Chapter 713: Compensation

High above, Gu Zong, who had initially cursed under his breath and was about to lead his people away, froze when Zhou Yuan suddenly spoke. He turned, his face shadowed, and stared at Zhou Yuan. With a faint smile, he said, "Saint Son Zhou Yuan, what happened earlier was just a misunderstanding. There's no need to dwell on it, is there?"

At the same time, a flicker of anger crossed his eyes. This Zhou Yuan truly didn't know what was good for him; he had already made a concession, yet this young man still dared to be so aggressive.

Did he really think that merely being a chief Saint Son of the Cangxuan Sect could intimidate him?

Zhou Yuan's expression remained calm. The Great Zhou, having just conquered the Great Wu, now most needed to establish its authority. This group of people, upon arrival, had immediately shattered the palace, an act that completely trampled on the Great Zhou's prestige. When others witnessed this, they would inevitably harbor different thoughts, which would not be conducive to the Great Zhou's rule.

Zhou Yuan couldn't remain in the Great Zhou Dynasty indefinitely, so he wanted to do his best to help Zhou Qing solidify his rule.

Furthermore, many foreign experts had recently arrived on the Cangmang Continent, and Gu Zong and his group were just one example. These individuals showed no regard for the local dynasties, casually causing great chaos.

Therefore, to avoid trouble, Zhou Yuan felt it necessary to make an example of someone to ensure the peace of the Great Zhou territory.

And Gu Zong and his group were the perfect examples.

"Hand over fifty portions of low-grade Divine Dwelling Elixirs, and this matter will be settled," Zhou Yuan said slowly.

Zhou Qing, Wei Canglan, and the others felt their scalps tingle upon hearing this. For just one palace, Zhou Yuan was demanding fifty portions of low-grade Divine Dwelling Elixirs in compensation. They hadn't even found that many from the Great Wu's national treasury!

It was simply an exorbitant demand.

High above, Gu Zong and his group immediately grew grim-faced upon hearing this. They sneered, "You truly have a great appetite, Saint Son Zhou Yuan. I advise you not to be too fanciful."

"So, you mean you won't give them?" Zhou Yuan said calmly.

Gu Zong's gaze turned cold. He folded his arms across his chest and said, "What can you do if I don't give them today?"

Zhou Yuan was merely at the early Divine Dwelling stage and alone, while they had twenty Divine Dwelling stage experts. Gu Zong truly didn't know where Zhou Yuan got the audacity to dare to extort them in this situation.

"This kid's talent isn't bad, but he's gone stupid from cultivation!"

Behind Gu Zong, the other Divine Dwelling stage experts also sneered.

Seeing this, Zhou Yuan nodded. Then he turned and shouted towards the palace, "Close the gates... unleash Tun Tun!"

No sooner had his voice fallen than a deafening beast roar thundered through the heavens and earth, as an immense wave of ferocious aura surged skyward.

Immediately after, everyone saw a golden light rising from behind the royal palace. Within that golden light was a majestic, mysterious giant beast. Black light swirled around its massive maw, and the golden scales on its body shimmered brilliantly under the sunlight.

Tun Tun roared skyward, its voice like angry thunder.

Now, when Tun Tun activated its battle form, its body nearly doubled in size, resembling a small mountain. Black light pulsed from its enormous mouth, and the Genesis Qi between heaven and earth was continuously swallowed by it.

Not long after Yao Yao's power mysteriously broke through, Tun Tun also, as expected, advanced to the Divine Dwelling stage...

It originally possessed a mysterious and powerful bloodline, and as it grew, its power would become increasingly terrifying.

The moment Tun Tun appeared, Gu Zong and the others' expressions drastically changed. They stared at Tun Tun with horror in their eyes, clearly feeling a surge of pressure emanating from its body.

"What kind of Genesis Beast is this? Why is its oppressive aura so astonishing?!" Gu Zong's expression shifted. He was at the mid Divine Dwelling stage, yet even he felt a sense of oppression at this moment.

The mysterious giant beast before him was clearly no ordinary Genesis Beast.

While he was in his state of shock and doubt, Tun Tun had already roared out, directly transforming into a golden light and charging towards Gu Zong. Black light coiled around its sharp claws, and one claw strike tore through the void, slamming down fiercely on Gu Zong.

The terrifying gust of wind that whistled towards him also made Gu Zong dare not be negligent. His Genesis Qi erupted violently within him, and two Divine Dwelling halos appeared behind him. His fist, enveloped in violent Genesis Qi, collided with the descending claw.

Violent Genesis Qi raged outwards.

Tun Tun's body remained unmoving, while Gu Zong was struck heavily and shot backward. Gaping bloody marks appeared on his fist; his entire palm was nearly torn off.

In a single exchange, Gu Zong was already injured.

His expression instantly changed drastically, and the other Divine Dwelling stage experts also paled.

"Retreat!"

