Yuan Zun: The Ancestral Dragon

In the mountain forests.

Zhou Yuan stood on a rock, five snarling giant green wolves currently circling him.

These Wind Spirit Wolves were also grade 1 Genesis Beasts. They specialized in speed and were extremely difficult to deal with due to their pack nature. Even seven channel experts would avoid them as much as possible. They could be said to be the tyrants of this particular area.

However, there was not much fear on Zhou Yuan's face but instead some eagerness.

Swish!

One of the Wind Spirit Wolves took the lead and attacked, a green figure darting forward like a shadow, sharp claws ripping through the air as they mercilessly slashed at Zhou Yuan's back.

However, its surprise attack was not the least bit effective. Zhou Yuan's figure seemed to flicker as it turned blurry, causing the sharp claws to slice through empty air.

Bang!

Zhou Yuan's counterattack was as swift as thunder. Five fingers tightly clenched into a fist as vigorous Genesis Qi surged around it. A punch slammed into the attacking wolf's waist, breaking bone with a crack and sending the wolf to its death.

Ahwoo!

The moment it died, scarlet red washed over the other four wolves' eyes as they shot forward with a howl.

After several minutes, Zhou Yuan stood on the spot, the Heavenly Yuan Brush in his hand standing on the ground at a slightly slanted angle. Fresh blood dripped from the tip of the brush while the corpses of five Wind Spirit Wolves gradually turned cold around him.

Two months of training in the mountain forest had given Zhou Yuan a faint aura of ferocity.

"Culture form."

The Heavenly Yuan Brush in his hand swiftly shrunk, becoming a foot long again as Zhou Yuan stuck it back into his waistband.

He raised his head, eyes narrowing slightly as he watched sunlight spill through the cracks in the trees, and mumbled, "Only a few days left till the class ranking exam. It's about time to return."

He had trained for about two months in the mountain forests and his sixth meridian channel had been unblocked 10 days earlier.

He had not returned because his channel opening speed would drop once he left this Genesis Beast-infested mountain forest. Instead, he used the Genesis Beasts in the forest to further temper himself. Sometimes he fought them with only his body and sometimes with only the Heavenly Yuan Brush to further progress in his spear arts.

He bent down to dig out the Beast Spirit Crystals from the heads of the five Wind Spirit Wolves before turning around and leaving the forest. Half an hour later, he arrived at the valley.

"Are we returning?" When Yaoyao saw that Zhou Yuan had returned, she seemed to know that he was ready to go back. She stretched lazily, displaying the enchanting outline of her waist.

She had previously lived with Cang Yuan in a domain void of any other people and was used to this kind of life. Thus, her two months here had been rather leisurely.

Zhou Yuan smiled and nodded before whistling. After a brief period, a dozen figures flew out from the mountain forests. They were the imperial guards that had been protecting him from the shadows.

"Inform Captain Lu to prepare our return to Great Zhou City."

Zhou Yuan watched the imperial guards withdraw before turning his head. His gaze seemed to penetrate the dense forests and see Great Zhou City.

...

Great Zhou royal palace.

Zhou Qing and Qin Yu rushed over the moment Zhou Yuan arrived at the royal palace.

Qin Yu quickly walked forward the moment she saw Zhou Yuan, grabbing his shoulders as she said in a tender voice, "My child, you did not return for so long after you left, look at how thin you've become."

The current Zhou Yuan had become more muscular and leaner, but to Qin Yu, training in the mountain forests was purely suffering.

Zhou Yuan smiled as he hugged Qin Yu. After some consoling, he let Yaoyao accompany Qin Yu as he walked away with Zhou Qing.

"Unblocked your fifth meridian channel?" Zhou Qing grinned as he glanced at Zhou Yuan.

Zhou Yuan grinned and shook his head, "No Father my sixth meridian has already been opened."

"Ha ha ha, Good good, as expected of the Sacred dragon of our Clan."

"Lu Tieshan has told me what happened. I did not expect Qi Yue would be so bold and target you." A cold look flitted across Zhou Qing's face.

Looks like the past few years of tolerating Qi Manor's actions had now made them fearless. However, he did have his difficulties. After all, if he fully fell out with Qi Manor, the Great Zhou Empire would have to welcome a war that would hurt them to the very core. This would be extremely detrimental to Great Zhou.

