Zhou Yuan leaped out of the deep pit in a flash and appeared next to Qin Lian.

Qin Lian swept a glance across the deep pit and said with a smile, “Really ruthless.”

Zhou Yuan was helpless towards her mockery. After all, the scene was indeed reeking of blood. So, he didn't respond and shifted his gaze to the stalactites, his eyes blazing.

Many stalactites hung from the cave’s ceiling, but only very few had refined ancestral qi treasures. Zhou Yuan counted the stalactites containing treasures, and not counting the one the golden rat king had swallowed, five were left.

“I didn’t expect there to be ancestral qi treasures here,” exclaimed Qin Lian. She clearly understood their value. However, she suddenly cast an astonished glance at Zhou Yuan and said, "Could this be the reason you told me to choose this area?”

Zhou Yuan smiled and didn't deny it because he had indeed instructed Qin Lian to make that choice. Moreover, given how clever Qin Lian was, she would no doubt connect the harvest they had made this time to Zhou Yuan and come to that conclusion.

“Our supreme sovereign gave you some kind of means to do this?” Qin Lian stared excitedly at Zhou Yuan.

In her opinion, it was impossible for Zhou Yuan to possess that kind of strength. The only explanation was that supreme sovereign Zhuan Zhu had given him some means that ordinary people didn't know about.

Zhou Yuan gave a mysterious smile. Since he could shift the reason to his senior brother, it would save him from explaining too much and risk exposing the Decoder Saint Rune.

“Let’s get the treasures first.” Zhou Yuan waved his hand and then flicked his finger. A light sphere hanging above the five stalactites floated in front of Qin Lian and him.

Its rays of light gradually faded, revealing its true appearance. There were five mysterious treasures of varying shapes and sizes, but all exuded an ancient aura.

Looking at them, Zhou Yuan felt the Heavenly Yuan Brush in his body cheer and leap about again. Additionally, there was another weak wave of energy, which presumably was from Silver Shadow.

Zhou Yuan pondered for a moment, then looked at Qin Lian and asked, "How should we divide them?”

After a deep thought, Qin Lian said indifferently, “For the time being, you don’t need to bring them out. After all, they’re too few and can’t be distributed evenly. They will easily lead to disagreements.

“Furthermore, we only got them mainly because of you and me. The others aren’t qualified to share such treasures. So I suggest that you take four, and I, if grand elder Zhou Yuan is willing, will be satisfied with one.”

Zhou Yuan couldn’t help chuckling when he heard this. But Qin Lian was right. It was impossible to distribute the five treasures amongst the 2,000 people outside. More importantly, in terms of contribution, they weren’t eligible to receive such treasure.

“There will surely be more ancestral Qi treasures, and team members with outstanding contribution can be rewarded with them.” Zhou Yuan flicked his finger, sending two of the five ancestral qi treasures floating towards Qin Lian. "I am a grand elder of the Tianyuan Region. I can’t be so stingy and only give out one.”

Qin Lian didn't know that Zhou Yuan had retrieved the ancestral qi treasure the golden rat king had swallowed, but Zhou Yuan didn't take advantage of this fact. He knew there would be more opportunities in the future.

Qin Lian stared blankly at the two ancestral qi treasures suspended in front of her. She didn’t expect Zhou Yuan to be so generous. After all, they both knew about the value of such ancestral qi treasures.

Qin Lian swept a glance over Zhou Yuan, who just smiled at her. His expression was sincere and contained no other intention. So, she didn’t hesitate anymore and accepted them. “Thank you, grand elder, for your generosity. If there’s anything you need me for in the future, I wouldn’t even hesitate to go into boiling water or tread on fire for you.”

Zhou Yuan couldn’t help chuckling. He stored the remaining three ancestral qi treasures with a wave of his hand and said, “Let’s head out.”

Since the rat king and queen had been killed, the rat tide outside should have receded. And after this, they had another important matter to deal with, and that was to digest the ancestral qi vein, their top priority.

