The reason behind Shang Xia’s insistence to kill Murong Danran was simple. He didn’t need anyone to learn that he obtained both the core diagram and the Fantasy Spiritual Pearl.
However, the reason behind his escape was simpler. With Muirong Danran’s cultivation, there was no way to kill him in a short period of time! Once Murong Yuntian arrived, he would be doomed! He was absolutely certain that he couldn’t kill Murong Danran before that.
Even if Murong Yuntian was seriously injured, his cultivation base was still at the grand completion stage of the Martial Intent Realm! He could kill Shang Xia with a light slap!
The difference between their base cultivation realms wasn’t something that could be ignored even if Murong Yuntian was injured! Much less when there was an annoying cockroach-like Murong Danran at the side!
Luckily, Murong Danran was still harboring some selfish thoughts to obtain the core diagram and the Fantasy Spiritual Pearl. His thought was to control the Mountain and Sea Fantasy Spiritual World to obtain all the cultivation resources within!
That was also the reason he called his martial uncle instead of other experts! Even though Murong Yuntian was severely injured back on the Tongyou Peak, Murong Danran called him over!
Otherwise, the moment the news of the core diagram was leaked to the outside world, not only Martial Intent Realm experts would vie over it. Martial Extermination Realm experts might get involved too!
When that happened, Shang Xia wouldn’t be able to do a thing. Of course, that would also mean that Murong Danran’s plan would go up in smoke!
As Shang Xia escaped with all his might, Murong Danran chased him without letting up.
Behind Shang Xia, Murong Danran constantly provoked the man. He wanted to affect Shang Xia’s speed while sending signals to Murong Yuntian.
Murong Yuntian’s laughter that came from further behind grew louder and louder, and from the looks of it, Shang Xia had no hope of escaping.
“Hahaha, just stop running now. You won’t be able to escape anyway. I’ll plead with my uncle to let you live since you killed the four of them! There’s no need for unnecessary struggles!” Murong Danran’s voice boomed through the air again.
Shang Xia ignored him as he continued to escape.
However, a bone-chilling laughter soon rang in his ears. “Shang Xia, it’s you! I don’t care what you do today! You’re going to die!”
Even without seeing Shang Xia’s face, Murong Yuntian could recognize him. After all, he was the little b*stard who messed with him on the Kaiyuan Peak the other day!
“Oh no! You actually offended Martial Uncle Yuntian before? Well, too bad for you then! Who would have thought that you would be someone of the four great clans… What a shame! Anway… How did you get in here?” Murong Danran sneered. “Our experts locked down the surrounding region. Not even your Martial Extermination Realm experts would be able to barge in here! How can a disciple like you enter our encirclement?”
“Unless… There’s a secret path into the Coral Forest!” Murong Danran came to his own conclusion.
Without replying, Shang Xia increased his speed as he rushed away from the both of them. Using his martial intent to boost his speed, he utilized the Irregular Steps to the limit.
“Hehe! Looks like I’m right!” Murong Danran cackled happily. A trace of excitement could also be heard in his voice. “Let me guess again. Is the tunnel under the water?”
“Hey, what a coincidence! You’re running back to where you started! You’re not planning to run away from us! You’re planning to leave the Coral Forest!”
Murong Danran roared with laughter at his own intelligence. “Looks like the secret path is not just under the water… It’s close to where you first appeared! What a pity you won’t be able to escape. You even exposed your secret tunnel into the Coral Forest! Hah! Since you’re the only one who appeared, you probably haven’t told the other members of the Tongyou Institution about it!”
Shang Xia tried ignoring Murong Danran as much as he could, but he would be lying if he said that he wasn’t shocked by the guy’s deduction abilities.
There was only one thing Murong Danran got wrong, and that was Shang Xia’s motive! He wasn’t trying to escape! Even if he was, the damn protection screen wouldn’t open for him!
“There’s no need to waste your breath on that little b*stard anymore. He’s behind the deaths of Guanchao and the others. Even if they’re not part of our clans, they made a lot of contributions to the attack on the Tongyou Peak! If I don’t kill this little b*stard today, I won’t be able to calm the rage in my heart!”
By the time his voice rang in Murong Danran’s ears, he had already overtaken him. Murong Yuntian closed the distance between him and Shang Xia with one giant leap.
His abilities made him much faster than a cultivator at the Martial Extremity Realm.
“Martial Uncle, be careful! That guy is extremely cunning!” Murong Danran reminded his uncle, but he was met with a dismissive chuckle.
The difference between an expert at the Martial Intent Realm and the Martial Extremity Realm was like the difference between heaven and earth. How could some petty tricks close the gap?
Realizing that he was in extreme danger, Shang Xia didn’t hesitate to dive into the water below.
“He wants to run…” Murong Danran yelled.
“Run? Not with me here!” Murong Yuntian roared and a long halberd appeared in his hand. It stabbed violently towards the water below.
A giant halberd formed with heaven and earth qi smashed into the water below, creating a massive crater. It created a path to the bottom!
Shang Xia’s figure was instantly revealed, and both of them saw a bubble-like screen bursting around him.
As the energy contained in Murong Yuntian’s halberd disappeared, water flooded back to fill the path back up.
Discovering where Shang Xia was, Murong Yuntian didn’t hesitate to jump in after him. His inner qi created a barrier around him to push the water away and he sped towards Shang Xia.
When Shang Xia entered the water earlier, he immediately used the Water Repulsion Pearl to escape. Murong Yuntian’s random strike brushed past his body, narrowly missing him. Even so, the protection screen around him popped, and he was immediately pushed down towards the bottom with the huge wave that slammed into him. He crashed heavily into a rock face nearby.
That wasn’t all. Murong Yuntian’s strike caused a giant hole to form in the protection screen connecting the Coral Forest to the essence qi stone mine Shang Xia came from! The resulting current almost forced him out!
He was jolted awake from his shock when he heard the noise coming from above.
Twisting his body to stabilize himself, he raised his head to lock his gaze with Murong Yuntian who was preparing to dive down.
Using the wall beside him as support, he started to swim towards the sunken stairs that led to the hidden chamber. Without hesitation, he entered the hidden chamber.
When Murong Yuntian dove into the water, he quickly noticed the black hole in the protection screen where water was gushing out. The resulting current failed to affect him in the slightest. He quickly turned his attention back to Shang Xia who had entered some weird hole beside a sunken staircase. He followed closely behind, and he entered a tunnel with a lot of twists and turns.
Not too long after he entered, he noticed a large opening above his head that emitted some sort of faint light.
He could faintly make out the figure of a human up there, and it was none other than Shang Xia.
Shang Xia never intended to run away! As soon as he caught sight of Murong Yuntian, a ray of cold light flashed through his eyes and he crushed the jade pendant in his hand.
Murong Yuntian felt a surge of heaven and earth qi as a massive spear appeared above Shang Xia. The body of the spear was thick, and the tip of the spear pointed straight towards Murong Yuntian. There was nowhere he could run!
That was the rank three talisman Shang Ke sealed his divine sense in for him, the Suspended Spear Talisman!
A trace of Shang Ke’s divine sense was contained in the jade talisman, and the martial intent of the second strongest expert of the Shang Clan wasn’t to be taken lightly!