A bonfire was blazing in the mountains. A fat cow was skinned and cleaned, then skewered with a wooden stick. Yuan Kun held the stick with one hand and skillfully rotated it over the fire.

He sprinkled some spices over it, and an aroma instantly filled the air.

The ox was roasted until it was a golden color. Its fat dripped off and hit the campfire, creating bursts of intense flames. Its aroma was mouth-watering.

Yuan Kun looked very skillful, like a real chef.

Half an hour later, Yuan Kun gave a satisfied nod and tore off one of the steaming beef shanks and handed it to Zhou Yuan.

“Hey, try it. My cooking skills are unique in the Yushou Region.” Yuan Kun clearly sounded proud. It even seemed that he was more proud of his cooking skills than being ranked one in the Yushou Region.

The corners of Zhou Yuan’s mouth twitched, and then he reached his hand out to take it. He watched Yuan Kun split the remaining fatty beef into two, one for himself to feast on, and he tossed the other to the Divine Earth Ox lying to the side.

The Divine Earth Ox seemed to really enjoy it, and it finished the meat even quicker than Yuan Kun, leaving grease all over its lips.

Zhou Yuan speechlessly shook his head when he saw this bizarre scene, then lowered his head to slowly enjoy the fatty beef shank in his hand. Besides, the flavor was really delicious. It was no wonder Yuan Kun was so proud of it.

When Zhou Yuan finished the beef shank, Yuan Kun patted his stomach, looking very satisfied.

“Brother Yuan Kun, let's talk about Alpha Spiritium.” Once the roast beef feast was finished, Zhou Yuan returned to serious business.

Yuan Kun lifted up a stick to pick his teeth and grinned at Zhou Yuan. “Brother Zhou Yuan must have noticed the strange fluctuation of energy when you entered this space, right?”

“There is indeed Alpha Spiritium in this space.”

“You came a few days late. We’ve actually discovered the existence of Alpha Spiritium earlier.”

Zhou Yuan asked puzzledly, “Then you obtained the Alpha Spiritium?”

Yuan Kun smiled stiffly. “If I’ve got it, how would I ask you to cooperate with me.”

“Did someone else get it before you?” Zhou Yuan’s eyes flashed.

“In this space, in addition to our two teams, there is also a team from the Zixiao Region and the team led by Jiu Gong. However, the team from the Zixiao Region is not the main force,” Xuan Kun said helplessly.

“Jiu Gong of the Xuanji Region?” Zhou Yuan sounded a little surprised. He didn’t expect there to be another main force team besides them.

Although he was unfamiliar with Jiu Gong of the Xuanji Region, he had long heard of her name. After all, she was the reviewer of the Divine Dwelling List, and she was also the reason why he couldn’t make it into the top ten initially.

“You didn't fight with her?” Zhou Yuan laughed.

A faint flush spread across Yuan Kun’s chubby and pale face, and immediately he grumbled, “That little woman is very domineering. She first occupied the area containing the Alpha Spiritium and then set up a Meridian Golden Light Boundary. I led a team of people to try to break through but gave up after half a day and tried to search for other Alpha Spiritiums. But unfortunately, we failed to find any.”

Zhou Yuan whispered, “Is Brother Yuan Kun saying that we should cooperate to break through Jiu Gong’s Meridian Golden Light Boundary and seize the Alpha Spiritium?”

Yuan Kun nodded. “Otherwise, given that little woman’s domineering personality, it would be difficult to get our hands on the Alpha Spiritium in this mini domain.”

He looked at Zhou Yuan and said, “What? What is Brother Zhou Yuan thinking? I won’t blame you if you don’t want to offend Jiu Gong. That little woman is so arrogant, but because of the Xuanji Region’s special status, nobody in Hunyuan Heaven will dare to mess with them.”

Zhou Yuan could tell that Yuan Kun was trying to spur him to cooperate with him from his tone of voice. He smiled. “Brother Yuan Kun, you don’t need to do this. We all came to the nine regions tournament for Alpha Spiritium. Jiu Gong may be well known, but to me, she can’t be compared to Alpha Spiritium.

“If she wants to stop me from getting Alpha Spiritium, she’s my enemy.”

Yuan Kun’s eyes lit up. “Your words are music to my ear. Then, when our teams finish collecting Spiritium in this mini domain, will we take action?”

Zhou Yuan naturally had no objection and nodded with a smile.

He was indeed a little curious about the girl who was second only to Wu Yao and Su Youwei among the Divine Dwelling stage experts within Hunyuan heaven. But if she wanted to take all the Alpha Spiritium, she would have to ask whether or not his Tianyuan brush agrees or not.

