Splitting the Heave

It was extremely difficult to kill a Martial Extermination Realm under ordinary circumstances. 

Even if they had freshly broken through, it would be a tall task to end their life. 

Of course, that didn’t seem to be the case considering how many Martial Extermination Realm experts died in Shang Xia’s hands. Ever since he entered the battlefield between the two worlds for the first time, the deaths of at least 5 Martial Extermination Realm experts or existences at that level had something to do with him.

Obviously, there were other factors in play when they died. They might have fallen into a trap, or they might have been weakened by others. There were also times when his sneak attacks worked.

Whatever the case, none of them really died in a one on one battle.

Zhang Luoxing and Liu Chuanyi were considered seasoned experts in the Martial Extermination Realm. With their combined strength, it wouldn’t be difficult for them to defeat the youngster before them. Even so, the two of them were extremely careful. They kept their distance while approaching Shang Xia and probing him constantly.

Throughout the entire process, Liu Chuanyi, the stronger of the two, didn’t do a thing. Zhang Luoxing practically forced Shang Xia into a corner by himself.

Shang Xia was cursing them in his mind when he noticed how cautious they were acting. He had been slipping up constantly so that they would lower their guard against him, but it seemed as though they weren’t taking the chance.

It was clear what their plan was at that point. They were trying to wear Shang Xia down before making the final move. 

With another Icy Jade Palm, Zhang Luoxing obstructed Shang Xia’s attempt to break through their encirclement. Feeling like the time was right, his figure started to blur as he was half a mile away from Shang Xia in an instant. He released a heavy punch that went straight for Shang Xia’s chest. 

Earlier, he used the Zhang Family’s rank four martial arts, the Icy Jade Palm to stop Shang Xia from running away. Now, he changed it up slightly and unleashed his Icy Jade Fist.

Like the Shang Clan, the Zhang Family was a massive entity in the Ji Continent. They had their own techniques for experts in the Martial Extermination Realm and cultivators of the family would make small changes to the inheritance to suit their fighting style. The same situation applied to the Shang Clan where Shang Ke was following in Shang Bo’s footsteps. 

Even though Zhang Luoxing’s attack seemed rather aggressive, he didn’t actually plan on defeating Shang Xia with that punch. His main goal was to throw Shang Xia off balance and hopefully into Liu Chuanyi who was on the other side. 

Liu Chuanyi was actually the key to taking down Shang Xia. 

What Zhang Luoxing didn’t realize was the crafty smile that appeared on Shang Xia’s face when he made his move earlier. 

Zhang Luoxing and Liu Changyi might be plotting against Shang Xia, but he also had a plan to deal with them. After all, Martial Extermination Realm experts were only hard to kill if they were hell-bent on running away. If the distance between them was tiny enough there was no way of escaping…

As Zhang Luoxing approached Shang Xia, the situation finally changed. Instead of trying to back away or defend himself, Shang Xia accelerated into Zhang Luoxing. 

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He might have been taken aback by Shang Xia’s action, but Zhang Luoxing was a Martial Extermination Realm from a powerful family at the end of the day. He wasn’t afraid to fight Shang Xia in a one-on-one battle.

Since his opponent had sent himself over, Zhang Luoxing didn’t mind going all out. He sent out another punch right after the first with more than two times the power.

From afar, Shang Xia looked like a helpless bunny that was rushing straight into its death.

A cruel smile appeared on Zhang Luoxing’s face. It seemed as though he wouldn’t need Liu Changyi’s help to seriously injure his opponent.

As his imagination were running wild, he saw something that made his blood turn cold. Widening his eyes in shock, his soul nearly left his body.

What the hell was he looking at?!

A four colored light surrounded Shang Xia’s body in an instant and they spun around him in a mysterious cycle. The four colored lights seemed to contain the secrets of samsara.

“Four… Four colored extermination origin! How is that possible?! He’s actually a fourth layer Martial Extermination Realm… He tricked us!” Zhang Luoxing roared as he cursed Shang Xia and eighteen generations of his ancestors in his heart. A look of fear caused his face to twist unnaturally.

This asshole is scheming against us! He’s playing the pig to eat the tiger!

Where the hell is Liu Chuanyi anyway?!

Zhang Luoxing was overwhelmed with rage and fear, but he couldn’t utter a single word out of fright.

The Scarlet Star Spear tore through the air and with it destroyed the frozen space in front of him in an instant.

Turning into a streak of light, Shang Xia appeared several inches away from Zhang Luoxing in the blink of an eye.

Retracting his arm, Zhang Luoxing crossed it in front of his chest in a desperate attempt to protect himself before being swallowed by a sea of reddish-gold lightning.

“Preposterous! How dare you try to harm a cultivator from our Ji Continent?!” A roar came from behind Shang Xia and the space around him started to fluctuate wildly.

He discovered the sudden change when Shang Xia turned into the aggressor. However, he knew that he had to risk it all in order to save Zhang Luoxing. 

None of them expected the prey they were cornering to be a monster in disguise. They couldn’t believe their eyes, but the impossible had happened.

