Splitting the Heave

“You damn clown! How dare you show off your pitiful illusion skills in front of your granddaddy here?” Murong Danran’s figure arrived close to the place Shang Xia disappeared and a jade bottle appeared in his hand.

Opening the bottle, he poured some of the liquid onto his finger before dabbing it lightly in the space between his eyebrows.

“Break!” The illusion in front of him shattered as Shang Xia’s figure started to become clear once again.

Pointing towards one of the regions on the ice sheet, he yelled, “There!” 

Yuwen Changtian, who wasn’t too far away from him, didn't say a word. His staff swept towards the place Murong Danran pointed at, and the resulting staff light shattered one of the rock formations nearby.

“Plop!” The sound of something dropping into the water told Yuwen Changtian that he missed.

The thing that infuriated Murong Danran the most was that the kid waved to him again before jumping into the water!

“Who is that brat?!” Murong Danran was truly distressed this time. He panicked when he saw that they had lost him.

“Could he have entered from the outside?” Yuwen Changtian guessed.

Both of them seemed to reach a tacit agreement to not chase Shang Xia underwater. 

After all, Sima Like’s ugly end was still fresh in their minds. The two of them were much worse than her when it came to moving in the water. They would only be sending themselves to death if they tried.

“Impossible. He’s not even at the Martial Intent Realm. He won’t be able to get past our guards at the border!” Murong Dantian snapped. “He might be someone who came in with Liu Jitang…” 

“Didn’t you say that all of them entered the Zhu Family Manor in the Willow Forest?!” Yuwen Changtian frowned.

“Well, we can’t rule out the possibility that he broke off from their group! He might even be sent out by Liu Jitang to complete some sort of secret mission… Everything is possible.” Murong Danran sighed.

The frown on Yuwen Changtian’s face only deepened. “What do we do next?! Are we going to report the matter that happened here?” 

Murong Danran shook his head and sneered. “There’s no need for that. Martial Uncle Yuntian will arrive soon. Even if he hides underwater, we’ll fish him out and kill him!”

“That kid grabbed the core diagram and the Fantasy Spiritual Pearl! Is it possible for him to use it against us?!” Yuwen Changtian threw out another possibility.

After thinking about it for a moment, Murong Danran grunted, “Unless he’s a formation master… Even if he manages to use the core diagram, you should be fine if you stay by my side. He can’t deal with us together. The longer we drag this out for, the higher our chances of victory. After all, my martial uncle is coming over.” 

Noticing Yuwen Changtian looking around as he spoke, he couldn’t help but ask, “Brother Changtian?” 

Yuwen Changtian snapped out of his daze for a second and a bitter smile formed on his face. “Previously, Brother Ouyang and Brother Dongfang met their ends here. I didn’t think we would find him here again!” 

Raising an eyebrow slightly, Murong Danran gasped in shock. “Is this the place? Wouldn’t this mean that he was the one who killed them?” 

Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

“This might be where he’s hiding!” 

…

The moment he dove into the water, he went straight for the bottom.

In order not to let the two of them notice anything suspicious, he didn’t use the Water Repulsion Pearl immediately. He only used it when he was sure no one could see him.

With the help of the pearl, he quickly located the sunken stairs. Grabbing several items he obtained from Sima Like earlier, he went straight towards the first hidden chamber he found.

He heaved a sigh of relief when he finally arrived. Feeling the throbbing pain from the strike he took earlier, aches filled his body.

Luckily for him, Shang Xia’s inner qi had extraordinary properties. While it could suppress the injuries in his body, it also allowed him to heal a lot faster than others. 

Pulling out a Dry Rain Talisman that he saved previously, he tore it apart. Even though it was a rank one talisman, the effects were pretty good. A ball of mist entered his body and assisted his recovery. 

Even though it didn’t allow him to recover completely, it was better than nothing!

Shang Xia started to sort out everything he obtained from Sima Like while he was healing.

Looking at a round jade bottle in his hand, his eyeballs nearly popped out of their sockets!

He knew that the disciples of the Rose Party had been roaming around the Coral Forest for some time now and they definitely reaped a lot of rewards.

That was why he didn’t forget to search through her belongings after killing her earlier. 

It seemed as though his luck was pretty good this time. She actually had medicine to treat his wounds!

“Spring Rain Powder!” Shang Xia exclaimed after smelling it. He immediately recognized the rank two medicine that was great at treating injuries! 

Without hesitation, he swallowed the powder. He felt a refreshing feeling washing across his entire body. Life force poured out of his body and he felt much better than before.

He could tell that his injuries were healing at a frightening speed. 

Heaving a sigh of relief, he felt that he would be able to continue fighting! 

To his surprise, that wasn’t all she had! He quickly found an interesting wooden box on her.

“This seems like something from the Zhu Family… I wonder what’s in here!” As the insignia of the Zhu Family was imprinted on the box, Shang Xia recognized it right away.

There were signs of broken restrictions around the box. From the looks of it, Sima Like broke the seals forcefully to look at the contents. That only proved that the items contained within were pretty valuable.

The instant he opened the box, a wave of essence qi hit him in the face. There was an irregularly shaped object within, and it glowed milky white. “This… This is an essence jade!” 

Shang Xia gasped in shock. He took the item out to confirm its authenticity. Even though it was his first time looking at one, it didn’t seem unfamiliar to him.

Essence jades were formed from the coagulation of the heaven and earth qi. It fell under the classification of third rank treasures! However, it could be used everywhere! Regardless of weapon creation, medicine making, or increasing one’s cultivation directly. They could even create talismans, and create formations!

Back when Shang Xia was on the Tongyou Peak, he heard that someone managed to obtain a grape-sized essence jade while hiding from the beast tide. He managed to raise his cultivation from the beginning stages of the Martial Realm all the way to the large completion stage!

The essence jade in Shang Xia’s hand was undoubtedly larger than that! It was half the size of an egg!

He wondered if he could reach the large completion stage of the Martial Extremity Realm after using it. All of a sudden, he heard voices coming from outside the hidden chamber. “... Martial Uncle Yuntian will arrive soon. When that happens, it’s useless even if he hides under the water!”