Chapter 1011: Heavenly Fire Ancient Forest

Southeast of Scarletflame City lies an endless crimson mountain range. From a distance, it resembles a boundless fire engulfing the mountains, a truly spectacular sight.

This is the Ancient Heavenflame Forest.

It is a well-known resource point in the Tianyuan Region. The primary resource here is the towering Flame Trees, also known as Heavenflame Trees. These trees are intensely hot, drawing scorching Genesis Qi from deep within the earth. Mature Heavenflame Trees produce a substance called Tree Spirit Sap, a valuable cultivation resource. If cultivators in the Heavenly Sun Stage refine it during their practice, it possesses the miraculous effect of enhancing their Pure Yang Qi.

The five great top factions greatly coveted this resource. Therefore, when the war began, this strategic resource hub became one of their prime targets for conquest.

However, the Tianyuan Region obviously would not surrender it easily. Thus, this place transformed into a massive battlefield. Both sides committed countless forces, and the former Ancient Heavenflame Forest became a brutal war zone. Blood stained the ancient forest's crimson hues, making them even more glaring and striking.

“Is this the Ancient Heavenflame Forest?”

Zhou Yuan stood on a hill, his gaze fixed on the crimson forest that appeared on the horizon not far away. Within the forest, colossal crimson trees stood like pillars reaching the sky. Their scarlet leaves spread out, swaying with the wind, resembling burning flames.

Here, the Genesis Qi in the world grew intensely hot.

Zhou Yuan subtly circulated the Genesis Qi within him, and he was surprised to feel that his internal Genesis Qi became even more active. This was due to the Pure Yang Qi integrated within the ambient Genesis Qi.

Cultivators in the Heavenly Sun Stage would experience an increase in their combat power here.

However... for those in the Divine Dwelling Stage, it was considerably more uncomfortable.

He glanced at Yi Qiushui and Ye Bingling beside him. Their pretty faces were flushed, and Genesis Qi circulated around their delicate bodies, resisting the scorching heat from the outside.

Clearly, before integrating Pure Yang Qi themselves, they were not accustomed to this purely scorching ambient Genesis Qi.

Boom! Boom!

In the endless crimson forest, violent Genesis Qi fluctuations occasionally flickered into view. Presumably, battles were taking place in certain areas.

On the outskirts of the forest, Zhou Yuan could see a continuous stream of teams pouring in. The scent of war, mixed with the smell of blood, wafted towards them.

Yi Qiushui walked up to Zhou Yuan. She held a bronze mirror from which light emanated, forming a map in the air before them. The map depicted the very Ancient Heavenflame Forest they were facing.

“You’ve chosen three targets this time, but we recommend starting with Zhang Zihao. He’s relatively the easiest of the three to deal with,” Yi Qiushui said. However, despite her words, her face was filled with solemnity and apprehension. After all, he was in the Mid Purple Golden Heavenly Sun Stage!

Zhou Yuan had no objections to this and nodded indifferently.

Seeing this, Yi Qiushui and the others subtly breathed a sigh of relief. They had indeed been somewhat worried that Zhou Yuan would stubbornly go after the most formidable target, Bei Gongqiao, right away. They even thought that perhaps after clashing with a powerful adversary like Zhang Zihao, Zhou Yuan would grasp the might of the Mid Purple Golden Heavenly Sun Stage and might then willingly give up on targets like Bei Gongqiao.

“According to the real-time intelligence from the Military Merit Hall, Zhang Zihao’s area of activity should be in this region.”

Yi Qiushui pointed with a slender finger. The map before them quickly zoomed in, finally pinpointing a specific area within the Ancient Heavenflame Forest.

Zhou Yuan nodded lightly and asked, “If we encounter other enemies along the way, can we eliminate them?”

Yi Qiushui and the others immediately froze upon hearing this, astonished by his apparent intent to kill his way through. Where did he get such confidence?!

