Chapter 1003: Betrayal and Praise

Anyone who took part in their expedition against the Azure Flame World back then understood that with the successful formation of the Spirit Luxuriant World, the Azure Flame World was something they had to conquer eventually.

Even if the Azure Flame World had a True Immortal who could draw on the power of the world to protect them for the time being, the difference between the Spirit Luxuriant World and the Azure Flame World was a massive rift. As time passes, the difference between them will only grow larger.

One could say that the moment the Azure Flame World’s coordinates were discovered by Kou Chongxue, their fate was sealed!

If not for the fact that Kou Chongxue was the only True Immortal back then who could travel across the sea of stars freely, the Azure Flame World would have already been completely devoured by the likes of Zhang Xuansheng, Yang Taihe, Li Jidao, and Liu Jingsheng.

However, after what happened to Dugu Yuansheng during the Spirit Abundance World’s second invasion, the True Immortals of the Spirit Luxuriant World realized how difficult it was to overcome the advantage native True Immortals had with the boost from their world. That was also why even though the Azure Flame World might seem like a fat juicy piece of meat Kou Chongxue could obtain alone, he was in no rush to start an expedition. He was waiting for other True Immortals to be born in the Spirit Luxuriant World before plotting against the Azure Flame World.

Of course... He would have to split the profits with the other True Immortals, but that wasn’t something that could be avoided. After all, Kou Chongxue couldn’t head over to the Azure Flame World to kill Yuancang Ming alone.

Kou Chongxue might be anxious, but the other factions were equally worried that Kou Chongxue would leave them behind and obtain all the benefits from the Azure Flame World alone.

After all, he had the coordinates of the Azure Flame World. Even though the True Immortals from the other Elysiums managed to gather some information from their disciples who went there in the past, they weren’t completely sure how they would attack the Azure Flame World.

Also... Kou Chongxue wasn’t shackled to an Elysium! He held all the cards!

He would be able to head there whenever he liked, with whoever he liked!

There was one thing the True Immortals were sure of. The earlier they joined Kou Chongxue in the expedition, the more benefits they would gain.

Lu Wuzi seemed to have already made plans to cooperate with Kou Chongxue, and Shang Xia was starting to suspect if that was what Kou Chongxue had in mind when he moved to save Lu Wuzi back then.

As soon as Lu Wuzi mentioned the Azure Flame World, Shang Xia understood why he had been sent to the Bing Continent to ‘assist’ Sun Haiwei.

However... Both Kou Chongxue and Lu Wuzi were first tier Martial Void Realm experts. With Lu Wuzi’s broken foundations, Shang Xia truly wondered if they were capable of killing a True Immortal who has the backing of the world and his Elysium.

Lu Wuzi’s statement dispelled all of Shang Xia’s suspicions.

“Young friend Shang, you’re the third True Immortal!”

He made up his mind the moment he heard that statement. However, he still waved his hands modestly and denied, “No, no, no. I am far from reaching the next level. Senior Lu, you’re exaggerating.”

Naturally, Lu Wuzi wouldn’t fall for any of that. “Young friend Shang, is there a need to act so humble? For Patriarch Kou to send you here... He definitely thought it through.”

Shang Xia was slightly taken aback. Even he had no idea when he would be able to enter the Six Directions Realm. How could anyone else know how long he would take?

However...

If the operation truly consisted of Kou Chongxue, Lu Wuzi, and himself after he had broken through, it would highly likely they would be able to beat Yuancang Ming back even if he had the assistance of the Azure Flame World and his Elysium.

In that case...

The 3 True Immortals would be able to divvy up the Azure Flame World, and the Tongyou Institution would definitely gain the most. If that happened, the situation couldn’t be better!

Even though they had no idea how much impact they would have on the Spirit Luxuriant World if they devoured an Azure World, there shouldn’t be a problem to push the Tongyou Paradise into the Tongyou Elysium.

As his thoughts started to run wild, Lu Wuzi’s voice rang in his mind once again. “... That is why... Young friend Shang, you need to enter the Martial Void Realm as soon as possible!”

When Shang Xia turned to look at him again, Lu Wuzi didn’t forget to stir even more shit. “Don’t blame me for not reminding you... We’re not the only ones who have our sights set on the Azure Flame World. If not for the fact that the other True Immortals can’t leave, they would have split up the Azure Flame World a long time ago!”

“So...” Shang Xia mumbled, but he was quickly cut off.

