Everyone knew that the sixteen disciples of the third outer division had turned into captives of the Azure Spiritual World, and it was nothing to be proud of.
Even though they were disciples who had yet to enter the Martial Realm, they didn’t seem to put up any resistance.
However, the implications were completely different if they managed to kill their captors and escape!
The experience wouldn’t be a blemish on their lives. In fact, they would receive endless praise and respect from other disciples for accomplishing such a feat!
Naturally, there were many higher ups in the Tongyou Peak who learned about everything that happened. Even so, they wouldn’t jump out to discredit the disciples. They were more than happy to use the disciples’ experience as a motivational factor for the rest.
Besides, it was true that Shang Xia received Huang Zihua and Jiao Haitang’s assistance when he killed Qing Que and Ling Que. Of course, Shang Xia exaggerated slightly when he mentioned the battle to Ji Sheng and the others.
Huang Zihua’s actions were met with shocked gasps from the crowd. Jiao Haitang and the other disciples of the third outer division didn’t expect Huang Zihua to exaggerate so much, but they were smart enough to not jump out and push the credit away. They could only silently thank Shang Xia in their hearts.
Shang Xia didn’t tell anyone when he mentioned the matter to Ji Sheng and Shang Quan as he didn’t want them to think that they owed him.
The only person that could pull off such a shameless act would be Huang Zihua, and that was precisely the reason why Shang Xia revealed his plan to the kid alone.
However, there was someone in the crowd who raised some doubts. “Hey Little Huang, did you really kill three cultivators of the Azure Spiritual World with your ragtag group?”
The disciples there heard of Shang Xia, but they refused to believe that he could lead the disciples of the third outer division to kill three experts of the Azure Spiritual World.
“Who the hell said that?! Who called me Little Huang? Your whole family is called Little Huang! Fuck!” Huang Zihua roared with rage, “Are you guys really looking down on us? Do you really think we are that weak?”
As soon as he spoke, he released his aura to reveal his cultivation level. He wasn’t the only one. Meng Liangchen did the same, and everyone saw that they had already entered the Martial Realm.
Next came Wang Hua, Xu Xindi…
Other than Shang Xia, five disciples of the third outer division revealed their cultivation bases to be at the Martial Realm!
The faces of the disciples standing around them didn’t just change slightly. Gasps of shock filled the air.
One had to know that before their breakthrough, there were four other disciples who entered the Martial Realm other than Shang Xia in the third outer division. With Shang Xia’s identity as the leader of the outer division, the third outer division was ranked way above the rest!
Now, Huang Zihua, Meng Liangchen, and three other disciples entered the Martial Realm. They pushed the third outer division’s strength to a whole new level!
There was no doubt about it! None of the other outer divisions could hold a candle to them!
Moreover, there were three more disciples who hadn’t broken through due to the lack of resources! Now that they have arrived at the Tongyou Peak, breaking through would be a matter of time.
As for the other disciples who weren’t close to breaking through, they had several pieces of precious treasures ready to trade for items they required. They could also rapidly increase their strength with the help of those treasures.
Of course, that was only if the treasures weren’t confiscated by the Tongyou Peak.
Since they arrived, no one asked about the three disciples who were missing. After all, thirteen of the sixteen managed to return! So what if three died?
After the charade where they entered the Tongyou Peak, the disciples were quickly whisked away to get their injuries looked at. They would probably be sent to the Contribution Division in order to reveal everything that happened.
Shang Xia left with Shang Quan and headed to the stronghold of the Shang Clan on the Tongyou Peak.
Along the way, Shang Xia asked Shang Quan about the exact date outside the battlefield between two worlds. He learned that it was the twenty fourth of the sixth month outside, and fourteen days had passed since he entered.
As one of the four great clans in the Tongyou City, the Shang Clan had their own foundations on the Tongyou Peak. The expert stationed there was the second strongest expert of the Shang Clan, Shang Ke! Shang Ke was the cousin of Shang Bo, the ancestor of the Shang Clan!
The Shang Clan might possess a lot of resources on the Tongyou Peak, but on the surface, their main income stream came from the Shang Pavilion. It was a three story building located in the middle of the mountain.
There, Shang Xia saw a giant drawbridge connecting the Tongyou Peak to two other individual peaks in the distance.
In actual fact, there were several drawbridges like that connecting the surrounding peaks to the Tongyou Peak. It allowed disciples to travel around easily.
The Tongyou Peak was more like a mountain range and the tallest peak they were on was considered the main peak of the Tongyou Peak.
