Chapter 1000: Ice Essence Sect

...

Zhang Xuansheng looked mighty impressive as he suppressed both Kou Chongxue and Lu Wuzi at the same time.

However, the moment Kou Chongxue made his move, while the other True Immortals watched at the side, Zhang Xuansheng knew that it would be impossible for him to kill Lu Wuzi any longer...

The attitude of the other True Immortals showed that they wouldn’t allow Lu Wuzi to be slain.

However... All of them clearly didn’t seem to mind allowing Zhang Xuansheng to heavily injure Lu Wuzi’s foundations. At the very least, they would be able to allow Zhang Xuansheng to maintain his prestige that way.

No matter what, Lu Wuzi’s actions truly slapped Zhang Xuansheng across the face. Regardless of what disagreements they had in the Northern Sea Mystic Sect, what Lu Wuzi did was undoubtedly a betrayal. To old ancestors like Yang Taihe and Li Jidao, it couldn’t be denied that they disliked what Lu Wuzi did.

They might have to take the bigger picture into account, but that didn’t stop them from watching Lu Wuzi getting taught a lesson. At the same time, they would be able to warn other people who were thinking of doing the same thing!

Due to the battle, Lu Wuzi’s Void Origin was damaged. He might not be shackled to an Elysium, but it wouldn’t be too possible for him to improve further in the future.

𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

The only other thing that truly annoyed Zhang Xuansheng, the oldest and strongest True Immortal of the Spirit Luxuriant World, was Shang Xia’s presence.

It was fine if he couldn’t kill Lu Wuzi after Kou Chongxue’s interference. However... A mere Martial Dipper Realm ant who followed Kou Chongxue actually had the guts to stand there and watch their battle! How could he take it lying down? Was he not supposed to teach the junior a lesson?

He could tell that Shang Xia had already entered the grand completion stage of the Martial Dipper Realm and it was obvious the youngster was heavily favored by Kou Chongxue and had the potential to enter the Martial Void Realm in the future, but at the end of the day, he was still no True Immortal!

Even if I kill the youngster now... Is Kou Chongxue really going to go crazy and risk his life to fight me?! Even if he does... He won’t be my opponent!

Anyway, the others wouldn’t watch if the 2 of them decided to go all out in a life-or-death battle.

Kid, this is a battle among Martial Void Realm experts! You can only blame yourself for being at the wrong place at the wrong time!

A formless blood qi scattered during the battle against Lu Wuzi and Kou Chongxue, and it slowly gathered around Shang Xia’s position.

Everything seemed unintentional and looked natural as the battle progressed, but Shang Xia managed to detect it.

To be exact, the Crimson Soul Tablet detected the threat. It seemed to turn crazy as it gave Shang Xia intense warnings, causing him to send his Five Element Dipper Qi outwards to take a look at what was going on. He noticed his dipper qi being eaten away around him.

What a sinister skill...

Shang Xia didn’t doubt the identity of the person who chose to make a move on him. He was sure it was Zhang Xuansheng who was currently suppressing Kou Chongxue and Lu Wuzi.

His sneaky actions enraged Shang Xia. He was using the opportunity when Kou Chongxue was fighting Zhang Xuansheng to carefully observe the battle between Martial Void Realm experts. After all, he understood just how rarely he would be able to watch the battle experts of that level.

It didn’t matter if it was to deepen his understanding of the martial dao, or to temper his soul... Watching the battle between Martial Void Realm experts would give Shang Xia a lot of benefits.

From the time he stepped onto the path of cultivation, he had been creating his own techniques and dao philosophy. The inheritances he received only served as a reference.

Now that he was about to step into the next level, he would have to improve once again. Watching battles at their level was the best way to gain insights.

Never in his wildest imaginations would he have thought that Zhang Xuansheng would be so shameless as to sneak attack a junior who wasn’t even in the same cultivation realm as himself!

Too bad for Zhang Xuansheng, he truly underestimated Shang Xia. Shang Xia was no ordinary grand completion stage Martial Dipper Realm expert. His Five Element Origin was something that none of them could fathom!

The moment he discovered the dirty tricks Zhang Xuansheng was playing, only a single thought remained. He needed to take revenge, in the grandest way possible.

