Splitting the Heave

Shang Xia’s attack didn't seem to do anything to his opponent directly, but it managed to draw the ire of the divine weapon. With the divine weapon sending another blade light towards his opponent, Shang Xia’s actions weren’t completely useless. 

Instead of focusing on the other party’s cultivation level at the third layer Martial Extermination Realm or what happened after the blade light was fired at him, Shang Xia’s attention was placed on the divine weapon.

That was because Shang Xia could feel the divine weapon vibrating extremely violently after it released the latest strike. The boulder it was stuck in was trembling violently as cracks started to form on its surface. Several smaller rocks started to fall and it was something Shang Xia had never seen before. Previously, the boulder was surprisingly smooth and not a trace of imperfection could be seen.

Is the divine weapon about to be released from the boulder?

Wouldn’t that mean that the boulder was used as some sort of seal to trap the divine weapon? 

What would happen if the divine weapon managed to struggle free from the boulder? 

All divine weapons possessed sentience and no one knew who sealed it, or why it was sealed in the first place.

Countless thoughts flashed through Shang Xia’s mind but he didn’t forget the most important thing he had to do. He exhausted a huge portion of his Four Constellation Qi earlier and he had to recover as soon as possible.

After all, traveling through the secret region would use up a lot of energy. When he was placed at risk of being thrown out of the secret region by the silver hammer earlier, Shang Xia even had to use his extermination origins to carve a spatial tunnel through the void.

He didn’t stop there. When he unleashed his Startling Moon Spear right after that, he nearly drained his entire reserve of inner qi. If he was back in the outside world, he would only be able to recover slowly by absorbing heaven and earth qi and converting them into Four Constellation Qi in his dantian. He could also drink several mouthfuls of Hundred Flower Spiritual Wine to hasten the speed of his recovery. 

However, he had experienced multiple battles with Martial Extermination Realm experts and his understanding of his Four Constellation Qi grew a lot deeper than before. Along with the various encounters he had along the way and his constant deliberation of his rank four martial arts, he seemed to have discovered how Martial Extermination Realm experts truly cultivated.

He learned that he was able to absorb the heaven and earth qi in the air, along with the faint traces of world origin that existed within the secret region to restore his inner qi at a rate quicker than before.

Even though he hadn’t fully made sense of how it worked, he could restore his inner qi much faster than before. That also gave Shang Xia the assurance that he could start testing his theories for the martial arts he had been trying to come up with.

Both parties weren’t able to seriously injure the other in their previous exchange, but it was clear both sides had exhausted a lot of energy. As Shang Xia desperately tried to recover his inner qi, the wielder of the silver hammer also remained silent.

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The sudden quiet that pervaded the secret region only served as the calm before the storm. There was no doubt about it. It wouldn’t take long before a massive battle broke out. Until both sides recovered to their peak state, it seemed as though none of them would be making a move.

After restoring a portion of his strength, Shang Xia shrouded the mountain peak he was standing on with his divine perception. He looked through every nook and cranny before locating a familiar altar.

Once again, Shang Xia’s guess that the secret region was a land of inheritance left behind by a certain power was further confirmed.

Unfortunately, he no longer had an Abyssal Seal on him and he would be unable to activate the altar on the mountain peak.

Earlier when Shang Xia decided to move to another peak, he wasn’t just planning on verifying his guesses. He wanted to obtain all the treasures he could while he was at it.

With the peak he arrived at at the start, he traveled counterclockwise to Wei Qiongyi’s location before arriving where he currently was.

If he crossed to the next mountain peak, he would arrive where Duan Liufeng appeared when he entered the secret region.

After Duan Liufeng’s arm was sliced off by the blade light, he escaped in a desperate attempt to live. When Shang Xia noticed his escape earlier, he didn’t notice an Abyssal Seal in either one of his hands. He probably dropped it while making his escape.

Of course, the further Shang Xia traveled, the closer he would get to the silver hammer wielding Martial Extermination Realm expert.

A strange idea popped into his mind when he approached the altar. He tried stuffing the six sided handle into the slot, but reality quickly caught up to him. Clearly, it wasn’t going to work. 

After failing to shove it into the slot meant for the seal, Shang Xia didn’t expect much but he quickly received a surprise. Something inside the handle seemed to awaken and Shang Xia could feel the heaven and earth qi around him swirling about.

That wasn’t all. The thin trace of world origin that seemed to exist all about the secret region seemed to be attracted by his actions as they swarmed over to the altar in all directions. They poured into the slot that was supposed to hold the Abyssal Seal and started to condense slightly.

