An enormous crack cut through the mountain forests, the mountains along the way smashed to pieces, while gaze after gaze dazedly stared at this scene.
The atmosphere was deathly silent.
While Ning Mo being forced to his knees previously by a punch from Zhou Yuan could have been explained by the latter managing to catch the former off guard by concealing his true strength, the current scene had really begun to somewhat distort their common sense.
Ning Mo’s killing blow had essentially been his most powerful attack. In the face of such an attack, even a pract.i.tioner on the same level would not have dared to take it head-on.
However, who could have expected that Zhou Yuan would not only take zero evasive maneuvers, but select instead to forcefully blast apart Ning Mo’s strongest blow in the most barbaric of manners.
The gazes looked towards the final peak that had collapsed in the distance, where Ning Mo’s figure was buried in the rubble. Zhou Yuan’s earlier punch had been powerful enough to slay an initial ninth layer Alpha-Origin expert.
After a long period of silence, the gazes that turned back towards Zhou Yuan were now filled with extreme fear and wariness.
Only now did they fully understand why the clearly seventh layer Alpha-Origin Zhou Yuan had managed to become a chief disciple in the Cangxuan Sect.
In the valley, Jin Zhang and the numerous Cangxuan Sect disciples were also staring at this scene in astonishment. Although they knew that Zhou Yuan was strong, they had not expected him to crush a Sacred Palace chief disciple with such ease...
One must know that Ning Mo’s Genesis Qi cultivation had likewise exceeded the ten thousand mark. Such talent would surely place him amongst the upper ranks of the seven Cangxuan Sect chief disciples.
“I never imagined that his strength would grow to an astonis.h.i.+ng level after the nine dragons baptism.” There was a rather complicated expression in Jin Zhang’s eyes. Zhou Yuan was far stronger than he had been during the Genesis reservoir ceremony.
Respect rose in the eyes of the other disciples.
On the other hand, the expressions of the Sacred Palace disciples turned somewhat ugly for a time, clearly unable to believe that Ning Mo would suffer such a miserable loss to a Cangxuan Sect chief disciple.
Chief disciple w.a.n.g Yuan in particular was stunned for quite some time, before finally returning to his senses, as his face rapidly turned extremely stormy.
Zhou Yuan ignored everyone’s gazes, as his indifferent eyes looked towards the final collapsed peak in the distance. Ning Mo’s Genesis Qi undulations had grown extremely weak, but should still have a single breath left within him.
Hence, Zhou Yuan started to walk forward, clearly intent on taking the former’s life while he was down.
Rumble!
However, just as he lifted his foot off the ground, a ferocious and piercing whistle was suddenly heard. A flash of black arrived along with alarming Genesis Qi, smas.h.i.+ng straight towards Zhou Yuan’s head.
Before the flash of black landed, the ground below his feet had already begun to crumble.
Zhou Yuan’s foot paused as his eyes narrowed slightly. With a grasp of his hand, the Heavenly Yuan Brush appeared and swept upwards.
Clang!
The sound of metal striking metal loudly rang out as sparks flew in all directions.
A berserk ripple unfurled, snapping the surrounding ancient trees at their waists.
Zhou Yuan’s figure jerked a little as he raised his head. The object that had crashed into the Heavenly Yuan Brush was a black metal club on which ancient Genesis Runes had been inscribed.
At the other end of the black metal club was the Sacred Palace chief disciple, w.a.n.g Yuan.
The duo’s gazes clashed into the air, killing intent surging within their eyes.
w.a.n.g Yuan shouted with an eerily chilling look in his eyes, “You’ve got big b.a.l.l.s kid, to think that you actually dared to try and kill him!”
Zhou Yuan’s earlier counter attack had been far too swift. As such, even w.a.n.g Yuan had been unable to rush to Ning Mo’s aid in time, resulting in the latter being gravely injured by Zhou Yuan.
A mocking smile rose from the corners of Zhou Yuan’s mouth. “Since you Sacred Palace guys dared to kill my Cangxuan Sect disciples, why do I need to show any mercy to your chief disciple?”
w.a.n.g Yuan chillingly retorted, “What bold words, who the h.e.l.l do you think you are?!”
His hands tightly grasped around the black metal bat as black Genesis Qi flowed along his arms. With a furious roar, the metal bat smashed downwards once more, with power so great that it would easily pulverise an entire mountain.
However, Zhou Yuan was unafraid, the Heavenly Yuan Brush turning into a black blur as it rose to meet the bat. Black brush and bat clashed violently time and time again, exchanging over a hundred blows in a mere span of a few breaths.
The duo’s surroundings were quickly demolished by their brutal blows.
Clang!
After one final clash, Zhou Yuan and w.a.n.g Yuan’s figures shot backwards.
