Chapter 197: Distributing the Holy Dragon Qi

On the shattered white jade plaza, Zhou Yuan knelt on one knee, his face pale. Around him, his Genesis Qi was extremely weak, and the light from his spirit in his glabella was so dim it seemed about to extinguish.

He slowly turned his head, his eyes indifferently falling upon the headless corpse behind him.

Suddenly, Wu Huang's headless body trembled slightly. The next instant, a beam of light shot up from its severed neck, and within the light, a dragon's roar echoed.

Faintly, a phantasmal dragon shadow appeared within the light.

That dragon shadow was ancient and noble, as if symbolizing a gift from heaven and earth.

Zhou Yuan's heart trembled as he watched this scene. He sensed a familiar, almost ingrained, aura from it...

"The Saint Dragon Qi..."

Zhou Yuan's voice trembled slightly. Years ago, King Wu had completely extracted the Saint Dragon Qi from his body and infused it into the Great Wu's python-sparrow.

He never expected that over a decade later, he would once again feel this Saint Dragon Qi, which originally belonged to him.

Within Zhou Yuan's Qi Dwelling, the Grand Mystical Python Qi also stirred violently at this moment, as if emitting a roaring sound, filled with an indescribable yearning.

The ethereal dragon shadow Qi lingered in mid-air for a moment, then suddenly swept downwards.

However, the Saint Dragon Qi did not rush towards Zhou Yuan; instead, it headed straight for Wu Huang's severed head.

"Wu Huang, I knew you wouldn't die so easily!" A fierce gleam flashed in Zhou Yuan's eyes. Without hesitation, he threw a punch, unleashing the recently recovered Genesis Qi within him, sending it whistling fiercely towards Wu Huang's head.

At this moment, Wu Huang's head on the ground suddenly opened its eyes wide. A light appeared between its eyebrows, faintly revealing a phantom.

It was clearly Wu Huang's spirit.

Zhou Yuan had destroyed Wu Huang's physical body, but his spirit remained hidden between his eyebrows.

Inside and outside the Saint Remains City, many onlookers exclaimed in surprise at this scene.

"Wu Huang's spirit didn't dissipate with his body?"

"It seems he has a treasure that protects his spirit, allowing it to hide within his head."

"But without a physical body, the spirit is useless, unless it reaches the Solid stage. Clearly, Wu Huang's spirit hasn't reached that level yet!"

"As long as Zhou Yuan smashes his head, the spirit will naturally have nowhere to hide and can be easily shattered."

"Whoosh!"

Wu Huang's spirit power emanated from his glabella, carrying his head as it flew into the air, dodging Zhou Yuan's Genesis Qi attack. Then, he opened his mouth, intending to reabsorb the Saint Dragon Qi.

"Heavenly Yuan Brush!"

Zhou Yuan's eyes turned icy. He drew the Heavenly Yuan Brush from his waist, gave it a slight shake, and it expanded. Its snowy white bristles suddenly extended, forming a white ribbon that shot out like lightning, fiercely piercing towards Wu Huang's head.

Wu Huang was about to reabsorb the Saint Dragon Qi, but at this moment, he had to interrupt, urging his head to fly up and evade the white bristles.

"Zhou Yuan, this time I truly stumbled, but it won't be so easy for you to kill me!" Wu Huang's head flew, his mouth opening and closing as a grim voice emerged.

Zhou Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly, then his hand suddenly clenched.

In the void, countless invisible bristles suddenly shot out, encircling Wu Huang's head. The next instant, they plunged down, piercing through his head.

As the bristles swept past, Wu Huang's head instantly exploded on the spot.

As the head shattered, Zhou Yuan frowned slightly, for he saw a phantom spirit, about the size of a palm, rising from the blood mist.

That spirit was, naturally, Wu Huang.

However, at this moment, Wu Huang's ethereal spirit was enveloped by a layer of star-like armor. It was this protective star-armor that allowed Wu Huang's spirit, which was only at the Ethereal Realm Mid-stage, to leave his body.

"Soul Armor?!"

Zhou Yuan's pupils contracted. The star-like armor was a type of Soul Armor, capable of protecting a spirit. However, cultivating Soul Armor was an extremely difficult feat, even for those whose spirits had reached the Solid Realm.

Clearly, Wu Huang had the assistance of an expert.

"Zhou Yuan, I told you, you can't kill me!" Wu Huang's spirit looked on, its voice cold.

"Hmph, you want to reclaim this Saint Dragon Qi? Don't even dream of it. It has been in my body for over a decade; my control over it is stronger than yours. Once I reclaim it, I'll naturally have a chance to settle today's score in the future!"

As Wu Huang's voice faded, he immediately formed hand seals. The Saint Dragon Qi, hovering in the void, began to vibrate, then whistled towards Wu Huang's spirit.

