Chapter 1323: Great Victory

The moment Chiliu fell, everyone in the vicinity detected his fading aura. The ensuing shock was cataclysmic, causing nearly all combatants to cease their actions and stare blankly at the distant landscape, which was already transforming into a sea of lava.

Those in Zhou Yuan's team were deeply shaken. They had never imagined that Zhou Yuan would decide the outcome of the battle so quickly. After all, Chiliu was a powerful expert from the Saint Race, at the second level of the Law Domain! An existence of that caliber would be considered top-tier anywhere, yet he had been so easily slain.

Shock filled their eyes. Previously, joining Zhou Yuan's team had largely been a reluctant choice for them, as they had failed to be selected by other, stronger teams and thus had to settle for a secondary option. In their view, while Zhou Yuan had gained considerable renown from refining the Ancestral Dragon Pill, such fame was meaningless within the Stone Dragon Secret Realm. After all, Saint Race experts wouldn't show any mercy because of it. In such a contested battle zone, following a powerful leader was undoubtedly more advantageous for them, and Zhou Yuan, by all appearances, didn't seem to fit that description. They even felt that without Tun Tun's assistance in maintaining order, the team's size would likely have been even smaller.

Those had been their initial thoughts, but now, that perception had been drastically altered. There was no avoiding it, as the harsh reality had delivered a series of crushing blows to their assumptions. However, despite this stunning reversal of their expectations, the members of Zhou Yuan's team felt no resentment. Instead, wild joy began to surge within them. Though they had been somewhat shortsighted before, fortunately, their luck wasn't bad; at the very least, they were still on Zhou Yuan's side.

In stark contrast to the surprise and delight of Zhou Yuan's team, the Saint Race contingent was filled with utter horror. They, too, had never expected this outcome, especially since Chiliu was their strongest member apart from Captain Yuanquan! Yet now, he had fallen to a Nascent Source realm practitioner from the Heavens? They couldn't comprehend how this had happened. Regardless of whether they understood it or not, the undeniable fact of Chiliu's completely vanished aura made it clear that their temporary leader had been defeated and killed. This undoubtedly caused a stir within the Saint Race team, and their morale suffered significantly.

“Stop standing there blankly! Unleash all your power and bury these Saint Race members here!” Zhou Yuan's calm voice drifted from afar, reaching the ears of all his team members.

“Yes!”

Previously, when faced with Zhou Yuan's commands, some unruly members of the team had been reluctant. But now, they responded almost instantly, their gazes filled with icy resolve as they turned towards their entangled opponents. The next moment, waves of Origin Qi erupted once more, and the fierce battle resumed.

Zhou Yuan stood in the void, observing the intense clashes before directly shifting his gaze to another battlefield in the emptiness. There, Tun Tun was locked in combat with another second-level Law Domain expert. The two sides fought with extreme ferocity, but for a time, it was difficult to determine a victor, appearing to be a stalemate. However, as Zhou Yuan's gaze fell upon them, the Saint Race's second-level Law Domain expert's expression turned grim. Chiliu's demise had also placed immense pressure on him. Though he didn't know how Zhou Yuan had achieved it, that was irrelevant. His strength was slightly inferior to Chiliu's, and if even Chiliu had fallen into Zhou Yuan's hands, what hope did he have? Moreover, the sacred beast he was currently fighting was already no weaker than himself.

“The situation is unfavorable,” he realized. “I must find a way to escape and then notify Captain Yuanquan!” He understood now that the leader of this team had been deliberately concealing his true strength. They clearly possessed considerable power but had feigned a desperate retreat. Only when their strongest, Yuanquan, grew impatient with the endless pursuit and began to split his forces did this 'sheep' shed its disguise and reveal its formidable fangs. He had to immediately inform Captain Yuanquan, then temporarily halt the occupation of the nodes and gather their forces to eliminate this team from the Heavens!

With these thoughts flashing through his mind, the second-level Law Domain expert no longer hesitated. With a wave of his sleeve, his expanding Law Domain abruptly contracted, enveloping his entire body. Cloaked in his Law Domain, he pushed his power to the limit, shattering the void with a single step as he attempted to escape.

“Xuanwang!”

However, just as he was about to step into the void and depart, a calm voice suddenly resounded from all directions. As the voice faded, the second-level Law Domain expert was instantly filled with utter dread, feeling as though his Law Domain, covering his body, had momentarily frozen, as if suppressed by some unknown force. This left him incredibly shaken; he had only ever experienced such suppression when confronting a Saint! Yet now, how could it appear here?!

Although the suppression lasted only for an instant, at a moment critical for escape, even a single breath was enough to alter the outcome. At that very moment, a low, fierce roar suddenly erupted. A black hole formed behind the Saint Race's second-level Law Domain expert, the void around it writhing before it finally transformed into a hideous, gaping maw. It was Tun Tun's Devouring Mouth! The black-hole-like maw rotated, unleashing devouring power. The Law Domain energy covering the Saint Race's second-level Law Domain expert rapidly peeled away. In just a few breaths, by the time the peculiar suppression wore off, the Law Domain energy around the expert had been almost completely drained.

