Splitting the Heave

“Hundred Days Longevity Intoxication!” That was an advancement formula for Marital Intent Realm experts to reach the Martial Extermination Realm! 

Shang Xia released another sword light and weakened Zhu Ying’s strike several times over.

When it landed, he only managed to destroy some words that had been carved into the chamber.

Originally, Zhu Ying wanted to shatter the entire wall with his strike! Now that he failed, he tried again.

Shang Xia was prepared for his nonsense this time. Several rays of sword light slashed outwards and destroyed Zhu Ying’s palm strike.

By the time their attacks collided, Shang Xia had already forcefully memorized the formula on the wall.

“Hundred Days Longevity Intoxication, Main herb:... Assistive Herb…”

Even though stopping Zhu Ying’s strikes with his sword light was something he had done casually while trying to burn the formula into his memories, it was nothing short of disrespect in Zhu Ying’s eyes. The more nonchalant Shang Xia was, the angrier Zhu Ying became. The hatred in his heart became even deeper.

“Shang Xia, you’re going too far!” Zhu Ying raised Mu Qingyu into the air by her head and tossed her at Shang Xia. 

Retrieving his sword, he released a strand of qi to dissolve Zhu Ying’s inner qi. Without injuring her, he placed her softly against the wall behind him.

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“Hah, I knew it! You’re a pair of adulterous scumbags!” Zhu Ying sneered. However, Shang Xia was unable to stop his strike this time and cracks started appearing in the wall. It crumbled to dust in front of his eyes.

Shang Xia’s expression turned frosty as a streak of lightning surrounded his Delicate Jade River Sword. He stabbed it towards Zhu Ying yet again.

Lightning surrounded the tip of his sword and Zhu Ying felt his body going numb long before the sword arrived.

As someone who had already experienced Shang Xia’s Chaos Essence Lightning Palm and was scarred from his previous encounter, Zhu Ying didn’t hesitate to tear another rank three talisman.

The heaven and earth qi in the stone chamber condensed to form a deep green tortoise shell-like shield before Zhu Ying.

A ray of condensed lightning slammed into the shield, causing it to dim significantly. However, it failed to shatter the shield.

Of course, it didn’t end there. Shang Xia’s Delicate Jade River Sword arrived soon after, and with a soft knell, it stabbed deep into the shield.

The moment it did, a strand of softness and strength fusion qi caused the rank three talisman to reach its limit.

“Luckily it’s another rank three talisman with no divine sense. Otherwise, I won’t be able to destroy it so easily…” Shang Xia heaved a sigh of relief in his heart.

In stark contrast to Shang Xia’s pleased expression, Zhu Ying’s eyes were so wide his eyeballs were threatening to pop out of their sockets.

“You… You… How do you know about the fusion of qi?! This isn’t a martial intent… How is this possible?” Zhu Ying stuttered.

A sneer from Shang Xia was all he received in response. Another sword appeared out of nowhere, and Shang Xia held it right above his Delicate Jade River Sword. Snipping both swords inwards, he used one of the techniques recorded in the Twisting Twin Blades! In one smooth motion, the shield shattered completely!

“Who told you that only martial intents can achieve fusion of qis? Haha, my knowledge runs a lot deeper than you think!” Shang Xia chuckled in amusement as he transformed his qi yet again. Instead of softness and strength qi, a soft fiery glow and a thin layer of ice covered both swords. He didn’t stop after he destroyed Zhu Ying’s shield. Fire and ice qi fused together as it pincered Zhu Ying.

Screaming in fright, Zhu Ying brought out a huge machete and waved it towards the intersection between Shang Xia’s swords.

As the sound of scraping metal rang through the air, Zhu Ying was sent flying through the air. When he slammed into the wall behind, he felt a sickly sweet sensation on the tip of his tongue. His lips parted uncontrollably and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

The machete he brought out at the last second was of really high quality. Even though Shang Xia fused fire and ice qi in his last attack, he noticed a huge chip in the ungraded sword he took out. From the looks of it, the sword had to be scrapped after the battle.

A cold light flashed in Zhu Ying’s palm and a tiny knife appeared in them. Tossing it out with incredible accuracy, it shot past Shang Xia towards Mu Qingyu who was lying defenseless on the other side of the stone chamber.

Displaying the might of his Irregular Steps to the maximum, Shang Xia’s body appeared before Mu Qingyu as he swung his Delicate Jade River Sword to block the throwing knife.

Even though he deflected the throwing knife, it drew an arc in the air and returned to stab towards Mu Qingyu.

“Sword talisman…” Shang Xia snorted lightly as he summoned hundreds of sword lights to destroy the throwing knife.

