Chapter 411: Signs of Evolution

Amidst the crimson, rock-strewn hills, a pair of savage crimson eyes swept out from a crevice, locking onto a young figure meditating atop the hill.

It stealthily approached from the shadows of the rocks, drawing closer to the figure, before suddenly revealing crimson fangs. Its body shot out like lightning, a reek of blood accompanying its rush.

However, what met it was a sharp pen tip. Its snowy-white bristles were tightly gathered like a spearhead, with Source Qi flowing over it, tearing through the very air.

Source Qi swirled around the sharp pen tip, instantly piercing through the giant beast's head. Blood gushed out, and before the beast could even scream, it met its end.

Zhou Yuan turned his head, looking at the giant beast behind him. It was a gigantic lizard covered in crimson scales, from whose body emanated a scorching and violent aura.

This was a Skyflame Lizard.

It was a Grade 4 Source Beast born in this Blazebone Vein, with strength comparable to a Genesis Realm master.

However, for Zhou Yuan, it posed little threat.

Zhou Yuan stood up and dug a crimson crystal from the Skyflame Lizard's forehead. Inside the crystal, the faint silhouette of a giant lizard was visible.

It was a Soul Crystal.

Zhou Yuan casually placed this Grade 4 Soul Crystal onto the Heavenly Yuan Brush. The Heavenly Yuan Brush immediately glowed, forcibly pulling out the giant lizard's silhouette from within the crystal and absorbing it.

The crystal then dimmed and shattered.

To Zhou Yuan's surprise, after the Heavenly Yuan Brush absorbed this Soul Crystal, its mottled, profound brush handle seemed to brighten slightly. A faint hum and subtle vibrations emanated from it.

A powerful sense of craving suddenly emanated from within the Heavenly Yuan Brush.

Zhou Yuan noticed this unusual movement and was momentarily stunned, then a look of wild joy appeared in his eyes.

"This is a sign that the Fifth Mark is about to awaken!" Zhou Yuan exclaimed, unable to contain his delight.

After the Heavenly Yuan Brush awakened its Fourth Mark, Zhou Yuan maintained the habit of nourishing it daily with Soul Crystals, but the Fifth Mark had shown no response for a long time.

He had not expected it to finally show activity today.

Normally, the Heavenly Yuan Brush could only absorb a limited amount of Soul Crystals each day. But only when it was on the verge of awakening would it transform into a ravenous beast, relentlessly devouring Soul Crystals without restraint, accumulating power and surging towards awakening and evolution.

"Currently, the Heavenly Yuan Brush is a High-grade Profound Source Weapon. If it can awaken its Fifth Mark, it will truly transform and ascend to a Heavenly Source Weapon!"

Zhou Yuan stared intently at the Heavenly Yuan Brush in his hand. For Source Weapons, a Heavenly Source Weapon represents a qualitative leap. The power possessed by every Heavenly Source Weapon far surpasses that of a High-grade Profound Source Weapon.

He recalled how, back in the Great Zhou Dynasty, when King Qi attacked the city, Su Youwei had relied on the power of the Heavenly Source Weapon within her to leap realms and slay a second-layered Genesis Realm expert.

At that time, Su Youwei was only in the Qi Cultivation stage.

Of course, Heavenly Source Weapons possessed astonishing power, but their value was also extremely high. Thus, even in their Cangxuan Sect, disciples who possessed Heavenly Source Weapons were exceedingly rare.

If the Heavenly Yuan Brush could advance to a Heavenly Source Weapon now, it would undoubtedly be a tremendous boost to Zhou Yuan's combat power.

This was the main reason for Zhou Yuan's immense joy upon realizing this.

"However, the Soul Crystals I carry with me are already depleted..."

Zhou Yuan stood up, his gaze burning as he looked towards the hundred-mile area, gripping the Heavenly Yuan Brush tightly. Fortunately, there were many Skyflame Lizards in this Blazebone Vein. He could obtain Soul Crystals from them to nourish the Heavenly Yuan Brush and allow it to complete this crucial transformation and evolution.

"Since I have nothing else to do right now, I'll borrow your Soul Crystals."

Zhou Yuan muttered to himself. Although fierce battles were breaking out everywhere in the Blazebone Vein, his location was still temporarily peaceful. Thus, he could use this time to hunt Skyflame Lizards within the hundred-mile radius.

Without hesitation, Zhou Yuan's Spirit trembled at his brow, and his spiritual perception spread out.

In the next instant, he detected violent Source Qi fluctuations beneath the ground not far away.

"Let's start with you."

His figure shot into the sky. In the next moment, he plummeted like a cannonball, stomping heavily on the ground, causing it to crack. Several Skyflame Lizards roared in fury and charged out, attempting to bite Zhou Yuan.

The Heavenly Yuan Brush vibrated, Source Qi flowed over its snowy-white bristles, and it fearlessly clashed heavily with the several Skyflame Lizards.

Over the next quarter hour, Zhou Yuan, like a god of slaughter, thoroughly hunted through the hundred-mile area he was in. Even Skyflame Lizards hiding deep underground were found by him.

Within that quarter hour, he harvested dozens of Grade 4 Soul Crystals.

All of these Soul Crystals were eventually absorbed by the Heavenly Yuan Brush.

