Chapter 669: Conflict of Ideology
Shang Xia gave his position to Mu Songfang and the others were at a loss for what to do.
A trace of unease flashed through Mu Songfang’s heart, but she quickly mustered the courage to join the rest.
She had been observing their practice for the past ten days or so, and she had been listening to everything Shang Xia taught them. She couldn’t be more familiar with what he had been saying. Of the many principles and notions Shang Xia had mentioned, Yan Weihai and the others found it hard to understand. They would try their best to implement it, but it would be forced at best. Mu Songfang didn’t understand why they couldn’t catch his meaning as they made some sense to her.
She might have joined the team, but there was no way they could immediately start fighting Ju Hang.
It was the first time the 7 Martial Extremity Realm students of the Fifth Class were working together again and they had to take some time to get used to each other. They would also need to test if Mu Songfang had grasped the workings of the battle formation after the time she spent listening at the side.
They suffered a few setbacks initially when she joined their battle formation but it didn’t take long for her to integrate herself with the others. That wasn’t all. Because she understood Shang Xia’s philosophy behind his cultivation, along with her cultivation standing above the others, she quickly became the person in charge of leading the formation. She quickly replaced Shang Xia’s position.
There was no doubt she couldn’t match Shang Xia’s ability to react quickly to any situation that might arise and his amazing control of the situation, but in the eyes of Shang Xia and Ju Hang, her ability to lead the rest was already a great blessing.
“After several days, I’m afraid you’re going to have a hard time…” Shang Xia tilted his head to the side and whispered to Ju Hang.
If he was anyone else, Ju Hang would definitely have shot back with a snide remark. However, Shang Xia was the one speaking and he knew he had to be careful. He might not believe that it would happen but he couldn’t help but ask, “Why is that?”
Shang Xia continued to observe the students as they practiced the battle formation and replied casually, “In the past, there were only 6 of them who were attacking you. Now, the seventh has arrived.”
Shang Xia might have said that they would be able to give Ju Hang a run for his money, but that was in the future. The 7 of them were quickly defeated the first time they fought. The battle formation was nowhere near as powerful as when Shang Xia was the one directing them.
Despite their defeat, Mu Songfang and the others weren’t feeling dispirited by their loss. Instead, traces of excitement could be seen on their faces and they were getting more worked up by the minute.
After the battle, Yan Weihai, Mu Songfang, and the others stayed behind to continue practicing their battle formation and strengthen their control over it.
Shang Xia and Ju Hang were about to leave when the sudden appearance of someone stopped them.
“Are you guys training in battle formations?” Sun Haiwei’s arrival shocked Ju Hang, but Shang Xia didn't seem too surprised.
“Teacher Sun, why are you here?” Ju Hang frowned. Even though he wasn’t too pleased with her presence, he still maintained a sense of respect.
After all, when Shang Xia and himself were students in the Outer Division, Sun Haiwei was already a student in the Upper Division and their Custodian.
Now that Sun Haiwei had broken into the Martial Extermination Realm, she was considered 1 of the 3 most outstanding disciples of her generation.
Of course, the other 2 were Chu Jia and Shang Xia…
“I discovered your practice almost 5 days ago… I came here today to take a look for myself.” Sun Haiwei replied casually.
Ju Hang didn’t seem too pleased and he grumbled, “I’m afraid what you’re doing isn’t too nice, right?”
Even though the lessons and general teaching guidelines had been given to the various teachers, most of the details were left up to the individual. They could control what they wanted to teach, and to what degree.
It was highly frowned upon for teachers of other classes to interfere with each other’s way of teaching.
Even though Sun Haiwei’s authority and cultivation were high in the institution, and her teaching capabilities were evident from the way she taught the First and Second Classes, Ju Hang wasn’t too happy with her actions.
He wasn’t too affected by Shang Xia’s method as he was still a part of their training. He might be their opponent, but Shang Xia integrated him into the process of teaching his students.
Sun Haiwei wasn’t surprised by Ju Hang’s reaction at all. She chuckled in response, “The battle formation is really interesting. I wish to allow my students of the First and Second Classes to join you. I wonder if that is possible?”
Ju Hang’s first instinct was to reject her. However, he quickly noticed that she wasn’t talking to him. She had been addressing Shang Xia the entire time.
Despite the suffocating feeling in his heart, Ju Hang decided not to speak first.
Sun Haiwei turned to Ju Hang out of the blue and explained, “Actually, you can consider this a joint lesson from the both of us. Since you’re willing to teach the students of the Fifth Class with Junior Brother Shang, why can’t my students join in?”
By saying that, she was taking his feelings into account. There was no point in getting angry at him and he even felt a little better after her explanation.
“I don’t have any opinions on the matter. However, the battle formation was developed by Shang… By Teacher Shang Xia.” Ju Hang immediately tossed the ball over to Shang Xia.
What the hell… You Martial Extermination Realm experts can decide this on your own. I’m just here to be their sparring partner!
“Sure.” Shang Xia agreed readily. The reason he was teaching his Extremity Yin Yang Formation was because he wished to repay the favor the institution had shown him in the past anyway.
