Chapter 804: I Am The Opportunity
Within Shang Xia’s cultivation chamber, they spoke a little more about matters regarding the institution and their future plans before everyone took their leave.
During their discussion, Shang Xia emphasized the importance of the Five Element Essence Crystals and hoped that the institution would pay more attention to gathering them.
After mentioning it, he received news from Yun Jing that they didn’t just discover elemental essence crystals of the 5 elements. In fact, there were all sorts of essence crystals being discovered in the Azure Ascension World.
The strong powerhouses were gradually discovering the existence of those elemental essence crystals and even though the Tongyou Institution was among the first to discover them and made some progress in discovering their uses, they didn’t manage to get too far ahead.
“Even though the area of the You Continent is smaller than the other continents, after integrating the Tongyou Island and the battlefield between the two worlds, we managed to gain plenty of rewards from the Azure Ascension World’s Will. The main problem we’re facing right now is the lack of population. Be it cultivators or ordinary mortals, there are too few of them in our You Continent!” Yun Jing couldn’t help but sigh.
Actually, the problem Yun Jing brought up had been discussed among the higher-ups of the institution more than once.
The You Continent had been easing the restriction for cultivators of other continents to take up residence in the You Continent in recent years, but as rumors of Kou Chongxue’s death in seclusion or his disappearance created massive waves, the Tongyou Institution had no choice but to limit the entry of cultivators into the You Continent.
Under such circumstances, other than encouraging the growth of the population through increasing the local birth rate, there was nothing much they could do. Even if the plan was carried out successfully, they needed some time for the next generation to grow up.
When Yun Jing left Shang Xia’s cultivation chamber, she went to organize a second batch of experts to be sent to the border of the Bing, Ji, and Si Continents.
Earlier, the first batch of cultivators which consisted of many Martial Extermination Realm experts had been sent to the region where Feng Yezi was killed to pick out whatever treasures remain.
The Tongyou Institution wasn’t the only one. The various powers in nearby continents also sent their cultivators over to try their luck.
The first group of experts to arrive belonged to the Five Mountains Alliance in the Taihang Mountains.
They were led by Shang Pei, one of the founding members of the alliance and Shang Xia’s aunt!
Shang Pei’s position in the Five Mountains Alliance wasn’t low at all. Because of her special status as a member of the Shang Clan and Shang Xia’s aunt, her connections and footing in the alliance were exceptionally solid. Her cultivation also rose throughout the years, and she already refined her third extermination origin and entered the ranks of high-level Martial Extermination Realm experts.
“Elder Shang, is Ancestor Shang Xia of the Tongyou Institution really your nephew?” One of the Martial Extermination Realm experts from the Five Mountains Alliance asked incredulously. He found it slightly unbelievable.
Rolling her eyes, Shang Pei couldn’t help but snort inwardly. It wasn’t the first time she had been asked that question, and she already made things really clear when Yin Wanxiang told them to head over. However, all of them were from the same alliance and were working together at the moment. She couldn’t possibly show her disdain so obviously and she replied helplessly, “Yeah. He usually calls me his Aunt Pei...”
“Damn... That’s really incredible! He isn’t very old either. Sigh... Compared to your nephew, all of us seem to have wasted our life...” The Martial Extermination Realm expert sighed.
Shang Pei felt that her eyes were about to roll to the back of her head.
Fuck, if you wanna say you wasted your life, go ahead. Why the hell are you classifying me with you?
What’s the point of comparing yourself to that little brat?! How many people will feel like they wasted their time cultivating if that’s the case?
“Let’s hurry. The dao intent left behind by the exchange between Martial Dipper Realm experts will start to fade as time passes. You better not blame me if you miss your chance to get a feel of it...” Shang Pei changed the topic helplessly and hurried them up. Of course, she was feeling a multitude of emotions in her heart.
As they closed in on the battlefield, they could feel the change between the heaven and earth. The first thing they felt was a strong wind that gradually turned into a violent gale. As they approached 500 miles of the battlefield, the howling winds around them were powerful as they transformed in unpredictable ways. By the time they actually stood 500 miles away from the battlefield, they basically experienced all sorts of strange winds.
After crossing the 500 miles mark, the clouds around them became a lot denser. The winds continued to howl around them, but rain started to fall. The deeper they went, the stronger the rain became.
By the time they crossed the 500 mile mark, none of the Martial Extermination Realm experts from the Five Mountains Alliance were chatting with each other. They had solemn expressions on their faces as they experienced everything around them in hopes of gaining inspiration.
All of them knew that everything they were experiencing at was the result of Feng Yezi’s death, and it probably contained his knowledge of cultivation. Their true goal was to enter the core of the battlefield as that would be where traces left behind by Shang Xia would be present.
After traveling for 200 more miles, Shang Pei’s expression changed and she yelled, “Something is wrong! Hurry up and release your extermination origin protection barrier!”