A multitude of considerations ran through Liu Changyi’s mind as he made an attempt to stop Shang Xia. He regretted the fact that he didn’t act earlier, and he even wondered if the relationship between the Liu and Zhang Families would be affected because of what was happening. 

Excuses were forming in his mind as he thought about how to give the Zhang Family a proper explanation of what happened in case something truly went wrong.

Naturally, his considerations didn’t slow him down as he struck at Shang Xia’s back.

Unfortunately, he was a little too late.

After suffering a direct hit from Shang Xia’s Chaos Essence Lightning Palm, Zhang Luoxing’s figure drew a beautiful arc through the skies as he was blown away mercilessly. 

Shang Xia didn’t hesitate to leave after heavily injuring Zhang Luoxing. As Zhang Luoxing fell to the ground, the four colored light around Shang Xia’s body expanded to a terrifying degree. He shot through the skies with a speed no slower than a third layer Martial Extermination Realm expert. In the blink of an eye, his figure entered the dense clouds and disappeared from view.

Liu Changyi couldn’t be bothered with Shang Xia now that the youngster had made his escape. He flew over to grab Zhang Luoxing’s falling figure. 

With a burst of inner qi, Liu Changyi stopped the both of them from crashing into the ground. A huge region around him was blown to bits and a dust storm covered a ten mile radius of where he landed. No one knew how many towns were affected by the aftereffects, but Liu Changyi couldn’t be bothered with them either.

The only thing he could care about at the moment was Zhang Luoxing’s fate. Examining his comrade carefully, he heaved a sigh of relief when he discovered that Zhang Luoxing was still breathing.

Turning in the direction where Shang Xia fled, a trace of unease flashed in his eyes. No one knew what he was thinking about…

…

By the time Liu Changyi caught Zhang Luoxing, Shang Xia had already run more than a hundred miles out.

Using his divine perception to ensure that there was no one in pursuit, he finally started to calm down. Lowering his speed, he quickly restrained his aura and light emitted by his extermination origin again.

When he released his Chaos Essence Lightning Palm against Zhang Luoxing earlier, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to kill the man.

Without considering the strong life force possessed by an expert at the Martial Extermination Realm, Zhang Luoxing was bound to have many life-saving means he had yet to use. If Shang Xia was truly able to threaten his life, Zhang Luoxing would have revealed them instead of trying to block the attack. Also, Shang Xia knew without a rank four martial art, he wouldn’t be able to take them both on in a protracted battle.

At the end of the day, he could only use his cultivation to suppress his opponents. Also, Zhang Luoxing’s heavy injuries weren’t caused by Shang Xia’s Chaos Essence Lightning Palm. When Shang Xia revealed four extermination origins earlier, Zhang Luoxing was so scared that he pulled back all his inner qi forcefully, suffering a serious backlash. Shang Xia’s Chaos Essence Lightning Palm was only the icing on the cake.

His injuries weren’t enough for him to die, but retracting his energy like that caused a great deal of damage to his foundations. He would be fortunate if he managed to maintain his current cultivation base. Even if he didn’t regress, it would be almost impossible for him to grow stronger in the future. 

That was also the reason behind Liu Changyi’s panic earlier. 

Regardless, everything that happened caused a huge grudge to form between Shang Xia and the Zhang Family. He might have even dragged the Liu Family into the picture.  

Despite the enmity he formed, Shang Xia was regretting one thing and one thing only. He regretted not being able to kill Zhang Luoxing earlier. The two of them were the ones who made the first move. When Liu Changyi yelled earlier, Shang Xia wanted to rain expletives down on him. 

He didn’t think it was a problem when they attacked him. He only started screaming about hurting members of the Ji Continent when Shang Xia counterattacked. 

There was no reason to remain passive when one’s life was at stake. As the saying goes, ‘When you kill, prepare to be killed’. 

…

Thinking back to the battle with the two of them, Shang Xia actually wanted to thank them for their generous contributions. At the very least, he managed to see one of them in action. That was valuable practical experience that was hard to come by. Now that he entered the Four Constellation Realm, he needed a way to familiarize himself with his strength through battle. 

After fighting with Zhang Luoxing, Shang Xia felt a little more comfortable circulating his Four Constellation Qi in battle. It was a good start for him to come up with his unique martial art.

That wasn’t all. He also managed to gain a better understanding of his own strength. 

…

As he continued on his journey south, the weather started to turn chilly. His Falling Leaf Extermination Origin seemed to enter a state of slumber as his Freezing Soul Extermination Origin started to become a little more active.

He was satisfied by the changes in his body, but he remained curious about one thing. Ever since he injured Zhang Luoxing the other day, he expected the Zhang Family to send out a huge group of experts to hunt him down. However, his journey went exceedingly smoothly and he couldn’t understand the reason behind it.

Well, he wasn’t complaining. It made his life a lot easier as he went on his merry way. Eventually, an imposing mountain range appeared in his sights. He finally caught sight of the Taihang Mountains!