In a courtyard inside the Silver Hook Casino outside the Tongyou City…
Yu Changjin held his finger over Hou Yuchun’s dantian and only kept it after several moments. His expression was extremely sullen as he sighed softly to himself.
When one of the disciples standing nearby saw the elder’s attitude, a look of fury could be seen on his face. “I knew it! Shang Xia is extremely evil. They were merely exchanging pointers but he chose to cripple Senior Brother Hou’s cultivation!”
A light flashed through Yu Changjin’s eyes and he snapped at the disciple who spoke, “Nonsense! Who told you that his cultivation was crippled?”
The disciple who was clad in green robes stared at the elder in fright and he didn’t know what to say.
Another disciple of the Jianmen Institution who was a little short in stature spoke up at the side, “Elder Yu, Senior Brother Hou isn’t able to feel the situation in his dantian. How can he not be crippled? He can’t even move his inner qi! All of us think that Shang Xia definitely caused some hidden damage to Senior Brother Hou on purpose!”
Despite all the commotion going on around him, Hou Yuchun was still staring blankly at the space before him. He clearly hadn’t gotten over Shang Xia’s final strike.
Yu Chengjin glanced at the despondent Hou Yuchun and sighed, “His inner essence is alright. His inner qi doesn’t look damaged at all. Instead, there seems to be a strange force lingering in his dantian, causing his inner qi to be sealed. That’s the reason behind his current state.”
The short disciple piped up yet again. “Elder Yu, can’t you try to undo the seal caused by the strange force?”
Yu Chengjin shook his head silently.
The green-robed disciple gasped in fright, “How is that possible? Elder Yu, you’re at the Martial Extermination Realm! Shang Xia is merely a Martial Extremity Realm disciple. How are you unable to undo the seal caused by a weakling like that?”
“Senior Brother Lu, don’t be rude!” The short disciple snapped.
Waving his hands, Yu Chengjin sighed, “It’s alright. This old man is indeed incapable of undoing the seal. In fact, even other Martial Extermination Realm experts might not be able to do it.”
The short disciple widened his eyes in shock. “How can that be? Is Shang Xia really that terrifying?!”
“You shouldn’t think too much about it. Even I am surprised by the strength the kid possesses. As the saying goes, there’s always a taller mountain. His martial intent is extremely weird. He managed to fuse six different types of sword qi into that final strike, and Hou Yuchun’s dantian should be sealed by the weird power contained in the fusion sword qi.” Yu Chengjin continued, “There are only two ways to undo the seal. One is to gather six experts who comprehended the same pairs of qi contained in Shang Xia’s strike to shatter the seal. Even though it’s a little difficult for us to do that, it’s still possible. Since we’re in the Tongyou City right now, I will have to request a lot of favors to make that happen.”
A deep frown appeared on Yu Chengjin’s face and he seemed to be deep in thought about something.
“What about the second method?” The green-robed disciple asked.
Sighing softly, Yu Chengjin continued, “The other method is to beg a Martial Dipper Realm expert for help. They can use their fate dipper to get rid of the seal on his dantian. That would be the most straightforward way to deal with the problem.”
“Martial Dipper Realm? Wouldn’t that mean that we would need Kou Chongxue to personally make his move? Didn’t they say that he went into hiding due to his injuries? There are countless parties with their eyes on him right now. The moment he appears, he would most likely be surrounded by his enemies. The Tongyou Institution won’t agree to our request!” The green-robed disciple muttered.
The short disciple couldn’t help but snap at him again. “Senior Brother Lu, just keep your mouth shut!”
The green-robed disciple didn’t seem to hear him and he got more agitated the more he analyzed. “Hmph, the Tongyou Institution is such a bully! It’s the first time we came over and our intention was to help them deal with the threat! Who would have thought that they would deal with it all on their own and keep all the benefits? That wasn’t all, they even crippled Senior Brother Hou! If it was up to me, we should just smash their institution right here and now! We’ll crush their inner division to get revenge for Senior Brother Hou. I refuse to believe that there will be another Shang Xia in their inner division!”
Even though he yelled so loudly, none of the disciples around him backed him up. His solitary appearance looked a little lonely and disappointed after he looked around him.
After watching the disrespectful scene play out in front of him, Yu Changjin hesitated for a second before muttering, “Actually, there’s a third way.”
Before anyone could ask him what the third method was, his figure disappeared from his original location after leaving behind a single sentence. “Wait for me here. I’ll be back soon!”
The disciples stared at each other in confusion, but the short disciple seemed to have connected the dots.
One of the disciples in the group turned to ask him, “Senior Brother Ai, what do you think the third way is?”
“Elder Yu definitely went to look for Shang Xia. Since he was the one who created the seal, he should be able to undo it.”
Hou Yuchun raised his head abruptly when he heard the name. However, the green-robed disciple interrupted everyone with an exaggerated gasp. “That’s it! That was his plan all along! Shang Xia definitely expected Elder Yu to look for him to undo the seal! Hmph, he made our deputy patriarch, a mighty Martial Extermination Realm expert, beg him, a mere Martial Extremity Realm disciple, to undo a seal! He’s planning on humiliating us! Hah. I bet he’s gloating happily right now with his disgustingly arrogant expression.”
His words managed to rouse the anger of the other disciples present.
Instead of questioning the reason behind the green-robed disciple's reason for defaming Shang Xia, all of them felt that it was indeed possible. Rage burned in their hearts when they thought about how their deputy patriarch was about to be humiliated by a weakling disciple.
Even the short disciple who was the most rational among all of them was feeling a sense of anger rising in his chest.
Hou Yuchun, who had barely opened his mouth to speak, was interrupted by the green-robed disciple yet again. Smashing his teacup on the ground, the green-robed disciple yelled, “Fuck it! I can’t take this anymore! Disciples of the Jianmen Institution, listen to me. We’ll head over to the Tongyou Institution right now and smash their inner division to the ground. We can’t allow anyone to humiliate us .”
Rousing the fighting spirit of every disciple present, they charged towards the Tongyou Institution immediately. The short disciple wanted to hold them back to discuss battle strategies, but seeing as everyone was already streaming out the door, he could only arrange for a few servants to take care of Hou Yuchun before running out behind them.
The moment Shang Xia returned to the Shang Clan manor, he requested permission to obtain a rank three advancement formula. Looking at a stone tablet surrounded by thick web-like runes, Shang Xia saw the majestic words carved on it. “Triple Loop Coalescence Needle.”