Splitting the Heave

“Actually, we might not have to…” Shang Xia’s voice caused strange expressions to appear on the faces of the other Martial Extermination Realm experts beside him.

Ren Bainian was completely bewildered while Liu Qinglan was overjoyed by Shang Xia’s sudden declaration. Yun Jing had a trace of surprise on her face, and Shang Bo stared directly at Shang Xia with a raised eyebrow. 

There was also a serene gaze well hidden in Shang Bo’s eyes when he looked at his grandson, but no one could tell what he was thinking about.

Seeing as Shang Bo hadn’t said anything, Yun Jing decided to break the silence. “Oh right, I almost forgot. We managed to activate our grand formation and leave the Manyu Continent before it started to crumble, allowing us to avoid the strongest backlash produced during the destruction.” 

Liu Qinglan glanced at Shang Bo before looking at Yun Jing. Finally, her gaze landed on Shang Xia. “Do you really have a way?” 

Nodding his head, Shang Xia smiled. “I should be able to feel its general direction, but that’s about it. This region of sealed space is really effective at isolating us from the outside world…” 

Liu Qinglan’s jaws dropped slightly and she wanted to ask how he was able to do something like that. However, she eventually decided against it and kept silent.

“Look for Chu Jia and bring us in the right direction!” Shang Bo’s voice finally rang through the air. Turning to Shang Xia, he warned, “Take care of yourself and be more serious about this. The safety of the entire island rests in your hands.” 

Shang Xia could hear the concern his grandfather had for him through the short warning, and he couldn’t help but chuckle in response, “Well, it’s perfect timing then. I used up a lot of energy when messing with the Great Observation Sect previously. It was especially difficult to deal with the expert at the grand completion stage. He’s really strong… I felt my organs shifting when he countered my blade strike earlier and I can use this chance to recover!” 

After he spoke, he waved his hand at Yun Jing and the others before turning into a streak of light that went towards the core region of the Tongyou Island.

Glancing at his leaving figure, Yun Jing laughed, “Hehe, the damn brat is trying to tell us that he’s a lot stronger than we think. He probably surpassed me in terms of combat abilities and the expert from the Great Observation Sect at the grand completion stage of the Martial Extermination Realm might not be much stronger than him…” 

Shang Bo looked at Yun Jing and asked another question that was completely unrelated to whatever they were talking about. “How much longer till you reach the large completion stage of the Martial Extermination Realm?” 

…

“How did you do it?!” Chu Jia stared at Shang Xia who was sitting not too far away from her with an incredulous look as she asked. They were both situated at the heart of the grand formation and Chu Jia had countless questions running through her mind.

She knew that the Tongyou Island was able to avoid the damage caused by the backlash when the Manyu Continent was destroyed because of Shang Xia’s warning. 

As such, when he appeared and told her that he was going to guide the Tongyou Island, she didn’t doubt him in the slightest. She might be curious, but she followed his every command.

Shang Xia proved that he was right as they continued their journey.

Even though the experts on the Tongyou Island couldn’t see the giant sun that was the source of the World’s Will, and neither could they feel the origin qi it produced, they could tell that the island didn’t run into any obstruction along the way. Their journey was surprisingly smooth and it was something they hadn’t experienced before.

Shang Xia broke out into a hollow laugh and mentioned, “It probably has something to do with how I refined 4 extermination origins at once. It greatly increased my perception of world origin…” 

He naturally wouldn’t reveal his secret about the Crimson Soul Tablet. As such, he used his cultivation method to explain his abilities.

After all, his cultivation method wasn’t a secret among the higher-ups of the Tongyou Institution and no one would dare to try the same method he used to break through anytime soon. 

Chu Jia gasped after hearing his explanation. “Is refining 4 extermination origins at once really so special? If not for the fact that I am already in the Martial Extermination Realm, I might want to consider breaking through the same way you did.” 

“I only managed to succeed through sheer luck. In all honesty, I wouldn’t recommend anyone to follow my path of cultivation. I have no idea how I managed to cross the final barrier and enter the Martial Extermination Realm back then. Everything was a blur…” Shang Xia responded.

