Chapter 10: Lightning Charm, Embroidered Cloud Case

According to the blood red tablet, there was definitely a success rate of 40 percent after hiding so much information!

It was a terrifying percentage that not many experts would ever hear of in their cultivation journey.

Shang Xia even suspected that if the Tongyou Institute were to leak the information to the disciples, everyone would be trying to comprehend the Chaos Essence Lightning Palm!

Of course, disciples who had surpassed the Martial Realm could forget about it.

If an expert wanted to change their martial intent and techniques past the Martial Realm, things would get ugly.

Moreover, the Chaos Essence Palm and Lightning Palm one had to learn along with the Chaos Essence Manual boasted extreme difficulty.

The Tongyou Institution and Shang Xia could easily estimate that even with his secret manual, the chances of success wouldn’t actually hit 40 percent.

Determination and desire to succeed weren’t much of an important factor when it came to comprehending the Chaos Essence Lightning Palm. Luck and talent were the deciding factors. After all, comprehending the Chaos Essence Manual along with the two techniques would force many cultivators to a dead end.

As for treasures like the core of the Lightning Tree, they were priceless artifacts. They commanded a sky-high price even in auctions.

Shang Xia also didn’t need to use his brain to know that the institution would be reluctant to give away the Lightning Collection Blood Art easily. Without a doubt, the number of contributions one needs?to exchange for the Lightning Collection Blood Art would be far higher than the Chaos Essence Manual! No one knew how long it would take for anyone to accumulate enough contribution points to exchange for it!

In essence, the Tongyou Institution was a massive organization. It was no charity. Even if one became a teacher in the institution, they would have to make significant contributions if they wanted to exchange anything of value.

At the end of the day, the Chaos Essence Lightning Palm might be strong, but the difficulty of comprehending it was comparably high! If one failed, they would be seriously injured for life, if not dead.

Shang Xia might have mitigated a lot of uncertainties along the way, but a 40 percent success rate couldn’t be considered high at all!

To a certain extent, the disciples of the Tongyou Institution would be scared off by the low success rate and horrendous difficulty level.

Anyone who was crazy and talented enough to reach all the requirements would be able to raise their success rate of comprehending the Chaos Essence Lightning Palm to the maximum level indicated by Shang Xia, 40 percent.

That didn’t take into account any mishaps that would happen in their seclusion. Just a slight deviation in their concentration during the cultivation process would affect them significantly.

Even till that day, Shang Xia couldn’t forget the feeling of the heavenly lightning tearing through his body.

.

…

“So… Is the institution trying to negotiate for a better price?” Shang Xia asked while he controlled a trace of lightning on his fingertips to draw some weird diagram on a board before him.

When Yan Qi looked at how far Shang Xia had progressed since he comprehended the Chaos Essence Lightning Palm, he sucked in a cold breath. However, he quickly replied, “That's what it sounded like. However, the young lady said that this is a sign that the institution is taking you seriously.”

Shang Xia nodded slightly. “Since aunt’s taking care of the matter personally, there’s nothing for us to worry about.”

Finishing the final stroke of the diagram, a ray of light emerged for a split second before returning to the board. The ray started to swirl around the board in a mysterious pattern.

“Yes! It succeeded!”

Shang Xia roared and he was close to jumping in joy. It looked easy when he was drawing the rune on the charm, but he was extremely focused when controlling his energy earlier.

“There were close to 20 Lightning Wood Charms, but I only managed to create four of them…” Shang Xia shook his head silently and he sighed, “If I manage to get my hands on another twenty charms, I might succeed in creating six or seven of them…”

He couldn’t help but look at Yan Qi with a trace of displeasure. “Seventh Uncle, the clan didn’t send anymore after the first delivery. What’s the meaning of this? Shouldn’t there be more rewards after I successfully created a secret manual for the family?”

Yan Qi could only chuckle softly. He was in no position to answer the question.

A piece of Lightning Tree could create three to four Lightning Wood Charm. With close to twenty charms in the boxes given to Shang Xia, they had to take out four entire Lightning Trees!

The Thousand Leaf Mountain Rage might be massive, but Lightning Trees that grew for more than 100 years weren’t cabbages that grew at the side of the road!

“You brat! What do you think I’ve been doing all this while? I negotiated with the institution in order to obtain more benefits for you, but here you are talking behind my back! Humph! You little scheming brat, don’t you know who I’m doing this for?” Shang Xi’s voice echoed through the courtyard all of a sudden, catching Shang Xia and Yan Qi off guard.

