Splitting the Heave

The spatial barrier that existed in the You Continent also stretched through the northern region of the Liang Continent. Strange mist would pour out from the spatial barrier from time to time and it was showing signs of thinning in recent years. Even so, the reduction wasn’t really obvious. 

Wei Qiongyi felt the world spinning around her after she left the Abyssal Secret Region and after she finally stabilized herself, she noticed that she was surrounded in a ball of white mist. The only difference from the time she was transported was that she wasn’t standing on the peak of a mountain like before.

A sudden cold breeze blew through the land and a soft whistling followed. It scattered the mist in the area and greatly raised visibility.

Staring all around, a look of shock appeared in her eyes. The mist that emerged from the spatial barrier couldn’t be dispersed and she knew that she shouldn’t be able to hear anything if she was truly standing in the confines of the spatial barrier. The whistling sound and the presence of wind told her that something was wrong.

Realizing that something might be wrong, she quickly walked to where the mist in her surroundings could barely be seen. She heard the whistling of wind once again and birds chirping filled the air. She even heard the faint trickling of a stream not too far away.

Looking at the scene before her, Wei Qiongyi could basically confirm that she had emerged from the confines of the spatial barrier. Excitement bubbled in her heart when she finally left the scary Abyssal Secret Region. The worries that existed in her heart disappeared and she heaved a sigh of relief. It didn’t take long for the lethargy to set in.

After circulating her inner qi to keep herself awake, she retrieved a piece of cloth she had kept in her sleeves before she left the secret region. A ton of words could be seen scribbled on it and it was where she recorded the rank four advancement formula Shang Xia had unlocked when he first found her. It was called the Four Essence Abyssal Wine and a trace of joy flashed across her face when she looked at it. Retrieving another cloth bag that was tied to her waist, she looked at the piece of Flowing Goblet Brewer’s Yeast contained within.

Only then was she satisfied that everything that happened before wasn’t a fragment of her imagination. She actually survived her trip to the Abyssal Secret Region.

“Rank Four Flowing Goblet Brewer’s Yeast… Looks like young lady managed to have a very fortunate encounter after being brought away by the strange mist of the spatial barrier…

“Who?!” The instincts of a deacon from the Weiwu Institution that hadn’t been useful back in the Abyssal Secret Region awakened inside of her. She extended her divine sense in the direction of the voice but failed to capture a trace of a living existence.

When she raised her head to take a look, she saw a middle aged man who was around 30 years old staring at her from nearly 300 feet away. He was clad in a tattered blue robe but it did nothing to hide the extraordinary aura he emitted. He stood with his hands folded in front of him as he leaned against a giant tree. A smile could be seen on his face as he nodded to her in acknowledgment.

“Who are you?” Wei Qiongqi had an even stronger feeling that something was wrong with her surroundings at the moment. However, she couldn’t put her finger on it.

The person leaning against the tree didn’t move. Instead, he chuckled softly, “Who am I? My identity is a little complicated and I go by many names. There were some people who called me Yu Cangze in the past but I changed my name to Youshang in recent years… As of right now… Hmm, you can call me the Blue Robed Guest, Xia Cangyu.” 

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“Blue Robed Guest, Xia Cangyu?” Wei Qiongyi pondered over the name and tried to think of an expert who went by it. Unfortunately, she couldn’t think of anyone no matter how hard she tried. 

Moreover, she couldn’t detect his presence earlier and there could only be several explanations for it. Either he had some sort of treasure to hide his aura, or his cultivation was way higher than hers. It didn’t matter if he had some sort of concealment treasure. The problem would come if his cultivation level was a lot higher than hers. After all, the Weiwu Institution was supposed to control the Liang Continent. It didn’t make sense for them not to know about the appearance of such a terrifying character.

“Are you not from the Liang Continent?” Wei Qiongyi probed.

“Liang Continent? Of course not!” Xia Cangyu laughed in response. However, a look of realization appeared on his face soon after. “I see… So you’re from the Liang Continent of the Azure Origin World…” 

“Azure Origin World?! Liang Continent?” Wei Qiongyi’s expression changed drastically after hearing what he said. “Why do you sound so surprised? You… You’re not from our Azure Origin World!” 

Circulating her inner qi, she got ready for battle.

A smile remained on Xia Cangyu’s face when he looked at Wei Qiongyi and he didn’t seem bothered that she was about to start throwing out attacks at him. Instead, his gentle smile remained as he spoke, “Young lady, have you not noticed your surroundings? Don’t you think that it’s a little different from the Liang Continent you’re familiar with?” 

Wei Qiongyi felt a chilly sensation filling her heart after hearing his question. She finally realized the cause of her strange feelings.

The Liang Continent was barren and cold. There wasn’t much vegetation in the continent and it was filled with large swathes of grassland at best. Looking at the lush tree Xia Cangyu was leaning on and the dense forest behind him, a very bad feeling appeared in Wei Qiongyi’s heart.

This isn’t the Liang Continent!

No… This… This isn’t the Azure Origin World!

…

In the Abyssal Secret Region, Shang Xia was starting to come up with ideas to retreat safely. 