The rain of sword light swallowed the throwing knife and shrill ringing rang through the chamber. Shang Xia’s sword light eventually exhausted all the energy contained in Zhu Ying’s sword talisman and the throwing knife fell to the ground powerlessly.

When Shang Xia finally turned his attention to Zhu Ying, he realized that the man was standing before a newly opened passage. Holding the Vermillion Plaque in hand, a sneer could be seen on Zhu Ying’s face.

“Roar! Roar!” 

The sound came from deep within the passage that opened behind Zhu Ying, and three undead corpses soon appeared. They brushed past Zhu Ying, and they lunged at Shang Xia.

Why didn’t they attack him? Even though the thought ran through Shang Xia’s mind, he didn’t have the luxury to think of the reason. The last thing he saw was Zhu Ying disappearing into the passage behind him. The doors of the passage disappeared suddenly, and Shang Xia’s vision was quickly filled with the three undead corpses.

At the same time, another passage opened in the stone chamber. Two more undead corpses appeared. They were like fatties who smelled the greatest delicacy in the world as they rushed towards Shang Xia.

Shang Xia couldn’t be bothered with them if they were all rank two undead corpses, but there was a rank three undead corpse among them!

They managed to surround and suppress Shang Xia the instant they appeared.

Luckily for him, they were stuck in a confined space. The undead corpses might be fast, but they couldn’t move nimbly in the stone chamber! His Irregular Steps allowed him to bring out his greatest fighting strength in the confined area. Since the undead corpses had limited thinking ability, Shang Xia could remain relatively safe under their relentless assault.

The question quickly resurfaced in his mind. Why did Zhu Ying not get attacked by the undead corpses? The corpses had no ability to think for themselves. How did they recognize him as one of their own?

Shang Xia’s thoughts turned to the Vermillion Plaque in Zhu Ying’s hands before he disappeared.

Did the Vermillion Plaque have something to do with it? 

With a flick of his wrist, Shang Xia took out his own Vermillion Plaque. However, the undead corpses still didn’t leave him alone.

Shang Xia twisted his body to avoid a rank two undead corpse and his Jade River Sword stabbed outwards. A deep gash appeared in the corpse’s rib, but it was evidently not enough to damage an undead creature like that.

Shang Xia circulated his Yin Yang Essence Qi and sent some of it into the Vermillion Plaque in his hands. Even though faint red light appeared on its surface, it didn’t stop the undead corpses from attacking him.

An idea quickly surfaced in Shang Xia’s mind. His inner qi started to transform to become light and heavy qi. Even though nothing seemed to change in the plaque, the undead corpses seemed to be slightly affected. Something seemed to cloud their judgment.

The sword in Shang Xia’s hand stabbed straight into one of the undead corpses’ temples.

A deep howl came from the rank three corpse all of a sudden, rallying all the rank two undead corpses. They started to attack Shang Xia together.

Helpless, Shang Xia could only dodge with all his might. He tried to send his inner qi into the Vermillion Plaque again, but it didn’t do anything this time.

Shang Xia suddenly recalled that Mu Qingyu entered the Coral Forest with Zhu Ying. He turned to look at her unconscious figure in the corner and thought to himself, Why are they attacking me when she’s lying there defenseless?

Could Zhu Ying possess the ability to control the undead corpses in the Zhu Family Manor?

However, he quickly got rid of that thought. If Zhu Ying had the ability to do that, he wouldn’t have killed all of them while making his way over to where they were right now.

Shang Xia’s attention turned to Mu Qingyu when he realized that she was struggling to open her eyes. 

“If you keep wearing those clothes that have been stained with Zhu Ying’s blood, they won’t stop!” A hoarse voice left Mu Qingyu’s lips.

Only then did Shang Xia realize that his clothes were stained with Zhu Ying’s blood. Earlier, Zhu Ying spat out a mouthful of blood. Shang Xia didn’t know if it was intentional or not, but it didn’t matter anymore.

Is his blood the reason behind those undead corpses going crazy? Or will any blood from the members of the Zhu Family do?

Whatever it was, Shang Xia quickly removed his outerwear.

He tossed the cloth over one of the undead corpses that were running at him. When his clothes landed on the undead corpse, the creature tore at it mercilessly.

That wasn’t the only undead corpse that was affected. The other rank two undead corpses joined their companion in the relentless attack on the ownerless clothes.

The only undead corpse that hesitated slightly was the rank three undead corpse, and it seemed a little confused.

Shang Xia wasn’t going to give it the luxury of time. His sword beheaded the rank three undead corpse when it was still disorientated. 

Taking another step forward, his sword stabbed through the skull of another undead corpse. In the next instant, he stabbed in another direction, skewering another skull.