Splitting the Heave

A martial intent was a clear indication that a cultivator had stepped into the grand completion stage of their cultivation level! 

Those with martial intent didn’t just mean that they were a step away from entering the next cultivation realm! It also meant that they were unbeatable existences among those in the same cultivation realm!

That was an unspoken fact in the cultivation world! However, the scene before them shattered that belief!

With two swords in hand, Shang Xia used three different sword arts to destroy his enemy’s Triple Blade martial intent!

That wasn’t the most unbelievable part. They were more surprised by the fact that Shang Xia was merely at the large completion stage of the Martial Extremity Realm!

What he did basically shattered their worldview on the difference between cultivation realms!

The cultivator started to panic when his martial intent was shattered, but Shang Xia wasn’t planning to let him off easy. The sword in his hand that showed signs of breaking slashed out towards his enemy.

“Sima, retreat!” One of the disciples yelled. 

A reminder was all they could do. They couldn’t send anyone else to assist him. After three of their cultivators broke off from their formation, those that were left were unable to suppress the members of the Tongyou Peak anymore!

As the cultivators of the Tongyou Peak counterattacked, those from the Rose Party resisted desperately. The tables were slowly starting to turn.

The cultivator who was attacking Shang Xia snapped awake, and he twisted his wrists violently to block Shang Xia’s sword.

Painting Finger! Shang Xia heard of the move from Shang Xi previously during the war on the Tongyou Peak.

Well, so what if it was?

Shang Xia unleashed his Irregular Steps and his figure turned blurry. 

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Since his confidence took a big hit after his martial intent was broken by Shang Xia, he became even more flustered when Shang Xia’s figure pressed closer to him. Since he couldn’t lock on to Shang Xia, he waved his blade around recklessly.

A piercing pain ripped through his body and it originated from his ribs. Even without lowering his head, he could tell that Shang Xia’s sword had found its mark. Softness and strength qi exploded inside his body, turning his innards to mush!

As he fell backwards, blood mixed with his crushed up organs leaked from his lips.

With countless battles under his belt, Shang Xia had already familiarized himself with fusing softness and strength qi into his attacks. He could unleash a lot more power than before.

That was also the reason he dared to take on his enemy’s martial intent head-on.

Now that he killed the opponent’s grand completion stage Martial Extremity Realm expert, he had to stop to catch his breath. Even though his foundations were solid and he had a deep reserve of inner qi, the battle exhausted him. 

He had to dissipate the qi left in his meridians after releasing the strike.

Back in the Mountain and Sea Fantasy Spiritual World, Shang Xia used the Meridian Replenishing Powder to strengthen his meridians. That was the reason he could release repeated strikes.

Of course, that was a basic fusion of qi. When he really comprehended his Yin Yang Sword Formation, his meridians would be in for a world of torture.

As such, he definitely had to obtain some Tempering Meridian Powder.

“Retreat!” The members of the Rose Party who surrounded the disciples of the Tongyou Institution yelled.

They might outnumber the disciples of the Tongyou Institution, but numbers meant nothing when faced with a monster like Shang Xia who killed one of their strongest members in the blink of an eye! They chose to make a decisive retreat.

All of them acted with tacit understanding. When they left, they covered each other’s back to stop Shang Xia from taking advantage of the situation to kill a few more of them.

Watching them disappear into the distance, the cultivators of the Tongyou Institution finally relaxed. They sat down where they stood and started to recover their inner qi.

When Shang Xia approached, Ma Xiaofeng struggled to get to his feet to address him. The look in his eyes was complicated as he spoke, “Brat, weren’t you at the grand completion stage of the Martial Realm before you entered the battlefield between two worlds? Even though you were about to step into the Martial Extremity Realm, you progressed a little too quickly… Your improvement really puts all of us to shame…” 

Shang Xia chuckled softly in response, “Teacher Ma exaggerates… This disciple only managed to meet with some good fortune after escaping death narrowly several times!” 

Ma Xiaofeng sighed, “Yeah… Nothing comes free in this world. Everyone can only see the opportunities others obtained. They will never see the dangers one experienced…” Sucking in a long breath, Ma Xiaofeng seemed to have recalled something and he continued, “With your current strength, you won’t be able to learn anything in the inner division! No… You might even be too good for the upper division now! Right… All of us here are fellow disciples from the inner and upper divisions. Let me introduce you… Oh right. There’s no need to address me as your teacher anymore. With your strength and achievements, your place in the Tongyou Institution is already solidified! Just call me Martial Brother Ma from now on…” 

Shang Xia barely managed to nod before Ma Xiaofeng started with the introductions. “I’m sure I don’t need to introduce Brother Ye to you. Next is Senior Sister Lu Lijing of the upper division, and that’s Brother Hao Yuanfang from the inner division. Lastly, meet Brother Yu Yifeng. He is also from the inner division.” 

Shang Xia greeted all of them one by one.

Lu Lijing, who was clad in skintight green robes smiled, “Leader of the outer divisions, I’ve long since heard about you. Senior Sister Sun mentioned your accomplishments, but I refused to believe her. Looks like she wasn’t lying. In fact, she seems to have underestimated your abilities…” 

Shang Xia didn’t dare to accept her praise. 