Ye Bingling shook her head, saying, “We don’t recommend changing targets to eliminate other enemies, because that’s what battle teams do. Since you’ve taken on a target from the hunt list, you belong to the hunting squad. The mission of a hunting squad is specifically to eliminate extremely formidable and troublesome adversaries.”

“The enemy also has an intelligence system. If you change targets and eliminate others, you might expose your position, attracting more encirclements. Once you’re caught in an encirclement, we might have no choice but to retreat. In that case, your decapitation hunt would largely be considered a failure.”

Zhou Yuan nodded in understanding.

“Then let’s proceed.”

Zhou Yuan moved, shooting through the air, and headed straight for the endless crimson forest.

Upon entering the Ancient Heavenflame Forest, the temperature of the world grew even hotter. Even the air felt scorched, and Genesis Qi subtly simmered.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Zhou Yuan and his group maintained a low altitude as they swiftly moved. By entering the Ancient Heavenflame Forest, they had already stepped into the battlefield of both sides. The situation here was complex; flying too high would make them easy targets for concentrated fire. Even Zhou Yuan, at his current stage, would likely be overwhelmed by such a situation.

The group spread out sporadically. Shang Xiaoling, Ye Bingling, and a few others were at the front, scouting and leading the way.

It was clear they were quite familiar with this place, having likely spent a good deal of time here previously, accumulating military merits.

Zhou Yuan, meanwhile, stayed in the middle, ready to provide immediate support should anything unexpected occur at the front.

The group hurried along, keeping a low profile. They all tried their best to suppress their Genesis Qi and actively avoided areas where Genesis Qi clashed, as battles were usually taking place there.

They traveled like this for an entire day.

Throughout the day, Zhou Yuan and his companions encountered no fewer than a hundred battles, most of which were fierce and brutal clashes between early-stage Heavenly Sun Stage cultivators. However, adhering to the rules of a hunting squad, Zhou Yuan did not intervene, instead quietly passing through.

There were times, however, when they were discovered by the enemy, who attempted to pursue. But Zhou Yuan, relying on his keen Spirit perception, quickly evaded them.

Thus, after a day, the group safely arrived at their target's designated area.

Zhou Yuan sat quietly cross-legged on a colossal crimson tree.

Through the branches and leaves, his gaze fell upon the nearby area. He saw Yi Qiushui and the others taking out jade slips from their pockets. The jade slips were entwined with Genesis Runes. When the jade slips were crushed against tree trunks, an eye-like Genesis Rune would immediately emerge, gradually merging into the trunk and disappearing.

This was a type of detection Genesis Rune, capable of monitoring surrounding movements in real-time.

Deploying these detection Genesis Runes also earned them minor military merits. The Military Merit Hall used these to gather intelligence and provide target locations for hunting squads.

Once these runes were set up, Yi Qiushui and the others gestured towards Zhou Yuan. Then they moved, silently darting off in all directions, beginning to scout for their target.

Zhou Yuan had originally intended to follow them, but he was unanimously refused. All team members insisted he rest in place and adjust his condition.

Because once the target's trace was found, they would have no one else to rely on but Zhou Yuan. If Zhou Yuan failed, their team would have no choice but to retreat, possibly incurring casualties during the process.

Seeing their determination, Zhou Yuan could only reluctantly agree and watched them depart into the distance.

However, he did not simply sit idly. Instead, he extended his Spirit perception, ensuring he would immediately sense any unusual movement from Yi Qiushui and the others.

Silence enveloped the forest. Only the swaying crimson leaves and the sound of crackling flames could be heard.

After about an incense stick's time.

Zhou Yuan's slightly closed eyes suddenly opened.

From that direction, a signal from Yi Qiushui and the others arrived.

“Finally found them, have they…”

As he murmured softly, Zhou Yuan's figure transformed into a shadow and vanished from his spot.

Finally, it was his turn to act.

He was very much looking forward to this, his first battle since breaking through to the Heavenly Sun Stage.