Splitting the Heave

The Taihang Mountains spanned vertically through the world and it cut across the Ji, Bing, Yan, and Si Continents. There were rumors that the Taihang Mountains spanned ten thousand miles across the continents, but there had been no accurate measure of how large it truly was. 

Shang Xia might not know how large the Taihang Mountains actually was, but he knew for a fact that it was several times longer and larger than the Thousand Leaf Mountain Range. 

According to the location Shang Pei sent to the Shang Clan, she had established herself on one of the mountain peaks on the Sixth Pass of the Taihang Mountains.

There seemed to be eight huge ravines or valley-like structures that spanned the entire mountain range and they were referred to as the ‘Eight Taihang Passes’.

Shang Xia flew for several more days before he finally arrived at a major crossing that led into the Sixth Pass. Landing on the ground below, Shang Xia followed the path described by Shang Pei and entered deep into the mountains.

The Taihang Mountains were pretty unique in a geographical sense and it was where all sorts of people from the four continents gathered. There were countless wandering cultivators, bandits, criminals, and hermits who populated the mountain range.

If Shang Xia were to fly through the Taihang Mountains recklessly, he might attract some unwanted attention to himself. He might even offend some weird factions.

To give a simple introduction to the Taihang Mountains, the deeper one went, the closer they would get to the crossroads of the four continents. That also meant that the situation got more dangerous and chaotic the deeper they were. The Sixth Pass where Shang Pei was, could be considered a pretty unsafe region.

A year ago after Shang Pei broke through to the Martial Extermination Realm, she received orders from the institution and the clan to establish herself in the Taihang Mountains.

According to their original plan, she only had to settle down in the Third or Fourth pass in the Taihang Mountains. Even though the situation there was pretty chaotic, it was reasonably close to the You Continent. The moment she ran into any danger, she would be able to escape to the You Continent or call for reinforcements.

After receiving the orders, Shang Pei immediately brought the remaining members of the Eighteen Horsemen of the You Continent to the Taihang Peak. The orders of the institution and clan were merely suggestions to her and she promptly rejected it. She quickly brought her members to the Sixth Pass to set up camp.

One of the reasons behind her disobedience was that she didn’t wish to be restricted by the Clan and Tongyou Institution. The other was because the Sixth Pass was closer to the secret region she had talked to Shang Xia about. 

After reaching where Shang Pei told him to go, Shang Xia quickly released the secret communication method she told him about.

From what she said, she would send a few of her men over to meet him. Despite her promise to him, no one arrived even after several hours. 

A bad premonition filled Shang Xia’s heart but he didn’t hesitate for long. Since they weren’t there to meet him, he decided to look for their stronghold himself.

Shang Xia quickly suppressed his aura until he looked like he was a cultivator at the large completion stage of the Martial Intent Realm. He felt that a large completion stage Martial Intent Realm wouldn’t raise too many suspicions in the Taihang Mountains. After all, Martial Extermination Realm experts wouldn’t take note of someone at that level. Experts who weren’t at the Martial Extermination Realm wouldn’t try messing with him for no reason either.

Unleashing his Irregular Steps, Shang Xia started running around the mountains. His speed might be a far cry from flight, but he understood the principle of keeping a low profile.

Extending his divine perception to the best of his abilities, he tried to look for the place called the Youyan Stronghold as described in Shang Pei’s letter. He scanned everywhere carefully, unwilling to miss the slightest sign of the territory.

Unfortunately, the region contained in each pass was massive. Shang Xia would have to explore more than a thousand miles around him. If went around like a headless fly, god knew when he would be able to locate the Youyan Stronghold.

Shang Xia quickly realized the problem and when he was thinking about what he could do about it, he discovered a strange stronghold at the edge of his divine perception.

Quickly climbing a hill beside him, he leaped into the air in the direction of the stronghold. 

Seeing someone rumbling through the air towards them, the stronghold guards acted quickly to raise the alarm. The entire stronghold broke out into a flurry of activity.

However, there were still several cultivators who emerged from their huts to yell at the guard.

“God damn! Why the hell are you sounding the alarm in the middle of the day…” The stronghold chief also emerged to curse at the guard and before could complete his sentence, he saw Shang Xia standing in front of him with the guard’s whistle in hand.

With his heart pounding in fear, the stronghold chief quickly changed his tone. He wasn’t a fool. He knew that anyone with the guts to barge into a fortified stronghold like theirs wasn’t someone he could mess with. Cupping his fists, he addressed Shang XIa. “Young hero, may I ask…” 

Shang Xia appeared before him before he could react. A light with several colors flashed dangerously around Shang Xia as though it was ready to strike the stronghold chief down at any time.

With his eyes widening in fright, the stronghold chief felt the world crumbling around him. However, he managed to force himself to bow to the youngster standing in front of him. An ugly smile appeared on his face and he muttered, “I am Lu Sanbao of the Rocky Cliff Stronghold and I am the Yin Cave Master’s subordinate. Senior, is something the matter? If you have any requests, I’ll try my best to fulfill them.”

Hearing the bearded stronghold chief who was several times older than himself calling him ‘senior’, Shang Xia’s face twisted unnaturally. A wave of discomfort filled his heart.

Luckily, Shang Xia was urgently looking for news regarding the Youyan Stronghold. He was about to ask his question when he noticed what several other members of the stronghold were doing. His pupils constricted slightly and he snorted in contempt, “Hmph, how dare you play tricks with me?” 

