The Saint Rune light sphere was quietly floating in the great hall, surrounded in halos of light. Four ancient and complex Saint Runes slowly revolved around the sphere, drawing everyone’s attention.
Even the four sect masters were staring intently at it. The Cangxuan Saint Stamp was broken and scattered in all corners of Cangxuan Heaven and thus fragments of it weren’t uncommon; however, no one had ever found any traces of the four Saint Runes. Who would have thought that Zhou Yuan had brought them out of Cangxuan Heaven?
Moreover, the Saint Stamp fragment within the sphere surrounded by the four Saint Runes exuded a different and extraordinary wave of energy. Based on the four sect masters’ understanding of the Saint Stamp fragments, that fragment was one of the core fragments.
In ordinary times, the appearance of such a fragment would have sparked a battle to death over it.
But now, the several higher-ups only exchanged glances with one another and shrank back. They only dared to furtively look at it from the corners of their eyes.
Even the four sect masters looked a little awkward.
Whoever received the Saint Runes and the fragment would have to fight Sheng Yuan. In truth, if they felt they had a chance in a fight against Sheng Yuan, they would have counterattacked the Sacred Palace long ago.
The entire hall fell into an awkward silence.
Zhou Yuan raised his hand and the Saint Rune sphere floated above his palm. Flicking his fingers, he said in a gentle voice, “You guys were so reluctant to part with your Saint Stamp fragments, don’t tell me you have no interest in Saint Runes?”
As he ran his eyes across the crowd, the higher-ups of all sects evaded his gaze, afraid of being pointed out by Zhou Yuan.
Even Liu Lianyi and other peak masters from the Cangxuan Sect couldn’t help exclaiming when they saw such a scene. Who would have thought that their little junior could throw so many higher-ups of the great sacred sects into such an embarrassed state with just a few words?
In just ten years, the wave behind had risen and now its force could suppress the entire Cangxuan Heaven.
The awkward atmosphere lasted for a good while until sect master Qing Yang smiled wryly and broke the silence: “Zhou Yuan, our Cangxuan Sect has no problem with supporting you with all our strength, but it seems the other three sects can’t make a decision yet.”
Zhou Yuan said indifferently. “Sect master, you all must have experienced the strength of Sheng Yuan. Even I don’t have absolute confidence in winning, so the battle against him would undoubtedly be a battle of life and death. Therefore, I also need to be well-prepared. The battle would concern the survival of Cangxuan Heaven. If we fail, all sects and factions could only choose one of the two options: be destroyed or become slaves of the Sacred Palace.”
Many people’s faces tensed up. Although Zhou Yuan’s words were simple, they all felt how extremely tragic it would be then.
If they had any intention of making peace with the Sacred Race, they wouldn’t have bitterly fought the Sacred palace for so many years.
Zhou Yuan ran his sharp eyes over everyone and continued, “So, do you really think you have a lot of choices? No, you only have two choices. One is to hand the Saint Stamp fragments over to me and hope that I can defeat Sheng Yuan. The second is wait and follow the footsteps of the Heavenly Ghost Sect!”
There was utter silence in the great hall, and beads of cold sweat had unknowingly accumulated on everyone’s foreheads.
After a long period of silence, the sect master of the Sword Seeker Sect, Heaven Sword Sovereign, sighed out loud. “Although Zhou Yuan's words sounded harsh, he isn’t all wrong. We really are ignorant of the present state of affairs.”
He laughed at himself. “Zhou Yuan could be leisurely and carefree in all-heavens but he chose to take on a mission at such a time of crisis and unhesitatingly returned to the chaotic Cangxuan Heaven. We need him to face Sheng Yuan, yet we are all making selfish calculations.”
The Heavenly Sword Sovereign trembled to his feet and bowed towards Zhou Yuan. “Our Sword Seeker Sect will hand over all the Saint Stamp fragments we collected. I hope you could behead Sheng Yuan and make peace return to our Cangxuan Heaven.”
Seeing that the Heavenly Sword Sovereign had made a decision, the higher-ups of the Sword Seeker Sect glanced at one another and finally stood up and bowed towards Zhou Yuan.
“Our Cangxuan Sect also thinks the same.” Sect master Qing Yang also got up and bowed towards Zhou Yuan.
