Chapter 777: Ancient Seal

The battle for the Small Profound Province governorship, which took place in Small Profound Province, spread with astonishing speed beyond its borders within a few days, causing a continuous uproar.

Of course, if it had merely been a normal governorship contest, it would have been difficult to generate such a stir. After all, among the nine hundred provinces of the Tianyuan Region, Small Profound Province is not particularly prominent.

But no one expected this battle for governorship in Small Profound Province to involve Mo Yuan, a prodigy on the Hunyuan Heaven Divine Dwelling Ranking.

And most crucially... Mo Yuan ultimately lost!

He lost to an unknown young man at the mid-Divine Dwelling stage!

In the Tianyuan Region, there are countless Divine Dwelling practitioners, but only thirty-eight can be listed on the Divine Dwelling Ranking. Although Mo Yuan was at the bottom of the list, no one dared to underestimate his strength.

Given Mo Yuan's potential, entering the Heavenly Sun stage in the future was a certainty. And in the Tianyuan Region, the Heavenly Sun stage is absolutely considered a true backbone force.

Furthermore, in the future, if Mo Yuan had enough opportunities, he might even glimpse the deeper Nascent Source stage.

The Nascent Source stage, whether in the Tianyuan Region or the entire Hunyuan Heaven, can be considered a top-tier powerhouse that cannot be ignored.

Precisely because Mo Yuan's reputation was quite prominent in the Tianyuan Region, the news of his crushing defeat this time caused quite a stir within the region.

Consequently, amidst countless inquiries, information about the young man who defeated Mo Yuan also began to circulate.

Zhou Yuan, mid-Divine Dwelling stage, unknown origin.

The unfamiliar name heralded the emergence of a dark horse at the Divine Dwelling stage. However, various factions in the Tianyuan Region were not surprised by this, because the Tianyuan Region is vast, with its nine hundred provinces hiding an unknown number of prodigies. These unrevealed individuals are not necessarily weaker than the Divine Dwelling Ranking prodigies already in the public eye.

The emergence of similar dark horses, although not common, does happen from time to time.

Most of these hidden dark horses are full of pride; their ambition is to remain silent until they can strike with astonishing impact. Thus, in some major events, one would find dark horses emerging one after another.

Of course, no matter how many hidden dark horses there are in the Tianyuan Region, Zhou Yuan's name has now spread throughout the region.

However, Zhou Yuan's fame was built upon Mo Yuan's defeat, which privately caused some people to feel a degree of schadenfreude. This feeling was not directed at Zhou Yuan, but at the Heavenly Spirit Sect.

After all, the Heavenly Spirit Sect is a powerful and extensive organization that has provoked many people. Seeing the sect, which has acted arrogantly for years, suffer a setback is indeed an interesting matter.

However, some also secretly murmured that Zhou Yuan was probably a naive hothead. Although he defeated Mo Yuan this time, he had offended the Heavenly Spirit Sect, a behemoth, and would likely face no end of trouble in the future.

Xuanzhou City, the Yi family residence.

In a secluded courtyard, Zhou Yuan sat cross-legged. Between his palms floated a crimson, gem-like Divine Dwelling treasure medicine. Pure and rich crimson light points continuously emanated from it, then steadily streamed into Zhou Yuan's body.

After entering his body, the pure power of these Divine Dwelling treasure medicines flowed along his meridians, circulating into his Divine Dwelling and continuously refining it.

This cultivation lasted for the duration of an incense stick.

When Zhou Yuan opened his eyes, the high-grade Divine Dwelling treasure medicine in his palm had already turned into powder, dispersing with the wind.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Yuan felt a slight pang of heartache. His current cultivation consumed almost two high-grade Divine Dwelling treasure medicines daily. While such cultivation efficiency was indeed good, the cost was truly painful to bear.

Calculating this way, the fifty portions of high-grade Divine Dwelling treasure medicine he received for helping the Yi family win the governorship contest would at most support his cultivation for less than a month.

Of course, if other Divine Dwelling practitioners heard this, they would surely be furious. For ordinary Divine Dwelling cultivation, one portion of high-grade Divine Dwelling treasure medicine is enough for several days of cultivation, but for Zhou Yuan, it only lasted for an incense stick's duration, which was truly extravagant to the extreme.

But Zhou Yuan was also helpless about this. Although his Chaos Divine Dwelling was powerful, refining it was exceptionally difficult.

"I still need to find a way to get a stable source of Divine Dwelling treasure medicines."

