When Shang Xia retrieved the knives he obtained from Yan Ming, Shang Quan’s eyes nearly popped out from their socket.
“Actual graded weapons?! A pair of them?!” Shang Xia gasped in fright. When he finally pulled himself back to reality, he looked around them. Ensuring that no one had noticed them, Shang Quan dragged Shang Xia back into the Shang Pavilion.
“Where did you get these?!” The moment they returned to the Shang Clan’s territory, Shang Quan heaved a sigh of relief. His tone turned serious.
Shang Xia was shocked by Shang Quan’s sudden change in attitude, but he eventually revealed everything that happened with Yan Ming.
After listening to the story, Shang Quan heaved a sigh of relief. However, he didn’t fully relax. “Even though the origin of these weapons is not a problem, but since they came from the Wind Swallow Race, they will definitely turn you into a target!”
Shang Xia grimaced. He had already formed a grudge with them due to the problem with Yan Ming. Now, it seemed as though the grudge was only going to deepen.
“Is that really necessary? Isn’t it just a pair of low-grade weapons?” Shang Xia asked.
Of course, he didn’t mean to brag. It was just that he had too many of them! Other than the Ivory Fan, he had the Delicate Jade River Sword! The sword was a mid-grade weapon, and he naturally didn’t think that low-grade weapons were valuable.
A snort left Shang Quan’s lips. “You’re something else alright! Do you know what a low-grade weapon means to our Shang Clan?”
Hesitating slightly, he finally realized that a low-grade weapon was much more valuable than it seemed. He probed, “Do we not have a lot of them?”
He was lucky that Shang Quan had been doing business and crossing paths with different types of people. His experiences allowed him to become a lot more mellow-tempered, but hearing what Shang Xia said, he snapped, “What do you think?! Our Shang Clan has five graded weapons in total! Apparently, someone here is holding two of them!”
“Is that really true?” Shang Xia felt that his uncle was pranking him.
“The number of graded weapons we have aren’t many to begin with. The quality isn’t that good either. Out of the five of them, two of them are mid-grade weapons. The other three are low-grade ones.”
Shang Xia stammered, “This… This can’t be true… My grandpa’s Nine Firefly Lance is a high-grade weapon!”
In a dispirited tone, Shang Quan explained. “That doesn’t belong to our clan. The Nine Firefly Lance belongs to the institution. As the deputy patriarch, he gained the authority to use it. The moment he loses his position, he will have to return the treasure.”
Shang Xia nodded in enlightenment. He didn’t think that that would be the case.
Glancing at Shang Xia, Shang Quan continued, “One of the mid-grade weapons is with Uncle Ke, and two low-grade weapons have been given to two experts at the Martial Extremity Realm. Even your aunt, Shang Xi, doesn’t possess suitable weapons!”
“Then… I have two of them!” Shang Xia suddenly realized that the weapons in his hands were getting a little hot.
“Do you finally realize how important the weapons are to our family?!”
Shang Xia nodded hastily. He decided to hand his Ivory Fan and Delicate Jade River Sword back to the clan.
However, he was met with a hearty chuckle from Shang Quan. “There’s no need for this. You can keep it for now. The moment you return them, you won’t be able to show them off anymore.”
Shang Xia thought about the time he flaunted his weapons back in the institution and his scalp went numb.
Shang Quan noticed the look on Shang Xia’s face and he laughed, “No one in the family uses these weapons. It remains in the vault most of the time and anyone can apply to use them. Do you really think we’ll give them to you so you can strut your stuff in the institution?”
Shang Xia came to a realization. His aunt, Shang Xi, grabbed the mid-grade sword from him several times. However, she always returned them after a few days.
Shang Xia looked at the pair of knives and muttered, “Uncle Quan, this…”
Shang Quan looked at the chips on the blade and a smile appeared on his face. “There’s no need to worry. Our craftsman might not be good enough to create low-grade weapons, but repairing some damage isn’t a problem. In fact, he will be more than happy to fix them!”
“Great…” A brilliant smile appeared on Shang Xia’s face.
After thinking for a moment, Shang Quan reminded Shang Xia, “Our clan will provide the materials to repair the weapon. You can keep them after they are repaired. Since you’re part of the clan, it can be considered a boost to our organization too.”
“Of course!” Shang Xia grinned.
“Moreover, the knives came in a pair. The actual value of them doesn't pale in comparison to a mid-grade weapon. Now, our clan will be able to close the gap between the other three…”
Excitement bubbled in Shang Quan’s heart.
