In the next few days, what happened during Xiaoxuan Prefecture’s Prefecture Lord battle spread beyond the prefecture at an astonishing speed and caused constant uproar.

Of course, if it were just an ordinary Prefecture Lord battle, it wouldn’t have attracted so much attention. After all, there were nine hundred prefectures in the Tianyuan Region, and Xiaoxuan Prefecture wasn’t particularly special among them.

But no one would have thought that the Prefecture Lord battle of Xiaoxuan Prefecture would involve Mo Yuan, a heaven pride who was ranked on the Divine Dwelling List of Hunyuan Heaven.

And the key point was that...Mo Yuan lost!

He lost to a strange young man at the intermediate Divine Dwelling stage!

In the Tianyuan Region, there were countless Divine Dwelling experts, but only thirty-eight of them could be ranked on the Divine Dwelling List. Although Mo Yuan was ranked near the bottom, no one dared to underestimate his strength.

Given Mo Yuan’s potential, he was certain to reach the Heavenly Sun stage in the future, and those at the Heavenly Sun stage could be considered the real pillars of the Tianyuan Region.

In the future, if Mo Yuan had sufficient opportunities, he may even be able to advance to the Nascent Source stage.

Cultivators of the Nascent Source stage, whether in the Tianyuan Region or the whole Hunyuan Heaven, could be considered top experts who can’t be ignored.

And it was precisely because Mo Yuan had quite a bit of fame in the Tianyuan Region that this matter caused such significant uproar.

Thus, after countless inquiries, information about the young man who defeated Mo Yuan also disseminated.

Zhou Yuan, intermediate Divine Dwelling stage, background unknown.

The unfamiliar name announced the birth of a dark horse in the Divine Dwelling stage. The various factions in the Tianyuan Region weren’t surprised by this, because the Tianyuan Region was far too vast. There were nine hundred prefectures, and no one knew how many heaven prides were hidden across the land. Those who had not made themselves known were not necessarily weaker than the rankers on the Divine Dwelling List.

The emergence of similar dark horses, although uncommon, still happened from time to time.

Most of these dark horses were full of arrogance and wanted to amaze the world with a single brilliant feat. Therefore, dark horses often emerged in important events...

Of course, no matter how many hidden dark horses there were, at least the very least, Zhou Yuan’s name had spread throughout the Tianyuan Region this time.

Zhou Yuan’s fame was achieved by stepping on Mo Yuan, which some people secretly gloated over. This wasn’t directed at Zhou Yuan but at the Heavenly Spirit Sect.

After all, the Heavenly Spirit Sect was powerful and influential, and they had offended many people before. It was amusing to see the domineering Heavenly Spirit Sect suffer a defeat.

But there were also some who felt apprehensive. Zhou Yuan was too reckless. Although he had defeated Mo Yuan, he had angered the mighty Heavenly Spirit Sect and would likely run into many troubles in the future.

......

Xuanzhou City, the Yi clan’s residence.

Zhou Yuan was sitting cross-legged in a quiet, secluded courtyard with a red jewel-like Divine Dwelling medicine suspended between his palms. It continuously emitted pure and strong scarlet-red light which steadily flowed into Zhou Yuan’s body.

The pure power of the Divine Dwelling medicine, after entering his body, ran through the meridians and into the Divine Dwellings to refine them.

This process lasted for one hour.

By the time Zhou Yuan opened his eyes, the high-grade Divine Dwelling medicine in the palm of his hand had turned to powder and scattered with the wind.

Zhou Yuan’s heart ached when he saw this. He had to consume two high-grade Divine Dwelling medicines every day for his training, and although his cultivation progress was good, the consumption was really painful.

From his calculation, the fifty high-grade Divine Dwelling medicines that he was rewarded for helping the Yi clan win the Prefecture Lord battle could at most support his training for less than a month.

Of course, if someone else in the Divine Dwelling stage were to hear this, they would have already flown into a rage. For ordinary Divine Dwelling stage practitioners, one Divine Dwelling medicine was enough for several days of training, but with Zhou Yuan, it was used up in less than an hour.

But Zhou Yuan also was very helpless about this. His chaos Divine Dwellings were powerful, but they were extremely difficult to refine.

“I have to find a steady source of Divine Dwelling medicine.”