“Alright! I’ll bring them over tomorrow!” Sun Haiwei smiled while nodding at Shang Xia. With a slight shake of her body, she disappeared and Ju Hang couldn’t feel her movements.
He muttered to himself in a voice no one could hear, but no one was paying attention to him anyway.
Yan Weihai and the others who were training in their battle formation heard the conversation between their teachers and they felt a sense of crisis coming. They turned even more serious when they practiced their formation.
…
On the thirteenth day after the competition was announced, Shang Xia was still teaching his regular class. However, there were 2 fewer students from the Fifth Class that day.
After clearing all their doubts about cultivation and concluding their lesson, dozens of students streamed into the training plaza. They were from the First and Second Classes taught by Sun Haiwei, and there were even 2 other Custodians who followed them over. They were Martial Intent Realm cultivators from the Protection Division and Outreach Division respectively. Naturally, they were more than familiar with Ju Hang who also arrived.
They came because they wanted to see what was going on, but they felt a sense of disdain in their hearts when Sun Haiwei ordered them to go with their students over to the Fifth Class’s training plaza. They had no choice but to obey as the order was given by a mighty Martial Extermination Realm expert.
Their way of thinking changed the moment they arrived. When they noticed Shang Xia, they immediately restrained themselves. They stood with their tails tucked between their legs beside Ju Hang like obedient students.
Disdain?! Disbelief? An intention to provoke the Fifth Class’s teacher? Nonsense! The thought never even crossed my mind!
What the fuck! When the hell did this guy run over to a tiny Inner Division to become a teacher?! Why did no one tell us about it?!
The Custodians’ gaze landed on Ju Hang as they cursed him in their hearts. They realized that he had been keeping the secret really well. He was silently climbing up the golden thighs of the legend of the institution and the other classes didn’t receive the slightest news that Shang Xia was among them.
Ju Hang didn’t know what they were thinking about, but if he did, he would probably curse and swear to express the injustice he felt. It was true that they were once classmates, but he had nothing to do with Shang Xia’s arrival in the Fifth Class of the Inner Division! He didn’t have the qualifications to arrange something like that!
Very quickly, the demonstration started. The Martial Intent Realm cultivators Sun Haiwei sent over were quickly arranged to be the students’ sparring partners.
Since the students of the Fifth Class already had an idea of how the battle formation should be used, they went to the side to practice on their own.
Under Sun Haiwei’s lead, the students of the First and Second Classes started to listen carefully to Shang Xia’s explanation of the principles behind the Extremity Yin Yang Formation.
If Shang Xia were to speak truthfully, those students would only be able to display the true strength of the Extremity Yin Yang Formation after understanding the true essence behind the meaning of the Yin Yang Extremities. Otherwise, they would only be implementing the battle formation forcefully without understanding the reasoning behind it.
It didn’t take long for Shang Xia to realize that something was off.
The students in the First and Second Classes were the strongest among the Inner Division and there were 22 of them who had entered the Martial Extremity Realm. Of those, 12 came from the First class and 10 were from the Second. They far surpassed the members of the Fifth Class.
Of the 22 students, more than half of them had reached the small completion stage of the Martial Extremity Realm. There were 4 who reached the large completion stage, and there was even 1 of them who comprehended their martial intent and reached the grand completion stage of the Martial Extremity Realm.
Despite them being the most elite of students in the Inner Division, they revealed a sense of rejection when they listened to Shang Xia’s discussion of the principles behind the extremities. It was especially so for the student with the highest cultivation. He resisted Shang Xia’s teaching the hardest among the rest
His name was Zhuang Su, and there were even several times when he spoke up to challenge Shang Xia’s ideology. He was stopped by Sun Haiwei, but it was clear he couldn’t take in anything Shang Xia was saying.
Of course, not everyone couldn’t understand what Shang Xia was teaching. At the very least, he discovered several students who had just entered the Martial Extremity Realm absorbing his teachings quite well. There were also some in the small completion stage who could grasp the concepts of balance, transformation, and fusion he was talking about.
In any case, the higher their cultivation level, the worse they took Shang Xia’s teachings. They were more obstinate with the way they had cultivation.
At the end of the day, their inability to listen to Shang Xia’s teachings didn’t mean that his cultivation ideology was bad. All of them had been receiving the traditional teachings of the institution and formed their own views and understanding of cultivation. The stronger they were, the stronger they would adhere to their viewpoints.
Shang Xia expected as much and that was the reason he chose to use the Extremity Yin Yang Formation as a breakthrough point to start his teachings.
With his current status and cultivation level, Liu Qinglan would much rather he become a teacher in the Upper Division.
However, the outstanding disciples of the Upper Division had already stepped into the Martial Intent Realm. They would be much more resistant to Shang Xia’s teachings.
The moment they formed their divine sense, that would mean that they would have solidified their way in the martial dao. If Shang Xia tried to teach them what he knew, it wouldn’t be a tiny conflict of ideology. It would be a massive blow they would have to face and it might even destroy their cultivation foundation.
That was why Shang Xia chose to teach in the Inner Division. The reason he chose the Fifth Class was because he wanted to try something out.
Reality taught him that he hadn’t taught things out fully. In order to teach them his way of cultivation, he would have to start from the Outer Division where there were students who hadn’t entered the Martial Realm.
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