Shang Xia’s reckless death-courting actions caused another deep wound to form on his already battered body.
The wound was bad, but luckily, it was only an external wound and Shang Xia was able to hold on forcefully.
He might not have been able to see the result of his Woundless Spear, but Shang Xia could determine that Liang Shuangren was definitely injured by it.
Liang Shuangren might be a third layer Martial Extermination Realm expert, and Shang Xia’s strike might only be able to draw some blood. However, that was enough. As long as he drew Liang Shuangren’s attention away for a split second, the other Martial Extermination Realm experts would be able to capitalize on the chance!
His crazy attempt drained him of all his energy. There was no way he could do it again.
Another voice rang in his ears as he was retreating. “Silly kid, you’re really lucky to be able to escape with your life this time. Borrow me your spear for the time being!”
Thinking back to the interaction before the battle, Shang Xia realized it belonged to Youshang of the Azure Spiritual World.
How was it possible for Shang Xia to lend his spear to someone from the Azure Spiritual World? The Shang Clan specially created the Scarlet Star Spear for him, and they used a colossal amount of resources to do so. He wouldn’t hand deliver the weapon to someone from the Azure Spiritual World…
Before Shang Xia could start hurling obscenities at the man, Mister Bu’s voice rang in his mind. “Lend it to him. With the spear, we might be able to kill Liang Shuangren!”
“Kill Liang Shuangren? Am I supposed to toss the spear towards you guys? Will he be able to grab it if I do?” Shang Xia’s tone was a little reluctant and it was obvious he didn’t wish to hand his spear over to a cultivator from the Azure Spiritual World.
However, logic told him that an opportunity to kill an elder of the Changbai Holy Land wouldn’t present itself so often. As such, he chose to listen to Mister Bu.
“Just throw the spear in! Gimme the weapon! Other people are going to come soon!” Youshang’s voice rang through the air once again.
Even though Shang Xia couldn’t see the battle clearly, he could tell where they were from their voice. It seemed as though Youshang was working with Mister Bu and the black-clothed man to fight Liang Shuangren. He might be confused about the reason behind Youshang’s decision to kill Liang Shuangren, but he eventually chose to trust Mister Bu.
With all his strength, he tossed his spear towards the chaotic battlefield. When he was done, he started running away with all his might.
Without his weapon in hand, Shang Xia didn’t even dare to stay behind to wait for the battle to conclude!
As he was making his way away, Shang Xia heard a happy grunt from Youshang as the battle intensified yet again.
The mountain range under the four Martial Extermination Realm experts was starting to crumble, and the shockwaves of the battle tore through the lands. While running away, Shang Xia felt that the shockwaves were sent after him intentionally.
Running desperately, Shang Xia didn’t stop until he couldn’t hear the blasts coming from their exchange.
When he was finally far enough to feel safe, he turned to look at the scene of destruction. He was shocked to discover a huge wave pointing in his direction. Shang Xia wondered if it had anything to do with Liang Shuangren trying to drag him into the afterlife.
The thought flashed through his mind, but he was unable to receive any confirmation on the matter. That was because the clouds in the air had already been destroyed by the chaotic battle. The space was no longer twisted, and the four of them were nowhere to be seen. He couldn’t tell the result of the battle either.
“Where did they go? Hey wait a second, my Scarlet Star Spear!” Shang Xia roared angrily as he didn’t know if he would ever be able to retrieve his weapon now that it was in the hands of a Martial Extermination Realm expert from the Azure Spiritual World.
What Youshang said earlier suddenly rang in Shang Xia’s mind. ‘Other people are going to come soon’! He thought that after Senior Brother Lin returned, he would be leading the members of the Azure Spiritual World over. However, it was also possible for other cultivators to check out the disturbance. Mister Bu also said before that his identity couldn't be leaked. He had to return to the city before night fell.
That was probably why they disappeared after the battle concluded. After all, none of the four could reveal their identities. That made it all the more so that Shang Xia wouldn’t be able to stay where he was. Even though he had to leave as soon as possible, he didn’t dare to return to the city immediately! He took a huge detour around other regions of the Thousand Leaf Mountain Range before heading back.
Not too long after he emerged from the Thousand Leaf Mountain Range and caught sight of the Changfeng City in the distance, an unexpected figure appeared beside him. It was Mister Bu who had disappeared after the battle.
“Cough, cough…” Mister Bu covered his mouth with his left hand before chuckling, “Kid, you’re really quick. If I came a little later, you would have entered the city.”
Shang Xia glanced at him from the corner of his eye and muttered, “Are you injured?”
“Hehe, it’s just a small injury. Moreover, I traded my injury for something much more worth it.” Mister Bu chuckled.
