At the battlefront deep within the Heavenly Fire Ancient Forest.

Amidst the scarlet-red forest, two figures peered into distance from atop a tree.

Of the two, one had the tall and slender figure of a woman. There was a fierce look on her pretty face, and a ponytail that was as long as bamboo gently swayed behind her. It was Qin Lian.

The petite girl beside her was Mu Youlan.

These two renowned Heavenly Sun experts were currently gathered at this battlefront.

The two young ladies were originally assigned to another battlefront. However, the Tianyuan Region transferred Qin Lian here to kill the two Wang brothers, Wang Qinghai and Wang Haiyuan, who had recently been rampaging in the Chiyun Prefecture and had repeatedly beaten back the Tianyuan Region’s Heavenly Sun experts.

Although Qin Lian had injured the Wang brothers previously, she had failed to finish the job. Hence, the brothers were still a potential threat.

Mu Youlan had arrived a little later, but she had yet to show herself, evidently intending to keep her presence secret. This was a precaution by the Tianyuan Region's higher-ups to prevent Qin Lian from falling into a trap. After all, as one of their Heavenly Sun trump cards, her loss would definitely be a substantial blow to their morale.

Qin Lian’s gaze scanned the surroundings. It had already been several days since Zhou Yuan had entered the Heavenly Fire Ancient Forest, but she had yet to receive any news of him. No one knew his current situation.

Mu Youlan blinked and remarked, “You’ve sacrificed a lot to draw fire for Zhou Yuan.”

Qin Lian had not only arrived at the frontlines, but she had even conducted a ferocious assault on the enemy. The resulting commotion had not been small.

Qin Lian sighed softly. “He is special. We cannot let anything happen to him. Drawing over the majority of the intermediate and advanced Heavenly Sun stage experts will make his situation safer.”

Although she was very troubled by Zhou Yuan’s recklessness, Qin Lian was someone who could see the big picture. Zhou Yuan’s status was far too special. The consequences would be far worse if something happened to him instead of her.

Mu Youlan frowned a little. She did not particularly dislike Zhou Yuan. It was, of course, mostly because he was the personal disciple of the supreme sovereign. After all, she was also considered an extremely outstanding heaven pride in the Tianyuan Region, but even so, she had not garnered any interest from the supreme sovereign. To suddenly have someone like that appear out of nowhere was not easy to accept.

Although she did not like him, she did not allow this dislike to turn into anything worse. She merely maintained an indifferent attitude towards Zhou Yuan.

Zhou Yuan’s reckless actions had substantially deteriorated her impression of him. Although she could not deny his talent, such ignorance was hard to like.

The mess he caused had to be cleaned up by others. This was not the character a supreme sovereign’s personal disciple should have.

Grand elders Zhu Zhuan and Chi Jing had never done such things. Their dazzling battle accomplishments had subdued every person who had once doubted them in the Tianyuan Region.

Qin Lian did not say anything about Zhou Yuan as her eyes continued to scan the surroundings. Blasts of Genesis Qi would occasionally erupt around them. It was a sign of battle and the gradual advance of the Tianyuan Region’s battle line.

However, Qin Lian frowned a little. She asked Mu Youlan, “Do you feel that the enemy’s battle line is somewhat weak…”

They had never achieved such progress previously. The enemy’s defensive line seemed to have grown weaker.

Mu Youlan was silent for a moment before she nodded in agreement. “It has indeed grown much thinner.”

“What’s going on?” The two young ladies exchanged a glance, both somewhat puzzled. The five top-tier factions had been pushing hard for the past few months, so why had they suddenly relaxed their efforts?

Qin Lian pursed her lips. She could not explain why, but she felt a little uneasy.

There was definitely more to this than met the eye.

Woo!

A signal suddenly sounded behind them from the headquarters, and a strange sound was transmitted into Qin Lian’s and Mu Youlan’s ears.

“Oh?” Qin Lian turned around in confusion. Headquarters was calling her back.

“Let’s go find out what happened.” Qin Lian’s figure swooped down from the sky like a sparrow, shooting towards a certain location behind her.

Mu Youlan’s petite figure seemed to merge into the tree. One would faintly see light flickering and jumping between numerous trees.

The two young ladies were extremely quick. Several minutes later, an enormous camp appeared in the forest. Genesis Rune boundaries enveloped the camp as sharp gazes swept the surroundings. It was a tightly guarded place.

The two young ladies descended towards the camp's center where several Heavenly Sun experts were already gathered.

Qin Lian immediately looked towards Li Qingyue and the others. “What happened?”

Li Qingyue and the other Heavenly Sun experts shook their heads before pointing towards Yu Qiushui, Ye Bingling and the others at the center. “They suddenly rushed here and said they have something important to report. We tried to ask them, but they said to wait till you arrived.”

Li Qingshan displayed an amused smile as he continued, “If memory serves me right, they should be the team members Zhou Yuan recruited. Could something have happened to Zhou Yuan, and he now needs saving?”

