“Dou Zhong?” Shang Xia raised an eyebrow in surprise. The face of a stubborn youngster flashed across his mind. Together with it came an unpleasant memory.
“I remember telling you to take note of him… What’s wrong? Did you discover something wrong with him?” Shang Xia tossed the tower to the pool beside the practice ground before walking towards the Shang Pavilion.
Yan Qi followed closely behind and muttered, “The brat has already advanced to the large completion stage of the Martial Realm!”
Raising his voice slightly, Shang Xia gasped, “That quickly?!”
Yan Qi’s expression turned serious and he nodded slowly. “From what I ?learned, the little brat managed to gain the favor of Chief Shang Bing after coming to the Tongyou Peak for the first time. He probably impressed Chief Shang Bing with his speech on loyalty… After that, he mysteriously broke through to the Martial Realm.”
“What about him now? He probably hasn’t been here for more than two months, right?” Shang Xia asked.
Pressing his lips together, Yan Qi continued, “Young master, you might not know, but the kid went out with a squad to hunt down the cultivators of the Four Spiritual Peak. His squad was separated by the beast tide and he went to hide in a mountain cave he could. There, he found a piece of essence jade… When Chief Shang Bing brought him back, he had already entered his current stage of cultivation!”
“Essence jade? Chief Shang Bing? Do you mean Shang Lubing of the Contribution Division?” The corner of Shang Xia’s lips trembled.
“This brat is too damn lucky… He managed to find a treasure like the Essence Jade when hiding from the beast tide! Moreover, Shang Lubing picked him up on the way back to the Tongyou Peak. A Martial Extermination Realm cultivator actually took a liking to him!” Yan Qi sighed as a trace of irritation filled Shang Xia’s heart.
“Heh, is the world really going to come up with some bullshit and make him into a main character-like existence! Too bad… This young master here isn’t someone he can step on however he likes!” Shang Xia snorted in his heart.
He was planning to return to his room to check out the blood-red tablet in his sea of consciousness. After all, that was the only thing he couldn’t wrap his head around! However, he noticed that Yan Qi was still following behind him and he couldn’t help but ask, “Seventh Uncle, is there something you need?”
“Hehe, Your Fifth Grandpa passed down the order for you to head over to the main hall on the main peak.” Yan Qi reported.
“Me? Main hall?!” Shang Xia was slightly taken aback. “Did he set his eyes on the flock of Mutated Rain Swallows or something?”
Yan Qi’s expression turned a little weird when he heard the words ‘Mutated Rain Swallow’.
Raising an eyebrow in surprise, Shang Xia asked, “What’s wrong?”
“The birds seem to hate me…” Yan Qi sighed.
A look of surprise appeared on Shang Xia’s face, but he soon understood what was happening. “Is it because of your bloodline?”
“It’s possible… The Swallow Bloodline should be the reason behind their hostility.” Yan Qi explained.
“Is it due to the Bloodline Crystal?”
Yan Qi nodded slowly. “That should be it. When I first stepped onto the Pinxin Peak, the birds stopped building their nest and started chirping angrily. The Lightning Bird landed not too far away from me, and I could feel the hostility in its eyes…”
“Did they attack you?” Shang Xia frowned.
“Nope. I could feel their anger and hostility, but they didn’t show any signs of attacking me.” Yan Qi explained.
Shang Xia fell deep into contemplation and felt like the interaction between the Lightning Bird and Yan Qi was pretty interesting. Soon, he laughed, “Seventh Uncle, didn’t you enter the Martial Intent Realm? I wonder why you were acting like a messenger the past few days… As it turns out, you were feeling unwelcome on the Pinxin Peak by a bunch of birds.”
A bitter smile appeared on Yan Qi’s face. “That’s not it… Every time I went back, the birds would stop everything and start chirping violently. The peace of the Pinxin Peak would be broken! I could only choose to leave…”
“Well, did anyone else start talking nonsense?” Shang Xia asked.
Yan Qi knew that he was referring to the fact that he was of the Swallow Bloodline and he muttered helplessly, “It’s alright. There are even some who congratulated me on entering the Martial Intent Realm. As for the rest… It’s alright! I’m used to it anyway.”
Shang Xia nodded and sighed. “I’m afraid that some dumbasses would attack you regardless of your identity…”
“Young master, you’re underestimating the influence of the Shang Clan on the Tongyou Peak! Especially after Old Master Shang Bo showed off his strength! With his cultivation at the fourth layer of the Martial Extermination Realm, the position of the Shang Clan took a huge step forward! There are even some who think that the positions of the four great clans would change now that Old Master Shang Bo reached his current level! Our position would only be lower than the Ji Clan!”
The main hall of the Tongyou Peak was located on the main peak, and it was where the upper echelons of the institution met.
When Shang Xia entered the main hall, he noticed that all four Martial Extermination Realm cultivators were already waiting for him. Other than the four, no one else was present.
“I greet the deputy patriarchs, Chief Shang, and Instructor Liu!” Shang Xia didn’t show any sign of disrespect. Even with Shang Bo present, he knew that he had to act appropriately.
“Hehe, leader of the outer division… I haven’t stopped hearing about your deeds!” Liu Qinglan laughed.
Shang Xia turned to look at the middle-aged instructor of the upper division and he saw the subtle smile in her eyes. It was as though she was looking at a member of her own clan.
“Instructor Liu is exaggerating! I’m merely mucking my way about… Please give me more pointers in the future!”
