When Zhou Yuan felt a layer of the barrier to his ninth Divine Dwelling melt, even someone like him could not help but be immediately stunned. Joy surged from his eyes.

He never imagined that the core Genesis orb of the Fallen Shadow would have such a miraculous effect!

“It’s like they sent me a pillow when I’m feeling drowsy.” Zhou Yuan could not help but laugh. He had just been wracking his brains and worrying about the progress of his ninth Divine Dwelling. Who could have expected a solution to appear in the blink of an eye?

Although it was not as straightforward as consuming a Divine Dwelling Immeasurable Fruit, it did not have the disadvantage of only working once. In other words, as long as he gathered a sufficient amount of cores, he could borrow their power to unlock his ninth Divine Dwelling.

In the lake, the twenty trapped Tianyuan Region members regained their freedom when the Fallen Shadow was slain. They stumbled into the water before climbing out, each one looking rather pale.

Several people quickly rushed over to support them.

Zhou Yuan lowered his head and looked towards the lake. As the mist faded, the water became clear. He could clearly see dazzling Spiritium swimming inside the lake like fish.

Zhou Yuan raised his head and said to Yi Qiushui and the others, “Prepare to harvest the Spiritium.”

Cheers instantly exploded around him. In the next instant, splashes endlessly sounded.

Zhou Yuan flew onto a hill and called Shang Xiaoling over. “Double the scouting group. If anyone finds any signs of a Fallen Shadow, directly report back to me.”

Since he discovered the benefit of a Fallen Shadow, Zhou Yuan was naturally not going to let any escape.

In his eyes, Fallen Shadows had become extremely attractive, even more so than ordinary Spiritium.

Shang Xiaoling nodded and left to carry out his instructions.

An incense stick of time later, the Spiritium in the lake was thoroughly cleaned out by everyone’s joint efforts.

Everyone was filled with happiness. The low morale due to being chased away by Zhao Mushen had fully recovered.

Zhou Yuan subsequently dispatched them to search the mini domain while he waited for any news.

Hence, the team led by Zhou Yuan thoroughly searched the mini domain over the next two days. Over this period, they found a total of four locations rich in Spiritium and managed to obtain over two hundred strands of Spiritium overall.

Besides Spiritium, they found another two Fallen Shadows. Sure enough, Zhou Yuan obtained two more Fallen Genesis Orbs, which melted away a little more of his ninth Divine Dwelling barrier.

Such progress was much quicker than using his Genesis Qi to slowly grind away at it!

The good news put Zhou Yuan in quite a good mood.

After nearly overturning every blade of grass in the mini domain, on the third day, Zhou Yuan finally led the satisfied team towards a spatial crack. They entered it one by one.

...

Strong winds howled in the domain, and the environment looked rather terrible.

Zhou Yuan stood on a barren hill, his eyes narrowing slightly as he gazed upon the newly entered mini domain. He carefully felt the concentration of the surrounding Genesis Qi. Moments later, he raised his brows and remarked, “The Genesis Qi concentration of this mini domain is higher than the previous two.”

By the side, Yi Qiushui nodded and said with a solemn expression, “It means it will also be more dangerous. Moreover...the chances of meeting another team from the eight regions will be higher.”

The higher the concentration of Genesis Qi, the more Spiritium would be born. At the same time, it was also more likely for them to encounter another team, making the competition even more intense.

Zhou Yuan pondered for a moment before he looked towards Sheng Xiaoling and the others. “Send out some scouts to carefully explore the place. If they encounter any teams, find out their identities and strength.”

Sheng Xiaoling immediately acknowledged his command and quickly picked out a hundred members. The selected group soon dispersed in all directions like birds.

Zhou Yuan instructed the others to be on guard. He had a feeling that there was definitely going to be another team in this mini domain. If the other party was hostile, a battle would likely await them...unless they were unlucky enough to meet Zhao Mushen’s team again. If so, they would continue running.

At this thought, Zhou Yuan felt a little helpless. The feeling of being constantly suppressed was something he had not felt for many years. However, it also motivated him to unlock his ninth Divine Dwelling as soon as possible.

Zhou Yuan and the remaining members waited on the hill for about two hours.

He then saw a dozen figures fly over from a distance with Shang Xiaoling at their head.

From afar, he seemed to see a grave expression on Shang Xiaoling’s face.

Zhou Yuan immediately gestured with his hand. The several hundred figures behind him tensed their bodies and prepared themselves for what was coming.

Shang Xiaoling soon landed and quickly arrived at Zhou Yuan’s side. “There are indeed other teams in this mini domain. We found a total of two: Liu Qingshu of the Wanzu Region leads one, while Zhao Yunxiao of the Wushen Region leads the other.”