The hearts of the Sacred Palace disciples sunk when they saw this. They had originally been hoping that w.a.n.g Yuan would be able to convincingly defeat that chief disciple from the Cangxuan Sect, and redeem some face for the Sacred Palace. However, they never imagined that even w.a.n.g Yuan would not be able to gain much of an advantage against Zhou Yuan.
One must know that w.a.n.g Yuan was ranked fourth amongst the ten chief disciples of the Sacred Palace, and was much stronger than the fifth ranked Ning Mo.
The metal bat in w.a.n.g Yuan’s hand forcefully slid across the ground, leaving a deep scar in its wake, as he gravely stared at Zhou Yuan. The former had already gotten a rough grasp of the latter’s strength after that rapid series of exchanges earlier.
Zhou Yuan’s Genesi Qi cultivation was not the least bit inferior to his own.
“My Qi Dwelling has twelve thousand Genesis Qi stars. This kid is clearly only at the seventh layer, so why are his foundations so strong?!” w.a.n.g Yuan’s expression fluctuated indeterminately. From what he knew, it was extremely rare even for the Chosens of the Sacred Palace to have such strong foundations at the seventh layer.
While w.a.n.g Yuan was attacking Zhou Yuan, Jin Zhang had flown out from the valley, and now stood in the air. The Genesis Rune Brush in his hand flickered, numerous Genesis Rune emerging as his gaze locked onto w.a.n.g Yuan.
With two chief disciples currently targeting him, w.a.n.g Yuan’s brows began to knit together. He knew that the current situation no longer favored them.
Hence, he decisively waved his hand.
Although the numerous surrounding Sacred Palace disciples were rather unwilling, they had no choice but to begin withdrawing.
Several disciples landed on the collapsed peak and dug out Ning Mo from the rubble. The latter had lost consciousness long ago, his entire body drenched in blood, while a huge chunk of his chest was visible caved in.
His breathing was extremely feeble.
From the looks of it, it was very uncertain whether or not he’ll survive.
w.a.n.g Yuan’s expression darkened even more at the sight of Ning Mo’s condition. He darkly glared at Zhou Yuan and slowly said, “You’re in big trouble.”
“Is that so?” Zhou Yuan softly chuckled.
“If Ning Mo dies because of you, Sacred Palace will make you pay a painful price!” Each word was said with a clear pause in between.
“Are you the one whose going to punish me?” Zhou Yuan raised the Heavenly Yuan Brush and pointed it at w.a.n.g Yuan.
w.a.n.g Yuan icily chuckled and said, “You are indeed quite powerful. However, don’t be too happy yet. This area has been occupied by the Sacred Palace, and unfortunately for you guys, the chief disciple of the Sacred Blood Hall is also present.”
“Chief disciple of the Sacred Blood Hall, Fan Yao?”
Zhou Yuan did not react to this name, but Jin Zhang’s expression abruptly changed. He soon hurriedly transmitted to Zhou Yuan, “Fan Yao is ranked three amongst the ten chief disciples of the Sacred Palace, and is much stronger than Ning Mo and w.a.n.g Yuan! He is an extremely troublesome foe!”
Zhou Yuan’s eyes rippled for a moment as his brows furrowed slightly, not because of this new Fan Yao, but because he was a little surprised to hear that three chief disciples from the Sacred Palace would actually be gathered in this district.
“Are these guys also after the six color treasure location?” A thought flashed past in Zhou Yuan’s head.
When w.a.n.g Yuan saw Jin Zhang’s expression change, he icily said, “I advise you guys to hurry up and leave this area while you still can. When Fan Yao comes, you guys should be prepared to be buried here forever.”
After finis.h.i.+ng, he cast one final icy glance at Zhou Yuan, before waving his hand and withdrawing.
“Go!”
“Zhou Yuan, you’d better start running like a dog that has lost its home. If we meet again, I will surely make you understand the fate of offending the Sacred Palace!”
w.a.n.g Yuan retreated with the numerous Sacred Palace disciples. It was a very wise move on his part, since he knew that they no longer had any advantage in the current situation.
Zhou Yuan did not try to stop them. The Sacred Palace group was not weak, and both sides would most definitely suffer considerable losses if they were to fight.
The various factions were still watching some distance away, and would surely pounce once they discovered any weakness.
Despite w.a.n.g Yuan leaving such threats behind, everyone could see that they were retreating in a rather miserable and dejected manner.
The numerous Cangxuan Sect disciples in the valley began to cheer.
Far away, the various factions clicked their tongues in admiration. The Cangxuan Sect had clearly been in a very dire spot earlier. Who could have expected that the appearance of that Saint Genesis Peak chief disciple would bring about such a reversal.
Although he looked rather young, he gave off an awe-inspiring aura that made the various experts sigh deeply.
“Can’t believe that the fallen Saint Genesis Peak of the Cangxuan Sect would produce such an amazing individual…”