Shang Xia didn’t know why they called him over, but from the looks of it, there wasn’t anything for him to be afraid of!
“Alright, alright, time to talk about the serious stuff!”
Liu Qinglan chuckled and continued, “Kid, all of us heard about what you did. Your achievements were pretty extraordinary. With Chief Shang’s recommendation, we plan to open the Polarity Essence Gathering Pool for you.”
“Polarity Essence Gathering Pool? Is there one on the Tongyou Peak too?” Shang Xia looked at the four Martial Extermination Realm cultivators in shock.
“Preposterous!” Shang Bo’s expression sank. He was clearly unamused with Shang Xia’s actions of doubting them.
Shang Xia lowered his head hastily, as though he was terrified of his grandfather’s roar.
“Alright, there’s no need to scare the kid.” Liu Qinglan dispersed Shang Bo’s scary aura with a single sentence. “Even though the Polarity Essence Gathering Pool in the Tongyou Peak is newly built, the essence qi there is dense. We’ll give you the opportunity to be the first to enter. Everything you gain from there depends on yourself. Go make your preparations. Look for Sun Haiwei and she will take you there when you’re ready.”
“Now?” Shang Xia gasped in shock.
“What? Do you have a lot of things to do? What do you need to prepare? You’re going there right now!” Shang Bo snorted at the side.
No matter how mischievous Shang Xia was, he wouldn’t dare to joke around when his grandfather seemed to be in such a bad mood. He ran out of the main hall as quickly as he could.
After he left, Liu Qinglan looked at the three of them and asked, “So… What do you think?”
Shang Bo remained silent and Ji Wenlong chuckled softly.
Shang Lubing analyzed, “The little brat’s inner qi is extremely active. It doesn’t seem like it’s going out of control either. It even seems to have its own intelligence! It’s like…”
Shang Lubing thought of an appropriate comparison but failed to think of one.
“Intelligence? That is something that should only happen when one fully condenses their martial intent! When he steps into the Martial Intent Realm, he would be able to fully control his inner qi, allowing it to act like it possesses intelligence! However, how can outsiders tell?” Liu Qinglan frowned.
“Yeah… Those at the Martial Intent Realm can control it perfectly, but the kid is at the Martial Extremity Realm…” Shang Lubing continued, “Unless… That’s the reason behind the kid’s ability to tame the Mutated Rain Swallows?”
Ji Wenlong grunted at the side, “That’s not likely. In the years that passed, many people tried to tame the creatures in the battlefield between two worlds. Not even Martial Intent Realm cultivators succeeded.”
In that case, things are getting interesting. His inner qi is definitely different from the rest…”
A look of astonishment appeared on Liu Qinglan’s face. “Doesn’t it mean that others won’t be able to replicate what he did?”
Shang Lubing shook his head wistfully. “Well, he cultivated the Chaos Essence Manual and the Triple Mystery Polarity Art. His path of cultivation is no mystery to us.”
Shang Bo, who had remained silent all this while, finally spoke, “The brat is really daring… He’s cultivating both types of qi at once.”
Liu Qinglan and Shang Lubing gasped in fright. The only person who didn’t react was Ji Wenlong as he had long since noticed the abnormality with Shang Xia.
A look of worry could be seen on Liu Qinglan’s face. “But… That’s really dangerous!”
Shang Bo grunted softly as the sides of his lips curled upwards.
“Nevermind… I’ll personally head over to the pool to ensure nothing goes wrong!” Liu Qinglan declared all of a sudden.
Shang Xia didn’t know about the conversation that happened inside the hall after he left and met up with Sun Haiwei outside the hall.
The envious look on her face couldn’t be hidden at all.
“Teacher Sun, did you already hear about it?” Shang Xia grinned.
“You’re going to enter the inner division soon! With the identity of an inner disciple of the Tongyou Institution, you can walk unhindered in the world! There’s no need to call me your teacher anymore!” Sun Haiwei smiled. “Do you know how much merit you have to gain in order to enter the Polarity Essence Gathering Pool? Even if people manage to exchange for the chance to enter, they would have to gather several other disciples to split the cost! Now, the institution opened the Polarity Essence Gathering Pool for you alone! From what I know, it’s the first time in history that this has happened!”
Shang Xia had long since heard about the famed Polarity Essence Gathering Pool, but it was the first time he heard about the requirements to enter. He was slightly flustered. “Is that so?! They’re really taking good care of me then…”
Sun Haiwei giggled uncontrollably when she saw the shit-eating grin on his face. “Just keep gloating… The energy there belongs to you! No one will fight you for it, unlike…”
Shang Xia raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Teacher… Senior Sister Sun, have you been to the Polarity Essence Gathering Pool?”
Sun Haiwei glanced at him from the corner of her eye and snorted, “Of course! I went there with Senior Brother Tian and Senior… Jin Guanchao… The three of us only managed to exchange for a chance to open the Polarity Essence Gathering Pool after gathering all our contributions!”
Her expression visibly darkened after she spoke.
Shang Xia nodded and remained silent.
Quickly gathering her feelings. Sun Haiwei instructed, “The Polarity Essence Gathering Pool will only be effective for one day and one night. Even though no one will fight with you for the energy contained within, you need to make full use of your time to increase your cultivation! It’s the best chance for a cultivator at the Martial Extremity Realm to cultivate both types of qi in their bodies!”
Shang Xia laughed silently in his heart. Sun Haiwei had no idea that he had been doing so the whole time!