Chapter 836: Alliance, Alliances Everywhere!
On the small hill in the hidden valley, Liu Qinglan and the other members of the Tongyou Institution gathered 3 miles around the formation Chu Jia laid down.
However, Mister Han Mo was still pressing closer and they were in a precarious situation.
“Didn’t... Didn’t you say that your formation can hold off the attack from a Martial Dipper Realm expert?” Tian Mengzi looked completely drained and even speaking was a challenge at the moment.
Chu Jia rolled her eyes at him and grumbled, “I never thought things would turn out like this. The world origin in the Celestial Remains is increasing as we speak, but the void is only getting weaker. The earth vein under the hill we’re on is growing unstable and we should already be thanking our lucky stars that I can still maintain the formation!”
Tian Mengzi knew that she was telling the truth. He stared at the curtain of world origin that emerged along with the five colored light and he yelled at Mister Han Mo. “Aren’t all of you Martial Dipper Realm experts here for the Origin Holy Artifact?! The massive disturbance is most likely caused by the appearance of the Origin Holy Artifact! Why are you still here?! Aren’t you going to fight for it? What’s the point of messing with us juniors in the Martial Extermination Realm?”
Tian Mengzi was venting his frustration by yelling, and he didn’t expect Han Mo to actually respond. “There’s only a single Origin Holy Artifact. I know my limits. I’m not stupid enough to go fight with those experts with massive backing. The benefits here are laid out right in front of me. All of you can only blame your bad luck. However, if you’re willing to hand the book over...”
“Dream on!” Meng Tianzi roared as he flew into the air. Along with Dou Zhong and Yan Ming, they took over Liu Qinglan and Sun Haiwei who had been fighting for some time now.
All of them were clear. Even if they handed over the bronze book, there was no way Han Mo would let them off now that things had progressed up to that point.
As the void became weaker and weaker, the power of every strike Han Mo made reached an astounding level. Chu Jia found it more and more difficult to resist his assault.
Liu Qinglan and Sun Haiwei couldn’t help but forgo their chance to take a break as they returned to take on the attacks.
It was then that the hill started to quake violently and it started to break down. The moment it did, the formation would also crumble.
The next moment, a strange feeling filled the hearts of those from the Tongyou Institution. Han Mo, who could have capitalized on the opportunity to break through the formation, not only didn’t try to do so, but he even retreated thousands of feet away. The next second, he turned to stare at the curtain of world origin with a look of terror on his face.
No one knew when, but the curtain of world origin seemed to be growing mighty strong and it even seemed to be getting closer to their position.
What they didn’t know was that a strange and majestic power of void locked onto Han Mo earlier. When he tried to locate the source of the energy, he realized that he was unable to feel a thing! It was as if the person or thing exerting the pressure didn’t exist!
As an expert in the Martial Dipper Realm, he was extremely confident that he wasn’t mistaken earlier when he felt the pressure. Now that he was unable to feel traces of where it came from, he felt that there was only a single possibility. The person who did it earlier had to be far stronger than him!
Could it be... An existence in the Sixth Order of the Primary Realm?!
The absurd thought flashed through his mind.
It was then that several clear cracking sounds rang through the air. When he turned to look, he discovered that the region before him had collapsed and the formation that was stopping him earlier had crumbled.
...
In a certain spot of the Celestial Remains...
An expert with white hair and black beard, who sported an elegant appearance brought 2 Martial Extermination Realm experts towards the exit of the Celestial Remains.
“Patriarch, a strange treasure was just born in the Celestial Remains and the world origin is growing stronger by the second. Why are we leaving?” One of the cultivators who was at the third layer of the Martial Extermination Realm couldn’t help but ask.
“We’re running for our lives right now!” The elder didn’t seem too willing to explain. Instead, they increased their speed as they headed straight for the exit.
“But...” The Martial Extermination Realm expert wanted to continue asking, but their companion gently tugged at their sleeves to stop them from speaking further.
All of a sudden, Patriarch Qing He of the Beihai Institution stopped abruptly.
“Yuwen Changqing?” Ancestor Qing He stared at the void and growled in a pretty unfriendly tone.
“Sigh...” A soft sigh came from the void as Yuwen Changqing revealed himself.
“Patriarch Qing He, are you planning to leave?” Yuwen Changqing could obviously tell their intentions when he saw the members of the Beihai Institution.
With narrowed eyes, the aura around Ancestor Qing He turned chilly. “What’s the matter? Patriarch Yuwen, are you planning to stop me?”
Yuwen Changqing shook his head and forced a smile. “Patriarch Qing He, I believe you should have realized what happened. Brother Qing, you’re not the only one who plans on leaving the Celestial Remains.”