These words drew laughter from several Heavenly Sun experts. If it was true, the face won by their ‘Little Grand Elder’ in the nine regions tournament would be completely lost.

Qin Lian’s eyes widened. Soon after, she swept an icy glance across the place.

The laughter immediately stopped.

Anyone could see that Qin Lian was very influential and intimidating to the numerous Tianyuan Region Heavenly Sun experts.

“Zhou Yuan’s identity will not change no matter how envious you guys are. If something does happen to him, it will greatly affect our Tianyuan Region,” Qin Lian scolded in an icy voice.

She then looked towards Yi Qiushui and the others. They were still catching their breaths due to rushing here and had exceptionally grave expressions. Qin Lian’s heart could not help but sink a little. Had something really happened to Zhou Yuan?

“Did something happen to Zhou Yuan?” she asked in a slightly downcast voice.

Yi Qiushui looked at Qin Lian and answered without beating about the bush, “Zhou Yuan is fine. He told us to rush here to deliver some urgent news. The Great Five Alliance Army has found the Heavenly Fire Tree King, and they are currently making use of its power to strengthen the entire Chiyun Prefecture battle line. Once they succeed, their power will soar, allowing them to tear through the battlefront.”

The surroundings turned deathly silent.

Even Qin Lian’s pupils abruptly shrank as her expression changed drastically.

After a brief shock, Li Qingyue sternly shouted, “What nonsense! Even grand elder Mu Ni failed to find the Heavenly Fire Tree King. How could the Great Five Alliance Army have found it?!

“Does Zhou Yuan understand the consequences of irresponsibly giving information that will disturb the hearts of the soldiers?!”

The others returned to their senses and voiced their agreement one after another. The news brought by Yi Qiushui was far too alarming. After all, the Heavenly Fire Tree King existed only in legend and had only been mentioned by supreme sovereign Cang Yuan long ago. Such a mythical creature was extremely adept at hiding, and even grand elder Mu Ni’s personal efforts had failed to discover it.

Grand elder Mu Ni was someone with extremely high affinity with plants, and even she could not sense the Heavenly Fire Tree King. How could the Law Domain experts of the Great Five Alliance Army be better than her in this aspect?

Everyone refused to believe it.

“How did you obtain this information?” asked Mu Youlan with doubt in her eyes. Grand elder Mu Ni was someone she greatly respected and admired. How could the Five Great Alliance Army succeed at something that even grand elder Mu Ni failed to do?

Moreover, how had Zhou Yuan obtained such important information?

Yi Qiushui calmly answered, “Zhou Yuan captured the target he accepted from the bounty list, Cao Xiao, and obtained the information from his mouth.”

These words instantly caused another commotion.

Disbelief appeared in the eyes of numerous Heavenly Sun experts. Zhou Yuan had captured Cao Xiao?

That was an expert at the intermediate purple-gold Heavenly Sun stage!

Even among the Heavenly Sun experts present, several would be at a disadvantage against Cao Xiao.

Was Zhou Yuan, an initial heavenly Sun stage expert, really so strong?

They were not the only ones. Even Qin Lian and Mu Youlan were stunned, bewilderment coloring their eyes.

It was not impossible for someone to defeat an opponent of a higher cultivation stage within the Heavenly Sun stage. However, this feat was mostly applicable to practitioners of lower grade Heavenly Suns such as the ordinary and snow-silver grades. Triumphing over a purple-gold Heavenly Sun practitioner was an exceedingly difficult task even for an initial glass Heavenly Sun stage expert.

Li Qingyue’s face twitched. He displayed a superficial smile and said, “Could you guys have gotten the wrong person?”

Yi Qiushui glanced at him and waved her hand. Han Yuan and the others threw out something that had been tightly bound by scarlet-red tree branches. Genesis Qi surged out, breaking the branches, and the object turned into a human figure as it crashed into the ground.

“This is Cao Xiao. I believe someone here must have fought him before and should be able to recognize him.”

The expression of several Heavenly Sun experts present changed slightly as whispers spread. They had already identified that this person was indeed Cao Xiao.

The expression of numerous Heavenly Sun experts changed. Zhou Yuan had really captured Cao Xiao?

Yi Qiushui indifferently said, “Of the three targets Zhou Yuan accepted, Zhang Zihao was killed in a single punch, while Cao Xiao was originally about to be killed but had lost his courage at the last moment and spilled this secret.”

The surroundings fell silent again.

Numerous Heavenly Sun experts could not help but gasp inwardly, traces of shock in their eyes.

Killing Zhang Zihao in a single punch and capturing Cao Xiao alive...

Was he still an initial Heavenly Sun stage expert?!

Even Qin Lian and Mu Youlan looked at each other, seeing the astonishment in the other’s eyes.

Was Zhou Yuan actually so strong?