“Liu Qingshu and Zhao Yunxiao…” Zhou Yuan mumbled to himself. The second name caused a strange look to emerge on his face.

It was a name he deeply remembered. During his encounter with Wu Yao in the Great Wu Empire’s capital, Zhao Yunxiao had launched a sneak attack on him. In fact, it could be said that there was a grudge between them.

As for Liu Qingshu, he had likewise heard of her. She was quite famous and had a pretty high rank on the Divine Dwelling List.

“It seems that we are quite fated to meet the Wanzu Region.” Zhou Yuan chuckled. Among the three mini domains they had entered, they encountered teams from the Wanzu Region in two of them.

Shang Xiaoling said, “When our scouts encountered them, they also discovered our presence.”

She hesitated for a moment before she continued, “Liu Qingshu and Zhao Yunxiao have requested you to meet with them and discuss how the Spiritium in this mini domain will be split.”

Zhou Yuan responded, “Since they’re inviting me over, let’s go and see what they have to say.”

Yi Qiushui worriedly said, “Will it be a trap?”

“You guys be on guard and carefully watch the surroundings when we’re there. I’ll go meet them and see what they’re up to.” Zhou Yuan chuckled before he continued, “Liu Qingshu and Zhao Yunxiao may not be weak, but it will be naive of them to believe they will be able to stop me from leaving.”

In the Fallen Abyss, if one were to disregard each team’s overall strength, only the top few rankers would be able to make Zhou Yuan wary. At the very least, the likes of Liu Qingshu and Zhao Yunxiao were not enough to concern him.

With his decision made, Zhou Yuan waved his hand and led the way by rising into the air.

Behind him, several hundred people closely followed.

An hour later, Zhou Yuan looked towards the front. Amidst the strong winds, two figures were visible atop a hill. Zhou Yuan’s gaze shifted down to the foot of the hill, where two several-hundred-member-strong teams were waiting.

Zhou Yuan made a gesture towards Yi Qiushui and the others. His figure soon sped up and slowly descended towards the hill after several dozen breaths.

When he landed, the two figures on the hill cast their gazes towards him.

Zhou Yuan also looked over. Liu Qingshu was a pretty young lady and had a pure face. However, a faint seductive allure seemed to spread from between her brows. When she looked at Zhou Yuan, her eyes contained undisguised proudness.

Zhou Yuan turned towards Zhao Yunxiao. The latter smiled back with a toyful gaze.

Smiling, Zhao Yunxiao said, “Tsktsk, Zhou Yuan, I never expected you to become the chief pavilion master of the Tianyuan Region in the few years since we met. How surprising.

“However, you truly know how to pick a place.” His words seemed to be full of praise, but his tone was sarcastic. The meaning was clear: if Zhou Yuan were in any of the other eight regions, he would not have such status.

Zhou Yuan glanced at him and nonchalantly replied, “A mere rat that likes to sneak up behind people...back then, I had recently advanced to the Divine Dwelling stage, and yet your sneak attack could do nothing to me. It seems to me that you haven’t improved much since then.”

Zhao Yunxiao’s eyes turned cold. “What big words!”

By the side, Liu Qingshu immediately waved her hand upon seeing the fiery atmosphere between them and said, “The two of you can resolve your differences another day. Our current goal is to decide on how to allocate the Spiritium in this mini domain.”

Zhou Yuan turned towards Liu Qingshu. How could he not see the proud attitude she displayed? However, he ignored it and asked, “How shall we do this, then?”

Liu Qingshu smiled faintly and answered, “Since we arrived earlier, we’ve already scouted the entire place and found a total of nine locations with Spiritium.

“After some discussion, we’ve decided that my Wanzu Region shall get four locations, the Wushen Region three, and your Tianyuan Region may harvest the remaining two.”

Her tone was nonchalant. It seemed to be a discussion, but her words indicated that they had already decided on the outcome.

Zhao Yunxiao nodded, still grinning from ear to ear as he stared at Zhou Yuan.

Liu Qingshu looked at Zhou Yuan and displayed a sweet smile. “Chief pavilion master Zhou Yuan, your Tianyuan Region may suffer slightly with this allocation, but you should know the saying first come, first served. Won’t it be better for everyone to share the spoils peacefully without any bloodshed?”

Although her smile was sweet, her words clearly contained a small threat.

Zhou Yuan smiled and nodded. “I understand.”

A sliver of disdain flitted across Liu Qingshu’s eyes.

However, the smile on Zhou Yuan’s face soon receded as he indifferently said, “But unfortunately, I’m a barbarian who loves bloodshed. Hence, I’ll be taking all nine of the Spiritium locations.

“As for you guys...neither of you will be getting anything.”