Closing his eyes, Yan Qi seemed to turn into a wooden statue that had nothing to do with the matter.

Slapping his forehead, Shang Xia revealed a bitter smile as he addressed his aunt. “Aunt, eavesdropping isn’t something someone of the older generation should do!”

“Didn’t you intend for me to hear what you just said?!” Strolling through the entrance, a pout could be seen on her face. “It’s not as if you were trying to hide your displeasure…”

A sly smile formed on Shang Xi’s face and she continued, “You probably already knew that I was coming. You were waiting for me to arrive before telling all that stuff to your uncle, right?”

Turning to look at Yan Qi, she continued, “Seventh Brother, am I right?”

“HUH?” Snapping back to reality, Yan Qi revealed a confused expression. “Young lady, I wasn’t paying attention. Oh right, the young master ordered me to look for Lightning Wood Charms in the treasury. I’ll take my leave.” Before the words could leave his lips, he had already left for the entrance.

“Humph, scaredy cat.” Shang Xi rolled her eyes before taking out a tiny red box.

“Embroidered Cloud Case?” A light flashed in Shang Xia’s eyes and he reached towards it immediately. “Did the institution give this to me? Wow, I didn’t expect them to be so generous!”

Flipping her palm, Shang Xi immediately hid the case from him. Her expression sank and he growled, “That’s mine!”

Realizing that the Lightning Collection Blood Art was nowhere near the value of an Embroidered Cloud Case, Shang Xia chuckled in embarrassment. “I thought that you managed to obtain a reward from the institution for all of us…”

Snorting lightly, Shang Xi remarked, “Even if I hand it over to you, will you dare to bring it out?” She tapped her finger on the lid of the case, and several objects emerged from within.

The Embroidered Cloud Case was an extremely rare spatial artifact. Even in the Shang Clan, there were only three of them!

The case in Shang Xi’s hand was only obtained after she received permission from the entire upper echelon of the Shang Clan.

Even though the box was tiny and measured less than three inches wide, the space contained within close to one cubic feet! Even though it wasn’t a lot, it was an absolute treasure to Shang Xi! She wouldn’t allow it to leave her sight no matter what.

Ignoring the case, Shang Xia looked at the items floating before him. Reaching out slightly, he grabbed at the roll of silk among them. “Is this the true reward given by the institution?”

Hearing the scorn in Shang Xia’s voice, Shang Xi sneered, “Can you be content with what you have? Your Lightning Collection Blood Art might be shocking, but it’s just another choice for Martial Realm disciples.”

“There are more than 20 manuals to comprehend martial intents in the Scripture Depository for disciples in the Martial Realm, and the number of martial intents gathered in the world probably reached the high fifties. The Chaos Essence Lightning Palm seems to be one of the strongest ones…” Shang Xi continued, “... Even so, a huge majority of the disciples from the institution can’t even try to comprehend the Chaos Essence Lightning Palm.”

Even though Shang Xia understood where she was coming from, he still complained slightly, “But the power one can unleash with the Chaos Essence Lightning Palm…”

“Yeah, you’re strong compared to disciples in the Martial Realm! However, the Martial Realm is only the start of the long journey of cultivation!” Shang Xi shattered his delusions immediately. “The strongest part about a martial intent isn’t its offensive strength! Instead, it’s a guide for the future! If you really care about power and strength, increase your cultivation realm.”

After breaking through, one would experience a huge increase in strength. When they were still weak, their martial intent wouldn’t matter too much.

Shang Xia shook his head and sighed. His aunt was referring to cultivators in the Martial Realm who were focused on cultivation levels alone. He was more inclined towards improving both his cultivation level and martial intent at once.

Whatever the case, there was no need to argue with his aunt over the matter. He slowly inspected the silk in his hand and his expression started to change.

Thinking that he was still dissatisfied with his reward, Shang Xi explained, “These are some treasures that you would need to enter the Martial Extremity Realm. The institution promised that they would reward you with an entire set of cultivation techniques after you break through.”

Shang Xia ignored her words completely as he stared at the roll of silk in his hand.

Misunderstanding his silence, Shang Xi started to get annoyed with the childish tantrum she thought he was throwing. “Alright, alright, I’ll make the decision on behalf of the clan. After you enter the Martial Extremity Realm, I’ll allow you to choose a portion of spiritual herbs for our chemist to refine into suitable medicine. How’s that?”

Raising his head suddenly, a crafty smile appeared on his face. “Alright!”