Chapter 1432: Zhou Yuan Enters Sage

Two towering pillars of chaotic flame rapidly dimmed at this moment, their raging inferno transforming into countless rising sparks.

A few breaths later, when the pillars of flame had completely dissipated, two figures, exuding immense pressure, reappeared in the void.

"As expected of the Ancestral Dragon Lantern," Mojie said with a sigh, blue patterns flowing across his face. "If this item were activated by Jin Luo and his peers, for the two of us to return, it would likely require ten or more times the time and effort."

"Cang Yuan, why bother with these futile efforts? What can a mere delay change?"

Hei Zhao spoke indifferently, but no sooner had his words faded than both his and Mojie's expressions suddenly shifted. Their gazes turned towards the young figure sitting cross-legged in the distant void. "Oh? Has his own will replaced the Heavens' Will of Cangxuan Heaven?"

The two ancient saints narrowed their eyes slightly. So, Cang Yuan and his companions were planning this: delaying time for Zhou Yuan to merge his will into Cangxuan Heaven. At this moment, Zhou Yuan would undoubtedly become even more legitimate than before.

"What a terrifyingly talented fellow," Mojie said slowly. "He is constantly growing at an astonishing speed. Although this is partly due to the heavens and earth creating momentum for him, it also fully demonstrates his own excellence."

"These heavens and earth will be destroyed by my Saint Race," Hei Zhao said indifferently, profound killing intent flowing in his words. "This is merely a dying struggle... There's no need to delay any further, let's just finish this."

And just as his voice fell, Hei Zhao raised his palm. From its center, a pitch-black mouth slowly split open. As the dark maw opened, rolling black magma roared forth in the next instant.

The black magma was terrifying. The moment it appeared, the entire world began to evaporate. The black magma emitted billowing black smoke, which contained a fiery poison that even Saints found terrifying.

The heavens and earth transformed into a dark hue at this moment. The black magma surged directly towards Cang Yuan and the others, engulfing everything with terrifying might.

Cang Yuan and the others' expressions grew solemn upon seeing Hei Zhao make his move. With an ancient saint unleashing their full power, even with their numerical advantage and the Ancestral Dragon Lantern, they dared not show the slightest negligence.

Cang Yuan quickly formed a hand seal. The Ancestral Dragon Pellet in his hand glowed at this moment, and a wisp of fiery spark rose, then transformed into a stone shield. The shield's surface was inscribed with ancient dragon shadows of indistinct form, radiating terrifying power.

At this moment, the ancient dragon shadow opened its mouth, and with a long dragon roar, swallowed the surging black magma and toxic mist whole.

As these two terrifying forces collided, they silently tore through the firmament.

However, just as Hei Zhao completely entangled Cang Yuan and the others, Ancient Saint Mojie revealed a nonchalant smile. A blue pattern on his face burst forth from his body.

Boom!

The moment the blue pattern appeared, it transformed, surprisingly, into a massive thousand-zhang-long blue lightning bolt. The blue lightning roared like a ferocious blue dragon, unleashing earth-shattering power.

The blue lightning, as soon as it appeared, shot through the air and directly struck down fiercely towards Zhou Yuan's location.

Clearly, Ancient Saint Mojie intended to directly eliminate Zhou Yuan and completely remove any future trouble.

"Zhou Yuan!"

Cang Yuan and the others' expressions changed. However, at this moment they were facing an ancient saint; they could barely hold him back even when working together. How could they have any remaining energy to look after Zhou Yuan?

Therefore, they could only watch helplessly as the blue lightning, which even they found dangerous, crashed down, striking directly onto Zhou Yuan's body.

Zhou Yuan's meditating body instantly exploded. The terrifying power of the blue lightning utterly obliterated his flesh and blood. In a mere instant, Zhou Yuan was utterly vaporized by the blue lightning.

Ancient Saint Mojie smiled faintly at the sight. But before his smile could fully spread, he saw countless points of light suddenly whistling in from all directions within this world. Each point of light contained extremely pure World Origin Qi.

Moreover, within those points of light, there seemed to be an extremely vibrant life force.

The points of light rapidly condensed. A few breaths later, a figure took shape, standing proudly in the void.

It was none other than Zhou Yuan!

However, at this moment, he seemed greatly changed from before. His body was like glazed glass, crystal clear, as if all impurities had been completely removed.

His eyes were bright and profound, like the starry sky.

He stood quietly in the void, and on his left shoulder, streams of light suddenly converged, gradually forming a lotus flower radiating sacred energy.

The lotus slowly rotated. Each petal was inscribed with the most ancient and pure patterns, beautiful as if it were a creation born from the essence of heaven and earth.

This symbolized one of the most supreme powers in the world!

The Saint's Lotus!

Saintly might!

Cang Yuan and the others were greatly invigorated by this sight. The appearance of the Saint's Lotus signified that Zhou Yuan had completely shed his mortal coil; now, he had truly stepped into the Saint stage!

Mojie stared coldly at Zhou Yuan's figure, his gaze lingering for a moment on the Saint Lotus on Zhou Yuan's shoulder. Although he had known it was only a matter of time before Zhou Yuan became a Saint when he became the Lord of Cangxuan Heaven, when this moment truly arrived, even Ancient Saint Mojie couldn't help but feel a ripple in his composure.

Because a Saint-level Heaven Lord, especially one hidden within his own heavenly domain, would truly not be so easy to kill.

Although Zhou Yuan still posed no threat to him, as the Lord of the heavenly domain, he could merge with the heavens and earth at will and appear anywhere within this heavenly domain. Therefore, even if Zhou Yuan still lacked the power to directly confront him, at the very least, he could make a full retreat.

As Mojie's gaze shifted, Zhou Yuan also slightly tilted his head, looking at the Saint Lotus on his shoulder. This simple lotus flower was the manifestation of the foundation accumulated from his many years of arduous cultivation.

At this moment, images of memories continuously flashed through Zhou Yuan's mind.

Great Zhou City... Saint Remains Region... Cangxuan Sect...

Tianyuan Region... Nine Regions Grand Meeting... Guyuan Heaven...

All-Beast Heaven... All-Heavens City... Stone Dragon Secret Realm...

Countless images represented his decades-long cultivation path, fraught with countless hardships and not a few life-or-death dangers, yet he had overcome them step by step.

Finally, all these images converged into a single, sacred lotus flower.

Zhou Yuan's heart swelled, then gradually calmed. A smile appeared on his face as he softly murmured to himself, "Zhou Yuan, congratulations. You have reached a step you once dared not dream of."

However, with a formidable enemy before him, Zhou Yuan's composure quickly returned. He glanced at Mojie's location. He certainly wasn't so arrogant as to think he could directly confront an ancient saint just because he had broken through to the Saint stage. After all, he was, at most, only a Single-Lotus Saint.

But fortunately, this was Cangxuan Heaven, and he was its Heaven Lord.

Therefore, what he could achieve might even surpass what some Twin-Lotus Saints could do.

Zhou Yuan turned his gaze to where Cang Yuan and the others were. At this moment, they were in a stalemate with Ancient Saint Hei Zhao. So he formed a hand seal with one hand, and the next moment, a mighty power descended, as if his words had become law.

"Heaven and Earth Empowerment!"