Gu Zong roared without hesitation, then turned and fled. Only then did he understand why Zhou Yuan dared to be so impolite to them; it turned out there was such a terrifying mysterious Genesis Beast beside him.

Seeing this, the others dared not linger and scattered in flight.

However, just as their figures moved, an invisible force descended from the sky, like a sky-supporting mountain, directly and forcefully suppressing their figures into stillness.

Even Gu Zong was unable to move.

They looked up in utter horror and saw a stunningly beautiful girl in a dark green dress, her bare jade feet hovering in the sky, her clear eyes gazing at them indifferently.

And from her body, extremely terrifying Divine Soul fluctuations emanated.

Gu Zong's scalp tingled. The mysterious Genesis Beast was already difficult enough to deal with, and he hadn't expected another mysterious girl with such a powerful Divine Soul to appear...

Tun Tun roared forward, its sharp claws, imbued with black light, tore downwards, bringing with them astonishing killing intent.

Gu Zong's face was ashen. He shrieked, "Saint Son Zhou Yuan! We are willing to hand over the Divine Dwelling Elixirs!"

The sharp claw stopped about a foot away from Gu Zong's face. However, the sharp gust of wind still tore through the air, ripping gruesome bloody marks across Gu Zong's face.

Down below, Zhou Yuan said unhurriedly, "If you give them now, it'll be one hundred portions of low-grade Divine Dwelling Elixirs."

Upon hearing this, Gu Zong nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. One hundred portions of low-grade Divine Dwelling Elixirs were extremely valuable to them.

They had only acquired a little over sixty portions from extorting so many dynasties before, and now they had to pay even more?

However, seeing Tun Tun staring at him with its massive, open maw, he dared not object and could only swallow his bitterness, saying, "Alright!"

As his voice fell, the immense Divine Soul power finally dispersed, releasing them to fall to the ground in utter disarray.

Meanwhile, Zhou Qing, Wei Canglan, and the others were already dumbfounded. They exchanged glances, each swallowing hard, clearly having not expected Zhou Yuan and his companions to be so fierce, directly subduing all twenty-odd Divine Dwelling stage experts of the other party.

Those former Great Wu officials who had originally harbored hidden intentions were now terrified and quickly lowered their gazes, daring not to harbor any other thoughts. They now understood that the Great Zhou, with Zhou Yuan, would be far more stable than the former Great Wu.

Under the watchful eyes of Yao Yao and Tun Tun, Gu Zong and his group, their faces ashen, collected one hundred portions of Divine Dwelling Elixirs among themselves.

Gu Zong, at this moment, was filled with regret. Earlier, to assert his authority, he had shattered the palace with a single palm strike. Who could have known this would become Zhou Yuan's excuse to act?

He truly regretted his impulsiveness.

Zhou Yuan waved his sleeve, directly sweeping up the Divine Dwelling Elixirs. Then he separated twenty portions and tossed them to Tun Tun, who opened its massive maw and contentedly swallowed them.

He put away the remaining Divine Dwelling Elixirs and, looking at Gu Zong and the others, said meaningfully, "If you had given them earlier, you would have saved half."

Gu Zong and the others nodded with forced smiles, but in their hearts, they were cursing Zhou Yuan as a black-hearted worm. For merely one palace, he had extorted one hundred portions of low-grade Divine Dwelling Elixirs from them—such a value would be enough to buy a hundred cities.

"Saint Son Zhou Yuan, may we leave now?" Gu Zong didn't want to stay there for another moment.

Zhou Yuan, however, smiled and said, "No hurry, I have something to ask."

"I've been staying on the Cangmang Continent recently, but I'm unaware of what's happened. Why have so many foreign experts suddenly arrived?"

Gu Zong didn't conceal anything about this, as it wasn't a secret. He said, "Actually, it's not just the Cangmang Continent; people are also investigating other continents in Cangxuan Heaven."

"What happened?" Zhou Yuan couldn't help but be surprised.

"It's said that the Holy Palace's Palace Master Shengyuan divined heavenly secrets and sensed clues about the Cangxuan Saint Stamp... Now that the clues have spread, all factions are frantically searching."

As soon as these words were uttered, Zhou Yuan's expression instantly changed drastically, and horror rose in his eyes.

"The Cangxuan Saint Stamp?!"

His eyes flickered rapidly. He clearly hadn't expected such a significant event to occur after he left the Shengzhou Continent.

Furthermore, he was very well aware that the three Saint Runes within him were peeled off from the Cangxuan Saint Stamp. If the Cangxuan Saint Stamp fell into Palace Master Shengyuan's hands, he would undoubtedly be able to sense the existence of the Saint Runes.

At that time, Shengyuan would definitely make a move against him, and perhaps not just Shengyuan...

Possessing a treasure invites trouble.

And the thought of being targeted by numerous terrifying entities made Zhou Yuan feel a chill shoot from the soles of his feet straight up to his scalp, causing the hairs on his entire body to stand on end.