Chapter 1019: Break!

By the time Shang Xia regrouped with Kou Chongxue and Lu Wuzi, he found them staring at him in shock.

“Did you arrive earlier than me?! Why didn’t I feel any spatial disturbance when you arrived?” Kou Chongxue stared at him in shock.

Looking at them, Shang Xia was equally confused. He shot back in a tone that showed his utter bafflement at the situation. “How would I know?!”

“Alright, how did you find us then?” Lu Wuzi asked.

“When I arrived, I noticed some remnant spatial fluctuations and I came here to look for you guys...” Shang Xia replied honestly.

Exchanging a glance, Kou Chongxue and Lu Wuzi didn’t know what to feel at the moment. Eventually, Lu Wuzi forced a chuckle, “Actually, this might be good news. If even Patriarch Kou failed to detect your arrival, the expert in the Azure Flame World shouldn’t be able to either. In that case, you’re like a hidden trump card that can pop out at the crucial moment and deal the decisive blow. In fact, you might be able to shatter the defenses of their world completely!”

Kou Chongxue also agreed on the same approach. “Let’s do that then.”

Shang Xia felt that there was something strange in the way they were speaking, but they clearly weren’t going to waste precious time letting him think about it. Tearing open spatial tunnels, the 2 of them rushed towards the Azure Flame World, guns blazing and signaling their arrival.

Looking in the direction they left, Shang Xia couldn’t help but scratch his head in conclusion. However, he didn’t have too much time to think about it as he placed the Anchor Talismans that had been made with the collective efforts of the Spirit Luxuriant World around the asteroids, broken land fragments, and other debris floating in space to allow Zhang Xuansheng and the others to open spatial tunnels to send their experts over.

When he was done, powerful fluctuations appeared in the direction of the Azure Flame World.

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

There was no doubt about it. Kou Chongxue and Lu Wuzi had started the battle against Yuan Cangming.

He might be tens of thousands of miles away at the moment and couldn’t view the battle directly, but he was certain that the 2 of them wouldn’t be the ones at a disadvantage. That was precisely why he wasn’t worried for them at all. In fact, he grew even calmer with each passing moment.

Since he was going to sneak attack, he would have to ensure he hid his tracks well. Only then would he be able to ensure his ambush made the greatest impact.

As Shang Xia slowly made his way closer to the heavenly screen, he discovered that Kou Chongxue and Lu Wuzi looked to be in a pretty bad spot.

A trace of worry appeared in Shang Xia’s mind, but he wasn’t too concerned about it. After all, they outnumbered Yuan Cangming. Instead, he felt a lot more curious about their current predicament.

Slowing down even more to arrive 5000 miles away from the heavenly screen without being detected, he finally uncovered the truth. Even though Kou Chongxue and Lu Wuzi looked like they were being beaten badly, that was merely what it looked like on the surface. In fact, they weren’t at a disadvantage at all.

Whatever it was, Yuan Cangming used the help of countless formations that had been deployed above the heavenly screen to put up a good fight against Kou Chongxue and Lu Wuzi. In fact, the Azure Flame World also seemed to have made sufficient preparations which allowed Yuan Cangming to put up a great fight the moment the battle started.

The closer he got to the Azure Flame World, the more attention he placed on restraining his aura. At the same time, he split off a bit of consciousness to observe the way the True Immortals were fighting.

As one’s cultivation realm increased, they would gradually do away with the traditional way of doing battle. They would no longer contend with each other purely through the use of essence qi. Instead, one’s martial dao and the power of their souls would come into play.

Kou Chongxue’s Hidden Frost Sword wasn’t aimed at Yuan Cangming directly as it slashed away at the domain around him. It was severing the support he received from his Elysium while trying to split apart the power of the world he could draw upon.

Unlike Kou Chongxue who was facing Yuan Cangming head-on, Lu Wuzi was spinning circles around the battlefield like a giant top. He would launch attacks from time to time to mess with Yuan Cangming who seemed to be fighting on equal grounds with Kou Chongxue.

