Chapter 1023: Battle Source Infant

Zhou Yuan stood stunned, his face filled with astonishment as he gazed at his hands. At that moment, he could feel an extremely vast Genesis Qi surging and roaring within his body.

The power of this Genesis Qi far surpassed his own accumulated Genesis Qi.

Moreover, this Genesis Qi was incredibly gentle and pure, though as he had previously thought, its excessive gentleness made it very poor in offensive capabilities.

"Is this the power of the Heavenly Fire Tree King?"

Zhou Yuan glanced at the beam of light connected behind him and couldn't help but scratch his head. He clearly hadn't expected the Heavenly Fire Tree King to make such a move. What surprised him most was that he had previously heard the Heavenly Fire Tree King's intermittent mental voice, and the ability to project such a voice indicated that the Heavenly Fire Tree King had already developed some intelligence.

However, this intelligence was not yet fully developed.

"Interesting..."

Feeling the vast Genesis Qi within him, Zhou Yuan's eyes lit up, and his initial intention to flee vanished.

Although the Heavenly Fire Tree King's Genesis Qi indeed lacked offensive power, its sheer quantity made up for it. Furthermore, this power in the hands of the Heavenly Fire Tree King, who couldn't use any Genesis Arts, was a completely different concept compared to when it was in Zhou Yuan's hands.

The vast power within his body continued to steadily increase.

Boom! Boom!

At that moment, over a dozen Heavenly Sun Stage experts shot towards him from all directions. Genesis Qi whistled as fierce and unparalleled attacks rained down on Zhou Yuan, causing the surrounding void to gradually distort.

Previously, Zhou Yuan would have had no choice but to flee when faced with such a situation, but now, he raised his palm and extended it flat.

Vast Genesis Qi surged from his palm, immediately forming a jade-green wooden shield in front of him.

Countless green vines, stemming from the Heavenly Fire Tree King's power, climbed across the wooden shield.

Bang! Bang!

Waves of violent Genesis Qi fiercely struck the green vine wooden shield, only to vanish as if sinking into the sea. Not even a single splinter flew from the shield; the attacks simply dissipated silently after a brief sound.

Zhou Yuan, standing behind the shield, remained completely still.

After devouring the Genesis Qi attacks, the green vines coiling on the wooden shield suddenly shot out, piercing through the void and lashing heavily at the dozen or so Heavenly Sun Stage experts. Immediately, screams erupted from them, blood spewed, and their figures were sent flying backward, crashing into the ground.

The surrounding Heavenly Sun Stage experts, who were part of the encirclement, were horrified by this sight and dared not advance further.

At this moment, Zhou Yuan's power had clearly surged!

The grey-robed Nascent Source expert's face turned ashen. He knew Zhou Yuan's power came from the Heavenly Fire Tree King, but this was still quite unexpected. The Heavenly Fire Tree King highly valued its own power; after they captured it, all their attempts, both gentle and coercive, had failed, forcing them to resort to forceful extraction.

Yet now, it was clear that Zhou Yuan's power was something the Heavenly Fire Tree King had willingly offered.

"Hmph, what good is more of this non-offensive Genesis Qi to you?!"

The grey-robed Nascent Source expert clenched his fists tightly and threw a punch, immediately unleashing another tiger's roar. The powerful Genesis Qi transformed into a colossal tiger, descending with monstrous ferocity to suppress Zhou Yuan.

This time, however, he was clearly much more serious, and his attack was fiercer than before.

Zhou Yuan gazed at the roaring Genesis Qi tiger charging towards him, but this time he felt no fear. Instead, his eyes held a hint of eagerness, as the sense of danger the opponent posed had significantly decreased after he borrowed the Heavenly Fire Tree King's power.

He clenched his hand, and the mottled Heavenly Yuan Brush appeared.

Vast jade-green Genesis Qi surged into it, and green patterns began to appear on the brush's body. The immense power even caused the Heavenly Yuan Brush to emit a soft hum and tremble continuously.

However, by relying on the Heavenly Fire Tree King's power, Zhou Yuan's own Dragon Genesis Qi was unable to exert its full might.

While the Heavenly Fire Tree King's Genesis Qi was many times more abundant than Zhou Yuan's in terms of sheer volume, when it came to offensive capability, Zhou Yuan's Dragon Genesis Qi vastly surpassed the Heavenly Fire Tree King's.

Nevertheless, with such vast Genesis Qi, any loss in offensive power could be compensated for by sheer volume, as far as Zhou Yuan was concerned.

"Myriad Whales!"

Zhou Yuan drew a stroke in the air with the Heavenly Yuan Brush. The next moment, ancient, resonant whale cries echoed through the heavens and earth. Where the Heavenly Yuan Brush swept, the void seemed to tear apart, and hundreds of massive ancient whale phantoms burst forth, carrying world-destroying power, directly smashing into the Genesis Qi tiger.

