Chapter 1001: Mysterious Competitor

“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?” Kou Chongxue understood what Shang Xia was thinking of.

Shang Xia nodded in acknowledgment. “Yes. if both reasons are valid... That would be for the best.”

Yu Duhe added suddenly, “What’s the difference if both solutions involve devouring Lu Wuzi’s Void Origin?”

Kou Chongxue’s projection and Shang Xia ignored Yu Duhe, and so did the other deputy patriarchs.

The reason why Yun Jing recruited Yu Duhe into the Outreach Division wasn’t because he was exceptionally skilled at gathering intelligence. It was because he had the unique ability to tame spiritual birds required for the transmission of information! It was especially so after Shang Xia tamed the Lightning Bird and moved the entire flock of Mutated Rain Swallows to the Tongyou Institution. Yu Duhe basically became their caretaker. He would also be in charge of the communication between the members of the Outreach Division on their missions.

As soon as the words left his lips, Yu Duhe realized that the question he had asked wasn’t a good one and he quickly lowered his gaze without speaking further.

Kou Chongxue’s projection finally explained, “If nothing goes wrong, a True Immortal should be able to live for more than 200 years. There are even some rumors stating that True Immortals can easily live up to 300 years... However, unless one’s cultivation reaches the fourth tier of the Martial Void Realm, it would be difficult for them to live past 300 years old...”

...

Naturally, Kou Chongxue learned about that information from somewhere else. However, the only thing Shang Xia could think of at that moment was the Star Origin City Lord.

There were many rumors concerning the Star Origin City Lord, but there was no doubt about it. He was the sole creator of Star Origin City. Even though it had already been thousands of years since it was established, the Star Origin City Lord never changed...

What would that represent?

That meant that the Star Origin City Lord was an existence whose lifespan surpassed the 1000 year mark!

When Shang Xia first entered the city, he heard many guesses related to the Star Origin City Lord’s cultivation level. However, almost every single one of them confirmed that he was a Martial Void Realm expert.

However... Now that Shang Xia was hearing about the lifespans of those in the Martial Void Realm, the truth seemed a little too far-fetched...

Even if anyone in the fourth tier Martial Void Realm could be considered at the peak of their level, it wouldn’t be realistic for them to possess 3 times the lifespan of an ordinary Martial Void Realm expert.

Unless... Unless the Star Origin City Lord already transformed their origin... That would mean that they already entered the Seventh Order of the Primary Realm!

Without a doubt, the Star Origin City Lord had already reached the next level of cultivation!

In fact, the Star Origin City Lord might even be a special existence among experts of that level.

Otherwise, how could the Star Origin City form a connection to 2 Essence Worlds?

Of course, the original question remained and they had to wonder why the Star Origin City Lord hadn’t shown their face in the past hundreds of years. The Star Origin Guards might have mentioned the Star Origin City Lord being in seclusion, but it was just far too long...

Fortunately, the Star Origin Guards were powerful enough and none of the worlds dared to cause too much trouble.

Of course, even though the Essence Worlds formed a connection to the Star Origin City, their spatial tunnels hadn’t been activated for hundreds of years...

...

When Shang Xia was still immersed in his thoughts, he felt someone nudging him slightly. He turned to see Chu Jia shooting him several strange glances.

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Hastily turning back, he saw Kou Chongxue’s projection already sitting down while staring at him with a smile that didn’t really seem like a smile. Now that Shang Xia’s attention had returned, he asked, “So... What are you thinking about?”

Coughing twice to cover up the awkwardness he was feeling, Shang Xia mumbled, “Actually, if we want to know how long Zhang Xuansheng has left to live, why don’t we just head over to the Bing Continent and ask Lu Wuzi?”

Shang Xia noticed many people suppressing their laughter at his suggestion, but no one would mention what was actually going on.

Of course, Chu Jia was an exception. Her soft laughter rang in his ears, “Of course someone thought of something like that already. Someone already asked if that was possible while you were still dreaming...”

Forcing a laugh, Shang Xia felt slightly embarrassed as he addressed the others. “Apologies... I got a little distracted earlier.”

Chu Jia continued, “While you were spacing out, we were saying how Haiwei had already headed up north to take revenge on behalf of Instructor Liu.”

“Who?! Senior Sister Haiwei did what?!” Shang Xia yelled. However, he quickly recalled what happened during their trip to the Azure Flame World.

When Shang Xia was rushing to meet up with Kou Chongxue back then, they ran into some trouble and Han Mo fought with them over the Star Map. In the end, Liu Qinglan injured her foundations in order to protect her disciples, destroying all hope of her ever entering the Martial Dipper Realm.

After they returned from the Azure Flame World, it didn’t matter if it was the Martial Extermination Realm cultivators of the Tongyou Institution who took part in the adventure. Shang Xia and even Kou Chongxue thought about killing Han Mo.

However, that slippery bastard not only actively avoided the members of the institution, he even chose to hide in the Northern Sea Mystic Sect. Back then, Shang Xia and Kou Chongxue couldn’t do a thing for fear of causing too much damage.

During the second invasion, their world underwent a transformation and they had to join forces to face the Spirit Abundance World. They couldn’t do anything to Han Mo under such circumstances.

After the world ascension and after Kou Chongxue entered the Martial Void Realm, Shang Xia entered seclusion and spent a lot of time in other worlds. He completely forgot about the matter.

