Chapter 957: Drift Away

The sky was clear, and the ice mountains stood like colossal pillars among the peaks, majestic and magnificent.

At this moment, from inside and outside the mountain, all eyes gazed with a hint of astonishment at the vast open space. The furious thunder and dazzling golden light that had been there earlier had completely vanished.

Along with them, the Meridian Golden Light Barrier, which had made it impossible for Yuan Kun and the Beast-Controlling Domain team to advance, also disappeared.

At the foot of the mountain, Yuan Kun stared for a moment, then exhaled deeply and said, "Chief Sovereign Zhou Yuan, you truly possess remarkable abilities."

A trace of solemnity and apprehension flashed in his eyes. Zhou Yuan's ability to break this golden light barrier sufficiently demonstrated his astonishing mastery of Genesis Runes.

"Others say that this Chief Sovereign of the Tianyuan Region has little fame and insufficient foundation. Looking at it now, that's simply ridiculous."

Yuan Kun secretly shook his head. When he had fought Zhou Yuan previously, neither side had gained an advantage. Although that was because both had held back, Yuan Kun could still sense that even if he used all his trump cards, he might not necessarily be able to defeat the other party.

Furthermore, Zhou Yuan possessed such mastery in Genesis Runes.

Therefore, when Yuan Kun looked at Zhou Yuan again, he felt a hint of profoundness.

"Xu Ming offended him earlier, creating a grievance. Xu Ming is arrogant; this time, he might suffer a significant setback because of Zhou Yuan."

A hint of schadenfreude flashed in Yuan Kun's narrow eyes. Immediately, he waved to a joyful Yi Qiushui nearby and said, "Let's go. Since Zhou Yuan has broken the barrier, it's time for us to enter the mountain."

As his voice fell, the Divine Earth Ox approached with ground-shaking steps. He swiftly leaped onto it, and the ox bellowed, heading towards the towering ice mountain.

Behind them, the remaining teams from both regions quickly followed.

On the summit of the ice mountain.

When the golden light barrier was broken, Jiu Gong was in a daze. She clearly found it difficult to accept this fact.

This Meridian Golden Light Barrier was one of her trump cards. With this barrier, she was confident that she could trap anyone on the Divine Dwelling List, except for the top four. She mused that Li Tongshen might be a bit more troublesome, as his mastery of Genesis Runes was, to some extent, stronger than hers. After all, their Profound Mechanism Region cultivated both Genesis Qi and Genesis Runes, whereas the Sacred Rune Region focused most of their energy on Genesis Runes.

That was why even someone as strong as Yuan Kun had been discomfited when he entered this formation earlier.

Yet, Jiu Gong never expected that her barrier would ultimately be broken by Zhou Yuan...

Not one of the top eight on the Divine Dwelling List, but this rising star, Zhou Yuan, who had never truly caught her attention before...

Jiu Gong wouldn't say she looked down on Zhou Yuan, but she also felt that Zhou Yuan's foundation was far inferior to that of the long-established top talents from the other eight regions. After all, Zhou Yuan had risen too quickly, and none of the opponents he had faced had reached the level of seasoned prodigies.

And these seasoned prodigies naturally had their pride. It wasn't easy for them to admit that a newcomer could rival them.

Precisely for this reason, when Jiu Gong saw how close the relationship between the outstanding Su Youwei and Zhou Yuan was, she felt a hint of indignation.

However, all these thoughts were directly extinguished today, with the shattering of the golden light barrier.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Figures appeared behind Jiu Gong, people from the Profound Mechanism Region. They looked somewhat dejected, likely due to a significant blow to their morale.

Xue Jingtao also brought his people here. He quickly stepped forward and whispered, "Miss Jiu Gong, Zhou Yuan's ability to break the formation was merely a stroke of luck; it means nothing."

"As for what's next, how do you wish to proceed, Miss Jiu Gong? We will definitely follow your lead."

Xue Jingtao's eyes gleamed with a gloomy light. His heart was filled with resentment. He also hadn't expected Zhou Yuan's strength to be so formidable; compared to him, his own side instantly paled in comparison.

This not only failed to diminish his jealousy, but intensified it instead.

Therefore, he wanted to incite Jiu Gong. If Jiu Gong broke the agreement and they truly started fighting, the Tianyuan Region and Profound Mechanism Region would fall out. Moreover, since Zhou Yuan had already offended Xu Ming, the Tianyuan Region had already offended two major regions in this Nine Regions Grand Meeting...

Jiu Gong finally started to regain her composure, and her beautiful eyes held a complex expression.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The sound of rushing wind echoed through the mountains and forests as figures shot into the sky, finally landing on the snow-capped peak.

The leaders were Zhou Yuan and Yuan Kun.

Yuan Kun looked at Jiu Gong with a grin and said, "Jiu Gong, you won't go back on your word, will you?"

