A certain courtyard in Saint Genesis Peak.
In a garden within the courtyard, Shen Taiyuan was dressed in simple robes, carefully tending to his plot with the small shovel in his hand. Meanwhile, Zhou Yuan was looking at him from a nearby stone pavilion.
Shen Taiyuan worked for quite some time, before he finally stood up in satisfaction. He patted off the dirt on his hands as he walked towards Zhou Yuan.
Zhou Yuan sighed inside as he gazed at Shen Taiyuan, who looked just like an old farmer at this moment. Who would have guessed that this ordinary looking old man was actually a Heavenly Sun stage expert.
In any other place, a person like him could establish his small sect of his own, and reign as its sect master.
In fact, if he was in the Cangmang Continent, he would be an invincible existence that could cause the rise and fall of empires at his whim.
However, Shen Taiyuan was merely an elder in the Cangxuan Sect, and above him were the various peak masters and sect master Qing Yang. From this, one can see how powerful the Cangxuan Sect, a sect which was once the strongest sect in Cangxuan Continent, truly was.
At the same time, Zhou Yuan also felt as if he understood patriarch Cang Xuan a little more. Founder of the Cangxuan Sect, controller of the Cangxuan Saint Stamp and also the patriarch of the Cangxuan Sect.
That handsome young man in the Saint Remains Domain was once the most powerful expert of this world.
"I hope that I haven"t kept you waiting too long?" Shen Taiyuan smiled at Zhou Yuan. After the cave match, every disciple noticed that the typically stern and conservative Shen Taiyuan had begun to smile more frequently.
Zhou Yuan responded with a smile and a shake of his head. He was appreciative and grateful towards Shen Taiyuan. After all, it was always comforting to be so valued and trusted by another.
Even when the crowd had turned against him, Shen Taiyuan had continued to stand up for him, an act that truly touched Zhou Yuan"s heart.
Shen Taiyuan seated himself on a stone stool, and fished out a purple token from his sleeves.
"This is the token for that purple Genesis cave dwelling. From today onwards, that cave dwelling shall belong to you." Said Shen Taiyuan with a smile.
There was joy in his eyes as Zhou Yuan received the token. After all, he knew that the purple Genesis cave dwelling was an extremely important cultivation resource, and would be hugely beneficial to his training.
Moreover, this was also why he had wracked his brains so hard in order to join the cave match..
"Thank you teacher Shen." Said Zhou Yuan as he cupped his fists together.
Shen Taiyuan waved his hands and said, "You were the one who won this. I believe that there will no longer be any objections from any of the other disciples."
Even though Shen Taiyuan had originally prepared this purple Genesis cave dwelling for Zhou Yuan, there had been a huge backlash from the other disciples in the beginning. After all, in their eyes, Zhou Yuan was merely a gold sash disciple that did not deserve to own a purple Genesis cave dwelling.
However, there were no longer any disciples who objected after the cave match. In fact, even Zhang Yan and his crew remained silent on this topic, evidently already acknowledging it.
After all, n.o.body expected Zhou Yuan to perform so spectacularly during the cave match. He had completely turned the tables, and earned back all the respect their faction was about to lose.
Shen Taiyuan smiled warmly at his disciple, a gratified look in his eyes. With a wave of his sleeve, several jade boxes appeared on the table.
"Little fellow, it"s all thanks to you that I didn"t lose face. Take these as your additional rewards." Said Shen Taiyuan with a smile.
Zhou Yuan was stunned. He casually opened one of the jade boxes, immediately feeling a heatwave being released from within it.
"These are… the Nine Suns Crystal, Sky Fire Rock Marrow and Golden Crow Heart?" Zhou Yuan stared at the objects inside the box as joy filled his heart. These were the items required to practice the Heavenly Sun G.o.d Record.
He was unable to practice the Heavenly Sun G.o.d Record because he lacked these very items. It never occurred to him that Shen Taiyuan had actually managed to gather all of them for him.
"Haha, these were quite hard to find. This old man had to look up a few old friends and pull out a couple of favors to obtain them. I know that they should be the things you want most now." Said Shen Taiyuan.
Zhou Yuan was exhilarated. In the duel against Wei Youxuan, Zhou Yuan had realized how powerful a true Heaven tier technique was. Moreover, it was not hard to guess that Wei Youxuan"s Great Black Devil technique was incomplete, hence why he had only managed to bring out less than a fifth of its true power. Nonetheless, Zhou Yuan was still forced to use his advanced level Nine Dragons Canon in order to obtain victory. This goes to show just how formidable a Heaven tier technique was.
After witnessing its might, Zhou Yuan"s desire towards his Heavenly Sun G.o.d Record began to grow, and had been trying his best to find the required items for the past few days but to no avail. Hence, he was naturally ecstatic that Shen Taiyuan had gathered all the items for him, saving him a boatload of trouble.
"Thank you teacher Shen!" Zhou Yuan cupped his fists with sincerity.
