“Who do you think will win?” Shang Xi asked Gu Yi with a mischievous smile on her face.
In contrast, Gu Yi frowned. “He was tricked by them. Ju Hang and Zhang Jianfei only have to hunt down rank one beasts. The two of them are close to breaking through to the Martial Extremity Realm! Shang Xia has to take on rank two beasts! How long has it been since he broke through? The competition isn’t fair at all…”
A chuckle left Shang Xi’s lips. “So… Do you think the little brat is going to lose?”
Gu Yi thought about it for a second before replying, “Of course I hope he wins… However, his chances of winning seem pretty low now. Don’t forget, Ju Hang and Zhang Jianfei entered the Protection Division for quite some time now. They tempered themselves through battle and their abilities are slightly higher compared to cultivators with the same level of cultivation.”
However, Gu Yi quickly changed his tone. “Right… Your nephew might possess some sort of special technique I don’t know about!”
Shang Xi giggled in amusement, “Well… You’re not taking anyone’s side…”
The battle started all of a sudden, and Tang Youqian grabbed the first kill when they were still talking.
“Oh shit.” Gu Yi gasped. A helpless look appeared on his face as he turned to Shang Xi. “I forgot that there were still other strong members of the Protection Division taking part in the battle…”
Shang Xi’s expression wasn’t too good either. It was clear she also overlooked them. “Hah… Are they really going to interfere with the competition?”
“Of course it won’t be possible for them to cheat openly. None of us here are blind… However, they can always block off the stronger beasts. If they stopped rank two beasts from entering and held back the stronger rank one beasts, things would be much easier for Ju Hang and Zhang Jianfei. No one can say anything about their behavior…”
When the two of them were conversing, a full-scale battle broke out.
Shang Xia made a half-foot gash in the body of a rank two Spotted Scarlet Eyed Beast, but a rank one Mud Blaster Rat appeared beneath him and tried biting at his ankles.
Having no choice but to retreat, the rank two Spotted Scarlet Eyed Beast managed to run away quickly. Two cultivators at the Martial Extremity Realm appeared out of nowhere and killed the beast easily.
Shang Xia stabbed his sword straight into the ground, and a fountain of blood sprayed up into the skies. He might not be able to count the Mud Blaster Rat into his battle records, but he wouldn’t allow them to get the kill either.
After Shang Xia finished off the rat, Ju Hang’s halberd stabbed deep into the skull of a Lone Horned Bull while Zhang Jianfei’s sword pierced through the brains of a Four Eared Monkey.
“Shang Xia, you’re falling behind!” Ju Hang roared with laughter as the halberd in his hand stabbed towards a Stone Pig that was running his way.
“Huh? They’re both wielding low-grade weapons!” Gu Yi noticed all of a sudden. “When did the Protection Division grow so rich? Two ordinary cultivators who had yet to reach the Martial Extremity Realm managed to get their hands on graded weapons! Wait a minute… Even I feel like joining them now!”
Shang Xi also managed to feel the uniqueness of their weapons, but it was too late to say anything. She rolled her eyes at Gu Yi. “Yeah… Your way of thinking is probably why the Protection Division started to hand out graded weapons to their disciples…”
“What are you walking about?” Gu Yi chuckled, but when he saw the serious look on her face, he frowned, “Wait… There’s no way, right?”
Shang Xi snorted in contempt. “Don’t forget… Tang Yuan is dead. Yuan Zilu gave up his life to control the protection formation during the war and Sang Youqi turned out to be a traitor. The number of Martial Intent Realm cultivators of the Protection Division decreased by a whole lot… Now that Liu Qinglan asked you to become an instructor of the institution, do you think Deputy Patriarch Ji is going to leave you alone? He’s probably trying to tempt you to join the Protection Division instead!”
“No way! According to the rules, Instructor Liu Qinglan is holding the fort down at the Tongyou Peak. The deputy patriarchs shouldn’t be butting in, right?” Gu Yi gasped.
“Heh… The rumor of Patriarch Kou’s injury hasn’t even been verified. The undercurrents in the Tongyou Institution might be hidden, but it’s raging on as strong as ever…” Shang Xi sneered softly.
With his jaws dropping in shock, Gu Yi nodded his head mutely. Since the establishment of the institution, the battle between the patriarch and the deputy patriarchs hadn’t stopped. The patriarch represented the interest of the institution as an independent organization, while the deputy patriarchs represented the authority of the four great clans!
Shang Xi’s deduction caused his mind to spin. If Ji Wenlong was trying to suppress Liu Qinglan and replenish the strength of the Protection Division, where did Deputy Patriarch Shang Bo stand?
Well, of course he wasn’t stupid enough to ask Shang Xi about it at that moment.
