Splitting the Heave

Out of the Martial Intent Realm cultivators of the Tongyou Institution, other than Ma Mingfeng, the only ones left on the outside were Peng Lanqing, Yang Zigong, Qian Sitong, and Wang Shihai. 

Peng Lanqing was an instructor of the outer division, Yang Zigong was a deacon of the Protection Division, Qian Sitong was an officer of the Outreach Division. Wang Shihai was a teacher for one of the various subjects in the institution.

Qian Sitong was the most innocent of them all. After all, Liu Jitang forced him to follow their expedition in order to avoid leaking the news to other parties.

When Wang Shihai and Qian Sitong saw Peng Lanqing’s sorry figure in the distance, their expression sank. They only heaved a sigh of relief after hearing Yang Zigong’s explanation.

The two of them shot a look of amazement towards Shang Xia. Divine senses surrounded him as they wanted to verify their guesses.

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Even though Shang Xia hadn’t congealed his divine sense and was unable to stop them from inspecting him, he could feel a sense of discomfort as they probed him with their divine sense.

“Teacher Wang, Senior Qian, please ask me anything you wish to know.” Shang Xia revealed a bitter smile.

“Kid, did you really kill Murong Gaosheng? How did you do it?” 

“Weren’t you at the grand completion stage of the Martial Realm when you stepped into the battlefield between two worlds? It hasn’t been two months yet! How did you reach the grand completion stage of the Martial Extremity Realm?” 

Qian Sitong and Wang Shihai seemed to speak in unison. However, the two of them were focused on different things.

Shang Xia was too lazy to explain himself and he quickly brushed them off with a random explanation. “This disciple was lucky to take Murong Gaofeng by surprise. Also, I raised my cultivation through several fortuitous encounters in the battlefield between two worlds!” 

Yang Zigong could pretty much hear that Shang Xia didn’t wish to be troubled any further and he quickly stopped their questioning. “Let’s not talk about this for now. How are the rest?” 

“They have already entered the core region of the Mountain and Sea Fantasy Spiritual World. That is why we left to help you guys.” Wang Shihai replied.

A frown slowly formed on Yang Zigong’s face. “Wait. If the two of you are here, who’s controlling the protection formation?!” 

Of the Martial Intent Realm experts who entered the Coral Forest with Liu Jitang, they only belonged to powers loyal to the Liu Clan with Qian Sitong as the only exception. After Liu Jitang sent several Martial Realm disciples of the Tongyou Institution to their deaths, two different groups started to form among them. 

Without Martial Intent Realm experts to control the situation, those loyal to the Liu Clan and those who had the institution’s interests at heart would have broken out into a massive brawl.

Qian Sitong knew what Yang Zigong was concerned about and he chuckled, “Relax. Teacher Sun managed to condense her divine sense and step into the Martial Intent Realm.” 

“Teacher Sun managed to advance?” A flash of joy could be seen on Shang Xia’s face as he gasped lightly.

All of them relaxed visibly after hearing the news.

Yang Zigong didn’t continue to harp on the matter and he muttered, “As long as the situation in the core region is stable, we’ll be able to maintain the Mountain and Sea Fantasy Spiritual World…” 

“What should we do next?” Wang Shihai asked.

His question was directed to Qian Sitong. Peng Lanqing was supposed to be their leader. Now that he was seriously injured and unresponsive, Qian Sitong would be next in line to take over as the leader of the operation. After all, his cultivation was the next highest.

Qian Sitong thought for a second and replied, “Let’s think about it after bringing him back to the core region!”

Everyone agreed with his suggestion and made their leave. To their surprise, Shang Xia didn’t wish to follow them.

Facing the weird gazes he was getting, Shang Xia explained, “This disciple is very familiar with the Mountain and Sea Fantasy Spiritual World. I wish to take the chance to kill more disciples of the Rose Party.

Wang Shihai snapped at him the moment the words left his lips. “Nonsense! Even though they’re a scattered bunch now, they still have some Martial Intent Realm experts among them! Even if you manage to kill Murong Gaosheng, do you think you can deal with the rest?” 

Yang Zigong understood where Shang Xia’s confidence came from. However, he had to consider his position when he gave his advice. “Martial Nephew Shang, you cannot act rashly. Even though we managed to gain the upper hand, we cannot move about rashly! We only need to protect the Mountain and Sea Fantasy Spiritual World now and wait for the battle to blow over! There’s no need to rush things!” 

Shang Xia thought about the situation Shang Bo described to him earlier before he arrived and he shook his head resolutely. “Since we managed to obtain the absolute advantage in the Coral Forest, shouldn’t this be the best time for us to head out and kill the enemy? We can deal a heavy blow to the Rose Party as long as we move now!” 

Wang Shihai smiled. “Once we gain full control over the Coral Forest, the life and death of these people will still be controlled by us. There’s no need to waste our energy taking unnecessary risks!” 

“Control?” Shang Xia shook his head. After listening to his grandfather, he knew that the institution’s main goal wasn’t to control the Coral Forest. More than half the region was destroyed beyond recognition anyway! Not to mention the fact that there was a rank five undead corpse running around unchecked in the area.

Qian Sitong was much more insightful than the other two and he seemed to have picked up something from Shang Xia’s words. He sighed, “Martial Nephew Shang, do you know something that we don’t?” 

“The Four Spiritual Peak have already chosen to work with the Rose Party. We might not be able to stop them from leaving if we remain idle. Also, there is a giant anomaly running rampant in here…” Shang Xia explained. Pausing for a second, his tone changed. “... Also, don’t you think this is a great opportunity?” 

After he spoke, he waved casually before disappearing into the various rock formations in the distance.

Scrunching his face together, Wang Shihai sighed, “This brat…” 

A bitter smile appeared on Yang Zigong’s face. “Looks like we won’t be able to take things easy. Luckily, there aren’t many Martial Intent Realm experts left in the Rose Party. We won’t be in much danger as long as we take a little precaution. We can’t possibly let him do all the work!” 

Qian Sitong muttered softly, “Let’s send Instructor Peng back before deciding on our next course of action…” 

Compared to the other Martial Intent Realm experts, the pressure Qian Sitong was feeling was a lot less. After all, he was brought to the Coral Forest against his will! The institution wouldn’t punish him as heavily as the rest!

…

After the battle that just happened, the number of Martial Intent Realm experts on the other side reduced by a whole lot. That was the reason Shang Xia had the confidence to venture out by himself.

He wanted to use the members of the Rose Party to train himself! He needed to comprehend his Quandary Manual and Hidden Needle Manual as soon as possible so that he could fuse them into his Yin Yang Sword Formation!

When that happened, his Yin Yang Sword Formation would experience a massive increase in strength!

Other than that, Shang Xia still had one last objective, He wanted to look for Dongfang Mingyu!

Dongfang Mingyu’s sword art caught Shang Xia’s eye and he knew he had to obtain it no matter the cost! 

Well, before starting his grand plan, Shang Xia decided to raise his strength as much as he could. Taking out the Icy Flesh Jade Bones Powder, he planned to refine it as soon as possible.