Chapter 1021: False Retreat

Zhou Yuan's thought was conveyed, but this time, there was no response.

This outcome left Zhou Yuan a little embarrassed, but he didn't dwell on it. While more benefits would certainly be welcome, the unexpected spiritual breakthrough he had just achieved was more than enough.

"Heh heh, no offense, Tree King, I'm coming to save you!"

Zhou Yuan's mind stirred, and his spirit power continued to extend towards the end of the numerous chains. As expected, it was once again illuminated by the residual aura of the Sacred Flame, bringing with it a terrifying sensation. Outside his spirit, mysterious flames appeared out of thin air, threatening to incinerate his very essence.

Those mysterious flames were still terrifying, but this time, Zhou Yuan gritted his teeth and stubbornly endured.

*Boom!* Potent soul-flames surged from within his spirit, forming an armor of soul-flames around him. Zhou Yuan had found this technique difficult to employ in the early stages of the Incarnation Realm due to insufficient soul-flame potency. However, with his recent breakthrough during battle, his spirit power had dramatically increased, allowing him to condense and form this soul-flame armor.

This greatly amplified his spirit's defensive capabilities.

The appearance of the soul-flame armor significantly eased Zhou Yuan's burden, allowing him to grit his teeth and ultimately persevere under the Sacred Flame's illuminating aura.

Though only a few dozen breaths of time passed, it felt incredibly long to Zhou Yuan. His entire body trembled, and Genesis Qi fluctuations emanated from him. If not for the half-zhang Dharma Domain enveloping him, he would likely have been completely discovered by now.

By the time the last breath passed, Zhou Yuan was drenched in sweat, his face pale, and the stinging pain in his brow twisted his features slightly.

He observed his spirit, only to see that the spirit in his glabella, which had just completed its breakthrough, had once again become listless. Evidently, most of his spirit power had been depleted.

Fortunately, he had finally endured under the Sacred Flame's illuminating aura.

"How terrifying the Sacred Flame is..."

Zhou Yuan felt a surge of fear. What he had just endured was not the true Sacred Flame, but merely residual aura. Yet, even this remnant had pushed him to such a wretched state. He presumed that if he were to encounter the real Sacred Flame, a mere glance with his spirit would instantly reduce his mid-Incarnation Realm spirit to nothingness.

The might of a Saint was truly like an unfathomable abyss.

The fear in his heart gradually faded after a moment, but his depleted spirit could not fully recover so quickly.

Thus, he could only send out a thought: "Senior, my spirit power is depleted."

After he sent this thought, he waited for a moment, and then a pure, cool energy surged forth, directly restoring Zhou Yuan's depleted spirit power to its fullest.

However, this influx of power was clearly not as potent as the previous one; it only served to restore his spirit power and did not further enhance it.

Zhou Yuan felt no disappointment; instead, he was filled with admiration. The Skyfire Tree King truly lived up to its reputation as a miraculous entity. The power it had cultivated over countless years was indescribably pure, and more importantly, it seemed vast and endless. Even after sustaining the extravagant consumption by so many from the five great alliances, there were still no signs of its depletion.

After a moment of admiration, Zhou Yuan focused his mind. His spirit power, in the void at the end of the chains, slowly began to outline Genesis Runes.

Those Genesis Runes merged into the massive barrier suppressing the Skyfire Tree King. However, this caused no disturbance in the barrier, for with the aid of the Barrier-Breaking Saint Rune, Zhou Yuan's insertions landed precisely within the barrier's flaws, then quietly dissolved that small area like a virus.

A barrier of this level and scale was undoubtedly beyond Zhou Yuan's reach. Fortunately, his goal was merely to leave an insignificant small hole in it.

As the Genesis Runes continuously merged into the void, a subtle ripple appeared in one part of the barrier.

This massive Genesis Rune barrier finally had a small hole burrowed into it by Zhou Yuan, like a little mouse.

This small hole was too tiny to affect the barrier's operation, and over time, the barrier's power would automatically repair it. However, as the saying goes, a dike of a thousand miles can be destroyed by an ant's nest. Once the Skyfire Tree King channeled its power to impact that spot, it would become a breakthrough point, causing the barrier to rupture instantly.

Zhou Yuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. This first step was finally complete, and success was now just one step away.

Zhou Yuan carefully retracted his diffused spirit power and remained hidden in the shadows.

He looked up at the floating stone platforms. Although the Heavenly Sun stage cultivators and the Nascent Source stage expert guarding the platforms occasionally swept their gazes over the area, they did not detect his presence.

The flaw in the barrier had been created.

But that was merely a trigger. To enable the Skyfire Tree King to break through the barrier, he first needed to force the Nascent Source stage expert off the platform.

This was the most troublesome part.

Zhou Yuan's expression shifted as he pondered for a long time. Finally, a determined and ruthless glint flashed in his eyes.

On the stone platform, a grey-robed Nascent Source stage expert sat quietly. He was diligent, understanding the critical importance of this location, and thus dared not relax even slightly, constantly sensing for any surrounding fluctuations. Fortunately, everything had remained quiet so far.

"I wonder how the battle above is going," he murmured. "But with the Tree King's continuous support, victory is only a matter of time."

As his voice faded, his expression suddenly shifted, and his gaze sharply darted downwards. A slight disturbance was emanating from below.

As he looked, the grey-robed Nascent Source expert's pupils abruptly constricted. He saw a figure entirely shrouded in black robes had appeared on the chains below, seemingly out of nowhere.

The figure stood there like a ghost. What truly startled the grey-robed Nascent Source expert was that he hadn't detected how the figure had appeared!

"Someone has infiltrated!"

The grey-robed Nascent Source expert reacted instantly, roaring.

Immediately, the many Heavenly Sun stage experts guarding the area also cast their gazes, their expressions filled with disbelief and uncertainty as they locked onto the black-robed figure.

"Who are you?!" the grey-robed Nascent Source expert demanded, not attacking first, but with a suspicious shout.

Instead, a strange, piercing cackle answered him. Then, the Nascent Source expert watched as the black-robed figure shot upwards, actively darting towards them.

"Presumptuous!"

The Nascent Source expert was both startled and enraged. He hadn't expected the intruder to be so arrogant; not only did they not retreat after being discovered, but they even dared to charge forward?

"If you wish to die, then..."

However, before his words completely fell, intense horror and despair surged in the eyes of the Nascent Source expert and the many surrounding Heavenly Sun stage cultivators. They watched as a Dharma Domain slowly unfolded, with the black-robed figure as its origin.

"A Dharma Domain?!"

The grey-robed Nascent Source expert's voice turned sharp, his face filled with terror.

The infiltrator was actually a Dharma Domain expert?!

Which elder from the Grand Heaven Region could it be?!

"Retreat! Retreat quickly!"

Facing the expanding Dharma Domain, the grey-robed Nascent Source expert roared frantically. He had no intention of resisting whatsoever, knowing that once trapped within a Dharma Domain, they would be like fish on a chopping block!

Thus, without any hesitation, he instantly shot backwards.

And just like that, he departed from the stone platform.

The other Heavenly Sun stage experts, their faces contorted with fear, fled faster than rabbits. In just a few breaths, they had all retreated into the distance.

Thus, with the black-robed figure at the center, the surroundings immediately became empty.

Beneath the black robes, the corners of that young face's lips curved slightly into a mischievous arc.

"Senior Tree King, if not now, then when will you make your move?"

The moment his soft voice was heard, a startling fluctuation suddenly surged skyward from the place where countless chains were bound behind him.