“We didn’t kill him…” Gu Shou took several steps back and leaned against the wall to steady himself.
“That’s right. His divine sense disappeared before our attacks hit…” Shang Ke’s countenance wasn’t much better than Gu Shou’s. He stabbed his spear into the ground to support himself and he looked utterly exhausted.
Their gazes landed on Ouyang Zhaiyuan’s corpse that had collapsed at the side and sighed softly.
In fact, Shang Xia had his guesses as to what happened even without an explanation from the two experts.
The scene where Ouyang Zhaiyuan released his martial intent was still fresh in Shang Xia’s heart, but it dissipated before his third punch was released.
That could only mean one thing. Ouyang Zhaiyuan died before he could complete his move!
“Senior Shang and Instructor Gu called him Ouyang’s Third Fist… However, nothing happened when he tried to unleash it. Could his life force have been depleted before he completed the move?” Sun Haiwei was equally as surprised as she asked. She experienced the same thing as Shang Xia when Ouyang Zhaiyuan released his martial intent previously. The feeling of desperation was still fresh in her heart.
Gu Shou shook his head and remained silent. He stuffed some medicine he had on him into his mouth before circulating his inner qi. It was clear he didn’t wish to say anymore.
Shang Ke could only take over the explanation. Forcing a smile, he started, “That’s right. Anyway, that wasn’t supposed to be his third punch. You should have seen that it was difficult for both of us to take on his first two punches. His third punch shouldn’t be too much stronger than the first two, but the one he tried to release earlier was far more terrifying!”
“Fifth Grandpa, what exactly happened?” Shang Xia asked.
“Crushing Mountain, Breaking Current, Splitting Space. Those three moves made up his fist technique.” Shang Ke continued his explanation. “He’s extremely ambitious. He planned to use the three moves as the foundation to comprehend his martial intent before stepping into the grand completion stage of the Martial Intent Realm. It would be one that had never been seen before!”
Sun Haiwei and Shang Xia gasped in fright. “That… That was him trying to fuse all three techniques together?”
“Luckily for us, he didn’t succeed…” Sun Haiwei heaved a sigh of relief. “A Martial Intent Realm expert’s ultimate technique is so strong! If he actually succeeded…”
“If he did, none of us would be walking out of here alive.” Gu Shou interrupted. “You can’t look down on any Martial Intent Realm cultivator’s special technique. Although they can be split into different tiers, not everyone can comprehend a tyrannical secret art like him. Also, when you choose a technique to train in when you step into the Martial Intent Realm, you need to comprehend one that fits you.”
Pausing for a second to catch his breath, he continued, “That fellow reached the large completion stage of the Martial Intent Realm a long time ago. It was said that he could reach the grand completion stage anytime he wished. He was also supposed to become the youngest elder of the Rose Party when the time came! Many people even thought that he possessed better talent than Deputy Patriarch Shang Bo!”
Shang Xia was shocked and so was Sun Haiwei.
Gu Shou ignored the look in their eyes and continued, “Too bad many years passed and despite his fame, he failed to take the final step. Even so, his fighting abilities are more than comparable to someone at the grand completion stage of the Martial Intent Realm.”
Even though Instructor Gu had just completed his explanation, Shang Xia suddenly felt the urge to ask him about matters of cultivation instead. “Instructor Gu, How does one condense their divine sense anyway? Do they also need an advancement medicine? And How does one improve their divine sense? Also, about the martial intent used by Martial Intent Realm experts…”
“Hey, are you done? It’s really tiring to maintain this formation! Are you planning to get buried alive here or something?” A voice interrupted them all of a sudden. Chu Jia pouted at the side while stopping Shang Xia’s questioning.
Gu Shou chuckled in amusement before replying to Shang Xia, “You’re going to enter the inner division soon. You’ll learn all these things when the time comes. Moreover, your Shang Clan has a lot of resources too. You can ask the seniors of your clan for pointers. Even though I’m considered your teacher, this isn’t the best place for learning to take place, don’t you think?”
The tunnel they were in was pretty narrow. Even though the battle between the three experts widened the place a little, it was still pretty nasty.
Moreover, the shockwaves of the battle had already destroyed the structural integrity of the tunnel. It was long overdue for collapse. During the battle, the inner qi of the three Martial Intent Realm experts managed to hold the tunnel up. Now that Ouyang Zhaiyuan was dead, Gu Shou and Shang Ke were drained of energy, Chu Jia was the only one stopping the tunnel from collapsing!
With her lazy personality, she was starting to get annoyed that everyone else was talking among themselves and not dealing with the situation.
