Inside the azure Law Domain.

Somewhere in the Law Domain, Chi Jing stood with her hands clasped behind her back, with Zhou Yuan standing behind her.

“The top five forces have declared war on the Tianyuan Region?” Zhou Yuan couldn’t help quivering when he heard Chi Jing’s words.

He knew exactly what this meant: a war of a terrifying scale was about to begin.

He had never seen a war of such scale before. Although palace master Sheng Yuan had started the Cangxuan Saint Stamp War back in Cangxuan Heaven, the scale couldn't be compared to this time even though that war had also involved other sacred sects. If it weren’t for the fact that palace master Sheng Yuan possessed half-Saint strength, the Sacred Palace couldn’t compare to the Tianyuan Region at all.

The combined strength of the Tri-Mountain Alliance, Crimson Cloud Sword Sect, Venomous Dragon Palace and other forces wouldn’t be weaker than the Tianyuan Region.

As a result, the war was bound to be extremely tragic, and the entire Hunyuan Heaven would lose its brilliance because of it.

Chi Jing’s face was covered with frost as she said, “The Wanzu Region must have manipulated all this. Moreover, supreme sovereign Wan Zu has been preparing for this for a long time, if we consider how the Tri-Mountain Alliance and the other top forces had risen after our master’s disappearance.

“Therefore, supreme sovereign Wan Zu must have planned this day for a long time. Also, you just won first place in the nine regions tournament. If the Ancestral Dragon Lantern fell into the Tianyuan Region’s hand, the Tianyuan Region would possess terrifying means, and supreme sovereign Wan Zu didn’t want to see this happen. Therefore, he is beginning to reveal his plan.”

Zhou Yuan's face darkened, and he hissed through clenched teeth, “That old dog!”

He had worked incredibly hard for almost two years to win first place in the nine regions tournament. The Ancestral Dragon Lantern was almost in his hands, but supreme sovereign Wan Zu had suddenly appeared and obstructed him. How could he not be angry?

Chi Jing comforted, “There is no need to be upset. The Wanzu Region is still hindered by the rules, so it can’t take action and can only support the Tri-Mountain Alliance, Crimson Cloud Sword Sect and the other forces. Now that supreme sovereign Wan Zu has thrown out all his cards, as long as our Tianyuan Region can withstand this onslaught, he will have to hand over the Ancestral Dragon Lantern in the end.”

Zhou Yuan took a deep breath and said, “Supreme sovereign Wan Zu most likely wants to force the Tianyuan Region onto a road to death and make our master appear in Hunyuan Heaven.”

Chi Jing nodded. “If our master appears, he will fall into supreme sovereign Wan Zu’s scheme. For people of their levels, even a small flaw revealed could bring endless dangers.

“Therefore, we can’t let his plan succeed!

“I have sent a letter to several other grand elders. When we return to the Tianyuan Utopia, we will prepare for battle. The Tianyuan Region has to win this war!”

Zhou Yuan nodded. He pondered for a moment and explained the conversation he had with supreme sovereign Wu Shen in the Fallen Abyss.

“As I thought, it was supreme sovereign Wu Shen who interfered. But it’s a good thing. The Tianyuan Region’s situation isn’t too good, and we can’t anger the Wushen Region,” Chi Jing said apologetically. As Zhou Yuan’s senior sister, she couldn’t help him get justice.

Zhou Yuan smiled, expressing his understanding. Moreover, he still had a pretty good harvest this time. At the very least, he took back a part of the Sacred Dragon Blessing from Wu Yao. If he could find the time to integrate it, he most likely could progress further in the Ancestral Dragon Scripture.

Although he might not be able to increase his Genesis Qi to the grade-9 Galaxy Sacred Dragon Qi, it was possible to increase it from grade 7 to grade 8. Even so, his strength would no doubt skyrocket.

Of course, more importantly, he could take this breakthrough to truly step into the Heavenly Sun stage!

A large quantity of Spiritium had appeared after the nine regions tournament, which meant many people in Hunyuan Heaven at the pinnacle of the Divine Dwelling stage would start their breakthrough and attack the highest-grade Heavenly Sun. If Zhou Yuan didn’t take advantage of the time to break through, he would be left behind again.

Even if he had broken the limits of the Divine Dwelling stage, he still couldn’t be compared to a Heavenly Sun stage expert.

Therefore, he needed to begin his breakthrough.

“There is another thing. Since you said that supreme sovereign Wan Zu and supreme sovereign Wu Shen are already aware of your identity, it isn’t necessary for you to conceal your identity anymore. I intend to announce your identity in the next grand elder meeting, because according to the rules that our master set, his disciples can become grand elders of the Tianyuan Region,” Chi Jing explained. “And as this war approaches, the announcement of your identity can reassure some people that our master hasn’t fallen. It was just that he hasn’t returned yet.”

Zhou Yuan scratched his head when he heard Chi Jing’s words. The position of grand elder could be said to be the highest in the Tianyuan Region, and in terms of status, it was much higher than his current position of chief pavilion master.

If he were to become a grand elder, even Nascent Source stage elders would have to pay respect to him.

However, in the end, Zhou Yuan muttered, “I don’t mind announcing my identity to reassure the citizens, but you don’t need to restore my status as a grand elder yet.”

That position was too high and too eye-catching. Even if he successfully broke through to the Heavenly Sun stage, he was still only a Heavenly Sun stage expert, and wouldn’t it be strange to have a grand elder only at the Heavenly Sun stage? Even if no one dared say a word because of Cang Yuan’s prestige, could anybody guarantee that there wouldn’t be any resentment in other people’s hearts?

It wouldn’t be a problem if Cang Yuan was overseeing the Tianyuan Region, but the Tianyuan Region was about to face a fierce war. Therefore, it was important to set the mind of the people at ease, and Zhou Yuan didn’t want to ruin the state of the Tianyuan Region for his own power rights.

If he announced his identity as one of Cang Yuan disciples, even if he refused to be a grand elder, no one within the entire Tianyuan Region would dare point a finger at him.

Chi Jing was taken aback seeing Zhou Yuan decline, but she soon understood. She couldn’t help but take a deep look at him. She stretched out her slender hand to gently rub Zhou Yuan’s head. “You’re so considerate, but I, your senior sister, was too reckless.”

Her admiration for Zhou Yuan had grown even greater. She knew more than anyone else what the grand elder position represented, but Zhou Yuan was able to resist the temptation. It was no wonder her master thought so highly of him.

“When we return to Tianyuan Utopia, you should prepare to enter closed-door cultivation to attack the Heavenly Sun stage.” Chi Jing smiled. “As for this war, you don't need to worry about it. Even though the Tianyuan Region has deteriorated over the years, not just any jumping clown can provoke us.”

Zhou Yuan gently nodded, but he knew that it wouldn’t be as simple and easy as Chi Jing said. It was just that a Divine Dwelling expert couldn’t do anything to affect the situation given the war’s scale. His priority should be to break through to the Heavenly Sun stage.

A Heavenly Sun stage expert was considered a top elite even in the entire Hunyuan Heaven.

And within the Cangxuan Sect, he would be considered an elder-level expert.

Since the top five forces had declared war on the Tianyuan Region, the Law Domain experts were naturally the top power, and both sides wouldn't act recklessly for the time being. Therefore, Nascent Source stage experts were the second strongest power. However, the main collision would be between Heavenly Sun experts!

The Heavenly Sun experts of both sides were bound to break out into an extremely fierce battle.

And, to end the war as soon as possible and return the Ancestral Dragon Lantern to its rightful owner, Zhou Yuan didn’t mind trying to scare the top five forces’ veteran Heavenly Sun experts.