Chapter 1138: Swallow's Message

"Young Master?"

Zhou Yuan was visibly stunned when he heard Jin Ling'er's words, and his expression immediately turned strange. How could her family elders know about him? And even if they wanted to praise his excellence, there was no need for such crude and direct language, like saying Jin Ling'er couldn't even compare to a single hair on him! How could a girl possibly accept that? No wonder she held such a strong grudge against him; this was truly an undeserved misfortune.

Zhou Yuan cleared his throat and then said gently to Jin Ling'er, "Your elder likely only heard some rumors. I don't know anyone from the Myriad Beast Heaven, so you don't need to take his words seriously."

However, Jin Ling'er frowned upon hearing this. "The Young Master said it was with you for a very long time."

Zhou Yuan was again stunned. He knitted his brows, muttering with a hint of confusion, "I don't know any high-level Genesis Beasts from the Myriad Beast Heaven..." Most of the Genesis Beasts he had encountered previously possessed low intelligence; their encounters were always life-or-death struggles, so there was no question of any friendship. He shook his head, just about to speak, when a sudden flash of insight struck him. His eyes widened instantly, and he looked at Jin Ling'er with a mixture of disbelief and shock. "Are you... are you talking about Tun Tun?!" Among the high-level Genesis Beasts he knew, only Tun Tun had accompanied him for the longest time. Furthermore, Tun Tun possessed extremely high intelligence and an extraordinary bloodline. And Master Cang Yuan had previously mentioned sending it to the place most suitable for it. Could that place have been the Myriad Beast Heaven?!

"What 'Tun Tun'?" Jin Ling'er glared at Zhou Yuan. "In our Golden Qilin clan, we respectfully address it as 'Little Ancestor'!" *She thought, how dare this guy be so disrespectful to the Young Master.*

Zhou Yuan, however, paid no mind to her displeasure. A rare look of excitement appeared on his face as he asked, "Is Tun Tun with your Golden Qilin clan? Is it doing well? Did it come to the Ancient Origin Heaven?"

Jin Ling'er said indifferently, "The Young Master has a connection with our Golden Qilin clan and is indeed with us now. However, it didn't come to the Ancient Origin Heaven; such a place holds no meaning for it." When she spoke of the Young Master, her beautiful eyes, full of wild and untamed spirit, gleamed with respect.

"Young Master? Is Tun Tun male?" Zhou Yuan rubbed his chin, his eyes flickering with an unspoken thought.

"Presumptuous!" Jin Ling'er glared at Zhou Yuan with annoyance and declared proudly, "That's merely a nickname my brother and I have for the Little Ancestor. In the entire Golden Qilin clan, only we two are permitted to use it. Furthermore, the Little Ancestor is an Innate Sacred Beast, born from the spirits of heaven and earth. It is unique, without parents, and similarly, without a male or female distinction. So do not view it with your narrow human perspective!"

Zhou Yuan breathed a slight sigh of relief. If that little rascal were male, he wouldn't be able to let Yaoyao hug it anymore!

"If there's no male or female distinction, what does it look like when it transforms into human form? A genderless being?" Zhou Yuan asked, a hint of schadenfreude in his voice.

Hearing Zhou Yuan's childish question, Jin Ling'er chuckled softly, her red lips curving into a proud arc. "You're overthinking it. Those with true Sacred Beast bloodlines do not transform into human form because they possess the most powerful bodies in all existence. The human form is fragile and insignificant in their eyes. If it were you, would you willingly transform into an ant crawling on the ground for no reason?"

Zhou Yuan was momentarily silenced by her retort and couldn't help but offer an awkward smile. He also felt a touch of disappointment; he had been quite curious about what Tun Tun would look like in human form. Nevertheless, receiving news of Tun Tun here filled him with immense joy and satisfaction. It seemed that once Yaoyao awoke, he would have to travel to the Myriad Beast Heaven to bring Tun Tun back.

"Before it left, the Little Ancestor told us that if we encountered any trouble in the Ancient Origin Heaven, we could seek your help." Jin Ling'er's red lips curled into a teasing smile as she continued, "Perhaps the Little Ancestor didn't realize that the person it so highly praised is currently only at the mid Heavenly Sun Stage." She added, "But don't worry, since you and the Little Ancestor are friends, you're also our friends. If you encounter any trouble, my brother and I won't just stand by."

