An endless crimson mountain range stood southeast of Scarlet Flame City. From a distance, the mountain range resembled a blazing mountain with flames spreading endlessly. It was a spectacular sight.

This was the Heavenly Fire Ancient Forest.

It was a well-known resource point in the Tianyuan Region, and the resources there were the towering flame trees called Heavenly Fire Trees. The Heavenly Fire Trees were red-hot and rooted in the depths of the ground to draw up blazing Genesis Qi. Matured trees gave birth to Tree Spirit Essence, which was a very precious cultivation resource. If a Heavenly Sun expert could refine one, it could mysteriously strengthen one’s pure yang qi.

The top five forces all coveted such a mysterious resource, so when the war broke out, this strategic resource location was one of the main targets they wanted to capture.

The Tianyuan Region, however, wouldn’t easily give up the location. As a result, the Heavenly Fire Ancient Forest had turned into a huge battlefield, and both sides brought in countless experts to win this strategic location. The Heavenly Fire Ancient Forest had become a tragic war zone. Blood dyed the ancient forest red and made it more striking than before.

...

“Is this the Heavenly Fire Ancient Forest?”

Zhou Yuan stood atop a mountain, peering at the crimson forest coming into view on the horizon. The tall crimson trees in the forest resembled pillars that towered into the sky, and the extending crimson branches swaying in the wind looked like blazing flames.

The Genesis Qi grew increasingly hot.

Zhou Yuan circulated the Genesis Qi in his body and was surprised to find that his Genesis Qi had become more lively after integrating with the pure yang qi. A Heavenly Sun expert’s combat strength would greatly improve in this place. However, it was much more difficult for Divine Dwelling experts to withstand such an environment.

Zhou Yuan glanced at Yi Qiushui and Ye Bingling and saw their pretty faces were a little red. Genesis Qi roamed around their graceful bodies to protect them from the heat coming from the outside world.

It was clear that before the two integrated with pure yang qi, they couldn’t adapt to the pure scorching universe Genesis Qi.

Boom!

Berserk waves of Genesis Qi occasionally loomed out of the endless crimson forest. There had to be a battle happening.

Zhou Yuan could see a steady stream of teams charging in from the forest periphery, and the smell of war fire and blood assaulted his senses.

Yi Qiushui walked over to Zhou Yuan’s side, clasping a copper mirror. A stream of light bloomed from the mirror, forming a map in front of them. It was a map of the Heavenly Fire Ancient Forest.

“From the three targets you have chosen this time, we recommend starting with Zhang Zihao. He is the easiest to deal with among the three,” Yi Qiushui said, but her face was filled with fear and had turned solemn. After all, their targets were all intermediate purple-gold Heavenly Sun experts!

Yi Qiushui and the others were relieved to see his reaction because they were worried Zhou Yuan would insist on meeting the trickiest, Bei Gongqiao, first. They thought that perhaps meeting a powerful enemy like Zhao Zihao would make Zhou Yuan appreciate the tyrannical strength of the intermediate purple-gold Heavenly Sun stage and willingly give up on hunting down Bei Gongqiao.

“According to the real-time information given by the War Service Hall, Zhang Zihao should be in this area.”

Yi Qiushui flicked her slender fingers, and the map rapidly shrank. She then pointed to an area of the Heavenly Fire Ancient Forest.

Zhou Yuan gently nodded. “If we meet other enemies on the way, can we kill them?”

Yi Qiushui and the others were taken aback. He has such strong killing intent. Does he intend to kill along the way? Where does he get his confidence from?

Ye Bingling shook her head, saying, “It isn’t recommended to change targets. Since you have accepted a target from the bounty list, you belong to the hunting team, and the hunting team’s mission is to kill extremely tricky enemies. The other enemies are left to the battlefield teams.

“The enemy has its own intelligence system, and if you change your target to someone else, you risk exposing yourself, which could lead to them attacking you. If you are besieged, we will most likely need to retreat, and your mission will have failed.”

Zhou Yuan nodded to show his understanding.

“Then let’s make a move.” Zhou Yuan streaked across the air and landed within the endless crimson forest.

...

The temperature soared in the Heavenly Fire Ancient Forest, and even the air seemed to burn as Genesis Qi faintly bubbled.

Chi!

Zhou Yuan and his group moved swiftly along the forest at a low height. The situation in the battlefield was incredibly complex, and they could catch fire if they flew too high.

The group scattered, and Shang Xiaoling and Ye Bingling determined their bearings and led the way. They seemed very familiar with the forest and must have come many times before to earn war credit.

Zhou Yuan stayed in the center position to provide support immediately if the situation ahead changed.

They hastened along the road and tried to conceal their Genesis Qi as much as possible as they actively avoided many battles and Genesis Qi collisions.

The day flew by quickly.

Zhou Yuan saw no fewer than 100 battles that day, and the majority were between initial Heavenly Sun experts. Zhou Yuan adhered to the hunting team’s rules, didn’t intervene in the battles and quietly moved past. However, the enemies discovered Zhou Yuan a few times, but he eventually shook them off with his powerful Spirit ability.

One day later, his team arrived at the area where their target was reported.

...

Zhou Yuan sat quietly atop a giant crimson tree.

He peered through the branches and leaves and saw Yi Qiushui and the others take out a bamboo slip from their sleeves. The bamboo slip was covered with Genesis Runes, and when it was crushed against a tree trunk, an eye-like Genesis Rune appeared and merged into the trunk and very quickly disappeared.

It was a detection Genesis Rune that could monitor the surrounding movements in real-time.

The team could earn war credits for setting up detection Genesis Runes. Furthermore, the War Service Hall could use the runes to gather intelligence and relay the details to the hunting team so the team could locate targets.

After the Genesis Runes were set up, Yi Qiushui and the others gestured to Zhou Yuan and darted off in different directions. They were about to start exploring the area to look for the target.

Zhou Yuan wanted to follow but was unanimously rejected. All his team members wanted him to rest and adjust his state. This was because they could only rely on Zhou Yuan to fight once they found traces of their target, and if Zhou Yuan couldn’t win, the team would have to retreat, and there could even be casualties.

Seeing them firmly decline, Zhou Yuan had to helplessly agree and watch them leave. However, he didn’t sit down and rest. Instead, he released his Spirit perception so that he could instantly know if anything happened to Yi Qiushui and the others.

There was utter silence in the forest, except for the rustling of red leaves and the crackling of flames.

One hour later.

Zhou Yuan’s eyes sprang open. There was a signal from Yi Qiushui and the others.

“Finally found him...”

Zhou Yuan transformed into a shadow and vanished.

Finally, it was time for him to do something. He looked forward to his first battle after his breakthrough to the Heavenly Sun stage.