After all of them exchanged some form of greeting, Ma Xiaofeng asked, “Junior Brother Shang, how did you enter the Coral Forest?” 

“I’m not the only one… I’m afraid the Martial Extermination Realm experts of our Tongyou Institution and even those from the Four Spiritual Peak have entered! The three powers are going all out against each other and the situation is extremely chaotic…” After introducing the current state of things, Shang Xia realized that those who entered with Liu Jitang earlier had no idea what was going on in the outside world. He quickly summarized the situation.

“If the Tongyou Peak was really invaded, our hard work for the last 20 years would go down the drain! All of us will be sinners!” Ye Mingyuan muttered.

Their expression turned somber and nodded in unison.

However, Shang Xia broke the serious atmosphere with a chuckle. “Luckily for us, we managed to hold the enemies off. We even made them suffer huge losses! There’s no need to worry about it anymore…” 

Ma Xiaofeng asked, “In that case, is SeniorSister Chu Jia really in control of the Mountain and Sea Fantasy Spiritual World?” 

Shang Xia nodded. “Yes. She’s not the only one there. There’s another formation master under her command. Instructor Gu, my Grandpa Ke, and Senior Sister Sun are stationed there too.” 

Li Lijing finally smiled. “That’s great! The Rose Party controls two of the four special regions of the Coral Forest. We control a portion of the Willow Forest, but we’re currently being suppressed by the Rose Party. The others can’t take a single step out of the Willow Forest at all! We thought that the Mountain and Sea Fantasy Spiritual World would also fall to them, and Deputy Patriarch Liu risked it all to charge into the Zhu Family’s Manor. He wished to obtain the Coral Command to control the Zhu Family’s territory to turn the tables on them. Who would have thought that the Mountain and Sea Fantasy Spiritual World would also be controlled by us… Now, we control two special regions each. At least we have something to rely on…”

“Since Deputy Patriarch Liu entered the Zhu Family Manor, who’s in charge of the Willow Forest?” Shang Xia asked.

“Instructor Peng and Ma Mingzheng…” Ye Mingyuan replied.

Instructor Peng was called Peng Lanqing, and he was one of the instructors in the outer division. Ma Mingzheng was a rank three formation master from the Hundred Professions Pavilion, and he had a lot more experience than Chu Jia. 

Nodding slowly, Shang Xia asked another question. “Do you know what happened to the Coral Forest recently? Why did we appear in other regions?” 

Shang Xia also learned that his guess was correct. He was currently situated in the Dual Season Land. 

Ma Xiaofeng and Ye Mingyuan looked at each other and after communicating with their eyes, Ma Xiaofeng sighed. “After Deputy Patriarch Liu entered the Zhu Family Manor, a Martial Extermination Realm expert of the Rose Party barged in behind him…” 

Shang Xia’s eyes widened in surprise. “So… All this happened because Deputy Patriarch Liu and the expert from the Rose Party started fighting over the Coral Command?” 

“That’s what we think…” Ma Xiaofeng sighed.

Shang Xia quickly fell into thought. Shang Ke mentioned that Liu Jitang was after the formula to break through to the Martial Dipper Realm, and for the two of them to be fighting over the Coral Command… 

One could only say that the accumulation of the number one family was unfathomable.

“As for us…” Ye Mingyuan revealed a bitter smile. “Even though we occupied the Willow Forest, we only controlled a part of it. We were suppressed by the members of the Rose Party and our group was sent out to deal with the enemies… Hah… Because of the sudden shift, we ended up here. Luckily all five of us gathered together. We even managed to run into you! Otherwise…”

Shang Xia could hear the implied meaning behind Yu Mingyuan’s words. Since Liu Jitang mobilized a huge portion of the Tongyou Peak’s strength, a portion of them had to be his trusted aides! The others were probably brought in to be used as cannon fodder! Those who were dragged into the mess might not even know what they were going to do!

Shang Xia had seen the core diagram of the Mountain and Sea Fantasy Spiritual World previously. He knew how small the core region was! The core regions of the Willow Forest and other special regions wouldn’t be too big either!

Since the Tongyou Peak brought out so many disciples, they were definitely unable to all stay in the same area. As such, a group of them were abandoned!

Even though Ma Xiaofeng and the others were also in the Martial Extremity Realm, they were probably not part of Liu Jitang’s faction. That's why they were sent out to fight members of the Rose Party. 

Naturally, Shang Xia couldn’t be bothered to think if the entire operation was Liu Jitang’s plan to get rid of those who weren’t part of his faction. All these things weren't for him to worry about anyway.

“What do you plan to do next?” Shang Xia asked.

As the five of them looked at each other, silence ensued. After some time, Ma Xiaofeng broke the silence. “Junior Brother Shang, look at this!” 

Ma Xiaofeng and Ye Mingyuan moved to the side, revealing something cool to Shang Xia.

There was a region of earth that seemed a little twisted, and Shang Xia saw three strands of grass growing what looked like a screen of twisted space.

Shang Xia looked at Yu Yifeng and laughed, “I didn’t think Senior Brother Yu would also be a formation master!” 

“I’m not that good at it. This is just something I put together haphazardly…” Yu Yifeng smiled.

Ma Xiaofeng quickly explained, “The reason we chose to fight them was because of these herbs. We found three strands of Spiritual Thread Grass!