Chapter 319: Got It

The fierce battle on the sea surface quietly drew to a close, and serenity returned.

As Li Qingchan gazed with disbelief into the depths of the Origin Pool, Kong Sheng also sensed something. His eyes immediately darted in that direction, and then his pupils sharply constricted. He too saw the Dragon Marrow Crystal, emitting a brilliant light.

Gazing at the half-zhang-sized Dragon Marrow Crystal, even Kong Sheng, with his usual composure, felt a jolt in his heart and exclaimed in dismay, "How is that possible?!"

How could that thousand-zhang water beast have been killed so suddenly! Zhou Yuan was only at the second layer of the Alpha Origin Stage; even if he fought with his life on the line, against that thousand-zhang water beast, he would be nothing more than an ant. So, how exactly did the thousand-zhang water beast die? Faced with this sight, Kong Sheng and Li Qingchan exchanged bewildered glances, their faces etched with incredulity.

While the two holy disciples on the sea surface were dumbfounded, Zhou Yuan shot up from the depths of the Origin Pool and swiftly placed the half-zhang-sized Dragon Marrow Crystal into his Qiankun bag.

"What a foolish fellow..."

He clucked his tongue, because in a way, the thousand-zhang water beast had literally crashed itself to death. It had crashed into the water wall with its strongest force, unaware that the water net was no longer as pliable as before. Under Zhou Yuan's modifications, the barrier had transformed, and the water wall had become incredibly hard.

The Water-Hardening Rune, Gold Jade Rune, and Profound Iron Counter-Armor Rune—these Genesis Runes had endowed the water wall with extremely sturdy properties and a rebounding force. Thus, the greater the force of the thousand-zhang water beast's impact, the stronger the rebound it experienced.

Of course, Zhou Yuan's modification had concentrated all the power of the Genesis Rune barrier. After this, regardless of whether it could withstand the thousand-zhang water beast, the barrier would collapse. Therefore, the thousand-zhang water beast's full-force impact shattered the barrier and, in doing so, killed itself.

Zhou Yuan patted his Qiankun bag contentedly. This time, he had barely exerted any effort, as the primary contribution came from the Genesis Rune barrier that Ye Ge had set up. Without the power of this Genesis Rune barrier, Zhou Yuan, even with all his might, likely couldn't have defeated the thousand-zhang water beast, as the difference in strength between them was simply too immense.

Zhou Yuan, stepping on Genesis Qi, swiftly shot towards the sea surface. On his way, he passed a large group of Sword Summit disciples, who were wailing in despair. Tuntun was enthusiastically chasing them one by one; every disciple was covered in bloodstains, their eyes wide with terror. Zhou Yuan shook his head at the sight. Fortunately, Tuntun knew that killing was forbidden here, otherwise, all these Sword Summit disciples would have been corpses by now.

"Tuntun, let's go."

Zhou Yuan called out.

Hearing Zhou Yuan's call, Tuntun reluctantly turned back, its body shrinking to the size of a small dog, and landed on Zhou Yuan's shoulder. Zhou Yuan glanced at the Sword Summit disciples. At this moment, they showed no trace of their previous arrogance; each was in a dreadful state, and their gazes towards him were filled with fear. Clearly, they had been severely tormented by Tuntun earlier.

Zhou Yuan smiled at them, then disregarded them. He moved, shot swiftly forward, broke through the seawater, and landed on the surface.

"Heh, is the battle over?"

The sea surface was calm. Zhou Yuan looked at Kong Sheng and Li Qingchan, who were staring at him from nearby, and chuckled.

Li Qingchan's beautiful eyes gazed at Zhou Yuan in astonishment, and she couldn't help but ask, "Did you kill that thousand-zhang water beast?"

Zhou Yuan smiled. "It crashed itself to death," he said.

Li Qingchan's small mouth twitched slightly. A thousand-zhang water beast, comparable to a ninth-layer Alpha Origin Stage expert, was killed by crashing?

"You modified my Genesis Rune barrier?!" Just then, a voice came from behind Zhou Yuan. He turned to see Ye Ge walking on water, his gaze fixed intently on Zhou Yuan. Yaoyao also walked over, indicating their battle had ended.

Ye Ge glanced at Yaoyao, a deep wariness flashing in his eyes. After their earlier exchange, he fully understood how unfathomable she was; no matter how he launched attacks with Genesis Runes, Yaoyao could always counter with even fiercer Genesis Rune offensives, utterly dismantling his efforts. The superiority was immediately clear. After more than a dozen such exchanges, even if Ye Ge was unwilling to face reality, he had to admit that Yaoyao's mastery of Genesis Runes was far beyond his imagination. Knowing the outcome in his heart, Ye Ge ceased his attacks, as it was clear Yaoyao had merely been playing with him. To continue would be to show a lack of good sense.

