Chapter 697: Chaos Aura

Over Dragon Delimitation River, countless shocked gazes were fixed on the young figure hovering in the air. Of course, more attention was drawn to the floating halo behind him.

The fluctuations emanating from that halo were familiar to everyone, as it was a clear mark of having entered the Divine Dwelling stage.

A Divine Dwelling Halo!

This meant... Zhou Yuan, standing before them, had actually reached the Divine Dwelling stage?!

A momentary pause fell over the battlefield.

The very next moment, earth-shattering cheers erupted from the walls of Dragon Delimitation City. The faces of countless soldiers from the Great Zhou Dynasty were filled with excitement.

This was because, on a battlefield like this, the presence of a Divine Dwelling expert could have a terrifying impact. The Great Wu Dynasty had been able to completely suppress the Great Zhou primarily due to the existence of King Wu...

A Divine Dwelling expert here was practically invincible.

Yet now, just as the Great Zhou was on the verge of despair, the Divine Dwelling Halo displayed by Zhou Yuan offered them a final glimmer of hope.

"Your Highness, Your Highness has actually broken through to the Divine Dwelling stage! What an unparalleled genius!" Wei Canglan exclaimed, his face alight with uncontrollable joy.

Beside him, Wei Qingqing also stood with her rosy lips slightly agape, staring blankly at the distant figure. Clearly, she was also deeply shaken.

"The Divine Dwelling stage..."

King Black Venom's eyes were also glazed over, his expression incredibly complex. He clearly hadn't expected that the young man who had once subdued him would reach this level in just a few short years.

On the city walls, the other generals' faces lit up with delight, their previous despair completely vanished.

"Your Majesty truly has immense fortune!" They congratulated Zhou Qing, who was equally astonished.

Zhou Qing opened his mouth, then looked at Qin Yu. They exchanged a bewildered glance.

Finally, Qin Yu let out a soft sigh, her eyes slightly red. "I never imagined Yuan'er would reach this point. He must not have relaxed for a moment all these years..."

As she spoke, a pang of heartache went through her. While Zhou Yuan's talent was exceptional, reaching this stage must have certainly involved immense hardship.

"Heaven truly does not wish for the demise of our Great Zhou."

Zhou Qing, on the other hand, took a deep breath. His constantly tensed body relaxed, and the immense pressure he had been carrying in his heart finally eased.

Zhou Yuan's display of Divine Dwelling strength immediately compensated for the Great Zhou's greatest weakness. Facing the Great Wu, they would now possess the power to fight back.

However, Zhou Qing looked at the Divine Dwelling Halo behind Zhou Yuan with a hint of confusion.

"...Yuan'er's Divine Dwelling Halo, why does it feel a little... different?"

While the Great Zhou's side erupted in earth-shattering cheers, a chilling silence fell over the Great Wu's direction. The faces of countless soldiers changed, and even some experts of the Alpha Origin stage grew solemn.

They too understood very well what the Divine Dwelling stage represented on the current battlefield.

But who could have imagined that the Prince of Great Zhou would enter the Divine Dwelling stage at such a young age? Such talent was simply unbelievable.

In the sky, King Wu's gaze was also fixed on the Divine Dwelling Halo behind Zhou Yuan, his face twitching slightly, his mind in turmoil.

"How could this little brat from the Zhou family have entered the Divine Dwelling stage?"

"According to the intelligence we received, he should still be at the peak of the Alpha Origin stage..."

King Wu's eyes flickered with uncertainty. With Zhou Yuan breaking through to the Divine Dwelling stage, the situation was bound to change.

"Furthermore, why does this kid's Divine Dwelling Halo not display any luster? How many layers of Divine Dwellings did he actually open?"

At this moment, Zhou Yuan also looked at the Divine Dwelling Halo behind him, his expression rather peculiar.

In truth, ever since he had reclaimed a portion of the Saint Dragon's Qi from Wu Huang, the Genesis Qi foundation within him had been rapidly surging. During his journey back from Shengzhou Continent, Zhou Yuan had continuously been adjusting himself.