Behind him, Liu Lianyi, Ling Jun, the white-browed old man and Gu Tianhong stood up with complex expressions.
Two of the four great sacred sects had made a choice. But venerable lord Gu Jing of the North Sea Dragon Subduing Hall remained quiet for a while and finally said in a low voice, “Our North Sea Dragon Subduing Hall believes that only power should be respected. I’m not greedy for those Saint Stamp fragments, but I hope Zhou Yuan can convince me and everyone else to believe in you.”
He looked at Zhou Yuan with eyes blazing with fiery fighting intent, and streaky markings emerged on his body. His body was so powerful that it directly caused the void to violently vibrate.
He unexpectedly wanted to challenge Zhou Yuan.
However, just as mighty powers circulated around his body and his fighting spirit soared, he noticed the surroundings changing. He focused his gaze and saw a giant purple-gold nine-claw dragon that stretched endlessly into the distance. The dragon hovered around with its head hung low but its eyes, filled with majesty, were cast in his direction.
A terrifying pressure enveloped him and he found his tough physical body, which he was incredibly proud of, was cracking and blood seeped out from his skin
Boom!
The purple-gold dragon swung its claw down.
Powerful, mighty and boundless, the dragon claw resembled nine rays of light.
Venerable lord Gu Jing’s face twisted with terror. Then, his body suddenly expanded, becoming an ancient giant. He attempted to withstand the dragon claw slamming down.
It was only during the collision that he understood how naive his thinking was. The power was so majestic that he felt as insignificant as a tiny ant under a sky of stars.
Boom!
The dragon claw covered him and his body instantly broke apart. At the same time, everything darkened into nothingness before him.
“Sect master!” Cries of panic rang in his ears, causing him to snap open his eyes to see that he was limply sitting and dripping with blood. All the elders of the North Sea Dragon Subduing Hall were supporting him with panicked expressions.
Venerable lord Gu Jing waved his hand, staring at Zhou Yuan with astonishment. “Zhou Yuan, you really deserve to be called the strongest below the Saint stage.”
The other three sect masters’ eyes went wide with shock. They knew that Zhou Yuan had activated his Law Domain and enveloped venerable lord Gu Jing.
Venerable lord Gu Jing was drawn into Zhou Yuan's Law Domain and the winner between them was determined in minutes.
He suffered a crushing defeat.
Venerable lord Gu Jing sprang up, ignoring the bloodstains all over his body, and he enthusiastically said to Zhou Yuan with a cupped fist salute, “Alliance leader Zhou Yuan, if there is anything, our North Sea Dragon Subduing Hall will do everything we can to help.”
The North Sea Dragon Subduing Hall only believed in power, and it was clear that the sect master was truly convinced of Zhou Yuan’s power.
The other three sect masters in the great hall inhaled deeply. Their strength was around the same level as venerable lord Gu Jing, which means they would suffer the same outcome if they were to face Zhou Yuan.
As the higher-ups of the various sects frantically swallowed saliva in their mouths, awe began to fill their eyes as they looked at Zhou Yuan.
After all, regardless how well-known Zhou Yuan was, they had never witnessed his true strength. Venerable lord Gu Jing was already a top expert in Cangxuan Heaven in many people’s eyes, but even so, he was utterly crushed when he faced Zhou Yuan.
What terrifying strength?!
Seeing the numerous gazes of awe and reverence, Zhou Yuan gave a cupped fist salute to venerable lord Gu Jing and shifted his gaze to the beautiful palace master of the Hundred Flowers Fairy Palace.
Meeting Zhou Yuan's gaze, the beautiful palace master gave him a charming smile and said softly, “Our Hundred Flowers Fairy Palace has no objection…but I have a suggestion…”
“Please go ahead.”
Shan Qingzi said with a smile, “I wonder if Zhou Yuan is married. I heard that you have known Qingyu for years. How about forming marriage ties with our Hundred Flowers Fairy Palace?”
Zhou Yuan, who had awed everyone and earned respect from all sects, could no longer keep a calm expression. He stared at the beautiful palace master in stunned silence.
Seeing Zhou Yuan didn’t answer her, the beautiful palace master said, “If not Qingyu, then our little girl Luluo is also pretty and cute. You would be a good match with her.”
Zhou Yuan flopped down. He, whose power just drew forth awe and reverence from the four sacred sects, had to retreat completely.