Slightly surprised that Shang Xia managed to discover his sneak attack, Zhang Xuansheng didn’t actually care too much about it. He only thought that it had something to do with the life-saving treasures Kou Chongxue gave the youngster.

His attention returned to Kou Chongxue and Lu Wuzi, and because Kou Chongxue noticed his dirty tricks earlier, he increased the intensity of his attacks.

Surprised that Kou Chongxue had been hiding his strength, Zhang Xuansheng couldn’t help but get more involved in the battle. He was no longer able to pay attention to anything else.

What he didn’t expect was that the Martial Dipper Realm junior was crazy enough to retaliate! Even more so when he inserted himself into the battlefield between the 3 Martial Void Realm True Immortals!

Shang Xia pushed his Five Element Origin to the limit as he forcefully carved out a path through the battlefield to the domain cage that trapped Lu Wuzi.

The path he took went straight through the battlefield, and as he made his way over, he started to store his energy. The Heaven Supporting Jade Pillar he placed in his ear started to expand in his hand and by the time he arrived at the cage, the Stone Rod was shining with brilliant rays of five colored light.

Swinging it with all his might, the void around the Stone Rod shattered as streaks of five colored light scattered everywhere.

Bang!

The strange blast rang through the void when the Stone Rod smashed into Zhang Xuansheng’s domain, and several cracks formed on its surface. His Five Element Origin rushed out of the weapon the next moment and entered those cracks. It clashed with Zhang Xuansheng’s Void Origin and started to eat away at it.

Shang Xia might not have broken through, and his Five Element Origin might be no match for a Void Origin, but that was if he was fighting alone! With Kou Chongxue and Lu Wuzi working with him, it wasn’t difficult for him to overwhelm Zhang Xuansheng’s Void Origin!

That was why Shang Xia dared to fight it head-on. Lu Wuzi was resisting Zhang Xuansheng’s Void Origin from inside the domain cage, and Shang Xia’s seemingly pitiful attack that barely caused a few cracks was more than enough to turn the situation around.

Lu Wuzi also quickly capitalized on the weaknesses created in the domain cave. Those cracks that formed failed to restore themselves and they expanded greatly.

After unleashing his attack, Shang Xia beat a hasty retreat. Unleashing his Five Element Annihilation Yin Yang Ring, 2 giant vortexes formed around him as he ate away at the remnant energy Zhang Xuansheng left behind as he fled from the scene.

The domain cage shattered the next moment as Lu Wuzi emerged. His gaze turned to Shang Xia who had already reached a safe distance away before using his Void Origin to draw on the power of the world to join Kou Chongxue in battle.

The moment he emerged from the domain cage, there was actually no need for the battle to continue.

Yang Taihe, Li Jidao, and Liu Jingsheng stared at each other before interfering in the battle. They released their Void Origins and separated the 3 who were fighting.

“Fellow True Immortals, now that things have reached this stage, is there a need to continue fighting?”

“We’re surrounded by enemies and they’re keeping a close eye on us. We can’t waste our energy fighting each other, allowing them to take advantage of our moments of weakness...”

“No matter what, we gained a new True Immortal today. This is something we should celebrate!”

Just like that, the battle came to a close.

...

It didn’t take long for another half a year to pass. The end of the 5th year of the Spirit Luxuriant Calendar rolled about.

Since Lu Wuzi successfully entered the Martial Void Realm and broke off from the Northern Sea Mystic Sect, the Northern Sea Mystic Sect that used to claim the number 1 spot for the strongest faction fell apart.

Following Lu Wuzi’s ascension, there were at least 4 Martial Dipper Realm experts of the Northern Sea Mystic Sect who left with him. There were also 7 Martial Extermination Realm experts who followed them, showing that the entire series of events had been very well planned out.

Lu Wuzi’s plan succeeded, and after receiving the recognition and silent agreement of the other True Immortals, he established the Ice Essence Sect in the Bing Continent!

There were many incidents of disciples from the Northern Sea Mystic Sect defecting to the Ice Essence Sect. Because of Lu Wuzi’s reputation as the newest True Immortal of the Spirit Luxuriant World,a bunch of wandering cultivators also went over to join his sect. In just half a year, the Ice Essence Sect managed to gain a proper footing and started to resemble a major powerhouse.