She seemed quite pleased. After all, the person the Little Ancestor had always used to criticize their cultivation was not as formidable as they had imagined when they met him now. This undoubtedly brought them a sigh of relief. They were already thinking about how to use this encounter to properly counter the Little Ancestor once they returned to the Golden Qilin clan, so it wouldn't always think they were worthless.

Seeing her happy expression, Zhou Yuan chuckled inwardly and refrained from saying anything to dampen her spirits. After all, Jin Ling'er had at least brought him news of Tun Tun.

Jin Ling'er tossed something, and a faint golden light flew towards Zhou Yuan, who quickly caught it. "This is from the Little Ancestor, but it seems you need to reach the Genesis Infant Stage to open it." The golden light in Zhou Yuan's hand converged, transforming into a purplish-gold scale. Zhou Yuan was quite familiar with it; it was a beast scale from Tun Tun's transformed state. However, a faint yet extremely powerful fluctuation emanated from the scale, indicating that Tun Tun's current strength had greatly improved. The golden scale likely contained some information Tun Tun had left for him, but as Jin Ling'er implied, it probably couldn't be opened by anyone below the Genesis Infant Stage.

"That guy, he's not trying to show off, is he?" Zhou Yuan muttered. This certainly aligned with Tun Tun's show-off personality, but it also made him a little gloomy. No matter how fast he cultivated, he always seemed a step behind Yaoyao and Tun Tun. Others called him a prodigy, but he felt that those two were the true prodigies.

"Thank you," Zhou Yuan said, putting away the golden scale and cupping his fist in gratitude towards Jin Ling'er. Jin Ling'er waved a hand, then turned and walked back towards the Golden Qilin clan with her long strides. She spoke a few words to her younger brother, Jin Feng, who then looked over and gave Zhou Yuan a bright, sunny smile, appearing quite friendly. Zhou Yuan returned the smile, cupping his fist from afar.

As Zhou Yuan and Jin Ling'er concluded their conversation, the watchful gazes from various factions finally receded. They had initially assumed Jin Ling'er was going to confront Zhou Yuan, but it now seemed their discussion had gone quite well. They wondered when the two had become acquainted. On the Myriad Beast Heaven side, Jiang Jinlin, who had been observing the entire time, furrowed his brow slightly. He had originally thought Jin Ling'er was going to cause trouble for Zhou Yuan. The Heaven Abyss Region was the weakest of the Nine Regions of Hunyuan Heaven, making it an ideal target for establishing their authority. Their purpose in coming here was not merely to exchange information with Hunyuan Heaven, but more significantly, to promote cooperation under the dominance of their Myriad Beast Heaven, thereby securing an advantageous position in future profit distribution. He then made a subtle gesture, and the captain of the Earth-Shaking Divine Tiger tribe, a burly man radiating a fierce aura, stepped forward.

However, just as he took a step, a figure appeared beside him. It was Jin Feng, Jin Ling'er's younger brother, who grinned and put an arm around his shoulder. "Wang Meng, come on, I have something to tell you," he said, then practically dragged him away to the back.

Jiang Jinlin's eye twitched slightly at this sight. He then looked at Jin Ling'er, who met his gaze fearlessly, her beautiful eyes also conveying a warning. Jiang Jinlin's face remained impassive, but he felt a surge of anger. This Jin Ling'er was truly headstrong, acting so recklessly! Beside him, Ai Qing gently shook her head. Since Jin Ling'er had a past connection with Zhou Yuan and intended to protect him, there was no need to target him for the time being. In any case, the two sides had met today, and there would be plenty of intense confrontations to come.

Guan Qinglong also collected his thoughts at this moment. "Friends from the Myriad Beast Heaven," he said, "please enter the camp so we can discuss further." Ai Qing's beautiful face broke into a smile, and she nodded slightly. Then, she and Jiang Jinlin led the way, guiding the Myriad Beast Heaven forces into the main camp.

Zhou Yuan watched the large contingent of people, then smiled at Qin Lian beside him. "It seems this negotiation will be quite eventful..." How could he not discern the Myriad Beast Heaven's intentions? They simply wanted to dominate, but this was also Hunyuan Heaven's objective. Therefore, when their goals clashed, an intense confrontation was inevitable. Now, it remained to be seen who was tougher.