“What do you mean?” Ancestor Qing He’s expression sank. Did Yuwen Changqing pull some sort of stunt?!
Yuwen Changqing seemed to understand what he was thinking of at the moment and a bitter chuckle left his lips. “Patriarch Qing He, please do not misunderstand. I’m not trying to stop you here. You’re not the only ones who plan to leave. It’s just that... The exit to the Celestial Remains is blocked! We can’t leave!”
...
The Changbai Holy Land and the Heavenly Star Palace were the few factions in the Azure Spiritual World that didn’t submit to the Northern Sea Mystic Sect. However, no one knew why, but they seemed to have reached a cooperative relationship to get rid of the restrictions around the Ruined Observatory.
Yi Jingxu was able to break through the restrictions using starlight with the secret art of the Heavenly Star Palace, and Lu Wuzi could locate the weaknesses in the restrictions. With the 2 of them joining hands, the layers of restrictions around the observatory started to thin at a rapid pace.
“Did you already feel that?” Yi Jingxu asked in a low voice.
Staying silent for some time, Lu Wuzi eventually muttered, “This reminds me of the time when the ancestors of the 3 Elysiums sealed off the space 30000 miles away from the Beyond Heavens Pavilion to serve as the battlefield against the Spirit Abundance World... Oh, there’s another ancestor from the Yuanchen Sect now...”
Yi Jingxu sighed, “Is it really the power of an existence at the Sixth Order?”
“No... They should be able to achieve this by using the Origin Holy Artifact as well.” Lu Wuzi shook his head and mumbled.
However, Yi Jingxu wasn’t fully convinced. He continued to ask, “Is that it? Is it just a possibility that they will be able to achieve something like that with the artifact?”
A look of hesitation flashed through Lu Wuzi’s face, but he eventually muttered, “It's really Kou Chongxue...”
Yi Jingxu nodded slowly, as if he was agreeing with Lu Wuzi. From how things were looking, Kou Chongxue was the most likely candidate who would be able to possess the might of an existence at the Sixth Order with the help of the Origin Holy Artifact. “Which means... It’s possible that Kou Chongxue had been hiding in the Celestial Remains all along and located the Origin Holy Artifact before everyone else!”
The ray of starlight that was drawn over earlier finally dissipated, but after shattering so many layers of restrictions, drawing over more starlight from the observatory wouldn’t be as difficult as before.
After Yi Jingxu spoke, he realized that Lu Wuzi had a look of confusion on his face.
“Senior, this...” Yi Jingxu raised an eyebrow and whispered.
The Heavenly Star Palace and the Northern Sea Mystic Sect might have their disagreements, but Yi Jingxu and Lu Wuzi weren’t strangers. One could say that they knew each other quite well.
Because of that, Yi Jingxu was feeling a sense of unease when he saw Lu Wuzi’s reaction.
A serious look appeared on Lu Wuz’s face as he brought out his Halo Mirror again. Dipper qi around him fused into the mirror...
A total of 4 different types of dipper qi rushed into the mirror and the surface of the mirror started to ripple continuously. Eventually, the image of a long sword that was stabbed into the middle of the platform was revealed.
At the same time, he saw a five colored light that was surrounded by a wall of world origin.
There was a short tree that emitted a faint starry glow, and there seemed to be a spiritual bird standing on it.
Beneath the short tree was a small lake of crystalline liquid, and stars seemed to shimmer in them. The next second, a figure that was staring straight back at him through the mirror could be seen.
“Kou Chongxue?! How is he in the observatory?!” Yi Jingxu seemed to groan in fright.
Almost every single Martial Dipper Realm expert present took part in the battle against the Spirit Abundance World back then and all of them had seen Kou Chongxue’s tyrannical might.
They were absolutely certain that none of them would be his opponent even if they worked together.
“No! That’s not Kou Chongxue!” Lu Wuzi seemed to be sure of something and he started to yell in excitement. “That’s a Fate Dipper Clone! That’s just Kou Chongxue’s clone!”
Lu Wuzi seemed to have discovered a massive opportunity before turning to look at Yi Jingxu and Shen Baisong who were standing a little further away.
His gaze lingered on Shen Baisong for a short moment and quickly returned as he discovered that there was a look of confusion on Yi Jingxu’s face.
“That sword... That sword in the observatory should be the Hidden Frost Sword, right? Why would Kou Chongxue leave his weapon there?” Yi Jingxu seemed to be muttering to himself, and he revealed a perplexed expression. “It's a shame... The Stargazer inheritance my sect has isn’t complete. Otherwise... Whatever it is, the sword is definitely really important!”
