Chapter 416: Fifth Pattern Breaking the Source

A massive pit had appeared on the ground. Inside, five figures lay motionless, their fates unknown. No one could have imagined that just a dozen breaths ago, these five were masters who had reached the sixth layer of the Absolute Beginning Stage. Yet now, they had been taken down by a single pen.

Zhou Yuan gazed at the Tianyuan Pen floating before him. Though his expression was calm, a flicker of awe and delight passed through the depths of his eyes. Clearly, the power demonstrated by the Tianyuan Pen had exceeded his expectations. Zhou Yuan extended his hand and slowly gripped the body of the Tianyuan Pen, a hint of fervor in his gaze. This former Saint Origin weapon, which had been in his hands for several years, was finally beginning to reveal its true potential. With it, he was undoubtedly like a tiger with wings.

In mid-air, Su Duan watched the five unconscious figures, his eyelids twitching. He remained silent for a moment before finally turning his grim gaze toward Zhou Yuan. He hadn't expected that dealing with Zhou Yuan would always be so troublesome, fueling a rage within him. "I refuse to believe it!" he roared coldly. "As the dignified Young Sect Master of the Blazing Cauldron Sect, I can't subdue a mere ordinary disciple from the Azure Mystic Sect today!" As Su Duan's cold shout echoed, vast Origin Qi erupted from his head like wolf smoke, its oppressive might indeed far superior to that of the previous individuals.

Su Duan's expression turned grim as he slowly brought his hands together. Blazing and furious Origin Qi rapidly compressed between his palms, eventually forming a fire orb roughly the size of a human head. Within it, a faint image of a cauldron seemed to flicker. "Blazing Cauldron Art!" The fire orb shot into the air and suddenly exploded. The burning cauldron within it swelled against the wind, growing to about a hundred feet in size, then descended with immense force, savagely pressing down upon Zhou Yuan below. Su Duan's attack was ruthless; this Blazing Cauldron Art was a renowned High-grade Lesser Heaven Origin Art of their Blazing Cauldron Sect.

As the blazing cauldron roared down with intense heat, Zhou Yuan's eyes remained unfazed. Gripping the Tianyuan Pen, its pristine white tip suddenly began to show faint, dark patterns. In just a few breaths, the formerly white tip had turned as black as ink. Zhou Yuan held the Tianyuan Pen, shaking its body. Like a dragon's spear, the ink-black tip carried a profound light, piercing the air. He chose the most direct and forceful approach, colliding head-on with the roaring cauldron.

A sharp clang resounded. Seeing this, Su Duan sneered, changing his hand seals. "Explode!" Immediately, an extremely violent fluctuation emanated from the blazing cauldron. However, just as the blazing cauldron was about to explode, a flash of black light seemed to sweep past it. Su Duan's sneer instantly froze. He saw that as the black pen in Zhou Yuan's hand descended, the suppressive blazing cauldron was actually sliced cleanly in half, directly split apart by the dark tip. "How is that possible...?" Su Duan's pupils constricted, and he gasped in shock. His blazing cauldron was formed from pure Origin Qi and was extremely volatile; even a slight impact would cause it to explode, inflicting greater destructive power. Yet now, how could it be cleaved apart by Zhou Yuan's pen? It felt as though his Origin Qi cauldron was incredibly fragile under Zhou Yuan's pen tip.

"I don't believe it!" Su Duan's face twisted. With a sharp cry, he brought his hands together. Crimson Origin Qi swept forth, forming four blazing cauldrons before him, each emanating violent fluctuations. "Smash him!" The four blazing cauldrons roared down one after another. Before they even landed, cracks already appeared on the ground, indicating the ferocity of Su Duan's assault. Hot wind howled, ruffling Zhou Yuan's hair. He looked up at the rapidly descending cauldrons, his expression still calm. The Tianyuan Pen in his hand gleamed with cold light, its tip's bristles dark and profound, shimmering with strange patterns. *Clang! Clang!* The Tianyuan Pen moved with black light, seemingly transforming into four afterimages. Almost simultaneously, it struck heavily against all four roaring cauldrons. *Hiss! Hiss!* The four roaring cauldrons seemed to freeze for a moment. Then, the black pen tip, carrying shimmering black light, pierced straight through them. The black light spread like electricity, and at that moment, the four blazing cauldrons quietly decomposed and shattered.

Behind him, Zuoqiu Qingyu watched this scene, unable to help but cover her mouth. She hadn't expected Su Duan's furious Origin Art assault to be as fragile as paper before Zhou Yuan. For some unknown reason, Zhou Yuan seemed to possess a unique destructive power against these Origin Qi attacks.

In mid-air, Su Duan's eyes were somewhat dazed. Clearly, having his proud attack so easily broken by Zhou Yuan was a significant blow. "How can this be?!" he muttered. In previous confrontations, no one dared to approach his blazing cauldron closely, because the most terrifying aspect of the Blazing Cauldron Art was its final explosion. But when his blazing cauldron collided with Zhou Yuan, it was as if a strange power had directly suppressed the furious Origin Qi, silently dissolving it. "It's that black pen!" Su Duan's heart jolted. His gaze fixed on the Tianyuan Pen in Zhou Yuan's hand, where a peculiar black glow shimmered on its tip. It seemed to be these black lights that had so easily torn apart his Origin Qi attacks.

Zhou Yuan looked up at the ashen-faced Su Duan, then smiled faintly. With a sudden tremor of his palm, the Tianyuan Pen in his hand transformed into a streak of light and shot skyward. The Tianyuan Pen became a black streak, striking toward Su Duan like lightning. Its speed was so immense that it left only faint afterimages in the air. An incomparably sharp gust of wind assailed him. Su Duan puffed out his cheeks, and the next instant, crimson Origin Qi spewed forth like rolling flames, rapidly forming a thick shield of Origin Qi before him. The ink-black pen tip heavily impacted the Origin Qi shield. Black light shimmered, and then Su Duan watched with constricted pupils as his Origin Qi defense seemed to be corroded and gradually shattered under the black light.

It seemed that the black light possessed a specialized destructive power against any form of Origin Qi. This thought flashed through his mind, and Su Duan's scalp tingled. He retreated like lightning, but at that very instant, the Origin Qi shield exploded. The black pen, roughly a *zhang* long, quickly shrank to its normal size, but its speed at this moment was astonishingly fast. Even Su Duan could only perceive a blurry streak. "Such incredible speed!" Su Duan was terrified out of his wits. This speed was beyond his perception. The next instant, before he could even react, he felt a chill rushing toward his throat. His retreating body froze instantly; he dared not move an inch. Cold sweat trickled down his forehead. At this moment, just half an inch from his throat, the slender black pen hovered silently, a faint black glow flickering at its tip. In another moment, this black pen could pierce his throat. The aura of death enveloped his heart. Su Duan swallowed, a dry smile appearing on his face. He said, trembling slightly, "You win. This is your territory. We'll withdraw immediately." He looked with a hint of fear at the slender figure below. At this moment, he fully understood that Zhou Yuan, who appeared to be only at the fourth layer, was in fact a wolf in sheep's clothing! That fourth layer was merely a disguise!

Hearing Su Duan's words, Zhou Yuan offered a gentle smile. With a wave of his hand, the Tianyuan Pen shot back, landing in his grasp. His fingers gently traced the mottled body of the Tianyuan Pen, finally brushing over its fifth ancient Origin Rune, a flash of awe also crossing his eyes. All of Su Duan's Origin Art attacks had ultimately been broken by a single stroke from him, the main reason being the existence of this fifth Origin Rune.

The Tianyuan Pen's Fifth Rune... was named: Origin Breaker!