Chapter 790: Duty Period
“Brother Shang, what’s the point of offending that group of people?” Pang Jingyun sighed after Qing Pingzi and the others left.
Both sides didn’t break out into conflict. Even though Shang Xia’s final comment completely humiliated Qing Pingzi and caused him to fly into a fit of rage, he was eventually persuaded by his squad mates to leave.
Shang Xia chuckled and asked a question of his own. “Brother Pang, why do you look even more on edge than me? Your Yuanchen Sect has a Sixth Order Ancestor and you’re an Elysium just like them. Is there a need for you to be so afraid of Qing Pingzi?”
“Why would I be afraid of him?” Pang Jingyun exclaimed, but his voice sounded a little unnatural. It was clear his forced reaction revealed his true thoughts, and he quickly lowered his voice as he continued, “I’m afraid for you! Brother Shang, the Northern Sea Mystic Sect is the strongest Elysium in our Azure Ascension World. Their accumulation and strength far surpass the Divine Capital Sect and the Eternal Palace. It’s not a smart move to offend Qing Pingzi...”
Shang Xia waved his hands and chuckled, “Many thanks for Brother Pang’s reminder. I am eternally grateful.”
It was clear Shang Xia wasn’t taking his reminder seriously and Pang Jingyun eventually shot him a look that told him to fend for himself before no longer speaking of the matter.
Shang Xia wasn’t actually disrespecting Pang Jingyun. It didn’t matter if he offended Qing Pingzi. After all, the Tongyou Institution was already at odds with the Northern Sea Mystic Sect. The grudge was formed a long time ago. In fact, it started when Shang Xia obstructed the Northern Sea Mystic Island during the expedition to the Manyu Continent.
Speaking from the perspective of the Tongyou Institution, the Northern Sea Mystic Sect, along with the Divine Capital Sect and Eternal Palace, had created the grudge ever since they tried to merge the worlds. A good portion of the You Continent was destroyed because of their actions, and the Tongyou Institution wouldn’t forget what happened.
If they had to mention something even more recent, it would be the alliance the Tongyou Institution formed with the Changbai Holy Land against the Triple Frost Palace. The Triple Frost Palace was backed by the Northern Sea Mystic Sect to begin with...
When Shang Xia offended Qing Pingzi earlier, the happiest person among them was probably Shen Baisong.
After Pang Jingyun’s attempts at reminding Shang Xia to not offend the Northern Sea Mystic Sect fell on deaf ears, Shen Baisong asked excitedly, “Brother Shang, how do you think the other squad fares in terms of combat abilities?”
Shang Xia glanced at him from the corner of his eye and muttered, “I can’t tell exactly, but I can pretty much understand why the Northern Sea Mystic Sect is the strongest Elysium in our Azure Ascension World. Oh right. I’m feeling a little curious. Why didn’t your Changbai Sect lean towards the Northern Sea Mystic Sect back then?”
Shen Baisong forced a chuckle but remained silent. It didn’t seem like he planned on answering Shang Xia’s question.
Shang Xia didn’t press the issue after seeing his reaction. He started to circulate his inner qi in an attempt to restore as much energy as he could.
A moment later, Shen Baisong sighed softly. In the end, he gave in. He looked as though he was thinking of what to say and after arranging his thoughts, he mumbled, “According to some records, the founding father of our Changbai Sect was a cultivator that was chased out from the Northern Sea Mystic Sect.”
In that instant, several versions of what might have happened formed in Shang Xia’s mind about the events that transpired between the Northern Sea Mystic Sect and the founding ancestor of the Changbai Sect. From secret grudges to nasty betrayals, Shang Xia thought of them all.
Shen Baisong quickly continued, “After hundreds of years, no one knows who was right. It didn’t matter either. Even Seniors Luo Baixu and Xu Bailing refused to say anything. From what I know, the Northern Sea Mystic Sect seems hell-bent on taking us as shameless thieves who stole their inheritance. According to them, they wish to take back whatever inheritance it was. However, we feel that all they’re doing is to take the chance to suppress us and attempt to sever our inheritance. They can strengthen themselves and show off their might at the same time.”
Shang Xia obviously didn’t take Shen Baisong’s word for it. After all, there seems to be a lot of information missing in his version of what happened. Of course, he didn’t plan to try poking holes in Shen Baisong’s story as well. All he needed to do was to understand that the Tongyou Institution already formed an alliance with the Changbai Sect and they had a certain amount of trust for each other.
“Brother Shen, there’s no need to feel too pressured by that. The Northern Sea Mystic Sect might be large, and they might have many Holy Lands under their banner. However, did you notice how none of Qing Pingzi’s squadmates spoke up for him earlier.”
Shen Baisong was also someone who could adapt to the situation quickly. He immediately reacted after hearing the prompt from Shang Xia. “Qing Pingzi is obviously someone who hasn’t seen much of the world and lacks experience. That’s why he could say something so foolish. His squadmates seemed to be on his side, but none of them reminded him. Thinking about it, the others seem to be sitting on the fence when you chided him earlier.”
Shang Xia chuckled softly in response. “Brother Shen, you’re exactly right. The Northern Sea Mystic Sect is too strong and even before the merger of our worlds, it could challenge the Divine Capital Sect and Eternal Palace at the same time. They always operated in a tyrannical manner, and your Changbai Sect isn’t the only one who is wary of them. The Heavenly Star Palace and other factions are bound to feel the same. Everyone is just pretending to get along with them...”
Shang Xia closed his eyes near the end of his sentence and continued to circulate his inner qi. He needed to restore the energy he expended during the earlier battle as soon as possible.
