Splitting the Heave

One couldn’t forget that Shang Xia’s Chaos Essence Lightning Palm was comprehended with the heavenly lightning as its foundation.

With life and death at stake, Shang Xia burst forth with a whole new level of power. It exceeded anything he used previously!

Those who had seen how strong his Chaos Essence Lightning Palm was once said that it was comparable to a martial intent comprehended at the Martial Extremity Realm level. 

Such an evaluation might have seemed exaggerated previously, but when Shang Xia entered the Martial Extremity Realm, his Chaos Essence Lightning Palm increased in power once again! It might possess enough power to be compared to martial intents comprehended at the Martial Intent Realm!

Who else to better describe the feeling that Yuwen Changtian who was Shang Xia’s primary target? 

Since the two of them were standing alongside each other, the effects of his strike affected both of them! However, they were both star disciples of their various clans. They definitely had some life-saving treasures they could put to use!

After screaming in pain, Murong Danran’s body turned rigid. His body no longer twitched no matter how hard the lightning struck him.

As for Yuwen Changtian, he grunted softly when the lightning hit him. His clothes turned to ash from the powerful lightning bolts and the layer of armor he wore inside was revealed.

Shang Xia wasn’t surprised in the slightest. From the moment he made his move, he already took into account their life-saving treasures. He knew that killing them in one strike wouldn’t be easy.

Even so, Murong Danran surprised him yet again. It seemed as though that bastard really had a lot of life-saving treasures on him!

Shang Xia’s movements didn’t stop there. As the lightning bolts started to fade, his sword had already been drawn. His primary target this time changed to Murong Danran!

As he slashed out, a tiny voice in his head caused him to change his mind. He turned his blade towards the frozen Yuwen Changtian!

The inner armor could protect his vital organs, but it couldn’t cover his body completely! The lightning web that appeared from his Chaos Essence Lightning Palm struck every inch of his body!

Even though his injuries didn’t look too bad, his body was as stiff as a rock after being shocked by so much electricity. 

Despite that, Yuwen Changtian was an expert who was about to step into the Martial Intent Realm. He forced himself with the last of his strength to tilt his staff downwards in an attempt to stop Shang Xia’s sword.

However, the Delicate Jade River Sword twisted in the air and avoided the staff. It shot straight towards his chest.

“Hah… Your… Sword… Isn’t capable of… Piercing through…” Even though he missed, he was confident in the protective abilities of his armor.

His armor might only be a low-grade weapon, but it could absorb his inner qi as it always stuck to his body. He was confident in it blocking a single strike from a mid-grade weapon.

A loud squelch rang through the air as Shang Xia’s sword stabbed through the breastplate of the armor, through his chest. It was eventually stopped by the back of his armor, and a huge protrusion could be seen from behind.

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“Hmm… It’s amazing indeed. I didn’t pierce through it completely. Well, it’s enough…” Shang Xia retrieved his sword under Yuwen Changtian’s complicated gaze. He couldn’t help but cough twice when the blood sprayed onto his face.

“This… You… The fusion of two different qi…” Yuwen Changtian fell powerlessly to the ground. However, his strong life force as a cultivator who almost reached the Martial Intent Realm allowed him to live for several more breaths of time. “Who… Who the hell are you… How did you do it?” 

Shang Xia’s face was slightly pale after he used everything in his last strike, and he chuckled softly, “Why should I tell you?” 

“You…” Finally breathing his last, Yuwen Changtian stared at Shang Xia with an unresigned look in his eyes. It seemed as though he wouldn’t be getting his answer even in death!

When his inner qi was finally expelled from the blade, a sharp pain shot through his body. Since he had yet to comprehend the Yin Yang Sword Formation, he could only fuse the qi of strength and softness together to utilize the final strike of the Flexible Sword Art! Every time he did it, he would have to endure the backlash that came from the stored power in the blade!

…

If that one strike alone caused so much damage to himself, one could only imagine how terrifying the backlash would be after he comprehended the Yin Yang Sword Formation!

Luckily for him, his Yin Yang Essence Qi tempered his body throughout his entire journey of cultivation. If anyone else were to unleash the move he just did, their meridians would be torn to shreds!

Even though fusing the different types of qi would cause such a huge kickback effect on him, he knew that it was the key to comprehending his Yin Yang Sword Formation!

Now, he could only fuse softness and strength qi. Even so, it was enough to cut through low-grade weapons!

Shang Xia could hardly imagine how powerful his sword intent would be after he successfully comprehended it!

…

In the split second that passed, so many thoughts ran through Shang Xia’s mind. He forced himself to focus on the battle at hand as there was one more person besides the slain Yuwen Changtian!