Ye Ge walked closer, his gaze fixed on Zhou Yuan. Kong Sheng and Li Qingchan might not have known what had transpired, but he had faintly sensed an anomaly in the Genesis Rune barrier he had set up in the depths of the Origin Pool. Combining this with the previous commotion, if he wasn't mistaken, it was highly probable that Zhou Yuan had modified his Genesis Rune barrier, thereby slaying the thousand-zhang water beast.

"Modified your Genesis Rune barrier?!" Li Qingchan and Kong Sheng were also startled, looking at Zhou Yuan with surprise and doubt. Although they hadn't deeply cultivated Genesis Runes, they still had some understanding of them and thus clearly knew how difficult it was to modify a Genesis Rune barrier. That would require an extremely thorough understanding of a Genesis Rune barrier. But how long had Zhou Yuan even known about this Genesis Rune barrier?

Li Qingchan's rosy lips parted slightly. Due to previous events, she had always held some reservations about Zhou Yuan, and after seeing Yaoyao protecting him, she had even come to view him as someone who could only rely on women. Now, however, it seemed she might have misjudged him.

Facing their surprised and doubtful gazes, Zhou Yuan merely smiled and offered no further explanation. He simply took out the half-zhang-sized Dragon Marrow Crystal from his Qiankun bag. As soon as he produced it, Kong Sheng and Li Qingchan's gazes immediately fixed on it.

Kong Sheng looked at Zhou Yuan, a smile appearing on his chiseled face. "Junior brother," he said, "if you can give this item to me, I am willing to offer terms that will interest you."

Li Qingchan cast a cold glance at Kong Sheng. "Kong Sheng," she said, "are you still not giving up?"

"Anything can be traded, as long as a sufficient price can be paid." Kong Sheng smiled faintly. He looked at Zhou Yuan and slowly said, "You must be Junior Brother Zhou Yuan from Saint Genesis Peak, right? If you can give this item to me, I can make you the chief disciple of Saint Genesis Peak."

Li Qingchan coldly stated, "Kong Sheng, the chief disciples of each peak are all earned through genuine battles. You have no right to bestow such a position."

Kong Sheng chuckled lightly. "Indeed, I don't have the right to give it," he said, "but I can get Junior Brother Yuan Hong to step aside."

A hint of surprise also flashed in Zhou Yuan's eyes. Indeed, Yuan Hong, a disciple under Lu Hong, was considered the strongest contender for Saint Genesis Peak's chief disciple position at the end of the year. If Kong Sheng could truly make Yuan Hong step aside, then their lineage's chance to contend for chief would greatly increase. Normally speaking, this was quite a tempting offer.

Noticing Zhou Yuan's expression, Kong Sheng's smile widened. "Junior Brother Zhou Yuan," he said, "what do you think?"

Zhou Yuan seemed to ponder for a moment, then chuckled, "This offer is indeed a bit tempting..." He smilingly looked at Li Qingchan, whose pretty face was cold beside him, and said, "Senior Sister Li, what do you think?"

Li Qingchan gave him a cold glance and sneered, "I cannot match his terms." She clearly thought Zhou Yuan was already tempted and was now merely trying to extract an exorbitant price from her, so that once she refused, he could justifiably renege on their prior agreement and complete the transaction with Kong Sheng. Although such an approach was rather shameless, Li Qingchan was quite cold and arrogant. She disdained refuting Zhou Yuan using their agreement, as in her view, that would only make her appear weak. For now, she would simply consider it a misjudgment, even though she had never held Zhou Yuan in high regard to begin with.

"Being so cold isn't fun at all."

Zhou Yuan shrugged helplessly, then smiled at Kong Sheng. "Senior Brother Kong Sheng," he said, "your terms are indeed very tempting, but... I'm afraid I've already promised this Dragon Marrow Crystal to Senior Sister Li."

Kong Sheng and Li Qingchan both froze. The smile on Kong Sheng's face paused slightly, and he softly said, "You are... refusing me?" He stared at Zhou Yuan, the smile on his face seemingly carrying a hint of danger. In the Cangxuan Sect, a gold-belt disciple actually dared to refuse his proposal?

However, Zhou Yuan seemed oblivious to the dangerous aura. He simply smiled and nodded, saying with an apologetic expression, "I really am sorry."

"Not reconsidering it?" Kong Sheng smiled, his black, stone-like eyes narrowing slightly.

Zhou Yuan shook his head, looking a bit troubled.

"Heh..."

Kong Sheng chuckled lightly, then extended a finger and pointed it vaguely at Zhou Yuan twice. "You are quite interesting indeed..." he said. "Zhou Yuan, right..." He took a deep look at Zhou Yuan, his eyes betraying no emotion. "Alright, I'll remember this..."

He flicked his sleeve and then turned to walk away directly upon the waves. Seeing this, Ye Ge also gave Zhou Yuan another look, clearly surprised that Zhou Yuan had shown Kong Sheng no deference. This kid truly was a newborn calf unafraid of a tiger. But in the end, he didn't say much. After cupping his hands in salute to Yaoyao, he also turned and departed.

On the sea surface, Zhou Yuan shrugged as he watched Kong Sheng depart.

"It seems I've offended someone..."