Hence, he somewhat blamed himself for the attack on Zhou Yuan. If he had not such a useless father, Zhou Yuan would not have fallen into such danger.

Zhou Yuan knew how his father suffered in silence. With a smile, he fished out the Auraflare technique jade scroll from his clothes and said, "Don't dwell on it too much father, I was not the one who suffered a loss this time."

Auraflare technique? It has indeed landed in your hands!" Zhou Qing was a little taken aback but soon burst out into laughter. He was naturally aware of how Qi Manor had practically turned the place upside down in search of this very technique.

"Let them pay a little interest first. As for Qi Yue, Father need not worry. I will properly resolve the debts between us in the class ranking exam three days from now."

Although Zhou Yuan's expression was calm, the confidence and indifference in his voice made Zhou Qing feel rather gratified as he nodded. Two months of training in the deep mountain forests had slightly unsheathed the blade that was Zhou Yuan.

Zhou Qing slowly said, "The upcoming class ranking exam is extremely important. If the A class is defeated by the B class again, the headmaster position might fall into Qi Manor's hands. All their years of plotting have cumulated into this very day."

Zhou Yuan nodded. He clearly understood the importance of the upcoming class ranking exam. It might seem to be a contest between the two classes, but the truth was that it would affect both the Great Zhou royal clan and Qi Manor. But he wasn't concerned one bit as he could now easily trample all of the students in the great Zhou Institute.

.

.

.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

When the third day arrived, faint undercurrents began to stir a little in Great Zhou City as numerous factions turned their gazes toward the Great Zhou Institute in unison.

They knew that today was the class ranking exam.

Of course, a mere class ranking exam was naturally incapable of drawing the attention of so many factions. It was because this class ranking exam concerned the struggle between the royal clan and Qi Manor.

Everyone knew that Qi Manor had been eyeing the institute for many years and had used all sorts of methods to infiltrate it. It was now time for them to reap their harvest. As long as the B class was able to take the number one spot in the class ranking exam this year, Qi Manor's representative, Xu Hong, would likely replace Chu Tianyang and become the new headmaster of the institute.

If so, the Great Zhou Institute would secretly become the Great Qi Institute.

This would be a huge blow to the royal clan because it also meant that Qi Manor was gradually gaining the upper hand in the struggle between the two parties, a fact that would undoubtedly sway the stances of the other factions towards Qi Manor, hence furthering the royal clan's decline.

Thus, the outcome of this class ranking exam could be said to even shake the royal clan's position and its importance was self-evident.

…

Great Zhou Institute, A class courtyard.

When Zhou Yuan once again stepped into the A class courtyard, he immediately felt the many students within look over before being stupefied by the subsequent orderly applause.

Zhou Yuan asked in bewilderment, "What are you guys doing?"

Su Youwei, Song Qiushui, and Yang Zai were all smiles as they approached. "Are we not thanking you? If it weren't for you winning an additional two hours of Jade Spirit Waterfall training time from the B class, our A class would have no hope for this class ranking exam."

Zhou could not help but smile when he heard this. "Looks like you guys have grown substantially stronger over the past two months."

Su Youwei's little mouth was pursed as she let out a soft laugh. "The three of us have already unblocked our sixth meridian channel."

Yang Zai also chuckled as he said, "It's all thanks to the additional Jade Spirit Waterfall training time. Or else, we would likely need another month to unblock our sixth channel."

Zhou Yuan asked with interest, "What about the B class? With only an hour of Jade Spirit Waterfall training time left, they should not have made much progress, right?"

Song Qiushui pondered a little before she replied, "The morale of the B class has been rather low recently and they seem to hold some resentment towards Qi Yue."

After all, three-quarters of their B class' originally four-hour-long Jade Spirit Waterfall training time had been lost by Qi Yue. Who could tolerate such a huge drop? Even if they did not dare to say anything due to Qi Yue's status, some resentment could not be avoided.

"All of you will be gravely mistaken to believe that the B class' strength has fallen just because they lost those three hours." A voice was suddenly heard while they were talking.

Zhou Yuan looked over and saw a solemn face Chu Tianyang walking over with his hands behind his back.

Everyone greeted one after another. "Class master!"

Chu Tianyang waved his hand and glanced at Zhou Yuan as he slowly said, "As far as I know, Qi Yue has secretly brought several B students to Qi Manor over the past two months."