Zhou Yuan's eyes were glacial. He had finally found an opportunity today to slay Wu Huang's body and draw out this Saint Dragon Qi. If he allowed Wu Huang to reclaim it, he might never get another such chance.

Losing the Saint Dragon Qi, even if Wu Huang wasn't completely killed today, would still inflict an unspeakable trauma upon him.

Therefore, Zhou Yuan absolutely could not let him succeed.

Zhou Yuan took a deep breath. With a flick of the Heavenly Yuan Brush in his hand, its snowy white bristles floated beneath his feet, carrying him into the air as he shot towards the Saint Dragon Qi.

"Zhou Yuan, stop dreaming! You can't take this Saint Dragon Qi!" Wu Huang's spirit laughed loudly.

A cold glint flashed in Zhou Yuan's eyes: "Is that so?"

He slowly raised his right palm. In its center, a crimson mass slowly writhed, emitting an aura of resentment and hatred.

"Resentful Dragon Poison, every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt its debtor. Don't you want to reclaim this Saint Dragon Qi?!" Zhou Yuan murmured.

This Resentful Dragon Poison possessed its own sentience. From the moment the Saint Dragon Qi appeared earlier, Zhou Yuan had sensed its stirring.

Just as Zhou Yuan's voice faded, the crimson mass suddenly vibrated fiercely. It then directly pierced through Zhou Yuan's palm, and crimson Qi surged out, forming a crimson dragon head before his palm...

The dragon head roared, and its mouth suddenly inhaled.

With that inhale, Wu Huang's face instantly drained of color. He saw that the Saint Dragon Qi, which had been surging towards him, was now rushing towards Zhou Yuan at an astonishing speed.

"Damn it!"

Wu Huang roared, urgently channeling all his strength, frantically absorbing the Saint Dragon Qi, attempting to continuously pull it back.

Thus, in mid-air, the stream of Saint Dragon Qi continuously divided, surging towards both sides.

But clearly, the dragon mouth formed by the Resentful Dragon Poison absorbed it faster!

In just over a dozen breaths, the dragon shadow formed by the Saint Dragon Qi dissipated. Nearly two-thirds of the Saint Dragon Qi was devoured by the Resentful Dragon Poison.

Wu Huang only managed to reclaim one-third.

"Argh!"

This time, Wu Huang was utterly enraged, his eyes bloodshot. Even when his physical body was destroyed earlier, he had not lost composure like this, because he clearly understood the significance of the Saint Dragon Qi.

As long as he possessed the Saint Dragon Qi, he would eventually be able to rise again!

But now that most of the Saint Dragon Qi had been reclaimed by Zhou Yuan, this would have a massive impact not only on him but also on the destiny of the Great Wu Dynasty.

However, no matter how furious he was, he was helpless. At this moment, he was only a spirit; escaping from Zhou Yuan with his life was already difficult, let alone doing anything to him.

Dazzling starlight erupted from within Wu Huang, immediately engulfing him. It then shot up into the sky, seemingly piercing through the void, and vanished.

"Zhou Yuan, I won't let you off!"

As Wu Huang's spirit disappeared, his frantic roar still echoed.

Outside the Saint Remains City.

Zhao Pan's face was grim. He took out a star compass from his pocket. Starlight emanated from the compass, gathering before him, eventually forming what looked like a spatial tunnel.

A beam of starlight whistled out from the tunnel and landed inside the star compass. Wu Huang's spirit was also seen entering it.

Clearly, the one who intervened to save Wu Huang's spirit was Zhao Pan.

"Heh, I didn't expect you'd even bring out the Sacred Palace's 'Star Soul Disk'. Did you foresee Wu Huang's inevitable defeat?" Mu Wuji sneered from not far away.

Zhao Pan's face was ashen, but he ignored him. He merely glanced coldly at Wu Huang's spirit inside the star compass, cursing inwardly, "What a good-for-nothing. If the Palace Master didn't value you, I wouldn't bother helping..."

Despite his inner frustration with Wu Huang's incompetence, he carefully put away the Star Soul Disk, allowing Wu Huang's spirit to recuperate within it.

After all, when he left the Sacred Palace, the Palace Master had personally instructed him to bring Wu Huang back to the Sacred Palace, even if only a trace of his spirit remained.

Zhao Pan had originally thought it wouldn't come to this, but unexpectedly, this fellow's physical body was indeed destroyed, leaving only his spirit to escape...

Zhao Pan looked up, gazing at Zhou Yuan's figure in the light mirror, and a killing intent flashed in his eyes.

"This brat... to think he could achieve this much..."

But he also knew that under Mu Wuji's watchful eye, he couldn't do anything to Zhou Yuan.

This time, Zhou Yuan would undoubtedly become the biggest winner in the Saint Remains City.