“A True Immortal, at least 6 Martial Dipper Realm experts, more than a dozen Martial Extermination Realm cultivators, and a bunch of disciples of lower cultivation levels...” Shang Xia stared at the report on the Ice Essence Sect with a strange light in his eyes. He looked at the upper echelons of the Tongyou Institution before him and muttered, “Theoretically speaking, the Ice Essence Sect is comparable to our Tongyou Institution in strength. However, the Bing Continent is truly lacking in resources. They haven’t established a proper faction until Lu Wuzi’s appearance. What I’m curious about is how Lu Wuzi and the others are going to find enough cultivation resources for their disciples...”

Instead of looking at the deputy patriarchs, Shang Xia was staring straight at Yu Duhe of the Outreach Division who was also present.

Getting to his feet, Yu Duhe muttered, “From the intelligence we gathered in the North, Lu Wuzi decided to betray the Northern Sea Mystic Sect after the failure of the Spirit Abundance World’s second invasion. It was then that he started secretly deploying batches of resources from the Northern Sea Mystic Sect to the Bing Continent. Zhang Xuansheng hadn’t been focusing on the affairs of the Northern Sea Mystic Sect for some time now and Lu Wuzi managed to form a faction of his own within the Northern Sea Mystic Sect. He managed to make enough arrangements such that no one discovered his plan until he completed his ascension. Perhaps some people discovered what he wanted to do, but were unable to relay the news to True Immortal Zhang...”

Shang Xia sucked in a cold breath in response, “It’s obvious he had been planning this for some time... Why would he do something like that?”

Yun Jing, who was seated between Shang Bo and Ji Wenlong, finally spoke. “It probably had something to do with Zhang Xuansheng’s revelation of how he became a second tier Martial Void Realm expert during the second invasion... Lu Wuzi, who was preparing to break through, was afraid he would be devoured by Zhang Xuansheng and decided to leave the sect. As for those who went with him... They should be experts or disciples of the expert Zhang Xuansheng devoured.”

Yun Jing made Shang Xia think back to his experience in the Heavenly Lake Elysium of the Spirit Abundance World. True Immortal Chong Shan, who was reaching the end of his lifespan, wanted to nurture another True Immortal for his family. However, he didn’t hesitate to devour Lou Yi’s half complete Void Origin when he realized that the ascension was bound to fail with how adamant True Immortal Tang Yu was. In the end, he managed to extend his lifespan by a few dozen years.

Could there be any sort of relation between their actions?

If Shang Xia wasn’t mistaken, True Immortal Chong Xu of the Emptiness Floating Mountain was one of the True Immortals fighting Zhang Xuansheng during the second invasion...

Turning to Yun Jing again, Shang Xia asked, “Did the Outreach Division find out if there is any other reason Lu Wuzi chose to betray the Northern Sea Mystic Sect?”

Staring at Shang Xia with a look of shock, Yu Duhe muttered before she could say anything. “Isn’t it just because True Immortal Lu was afraid his Void Origin would be devoured by True Immortal Zhang? From what we know, True Immortal Zhang is a step away from the third tier of the Martial Void Realm. If he manages to devour Lu Wuzi’s Void Origin, he would be able to take the final step.”

A frown appeared on his face as he sank deep into thought.

Yun Jing seemed to notice his abnormal reaction and muttered, “Did you think of something?”

Shang Xia slowly looked at the others before mumbling, “I do have a strange guess, but I don’t have any evidence. However, I need Patriarch Kou to confirm something for me...”

Kou Chongxue’s figure appeared in the hall the second Shang Xia spoke and he stared at the youngster. “What do you wish to know?”

Shang Xia could tell that the figure was a mere projection by Kou Chongxue but that wouldn’t affect what he wanted to know.

“What I wish to know is how long a True Immortal can live for. And how long True Immortal Zhang has left to live.”

Kou Chongxue didn’t answer Shang Xia’s question directly. Instead, he asked a question of his own. “Are you suspecting that Lu Wuzi didn’t just defect because Zhang Xuansheng wanted to devour him to enter the third tier Martial Void Realm? Do you think that Zhang Xuansheng would also want to devour him to increase his lifespan?”