Splitting the Heave

Duan Liufeng, Yu Hanglong, and Feng Chenyi weren’t weak by any means. None of the 3 had cultivation bases lower than Shang Pei.

However, Shang Pei was confident of defeating any one of them in a solo battle in the Cloud Water Gorge. If not for Yu Hanglong’s interference, Shang Pei was extremely confident that she could heavily injure him when he was trying to destroy Fourth Brother Zeng’s corpse.

It was a shame they had quick reactions.

When Fourth Brother Zeng detonated his dantian earlier and sacrificed himself, Duan Liufeng wasn’t the only one who was flustered by the loss of his bargaining chip. Shang Pei nearly lost her sense of reasoning and wanted nothing more than the charge out there to take revenge on his behalf.

Of the remaining members of the Eighteen Horsemen of the You Continent who followed her to the Taihang Mountains, Fourth Brother Zeng felt the most distant. Even so, he resolutely detonated his dantian after realizing he was used as bait.

Guilt and rage overwhelmed Shang Pei at that instant. She felt that she had to do something in his honor. That was why she sent out the final strike earlier.

The moment she missed, her position was revealed. The three of them quickly surrounded her and it wouldn’t be easy to escape this time.

If not for the fact that they wanted to obtain her valuables and knowledge, the three of them would have ended the battle a long time ago. 

Facing the relentless attack of 3 Martial Extermination Realm experts, Shang Pei didn’t lose her composure. She had gone through countless life-or-death situations while roaming the Ji Continent in the past and her willpower wasn’t something ordinary experts could compare to. Even at such a disadvantage, Shang Pei was able to grit her teeth while resisting the best she could. She was looking for a chance to break through their encirclement the moment they made a mistake.

The seal she carried on her reacted once again while she was fighting, causing her heart to sink. It seemed to be traveling in her direction at a terrifying speed, but Shang Pei didn’t have time to think about how fast it was. She tried desperately to break through the encirclement as she dragged the battle away from the direction of the seal talisman.

She might not know who among the members of the Youyan Stronghold was traveling in her direction, but she knew that she couldn’t place their lives at risk.

She barely increased the distance a little but before she could heave a sigh of relief, she felt the presence of the seal talisman once again. Without a doubt, the person holding the seal talisman was looking for her.

Shang Pei couldn’t help but curse in her heart. She wondered if the person who was running towards her had a death wish. Sixth Sister Gu, you fool, this better not be you!

She tried to increase the distance between them with the implied meaning to not look for her, but the pressure coming from their combined assault increased once again. It became even more difficult for her to pull the battlefield in her desired direction.

Even so, she didn’t stop trying.

Her actions seemed a little unnatural but in the eyes of Duan Liufeng and the others, she was merely struggling against the inevitable.

Shang Pei desperately defended herself when she realized that something was wrong. From the reaction her seal had towards the seal talisman, the person rushing in her direction was moving too damn quickly.

This… This isn’t a speed achievable by Martial Intent Realm cultivators! It… It has to be a Martial Extermination Realm expert!

To get their hands on a seal talisman from the members of the Youyan Stronghold… Is that expert coming to help me?

Shang Pei’s heart trembled lightly. As a foreign cultivator to the Sixth Pass of the Taihang Mountains, she didn’t manage to form great relationships with the experts who had already established themselves there. That was also one of the reasons she chose to settle down in the Cloud Water Gorge. 

Now that reinforcements were coming, she felt that it had to be someone unrelated to the Sixth Pass! She racked her brain to think of who it could possibly be when a name flashed through her mind.

She recently called for Shang Xia to meet her in the Sixth Pass, and if he was the newcomer, that would mean that he had entered the Martial Extermination Realm! 

Of course, it was possible that the person approaching was someone who had a grudge against her. However, her situation couldn’t be any worse. Even if another enemy appeared, the situation wouldn’t change much.

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As she continued to fight back, a multitude of thoughts ran through her mind. The more she thought about it, the more likely it became for the newcomer to be Shang Xia. After all, he seemed to be flying towards her at a terrifying speed. There was only one reason for anyone to act so recklessly. They were probably allies who posed no threat to each other. 

If an enemy obtained the seal talisman and used it to track Shang Pei down, they would definitely approach cautiously so as not to fall into a trap she set up. 

With the distance between them closing rapidly, Shang Xia could detect the battle with his divine perception. Increasing his speed, he not only wanted to catch her opponents off guard. He also wanted her to act according to the situation. It would be great if they could cooperate seamlessly to deal with the 3. 

No matter what, there were 3 of them. Shang Xia and Shang Pei would be outnumbered if they were to engage in an all-out confrontation.

Only by cooperating with each other would they be able to bring out the greatest effects of Shang Xia’s arrival.

After Shang Pei concluded the identity of the newcomer, a wave of relief swept through her heart. She had seen Shang Xia in action before and she knew how he killed a Martial Extermination Realm expert when he was only in the Martial Intent Realm. She was confident in his abilities now that he had broken through.

Even though excitement was starting to fill her heart, there was one more thing Shang Pei couldn’t understand. It was why Shang Xia wasn’t restrained in the Cloud Water Gorge. 