By the time they were done, Shang Xia managed to corner a rank two beast.
Even though the Delicate Jade River Sword was a soft sword, Shang Xia’s use of the Vigorous Sword Art had reached a high level! With his inner qi transforming into strength attributed qi, a terrifying power emerged from the tip of the sword!
As a ray of light shot out towards the rank two beast, deep cuts formed on its body and blood filled the air. Taking advantage of its misery, Shang Xia’s sword stabbed straight through its heart and a burst of qi shredded its organs.
Pulling his sword out, Zhang Jianfei’s voice came from the side. “Chief Shang, it’s 2 to 1 now!”
Shang Xia looked over and saw another rank one beast lying by their feet. They had already started to fight the third rank one beast they found!
He finally noticed something off. There were several other disciples at the Martial Extremity Realm standing in a formation around the two. Every time a rank two beast or a stronger rank one beast appeared, they would be directed away!
“Hey… That’s a little too obvious… Shang Xia needs to look for rank two beasts to kill, but they’re diverting them away. The two in the middle are being fed with weak rank one beasts constantly…” As there were many people observing the battle, the actions of those from the Protection Division were quickly seen through.
Gu Yi looked at Shang Xi and muttered, “Should I help him out a bit?”
“What’s the point?” Shang Xi snorted.
“Oh… Looks like the little brat still has something up his sleeves if you’re so calm about it…” Gu Yi raised an eyebrow in shock.
Shang Xi sneered in contempt. “You’re thinking too much… That little brat has too many feathers from the Lightning Bird anyway. Giving away a single feather doesn’t mean anything.”
All of a sudden, dozens of beasts rushed through the protection formation at the same time. Out of those that appeared, two of them were rank two beasts and they ran straight towards Shang Xia.
“Nice!” Shang Xia yelped happily before rushing towards the incoming beasts.
When he was several feet away from the beasts, he leaped into the air and stabbed towards one of them. A ray of red lightning emerged from the tip and one of the rank two beasts fell to the ground. Its body twitched uncontrollably.
He stepped lightly on the ground as his body shot outwards once again. His figure started to blur and his movements became unpredictable. The other rank two beast was unable to follow his actions!
Before it could react, he appeared beside it and his sword shot through its mouth. The tip of the blade emerged from the top of its skull.
Pulling it out abruptly, he slashed at the other beast that had been incapacitated earlier. A ray of sword light tore through the air. However, it was stopped by a flying arrow that had been shot from another direction.
Shang Xia’s sword didn’t stop there. It made a beautiful arc through the sky and skewered the beast he failed to slay with the sword light.
Staring in the direction of Tang Youqian, he sneered, “Captain Tang, I’m afraid your interference is a little inappropriate…”
An awkward smile hung on his face as he replied, “I was afraid that Junior Disciple Shang wouldn’t be able to handle both of them at once. I had good intentions when I shot out that arrow! Looks like I was worried for nothing…”
A snort left Shang Xia’s lips. “Looks like I have to thank Senior Brother Tang for the good intentions!”
“There’s no need…” The awkward expression on his face didn’t fade. “Junior Brother Shang’s sword qi is really powerful! I didn’t think that you would have already broken through to the large completion stage of the Martial Extremity Realm…”
Tang Youqian’s words struck deep in the hearts of Ju Hang and Zhang Jianfei.
Chuckling under his breath, Shang Xia ran off to the other side of the battlefield.
When he first started attacking, he was afraid to go all out as he couldn’t exactly control his strength. Now that he understood how strong a rank two beast really was, he planned to go on the offensive and hunt them down.
The moment he showed his strength, he killed two of them, raising his kill count to three! He easily reached the same number of kills as the other two.
When they killed their third beast and watched Shang Xia running off to the other side of the battlefield, they stared at each other in shock. Roaring loudly, they rushed out of the protective encirclement of the few captains.
“Shattering Light Halberd!”
Ju Hang slashed downwards, directly slashing a bear-like creature into two.
The light on the halberd didn’t dim in the slightest. He slashed out again, cutting off the limbs of another creature beside him. He followed up with a kick, causing the beast to fall on its back, exposing its weak belly.
Stabbing into it, he killed another rank one beast.
Zhang Jianfei kept up with him. His sword drew several arcs in the air. Sword light bloomed around him and they swallowed a rank one beast nearby. When the sword light faded, all that was left were the bones on its body.
It was his sword intent, Blooming Flower Sword Qi!
After killing the beast, he continued to behead another one nearby.
“Shattering Light Halberd, Blooming Flower Sword Qi… The two of them comprehended a martial intent and managed to fuse them into their attacks! It’s no wonder they’re confident enough to issue him the challenge!