Chi Jing didnât directly answer Zhou Yuanâs question, but said, âYou have been in closed-door cultivation for more than three months, and the war between our Tianyuan Region and the top five forces has been going on for more than three months.â
Chi Jingâs expression turned cold as she continued, âAnd in these three months, the Tianyuan Region has paid a huge price. The top five forces are more difficult to deal with than we expected.â
Zhou Yuan wrinkled his eyebrows. âAre the top five forces really that strong?â
âThey arenât strong, but the Wanzu Region behind them is strong.
Chi Jing sighed. âWe arenât so much as fighting the top five forces in this war but fighting the Wanzu Region. Itâs just that the Wanzu Region still has scruples to follow the rules on the surface and so wonât act directly. Even so, the regionâs methods are enough to give a headache to our weakening Tianyuan Region.
âThe top five forcesâ experts that came at the start of the war were almost all defeated, but the Wanzu Region exerted its powers in the dark and had more va.s.sal forces join them. We even suspect that these arenât just va.s.sals of the Wanzu Region.â
Zhou Yuan narrowed his eyes. âThere are other regions trying to strike us while weâre down?â
Chi Jing nodded. âThe Wanzu Region has many allies, for example, the Yaogui Region. But the Yaogui Regionâs a.s.sistance wouldnât be too obvious, so itâs possible the Yaogui Region manipulated some va.s.sal forces to a.s.sist the top five forces.
âItâs also this reason that the top five forces became stronger in the past three months. They were able to even stabilize the collapsing situation and launch an even more aggressive offensive on the Tianyuan Regionâs border.
âDuring this period, our Tianyuan Region has suffered huge losses. Weâve lost more than five hundred of our Four Pavilion members.â
In the end, even Chi Jingâs voice turned hoa.r.s.e.
Zhou Yuanâs face grew overcast. After all, he was the Four Pavilionsâ chief pavilion master, and the Four Pavilions members were under his command. It should be said that the Four Pavilions hadnât even lost that many people in the previous nine regions tournament. It was really heartbreaking to see so many people buried in this war.
Among them, there might even be familiar faces of those he had met before.
âYi Qiushui and Ye Bingling, are they alright?â Zhou Yuan took a deep breath and asked.
Chi Jing shook her head, saying, âThey're alright.â
It was then that Zhou Yuan's heart relaxed a little. After all, they were the closest to him in the Four Pavilions, especially Yi Qiushui. Not only had she saved him before, she had also done everything she could to help him in the Four Pavilions. So, he couldnât let anything happen to them no matter what.
âDo the Law Domain experts not plan to take action?â Zhou Yuan asked. The war situation seemed tragic, but this was because the Law Domain experts on both sides still hadnât acted. Otherwise, no matter how many people joined the war, all would be turned to ashes once they were taken into a Law Domain.
Therefore, Law Domain experts could bring the war to a swift end.
Chi Jing answered, âItâs not that simple. There are seven Law Domain experts from the top five forces, and although they arenât as strong as us, it would be troublesome if they were to join hands to attack. Additionally, we donât dare to leave the Tianyuan Region without fully understanding the situation because we could easily fall into the opponentâs trap. And once a Law Domain expert on our side is wounded, no number of Divine Dwelling and Heavenly Sun experts could compensate for this loss.â
Zhou Yuan silently nodded. Although Chi Jingâs words werenât pleasant to the ear, they were indeed true. The presence of a Law Domain expert wasnât comparable to any number of Divine Dwelling experts and Heavenly Sun experts since they were a strategic power!
Their opponents seemed to only have seven Law Domain experts with weak foundations on their side, but the Wanzu Region, a venomous crocodile, was secretly supporting them.
Therefore, Chi Jing wouldnât recklessly make a move before she found a good opportunity. The war outcome would most likely be decided by which sideâs Law Domain experts would reveal a flaw first.
âDidnât senior sister say there was a little trouble?â Zhou Yuan asked, changing the topic.
Chi Jingâs eyes turned fiercer as she explained, âYou have been in closed-door cultivation for too long, and recently, rumors are spreading throughout the Tianyuan Region that youâre deliberately avoiding the war. The top five forces must have spread the rumors to shake the Tianyuan Regionâs morale.
âThis means would have been useless on a Divine Dwelling expert, but youâre different because you are our masterâs official disciple. Although you have declined to become a grand elder, your ident.i.ty is undeniable. Even if you donât have a grand elderâs power, you have the t.i.tle of grand elder.
âYou should know that the Tianyuan Regionâs Heavenly Sun experts have many criticisms towards you becoming my masterâs third official disciple.â
Zhou Yuan calmly nodded. Given his performance in the nine regions tournament, no Divine Dwelling experts in the Tianyuan Region would dare question his ability, but his performance couldnât deter Heavenly Sun experts.
As the previous generationsâ heaven prides, they originally had a lot of contempt for the current generationâs Divine Dwelling experts.
Zhou Yuan's achievements were remarkable, but in the eyes of Heavenly Sun experts, they werenât enough of a reason for supreme sovereign Cang Yuan to favor him. So, they were indignant and unconvinced.
They couldnât accept that Zhou Yuan had achieved their lifelong goal with only the strength of the Divine Dwelling stage.
Therefore, when Zhou Yuan's ident.i.ty was revealed, many Heavenly Sun experts from the Tianyuan Region had many inevitable criticisms in their hearts even though they didnât say anything. The top five forces most likely took advantage of their discontent to spread rumors in an attempt to shake the Tianyuan Regionâs morale.
Thus, the rumors had spread like wildfire, saying that Zhou Yuan pretended to go into closed-door cultivation to avoid the war.
And coupled with the numerous fierce attacks from the top five forces, it resulted in many casualties on the Tianyuan Regionâs side and inevitably caused resentment towards Zhou Yuan. If this kind of rumor continued to spread, it would undoubtedly impact Zhou Yuanâs reputation greatly.
Zhou Yuan was unconcerned about the impact on his reputation, but he knew that the rumors would, in the end, affect Cang Yuanâs prestige. People would say he was a bad judge of character and had disappointed the Tianyuan Regionâs citizens, severely affecting the Tianyuan Regionâs morale.
This was the opponentâs real goal.
Zhou Yuan smiled faintly, saying, âThe five top forces really would do anything to win. But this method is like paper in that it can be torn apart easily.â
âWhat are you planning?â Chi Jing asked.
Zhou Yuan stretched his body and said, âOf course I plan to partic.i.p.ate in the war. From the beginning, I never intended to avoid battling. Now that my breakthrough is successful, I should also exercise my body. After all, this is the only way to win the Ancestral Dragon Lantern.â
He smiled at Chi Jing. âAlso, I have to let all Heavenly Sun experts understand why our master chose me and not them.â
Hearing his words, Chi Jing also smiled.
âThey'll finally understand what despair is.â
An initial Heavenly Sun expert who possessed a foundation of 720 million Genesis Qi stars? That would most likely stun countless people.