Qin Lian nodded, and the two followed the path back and quickly returned to the others. As they darted from the deep pit, they saw that the Tianyuan Region troops were gathered around the pit and the ground was strewn with rat corpses. The stench of blood saturated the air.

Bian Buji, Mu Youlan, Han Jinhe and the others darted over to greet Zhou Yuan and Qin Lian.

"The rat tide has receded, but we lost more than 30 people…"

Zhou Yuan and Qin Lian both nodded. It was inevitable that an attack of that level resulted in casualties. The Tianyuan Region would have to compensate their families, but this was handled by other departments.

Zhou Yuan ran his eyes across everyone. He knew what everyone was looking forward to, so he didn't say anything pointless. He waved his hand and said, "Everyone, get ready. We will receive the ancestral qi vein next!”

Cheers broke out, and everyone’s eyes blazed with anticipation. They had crossed the heavens and come to the dangerous Guyuan Heaven precisely for the ancestral qi.

Although the majority of ancestral qi in the ancestral qi vein would flow into Hunyuan Heaven, they could still absorb the first wave of ancestral qi, and that was a great enough harvest to them.

As Zhou Yuan waved his sleeve, a ray of light shot out and descended into an open space on the hill.

Boom!

The light expanded as it met the wind, and it turned into a black altar. The altar was marked with countless ancient Genesis Runes, and those runes were so mysterious that even Zhou Yuan, who had great accomplishments in Spirit, couldn’t see through their mystery.

This altar was the ancestral qi receiving platform that Zhuan Zhu had refined.

It could not only connect to Hunyuan Heaven but also protect the ancestral qi vein. Most importantly, it would guide almost half of the vein’s ancestral qi to the Tianyuan Region.

With a slight movement, Zhou Yuan appeared in the center of the altar and folded his hands in a seal. As his seal changed, the black altar vibrated and its ancient Genesis Runes bloomed rays of dazzling light. The light swiftly gathered and tore a crack in the space. The flow of light pulled the gap wider and wider, and it gradually formed a spatial channel that constantly lengthened and shortened.

Buzz!

A mysterious force erupted within the spatial channel and enveloped the ancestral qi vein below. Then, a terrifying explosive force sucked it in.

The ancestral qi vein had an instinct to seek good fortune and avoid misfortune. Therefore, it instinctively resisted, but the power that erupted from the spatial channel was too powerful. No matter how it resisted, in the end, it was slowly uprooted from the earth’s depths.

The billowing mysterious pale yellow current rose, and the entire mountain range quaked violently. Looking down from the sky, it resembled a tremendous yellow dragon being pulled out from depths of the underground.

The yellow dragon whizzed towards the spatial channel under the suction force.

"Everyone, stay alert, concentrate and absorb. Don't make any noise!" Zhou Yuan’s thunderous voice rang in everyone’s ears as he stared at the ancestral qi vein roaring over.

The 2,000 team members sat cross-legged in front of the altar, ignoring the bloodstains on the ground.

The place where they sat was exactly where the ancestral qi vein needed to pass, which meant the yellow dragon would shroud them as it rushed past.

Everyone closed their eyes and frantically absorbed ancestral qi, causing their Genesis Qi to surge up and down.

The yellow dragon didn’t enter the spatial channel but instead steadily instilled it with ancestral qi.

After Zhou Yuan monitored the process for a while and found no problem, he appeared in front of the channel and sat down cross-legged. His eyes blazed as he watched the mysterious ancestral qi roar over like a torrent.

If the ancestral Qi treasure was said to improve his Heavenly Yuan Brush and Silver Shadow, then the nourishment from ancestral qi would greatly improve his strength.

“Come on, let me see how wonderful your ancestral qi is!”

Zhou Yuan drew a deep breath and gradually closed his eyes.

The yellow dragon gushed over and engulfed Zhou Yuan's figure.