Despite the question floating about in her mind, she didn’t have time to worry about it as he was arriving soon.

Under Duan Liufeng, Feng Chanyi, and Yu Hanglong’s shocked gaze, Shang Pei changed her approach. No longer trying to break out of the encirclement, Shang Pei started a ferocious counterattack.

She changed her fighting style without warning, catching them off guard. Afraid that she was attacking in a fit of desperation, they quickly lessened the pressure on her. Yu Hanglong and Duan Liufeng saw a chance to critically injure her but chose to give up at the last second. They didn’t wish for her to die before giving up all her secrets!

Instead of fighting all 3, Shang Pei focused her attention on Feng Chenyi and unleashed a devastating offensive against her.

She no longer bothered defending herself as she unleashed the full might of the Shang Clan’s Spear Art. It was the same technique Shang Bo had created but it underwent some modifications by Shang Bo and Kou Chongxue before being passed down to the rest of the Shang Clan.

Their modifications allowed the original spear art developed by Shang Bo to reach a whole new level of complexity.

Facing Shang Pei’s maniacal assault, Duan Liufeng quickly ran beside Feng Chenyi to share the pressure. Yu Hanglong leaped to the other side in order to prevent her from escaping.

At the moment, the person who was suffering the most was Feng Chenyi, and she cut a really sorry figure.

“Why are you guys acting like a wuss? As long as she’s still breathing. She’ll be able to tell us everything we want to know…” Feng Chenyi snapped.

However, all of them seem to detect a powerful aura at the same time. A foreign expert entered the range of their divine perception and it didn’t bother concealing itself as he charged straight for them.

“Who are you?” Duan Liufeng roared in angrily. He didn’t want anyone to interfere with their business now that they were at the critical stage of taking down the leader of the Youyan Stronghold, but he didn’t want to cause any misunderstandings either.

The only reply he received was a blinding speck of light that emerged barely 300 feet away. The dense fog did nothing to hide its presence.

“Not good, the newcomer wields a spear! The two of them are on the same side!” Yu Hanglong roared. A sword light fell from the void towards Shang Pei as he decided to take her out before dealing with the newcomer.

Duan Liufeng, who had finally realized that things were going really wrong, tried to stop the spear light headed his way.

Shang Pei, who was unleashing an endless offensive against Feng Chenyi, turned around much to their surprise. Her spear slammed heavily into the sword light Yu Hanglong summoned and a loud blast filled the air. 

The only person among them who couldn’t react appropriately was Feng Chenyi. She had been locked in bitter combat with Shang Pei earlier and she was extremely sensitive to any changes Shang Pei made. She had been on the defensive the whole time and now that Shang Pei had ditched her to deal with Yu Hanglong’s attack, she was temporarily stunned by the sudden change in the situation. 

As rage filled her heart, she wanted to scream at Shang Pei for messing with her. However, Duan Liufeng’s frightened cry brought her back to reality.

“Rank four talisman!”

By the time the blinding speck of light appeared in the fog, it was too late. Duan Liufeng was prepared to take on another spear wielder after hearing Yu Hanglong’s yell, but he discovered that the speck of blinding light had turned into a massive golden ball of fire. It tore through the dense fog as it shot straight for him.

Surprisingly, the element of fire greatly restrained Duan Liufeng’s extermination origins. His expression turned serious and he knew he couldn’t be careless. 

Feng Chenyi never expected that they would be caught off guard despite holding the advantage. She faltered slightly when facing the danger coming from behind.

By the time she turned around to face the threat, it was a little too late.

Her Hexagonal Lantern emitted rays of brilliant light as the tiny flame flickering within turned into a massive ball of fire. Two giant suns could be seen in the middle of the Cloud Water Gorge at the moment.

In such a high-level battle, the victor was usually determined in a single second.

After tossing out his talisman, Shang Xia changed his angle of attack. Circulating his extermination origins, Shang Xia released his ninth move, Piercing Sun.

As his spear soared through the air, the ‘mini sun’ created by the flame in Feng Chenyi’s Hexagonal Lantern was torn to bits. Her miserable cry came soon after. The dense fog that had been blown away by the appearance of the fireball quickly returned to engulf the area.

Even though an attack at that level struck Feng Chenyi, Shang Xia heard sounds of cracking coming from the space beside her. Her figure disappeared, only to reappear several hundred feet away from her original position. Ignoring her companions, she turned to flee.

Feng Chenyi might be able to escape the detection range of any ordinary Martial Extermination Realm expert in the Cloud Water Gorge, but she seemed to have run out of luck. Shang Xia was able to detect anything within a 1000 feet radius around him!

Tilting his body to the side, Shang Xia grabbed his Scarlet Star Spear before releasing a Void Evasion Spear into the void. 

Even though he was using rank three techniques, his cultivation base was at the Four Constellation Realm. Ordinary rank three techniques would be able to threaten cultivators in the same realm, but Shang Xia wasn’t using any ordinary techniques! He was using his Nine Providence Spear, and Feng Chenyi ate the attack before she had time to defend herself.

A wretched cry tore through the air as a giant spear created from Shang Xia’s Four Seasons Extermination Origins tore a bloody hole through her chest. The destructive might quickly destroyed whatever was left of her life force.