Chapter 546: Wild Guesses
It didn’t matter if it was the expert who just emerged or Liu Yu. Both of them were clear that there was someone else nearby.
However, Shang Xia hid his aura too carefully and neither Liu Yu nor the other cultivator chose to call him out. They didn’t make any huge moves to force him out of hiding either, and Shang Xia couldn’t be happier to watch how everything unfolded.
“Who the hell are you? I’ve been on the Manyu Continent for some time now. I have never heard of you!” The cultivator who broke out from the formation asked again.
Liu Yu ignored him as she stood firmly in her spot. She merely stared in the direction of the pillar of light.
The cultivator who broke out from the formation stared in the same direction. However, he grunted loudly and rushed at Liu Yu without warning. They were separated by hundreds of feet and that distance was basically non-existent to experts at their level.
He acted quickly and decisively. Moreover, he didn’t hold back at all. As his truncheons came crashing down, the space around them shattered.
Watching The cultivator who broke out from the formation make his move, Shang Xia was sure of one thing. He was definitely an expert from the Azure Origin World! The only thing Shang Xia didn’t know was which holy land or sect he came from
A look of surprise appeared on Liu Yu’s face when she noticed his attack. She didn’t dare to take his attack head-on and she quickly retreated. Forming a seal with her hands, a shield made from feathers appeared in front of her. Unfortunately, they were shattered in an instant.
Actually, it wasn’t exactly unfortunate. Because the feathered shield managed to stop the attack for a short moment, Liu Yu managed to make her escape.
The cultivator who broke out from the formation would naturally not give up after a single failed attempt to smash her to bits after everything she put him through. His truncheons twisted in mid air and his figure turned blurry as he chased after Liu Yu. The distance between them shortened immediately.
Shang Xia, who had been observing the battle from the side, naturally saw through Liu Yu’s act. His divine perception had already discovered that Liu Yu was retreating to lure her opponent into a trap as an imperceptible layer of light was flickering not too far away from her.
The cultivator who broke out from the formation earlier didn’t seem to notice it as he continued his fierce offensive against Liu Yu.
Shang Xia wanted to remind The cultivator who broke out from the formation earlier about the trap, but he swallowed his words just as they were about to leave his lips.
The next instant, the cultivator who broke out from the formation earlier arrived before Liu Yu.
The space around him turned blurry as illusory pillars of light tore through the space in all directions. It was clear they wanted to trap Liu Yu’s opponent!
Another formation?!
Shang Xia immediately recognized what was going on. At the same time, he was shocked to discover that Cen Yu and Liu Yu managed to lay down their double layer formation and a whole other formation in such a short amount of time.
Sensing the formation that appeared suddenly, Shang Xia discovered that it spanned the entire region around the light pillar! It covered a massive area, and the pillar of light was located in the dead center of the formation.
It was no wonder Liu Yu was so fearless even though she knew that there was someone else hiding nearby. She was protected by another huge formation!
The cultivator who broke out from the formation just broke through the formation that trapped him earlier and obviously didn’t expect there to be another one waiting for him. That was why he attacked her without any fear.
Too bad for him, he thought wrong. However, he was no weakling. Four rays of extermination lights appeared around his body and pushed those pillars of light that were attempting to restrain him away. Instead of retreating, he rushed straight for Liu Yu.
The next moment, he seemed to have fallen into a pit of quicksand as his speed was greatly reduced. He seemed to be wriggling about in the air, and Liu Yu roared with laughter. She pressed her hands together and countless arrows made from feathers appeared in the air around him. They rained down on him mercilessly the next moment.
Releasing a loud roar, the cultivator who was trapped shattered the space in front of him with his truncheons. The cracks in space dealt with a bunch of the falling arrows. The protection barrier around him formed by his extermination origins also resisted the rain of arrows shooting at him.
However, his barrier didn’t seem like it would last for long. Under the suppression of the enemy’s formation and constant bombardment, it started to dim quickly.
“Are you still not going to make your move?!” The cultivator roared. “She’s obviously not an expert from the Manyu Continent! She’s definitely planning something sinister with everything she’s doing… I am Xue Changling of the Azure Origin World and I hope you can help me out!”
Shang Xia wasn’t a fool. He wouldn’t believe that Xue Changling was calling for help because he was at his limit.
However, Shang Xia knew that he couldn’t remain on the sidelines now that Xue Changling had called for help as that would only tell everyone present that he was a treacherous asshole who was scheming against the others. Liu Yu wouldn’t be the only one to raise her guard against him. Even Xue Changling would probably start to be wary of his presence.
Thinking back to how he came to blows with Liu Yu and Cen Yu back when he saved Yan Su’er, Shang Xia was truly unwilling to expose his identity at that moment.
With his brain operating in overdrive, Shang Xia seemed to think of something and he flipped his wrist to reveal the Hundred Gold Sword.
That was one of the extremely rare high-grade weapons possessed by an expert of the Manyu Continent. Shang Xia wanted to bring it back to the Shang Clan when he returned and request their grandmaster blacksmith to repair the weapon. At the same time, he hoped that their grandmaster blacksmith would be able to learn something from how the Manyu Continent crafted weapons and improve his skills.
Now that he was stuck in a sticky situation, Shang Xia realized that he could change up his fighting style by using the Hundred Gold Sword and not revealing his identity.
The Hundred Gold Sword was created with a hundred different types of metal essences. Because of that, it was a lot heavier than other swords of the same size. Waving it around to familiarize himself with it, Shang Xia sent a stab through the air once he was confident he could use the weapon well. A sharp ringing sound tore through the air as the body of the blade ripped through the void.
