In the dark and dense forest.

Qiu Ji sat cross-legged under a tree with a darkened face, gazing into the distance where a camp was lit up.

“Manager Qiu, what do we do now? Yi Qiushui is already vigilant against us and won’t let us get close again,” someone whispered to Qiu Ji.

“Most importantly, the young master has died....It’s going to be difficult to explain this to the master.”

Qiu Ji also scrunched his brows in a frown. He never thought that their plan would end like this.

They had racked their brains to draw Yi Dong’er away from Yi Qiushui for their young master to kidnap her, and then Yi Qiushui would be under their control.

Unfortunately, these plans were destroyed by a bastard who fell from the sky!

Most importantly, the bastard even crushed Qiu Yang to death! Although Qiu Yang wasn’t particularly strong, he had still reached the ninth layer of the Alpha-Origin stage! He had died in a completely senseless way.

“We can’t let Yi Qiushui reach Xuanzhou City safely,” Qiu Ji uttered coldly.

“The master has deployed all the forces of the family to keep the experts of the Yi family in Xuanzhou City, so now is our best chance. If we can’t succeed, when Yi Qiushui reaches Xuanzhou City, the protection around her will be even stronger.

“At that time, our Qiu family’s plan to become the Prefecture Lord will become a lot more troublesome.

“But now the guards around Yi Qiushui aren’t weak at all. Adding to this, she is very clever. Before heading to Xuanzhou City, she deliberately let out word about her trip and caused the young masters of other families that admired her to come.”

“Given her strength, our team alone won’t be enough,” advised the person next to Qiu Ji.

Qiu Ji faintly smiled. “My Qiu family has been operating in Xiaoxuan Province for hundreds of years, and the Yi family can’t be compared to us.”

Staring at the camp in the distance, a sinister look came to his face.

“Hmph, even the head of the Yi family died in Xiaoxuan Province. What can a little girl do?

“And that boy who somehow killed the young master...once he falls into our hands, I will make him know what is worse than death!”

. . . .

Da da!

A wide carriage drawn by horse beasts shrouded in Genesis Qi galloped along a paved road. Its speed was extremely fast, and if one looked closer, one would find that the entire carriage was one foot above the ground as though it was flying across the air.

Zhou Yuan was sitting in the carriage with his eyes closed, and his body was exuding a faint luster. He was cultivating the Mythic Saint Body.

The blood in his body was bubbling and tumbling, and it flowed around his dark wounds, gradually washing them away.

The Genesis Qi between heaven and earth was endlessly gushing over, turning into wisps of mist that penetrated Zhou Yuan’s body.

After approximately one hour, Zhou Yuan’s eyes gradually opened.

In his eyes was a glow of light that made his eyes appear bright like gems. A moment later, the light dissipated, and his eyes were restored to normal.

The corners of Zhou Yuan’s mouth curved into a smile.

After several days of practice, the majority of his wounds had healed, and the dull Divine Dwelling was beginning to glow. This was a sign that Genesis Qi was accumulating once again.

Although he hadn’t fully recovered, he at least didn’t need to worry when he encountered enemies of the initial Divine Dwelling stage and could protect himself.

However, the injuries he had suffered this time were very serious, and through the perception ability of his spirit, he learnt that his body was in a fractured state. Even though he had activated the Mythic Saint Body Art, his self-healing was much slower than it was before.

It was not until now that Zhou Yuan truly began to understand the power of the Taiyi Green Wood Mark. If he hadn’t exhausted the Taiyi Green Wood Mark, all his injuries would have most likely healed already.

“It would be great if I had some ancient wood essence...” Zhou Yuan scratched his head. With the essence of ancient wood, he would be able to absorb its vitality and once again refine a Green Wood Mark.

Unfortunately, the treasures in his spatial bag had long been destroyed in the chaos torrent of space.

His hard-earned Divine Dwelling medicines were also all destroyed. Those were cultivation resources necessary for the Divine Dwelling stage.

Even with Zhou Yuan’s temperament, he was still extremely upset about these losses.

While Zhou Yuan’s heart was aching, he suddenly felt the carriage quickly slow down. He glanced up at the sky and knew that Yi Qiushui and the others were going to set up camp and rest for the night.

. . . .

Many people rushed out, and soon there was a camp set up in the forest. Campfires blazed brightly, and the camp became lively.

In the center of the camp, wearing a light-yellow dress, Yi Qiushui stood tall next to a campfire. Her graceful body appeared extremely slim, and her fair skin was rosy under the illumination of the fire.

Beside her was a group of men and women laughing and talking. They all radiated a magnificent imposing manner and were evidently people of important backgrounds.

But while they were laughing and joking, the majority of their gazes were on Yi Qiushui. It was clear that Yi Qiushui was the central figure of this place.

“Qiushui, are you still worried?” A tall, handsome young man smiled. He hesitated and said, “Qiushui, I think you may have misunderstood the Qiu family. They may not necessarily want to kidnap Dong’er.