Glancing at Shang Xia, Chu Jia snorted once, “Oh, you’re really lucky alright…” 

“Of course!” Pointing in a certain direction, Shang Xia added, “Look there. I’m feeling a strong fluctuation of world origin in that direction. I think we’re going to leave this region of sealed space soon. Looks like my luck is still working well…” 

Shang Xia wasn’t the only one who felt the sudden spike in world origin. Shang Bo, Yun Jing, Liu Qinglan, and Ren Bainian also turned to stare in a specific direction.

Without Shang Xia and Chu Jia’s reminder, Yun Jing quickly arranged for everyone on the island to prepare themselves.

No one knew what was behind the spatial screen. They might immediately return to the path they were taking to the source of the World’s Will earlier, but they might also run into another floating island controlled by another power.

Whatever the case, they were going to leave the region of sealed space and they had to prepare for everything.

Yun Jing’s transmission came quickly. The Tongyou Island completed their preparations quickly and Chu Jia started to meddle with the jade formation disc beside her. Shang Xia could feel the protection formation expanding rapidly to cover 500 miles around the core region.

Shang Xia chuckled with amusement, “500 miles? Is this what we planned for in the first place?”

Because of all the ordeals they had along the way and collisions with smaller land fragments that couldn’t be avoided, the Tongyou Island was reduced to a size of 1700 miles.

Without raising her head, Chu Jia replied, “Not really, I can extend the protection formation 300 more miles, but there’s no need for that. It will only increase the consumption of our energy needlessly.” 

Before they could speak any further, they could feel the Tongyou Island approaching a thin spatial barrier. Immediately holding their tongues, the experts on the Tongyou Island also retreated into the protection barrier while maintaining their readiness.

As they came into contact with the spatial barrier, ripples appeared and started to spread out from the point the island first came into contact with the barrier. They only stopped when the entire Tongyou Island had passed through the formless screen.

Once again, the world seemed to flip around. Shang Xia tried his best to control his inner qi while maintaining his divine perception to observe what was happening, but he failed to extend it past his body even the slightest bit.

No one knew how long had passed, but the strange feeling and dizziness finally disappeared. Shang Xia quickly pushed his divine perception to the limit while allowing his inner qi to calm down.

Before he could heave a sigh of relief, he discovered that the world origin in the space around them had increased to a ridiculous degree.

The island started to tremble violently all of a sudden and a deep rumbling sound came from far away.

“What’s going on?” Chu Jia, who had barely gotten to her senses, noticed Shang Xia standing beside her seemingly unaffected. Even though she hadn’t regained total control of her divine perception to observe the situation outside the core region, Shang Xia looked perfectly fine. As such, she decided to just ask him what had happened.

Unfortunately, Shang Xia disappeared from his spot as soon as the question left her lips.

Staring at where he once was, she wriggled her nose slightly and pouted, “Hmph, why are you acting so mysteriously? Didn’t you just increase your cultivation faster than me…” 

The complaints barely left her lips when the entire island shook. Several loud blasts ripped through the air.

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“Meteorites?!” Chu Jia gasped before placing her attention back on the jade formation disc. She noticed that the protection barrier was starting to weaken and it looked like it would be shattered the next second.

Hastily placing several polished objects into several spots on the formation disc, the protection formation finally started to turn solid again.

If Shang Xia was still present, he would immediately recognize those items Chu Jia placed onto the formation disc as his fate dipper fragment shards.

Of course, he couldn’t be bothered with what Chu Jia was doing to the formation. He was wholly focused on the Great Sun that appeared after they emerged from the region of sealed space.

When they emerged, the Tongyou Institution appeared under the Great Sun that was the source of the World’s Will.

Unlike the time when they just laid eyes on it, the Great Sun looked much closer than before. The brilliant rays of light it emitted lit up the Tongyou Island intensely.

From where they were, Shang Xia wasn’t the only one who felt the difference in his surroundings. Yun Jing, Liu Qinglan, Shang Ke, Zhang Haogu, and the others could clearly feel the dense world origin around them.