Ever since Shang Xia entered the path of cultivation, he had been using different weapons. From the Martial Extremity Realm to the Martial Extermination Realm, the martial intents he developed were for different weapons!
With the Hundred Gold Sword in his hand, Shang Xia displayed the martial intent he comprehended in the Yin Yang Realm, the Seven Laceration Sword!
It might be a martial intent he comprehended back in the Martial Extremity Realm, but he was unleashing it with Four Constellation Qi! The power it possessed might not be comparable to the Twenty Four Solar Terms, but it was enough to cause cultivators of the same level to feel a slight sense of trepidation.
With his competency in sword arts, Shang Xia’s strike wouldn’t deviate from his target. His Hundred Gold Sword tore through the air and tore one of the light pillars restraining Xue Cangling’s truncheons apart. With the restraints broken, Xue Cangling felt the pressure on him lighten a whole lot.
“Who are you?” Liu Yu stared at the newcomer who was covered in a layer of mist and expanded her divine perception in an attempt to probe him. However, it was stopped before it could approach.
Liu Yu was prepared for something like that to happen and she wasn’t too surprised.
Snorting under his breath, Shang Xia ignored her question. He had long learned from Ren Bainian that the previous owner of the Hundred Gold Sword, Xiao Wubai, had great connections with the high-leveled experts of the Manyu Continent. Even if experts hadn’t seen Xiao Wubai personally, they would definitely recognize his sword.
However, Lin Yu didn’t react when she noticed the sword in Shang Xia’s hand. She obviously didn’t know the origins of the sword and that added another layer of confirmation that she wasn’t an expert of the Manyu Continent.
After sundering one of the illusory rays of light that was suppressing Xue Cangling, Shang Xia didn’t continue assisting the man. He turned around and slashed at the void as he followed the source of the illusory light to an array flag in the distance.
The array flag was clearly the treasure that allowed Cen Yu and Liu Yu to lay down a formation around the pillar of light in such a short amount of time. If Shang Xia merely assisted Xue Cangling to escape, the formation would eventually restore itself no matter how much damage was done to it.
Only by getting rid of the array flag would they be able to weaken the formation. There was even a possibility of destroying it completely!
By doing so, Shang Xia was employing the famous tactic of sieging Wei to rescue Zhao. Or in other words, he was backdooring the enemy. The moment he discovered the presence of the array flag, Shang Xia retained a huge amount of his concentration on Liu Yu as he knew she would go crazy if he tried to do something about it.
Contrary to his belief, Liu Yu looked somewhat disconcerned, disinterested even. There was even a trace of mockery on her face.
Shang Xia’s face fell after noticing her strange reaction. Could he have located a fake array flag they were using as a decoy?
Or perhaps…
A bad premonition filled Shang Xia’s mind and he swung his sword behind him.
This time, he didn’t hold back. He unleashed a sword formation the moment he struck. With his Four Constellation Qi powering 7 pairs of sword qi, the Yin Yang Sword Array was deployed!
The sound of metal scraping against each other tore through the air and Shang Xia was forced to lunge forward. Along the way, he grabbed at a seemingly random spot in the air around him and a cluster of reddish-gold lightning filled the area. It twisted slightly before Shang Xia yanked his arm hard to pull out a triangular flag that was 3 inches long.
The web of sword qi that existed because of his Yin Yang Sword Array shattered the next moment and a figure strode out from within. He pointed a long, flat, metal ruler at Shang Xia but there was a trace of lingering fear on his face. He couldn’t help but ask, “What sword art is that?! Why is it so strange?”
Before Shang Xia could respond, something happened on the other side of him. Since Shang Xia removed the array flag, the pressure on Xue Cangling was greatly reduced. With a huge burst, he shattered the suppression Liu Yu had on him before ripping open the protection layer of the formation that trapped him earlier. He didn’t care about anything else as he rushed back into the second layer of formations.
He didn’t even look at Shang Xia who dealt with the outer layer of formations before rushing in and it was too late for Liu Yu to stop him. Without the outer protection formation’s abilities, she wasn’t Xue Cangling’s opponent. She could only chase after him while trying to interfere with his movements.
Shang Xia understood that he had been played by Xue Cangling, but he wasn’t too concerned by it. After all, he had to deal with the opponent in front of him before settling other matters. Seeing as Liu Yu had left, Shang Xia wasn’t afraid that anyone else there would recognize him. He pointed at the expert who just appeared and snorted, “Who the hell are you guys and where do you come from? Su Jinyuan, Cen Yu, Liu Yu, Wang Guan, some other asshole with the surname ‘Xiong’, and yourself… You guys aren’t from the Manyu Continent!”
The person wielding the ruler was visibly shocked when Shang Xia named all of them. His voice sank as he growled, “How did you learn of their names?! Who exactly are you?!”
“All of you are from a foreign power, but your cultivation style is basically the same as those from the Manyu Continent. I don’t think it has anything to do with any concealment or imitation arts you guys practice. As such, there can only be one explanation. You guys originated from the same place. I wonder if I’m right?” Shang Xia ignored the man’s question and threw a massive bomb at him.
The other expert’s expression turned stiff for a moment but he quickly forced a smile. “There’s actually no harm in answering your question. You’ll learn about these things when the time comes anyway.”
“Since all of you originated from the same place, why did you guys enter the Manyu Continent again?” Shang Xia growled.
“Heh, since you managed to deduce so much already, why don’t you keep going?” A soft chuckle was all he received in reply.
Shang Xia tossed out a random guess the next moment. “Don’t tell me you guys are planning to re-integrate the Manyu Continent back to wherever you came from.”
“Haha…” The other expert broke out into laughter, but the ruler in his hand sliced open the space between them and went straight for Shang Xia’s body without any warning.
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