Zhou Yuan let out a long sigh. If he were to deplete his stockpile, his training would undoubtedly enter a period of very slow growth.

More importantly, he had already tasted the sweetness of two servings of high-grade Divine Dwelling medicines a day. If he were to reduce the amount, it would be extremely uncomfortable. As they say, it is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.

While Zhou Yuan was sighing, a Yi clan servant came to the courtyard and respectfully let him know that Yi Qiushui had invited him to the front courtyard.

Zhou Yuan asked for the reason, and the maid whispered that someone from the Heavenly Spirit Sect had arrived.

Zhou Yuan’s heart shivered before he nodded. The Heavenly Spirit Sect was akin to a local tyrant in the Tianyuan Region. It would be best to have a friendly relationship with them since he didn’t want to have another powerful enemy.

He tidied up a bit before following the servant to the front courtyard. Along the way he ran into some Yi clan youngsters, who all greeted him with kind and respectful smiles. Compared to before, there was undoubtedly a world of difference in their attitudes.

When they came to the front courtyard, Zhou Yuan walked straight in, ran his gaze across the area, and saw a thin middle-aged man sitting in the main seat. The man was clad in a red robe embroidered with flame patterns.

The Heavenly Sect’s Scarlet Flame Hall.

Zhou Yuan remained calm. It was said that Mo Yuan’s master, Gu Yan, was the hall master of the Scarlet Flame Hall.

However, this person shouldn’t be Gu Yan, because although Zhou Yuan could feel tyrannical Genesis Qi being exuded from his body, the man was only at the Heavenly Sun stage and wasn’t strong enough to be one of the Heavenly Spirit Sect’s hall masters.

Yi Qiushui and Yi Qianji were also in the front courtyard.

“Zhou Yuan,” Yi Qiushui got up and said with a smile, “This is attendant Gu Xi of the Scarlet Flame Hall.”

She leaned closer to Zhou Yuan and whispered, “Over the past few days, I managed to pull some strings to invite him here. It will be good for you if you manage to reconcile.”

Zhou Yuan was a little moved by her gesture. The Yi clan was likely not afraid of Gu Yan coming to create trouble, which meant Yi Qiushui had done this for him. After all, she knew that he was from another heaven, and was unfamiliar with the place and people here. Therefore, it wouldn’t be good for him to anger the powerful Heavenly Spirit Sect.

Zhou Yuan nodded in thanks, although he did not feel there was a need to do this.

He lifted his head to look at Gu Xi, whose gaze was lowered and didn’t even glance at him.

Yi Qiushui turned her head and smiled at Gu Xi. “This is Zhou Yuan—”

Gu Xi waved his hand dismissively, “I know, he’s quite famous these days.”

Yi Qiushui felt a little awkward and didn’t know what else to say. It was then that Gu Xi set down the cup of tea in his hand and stared directly at Zhou Yuan. “Since matriarch Qiushui came to find me and I have a good relationship with the Yi clan, I’ll speak to you honestly.

“This matter has already reached the hall master’s ears. Although he’s a little unhappy, he isn’t narrow-minded, and he doesn’t intend to lower himself to the level of a little junior.

“Also the hall master admires your talent and told me to pass on the message that he can accept you into the sect as a registered disciple.”

Yi Qiushui’s face lit up in joy.

But Zhou Yuan frowned slightly. He didn’t care for being a registered disciple of the Heavenly Spirit Sect. His master was the supreme sovereign Cang Yuan. What was Gu Yan compared to him?

Moreover, he could keenly feel that there wasn’t much friendliness in Gu Xi’s voice.

“However...”

As expected, Gu Xi’s tone of voice changed all of a sudden. “You did damage the face of our Scarlet Flame Hall and will need to do something as a gesture of remorse. Hmm, when you were fighting Mo Yuan, the high-grade Heaven-tier Genesis techniques you used seemed pretty good. You can offer those to enrich the Scarlet Flame Hall’s treasury, and we will put this matter behind us.

“Haha, your Genesis techniques should be from some inheritance you managed to stumble upon, isn’t that right? Your luck is pretty good, but such a thing isn’t that uncommon in the Tianyuan Region.”

And as his voice faded, the front courtyard suddenly fell silent.