However, Jiu Gong ignored him. Her beautiful eyes, with a hint of surprise, were fixed on the silent Zhou Yuan. Slowly, she said, "Did you intend to use the Tortoise Mirror Barrier to break my Meridian Golden Light Barrier from the very beginning?"

Zhou Yuan calmly said, "In terms of offensive power, your Meridian Golden Light Barrier is among the best in its class. In fact, if you hadn't launched that final attack, it would have been even more troublesome for me to break this formation."

"This formation, strictly speaking, wasn't broken by me; you broke it yourself."

This was Zhou Yuan's honest truth. The offensive power of Jiu Gong's barrier was terrifying, but what made it formidable also led to its downfall. Zhou Yuan utilized the power of the golden light barrier to destroy it in reverse.

Jiu Gong fell silent for a moment, then said, "To be able to construct another barrier from the remnants of mine, your mastery of Genesis Runes is truly impressive."

Then she frankly stated, "This time, I've lost, Zhou Yuan. I underestimated your abilities."

Zhou Yuan's expression remained unruffled. He asked, "What about the Primordial Heavenly Spirit here?"

Jiu Gong pondered for a moment, then turned her gaze to Xue Jingtao and said, "Take your people and leave this place."

Xue Jingtao's expression changed. He said, "Miss Jiu Gong, it was agreed that we would get half of the spirit energy within this snow mountain. We've only collected less than a tenth of it! How can you ask us to leave?"

Jiu Gong calmly said, "Previously, I had the final say here, but now I'm not the only one. If you can get them to agree, I naturally have no objection."

Yuan Kun chuckled and said, "Although there's abundant spirit energy here, I doubt it's enough for so many people to share."

He naturally didn't want Xue Jingtao to stay and share the spirit energy, because the latter wasn't qualified to be on equal footing with them. Perhaps if Su Youwei were here, it would be different.

Xue Jingtao's face darkened. He then looked at Zhou Yuan, forced a smile, and said, "Chief Sovereign Zhou Yuan, you know Junior Sister Youwei. I hope you'll consider her feelings..."

Zhou Yuan lowered his eyelids slightly and calmly said, "It seems you didn't consider her feelings earlier, did you?"

Earlier, Xue Jingtao had been aggressive, attacking them without mercy. Now that he saw their disadvantage, he brought up Su Youwei. Such behavior was rather contemptible.

Being rebuffed by Zhou Yuan like this, Xue Jingtao's face turned ashen, his fingers clenched tightly, and he felt as if his heart would explode with rage.

Finally, he took two deep breaths and said sinisterly, "Very well. The Purple Cloud Region will remember what you all have done to us. If I meet Junior Sister Youwei later, I will tell her everything truthfully, so she knows what kind of people she associates with!"

Jiu Gong smiled faintly and said, "It's not certain who Su Youwei will choose to help, you know."

Hearing this, Xue Jingtao's temples throbbed, and his eyes were somewhat bloodshot. He gave Zhou Yuan a contemptuous look and said, "Don't worry, Junior Sister Youwei knows what's important. Not everyone can compare to the Purple Cloud Region in her heart. Just wait and see!"

As his words fell, he simply flung his arm and turned to leave.

Because he knew there was no point in staying.

The teams from the Purple Cloud Region also silently followed him, looking somewhat discomfited.

Zhou Yuan glanced at them, then withdrew his gaze. They were merely defeated dogs. He didn't believe his actions today would negatively affect Su Youwei, because he knew that both parties understood their respective stances internally.

Just as if Lu Xiao's team were to meet Su Youwei and Lu Xiao, not knowing his place, tried to scheme against them, Zhou Yuan wouldn't feel that any measures Su Youwei took would be a betrayal to him.

As the Purple Cloud Region's teams were driven away, Yuan Kun finally looked at Jiu Gong with a smile, rubbing his hands covetously. He asked, "Jiu Gong, can you tell us how many strands of Primordial Heavenly Spirit you've collected here?"

Jiu Gong glanced at him and said, "Not a single one."

Yuan Kun's smile froze. He said, "Jiu Gong, do you think we'd believe such a thing at a time like this?"

Zhou Yuan also frowned slightly. Jiu Gong had occupied this place for so long; if there was Primordial Heavenly Spirit here, she should have acquired it by now. Claiming there wasn't a single strand now was indeed unbelievable.

Jiu Gong merely snorted lightly, too lazy to explain. She simply gave both of them a look as if they were bumpkins.

"Do you really think Primordial Heavenly Spirit is so easy to obtain?"

"Come on, I'll show you."

Jiu Gong turned and headed deeper into the ice mountain.

Zhou Yuan and Yuan Kun exchanged a glance, feeling somewhat surprised and doubtful. However, they quickly settled their team members and then swiftly followed.

They truly wanted to see what was so extraordinary about this Primordial Heavenly Spirit!