Before completing his breakthrough, Zhou Yuan's Genesis Qi foundation had even reached the terrifying level of three hundred thousand Genesis Qi stars.

This was even slightly stronger than Patriarch Cang Xuan's foundation when he broke through to the Divine Dwelling stage back then.

Therefore, when the Genesis Qi foundation within him reached three hundred thousand, Zhou Yuan's Qi Dwelling naturally began its evolution towards a Divine Dwelling.

For the Divine Dwelling stage, the most crucial aspect was the opening of the Divine Dwelling during the breakthrough, which would determine its grade and potential.

This was when the Divine Construction Artifacts would demonstrate their miraculous functions.

However, Zhou Yuan had another problem: Divine Construction Artifacts could not enter his Qi Dwelling. Once they did, they would be directly swallowed by the "Heaven Punishing Sacred Rune" residing within it.

This problem, however, did not trouble Zhou Yuan for long. When the Divine Dwelling began to open, the "Heaven Punishing Sacred Rune" made Zhou Yuan understand why it did not allow other Divine Construction Artifacts to appear...

Because, it alone was enough.

Zhou Yuan let out a soft sigh, and with a slight shift of thought, he delved into his Qi Dwelling.

No, it should now be called a Divine Dwelling.

Within the Divine Dwelling, it was a vast, mysterious, and hazy expanse, like the world at its genesis. And within this Divine Dwelling, nine heavens were born...

That's right. Under the Heaven Punishing Sacred Rune, Zhou Yuan had opened an extremely rare Nine Divine Dwellings.

"Nine Divine Dwellings..."

Even after confirming it countless times, Zhou Yuan's heart still surged with an inability to remain calm when he sensed the nine mysterious Divine Dwellings.

In fact, Zhou Yuan had somewhat anticipated this result. After all, even an eight-colored Divine Construction Artifact had been swallowed by the Heaven Punishing Sacred Rune, clearly indicating that the Sacred Rune's capabilities were beyond imagination.

Furthermore, according to Zhou Yuan's speculation, even a true nine-colored Divine Construction Artifact would likely struggle to compare with the Heaven Punishing Sacred Rune.

Zhou Yuan opened his slightly closed eyes and looked at the Divine Dwelling Halo, which had floated from behind him to his front, his expression somewhat complex.

Normally, if one were to open Nine Divine Dwellings, the resulting Divine Dwelling Halo would display a nine-colored radiance.

But Zhou Yuan's Divine Dwelling Halo was not a nine-colored radiance; instead, it was... a mysterious, chaotic-like color.

Previously, when Zhou Yuan broke through to the Divine Dwelling stage and opened Nine Divine Dwellings, he watched as the colors of his Divine Dwelling Halo increased one by one, eventually reaching a brilliant nine-colored state.

However, before he could even get excited about this change, the nine colors began to transform again, their brilliance receding until they ultimately became this chaotic, indistinct color.

At that moment, he could even sense the Heaven Punishing Sacred Rune within him emitting mysterious fluctuations. Clearly, the change in the Divine Dwelling Halo's color was inextricably linked to it.

His Divine Dwelling, it seemed, had mutated again.

"When I opened my Qi Dwelling, it was mutated into a blood-red color by the Resentful Dragon Poison..."

"Now that I've opened my Divine Dwelling, my Divine Dwelling has been mutated into a chaotic color by the Heaven Punishing Sacred Rune..."

Zhou Yuan gazed at the chaotic halo before him, letting out a wistful sigh towards the sky. "Why did my nine-colored halo disappear? Such a showy color—if it were still here, simply displaying it would likely make King Wu's expression infinitely uglier than it is now."

"Sigh, chaotic color it is... It might not look good, but as long as it's powerful, isn't that enough?"

Zhou Yuan sighed inwardly, finding solace in self-comfort.

Then he raised his head, his gaze falling upon the fluctuating expression of King Wu. He offered a faint smile, but his eyes gradually turned cold.

"King Wu..."

"Now, shall we properly settle the grievances of all these years?"