In front of Alpha Spiritium...what was a beauty?

Zhou Yuan and Yuan Kun both issued an order, and the two teams collecting strands of Spiritium hastened. After half a day, they finished collecting all the Spiritium in the mountains.

Then, Yuan Kun led the way with his team, and Zhou Yuan closely followed with the Tianyuan Region’s team.

The two groups of people skimmed across the sky in a mighty manner, heading directly southwest.

....

The southwest area.

Compared with the rest of the space, the southwest area was very different. It was bitterly cold, and the icy wind felt as if it could lash one’s skin.

The snow-capped mountains were endless, and in the deepest location, numerous mountains of ice stood tall.

At this moment, rays of dazzling golden light shrouded the tallest ice mountain, making it difficult for people to see through it. The flashing golden light was extremely mysterious, and even the raging icy wind couldn’t penetrate it.

A whistle of wind sounded from the distance.

A large number of black shadows streaked across the air and landed outside the ice mountain flashing with golden light.

Fierce and imposing.

It was Yuan Kun and Zhou Yuan.

“Is this it?” Zhou Yuan’s eyes flickered with surprise when he saw the ice mountain shrouded in golden light. In his eyes, it wasn’t golden light but countless Genesis Runes.

The boundary was quite strange in that it was a combination of Genesis Rune and Genesis Qi.

“I've long heard that the Xuanji Region’s mastery of Genesis Runes is second only to the Shengwen Region. Now that I’ve seen it, it is indeed a well-deserved reputation.” Zhou Yuan marveled.

Yuan Kun stroked his greasy face and said in an irritated tone, “If it were a real fight with spears and swords, I wouldn’t be afraid of Jiu Gong. But after she set up this boundary, there wasn’t anything I could do.”

Zhou Yuan nodded. “Get someone to send in a message. Let’s try a peaceful method before resorting to force. Otherwise, people would say we were bullying a woman.”

Yuan Kun nodded in agreement and ordered someone to send in the message.

.....

When Zhou Yuan, Yuan Kun and their teams arrived, the many people inside the ice mountain were aware of their presence.

One of them scanned them and chuckled contemptuously, “I wondered who it was. It turned out to be the chief pavilion master of the Tianyuan Region.”

This person was the captain of the Zixiao Region team, Xue Jingtao.

Behind Xue Jingtao was a female disciple. After some hesitation, she said, “Zhou Yuan and senior sister Su Youwei are acquainted with each other. We shouldn’t make things difficult for him, right?”

Xue Jingtao frowned. “You are overthinking. How would junior sister Su Youwei know a peasant like him? Even if they are acquainted, their friendship wouldn’t be as deep as you think.

“Besides, everybody in the nine region tournaments are enemies. Since we ran into each other, how can we hold back?

“Besides, it's not us who are in charge. It’s Miss Jiu Gong.”

He waved his hand dismissively and didn’t let the female disciple say anything more. “I’ll inform Miss Jiu Gong and see what she decides.”

With that, he vanished in the blink of an eye.

At the top of the ice mountain, Xue Jingtao's figure appeared, looking ahead where a beautiful woman scrunched her brows in a frown. She was dressed in a loose robe, but that couldn’t hide her curvaceous figure.

In truth, she wasn’t in the slightest inferior to Wu Yao and Su Youwei based purely on appearance. Each had their strong points. If Wu Yao was strong and tough, then Su Youwei was gentle and tenacious, and Jiu Gong was icily arrogant, which was charming to some people.

As Xue Jingtao faced a woman like her, his heart inevitably fluttered, but he didn’t dare to show it. He gave a cupped fist salute and reported, “Miss Jiu Gong, Yuan Kun is back and brought a team to help him.”

“They sent a message to tell Miss Jiu Gong to open the Golden Light Boundary and share the Alpha Spiritium.”

Jiu Gong raised her slender and long eyebrows. “Who's the helper he brought?”

“Zhou Yuan from the Tianyuan Region.”

“Oh? So it’s him.”

A smile broke out on Jiu Gong’s beautiful face. “Has Yuan Kun gone crazy? He thinks he can break my Meridian Golden Light Boundary with the help of someone ranked ninth on the Divine Dwelling List?”

She tilted her head and said after a thought, “Send a message back that if they want to share the Alpha Spiritium, they should talk to me once they break the Meridian Golden Light Boundary. If they don’t have the ability, tell them to leave....”

If Yuan Kun had found help from the main force of one of the other regions, she might have considered his request, but he had brought the Tianyuan Region’s chief pavilion master.

Watching Xue Jingtao leave, she cast her gaze to the mountain in the distance and muttered, “I would like to see what ability you have to make Su Youwei favor you like so.”