“Haha, what shameless boasting!” Xu Ming howled with laughter. Undisguised disdain was on his face as he fixed a dark gaze on Zhou Yuan. He had never imagined that Zhou Yuan would dare to target him.

He swept his gaze across the area, ultimately pausing on Zhao Mushen. “Zhao Mushen, how will these nine statues be allocated?”

Everyone knew that the nine ancient statues were the crux of the nine regions tournament. The bigger the statue, the more Spiritium and opportunity contained within! Hence, intense struggles would undoubtedly erupt over these nine statues.

Zhao Mushen answered in a gentle voice, “If we allocated them according to the Divine Dwelling List rankings, I believe everyone will snort in disdain…”

The top heaven prides from the other nine regions did not comment. There was, of course, no way that any of them would acknowledge such a suggestion. If they went according to the rankings, Zhao Mushen would occupy the largest ancient statue.

This was something that Wu Yao and Su Youwei, ranked second and third, would never agree to.

Zhao Mushen softly chuckled, his sculpted face exuding an extraordinary charm. He knew what everyone was thinking and thus did not offend the majority. He understood that they were the apex heaven prides of their respective regions and were extremely prideful individuals. Reputation and presence alone were not enough to make them yield the largest statue. At the end of the day, a battle was unavoidable.

And he was not afraid of any of them challenging him.

“Since everyone feels that this won’t work, we’ll use a simpler approach,” Zhao Mushen casually said. “Whoever fancies any of these statues can step forward and move to that statue. The one who manages to triumph over all the other challengers will naturally end up the owner of that statue.”

The top heaven prides from the various regions nodded in agreement. At the end of the day, strength would determine everything.

Smiling, Xu Ming nodded before glancing at Zhou Yuan. Robust Genesis Qi erupted from Xu Ming’s body, rippling the space around him.

Swish!

His figure shot forward, zooming straight towards the nine ancient statues.

Countless gazes converged on his body.

Xu Ming flew past the first two statues and landed towards the third one.

When his figure stopped, a white jade bracelet suddenly dropped from his wrist. A white bead expanded, turning into a giant hundred-foot-long beast that howled at the heavens. Its giant fists pulsed with astonishing power as it ferociously punched the Genesis Qi barrier around the stone statue.

Boom!

A loud noise thundered as a devastating shockwave unfurled.

A crack was blasted open in the Genesis Qi barrier. Xu Ming’s figure took the opportunity to descend, landing on the giant statue’s head amidst countless amazed gasps.

Xu Ming had chosen the third statue, ranked seven in scale among the nine. It also happened to coincide with his ranking on the Divine Dwelling List.

Xu Ming was quite the smart one. He understood that the larger statues would surely be contested more heavily, and he was ninety percent certain of occupying this statue.

He planned to occupy the third statue first and then observe the situation before making his next move.

On the statue’s head, Xu Ming cast an icy glance at Zhou Yuan and said, “Want to seek your own humiliation? Here, I’ll give you a chance. I hope that you’ll be able to break the Genesis Qi barrier and not let your Tianyuan Region lose all face.”

Genesis Qi barriers were surrounding the ancient statues. Without sufficient power, it was impossible to break through them.

Xu Ming would be more than happy if Zhou Yuan challenged him. In his view, Zhou Yuan was the weakest among the nine and was the perfect person to kill as an example to the others.

With Xu Ming singling him out, numerous gazes turned towards Zhou Yuan.

It was time to see if Zhou Yuan would dare to accept the main event’s first challenge.

Behind Zhou Yuan, Ye Bingling, Yi Qiushui and the others wore grave expressions. Although they were extremely unhappy with Xu Ming’s arrogant mannerisms, they understood that he had the power to back it up.

Lu Xiao was silent for a moment before saying, “Shall I go and probe him first? You can step up after I’m defeated.”

As members of the same camp, they shared both glory and shame. If Zhou Yuan were the first to be defeated, it would be a huge blow to the Tianyuan Region’s dignity, and they would become a joke to everyone else.

Zhou Yuan stared at the third ancient stone statue while Xu Ming challengingly stared back from the statue’s head. He shook his head and said, “The position he has chosen is not bad. What I need is a stepping stone, and Xu Ming is the most appropriate one.”

Each stone statue contained tremendous amounts of Alpha Spiritium and pure Genesis Qi. If Zhou Yuan managed to occupy one, he would be able to borrow its power to attack the ninth Divine Dwelling.

Once the ninth Divine Dwelling was unlocked, his strength would soar to amazing heights. At that time, he would gain the qualifications to vie with Zhao Mushen for the top.

Hence, while Xu Ming hoped to slaughter Zhou Yuan as an example, Zhou Yuan also needed a stepping stone like Xu Ming.

Zhou Yuan cast aside all hesitation as he shot forth. Several breaths later, he appeared above the giant stone statue.

Light swirled on the glowing Genesis Qi barrier outside the statue, reflected in Zhou Yuan’s pupils. His expression remained calm as his body jerked. Boundless Genesis Qi erupted, 38 million Genesis Qi stars twinkling in the air as a powerful Genesis Qi pressure unfurled.

Rumble!

Zhou Yuan’s figure dived down, his five fingers clenching into a fist as he punched.

A giant torrent of Genesis Qi roared out like an angry dragon and blasted the Genesis Qi barrier.

Boom!

The sky seemed to ripple as a small tear emerged on the barrier and swiftly grew into a crack. Zhou Yuan slipped through in a flash before slowly descending towards the statue’s head. The top of the head was akin to a wide plaza.

Uproar!

Several gasps of surprise rang out as Zhou Yuan descended. His 38 million Genesis Qi stars had shaken quite a number of people.

Xu Ming’s eyes narrowed slightly. “No wonder you’re so arrogant. It turns out that you do have some ability.”

The Genesis Qi foundation Zhou Yuan displayed had clearly exceeded Xu Ming’s expectations.

Iciness overflowed from Xu Ming’s eyes as he fiddled with the white jade bracelet in his hand. Soon after, he broke the bracelet with a flick. Twelve white jade beads rapidly grew as they shot outwards, turning into twelve giant puppet beasts. They roared angrily.

The twelve giant beasts came in various shapes, but their savage auras were indistinguishable from true Genesis beasts.

Roar!

Twelve giant puppet beasts spread out behind Xu Ming. He cocked his head to the side, staring at Zhou Yuan as he said in an amused voice, “Zhou Yuan, this is the final chance I will give you. Get lost now, and you might preserve some of your dignity. Otherwise, don’t blame me for showing no mercy.”

He wanted to infuriate Zhou Yuan because anger would make one lose rationality.

Zhou Yuan raised his eyelids and nonchalantly said, “I’m hoping that these toys of yours will be able to make me a little serious.”

Having his prided puppets called toys made Xu Ming’s expression darken. An eerie smile appeared on his face. “I hope that your tongue will still be so sharp when my puppets tear you to pieces! Go rip him to shreds!”

Roar!

Twelve giant white jade beats suddenly roared. The surrounding Genesis Qi rippled violently as they shot forward, pouncing towards Zhou Yuan with murderous intent.

Countless people from all around looked over in excitement. The main event had finally begun!