“You…what did you do to me?!”

There was a lost and shocked look on Yi Qiushui’s pretty face as she uttered these words. Her Spirit cultivation was only at the initial Corporeal stage, while Ye Bingling had reached the intermediate Corporeal stage and was far stronger than her. This was something both of them had personally tested out many times.

However, her Spirit needle had smashed apart Ye Bingling’s Spirit needle!

Yi Qiushui would not dare to believe it if she had not personally witnessed it.

As such, she could only stare at Zhou Yuan with her eyes wide open. No one knew her strength better than herself. Shattering Ye Bingling’s Spirit needle had to have been due to something Zhou Yuan had done.

Ye Bingling’s beautiful yet aloof face was also somewhat dazed. Moments later, she suddenly returned to her senses as her burning eyes locked onto Zhou Yuan.

“How did you do it?!”

Zhou Yuan lightly tapped his palm with the Heavenly Yuan Brush. He did not reply, but unconcealable joy surged out from the depths of his eyes.

It had only been a strike of inspiration previously for him to see if he could use Spirit Devour’s power by splitting off the brush hairs. This inspiration originated from the four ancient Genesis Runes. To complete a wind spirit rune, they had to collect Genesis marks in the Four Spirits Origin Tower.

Although the resulting runes did not have the same level of power as the main rune, they still bestowed a noteworthy advantage.

Spirit Devour possessed great destructive power towards the Spirit and could devour an opponent’s Spirit to strengthen itself. If he could come up with some sort of method to give the Wind Pavilion members this ability, even a weakened version would tremendously boost their Spirit combat prowess.

However, splitting off a Genesis mark was no simple feat and was something Zhou Yuan could not possibly achieve alone. After all, the Four Spirits Origin Tower was only able to do so because of the mottled divine grindstone hidden deep within it.

Fortunately, although Zhou Yuan did not have a divine grindstone, he had the Heavenly Yuan Brush.

It was once a Saint tier artifact and still possessed miraculous powers even though it had been damaged.

Hence, Zhou Yuan was able to easily borrow the Heavenly Yuan Brush’s many hairs to bestow the power of the Spirit Devour rune through Genesis marks. He only needed to wrap the split hair around the target’s body, and the user’s Spirit attacks would gain a sliver of Spirit Devour’s power.

This was how Yi Qiushui had managed to shatter Ye Bingling’s Spirit needle.

From the test, a single strand of brush hair could activate the power of Spirit Devour five times. After five activations, the Genesis mark on the hair would dissipate.

It was not a lot, but it would be enough to bring about a reversal if used at a critical juncture.

In addition, the Heavenly Yuan Brush had an endless amount of brush hairs. Although removing several thousand was not without cost, it only needed to rest for a while to fully recover, and there would not be any lasting damage.

However, directly using the brush hairs would certainly draw attention. Although his senior sister Chi Jing had said that it was not strange for brush-like Genesis Weapons to appear in the Tianyuan Region, he felt that he should still practice some caution.

Hence, if he wanted to use the Spirit Devour Genesis mark to boost the Wind Pavilion’s Spirit battle power, he needed to think of a way to conceal it.

Zhou Yuan’s eyes grew increasingly excited as these thoughts swirled in his head. If everything worked, he would no longer fear the Fire Pavilion during the Heaven Flame Ritual.

Excited, Zhou Yuan could no longer restrain himself and quickly said to Yi Qiushui and Ye Bingling, “I’ll leave the Spirit practice to you two. I’ll be going into secluded cultivation for a few days.”

Without waiting for either of them to reply, his figure moved and shot into the air.

Yi Qiushui and Ye Bingling stamped their feet in anger upon seeing that he had run without explaining anything as usual. In the end, they could only helplessly look at each other.

“He’s truly very energetic.” Ye Bingling’s lips curled downwards.

Yi Qiushui nodded. Her eyes brightened slightly as she said, “But it seems that he discovered something amazing.”

“Acting so mysterious, he didn’t even tell us anything.” Ye Bingling let out an annoyed snort. However, joy soon surfaced in her eyes. Zhou Yuan was not someone who randomly shot about in the dark. Given his appearance, he had to have thought of something.

After all, the scene of Yi Qiushui shattering her Spirit needle had been somewhat miraculous.

“I guess this year’s Heaven Flame Ritual is going to be quite exciting.” Yi Qiushui softly chuckled.

Ye Bingling could not help but sigh. “He’s indeed a very capable fellow. If I were the wind pavilion master instead, we would never have reached such heights.”

She was a proud person. Like everyone else, she had viewed Zhou Yuan as a newbie when he had first arrived at the Wind Pavilion and had not felt there was anything special about him. She only knew that they were both subordinates of Lady Chi Jing’s camp. However, the more time she spent in contact with him, the more Zhou Yuan’s ability changed her impression, eventually winning her over completely.

“No wonder Lady Chi Jing regards him so highly. He is indeed much more capable than me.”

Yi Qiushui’s eyes rippled a little as she quietly asked, “Have you heard the recent rumors spreading in Tianyuan Utopia?”

Frost instantly gathered on Ye Bingling’s pretty face. She also blushed a little as she replied, “Those are merely fools wagging their tongues. Lady Chi Jing is the phoenix of our Tianyuan Region, how could it be true?”

Rumors had been circulating in Tianyuan Utopia that Lady Chi Jing regarded Zhou Yuan highly not because of his ability but because she fancied him as something like a gigolo of sorts.

Yi Qiushui’s expression was somewhat awkward, but she nodded in agreement.

However, it was unavoidable for her to have such thoughts because she clearly understood Zhou Yuan’s origins. It had been less than a year since he had arrived in the Tianyuan Region, and he essentially had no roots here. Despite this, Lady Chi Jing seemed to always regard him very highly and had not only given him the important position of deputy wind pavilion master but had even repeatedly supported him from the background.

One could only admit that Lady Chi Jing treated Zhou Yuan very well.

Could there really be some truth to those rumors?

However, she also understood Zhou Yuan’s character. He might seem friendly and gentle, but he was in truth a proud and unbowing individual. It was impossible for him to be something like a gigolo. So, could they have mutual feelings for each other?

Yi Qiushui violently shook her head inside as she muttered in her heart, What nonsense am I thinking? Although Zhou Yuan is outstandingly talented, who is Lady Chi Jing? She has seen all kinds of talented heaven prides in the past, so how can someone like Zhou Yuan possibly enter her eyes?

However, once this thought emerged, it firmly took root in her heart, refusing to be removed. Yi Qiushui’s expression changed rapidly. Only she knew what thoughts were swirling in her head.

Zhou Yuan spent the following days in secluded cultivation while Yi Qiushui and Ye Bingling took over the Wind Pavilion’s Spirit practice drills.

Time swiftly flowed, and the day of the Heaven Flame Ritual stealthily arrived in the blink of an eye.