As the two collided, incredibly violent shockwaves erupted, forcing the surrounding Heavenly Sun Stage experts to retreat awkwardly, their faces filled with terror.

Zhou Yuan actually managed to block Lord Chengguang's attack!

Zhou Yuan swept his Heavenly Yuan Brush, dispelling the surging shockwaves, then smiled at the grim-faced grey-robed Nascent Source expert, saying, "Though the offensive power isn't strong, it should be enough to deal with an early Nascent Source stage like you, wouldn't you agree?"

Chengguang, the grey-robed Nascent Source expert, his face twitching and eyes blazing with fury, likely hadn't encountered a mere Heavenly Sun stage daring to mock him in years.

"How boastful! Since you seek death, I shall grant it to you!" Chengguang said coldly.

The next instant, he suddenly formed hand seals and roared, "Minor Saint Art, White Tiger Art!"

Boundless, majestic Genesis Qi swept forth, glittering and condensed as if laced with crystal fragments. The sky-full of Genesis Qi gathered, directly coalescing into a colossal White Tiger in the void. The White Tiger strode through the air, its fur gently rippling, its tiger eyes emitting endless starlight, and its bone-white fangs causing the void to crack.

When the White Tiger appeared, the Heavenly Sun Stage experts underground all felt a chill, intimidated by its fierce aura.

Zhou Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly. He had seen Minor Saint Arts before; Zhao Mu Shen had also used one when they fought. However, the power of a Minor Saint Art unleashed by a Nascent Source expert was worlds apart.

The White Tiger condensed by Chengguang was almost like a true, world-shaking fierce beast, its entire body so condensed with Genesis Qi that it didn't seem to be formed from Genesis Qi at all.

The White Tiger roared, its terrifying roar reverberating, containing immense pressure capable of shattering a person's spirit.

Zhou Yuan's entire body pulsed with frantic jade-green Genesis Qi, forming green patterns on his brow.

Zhou Yuan's body trembled, and the green patterns on his brow flickered rapidly before settling. He couldn't help but let out a breath; that tiger's roar was incredibly fearsome, designed to shatter spirits. Without the Heavenly Fire Tree King's power protecting him at that moment, even his mid-transformation stage spirit would likely have been severely wounded.

These Nascent Source experts were indeed terrifying.

"Hmph."

Seeing Zhou Yuan survive the tiger's roar, Chengguang let out a cold snort. With a thought, the White Tiger shot through the air and lunged directly at Zhou Yuan.

With that lunge, even the void shattered like glass.

Zhou Yuan's expression was grave. He rapidly retreated while his hands swiftly formed seals.

A faint rumble of thunder echoed.

"Lightning Prison Art!"

Zhou Yuan raised his palm, and countless bolts of lightning appeared out of thin air, weaving together to form an enormous lightning prison, within which extremely violent lightning madly struck.

This was the Lightning Prison Art, one of the Seven Cangxuan Arts!

During his recent seclusion, Zhou Yuan had fully mastered all Seven Cangxuan Arts. However, there was still no sign of how to merge the seven arts.

The lightning prison formed, enveloping the White Tiger. However, the countless lightning bolts striking its body had little effect.

"A mere Heavenly Genesis Art, and you dare to show it off?" Chengguang scoffed disdainfully. From the fluctuations of this Lightning Prison Art, it clearly hadn't reached the level of a Minor Saint Art.

Zhou Yuan paid no mind to Chengguang's sarcasm, merely smiling faintly and saying, "Why the rush?"

His right hand, forming a seal, suddenly paused.

"Minor Saint Art, Yin-Yang Lightning Mark Mirror!"

A low voice resonated within Zhou Yuan's mind.

The next instant, the void before him shattered, revealing entwined black and white divine lightning, resembling a fierce, claw-wielding black-and-white lightning dragon. The lightning dragon plunged downwards with earth-shattering might, tearing through the void.

The black-and-white lightning dragon surged into the lightning prison, and suddenly countless lightning bolts converged upon it. Within the environment of the lightning prison, the power of the black-and-white lightning dragon began to surge once more!

At this very moment, Chengguang's expression finally changed. He understood that the Lightning Prison Art Zhou Yuan had unleashed was not meant to harm the enemy but to create a more perfect environment for the subsequent Heavenly Genesis Art!

Within that lightning prison, the power of the Yin-Yang Lightning Mark Mirror had clearly received a boost!

This young man was truly cunning!

Boom!

However, before Chengguang could make any move, the black-and-white lightning dragon, carrying incredibly violent lightning, crashed into the White Tiger amidst roars of thunder.