The joy on Zhou Yuan face made Shen Taiyuan chuckle. He looked at Zhou Yuan, and slowly said, "Zhou Yuan, you came to Cangxuan Sect to train with the goal of eventually returning home to deal with the Great Wu Empire, am I right?"
Zhou Yuan was shocked, but soon nodded his head. Shen Taiyuan was after all an elder of Cangxuan Sect, and though he often ended up getting the short end of the stick in his struggles with Lu Hong, he was still an extremely powerful individual wherever he was put. This plus Cangxuan Sect"s resources made it a simple task to find out about Zhou Yuan"s background. Of course, Zhou Yuan did not try to hide any of this either.
"King Wu from the Great Wu Empire is a Divine Dwelling expert, but he is nothing much in my eyes. If I wish, I can easily suppress him with a flip of my hand." Said Shen Taiyuan. Though his tone appeared nonchalant, it gave off a domineering aura.
"In the month since you became my disciple, I"ve managed to find out all about the conflict between your Great Zhou Empire and the Great Wu Empire. I did this in hopes that you"ll be able to focus on your training. In fact, I asked the sect to intervene and finish off the Great Wu Empire."
Zhou Yuan stared at Shen Taiyuan in shock.
Shen Taiyuan frowned as he continued, "However, the sect ultimately rejected my request. I suspect this had something to do with the Sacred Palace. After you destroyed Wu Huang"s physical body in the Saint Remains Domain, his Spirit was taken away by the Sacred Palace."
"According to the latest intel I"ve received, for some unknown reason, the palace master of Sacred Palace seems to highly value Wu Huang. In fact, the former has even personally accepted him as his disciple, and helped him reconstruct his body."
"As such, the Great Wu Empire can be said to have the backing of the Sacred Palace, and the reason why sect master and the rest did not agree to my proposal is likely because they knew that Sacred Palace would be opposed to it."
Zhou Yuan"s pupils shrunk slightly. Wu Huang really was an unkillable c.o.c.kroach. The former never expected that the latter would still be able to make a comeback after having physical body destroyed and half his sacred dragon blessing taken.
Zhou Yuan"s eyes glimmered for a moment, before they gradually returned to calmness. Back then, Wu Huang had seemed impossibly far ahead, but in the end, Zhou Yuan caught up, and even slayed Wu Huang. Zhou Yuan had not feared Wu Huang then, why would he start now?
Since he was able to kill Wu Huang once, he could do it again...
He may have failed to completely kill off Wu Huang the first time, and left a loose end behind. However, he was certain that Wu Huang would not live if there was a second time.
Zhou Yuan slowly asked, "Teacher Shen, since the Sacred Palace is backing Wu Huang, will that be a problem for the Great Zhou Empire?"
He did not fear Wu Huang at all. However, he was wary of the powerful and mysterious Sacred Palace.
It was a ma.s.sive organization that rivalled the Cangxuan Sect.
Shen Taiyuan waved his hand, before he solemnly said, "There is no need to worry. We do not wish to break the rules, and I believe the Sacred Palace would not dare to do so as well. However, if they try anything funny, I a.s.sure you that our Cangxuan Sect is no pushover."
"When all is said and done, the conflict between your Great Zhou Empire and the Great Wu Empire will have to be resolved amongst yourselves." Shen Taiyuan was a little apologetic as he looked at Zhou Yuan.
He had initially hoped to get rid of this problem for Zhou Yuan. However, his hands were tied in the end.
Zhou Yuan solemnly bowed to Shen Taiyuan. He was fairly touched by what the latter had done for him.
"Teacher Shen, there is no need for you to be this way. The Great Wu Empire is a thorn in my heart that I must pluck out myself. If someone else did it for me, it would only hurt my personal development."
Zhou Yuan slowly said, "One day, I will personally resolve this grudge!"
Though his voice was low, it was filled with confidence.
The strong confidence in Zhou Yuan"s words made Shen Taiyuan even more pleased. Regardless of att.i.tude or talent, this disciple truly belonged to the cream of the crop.
"If there is anything else I can help you with, just say the word. I will do all I can to support you." Declared Shen Taiyuan.
Zhou Yuan fell silent for a moment. Following which, he smiled as he said, "There is indeed a favor I would like to ask from teacher Shen."
"Oh?" Shen Taiyuan smiled as he said, "Go on, tell me what it is."
Zhou Yuan pursed his lips as he looked at Shen Taiyuan and earnestly said, "I would like to join the purple sash selection test to be promoted to a purple sash disciple."
His main reason for coming to the Cangxuan Sect was to enter the main peak of Saint Genesis Peak, and search for the second Saint Rune. However, according to the sect rules, only the chief disciple of Saint Genesis Peak could enter the main peak.
To join the chief disciple selection trial that would be held at the end of the year, he would first have to become a purple sash disciple.
This meant that Zhou Yuan needed to pa.s.s the purple sash selection test, and become a purple sash disciple, or he would not have the qualification to join the chief disciple selection trial.