"Oh?" Zhou Yuan's eyes narrowed when he heard this. "He plans to do all he can to groom them with Qi Manor's resources?"

Chu Tianyang's expression was ugly as he nodded. Qi Yue's actions were nauseating but there was nothing the former could say. After all, outsiders did not have any right to comment on how others were training.

Qi Manor had abundant resources and it was a very simple task for them to groom another handful of people.

However, this also made the other B-class students feel rather unhappy and unfairly treated. Thus, there have been a lot of complaints recently from the B class about Qi Yue, complaints that ended up being forcibly suppressed by Xu Hong.

Chu Tianyang said in a stern voice, "So don't become complacent just because you have unblocked your sixth meridian channel because Qi Yue has already reached seven channels!"

The numerous A-class students turned silent as worry emerged in their eyes. The pressure Qi Yue gave to the A class was too great. Although Zhou Yuan had defeated Qi Yue in the Jade Spirit Waterfall that one time, it was after all a very limited kind of contest and was nothing like the upcoming class ranking exam where one needed to rely on one's strength.

As the crowd worried, several gazes turned towards Zhou Yuan. After all, he was the only person who had been able to 'defeat' Qi Yue in the past year. Hence, they naturally held some expectations for him.

Zhou Yuan smiled as he looked at Chu Tianyang and said, "Relax class master, I will deal with Qi Yue."

Chu Tianyang nodded. However, there was still some worry in his eyes. After all, the class ranking exam was nothing like the Jade Spirit Waterfall contest.

However, he also understood that he could not allow the A class' morale to be affected at such a time. Hence, he waved his hand and said, "If everyone is ready, follow me to the class ranking exam site."

He turned around the moment his words faded while Zhou Yuan, Su Youwei, and the rest of the A-class students flocked over.

…

The class ranking exam site was the northern district of the Great Zhou Institute.

An enormous field sprawled across the place. Five tall platforms of varying heights rose on the field, platforms which were also known as the class ranking exam stages.

At this current moment, the surroundings of the field were already a sea of people. Practically all of the students had gathered here and even quite a no. people from the city had come to watch.

Thunderous noises echoed across the field.

Zhou Yuan and the rest of the A-class students arrived at the field. Their gazes turned towards the five tall platforms before ultimately stopping at the tallest one, the platform that represented the leader of the classes.

Every year, the first amongst the classes would place their class flag upon it.

Currently, a tall flag fluttered on the class leader platform. A flag marked by a bold 'B'.

"Our A class has lost the class leader platform for two years." Chu Tianyang sighed softly from the side. This was the shared pain of every A-class member. The glory that was originally theirs had been monopolized by the B class for two years, making their title as leader of the classes nothing but an empty name.

As the sun hung high in the sky, the crowd surrounding the class-ranking exam field grew larger and larger.

"His and her majesties have arrived!"

A loud shout suddenly rang out across the area. One could only watch as Zhou Qing, Qin Yu, and Yaoyao appeared on the central viewing platform and seated themselves on the highest seats.

This class ranking exam was so important that even Zhou Qing could not help but personally make a trip over.

"King Qi has arrived!"

Not long after Zhou Qing arrived, another loud shout rang out. One would turn only to see a procession of people rushing over from another direction under the attention of countless gazes.

Zhou Yuan's eyes were fixed on the front of the procession where a middle-aged man in official-looking robes was located. His steps were as majestic as a tiger, his expression cold and stern, while his eyes shined brightly. An invisible pressure spread, making it such that no one dared to look directly at this man.

"King Qi, Qi Yuan…" Zhou Yuan's eyes narrowed as he looked at the man. This person was the biggest tumor of Great Zhou and the secret needle Great Wu had stuck here.

King Qi had the strength of the Alpha-Origin stage and was one of the top experts in Great Zhou.

But if someone asked him, he was just a bigger ant that Zhou Yuan could crush in just another year.

hu Tianyang frostily remarked, "It seems that today's class ranking exam is also very important to King Qi."

On the central viewing platform, Qi Yuan cupped his fists together towards Zhou Qing but did not offer him the greetings of a subject.

Zhou Qing's expression did not change as he nodded. The level of hostility between the royal clan and Qi Manor was clear as day.

Dong dong!

After Zhou Qing and Qi Yuan appeared, the excitement in the air reached its peak as the sound of a gong reverberated across the area.

"The class ranking exam begins!"

.

.

.

END

2621 Words