A question left Shang Xia’s lips all of a sudden. “Our Shang Clan is one of the four great clans of the Tongyou City. Is the difference between our families so obvious?”
Shang Quan said bitterly, “Brat, you were born after everything that happened. You have no idea how powerful the five great families before the calamity was. Now, three of the four great clans of the Tongyou City, the Ji, Liu, and the Yun Clan, come from the remnants of the five great families. We can only be considered a new upstart compared to them.”
“Even a skinny camel is larger than a horse… The three other clans might not be as glorious as the five families of the past, but our Shang Clan can’t compare to their hundreds of years of accumulation.” Shang Quan muttered. “Just the high-grade weapon they possess shows it. The patriarchs of their families are also deputy patriarchs, but the weapons they hold come from their families.”
Shang Quan’s explanation gave Shang Xia a whole new understanding of his clan. He felt a sense of oppression like never before.
Shang Quan could feel the change in Shang Xia’s mood and he quickly comforted his nephew, “There’s no need to be too sad. Our strength has been rising the past few years, and we’ve been slowly closing the distance between our clans. The pair of low-grade weapons you brought back today greatly shortened the difference between us. If anyone brings back another weapon in the future, we might just surpass them!”
Shang Xia thought about it for a moment and his expression turned serious all of a sudden. “Uncle Quan, do you really think that we can grow stronger than them with another low-grade weapon?”
Shang Quan stared at Shang Xia in stunned silence and he muttered uncertainty, “Perhaps? I don’t know…”
“Oh.” Shang Xia nodded and took out his dagger he stuffed into his boots. “What do you think about this dagger? It’s called Origin Light and it’s also a low-grade weapon!”
Shang Quan’s eyelids started to twitch violently and he felt his brain buzzing slightly.
Even though Shang Xia didn’t interact too much with Shang Quan, he felt that his uncle was someone who was always calm and collected.
When he thought about the terrified expression Shang Quan had on his face when he brought out three graded weapons, he chuckled in his heart.
Shang Xia sat in a quiet room his uncle organized for him in the Shang Pavilion and the scent of incense filled the air.
He thought back to the inheritance he obtained back in the Scripture Depository and ensuring that he recalled every word, he started to focus on the Triple Mystery Polarity Art. He pondered over every single sentence contained in the manual.
At the same time, the inner qi in his dantian started to rotate around subconsciously.
Due to the presence of the giant yin yang diagram, his dantian remained relatively stable as his inner qi moved about.
After entering the Martial Extremity Realm, Shang Xia absorbed a ton of heaven and earth qi. They gathered in his dantian alongside his own inner qi and both types of qi were controlled by the giant yin yang diagram.
If anyone else was in the same situation as him, they wouldn’t dare to use their inner qi at all in fear that it would lose control and cause their dantian to explode.
Of course, Shang Xia was the only exception.
After entering the Martial Extremity Realm, he wasn’t just cautious when using his inner qi. He even fought with others several times! After every battle he experienced, his foundations became a little more sturdy.
From the start, Shang Xia knew that the Taiji Yin Yang Diagram in his dantian was the core of his strength. Martial arts, martial intent, and different techniques were only secondary when compared to the diagram.
As such, Shang Xia didn’t intend to look for a martial art that could allow him to control his inner qi! Nothing could come close to the usability of his yin yang diagram.
One could even say that the moment the diagram appeared in his dantian, Shang Xia had already completed half the creation of his secret art. It was no ordinary secret art he was creating. As soon as he completed it, it would definitely be considered one at the high-grade level.
The only thing he was lacking was a way to maximize the power when using his inner qi.
That was the reason he chose the Triple Mystery Polarity Art. He was interested in the idea within, and when he infused it with his own secret art, he would complete it for real!
“If I start at the two extremities of water and fire…” Shang Xia thought to himself as the yin yang diagram started to spin.
Water gushed around half of the diagram while fire burned strong on the other half.
“Water and Fire are the most basic of ways to enter the Martial Extremity Realm. Even though they look simple, the combination of the two are extremely stable. The reason the creator of this manual chose these two elements is probably because of the dangers behind the transformation of the different types of inner qi.”
The diagram rotated slowly, and the heaven and earth qi stored in his dantian started to awaken. They poured towards the diagram and started spinning about with it.
At the same time, the inner qi that was contained in his body gathered towards his dantian in one unstoppable wave.