Chapter 841: Burial of Souls

Twenty million Genesis Qi stars illuminated the void, and the Genesis Qi throughout the world seemed to boil. An incredibly powerful pressure enveloped the area. Under this pressure, not only Ye Bingling and the others, but even Fang Ao, couldn't help but show a drastic change in expression, their eyes filled with horror and fear.

"Twenty million Genesis Qi stars?!"

"How is that possible!"

Fang Ao growled, the scene before him causing an unimaginable shock.

After all, just a month ago, when Zhou Yuan fought Chen Beifeng, even using all his trump cards, he only had fifteen million Genesis Qi stars. Yet, in just one month, there had been such a massive improvement?

How did he cultivate this?!

A mid-stage Divine Dwelling expert with a foundation of twenty million Genesis Qi stars? Who would believe that?

Among the four Wind, Forest, Fire, and Mountain Pavilions, only the pavilion masters of the other three could surpass the twenty million mark in Genesis Runes.

But those three were veteran Divine Dwelling realm prodigies, famous in the Tianyuan Region for a long time. And Zhou Yuan? Before coming to the Tianyuan Cave Heaven, it was likely that no one in the Tianyuan Region had even heard of him!

But now, this once-unknown individual had truly begun to catch up to the top tier, like Lü Xiao and the others!

Originally, Fang Ao had utterly looked down on Zhou Yuan. Although the latter had defeated Chen Beifeng, in Fang Ao's eyes, Zhou Yuan was still unqualified to be a pavilion master. But today, he realized that his past actions in front of Zhou Yuan had undoubtedly been as ludicrous as a clown's.

Zhou Yuan paid no attention to Fang Ao's frantic shouts. Instead, he stared at the latter with cold eyes, a hint of killing intent within them.

"Zhou Yuan, what are you trying to pull with me?! You're just bluffing! Do you really think I'm afraid of you?" Facing Zhou Yuan's gaze, Fang Ao felt profoundly insulted and roared.

His face contorted, he clasped his hands together, and an immense amount of Genesis Qi instantly condensed. A silver needle of light, as if formed from shattered radiance, slowly rose directly from the top of his head.

"Sky-Shattering Silver Needle!"

Fang Ao shouted fiercely, immediately unleashing his killer move.

*Buzz!*

The silver needle of light shot skyward. However, just when everyone thought Fang Ao was about to attack Zhou Yuan, the silver needle suddenly appeared beneath Fang Ao's feet. The next moment, it carried him flying backward.

The silver needle struck the barrier, and this time, it forcefully tore it open.

The silver needle then carried Fang Ao away with lightning speed.

Ye Bingling and the others stared at the scene, dumbfounded. Fang Ao had actually fled without even fighting!

Zhou Yuan was also a little surprised. Although Fang Ao could be foolish at times, when it came to fleeing for his life, he was more decisive than anyone.

Seeing this, the remaining two late-stage Divine Dwelling experts also dared not linger, turning to flee desperately.

"Zhou Yuan, don't get cocky! I will never rest until one of us is dead!" Fang Ao's resentful roar came from afar. Clearly, his dignity had been greatly insulted by being scared into fleeing by Zhou Yuan today.

"What should we do?" Ye Bingling quickly asked. Given Fang Ao's strength, if he truly exerted himself to escape, they wouldn't be able to stop him.

Zhou Yuan watched Fang Ao rapidly pierce through the air and disappear from sight, his expression unruffled.

"Since they showed me no mercy in their schemes, why should I show them any compassion?"

"They all must die."

Zhou Yuan extended his palm, and black light spread from its center, dyeing his entire hand an eerie black. Beneath that blackness, an extremely terrifying power seemed to surge.

Zhou Yuan knew this was because he had activated the sixth mark of the Heavenly Yuan Brush, "Soul Devourer."

Today, he would use Fang Ao as a test subject to try out the power of this sixth mark.

Zhou Yuan moved two fingers, and a crisp snapping sound echoed.

"Soul Burial."

He whispered softly to himself.

The moment his whisper faded, Zhou Yuan's head suddenly jolted. Violent beast roars seemed to echo in his mind, and vaguely, the beast soul of the Heaven Annihilation Beast seemed to be trying to turn and backlash against him. However, his spirit, located between his eyebrows, quickly burst forth with light, and relying on his perfected spirit, he forcefully resisted the backlash from the Heaven Annihilation Beast.

At this moment, an extremely dark beam of light whistled from Zhou Yuan's hand. The light rapidly expanded against the wind, instantly transforming into a black crescent moon several hundred feet long.

The crescent moon streaked across the sky, and sharp beast roars reverberated between heaven and earth.

The black crescent moon was incredibly fast, appearing behind Fang Ao in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

Fang Ao felt the fluctuation behind him. Turning his head, he was scared out of his wits. From the black crescent moon, he sensed a strong aura of death. Without daring to delay, he let out a fierce roar, and the silver needle of light beneath his feet shot violently towards the black crescent moon.