A frightening pressure descended on the Rocky Cliff stronghold the moment the words left his lips. 

“Senior, please show mercy!” Lu Sanbao yelled as he was forced to his knees. He was a Martial Intent Realm who had completed his third divine sense transformation at the end of the day and he managed to force the words out of his mouth despite the terrifying pressure.

However, the same couldn’t be said for the others. Any cultivators who had yet to enter the Martial Intent Realm fell unconscious immediately. However, they weren’t the ones Shang Xia targeted specifically. Shang Xia’s divine perception was locked onto one of the Martial Intent Realm cultivators in a secret tunnel and another who was close to the back entrance of the stronghold. They had transmission talismans in their hands and their intentions were obvious.

“Is the Yin Cave Master your backer? Is he a Martial Extermination Realm cultivator?” Shang Xia’s voice drifted into Lu Sanbao’s ears and the pressure on him disappeared. Even so, he didn’t dare to get to his feet immediately. His clothes were completely drenched in his sweat.

Of course, Shang Xia’s question also revealed his identity as an outsider to the Taihang Mountains. Not like that mattered to Lu Sanbao anyway.

Looking around, Lu Sanbao could tell that everyone in the stronghold had been suppressed by the youngster’s powerful aura. They could be killed at any time, and Lu Sanbao was no exception. 

Terror filled Lu Sanbao’s heart when he realized how strong this newcomer was. Even the Yin Cave Master wouldn’t be able to strike all the cultivators in the Rocky Cliff stronghold unconscious with a single snort.

“Ye… Yes… Senior, please spare my life! I don’t know anything! I won’t tell anyone about you either!” Lu Sanbao stammered before slamming his forehead into the ground.

Coughing lightly, Shang Xia sighed, “You don’t have to worry about that now. All I want to know is if you have heard of the Youyan Stronghold. Also, have you heard of the Youyan Stronghold’s leader, a Martial Extermination Realm female cultivator?”

Before Lu Sanbao could say a word, Shang Xia snorted coldly, “You should think twice before answering my question. If you can’t satisfy me with your reply, Everyone here will die with you.”

“I… I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything!” Lu Sanbao panicked.

Glaring at Lu Sanbao, Shang Xia raised an eyebrow to signal for him to start talking.

Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Lu Sanbao started, “I… I have not heard of the Youyan Stronghold before…” 

Shang Xia’s snort rang in his ears like a thunderbolt as a bone-chilling frost assaulted his body. 

“Wait! Wait! I’m not done!” Lu Sanbao cried out desperately.

The pain in his body stopped abruptly and he wasted no time to continue, “Last autumn, I heard the Yin Cave Master saying something about a new female cultivator in the Sixth Pass. He said something like this. ‘That woman who came recently dares to work with outsiders to steal the Glass Daisy Chrysanthemum from the Jingxiu Peak… Is she crazy?!’” 

Glass Daisy Chrysanthemum?! Last Autumn?

Shang Xia narrowed his eyes but his tone didn’t change. “Is that it?” 

A strange light flickered in Lu Sanbao’s eyes but he remained silent.

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“Speak!” Shang Xia growled impatiently when he noticed Lu Sanbao’s hesitation.

Shang Xia’s growl caused Lu Sanbao’s mental defense to crumble instantly. He sputtered, “That was a long time ago! However, I went to the Thousand Caves Peak to deliver some gifts to the Yin Cave Master and to pay my respects recently and saw him with several experts from the Jingxiu Peak. They seem to be gathered together to deal with that female cultivator. The only weird thing was that the Yin Cave Master said that he wouldn’t join them in their effort to deal with her.” 

Shang Xia instantly understood why Shang Pei didn’t send anyone to bring him over to the stronghold. 

Seeing as Shang Xia wasn’t responding, Lu Sanbao panicked and cried, “Senior, I told you everything I know! I didn’t hide anything… I promise!” 

“Do you really not know anything about the Youyan Stronghold? Not even a guess?” Shang Xia asked again.

“I have no idea. But…” Lu Sanbao paused for a second but he quickly added, “... But I know where the Jingxiu Peak is!” 

A chuckle left Shang Xia’s lips all of a sudden. “Hehe, From what I can tell, you’re still pretty loyal to the Yin Cave Master…” 

“Senior, The Yin Cave Master saved my life in the past. I can’t possibly betray him. I hope senior can…”

Shang Xia interrupted him before he could finish. “I’ll place a restriction in your body that seals your ability to move and talk for three days. You will still be conscious and no harm will befall you. I believe the Yin Cave Master will learn about this quickly, but he won’t be able to break my restriction anyway. After three days, you can go ahead and tell him whatever happened. If the situation permits, I am really interested in meeting him.” 

Lu Sanbao realized things had gone south when Shang Xia started talking about the restriction. He wanted to beg for mercy when Shang Xia’s palm came crashing down. 

He could tell that Shang Xia wasn’t moving extremely quickly, but no matter how hard he tried, he wasn’t able to dodge it. It smacked him directly in his forehead and a cooling sensation entered his sea of consciousness. He felt a sense of extreme clarity but the next moment, he discovered that he no longer had control over his limbs. His eyes were wide open, but he couldn’t speak. His other senses weren’t obstructed and he could still hear everything that was going on around him. He seemed to be able to feel a gentle breeze brushing against him…