the second and third swords were destroyed in succession!

By the time the silver light was done, all ten swords had crumbled to pieces.

Torrential cries of shock rang out once more.

Yuan Hong’s expression had turned extremely ugly. Even if the previous time could be said to be a fluke, the power Zhou Yuan had displayed this time made it clear that he was already capable of facing Yuan Hong directly.

In addition, it also proved that Zhou Yuan was not trying to put up an act.

“The power is from his body!” At this moment, Yuan Hong finally understood where the sudden explosion of power had come from. It originated from that external cultivation technique!

Yuan Hong’s face turned so dark and ominous, it was as if rain would start falling from it at any moment. He knew that Zhou Yuan’s body had not been so powerful half an incense stick ago!

And yet, after a vicious beating from him, Zhou Yuan’s body appeared to have been reforged.

It was obvious. A breakthrough had happened right under his nose.

Zhou Yuan had made use of Yuan Hong’s power to temper his body in hopes of breaking through his limits.

Yuan Hong on the other hand had been totally in the dark as he helped Zhou Yuan complete this process...

In the face of a situation he had personally created, even Yuan Hong could not help but feel his heart churn with regret. If he had known earlier, how could he possibly have intentionally humiliated his opponent? He should have used his strongest attack to utterly crush Zhou Yuan, giving him no chance to turn recover!

In a manner of speaking, Zhou Yuan’s transformation had been Yuan Hong’s handiwork.

Rumble!

While regret was churning in Yuan Hong’s heart, Zhou Yuan’s body lowered slightly into a crouching position, like a cheetah that was about to pounce at this prey. Inside his body, his bones flickered with silver light as a terrifying power gathered.

In the end, the gathering power erupted with magnificent force.

Swoosh!

The ground under his feet crumbled as his figure instantly disappeared.

So fast that countless disciples were unable to see anything with their naked eyes.

Even Yuan Hong merely saw a shadow flash pass at a speed that made his pupils shrink.

There was no hesitation whatsoever as Yuan Hong immediately shot backwards. The current Zhou Yuan made him feel a dangerous sensation. As such, he no longer dared to look down on the latter like before.

Boom!

However, mere moments after he began to retreat, the air exploded behind him as a blurry figure appeared.

Thump!

Resplendent silver light exploded. Zhou Yuan wielded the Heavenly Yuan Brush, his gaze cold and sharp as a blade as he swung his arms, causing the brush to sweep towards his opponent with dreadful power.

The ground under them was ripped open, revealing a deep, dark crack.

“Genesis Breaker!”

“Million Whale Rune!”

The black brush descended, the terrifying power within causing Yuan Hong’s expression to change drastically.

All the Genesis Qi in his body immediately burst out without reservation.

“Low grade Heaven Genesis technique, Sword Shield!”

Genesis Qi gathered in the wake of his roar, taking the shape of a giant Genesis Qi sword shield in front of him. The shield pulsed with chilling sword Qi, possessing both a strong defence and reflective properties.

Thud!

However, when the falling black brush landed on the shield, a shattering sound seemed to emerge from space itself. Next, everyone saw cracks swiftly grow on the sword shield, before it exploded with a loud bang!

A flash of black descended the moment the shield was shattered, slamming hard into Yuan Hong’s waist.

Thud!

A muffled thud was heard as Yuan Hong vomited a mouthful of blood. His figure was sent hurtling through the air, bouncing several times off the ground as he left a deep thousand foot long trail along the way...

Both the mountain top and outside it was very quiet at this moment.

Countless gazes blankly stared at this scene...

This was the first time Yuan Hong had fallen into a disadvantageous position ever since the start of the chief disciple selection.

It was clear that the situation had finally begun to change at this very moment.