“So, with the exception of the Northern Sea Mystic Sect, think about the other factions. Yifeng from the Eternal Palace, Jiu Du from the Divine Capital Sect, and Huang Jinghan from the Yuanchen Sect. All 3 of them are trying their best to enter the Martial Void Realm. After all, they wouldn’t want Patriarch Kou to obtain all the benefits...”

Seeing the look of contemplation on Shang Xia’s face, Lu Wuzi knew that he probably achieved what he wanted to.

However... Faint fluctuations came from beneath the heavenly screen once again and attracted their attention...

...

On the eastern corner of the Bing Continent, above the Hoar Frost Ocean, Sun Haiwei and Han Mo’s battle was about to come to an end.

Because of a mission from the sect, Han Mo left for the Hoar Frost Ocean to look for something called the ‘Frost Crystal’.

The Ice Essence Sect might seem like they obtained a batch of high-level experts the moment they were established and possessed considerable strength, but that was merely on the surface. The current Ice Essence Sect wasn’t made up of people who were united. They were merely gathered under the banner and leadership of a True Immortal powerhouse, Lu Wuzi.

The true foundations of a sect lay in its inheritance, and only if they could replenish their strength constantly and nurture new batches of experts would they be able to maintain their presence.

Maintaining the inheritance and foundation of a sect naturally came down to having enough resources. The Frost Crystal that Han Mo was tasked to gather was actually a treasure required to craft rank four advancement medicine!

The moment he found a spot that could produce Frost Crystals constantly, he would solve a huge problem for the Ice Essence Sect!

Never in his wildest imagination would he have expected to be unlucky enough to run into Sun Haiwei who came to seek revenge!

In fact... After offending the institution in the celestial remains back then, he had been doing a good job at hiding from their attempts at revenge.

The Tongyou Institution had been growing rapidly in recent years with Kou Chongxue entering the Martial Void Realm and with several experts entering the Martial Dipper Realm, causing Han Mo to seriously regret his actions, but there was no way to turn back time. He could only hug the largest thigh he could find and endure whatever treatment he was given in order to survive.

It didn’t matter if it was the Northern Sea Mystic Sect back then or the Ice Essence Sect he ran off to currently. His reputation wasn’t too bad in either of them. After all, no Martial Dipper Realm expert would be like him and willingly run around to obtain resources for the faction.

Even so... He discovered that he had likely been betrayed after fighting with Sun Haiwei for some time.

He cursed his bad luck when he first ran into her, and he quickly sent a request for help to the Ice Essence Sect at the start of the battle.

However... Reinforcements never came.

Han Mo might not have had the opportunity to refine his third fate dipper in the years that passed, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t improve. He was definitely stronger than before.

He felt that even though Sun Haiwei was also a second element Martial Dipper Realm expert like himself, he would be able to come out on top with his wealth of experience and strong foundations.

However... He realized how wrong he was after a single exchange.

If he felt that he had already gotten extremely familiar with the use of his fate dippers and would be able to use them with great coordination, the unreasonably young female cultivator before him was able to freely transform her dipper qi!

If the limit of Han Mo’s ability was the second element of the Martial Dipper Realm... His limit would actually be the lower bound of where Sun Haiwei’s abilities began.

It was especially so when Sun Haiwei walked down the path of frost when she was in the Martial Extermination Realm. The fate dippers she refined so far were related to the Yin Water and Yin Metal elements. Rather than refining a Yin Wood Fate Dipper that was more closely related to the Yin Water Fate Dipper, she chose one with the strongest offensive property!

Sun Haiwei was also wielding 2 pretty impressive weapons. She had a bunch of powerful talismans that could be used to defend and recover any injuries she might sustain, and she also had medicine to restore her exhausted inner qi. It was definitely possible for her to kill an expert at the same level!

Sun Haiwei wouldn’t easily pass up an opportunity like that!

That was also the difference between an expert who came from a great power and a wandering cultivator!

...

Above the heavenly screen, Lu Wuzi watched Han Mo’s final struggle and sighed with a trace of envy, “Patriarch Kou is truly a genius... he actually managed to develop an inheritance that merges the properties of different elements. Even at the second element of the Martial Dipper Realm, members of your institution can freely transform their dipper qi. It’s something the Northern Sea Mystic Sect couldn’t do even with their thousand year inheritance... The other Elysiums can’t do better than the Northern Sea Mystic Sect... It’s no wonder Patriarch Kou and yourself could comprehend your martial intents so quickly and enter the grand completion stage of the Martial Dipper Realm!”

“Huh?” Shang Xia gasped once. A strange feeling came over him.