Chapter 836: Rain Prefecture

Rain State is situated in the southwestern region of the Heaven Abyss Territory. Heavy rainfall plagues the entire state year-round, and ancient rainforests are widespread, which is why it earned its name.

Among the eight hundred states within the Heaven Abyss Territory, Rain State's power ranks among the weakest. It is said that even its state lord's strength is merely at the late Divine Dwelling stage, making it virtually insignificant within the Heaven Abyss Territory.

Due to Rain State's overall weakness, they were powerless to deal with the rampant Heaven Annihilation Beast this time. They could only report the situation and await a team dispatched from the Heaven Abyss Grotto-Heaven to exterminate it.

It was five days later when Zhou Yuan, Ye Bingling, and their group finally arrived in Rain State.

The Heaven Abyss Territory was simply too vast. Even with teleportation barriers in some major states, reaching Rain State from the Heaven Abyss Grotto-Heaven still involved several transfers.

Rain State.

At that moment, torrential rain poured down, its incessant patter filling the air.

Zhou Yuan and the others stood atop a green peak, Origin Qi surging around them, causing the torrential rain to evaporate into thin air within half a *zhang* of their bodies.

Holding a map, Zhou Yuan gazed out at the ancient rainforest before them, which stretched as far as the eye could see and was densely packed with colossal trees.

"How is it? Have you found the Heaven Annihilation Beast's location?" Ye Bingling asked from beside him. After arriving in Rain State, they had first met the state lord, from whom they acquired a map of the state and some intelligence regarding the Heaven Annihilation Beast.

According to the state lord's intelligence, the Heaven Annihilation Beast was indeed within this vast rainforest.

However, the primeval rainforest was a harsh environment, concealing numerous Origin Beasts with strange abilities. Even a slight misstep could prove fatal for a Divine Dwelling expert. Thus, Zhou Yuan and his group had proceeded with extreme caution, refraining from any conspicuous or unrestrained searching.

This approach, however, significantly reduced their efficiency. They had searched this vast rainforest for two days without finding any useful clues. It was clear the Heaven Annihilation Beast was exceptionally cunning, aware of its severe injuries, and therefore acted discreetly.

Zhou Yuan shook his head and said, "Let's keep searching deeper."

With that, he shot forward, his figure intermittently visible amidst the pouring rain.

Ye Bingling, Shang Xiaoling, and the others immediately followed suit.

Their subsequent search continued for another two days. Just as Zhou Yuan was beginning to grow impatient, their efforts finally yielded some clues.

Zhou Yuan stood on a colossal tree, his gaze fixed ahead, where a massive abyss had appeared. It resembled a gaping, dark maw, swallowing the cascading rain.

Within that abyss, Zhou Yuan detected a subtle yet ferocious aura.

The aura was so potent that even he felt a sense of danger.

"This place is very likely the dwelling place of the Heaven Annihilation Beast," Zhou Yuan murmured.

"We've found a few suspicious locations before, but they all turned out to be false leads."

Ye Bingling reminded him, "We must confirm our target. If we provoke the wrong one, these Origin Beasts are extremely vengeful and will cause us considerable trouble."

Zhou Yuan nodded slightly but then seemed troubled. The situation within the abyss was unknown, and rashly attempting to scout it would be unwise. After all, facing the Heaven Annihilation Beast alone would be extremely dangerous for anyone in their group, and a large group would easily be detected by it.

"The scouting can be left to me," the previously silent Shang Xiaoling suddenly offered.

The others turned their gazes to her. Zhou Yuan hesitated for a moment, then nodded gently.

Seeing his agreement, Shang Xiaoling swiftly clasped her hands together, changing her hand seals. Immediately, Origin Qi began to fluctuate before her as she intoned, "Heaven's Eye Technique!"

Amidst the fluctuating Origin Qi, a somewhat ethereal light sphere formed, within which a rotating vertical eye could be seen.

The vertical eye flickered, then vanished into thin air. However, Zhou Yuan could sense an extremely subtle fluctuation swiftly moving away, and as the distance grew, even he could no longer perceive the eye's presence.

At the same time, the space before Shang Xiaoling rippled subtly, as if forming a light mirror. Within this mirror, scenes rapidly flashed by, seemingly reflecting what the vertical eye observed.