The two collided fiercely, stirring up a storm between heaven and earth.

However, the next instant, Fang Ao's pupils contracted. To his absolute horror, he saw the silver needle of light shatter instantly upon impact.

"How is that possible?!" He gasped in shock. He knew perfectly well the power of his Sky-Shattering Silver Needle, but how could it be so fragile against that black crescent moon?

But before he could think further, the black crescent moon had already whistled close.

"Zhou Yuan, how dare you kill me?! My master won't let you get away with this!" Fang Ao shrieked in terror.

However, in the face of his threat, the black crescent moon showed no hesitation. With a *swish*, it swept past his body.

The black crescent moon flew far away, finally vanishing into the void.

Fang Ao's fleeing figure, however, became still in the void. His eyes were hollow, and fine black cracks appeared on the surface of his body, eventually spreading all over him.

With a muffled sound, Fang Ao's body exploded, turning into black fragments that rained down from the sky. Even his spirit was annihilated.

The other two late-stage Divine Dwelling experts who were fleeing were also affected, spitting blood as they fell from the sky.

Silence descended upon the world.

Zhou Yuan's dark hand gradually returned to normal. The sixth mark of the Heavenly Yuan Brush also lost its black color, as the power of the Heaven Annihilation Beast's soul was completely exhausted at this moment.

But Zhou Yuan felt no regret. Instead, his gaze was slightly fervent as he looked into the distance.

The power of Soul Burial exceeded his imagination; it was almost more potent than his full-powered Demonic Cleansing Sword Pellet Art.

However, the only drawback was the backlash to his spirit when using this technique. If his spirit hadn't been strong, he might have already been consumed by the Heaven Annihilation Beast's soul.

While Zhou Yuan internally analyzed the pros and cons of Soul Burial, Ye Bingling, Xiao Hong, and the others behind him stared almost blankly at the void where Fang Ao had fallen. The power of that black crescent moon had instilled genuine fear in them.

Even with Fang Ao's strength, he was instantly killed?

Even if Zhou Yuan's Genesis Qi foundation was over a million stronger than Fang Ao's, it shouldn't have been this overwhelming, right?

How much stronger was Zhou Yuan now compared to a month ago?!

With this level of strength, he was probably close to catching up to the three pavilion masters!

Zhou Yuan clapped his hands lightly, and the powerful pressure emanating from him vanished. He turned around and smiled at Ye Bingling and the others, "Mission accomplished. Let's wrap things up."

Ye Bingling and the others exchanged glances, realizing that they hadn't really done much during this outing.

They had originally expected a fierce battle, but who would have thought that Fang Ao and his group would suddenly rush out, sacrificing two lives, and create a perfect opportunity for them to kill the Heaven Annihilation Beast?

The mission, no matter how one looked at it, had turned out to be somewhat ludicrous and amusing.

Nevertheless, it was successfully completed.

However, Ye Bingling knew in her heart that this incident was quite significant. Once word reached the Tianyuan Cave Heaven, it would undoubtedly cause considerable commotion.

She wondered whether it would be good or bad for Zhou Yuan. After all, this incident was far more serious than his previous defeat of Mo Yuan in Small Xuan State.

As Zhou Yuan and his companions were finishing up, in the distance of the rainforest, atop a large tree, Zhu Lian watched the scene with a chilling sensation throughout his body. He had personally witnessed Fang Ao being obliterated by that black crescent moon.

"Fang Ao is dead?"

Zhu Lian's body trembled, his eyes filled with terror. He quickly pulled out a Genesis Rune scroll and tore it to shreds with trembling hands.

Genesis Rune light surged forth, encompassing his figure, and the next moment, he vanished from his spot.

Even Fang Ao had died. If he didn't run now and was caught by Zhou Yuan, he would likely not escape death.

The moment Zhu Lian's figure vanished, Zhou Yuan, in the distance, suddenly cast his gaze in that direction, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Genesis Rune instant shift? I didn't expect someone else to be hiding in the dark. That must be Zhu Lian, right?"

He considered it for a moment, then dismissed it.

In any case, there would be a significant commotion upon their return, so one more or one less Zhu Lian wouldn't make much difference.

However, if Lü Xiao found out that Fang Ao had died here, he would probably be furious. After all, such a trusted aide was not easy to cultivate.

Zhou Yuan sensed the Heavenly Yuan Brush within his Divine Dwelling, and a faint smile appeared on his face. Regardless of everything, his objective for this trip had been successfully achieved.

As for the troubles that might follow, heh, if he didn't have Senior Sister Xi Jing as his backer, he would probably have to consider fleeing the Tianyuan Region right now. But unfortunately, his backing was incredibly strong.

(One update this weekend.)