Lu Xiao hurriedly cast his gaze over, and when he saw a wave of figures led by a tall woman coming toward them, his face paled abruptly, and he couldn't stop shaking.

The other Heavenly Spirit Sect disciples beside him all bowed their heads like ostriches.

Zhou Yuan was a little surprised to see the woman called Qin Lian have such an imposing manner and power to scare the Heavenly Spirit Sect disciples to such a state.

“Who is Qin Lian?” he asked Yi Qiushui.

Yi Qiushui covered her mouth and whispered, “An influential figure well-known throughout the entire Tianyuan Region. She is ranked sixth on the Heavenly Sun List, and once led the Tianyuan Region to win fifth place in the nine regions tournament, the best result in almost one hundred years except for yours.”

A look of surprise crossed Zhou Yuan's face. He was aware of the nine regions tournament’s difficulty. Ever since the Tianyuan Region was established, it had only achieved third place even during its most flourishing period. Therefore, it was extremely difficult to win fifth place.

“Senior sister Qin Lian is a disciple of the Heavenly Spirit Sect. No, she is now considered the youngest elder in the sect, and within Heavenly Spirit Sect, she is known as the female devil who sends shivers down countless disciples’ spines.

“She is in charge of disciplining and teaching the disciples, but her methods of correction are brutal and cruel. She must have strictly disciplined Lu Xiao and the others in the past for them to be so fearful of her. Even though the Tianyuan Region is somewhat weak in these years, amongst the Four Pavilions, the most outstanding people of each generation were mostly disciples of the Heavenly Spirit Sect.”

Yi Qiushui looked at Zhou Yuan and said, “Until you appeared.”

Zhou Yuan was taken aback. His appearance had dimmed the brilliant light of this generation’s Heavenly Spirit Sect disciples, and he had completely suppressed them. Qin Lian no doubt felt that Lu Xiao and the other Heavenly Spirit Sect disciples were incompetent compared to him. It was no wonder that Lu Xiao and the others trembled at her name.

It must have left a deep psychological shadow within them.

Yi Qiushui sighed. “The outside world says that the glory of the Tianyuan Region stopped at Qin Lian's generation, because ever since her, each generation of young people got weaker and weaker. If you hadn’t appeared, the Tianyuan Region certainly would be ranked at the bottom of the nine regions tournament again, and we might not have been able to even capture a stone statue.”

This was very likely, because without Zhou Yuan, the Tianyuan Region could only rely on Lu Xiao. But Lu Xiao didn't even have the confidence to win against the second-rate heaven prides of the other eight regions.

The Tianyuan would become a laughing stock if he lost.

While the two were whispering, the threatening wave of people finally arrived before the Four Pavilions people.

Zhou Yuan swept a glance over the woman in the front.

She had an extraordinarily tall figure, and her legs were straight and slender. She was dressed in a spotless azure robe, and it made her face look even more beautiful. Her sword-like eyebrows, in particular, made her eyes especially sharp, and nobody dared to look at her directly.

Her long hair, tied in a ponytail with a bamboo strip, hung down to her ankles and swayed gently as she walked, like a scorpion’s tail.

When her footsteps halted, the atmosphere seemed to freeze for a moment.

“Elder Qin Lian,” Lu Xiao and the other Heavenly Spirit Sect disciples said cautiously.

There wasn't a trace of an expression on Qin Lian’s face. She shot a glance at Lu Xiao and the others before an icy voice rang out like the cold winter. “You have disappointed me. You are the worst generation of the Heavenly Spirit Sect in many years. When I sent you to the Four Pavilions, I repeatedly reminded you to practice hard if you don't want to be trampled.

“Unfortunately, not a single one of you listened because you thought it was enough for you to dominate the Four Pavilions. If it weren’t for special circumstances, you would have made the Tianyuan Region lose face!”

Mu Liu, Han Yuan and the others felt their scalp go numb because Qin Lian’s words were too ruthless. She basically pointed at Lu Xiao and the others in the face and scolded them like trash.

Lu Xiao and the others flushed with embarrassment and bowed their heads in shame.

“Senior sister Qin Lian, please calm down. I think Lu Xiao and the others have done their best. After all, you can’t ask everyone to be as good as you.” A laugh sounded from behind Qin Lian. It was a man in white. He looked handsome, but when he smiled, he exuded an imposing aura.