For Lu Wuzi to reach his current level of cultivation, his instincts and wariness were naturally of a frightening level. By the time Yi Jingxu had spoken, he also felt a similar thought running through his mind.
“We will have to shatter the restrictions as quickly as possible to take a look at the observatory then!” Lu Wuzi exclaimed before raising his mirror. This time, he slashed at his wrist and dropped 3 drops of essence blood onto the reflective surface of the Halo Mirror.
At the same time, Yi Jingxu could feel the awkwardness Shang Baisong was feeling and he turned around to address the junior, “I believe you should also have felt the strange spatial lock earlier. Our guess that Kou Chongxue is hiding in the Celestial Remains should be correct and he’s most likely plotting against everyone here. If that’s the case... If you feel like you’re placed in a bad spot due to your alliance, feel free to just be a bystander...”
“Shut up! There’s no need for all this rubbish talk. Over there!” Lu Wuzi interrupted him all of a sudden and he pointed at a sealed spot that was barely hundreds of feet away from the observatory. It was where he felt the weakest point of the restrictions were. The moment they shattered the restriction there, they would be able to weaken the rest of the restrictions by more than 80 percent!
Yi Jingxu seemed extremely confident in Lu Wuzi’s Halo Mirror. The moment Lu Wuzi pointed it out, he pushed the power of starlight to the limit as he started to grind away at the restriction in the location.
The next second, Lu Wuzi’s expression changed drastically. “Oh no. Retreat... No, run!”
A sword light suddenly emerged and started to stir up all the sword qi contained in the restrictions around the observatory. They rushed out like water out from a broken dam and swallowed the region.
...
Inside the Stellar Cauldron, Shang Xia realized that during the process where he borrowed the power of the Origin Holy Artifact to control world origin, his potential was slowly being unlocked. Every single time he completed a cycle of his Five Element Art, he discovered that he was able to draw on more world origin from the Azure Ascension World through the Stellar Cauldron.
The world origin curtain that emerged from the opening of the cauldron was growing stronger and more majestic the more he circulated his Five Element Art.
That wasn’t all. Shang Xia could clearly feel that the time taken for him to complete one cycle of his inner qi circulation was shortening at a rapid pace.
There was once during the process when he felt that someone was spying on him again, but he didn’t know if it was because of the layers of restriction around the forbidden region that made the feeling ever so weak, but he simply roused a portion of world origin to get rid of the presence looking at him through the void.
According to Kou Chongxue’s instructions before he entered, all he had to do was to push world origin out of the cauldron. With the assistance of the Origin Holy Artifact, Shang Xia did just that and caused the cauldron to tremble continuously.
As time slowly passed, the world origin in the Celestial Remains rose to an unbelievable density while the space contained within it weakened considerably.
Those who first noticed the change were naturally the Martial Dipper Realm experts present. It was especially so for Huang Jinghan and Jiu Du who were right outside the forbidden region.
“What the hell is Kou Chongxue doing?!”
That was the exact thoughts Huang Jinghan and Jiu Du were thinking.
Both of them seemed extremely sure that the person controlling the Origin Holy Artifact in the forbidden region was Kou Chongxue.
They might have seen Shang Xia entering the forbidden region earlier, but in their eyes, Shang Xia was a mere junior of the Tongyou Institution and his job was probably to give Kou Chongxue the opportunity to activate the Origin Holy Artifact.
Neither of them even considered the possibility that Shang Xia was the source of all the disturbance! After all, in their eyes, it was simply not possible!
As for Gong Xinlan who entered even before Shang Xia, it was even less possible for her to be causing the commotion.
“We can’t let this go on!” With his sword drawn, Jiu Du turned to Huang Jinghan and muttered, “Brother Huang, what do you think? Are you willing to carve a spatial tunnel into the forbidden region with me?”
Jiu Du might be asking Huang Jinghan to join hands with him to force their way into the forbidden region as it would make their task a lot easier, but there was another meaning behind his question. For them to do what they wanted would mean that Huang Jinghan would have to forsake Gong Xinlan who entered earlier.
Shwing...
With the Yuanchen Sword drawn, Huang Jinghan’s attitude was clear.
A roaring laughter emerged from Jiu Du’s lips. “Alright! This old man here will open up a path! Brother Huang can stabilize the space around us with your Yuanchen Sword from behind!”
After he spoke, a majestic strike landed on the void before them. It might be filled with restrictions, but they were nothing in the face of raw power. He forcefully carved a path through the twisted space straight into the forbidden region.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m