Other than Shang Xia, everyone else interacted with her before. They didn’t dare to anger this womanchild and started to make preparations to leave.
Even though they could easily punch out a hole to leave immediately, they didn’t know what lay above them. There might even be enemies waiting for them to emerge!
Instead of taking the risk, it would be much better to enter the Mountain and Sea Fantasy Spiritual World. At the very least, there should be no danger waiting for them in there.
“What do we do about this guy?” Shang Ke raised his spear and poked Bai Luming’s butt as he spoke.
The legs that were suspended in mid air started kicking about wildly. It was too bad the upper half of his body was stuck on the other side. They couldn’t hear his curses no matter how loud he screamed.
“Hey. Didn’t you say that water filled the other side? Why hasn’t he drowned?” Gu Shou picked up his mace from the ground before asking Shang Xia. He kept them safely in his own spatial artifact before turning to look at the flailing legs.
None of them could be bothered with Ouyang Zhaiyuan’s possessions for now and Sun Haiwei took on the task of searching the body.
Since the institution sent out Gu Shou, Shang Ke, and Chu Jia, there was no way Sun Haiwei and Shang Xia would be able to lay their hands on Ouyang Zhaiyuan’s possessions.
Well, whatever. It wasn’t as though Ouyang Zhaiyuan would have a lot of treasures on him either. At the very least, his inheritance for his famed Triple Fist wouldn’t be on him.
He was an important member of the Rose Party and a genius cultivator of the Ouyang Family! He had a giant power standing behind him and there was no need for him to bring all his possessions around like those wandering cultivators.
“Hey, let’s just kill him. This bastard is pretty good at laying down formations. He might not be someone from the Rose Party, but he’s close to the Ouyang Family! We cannot leave him alive in case he grows stronger to become a threat to us later.”
The conflict between the Rose Party and the Tongyou Institution had long since grown to the point of no return. Neither party would stop unless the other was completely eradicated.
“Wait! I have a use for him!” Chu Jia raised her hand to stop them, as though she was a student in class.
A frown formed on Gu Shou’s face. “What do you need him for?”
Chu Jia didn’t reply immediately. Instead, she turned to look at Shang Xia. “Is the core diagram of the Mountain and Sea Fantasy Spiritual World with you?”
Staring at her in stunned silence for a while, Shang Xia didn’t know how to react. It was his first time speaking to the number one formation genius in the Tongyou Institution. Hesitating slightly, he forced the words out of his mouth, “What… What are you talking about?”
Chu Jia wasn’t happy with Shang Xia’s reply and a pout formed on her face. “Hmph! There’s no need to hide it anymore. The two of them mentioned the Fantasy Spiritual Pearl when they emerged, and they chased you all the way out here. You definitely have the core diagram!”
An embarrassed chuckle left Shang Xia’s lips. “Umm… Can you open the protection screen with the core diagram?”
Chu Jia paused for a second as she never expected Shang Xia to question her abilities. “Hah! Even though I can’t use the core diagram outside the formation, I can open the protection screen nonetheless!”
Shang Xia thought for a second and pointed at the rocks starting to crumble around them. “Instructor Chu, you might be able to open it, but how long do you need? Can you hold the tunnel up long enough for you to create another hole in the protection screen?”
Shang Xia didn’t wait for her to respond as he took out a familiar-looking plaque. He slashed at the protection screen not too far away from where Bai Luming was stuck. Water poured out of the hole he created as he gestured for the rest.
“Vermillion Plaque! When did you get a Vermillion Plaque?” Chu Jia gasped.
Sun Haiwei mentioned that Shang Xia managed to get his hands on a Vermillion Plaque when they arrived, but it was evident that Chu Jia wasn’t paying attention.
Shang Ke stared at Gu Shou and the two of them took the lead to enter the Mountain and Sea Fantasy Spiritual World. Sun Haiwei smiled and entered right after them.
Finally, Chu Jia approached Shang Xia and she wriggled her nose slightly. “Even though I don’t know what you’re planning to do, the Rose Party will definitely learn of what happened as long as they have another formation master on their side. I won’t snatch the diagram from you today, but I’ll get it one day! Hmph!”
Shang Xia knew that there was no use arguing with her and a smile promptly appeared on his face. “Looks like I can’t hide it from you anyway! Actually, I do need your help…”
Chu Jia’s expression quickly softened and she gloated happily, “It’s good that you know!”
After speaking, she entered the Mountain and Sea Fantasy Spiritual World. The instant she did, the tunnel started to tremble and shake.
Shang Xia quickly went through the gap he created as huge chunks of earth fell behind him. It buried any signs that a battle took place.