When Shang Quan and Shang Xia arrived at the Shang Pavilion, they learned that Shang Ke had already left.
That was Shang Xia’s first time in the Shang Pavilion, and under Shang Quan’s introduction, he discovered that the entire place was pretty quiet. Not many people frequented the place, and the amount of goods they sold was lacking. Many shelves were empty.
Even though it was his first time there, he could tell that the prices of goods there were extremely inflated.
He quickly realized the reason. “Did the raid on our convoy cause so much damage to the economy on the Tongyou Peak?!”
“The robbery affected it to a certain extent, but it shouldn’t be so serious. The true reason is because Liu Jitang left the Tongyou Peak and the cultivators here started to panic.” Shang Quan explained.
“Ji Wenlong might have arrived promptly, but the clashes against the Four Spiritual Peak started and things are not as peaceful as before. An incoming battle looms over our heads, and everyone started stocking up on supplies. With no choice, we can only raise our prices to retain some supplies. Even so, it’s basically all gone now.”
After some thought, Shang Xia muttered, “Uncle Quan, I still have some treasures on me. Should I…”
Shang Quan waved his hand and laughed. “Just keep them. You barely entered the Martial Extremity Realm. The most important thing for you is to locate a suitable secret art and the relevant martial arts. The reason we need to meet Uncle Ke immediately is because of the inheritances left behind by the Shang Clan.”
“There’s no need for so much trouble! The institution already promised to give me a complete set of secret art and the relevant martial arts!”
Shang Quan slapped his forehead and sighed. “Oh right! I completely forgot about that… When you comprehended the Chaos Essence Lightning Palm and handed over the key points to the institution, your Uncle Ke joked that our Shang Clan made a serious loss…”
“Hehe, Aunt Xi managed to fight for me to get an entire set of cultivation techniques and herbs I require to break through!” Shang Xia chuckled.
However, the pout on Shang Quan’s face betrayed his true emotions. “That’s barely enough… Little Sister Xi is too soft on them. She should have extorted them for more!”
Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, Shang Xia recalled the stories he heard. In the past, Shang Xi came to the Tongyou Peak to learn from Shang Quan how to care for the business. Everything she learned came from him!
Shang Quan didn’t care too much about Shang Xia’s reaction and he continued, “Do you want me to bring you to the Scripture Depository now? Only a portion of inheritances are kept there though… It’s not complete either…”
“There’s no need to rush! Uncle Quan, arrange a room for me here. I haven’t slept well in a long while!” Shang Xia yawned. Indeed… It had been a long time since he slept peacefully. “We’ll go over when I wake up. If there’s something suitable for me there, that would be for the best! Otherwise, we’ll talk after I return to the institution.”
“But… Alright. Follow me.” Shang Quan smiled.
Since the convoy was attacked, Shang Xia hasn't had a good night's sleep!
Even though cultivators were much more resilient than ordinary humans, they could be exhausted mentally too!
The moment Shang Xia fell onto his bed, he fell into a deep sleep. He didn’t know that the undercurrents of the battlefield between the two worlds were gathering.
Snapping awake, Shang Xia leaped out of his bed to discover that one of his windows was blown open by a strong gust of wind.
Looking out of the window, Shang Xia realized that there was something strange going on outside. Half the night sky was filled with twinkling stars, and the other half was pitch-black!
“Are you awake?” Shang Quan’s voice came from downstairs.
Shang Xia looked down from his window only to discover his uncle staring up into the skies. He had no idea what his uncle was looking at.
Scratching his head, Shang Xia asked, “Uncle Quan, how long have I been asleep for?”
“Looks like you were really tired… You slept for nearly 12 hours!” Shang Quan chuckled.
Cultivators would usually sleep for 4 hours a day due to their increased vigor.
“What are you looking at?” Shang Xia asked again.
Looking up at the skies, Shang Xia had no idea what he was looking at.
However, Shang Quan’s gaze extended deep into the distance and he sighed, “Did you feel that? That isn’t wind produced by the forces of nature. It’s a surge of qi…”
Shang Xia’s heart trembled and he focused on the heaven and earth qi around him. Indeed, they were swirling around like a hurricane.
Shang Xia guessed, “Did the Tongyou Peak activate our protection formation?”
“No…” Shang Quan sighed. “This happened because a cultivator at the Martial Intent Realm fell… Moreover, it might have something to do with you.”
“Something to do with me?” Shang Xia frowned.