The white-clad man immediately shifted his gaze to Zhou Yuan and said, “You must be chief pavilion master Zhou Yuan, am I right? Our Tianyuan Region really should thank you for turning the tides in the nine regions tournament. Haha, but chief pavilion master Zhou Yuan must quickly break through to the Heavenly Sun stage. After all, Divine Dwelling experts can only serve others in this war.

“If you're afraid of something happening, you can follow us, and we'll be sure to protect you then.”

He spoke with a smile, but there was a deep meaning in his words. It seemed that he wanted to tell the other Heavenly Spirit Sect disciples that although the present chief pavilion master was remarkable, they shouldn't feel too much pressure. Just like in this war involving the Tianyuan Region, Zhou Yuan, as a Divine Dwelling expert, would require the protection of him and other Heavenly Sun stage experts.

Zhou Yuan looked at the man in white, and Yi Qiushui whispered to him, “His name is Li Qingyue, the previous generation’s chief pavilion master and now an intermediate Heavenly Sun stage expert.”

Zhou Yuan looked a little surprised. He didn’t expect him to be the former chief pavilion master.

He could tell that Li Qingyue had some unclear feelings towards him, and it must be some kind of discomfort and jealousy. After all, as the previous generation’s chief pavilion master, the achievements he made were a world of difference to Zhou Yuan’s.

Zhou Yuan said indifferently, “After today, I will go into closed-door training and attack the Heavenly Sun stage.”

Li Qingyue smiled. “Then I hope you succeed, but if you really make a breakthrough, according to the rules, you will have to lose the identity of chief pavilion master. As your senior, I can directly recruit you into the team.”

If Zhou Yuan weren’t the chief pavilion master, he would no longer have the special status similar to an elder. He would become a normal expert who just entered the Heavenly Sun stage, and in a battle situation, Li Qingyue indeed was qualified to order him around.

Zhou Yuan shook his head and ignored him.

Li Qingyue still wanted to say something, but he immediately kept quiet when he felt a chilling gaze.

Qin Lian stepped forward, saying indifferently, “Let alone you, the former chief pavilion master, there haven’t been any chief pavilion masters since the Tianyuan Region’s establishment who could compare with the present. Therefore, you don't need to have such jealous emotions.”

Li Qingyue shrugged his shoulders, looking a little embarrassed.

Qin Lian came to stand in front of Zhou Yuan, and her tall height made her on the same eye level as Zhou Yuan. Her scorpion-tail-like ponytail gently swung behind her.

As she stood in front of Zhou Yuan, a gush of extremely astonishing Genesis Qi pressure spread out from her body, distorting the void with a yang energy unbearable to ordinary people. It was as though the void was burning.

Lu Xiao and the others couldn't help drawing back frantically.

Only Zhou Yuan remained calm. The mighty Genesis Qi in his Divine Dwellings roared to withstand the pressure from the woman in front of him.

The pressure lasted for more than a dozen seconds before gradually fading.

Zhou Yuan faintly smiled. “Does elder Qin Lian also have some advice?”

The group seemed a little aggressive, but Zhou Yuan didn't find it strange. After all, he had suppressed all Heavenly Spirit Sect disciples of this generation to the point that they couldn't even throw a fit. Qin Lian and Li Qingyue were disciples of the Heavenly Spirit Sect, so it was inevitable that they wanted to come out to suppress and intimidate Zhou Yuan.

Qin Lian stared at Zhou Yuan's face, studying him for a good moment, then finally nodded.

“You aren’t bad. I hope you break through to the Heavenly Sun stage as soon as possible. With your ability, I look forward to seeing you once again create stormy waves in the Heavenly Sun stage and raise the prestige of my Tianyuan Region.

“In addition, I would like to thank you on behalf of the Heavenly Spirit Sect. If it weren’t for you, the Tianyuan Region team led by Lu Xiao would have made the Heavenly Spirit Sect lose face in the nine regions tournament.”

Zhou Yuan looked a little surprised at Qin Lian. The female devil that made many Heavenly Spirit Sect disciples tremble didn't seem as unreasonable as he imagined.