Chapter 752: Zhao Yue

Not long after Zhou Yuan returned to his tent, someone lifted the curtain and walked in.

Zhou Yuan looked up, slightly startled. The person who entered was a woman with a somewhat cold and striking beauty. Her willow-like eyebrows were sharp as blades, giving her a formidable air.

She wore tight-fitting attire, which perfectly accentuated her excellent figure, especially her remarkably long and powerful legs.

Zhou Yuan recognized this cold beauty. Her name was Zhao Yue, and she was Yi Qiushui's personal guard, considered one of Yi Qiushui's most trusted individuals.

However, at this moment, the personal guard beside Yi Qiushui looked at Zhou Yuan with a hint of disdain. Without waiting for him to speak, she tossed out a Qiankun pouch and said coolly, "All the ancient wood essence you need is in here."

Zhou Yuan took the Qiankun pouch, not paying attention to Zhao Yue's expression. He inspected its contents, and only when he found that all the ancient wood essence met his requirements did he offer a faint smile.

"Please thank Miss Yi for me," Zhou Yuan said sincerely.

Regardless of how Yi Qiushui viewed him, the fact that she provided him with the ancient wood essence at this time was indeed a significant kindness to Zhou Yuan.

Zhao Yue replied indifferently, "There's no need. If you truly wish to show gratitude, simply leave on your own once we reach Xuanzhou City."

"Is that Miss Yi's intention?" Zhou Yuan asked.

Zhao Yue retorted coldly, "Does it even matter?"

Zhou Yuan offered a faint smile and didn't argue further with her. After all, in everyone's eyes, he was likely just a swindler, and crucially, he had no way to prove otherwise.

"I don't like owing favors. Once I feel the debt is repaid, I will naturally leave on my own accord," Zhou Yuan stated calmly.

Zhao Yue snorted coldly and said, "I hope you know your place. If you push your luck too much, someone like you, from outside these heavens, might find it very difficult to get by in Little Xuanzhou."

Her words clearly carried a veiled threat.

Zhao Yue and Yi Qiushui shared a deep bond, far more than a simple master-subordinate relationship. Thus, Zhao Yue was furious that Zhou Yuan had requested the ancient wood essence in such a deceptive manner.

As most people believed, given Zhou Yuan's age and origin from another heaven, could he possibly be more outstanding than the peerless talents within Hunyuan Heaven?

The answer was clearly no.

It was akin to how people from the Sacred Continent of Cangxuan Heaven would never admit that talents from other continents could rival them.

However, in response to Zhao Yue's words, Zhou Yuan offered no reply. Instead, he simply closed his eyes, indicating that she was dismissed.

Seeing this, Zhao Yue grew even more displeased with Zhou Yuan. She thought he was incredibly audacious, daring to defraud the Yi family directly.

She let out a cold snort, too bothered to face Zhou Yuan any longer, and simply turned and left.

After she left, Zhou Yuan opened his eyes again, a hint of helplessness on his face. Given today's events, he was probably now unwelcome by everyone in the camp.

In truth, besides the ancient wood essence, Zhou Yuan still needed many other items, including Spirit Dwelling treasures and crucial materials for the second evolution of the Ancestral Dragon Scripture. However, it was clear that if he were to request these from Yi Qiushui now, even with her good temper, she would likely throw him out of the camp.

Zhou Yuan shook his head secretly. "Forget it," he thought. "I'm not familiar with these people anyway. Perhaps I'll find an opportunity to leave once we reach Xuanzhou City."

For now, though, the most important thing was to fully resolve his injuries.

Perhaps others felt Yi Qiushui's actions were unwarranted, but Zhou Yuan believed he was worth the price. He hadn't lied; once his strength recovered, he was confident he could escort Yi Qiushui safely to Xuanzhou City.

"After all, I was the Chief Saint of the Cangxuan Sect. While my Cangxuan Sect might not compare to the entire Tianyuan Region, it's still stronger than a single Yi family, isn't it?" Zhou Yuan muttered to himself. "It's truly a case of a tiger fallen to the plains, bullied by dogs."

Back in Cangxuan Heaven, there would have been no chance whatsoever of inviting the Chief Saint of the Cangxuan Sect to be a guard using mere ancient wood essence.

So, facing these doubts, Zhou Yuan felt a surge of resentment deep down. "You're the ones getting a good deal," he thought, "yet you're giving me all sorts of grief…"

After indulging in these self-amusing, childish thoughts for a while, Zhou Yuan discarded them. He wasn't someone who would merely dwell on the past; this was Hunyuan Heaven now, not Cangxuan Heaven.

And he was no longer the Chief Saint of the Cangxuan Sect, but merely an injured, precarious ordinary person.

However, Zhou Yuan didn't become dispirited because of this. Just as when he first arrived at the Cangxuan Sect years ago, he was merely an ordinary disciple. Yet, several years later, even the various powerful figures in Cangxuan Heaven perhaps now firmly remembered his name, despite various reasons contributing to this…

Who could say for certain that in the future, within Hunyuan Heaven—the greatest of all heavens—his name, Zhou Yuan, wouldn't also echo far and wide?

At this thought, Zhou Yuan smiled. He was getting a bit ahead of himself. His immediate priority was to recover his strength and then find a way to contact his two senior brothers.

Only by utilizing the power of the Tianyuan Region would he have the opportunity to access the Ancestral Dragon Lantern.

Of course, most importantly, he also needed to seize every opportunity to enhance his own strength, because Zhou Yuan knew that in the future, he would need to return to Cangxuan Heaven.

Although he had shattered the Cangxuan Saint Seal and temporarily hindered Palace Master Shengyuan's ambitions, he understood that this was only temporary.

Shengyuan had entered the Pseudo-Saint stage, and no one in Cangxuan Heaven could currently restrain him. Therefore, in the struggle for the fragments of the Cangxuan Saint Seal, the Sacred Palace would eventually gain the upper hand.

And the day the Sacred Palace fully succeeded would also be the day the Cangxuan Sect was annihilated.

Once the Cangxuan Sect was destroyed, the Great Zhou, which was under its protection, would also perish.

A cold light flickered in Zhou Yuan's eyes. His time was truly pressing; he had to return to Cangxuan Heaven before Shengyuan achieved his goal, and at that time, he must possess the strength to contend with Shengyuan.

Zhou Yuan took a deep breath, no longer hesitating. The Qiankun pouch vibrated slightly, and a speck of light rose from it.

The speck of light landed on Zhou Yuan's palm, transforming into an emerald wood heart roughly the size of a fist. A rich, continuous surge of life energy emanated from it.

This was the ancient wood essence, the very essence of certain ancient trees, containing the vital Wood Qi necessary for cultivating the Great One Green Wood Mark.

Zhou Yuan's eyes slowly closed. In his palm, the ancient wood essence glowed, and countless emerald green light particles surged out, flowing from his palm into his body.

A dense life force blossomed within him.

The stinging pain in his flesh gradually faded as the life force surged.

Faint emerald green light marks began to coalesce on Zhou Yuan's body surface; the Green Wood Marks he had exhausted reappeared.

For the next few days, Zhou Yuan remained in his tent, dedicating all his time to absorbing Wood Qi and refining the Green Wood Marks.

Thanks to the hundred five-hundred-year-old ancient wood essences, Zhou Yuan's efficiency in refining the Green Wood Marks was remarkably high. Within just a few days, as more Green Wood Marks were refined, some of the fractured areas deep within his physical body finally began to heal rapidly under the miraculous effects of the Green Wood Marks.

A full recovery was now within reach.