Zhou Yuan sighed. If he continued to consume resources without replenishing them, once the Divine Dwelling treasure medicines ran out, his cultivation would undoubtedly enter an extremely slow growth period.

More crucially, he had already tasted the benefits of two portions of high-grade Divine Dwelling treasure medicine daily. If the supply were suddenly reduced, it would be incredibly difficult to adjust, as the saying goes, "it's harder to go from luxury to frugality."

As Zhou Yuan was sighing, a maid from the Yi family came into the courtyard, respectfully stating that Yi Qiushui requested his presence in the front courtyard.

Zhou Yuan asked for the reason, and the maid quietly replied that someone from the Heavenly Spirit Sect had arrived.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuan's heart tightened, and he nodded. The Heavenly Spirit Sect was, after all, a local power in the Tianyuan Region. If both parties could be friendly, Zhou Yuan naturally didn't want to make more powerful enemies.

After tidying up slightly, he followed the maid to the front courtyard. Along the way, he met some young members of the Yi family, all of whom gave him friendly and respectful smiles. This attitude, compared to before, was undoubtedly a world apart.

Upon arriving at the front courtyard, Zhou Yuan walked straight in. His gaze swept across the room, and he saw a gaunt middle-aged man sitting in the main seat. He was dressed in a crimson robe adorned with flame patterns.

Heavenly Spirit Sect, Scarlet Fire Manor.

Zhou Yuan's expression was calm. It was said that Mo Yuan's master, Gu Yan, was the Manor Lord of Scarlet Fire Manor.

However, this person was likely not Gu Yan. Although Zhou Yuan could sense some potent Genesis Qi emanating from him, he was only at the Heavenly Sun stage, which was clearly not enough to qualify him as a Manor Lord of a Heavenly Spirit Sect manor.

At this moment, Yi Qiushui and Yi Qianji were also present in the front courtyard.

"Zhou Yuan." Yi Qiushui saw Zhou Yuan, stood up, and smiled, then said, "This is Elder Gu Xi from Scarlet Fire Manor."

She leaned closer to Zhou Yuan and whispered, "I used many connections these past few days to invite him here. If we can reconcile the relationship, it should be better for you."

Zhou Yuan felt a touch of gratitude upon hearing this. Actually, the Yi family probably wasn't afraid of Gu Yan causing trouble, so Yi Qiushui's action was undoubtedly still for his sake. After all, others didn't know, but Yi Qiushui knew he was from another heavenly region, unfamiliar with the place, and had no background. In such circumstances, truly antagonizing the Heavenly Spirit Sect wouldn't be a good thing.

Zhou Yuan nodded slightly in thanks, though he personally felt it wasn't entirely necessary.

He looked up at Elder Gu Xi, but the latter kept his eyes lowered, only focused on drinking tea, and did not spare him a glance.

Yi Qiushui turned her head and smiled at Gu Xi, "Elder Gu Xi, this is Zhou Yuan..."

Gu Xi waved his hand, stopping her from continuing, and said nonchalantly, "I know. He's quite famous lately."

Yi Qiushui felt a bit awkward and was about to say more, but Gu Xi had already put down his teacup and stared directly at Zhou Yuan, saying, "Since Patriarch Qiushui sought me out, and I do have some ties with the Yi family, I'll be blunt."

"This matter has already reached the Manor Lord's ears. Although the Manor Lord is somewhat displeased, he is broad-minded and does not intend to stoop to your level, young man."

"Moreover, the Manor Lord greatly appreciates your talent and asked me to convey that he can take you in as a registered disciple."

Yi Qiushui was immediately overjoyed upon hearing this.

Zhou Yuan, however, frowned slightly. A mere registered disciple? He didn't care for it. His master was Great Venerable Cang Yuan; what was Gu Yan compared to that?

Moreover, he keenly sensed that there wasn't much goodwill in Gu Xi's tone.

"However..."

As expected, Gu Xi's tone suddenly shifted. "Your actions, after all, caused our Scarlet Fire Manor to lose face, and you need to make some gestures of apology. Hmm, those two high-grade Heavenly Genesis Arts you used when you fought Mo Yuan were quite good. You can offer them up to enrich the Scarlet Fire Manor's treasury, and this matter will be completely settled then."

"Heh heh, these Genesis Arts of yours... you probably obtained them through some fortuitous inheritance, didn't you? Quite a good stroke of luck. Such things are not too uncommon in our Tianyuan Region."

As his voice fell, the front courtyard immediately fell silent.