“You should sympathise with Qiu Ji. Qiu Yang died strangely. He won’t be able to escape blame when he returns.”

The other men and women also nodded. Their families had some background in Xiaoxuan Province, but compared to the Qiu family that had operated in Xiaoxuan Province for hundreds of years, there was still a huge gap between them. They didn’t want any disagreement between Yi Qiushui and the Qiu family; otherwise, it would be troublesome if they were caught in it.

Yi Qiushui raised her brows and said, “I have investigated clearly. Brother Mu Chao doesn’t need to say more.”

The eyes of the young man named Mu Chao flashed. He faintly smiled. “Qiushui, in my opinion, you should hand over that person from another heaven to Qiu Ji. As long as they don’t pester us any longer, we should be able to successfully reach Xuanzhou City.

“Is there a need to anger them for someone of unknown origin?”

Several youngsters echoed his statement. They had already learned from Yi Qiushui that a man from another heaven had crushed Qiu Yang to death.

More importantly, Yi Qiushui had been taking good care of that strange man, which made them a little unhappy. After all, in their eyes, someone from another heaven was simply no different to a farmer from the countryside.

It would be best if they could toss that man out for Qiu Ji to vent his hatred.

“How can we do that! Big brother Zhou Yuan saved me!” Yi Dong’er cried out.

Mu Chao smiled. “Dong’er, he didn’t save you. You saved him. If you hadn’t brought him back, he would have died in the wilderness.”

Dong’er’s cheeks puffed up, and she was about to refute his statement.

Yi Qiushui rubbed her little head and smiled at Mu Chao. “Thank you, brother Mu Chao, for thinking of us, but my Yi family has always clearly distinguished kindness and hatred, and we would never do something like that.

“Also, I don’t think Qiu Ji has the ability to do anything to us.”

Mu Chao shrugged his shoulder with a smile. “Of course, Qiushui, you have opened up eight Divine Dwellings. Let alone in Xiaoxuan Province, even amongst the young generation of Tianyuan Region, your fame isn’t little.

“In time, when you step into the advanced Divine Dwelling stage, you will even be ranked on the Divine Dwelling list of Hunyuan Heaven.”

Yi Qiushui gently shook her head; her oval face looked particularly beautiful under the light of the campfire. “Forget about the Divine Dwelling list. The list is full of powerful monsters. Experts that have opened up eight Divine Dwellings are everywhere.”

Yi Qiushui’s beautiful eyes flashed as she finished saying these words.

Mu Chao and the others turned their heads to see a young figure standing there. It was Zhou Yuan.

Mu Chao knitted his brows in a frown. He didn’t know how long Zhou Yuan had been standing there or whether or not he had heard what they had said. But soon Mu Chao smiled, and he didn’t care too much.

So what if a boy with no strength and no background heard what they said?

Mu Chao could easily squeeze him to death if he really angered him.

“Zhou Yuan, why did you come out? How’s your injury?” Yi Qiushui asked, looking at Zhou Yuan.

“It’s very lively.”

Zhou Yuan came over with a smile. He ran his eyes across the men and women with vigorous auras and then withdrew his gaze. There wasn’t a trace of anger on his face, even if he did hear what they had said.

Mu Chao’s eyes flashed with contempt when he saw the look on Zhou Yuan’s face. He evidently thought that Zhou Yuan was swallowing the insult, which was something someone incompetent would do.

Several girls who weren’t as stunning as Yi Qiushui but were still very pretty were curiously studying Zhou Yuan. After all, he had killed Qiu Yang, which could be considered a feat. This story would presumably soon spread throughout Xiaoxuan Province.

But what made them slightly disappointed was that although Zhou Yuan was handsome, he wasn’t particularly special.

Yi Qiushui felt a little helpless when she saw that everybody was sizing up Zhou Yuan. She pointed to the barbecue meat on the campfire and asked, “You want to eat? I’ll tell someone to prepare it for you.”

Zhou Yuan smiled and shook his head. “Miss Yi, on our way to Xuanzhou City, would the Qiu family send out experts of the Heavenly Sun stage?”

Yi Qiushui was a little taken aback by the question. Immediately after, she shook her head and answered, “Heavenly Sun stage experts are elder-level existences in the Qiu family and are most likely unable to leave Xuanzhou City.”

Zhou Yuan nodded.

“What’s going on?” Yi Qiushui asked in puzzlement.

Zhou Yuan looked at Yi Qiushui’s beautiful cheeks that were rosy red under the campfire, and he said, “If there aren’t Heavenly Sun experts, I can escort Miss Yi to Xuanzhou City, but only if Miss Yi can provide me with one hundred ancient wood essences that are over 500 years old.”

Everyone fell silent.

Several mocking gazes fell on Zhou Yuan’s calm face.

Even Yi Qiushui was a little stunned.