But what started to give Zhou Yuan a headache was that even after absorbing so many Soul Crystals, the Heavenly Yuan Brush was still emitting that powerful craving.

Clearly, the power required to evolve to the Heavenly Source Weapon level exceeded Zhou Yuan's imagination.

"This is troublesome..."

Zhou Yuan gazed at the Heavenly Yuan Brush in his hand, which constantly glowed. The Fifth ancient Source Mark on its body flickered between bright and dim, clearly making its final preparations for the upcoming evolution.

"It's truly a bottomless pit..." Zhou Yuan gave a wry smile. The Skyflame Lizards in his hundred-mile area were almost completely cleared out. To hunt more, he would likely have to leave this place.

But this hundred-mile area was his occupied territory. If he left, other forces would undoubtedly seize it.

This made it difficult for Zhou Yuan to extricate himself.

Zhou Yuan pondered for a moment before finally making up his mind.

"I'll sweep this hundred-mile area once more, then go to other regions to hunt Skyflame Lizards," he decided. "If anyone dares to seize this place, I'll return and kill them after the Heavenly Yuan Brush successfully evolves."

With a plan in mind, Zhou Yuan no longer hesitated. His figure shot out once more.

However, after sweeping through half of the hundred-mile area for a short while, Zhou Yuan had only gathered a mere ten or so Soul Crystals.

This result made him shake his head helplessly.

"It seems I'll have to go to other places after I'm done sweeping here," Zhou Yuan sighed softly. Immediately, his eyes narrowed, and he looked up. Several streaks of light suddenly shot across the distant sky.

These streaks of light eventually entered Zhou Yuan's hundred-mile territory.

Zhou Yuan narrowed his eyes, and with Source Qi under his feet, he slowly ascended, blocking their path.

"This place is already occupied. Please withdraw," Zhou Yuan said slowly, looking at the streaks of light.

The streaks of light revealed their forms, clearly belonging to the same faction. They glanced at Zhou Yuan, then their eyes widened in surprise as they noticed the token at his waist.

"So it's Brother Zhou Yuan of the Cangxuan Sect..."

They exchanged glances, then cupped their fists and smiled, saying, "It seems we've strayed into the wrong area. Our apologies, we'll depart immediately."

Their figures moved, and they turned around to leave.

Zhou Yuan watched their decisive departure, his brows furrowing slightly. He faintly sensed something amiss. After a moment of thought, he descended and landed near the several-dozen-foot-tall banner, preparing to wait.

A hundred miles away.

On a hilltop, several streaks of light descended.

"Brother Su Duan, the rich mining area ahead is indeed being guarded by Zhou Yuan of the Cangxuan Sect." Those figures looked towards the hilltop, where a figure stood with hands clasped behind his back. It was none other than Su Duan, the Young Sect Master of the Flame Cauldron Sect, who had gambled on stones with Zhou Yuan a few days prior.

Su Duan nodded slightly, a sneer appearing on his face as he said, "The other disciples of the Cangxuan Sect are all competing for ore veins in the core area. This Zhou Yuan was instead assigned here, so it seems his strength is truly lacking."

"Brother Su Duan, are you really planning to seize this rich mining area?" one figure asked hesitantly. "Even though Zhou Yuan isn't particularly capable, he is still a disciple of the Cangxuan Sect. If we take his territory, it would be a humiliation to the Cangxuan Sect. Their Saint Sons would probably not let it go then."

"Hmph, the Saint Sons of the Cangxuan Sect are currently being held back by the Saint Palace's Saint Sons and are preoccupied with their own affairs," Su Duan sneered. "How could they spare the time to deal with matters out here?"

However, he was not a brainless individual after all. He narrowed his eyes, pondered for a moment, and then smiled, saying, "Besides, if we really want to deal with this kid, why would we need to do it ourselves..."

"What do you mean?"

Su Duan flicked his sleeve, and a jade vial appeared in his hand. He lightly tossed it up and down, saying, "This is 'Flame Lizard Saliva,' which has a great attraction for the Skyflame Lizards in the Blazebone Vein. You can throw this into the area where Zhou Yuan is, then we'll go and stir up the Skyflame Lizards. At that time, all the nearby Skyflame Lizards will swarm madly into this area."

"Then, we won't even need to lift a finger. With Zhou Yuan's strength at the fourth layer, do you think he can withstand such a beast tide?"

"He'll only be able to retreat in a sorry state. And once he retreats, we can step in to clear the beast tide and occupy this area... By then, it won't be us snatching territory from Zhou Yuan, but from the mouths of the Skyflame Lizards..."

"This way, it will be Zhou Yuan's incompetence and lack of ability that are to blame. Even the Cangxuan Sect won't be able to blame us; they can only fault Zhou Yuan for being useless."

The others' eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this. They couldn't help but give Su Duan a thumbs-up and laugh, saying, "Brother Su Duan's methods are truly superior! This time, Zhou Yuan is probably going to suffer a silent loss."

Hearing their flattery, Su Duan chuckled softly. He narrowed his eyes, his gaze cold as he looked into the distance.

"Zhou Yuan... you made me lose face in the trading hall," he muttered. "Today, I'll make sure you pay for it in full!"

"What if you are a Cangxuan Sect disciple? This Young Sect Master has plenty of ways to deal with you!"