Splitting the Heave

A ray of golden light shot through the sky before slowly dissipating.

“Senior Sister Sun, how many times have we used the talisman?” Shang Xia stood on a giant rock and asked while he stared into the distance.

“Five…” 

Sun Haiwei slowly kept the guidance talisman in her hands and looked all around her. She seemed to be looking for something.

“That means that we still have two more chances!” Shang Xia jumped off the rock and continued, “Looks like the mine was really affected by the changes in the battlefield between two worlds. We traveled for close to three thousand miles and we don’t even seem close!” 

Shang Xia sighed, but when he turned to look at Sun Haiwei, he discovered a worried look on her face.

“Senior Sister Sun? Teacher Sun?” He only managed to catch her attention after calling her twice.

“We… We’re getting closer to the Coral Forest!” Sun Haiwei looked around as if to confirm something.

“Coral Forest?” It wasn’t the first time Shang Xia heard the name and he continued, “Senior Sister Sun, how can you be sure that we’re close to the Coral Forest?”

The changes happened quickly in the battlefield between two worlds. One would hardly be able to determine their location from their surroundings.

Sighing, Sun Haiwei muttered, “I’m afraid it’s true. We should be close to the Coral Forest.” 

Understanding the confusion Shang Xia was feeling, Sun Haiwei explained, “It’s true that the geography here changes regularly. However, that’s not the case for every region. For example, the Tongyou Peak and Four Spiritual Peak. They’ve existed since the creation of the battlefield between two worlds.” 

“Do you mean… Is the Coral Forest also a region like that?” Shang Xia asked.

Sun Haiwei nodded. “Regions where Martial Extermination Realm cultivators are will rarely experience a shift. It’s the same for regions that contain formations.”

Shang Xia seemed to have reached an understanding. “Our Tongyou Peak and the Four Spiritual Peak contain our respective grand formations… That’s why they won’t be affected! We also have several Martial Extermination Realm experts stationed there!” 

“That is why we can be certain that we’re close to the Coral Forest!” 

“Senior Sister Sun, do you mean that the Coral Forest is like our Tongyou Peak and Four Spiritual Peak? Is that because of the Zhu Family’s inheritance?” Shang Xia gasped.

Sun Haiwei muttered, “We guessed as much previously, but now, it seems as though it’s true!” 

Shang Xia no longer needed a reminder as he quickly raised his guard.

Sun Haiwei’s caution rang in his mind once again. “In the future, you need to be careful when you roam the battlefield between two worlds. If a region remains the same for a really long time, you might have entered the territory of a Martial Extermination Realm expert…” 

As the two of them proceeded cautiously, they were about to climb over a mountain when Sun Haiwei tugged on his sleeves.

Taking a step back in shock, Shang Xia turned to look at the plains below. There were countless strange stone formations and it looked like corals that grew at the bottom of the sea. The strange formations extended as far as the eyes could see.

“That… Is that the Coral Forest?” Shang Xia gasped.

“Swish, swish!” Sun Haiwei used the guidance talisman in her hands again, sending out another beam of golden light.

It seemed to draw out all the power left in the talisman before making a beautiful arc through the skies to land on a certain region. When it did, it exploded into a burst of golden light.

Shang Xia estimated the general position where the light had landed, and he found it to be pretty close to the Coral Forest.

“Let’s go!” Sun Haiwei sighed as if she had already expected it and started making her way towards the location.

“We’re finally going to complete the mission… Let’s hope that everything goes smoothly!” Shang Xia followed behind her.

The closer they got to the location marked by the talisman, the more careful they became.

The region they were in was too far away from the Tongyou Peak. They had practically no influence there! There might be various beasts that were roaming about, and seeing as it was where Deputy Patriarch Liu was trapped, there might even be cultivators of the Rose Party nearby!

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Luckily for the two of them, their final leg of the journey became pretty peaceful. Very quickly, they noticed a hole that extended into the ground below.

The Essence Qi Stone Mine was close to thirty feet deep in the ground and its radius was similar. It extended downwards in a spiral shape. When Shang Xia looked into the deep hole, he could see that it was completely flooded. 

“What do we do now?” Shang Xia asked.

“Let’s go down and take a look. There’s something strange about the water.” Sun Haiwei replied before leaping down.

Shang Xia could only follow behind obediently.

As the two of them descended, Shang Xia could feel the density of the heaven and earth qi increasing as he descended.

Along the way, he noticed the spots of light flashing on the walls. Those should be the remnants of the essence qi stones left behind.

The two of them quickly arrived close to the water surface and Shang Xia took the lead. “There’s no need to rush. I’ll check it out!” 

Drawing his sword, he pointed it at the surface of the water.

A streak of lightning flew in the direction he pointed and a massive blast shattered the still water surface. As arcs of lightning danced across the water surface, nothing weird happened.

“Looks like we got lucky.” Shang Xia laughed.

Suin Haiwei stared at him before snorting, “Yeah. Now, we have to drain the water out of the mine.”

“Huh?” Shang Xia cried. “Wasn’t our mission just to look for the mine and activate the location formation within?” 

“Yeah. The location formation is at the bottom of the mine. Are you planning to dive down and activate it?” Sun Haiwei sneered in response. She seemed to be laughing at him silently.

Staring at the giant body of water before him, Shang Xia scratched his head. Right before he could agree, he saw Sun Haiwei’s pupils shrinking and she seemed to be staring at something behind him.

“Be careful!” She yelled before pushing him away.

He fell straight into the water and right before he did, he saw a corpse rushing towards Sun Haiwei.

“Shit! It’s an undead corpse of the third rank!”