Since Murong Danran used his life saving method, he became a frozen statue. Shang Xia kept an eye on him as he grabbed everything of value from Yuwen Changtian’s corpse. 

Raising his head to look at Murong Danran’s frozen figure, he didn’t dare to venture too close. Waving Yuwen Changtian’s silver staff, he summoned a ray of lightning that shot straight towards Murong Danran’s chest. 

A loud explosion was heard as his figure exploded into a mist of icy qi.

Shang Xia waved his Delicate Jade River Sword in his other hand and blocked off several rays of icy light that emerged after he shattered Murong Danran’s ‘body’, Picking up several shards that remained where the body once stood, he realized that it was something similar to a bronze mirror.

“Heh… What an insidious bastard…” Shang Xia cursed. The bronze mirror seemed to be some sort of treasure that could replace the carrier to protect them from all sorts of danger.

Murong Danran used it when his body was shaking from the effects of the lightning bolts created by Shang Xia’s Chaos Essence Lightning Palm. 

The mirror also had another mechanism to shatter into pieces after it was used. It could increase the chances of injuring his enemy after catching them off guard. Too bad for him, Shang Xia was too careful.

If Shang Xia didn’t guess wrongly, Murong Danran couldn’t have escaped far. He might be watching everything from the side. He might jump out as soon as Shang Xia was injured by the shards of icy qi to deal a finishing blow.

“What a pity. His petty tricks are useless against me…” Shang Xia snorted. He leaped into the air and slashed at one of the surrounding rock formations. A ray of sword qi emerged, blowing it up!

As rocks and debris flew into the air, a shadowy figure leaped out from behind it. Tapping lightly on the water surface below him, he started to run in the other direction.

Shang Xia didn’t hesitate to give chase.

In the blink of an eye, the two of them ran for over ten feet. All of a sudden, Murong Danran’s figure flashed and he hid behind another rock formation.

When Shang Xia was about to approach, the rock formation seemed to come alive. It turned into a giant that tossed a giant boulder at Shang Xia.

Gasping in shock, he was about to dodge when a thought flashed through his mind. He flung his sleeves and the Fantasy Spiritual Pearl appeared above him. Multi-colored lights illuminated the area around him and destroyed the illusion Murong Danran laid down. The giant disappeared in an instant. Of course, the boulder was real as it was something Murong Danran chucked at him.

Dodging the boulder, Shang Xia ran straight through the ‘giant’. 

Murong Danran turned to run and he yelled in fright, “How… How can you see through my illusion?!”

Shang Xia’s chuckle echoed in his ears. “You actually know quite a lot about the Mountain and Sea Fantasy Spiritual World! You actually managed to use the illusions within!” 

Without even turning back, Murong Danran yelled, “Would you like to work together with me?”

“What do you think?”

“It’s a giant waste for you to obtain the Fantasy Spiritual Pearl and the core diagram! However, it’s different if I use it! As long as you’re willing to work with me, I’m sure to dig out all the resources here! When that happens, we can split it equally! How’s that?” Seeing as he wouldn’t be able to shake off Shang Xia in a short amount of time, he decided to change his strategy. He hoped that Shang Xia would be greedy enough to accept his offer.

“I knew you were playing for time!” Shang Xia exclaimed when Murong Danran dodged behind another rock formation. 

He tried to run away from Shang Xia’s pursuit, but with a wave of his hand, Shang Xia unfurled the scroll. He took one glance and discovered Murong Danran’s location.

“Today, you won’t be able to escape!” Shang Xia pointed casually at one of the rock formations with his Delicate Jade River Sword.

Leaping away, Murong Danran summoned a ball of inner qi to protect himself from the sword strike. However, he didn’t expect a bolt of lightning to strike down on him.

“You bastard!” Murong Danran’s ball of inner qi managed to lessen the damage slightly. He still crashed into the ground, but he couldn’t be bothered with anything else as he turned to run.

All of a sudden, a loud whistle tore through the air. Someone approached them at high speed, and Murong Danran’s figure froze all of a sudden. Turning back, a sinister grin appeared on his face. “It’s your turn to run now!” 

Staring deeply at Murong Danran, Shang Xia knew there was not enough time to deal with that slippery cockroach. In the next second, he turned around and ran.

Their roles changed as Murong Danran started to chase after him. However, Murong Danran seemed a lot more relaxed than before. As long as Shang Xia didn’t leave his line of sight, he wouldn’t speed up.

“Hahaha! It’s my turn now! This time, you won’t get away!” Murong Danran gloated happily as he raced after Shang Xia.