The entry of the fourth layer Martial Extermination Realm expert who they were starting to suspect was actually at the large completion stage gave Shang Xia a rude awakening. After forcing him out of the Abyssal Secret Region with a joint attack with Tao Mosheng and the others, Shang Xia felt that it was time to leave.

The Abyssal Secret Region was on the brink of destruction and countless cracks were forming in the space it contained. Those spatial cracks were extending through the secret region at an exceedingly fast pace.

Flying over to the nearest treasure that emerged from the central mountain, Shang Xia did his best to avoid all the spatial cracks that were forming in the skies.

From the time he obtained the Abyssal Blade, Shang Xia had barely gathered 2 treasures from the inheritance of the Abyssal Sect. Unlike Shang Xia, Tao Mosheng and the others managed to get 2 to 3 of them each as they started earlier than Shang Xia. 

Unfortunately, the treasures were wrapped in a layer of light. None of them knew what each other obtained.

Regardless, one had to be alive in order to make use of the treasures they obtained.

With the sea of clouds under them fully dissipated, Shang Xia started to see the outline of the entire Abyssal Secret Region as the mountain peaks started to reveal themselves. He could tell that those mountain peaks were floating in the air and an endless void existed under them.

If Shang Xia wanted to fly through the sea of clouds to leave the secret region, he would most probably be swallowed by the void.

The degree of fusion of the secret region and the world outside increased and Shang Xia could somewhat see the situation outside. Before entering the Cloud Water Gorge, he went around the area to conduct his investigation. From the looks of it, the scene was pretty similar to the one outside the Cloud Water Gorge and there should be no doubt about it. The moment the Abyssal Secret Region descended and fused with the world, it would appear where the Cloud Water Gorge was!

The only thing that captured Shang Xia’s attention was the flashes of extermination light he saw from time to time. Those definitely belonged to Martial Extermination Realm experts and from how many rays of extermination lights there were, Shang Xia could tell that the Abyssal Secret Region had already been surrounded. 

The moment the Abyssal Secret Region descended and was revealed to the outside world, Shang Xia and the others inside would be trapped like a turtle in a jar!

He forced himself to slow down as he no longer chased after the treasures that were spewing out from the central mountain peak. He started to prepare himself for battle, but the other 3 didn’t seem like they noticed the threat as they kept up their hunt for the treasures.

Conflict rose in Shang Xia’s heart as he contemplated telling them about what he had seen outside the Abyssal Secret Region. He felt that it would be for the best if they could reach an agreement and form an alliance to prevent themselves from getting picked off once the Abyssal Secret Region was revealed to the world. 

However, he quickly discovered how stupid he was. 

Be it Tao Mosheng or the other two, their actual cultivation level was higher than Shang Xia! They would definitely have already discovered the situation they were in. They weren’t alone either. Those Martial Extermination Realm experts outside the secret region were probably there to back them up and their fearless behavior was easily explainable!

The only person who was operating alone in the Abyssal Secret Region was Shang Xia!

As he stood in mid air, Shang Xia could vaguely feel the sense of hostility and mockery coming from the other 3. 

Hehehe, The moment the Abyssal Secret Region crumbles and fuses with the outside world, you’re going to die a horrible death…

That was the feeling he got from the 3 of them.

Falling deep into contemplation, he started to think about his next course of action. What should I do… What should I do now…

Staring at the bottomless abyss, several figures became a little more refined. 

Cloud Water Gorge… With the weird suppression gone, Shang Xia felt that it was possible to hide in the complicated terrain that existed there. The biggest problem he had to overcome at the moment was to get rid of the experts who had surrounded the secret region. It didn’t seem too possible for him to get rid of all the experts who had their eyes on the secret region.

As the degree of fusion increased, the Martial Extermination Realm experts gathered around couldn’t wait as they pressed closer to the area where the Abyssal Secret Region would descend. Shang Xia even noticed a familiar aura drawing close and recognized him as the person they forced out of the Abyssal Secret Region earlier. 

It seemed as though everyone was getting impatient.

Those outside weren’t the only ones who were getting rowdy. Tao Mosheng and the other 2 didn’t remain idle as they approached the edge of the Abyssal Secret Region where the space was extremely thin as they tried to contact their respective factions.

They clearly wanted to help those outside to break through the sealed space that contained the Abyssal Secret Region before it was fully revealed to the outside world.

Shang Xia stared at the Abyssal Blade in his hand. The divine weapon truly gave him a huge increase in strength, but it was also what was going to turn him into target number one the moment people started to enter the Abyssal Secret Region. 

He could already imagine himself getting surrounded by foreign experts the moment they entered.

The inheritance of the Abyssal Sect might be precious, but there wouldn’t be anything more precious than the Abyssal Blade! Shang Xia felt that he had already obtained the most important treasure of the Abyssal Sect and there was no way the experts of the various factions would let him leave with it.

Just when Shang Xia was thinking of ways to break out from his predicament, a ray of light flashed in front of his eyes.

Instinctively, Shang Xia slashed at it with his Abyssal Blade.

“Oh shit!”