World origin was formless to begin with. One would only be able to feel its presence through their divine perception. After the world origin entered the slot on the altar, Shang Xia felt them condensing to form some sort of tangible object.

His thoughts returned to the time he entered the secret region where the Abyssal Seal turned into a ball of liquefied world origin. 

“Is this six sided handle really able to gather world origin within this secret region?!” Shang Xia stared at the object in his hand and a trace of excitement was starting to bubble in his heart. “Hahaha! This little thing is the real treasure here!” 

Looking at how the faint world origin around him was gathering around the slot in the altar, Shang Xia wondered if a new Abyssal Seal would be produced after the entire process was complete. Because of his excitement, he didn’t notice that the sea of clouds was starting to turn a little fainter than before.

The originally calm sea of clouds started to churn and the reason behind the disturbance seemed to come from the altar where Shang Xia had gathered the world origin.

A frown suddenly formed on Shang Xia’s face when he felt a slight disturbance in another direction.

The place he felt the change wasn’t where the silver hammer wielding Martial Extermination Realm expert was, and neither did it come from anywhere nearby.

When the divine weapon emitted a soft hum that filled the skies, Shang Xia turned to see several thin cracks extending through the boulder that trapped the weapon. At the same time, another blade light soared into the skies and slashed at the region he felt the disturbance earlier.

Someone else entered the secret region!

A strange feeling filled Shang Xia’s heart but before he could make out his thoughts, a miserable cry filled the skies. The disturbance Shang Xia felt earlier dissipated like a cloud of smoke. It seemed as though the person who just entered wasn’t too lucky. He might not even have realized what was happening before he was cut down by the blade light.

Only after the newcomer was slain did Shang Xia make sense of the strange feeling inside him. Before the appearance of the last person, Shang Xia had seen 2 cultivators entering the secret region. One was Wei Qiongyi, and the other was the silver hammer wielding Martial Extermination Realm expert. Both times, he didn’t notice any spatial fluctuations when they arrived. He didn’t hear the soft humming from the divine weapon when the blade light was unleashed either. 

Several things appeared to be different at the moment. The boulder that trapped the divine weapon seemed to be cracking ever so slightly, and it was the second time Shang Xia had noticed the change. 

Shang Xia was afraid that everything was pointing at one terrifying fact. The divine weapon was about to free itself! No one would be able to predict what would happen to the secret region the moment it did, but before any of that happened, Shang Xia decided that he had to get his hands on Duan Liufeng’s Abyssal Seal no matter what.

With no time left to lose, Shang Xia retrieved a flask from his sleeves and downed two huge mouthfuls of Hundred Flower Spiritual Wine. He hesitated slightly before keeping the six sided handle and the moment he raised it up, a dense clump of world origin followed.

Taking a deep breath, Shang Xia stored the clump of world origin in his dantian. He quickly determined that the amount was something he would only be able to gather after 3 days of cultivation if he didn’t use the six sided handle.

The clump of world origin wasn’t all that he managed to obtain. There was a droplet of liquefied world origin sitting in the slot where the Abyssal Seal was meant to be inserted and instead of refining it to restore his inner qi, he decided to send it into the space between his eyebrows. 

It didn’t take long for so much world origin to be gathered and Shang Xia was finally convinced that the six sided handle he had was the greatest treasure he laid his hands on.

Since the Martial Extermination Realm expert who was wielding the silver hammer hadn’t shown himself, Shang Xia chose to head over to look for Duan Liufeng’s Abyssal Seal. As he flew over, he glanced at the mountain peak where the silver hammer wielding Martial Extermination Realm expert was. Unfortunately, the void was still slightly twisted and he was unable to accurately observe what was going on there.

Shang Xia knew that he might face the obstruction of the silver hammer wielding Martial Extermination Realm expert when he tried to cross over to the other peak, but he wouldn’t be caught off guard this time. He was confident that he could deal with anything thrown his way.

With his Four Seasons Extermination Origins pulsating around him, Shang Xia leaped into the air and flew towards where Duan Liufeng first appeared in the secret region.

Now that he was even more familiar with the way he could use his extermination origins, his speed was nearly 40 percent faster than before.

While he flew through the air, his divine perception caught the aura of the silver hammer wielding Martial Extermination Realm expert flying in another direction. Turning to stare in the direction he thought he felt the fluctuations, Shang Xia saw a streak of light flying towards a peak close to the one he was heading for. 

Both of them landed at the same time and this time, they shortened the distance between the two of them even more.`