Shen Baisong stood at the side as he carefully thought about what Shang Xia said. The more he thought about it, the more reasonable he thought what Shang Xia said was. However, a stray thought flashed through his mind. When Shang Xia had a verbal spar with Qing Pingzi earlier, Qing Pingzi’s squadmates were standing at the side silently. However, wasn’t he the same? He didn’t speak up for Shang Xia either.
He thought about his attitude when everything happened earlier and realized he didn’t wish to offend Qing Pingzi. He was also quietly anticipating matters to blow up.
Only after Pang Jingyun mediated the situation did it eventually get better. Even though they seemed to be on the weaker side, Pang Jingyun obviously seemed to side with Shang Xia a lot more.
In that case, wasn’t Shang Xia indirectly mocking him earlier?!
Shen Baisong couldn’t help but stare at Shang Xia who started to cultivate with a trace of anger in his eyes.
Back then, Shang Xia and the rest destroyed Lu Yuanming’s clone at the first hidden hideout and everything it left behind would naturally be split evenly among them.
In the battle that happened at the second location, Yi Jingzi lost a Fate Dipper Clone but the others managed to destroy one of Huang Yu’s Fate Dipper Clones.
Of course, Yi Jingzi would keep the remains of her fate dipper. However, the remains of Huang Yu’s fate dipper would also have to be split evenly among them.
After that, everyone scattered due to the explosion from the divine weapon and they no longer operated in a team. Shang Xia killed Lu Yuanming alone, and he deserved everything he obtained.
However, before Shang Xia killed Lu Yuanming, Yi Jingzi severely wounded him and Shang Xia felt that he should at least give her something as a sign of goodwill. However, Yi Jingzi adamantly refused to take it.
Shang Xia thought about it for a second and he retrieved the Origin Dipper Fragment he received from Lu Yuanming’s clone. “This fragment is relatively complete. There are at least 8 strands of fate dipper essences within. The Origin Dipper Fragment from the other cultivator only has 6 strands of fate dipper essences but it’s a lot more useful to me. I am willing to use this to replace the Origin Dipper Fragment from the other guy.”
Pang Jingyun raised an eyebrow and reminded, “Brother Shang, won’t you be losing out in that case?”
“Actually, they were weakened before I made my move. I already got an extra 6 strands of fate dipper essences and I already took advantage of everything that happened.” Shang Xia chuckled.
Actually, Shang Xia already returned Huang Yu his Origin Dipper Fragment and that was why he had to make the exchange.
With the Stargazer inheritance Shang Xia handed over after making a copy, Huang Yu would obtain huge merit after returning to the Emptiness Drifting Mountain. Regaining what he lost would be the least of his worries. In fact, they might just bestow him another Origin Dipper!
If anyone insisted that he bring out the other Origin Dipper Fragment, Shang Xia’s lie would immediately be exposed.
Fortunately, Shang Xia cooked out some story about how they deserved to gain more. No one would try reducing their profits now that Shang Xia brought out more than they deserved.
There was a total of 16 fate dipper essences after they destroyed 2 Fate Dipper Clones and they would be able to obtain 3 strands each minimally. Everyone tacitly agreed to give the extra to Yi Jingzi who lost a Fate Dipper Clone as some form of compensation.
The fate dipper essences were split into 2 different elements and one of them was of the Wood Element! Shang Xia purposely chose 2 strands of Wood Element Fate Dipper Essence as he would be able to change their yin yang alignment as he wished.
When everyone was recovering, Qing Pingzi and his squad were looking through the region for traces of the other cultivator.
Unfortunately, they failed to find anything. From Shang Xia’s estimations, Huang Yu would probably have reached the land of transit and returned to the Spirit Abundance World with the Stargazer inheritance by then.
When Shang Xia and the rest finally restored themselves to their peak state, a little over a month had passed. Pang Jingyun made a detailed report about the battle that happened before sending it back to the Azure Ascension World through some secret method. The report would very likely be read by the 4 Sixth Order Ancestors before being spread to the various Holy Lands.
Shang Xia and the others continued their task, but after the battles that happened along with the explosion caused by the detonation of the divine weapon, they didn’t know where to start.
Under such circumstances, there probably wouldn’t be any experts of the Spirit Abundance World left in the asteroid belt.
That was precisely the case as they finished up the rest of their patrol duration without running into another foreign expert. They couldn’t even find any traces of them! They could only mark out asteroids with resources like they had been doing all along.
When 3 years were up, they started to make their way back to the Beyond Heavens Pavilion. Along their way, they stopped when they closed in on the Three Unity Island as the trade fair was about to begin and the various factions were sending their low-level cultivators up with their specialized methods again.
The 5 of them basically understood why the various factions were fighting over their method of transporting people through space, and they observed the means every faction was using to transport their cultivators to the Three Unity Island.
Compared to 3 years ago, the various factions improved in both their methods and number of people they could ferry up to the island. However, there didn’t seem to be any significant breakthrough.
Shang Xia quickly discovered that the number of cultivators the Tongyou Institution could send up numbered close to a hundred. It was clear the Five Element Formation underwent some modifications and improvements. The amount of energy wasted was much less than before.
Of course, the protection barrier around the moving island also became a lot more restrained. It no longer left behind a massive rainbow when it moved through space that could attract everyone’s attention.
After seeing the methods, everyone felt a wave of disappointment.
The Azure Ascension World seemed to be far from being able to head out to the depths of space on a large scale.
The Three Unity Pagoda descended again, and the trade fair that happened once a year started.
Hundreds of miles away from the Three Unity Island, Shang Xia and the others bade each other farewell as their excitement waned. They returned to their respective factions.
Not too long after Shang Xia returned to the You Continent, a random rumor that came from nowhere threw them straight into another massive storm.
Kou Chongxue had gone missing!
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