A profound chill surged through the second-level Law Domain expert's heart. As his protective Law Domain energy was torn apart, he felt almost completely exposed, devoid of any sense of security. If anyone were to launch a sneak attack at this moment, he would pay a devastating price. Thus, in the very next instant, the second-level Law Domain expert unhesitatingly activated his Law Domain once more, and Law Domain energy immediately surged forth. But in that very instant, a faint whistling sound reached his ears. He saw a streak of dark light piercing through the void, which then, in the next moment, penetrated the scant remaining defensive layers around his body. With a soft thud, the dark light burst forth from his form. At that moment, within the dark light, he seemed to glimpse a mottled black pen. However, the unparalleled sharpness emanating from it made him realize that the black pen was, in fact, a powerful Saint Origin Weapon; otherwise, it couldn't have penetrated his physical body so easily.

Pfft.

A mouthful of blood spurted from his mouth, and the Origin Qi within his body instantly became chaotic. This second-level Law Domain expert from the Saint Race had already been severely wounded by the tacit cooperation between Zhou Yuan and Tun Tun. Before he could even begin to suppress his internal injuries, the void behind him shattered as Tun Tun's enormous body, imbued with monstrous ferocity, lunged forward. The entire void fractured like crystal beneath its leap. Simultaneously, Zhou Yuan's figure flickered into existence ahead. With a clench of his hand, the Heavenly Yuan Brush shot back to him, and in the next moment, a barrage of attacks, powerful enough to make the starry sky tremble, began to pour down like a torrential rain.

Both Zhou Yuan and Tun Tun unleashed their most ferocious combined assault at this moment. The Saint Race expert had no other option; he could only swallow the blood frothing in his mouth and face the onslaught with a look of desperation. He even unhesitatingly opened the Saint Pupil on his brow, causing his combat power to surge instantaneously. The three figures clashed ferociously in the void, exchanging thousands of blows in mere moments. The void within tens of thousands of miles vibrated violently, and the commotion was even more intense than when Zhou Yuan had fought Chiliu.

However, this clash lasted for an even shorter duration. Both Zhou Yuan and Tun Tun possessed the individual strength to contend with a second-level Law Domain expert. Now, working together, they effortlessly suppressed the Saint Race expert, especially since he had already been wounded by Zhou Yuan earlier. Therefore, after the battle continued for a short while, Tun Tun found an opening. Its black-hole-like maw tore through the void, swallowing a large section of the sky along with the Saint Race expert, whose body was already riddled with wounds.

The battle concluded even faster than Zhou Yuan had anticipated.

Zhou Yuan emerged from the void, holding the Heavenly Yuan Brush. Blood continuously dripped from its tip; each drop that hit the ground created a massive, thousand-zhang crater. This was the vital blood of the Saint Race expert. In the void ahead, Tun Tun also emerged, its body as vast as a mountain, its golden scales shimmering. Majestic and mysterious, it exuded an ancient ferocity. Black light surged within its belly, seemingly creating its own space capable of devouring all things.

Tun Tun let out a low growl towards Zhou Yuan, who nodded slightly. The Saint Race expert had been severely wounded, and now that he was swallowed, even if he didn't perish immediately, he would eventually be annihilated by the devouring power over time, transforming into nutrients that would nourish Tun Tun's main body.

After dealing with the second Saint Race expert, Zhou Yuan didn't rest for a moment. He immediately took Tun Tun and rushed towards the third Saint Race expert at the second level of the Law Domain. This third Saint Race expert had been engaged by Aituanzi and two other first-level Law Domain practitioners. However, in their battle, Aituanzi's group was clearly at a disadvantage. In that short time, apart from Aituanzi who was barely holding on, the other two were already heavily wounded, looking particularly miserable. Despite their grim situation, all three were quite fierce, or perhaps Zhou Yuan's slaying of Chiliu had given them newfound confidence. So, even though their own condition was extremely precarious, they continued to desperately tie down the third Saint Race expert, who was already starting to panic and feel uneasy.

When Zhou Yuan and Tun Tun appeared on this battlefield, Aituanzi and the other two virtually collapsed, their faces pale and bodies covered in blood. Their Origin Qi was in disarray, and they didn't even have the strength to speak. “You've worked hard,” Zhou Yuan said softly to the three. “Leave the rest to us.” From the looks of it, if they had arrived even a moment later, the three would likely have met the same fate as Chiliu.

Meanwhile, the third Saint Race expert at the second level of the Law Domain saw Zhou Yuan and Tun Tun appear, and his expression drastically changed. His eyes were filled with horror and fear, and he clearly intended to shatter the void and flee without hesitation. However, his escape was immediately thwarted by the black-hole-like maw that opened in the void, forcing him back.

The next moment, Zhou Yuan and Tun Tun erupted with overwhelming ferocity and charged forward. The fierce battle erupted once more. Until, once again, destructive fireworks erupted between heaven and earth, signifying the shattering of a Law Domain.

When Aituanzi and the other two, covered in blood, opened their eyes, they saw a colossal beastly figure and a young man, radiating overwhelming malevolence, step out from the destructive fireworks. They couldn't help but feel a surge of exhilaration, for they knew that in this first direct confrontation with the Saint Race, victory belonged to them.