Upon seeing this, a hint of surprise flashed in Zhou Yuan's eyes. Shang Xiaoling's scouting technique, though lacking direct combat power, could anticipate the enemy and seize the initiative, significantly enhancing one's survival capabilities.

It seemed Shang Xiaoling indeed possessed considerable skill to have cultivated to this level as a rogue cultivator.

His attention then focused on the light mirror. It began to approach the abyss, and the vertical eye silently plunged downwards. Inside the abyss, the terrain was intricate, like a labyrinth.

Everyone watched with bated breath.

The vertical eye continuously probed its surroundings, gradually reaching deeper. The next moment, Zhou Yuan and the others' pupils sharply contracted. They saw a massive black beast quietly lying prostrate outside a cave in the deepest part of the abyss.

The black beast's body was covered in black scales, and it had dark greenish, curved horns on its head. Its form resembled a lion-tiger, and faint, gruesome bloodstains, deep enough to expose bone, were visible on its massive body.

A powerful aura of pressure subtly emanated from it, causing considerable strain on Zhou Yuan and the others, even when merely observing through the light mirror.

Despite the pressure, joy flickered in Zhou Yuan's eyes because the black beast's appearance matched the description on their mission brief exactly: it was indeed the heavily injured Heaven Annihilation Beast.

"That's it!" Zhou Yuan exclaimed with a sigh of relief.

Shang Xiaoling nodded gently. With a thought, the vertical eye vanished into thin air, and the light mirror before them simultaneously darkened.

In the depths of the abyss, as the vertical eye vanished, the prostrate black beast suddenly opened its scarlet eyes. It looked up, somewhat confused, but ultimately found nothing amiss. Without further thought, it resumed its slumber, continuing to recover from its injuries.

Outside the abyss, after confirming their target, the atmosphere among Zhou Yuan's group eased slightly.

However, Shang Xiaoling softly interjected, "Pavilion Master, although this Heaven Annihilation Beast is still severely injured, its injuries appear less severe than stated on the mission brief. It must have recovered somewhat during this period."

Hearing this, the others' smiles instantly vanished, their expressions turning grim.

They dared not forget that the Heaven Annihilation Beast was a Sixth-Rank creature, comparable to a Heaven Sun stage expert. If it were uninjured, even their combined forces might not be able to budge it in the slightest.

Now, with Shang Xiaoling stating that its injuries had recovered, it meant the mission's difficulty would undoubtedly increase.

Seeing this, Ye Bingling parted her crimson lips and stated, "For this Heaven Annihilation Beast hunt, Zhou Yuan will lead the main attack. We will simply assist him."

Among their current group, though Zhou Yuan was only at the mid-Divine Dwelling stage, his combat power was undoubtedly the highest. With him leading the assault, a significant burden would be lifted from the others.

"Don't worry, everyone," Zhou Yuan also reminded them. "If we find we truly cannot overcome it, we can retreat. There's no need to fight to the death."

"I'll first set up some Origin Pattern barriers," he continued, "to prevent the commotion of a battle from attracting the attention of other powerful Origin Beasts." As he spoke, Zhou Yuan's gaze seemed to flick towards the distant rear, a meaningful smirk playing on his lips.

Hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement, their expressions solemn yet tinged with nervousness, for they all understood that the coming battle would undoubtedly be extraordinarily fierce.

While Zhou Yuan and his group were preparing for the Heaven Annihilation Beast hunt, far off in the rainforest...

Several figures materialized, clad in light gray robes adorned with faint glowing patterns. These robes not only completely concealed their bodies but also entirely masked their Origin Qi fluctuations.

The leader slightly raised his head, revealing the face of none other than Fang Ao of the Fire Pavilion.

"It appears they've found the Heaven Annihilation Beast."

A look of interest curved Fang Ao's lips as he leisurely said, "Let's enjoy the show first. Let them exhaust each other in battle. When the time is right, we'll step in for the finishing blow. Heh heh, I imagine Zhou Yuan's face will be quite a sight then, won't it?"

The few individuals beside him chuckled lowly, their eyes glinting with amusement.

Zhou Yuan probably couldn't even imagine that a group of 'fishermen' were trailing right behind them.