Splitting the Heave

Shang Xia didn’t hide his intentions at all. Of course, there was no point in hiding it.

When Shang Xia told them about the existence of the extermination origin, everyone was shocked. However, they also accepted his suggestion silently.

If they looked at it another way, he was the one who discovered the extermination origin! He had the authority to use it as he saw fit.

The most important point was that all of them had already lost contact with the Tongyou Peak. They would face the wrath of a Martial Extermination Realm expert from the Rose Party any time, and they had to do all they could to survive. 

Even though Gu Shou had a profound cultivation, he was still quite a distance away from breaking through.

Ensuring that Shang Ke was ready to break through, the group eventually split up as they had to get ready to take on a Martial Extermination Realm expert of the Rose Party.

Shang Xia followed Shang Ke to the fourth hidden chamber as the rest split up to complete their preparations, they saw detailed instructions on how a cultivator was supposed to extract the extermination origin from the Fantasy Spiritual Pearl for their breakthrough inscribed on the walls. It was clear that the room had been specially made for breaking through to the Martial Extermination Realm.

Shang Xia looked at Shang Ke and chuckled, “Fifth Grandpa, you won’t blame me for taking over the situation and forcing you to break through without enough preparations, right?”

“Damn brat. You’re pretty capable! You’re really lucky too! Do you know how many people failed to locate an extermination origin even after so many years?! They were trapped in the Martial Intent Realm despite their deep accumulations! Only you would be able to give it away like that! Hahaha! Am I supposed to blame you if I’m not ready to break through?” Shang Ke suppressed his laughter.

Shang Xia heaved a sigh of relief when he realized that his grandfather had no intention of blaming him. “Even so, I’m really regretful that you have to attempt to break through. You haven’t comprehended your martial intent to break through to the grand completion stage of the Martial Intent Realm. Your foundations would be stronger if you managed to… It’s just too bad we’re in such a bad situation now!” 

“It’s alright. I’ve been stuck at my current level for some time now. I realized that I might not be able to comprehend my martial intent even if I tried. However, I have been missing an extermination origin in order to start my breakthrough. Even though your Grandpa Bo tried searching high and low, he failed to locate any!”

Shang Xia knew that everything he was saying was true. However, he would never know what Shang Ke actually thought.

Whatever the case, he heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that Shang Ke had given up on comprehending his martial intent.

“About the medicine…” That was the other thing Shang Xia was worried about.

Patting his chest, he slowly revealed an intricately carved bronze gourd. “I made my preparations a long time ago. I was only missing the extermination origin. With the help of your Grandpa Bo, I prepared my advancement medicine three years ago! I bring it everywhere I go in case I run into an opportunity to break through!” 

“However, it’s difficult to maintain the effects of a fully refined advancement medicine. A semi-finished product is contained in this gourd and I need to complete a few simple steps before turning it into my advancement medicine.” Shang Ke explained.

Shang Xia gasped in shock. “Is that even possible?” 

“It’s difficult to create a high level advancement medicine. However, it’s harder to find a chance to break through! I have to always be ready!” 

Shang Xia nodded slowly in acknowledgement. 

When he followed Shang Ke to the fourth hidden chamber earlier, he wanted to express his apology. However, it seemed as though Shang Ke had considered everything! Since there was nothing else left to do, he turned to leave. He didn’t want to waste Shang Ke’s precious time to break through.

However, his departure was interrupted by a question from Shang Ke. “Xia’er, what do you think about the relationship our clan has with the institution?” 

Shang Xia thought for a second before replying, “Both sides depend on each other. We flourish together, but if anything happens to one side, the other will also be affected!” 

Shang Ke nodded slowly and maintained a passive expression. He continued, “You’re right. Right now, the Tongyou Institution is the foundation of strength for our You Continent. Patriarch Kou is indeed a genius, but I still think that our Shang Clan shouldn’t be shackled down by the institution. We have to keep our power and remain independent.” 

Shang Xia stared at his grandfather in shock. He didn’t know why Shang Ke would talk about stuff like that now. He asked cautiously, “Fifth Grandpa, why are you telling me this?” 

Shang Ke turned to look at Shang Xia deeply before explaining, “Shang Bo sank too deep into the Tongyou Institution. Of course, this isn’t a bad thing. It cannot be denied that his position allowed us to rise quickly in the You Continent. However, looking at things from another perspective, our Shang Clan’s rise was supported by Patriarch Kou.”

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Shang Xia didn’t understand what he was getting at, but he could tell that Kou Chongxue definitely had some sort of plan for supporting the Shang Clan’s rise. Moreover, it made sense for them to repay the institution for the help they received.

Shang Xia didn’t interrupt his grandfather with his thoughts. Instead, he remained silent to wait for Shang Ke to continue.