Now that Chu Jia brought it up again, Shang Xia felt a little worried for Sun Haiwei.

“Han Mo is at the second element of the Martial Dipper Realm and he’s a famous cultivator in the north. We don’t know how much he improved since throwing in his lot with the Northern Sea Mystic Sect... How long has it been since Senior Sister Sun entered the Martial Dipper Realm?! Isn't she acting a little too recklessly by rushing over to try to take revenge?” Shang Xia mumbled.

Actually Shang Xia could tell that with Sun Haiwei’s personality, she should be pretty confident if she had the guts to head over to try to kill him. Moreover, the Tongyou Institution was backing her. There was no way they would have sent her over without extra preparations.

Even so... He was still worried for her. After all, weapons and fists were thrown blindly in a battle. Even with sufficient preparation, one might be caught off guard and injured.

Not to mention the fact that if Han Mo had entered the Northern Sea Mystic Sect, Sun Haiwei would need to care about the relationship between the Northern Sea Mystic Sect and their Tongyou Institution before making her move.

“Right, Han Mo chose to follow Lu Wuzi. He’s part of the Ice Essence Sect now.” Chu Jia secretly sent Shang Xia a voice transmission.

“So?” Shang Xia was slightly taken aback. Actually, he felt that the Ice Essence Sect was even trickier to deal with than the Northern Sea Mystic Sect.

After all, during

that incident,

Kou Chongxue personally stepped in to prevent Zhang Xuansheng from killing Lu Wuzi after his ascension. No matter what, the Tongyou Institution could be said to have friendly relations with the Ice Essence Sect.

If Sun Haiwei wanted to deal with Han Mo, she would definitely cause a rift in the relationship...

Even though on the surface, Lu Wuzi owed Kou Chonxue big time, if they used the favor from a True Immortal to take revenge on a mere Han Mo... It would be a waste!

“That’s exactly why everyone feels that you should head over with her!” Chu Jia finally dropped the bomb on him.

Strictly speaking, Lu Wuzi owed Kou Chongxue big time for saving his life. However... Shang Xia also did him a favor by smashing the domain cage open.

Which meant to say that other than the life-saving grace Kou Chongxue had shown him, Lu Wuzi needed to repay Shang Xia for the favor of freeing him! Even if they killed Han Mo, as long as Shang Xia was present, the layer of connection with Lu Wuzi and Kou Chongxue would still remain. There shouldn’t be too large of a misunderstanding created between the Ice Essence Sect and the Tongyou Institution.

Shang Xia nodded slightly. It seemed as though protecting Sun Haiwei in secret was the best option.

After things were settled, the atmosphere in the hall lightened up. After chatting a little about several other matters, the topic soon returned to the Northern Sea Mystic Sect and the Ice Essence Sect.

The only thing Shang Xia was confused about at the moment was how the topic changed from Zhang Xuansheng’s lifespan to Sun Haiwei going to take revenge on Han Mo.

“Lu Wuzi’s betrayal brought away many Martial Dipper Realm and Martial Extermination Realm experts. The Northern Sea Mystic Sect will definitely suffer heavy losses. If Patriarch Kou and Little Shang’s conjecture is right, that would mean that the moment Zhang Xuansheng’s lifespan nears its end, the Northern Sea Mystic Sect would no longer be able to maintain its status as the strongest faction in the Spirit Luxuriant World. Hmm... Do you think that Lu Wuzi would wait for that day to come before returning to take over the Northern Sea Mystic Sect?”

Someone threw out a pretty good guess.

Ji Wenlong grunted, “If that really happens, it might not be a good thing for our Spirit Luxuriant World.”

Shang Bo turned to look at Yun Jing while muttering, “Does the Outreach Division have any intelligence on the matter?”

Yun Jing shook her head and sighed, “With the exception of the Yuanchen Sect, the other Elysiums existed for far too long. They have hundreds of years of accumulation, and we are unable to learn of them. The only thing we can be sure of is that all 3 Elysiums sent a batch of elite disciples to the Star Origin City during the second invasion. A portion of those elite disciples returned, but we have no idea if they’re hiding anything other than that. From what we can deduce, unless Zhang Xuansheng dies soon, even with Lu Wuzi’s betrayal, the Northern Sea Mystic Sect’s inheritance will continue to live on.”

Shang Xia agreed. “Back when I met Lu Wuzi and the rest in Star Origin City to connect the spatial tunnel, I heard that there was another peak-tier Martial Dipper Realm expert competing with Lu Wuzi for the chance to ascend. However, from how hasty Lu Wuzi was acting, it seems as though the other candidate stood a far better chance...”

Yun Jing’s expression changed slightly and she added, “If that really is the case, could there be another reason behind Lu Wuzi’s ascension?”

“Could Lu Wuzi have stolen the advancement medicine meant for the other candidate?” Ji Wenlong frowned.

A bitter chuckle left Shang Xia’s lips. “Why does this seem to get more complicated?”

“Hey, are you planning to look for the other candidate?” Kou Chongxue’s projection asked Shang Xia suddenly.

“If Zhang Xuansheng hadn’t gotten his hands on that person, he would probably be starting to panic... After all, Lu Wuzi successfully left the Northern Sea Mystic Sect and that candidate would become Zhang Xuansheng’s only hope...”