“You killed the third layer Martial Extermination Realm expert from the Azure Spiritual World?” Shang Xia’s eyes lit up and he gasped softly.
Nodding slowly, a satisfied smile appeared on Mister Bu’s face.
Stretching out his hand, Shang Xia growled, “Where’s my spear?”
Nearly bursting out into laughter, Mister Bu flipped his wrist to reveal the Scarlet Star Spear. It was clear that Mister Bu had a spatial artifact on him too.
Shang Xia reached out to grab his spear and inspected it from head to toe. When he was satisfied that there wasn’t any serious damage on the spear, he heaved a sigh of relief.
Next, he heard Mister Bu whispering softly. “Your spear is made with a lot of good materials. It also looks like it went through several refinement processes from Ou Bai of the Tongyou Institution. His talent in blacksmithing isn’t exceptionally impressive. He never takes risks. Every time he refines a weapon, he would follow the steps without any deviation. His success rate is high, and the quality of the product is good. However, he is never able to bring out the limits of the materials used. From a certain perspective, you can say that he’s wasting resources.”
Shang Xia couldn’t help but look at Mister Bu in a new light. “Senior, do you also refine weapons?”
Thinking back to how the Tongyou Institution got him to meet with Mister Bu, it made sense as Shang Xia went to the forge to look for Mister Bu in the first place.
A smile appeared on Mister Bu’s face. “I know a thing or two. In fact, the materials and treasures used to craft your spear are more than enough to refine a high-grade weapon. Who would have thought that Ou Bai was the one working on it? It’s no wonder it became a mid-grade weapon. However, it’s possible to improve it in the future. The only requirement is for you to look for several more treasures.”
He even told Shang Xia the names of the materials he needed to find in order to raise his spear to the high-grade level in the future. Shang Xia burned them all into his memory.
Seeing as they were about to arrive at the city gates, Shang Xia couldn’t help but ask again, “Senior, what exactly happened back there? Why would the three of you surround Liang Shuangren to kill him? Who are the other two? Where did you go after the battle?”
“Hehe, I thought you would have asked this a long time ago. You really managed to control yourself…” Mister Bu chuckled in amusement.
Shang Xia sniggered under his breath. “Mister Bu, please enlighten me.”
In response, Mister Bu shook his head slowly. “There are some things you cannot learn about at the moment. All that matters now is that Liang Shuangren is dead and we wiped out the nest of cultivators from the Azure Spiritual World.”
“Oh… So that’s where you went after killing him. Did you do that to prevent the news from leaking? Looks like the person they called Senior Brother Lin didn’t manage to avoid his fate even after nearly breaking through to the grand completion stage of the Martial Intent Realm…” Shang Xia sighed.
“Who nearly broke through to the grand completion stage of the Martial Intent Realm? There were a few of them who completed their third divine sense transformation, but the strongest among them was only at the large competition stage. None of them were close to breaking through…” Mister Bu frowned.
Realizing the severity of the situation, Shang Xia’s expression turned serious immediately. If Senior Brother Lin really managed to escape, the news of Liang Shuangren’s death would probably be leaked!
Also, the three other Martial Extermination Realm experts who killed Liang Shuangren were still trying to hide their identities! It was especially so for Youshang. In Shang Xia’s eyes, he was a weirdo who changed his allegiance at the last second and killed his comrade! There was no way he could allow the news to reach other members of the Azure Spiritual World!
Mister Bu lowered his voice and growled, “Are you sure there’s someone like that?”
Shang Xia nodded resolutely. He also revealed the battle that happened among them.
Exhaling a long breath, Mister Bu shook his head in response. “We can’t blame you for this. You killed three of the four Martial Intent Realm cultivators you faced. The way you handled the situation was pretty much perfect. If anyone else was in your place, they might not have done better. You don’t have to worry about letting him escape.”
“What about exposing our identities?” Shang Xia asked.
“Relax. The most important thing right now is to tell the other two that someone managed to escape. With their experience and schemes, they should have several more identities they can use to hide themselves. They shouldn’t be exposed for the time being.” Mister Bu sighed. From his words, Shang Xia could tell that the three of them had already reached an agreement and formed some sort of alliance.
That also allowed Shang Xia to heave a sigh of relief.
“Then…” Shang Xia muttered slowly while looking at Mister Bu.
With the corners of his lips curling upwards to form a sneer, Mister Bu retrieved a box before handing it over to Shang Xia.
“What’s this?” Shang Xia gasped and a look of delight appeared on his face.
“Stop pretending to be dumb. You were waiting for this all along. Haha. You were indispensable when it came to killing Liang Shuangren. Naturally, we left a share of the spoils for you.”
Shang Xia reached out to grab the box like a kid on Christmas day and he chuckled, “Many thanks to seniors! I wonder what good stuff you left for me?”