Chapter 1175: Confronting Xu Lei

Zhou Yuan found himself in a vast and spacious ancient city ruin, where dilapidated buildings stretched as far as the eye could see, indicating its immense scale.

Zhou Yuan, however, had no time for such observations. His gaze was fixed intently on the top of a dilapidated tower ahead, where a white-haired man sat. The man was gently tossing blood-red pills in his hand, occasionally flicking them into his slightly open mouth.

Zhou Yuan's gaze swept over the blood pills, and his eyes grew colder. He could sense a strong, bloody smell emanating from them. These were clearly Blood Origin Pills, a common type of elixir among the Saint Race, refined from the living flesh, blood, and Genesis Qi of countless beings.

At the same time, they were also the Saint Race's favorite "snack"?

"Want some?"

Xulei noticed the change in Zhou Yuan's expression, smiled, and said, "There's no need to look at me like that. Just as your human race slaughters pigs for meat, in the eyes of my Saint Race, you lowly beings of the Heaven Primal World are no different from pigs and dogs."

"If you can eat the flesh of pigs and dogs, why can't my Saint Race eat your flesh and blood?"

Zhou Yuan's expression was indifferent, and he ignored Xulei's sophistry. The man named Xulei before him possessed immense power, incomparably stronger than the Saint Prodigy Zhou Yuan had previously encountered. This was a true formidable opponent.

"I originally thought I'd run into Jiatu here," Zhou Yuan said.

Xulei chuckled, "Believe me, if you were to meet him, you would despair."

"Moreover... for you lowly ants from the Lower Five Heavens to reach the core of the Saint Genesis Grand Formation, wouldn't that imply our incompetence?"

"Whether you are incompetent or not remains to be seen," Zhou Yuan said with a faint sneer, "but your appetite is truly enormous."

When he spoke of their enormous appetite, he was naturally referring to the Saint Race's current plan to monopolize the nine ancestral qi main channels.

Xulei said nonchalantly, "My Saint Race is the most noble race in the Heaven Primal World, and naturally, we should enjoy the best opportunities in this world. You lowly ants should be grateful to my Saint Race for being able to survive until now. Yet now you still try to contend with my Saint Race for resources. You truly lack self-awareness."

"Most noble? Ridiculous," Zhou Yuan said, shaking his head.

"An ant like you, of course, wouldn't understand the nobility of my Saint Race. All you beings of the Heavens were merely born from the Ancestral Dragon's transformation into all things. But my Saint Race is not like that. We... have our own... God!" Xulei chuckled lightly, and as he uttered the last word, his expression became fervent and reverent.

"God?"

Zhou Yuan's brows furrowed slightly. Given his current strength, he was indeed not yet qualified to know such secrets about the Saint Race.

However, Xulei clearly had no interest in saying more to him. He lightly stomped his crimson-gold staff. In an instant, thunder reverberated between heaven and earth as golden lightning, originating from him, violently surged outward, instantly reducing the surrounding buildings to dust.

Sensing the chilling killing intent in Xulei's eyes, Zhou Yuan composed himself. With a calm expression, the three Heavenly Suns within his Divine Dwelling suddenly erupted.

A Genesis Qi foundation of 4.3 billion swept forth, and platinum-colored pillars of light shot straight into the sky, bringing an incredibly powerful pressure.

"4.3 billion..."

Xulei's eyes narrowed slightly as he said, "It's truly not easy for someone of your Heavenly Sun stage to appear in the Lower Five Heavens. However, in my opinion, you're still a bit lacking."

He took a step forward, and three Heavenly Suns appeared behind him.

Golden, lightning-like Genesis Qi swirled around him, causing the void to tremble. His Genesis Qi foundation actually reached 4.4 billion, even faintly approaching 4.5 billion!

This was the formidable foundation of the second-ranked Saint Prodigy in Saint Ancestor Heaven!

Moreover, what made Zhou Yuan's pupils contract slightly was that on the three Heavenly Suns behind Xulei, he saw some familiar ancient patterns.

They were dragon patterns!

Dragon Claw Heavenly Suns!

And they were six-clawed Heavenly Suns!