Even though her companions didn’t know what was going on, they trusted her and released their protection barriers instantly. Steam rose from them as a soft sizzling sound could be heard as the rain pelted on their protection barriers.
“This...” The experts of the Five Mountains Alliance were greatly taken aback as they released their divine perceptions to inspect their bodies.
Fortunately, they were Martial Extermination Realm experts and even though the rain had some corrosive properties, it wasn’t strong enough to harm their physical bodies.
Of course, that wasn’t where the problem lay. Before Shang Pei’s reminder, the rain fell on them and none of them could feel it sapping away their inner qi. That was the truly scary part.
Their physical bodies were extremely sturdy, and their sense of touch would grow according to their cultivation. However, they failed to discover what happened when the rain was hitting them earlier.
“Feng Yezi... Doesn’t seem to possess a power like this, right?” One of the members of the alliance spoke.
“Yeah. Alliance Master Yin brought it up once and said that Feng Yezi only has a cultivation level at the first element of the Martial Dipper Realm. He refined some sort of Wind Fate Dipper and even though he seems to be able to shift the wind and clouds during the battle with Young Master Shang of the Tongyou Institution, all he did was to manipulate the winds to do that.” Someone else added.
“That would mean that we’re starting to come into contact with the remnants of Young Master Shang’s dipper qi!” A third expert sighed, “It started to affect us without us realizing anything, and this is only the dregs of his power. We are still pretty far from the place where the battle happened!”
Finally, the fourth and last member of the alliance turned to Shang Pei and asked, “Elder Shang, how many years do you think this region of remnant dipper qi will last?”
“...”
...
“Are you really going to restore the state of the battlefield? Why do you want to do that?” Liu Qinglan stared at Shang Xia with a strange gaze and she continued to ask, “God knows how many Martial Dipper Realm experts observed the battle and everything you wanted to hide should have already been revealed. In fact, they might have even uncovered the fact that you’re refining your fate dippers simultaneously. Why would you decide to restore the region affected by the heavenly phenomenon?”
Shang Xia suddenly thought of it after hearing from Liu Qinglan that the institution was planning to send a few Martial Extermination Realm experts over to experience the remnant dipper qi due to his battle with Feng Yezi. However, he was stopped before he could head over by a curious Liu Qinglan.
After all, the Martial Extermination Realm expert who went over would be able to come into direct contact with the dipper qi left behind after the battle and experience it for themselves. Being able to do so far surpassed theoretical teachings from a Martial Dipper Realm expert.
Shang Xia sighed helplessly, “It’s not that I’m afraid of exposing anything. If I’m not mistaken, the area affected by the phenomenon would remain there for a long time...”
“Of course it would! Back when Xu Bailing and Yin Dezheng exchanged blows above the sea, the entire region turned chaotic. Even now, the flow of qi there is a little strange. That happened after they barely exchanged blows. It’s nothing compared to what you did! You killed Feng Yezi, a Martial Dipper Realm expert!” Liu Qinglan snorted.
In response, Shang Xia could only sigh. “I mean... The entire region wouldn’t be fit for life because of our battle. The lives of low-level cultivators there would be affected and it might turn into a forbidden region for at least 30 to 50 years...”
Liu Qinglan rubbed her forehead and snorted helplessly, “What do you mean the lives of low-level cultivators there would be affected? Do you think there’s any life left within a 1000 mile radius of your battlefield?”
Shang Xia was greatly taken aback as he stared at her in stunned silence.
Liu Qinglan continued to persuade him, “You don’t have to mind too much about it. The place where the most intense exchange took place was at the border of the Bing, Ji, and Si Continents. The situation there is complex and there aren’t many people there. In the end, Feng Yezi intentionally caused shockwaves to affect the land to drag you into the mess.”
Shang Xia chuckled bitterly. As someone who took part in the battle, he couldn’t be clearer on what had happened. Moreover, there being few people in the region didn’t mean that there was no one at all. Throughout the battle, it wasn’t as if Shang Xia didn’t notice them. Feng Yezi razed at least 5 villages to the ground and the city wall of a small city nearby was completely destroyed. He didn’t need to think hard to know that heavy casualties took place there.
Even though Shang Xia wasn’t the one who killed them, he couldn’t deny that he was involved in some way.
He was unable to accept the fact that such a short exchange between himself and Feng Yezi ended the lives of hundreds, even thousands of people!
Liu Qinglan knew what Shang Xia was feeling and she continued, “Actually, you did a good job by sealing off the region of space when dealing with Feng Yezi. You separated the battlefield, preventing the entire region from being destroyed.”
“This is the power of a Martial Dipper Realm expert! An existence who stands at the peak of the Azure Ascension World!” Liu Qinglan left after speaking her piece. She left Shang Xia alone, and no one knew what he was thinking about.
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