Shang Ke knew that Shang Xia would understand where he was coming from eventually. He sighed and continued, “We cannot deny that Patriarch Kou did us a huge favor. It’s something we have to return eventually, but that’s a job for elders of the clan like me and your Grandpa Bo. We’ll return the favor as much as we can, but our Shang Clan will forever belong to us. We can be allies, partners, and even friends of the institution, but we can never turn into a vassal! Do you understand my intentions?” 

Shang Xiao hesitated slightly before nodding slowly.

A smile returned to Shang Ke’s face. As though he was afraid that Shang Xia would overthink things, he added, “Hey, I’m not telling you to become an enemy of the institution…” 

“I know!” Shang Xia grinned. “I know what you mean. I’ll do what I have to…” 

Shang Ke revealed a satisfied expression, but he had to remind Shang Xia. “It’s not as easy as you think…” 

As he spoke, he took out a jade goblet and poured some of the medicine contained in the gourd out. The dense fragrance filled the chamber in an instant.

Shang Ke took out two other bags and poured different colored powder into the goblet. When he was done, he tossed two candle-like items into it. 

Shang Ke raised the goblet with one hand and his body started to sway from side to side. He released a soft sigh, “Multi Illusion Wine. When your Grandpa Bo advanced, this was also the medicine he used! The recipe was provided by Patriarch Kou!” 

“Oh…” Shang Xia nodded absentmindedly. However, he tilted his head to the side violently and asked, “Fifth Grandpa, don’t we have our own recipe to make advancement medicines for the Martial Extermination Realm?” 

“Hahaha… Everyone says that our Shang Clan is the fourth great clan. Shang Bo’s cultivation is good enough to challenge Ji Wenlong today and if I manage to enter the Martial Extermination Realm today, no one will doubt our status as a great clan any more. Who will expect us to not possess our own medicine recipe?” 

Shang Xia raised an eyebrow in shock. “Do the other three clans have their own?” 

Shang Ke nodded dejectedly, “Yeah. The Ji, Liu, and Yun Clans were part of the five great families! They definitely have their own inheritances…” 

Shang Xia continued to ask, “Did you and Grandpa Bo swear never to leak the recipe of the Multi Illusion Wine?” 

“Of course we did. Anyway, this is the most compatible medicine with our Shang Clan’s techniques. It’s part of the institution’s collection, and we can’t pass it down to others. Without a proper inheritance for our clan, it’s over once anything happens to me or your Grandpa Bo. We’ll immediately fall from our position, and it’s very likely we’ll be completely exterminated by our enemies!” Shang Bo sighed. 

“That is why we need to find a recipe to create advancement medicine for our experts to enter the Martial Extermination Realm! Our Shang Clan needs to obtain complete control over it!” Shang Xia added on his grandfather’s behalf.

Shang Ke paused for a second after hearing Shang Xia. “That’s right. It would be best if we can obtain one that complements our spear technique. It doesn’t really matter what medicine you use to enter the Martial Realm and Martial Extremity Realm, but you can’t enter the Martial Intent Realm any way you want! When you enter the Martial Intent Realm, I hope that you can choose to practice our Shang Clan’s spear technique. Even though we don’t have an inheritance for you to reach the Martial Extermination Realm right now, our spear technique is extremely powerful. I’m not as talented and as strong as your Grandpa Bo back when he was at the Martial Intent Realm. If he was in my place, he wouldn’t have lost to Ouyang Zhaiyuan!” 

Shang Xia replied confidently. “I will!” 

That had been his plan all along. 

As the fragrance of the wine got denser and denser, Shang Xia felt a little lightheaded after taking a whiff.

“Since this is the first time we went all out to explore the Coral Forest, it’s the best chance we have to obtain an advancement formula!” Shang Ke said all of a sudden.

“The Zhu Family’s advancement formula?” Shang Xia gasped. “Is this the true goal of the Rose Party and every other power?” 

Shang Ke didn’t reply, and he asked a question of his own. “Do you know how many advancement formulas the Zhu Family possess?” 

“Nope.”

Shang Ke raised four fingers in the air and said slowly, “They have four different formulas!” 

Shang Xia’s eyes slowly widened in shock. “No wonder they were the strongest family in the You Continent! Do the formulas have anything to do with the four spiritual lands?” 

“In the past, we wouldn’t know. Now that I entered the Mountain and Sea Fantasy Spiritual World, I can confirm that there is definitely some sort of connection!” Shang Ke muttered.

“The foundation of the Zhu Family is deep indeed…” Shang Xia praised.

“However, these formulas aren’t the reason the Rose Party and the Tongyou Institution are going crazy.” Shang Ke threw out another bomb.

“What can it possibly be?” Shang Xia was instantly taken aback.

“Breakthrough to the next level. To the Fifth Order of the Primary Realm!” Shang Ke’s gaze turned sharp. He stared up at the ceiling and whispered, “There has been a rumor going around in the You Continent that the patriarch of the Zhu Family obtained a complete guide to break through to the Martial Dipper Realm!”