Zhou Yuan's expression turned solemn. However, he wasn't too surprised; given the Saint Race's resources and their unique talents, it wasn't unusual for these Saint Prodigies to be able to condense Dragon Claw Heavenly Suns.

He was indeed a formidable opponent.

Zhou Yuan no longer hesitated. As he activated his Genesis Qi, three Heavenly Suns also appeared behind him. Resonating with heaven and earth, they immediately caused the convergence of Heaven and Earth Genesis Qi to become even swifter.

"Oh?"

When Zhou Yuan summoned his Heavenly Suns, Xulei clearly also noticed the dragon patterns on them. He immediately froze, and a hint of astonishment appeared on his face for the first time.

"Seven-clawed Heavenly Suns?!"

He discovered that Zhou Yuan also possessed dragon-patterned Heavenly Suns, and the number of claws was one more than his!

"Interesting. It seems your Lower Five Heavens still has some lingering luck, to be able to nurture a seven-clawed Heavenly Sun!" Xulei said slowly, but the killing intent in his eyes grew incredibly dense at this moment.

"If I kill you here," Xulei chuckled softly, "perhaps you will be the last seven-clawed Heavenly Sun in the Lower Five Heavens, won't you?"

The instant his voice fell, golden lightning seemed to flash, and his figure vanished.

"What speed!"

Zhou Yuan's pupils contracted slightly. Xulei's speed was simply the fastest among all peers he had ever seen; as the golden lightning flashed past, even with Zhou Yuan's eyesight, he found it difficult to track its trajectory.

"Barrier-breaking Saint Rune!"

Deep within Zhou Yuan's eyes, a Saint Rune circulated.

Immediately, his figure turned into a shadow and darted to the right.

The instant his figure moved, a crimson-gold staff, enveloped in golden lightning, smashed down from the void, landing fiercely where he had just stood.

Crack!

The entire ground was instantly torn open as if a terrestrial dragon was churning. Cracks spread in all directions, shattering countless dilapidated buildings.

"Oh?"

A surprised voice rang out from the void: "Not bad, to be able to evade my attack."

One must know that in the Heavenly Sun stage of Saint Ancestor Heaven, Xulei's speed was so great that even Jiatu was slightly inferior to him when purely comparing speed.

Zhou Yuan's figure blurred, flickering among numerous shadows.

"Hey, you can't run away!"

But just then, a playful laugh suddenly echoed in his ears. From the ground surrounding Zhou Yuan, golden lightning erupted, weaving into a net that directly blocked all of Zhou Yuan's escape routes.

The crimson-gold staff, enveloped in a vast ocean of golden lightning, descended with overwhelming force, fiercely striking towards the crown of Zhou Yuan's head.

This strike possessed a majestic aura, as if it had frozen space itself.

Zhou Yuan's eyes also grew solemn. The opponent's offensive was too fierce, and at this point, evasion was impossible.

Since he couldn't dodge, he would meet it head-on!

With a grab of his hand, the Heavenly Yuan Brush appeared, its snow-white tip instantly transforming into a deep, dark black.

Above the brush tip, platinum Genesis Qi roared and surged, as if a heavenly dragon was coiled upon it, about to devour the heavens and destroy the earth.

The next instant, the crimson-gold staff and the mottled black brush violently collided.

With this strike, both unleashed their Genesis Qi foundations without reservation, with unmatched ferocity.

Boom!

The collision seemed to momentarily freeze the void. Immediately after, an indescribable Genesis Qi storm, like a tornado, abruptly raged outwards from their position as its origin point, causing thousands of buildings to instantly evaporate.

Within that Genesis Qi tornado storm, two figures shot backward.

Their feet stepped on the void, shattering the space itself.

Xulei tightly gripped his crimson-gold staff. His eyes, cold and sharp, watched the young figure in the distance.

"This is getting interesting..."

In the previous clash, although his Genesis Qi foundation surpassed the opponent's, he hadn't gained the overwhelming advantage he expected. The quality of the opponent's Genesis Qi was far beyond his expectations.

The Heavenly Yuan Brush in Zhou Yuan's hand pointed diagonally at the ground. He stared at Xulei, and his eyes also grew fervent.

"Very well, before I deal with Jiatu..."

"I'll use you to warm up!"