Even so, Yuan Cangming seemed to be getting more confident the more the battle dragged on.

One couldn’t see how Kou Chongxue and Lu Wuzi were still holding on and would eventually gain the advantage as the battle played out... As long as Yuan Cangming managed to withstand the initial assault, it would be extremely difficult to defeat him. After all, he had the advantage of having the Azure Flame World’s support and he would be able to replenish his energy the more the battle dragged on.

Even though he wouldn’t be able to win, he would be able to stop them outside the heavenly screen!

If that was the case, he would be able to prevent too much damage from being done to the Azure Flame World and could buy more time for reinforcements to arrive.

Lu Wuzi, who had been drifting around the battlefield from the very start, suddenly rushed at Yuan Cangming to help Kou Chongxue suppress his opponent.

Rather than feeling the slightest trace of shock, excitement filled Yuan Cangming’s mind.

Lu Wuzi’s earlier way of doing battle was really wearing him down as he had to split off a good portion of his attention to look out for Lu Wuzi’s sneak attacks. He also had to ensure Lu Wuzi didn’t attempt to tear open the heavenly screen to enter the Azure Flame World.

Now that the other party chose to join the battle to fight him directly, even though he would be placed under a lot more pressure, he no longer had to worry about them playing any tricks behind his back!

As Lu Wuzi joined the battle, Yuan Cangming couldn’t help but feel that something was off. It was as though he was overlooking something, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

However, they weren’t going to give him too much time to think about other matters. The intensity of their attacks increased and it seemed as though they no longer cared about exhausting their Void Origin!

Even though Yuan Cangming was confident he would be able to stop them with the formations they deployed above the heavenly screen, the unease in his heart grew stronger with each passing second. In fact, his heart was pounding so hard that the anxiety he was feeling was slowly starting to turn into fear.

No. There has to be something wrong!

Could they have some sort of special trump card they’re still hiding that will allow them to deal with me?!

As his gaze flickered across Kou Chongxue and Lu Wuzi, Shang Xia, who was barely 1000 miles away from the heavenly screen, had long since stored up enough energy. With all his might, he swung the Stone Rod in his hand down towards the battlefield.

Space itself was compressed under the rod and the distance of 1000 miles was crossed in an instant. Before the spatial fluctuations could even start to spread, Shang Xia’s Holy Artifact arrived right above Yuan Cangming’s head.

Another domain appeared and forced itself into the battlefield. It quickly gathered together and fused with Kou Chongxue and Lu Wuzi’s domains to shatter Yuan Cangming’s domain and suppress the connection he had to his Elysium.

A third True Immortal! They actually have a third True Immortal that isn’t shackled to an Elysium!

When did he appear?! Why didn’t I feel any traces of his presence before this?!

Many thoughts flashed through Yuan Cangming’s mind at that moment, but it was clearly not the time to be finding the answers to those questions.

He had been overdrawing the power of his Elysium from the time the battle started, and the burden on his body as he utilized copious amounts of power of the world was not light at all. He was facing an unimaginable amount of pressure and he felt as though his Void Origin was about to explode.

Facing the rod that was crashing down on him, 2 words flashed through his mind. “Not enough!”

Boom!

That was a real blast that shook the heavens and earth. The heavenly screen above the Azure Flame World seemed to be smashed by a giant rod and a powerful stream of energy cascaded into the world through a hole that had been blown through the heavenly screen. It crashed into the surface of the sea before spreading in all directions.

“Is he dead?!” Above the heavenly screen, Lu Wuzi frowned and muttered in doubt after realizing Yuan Cangming was nowhere to be seen.

“How is that possible?” Kou Chongxue chuckled in a hoarse voice. “He ran back into his Elysium at the very last second...”

Seeing the look of disappointment on Lu Wuzi’s face, Kou Chongxue couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “We expected as much anyway... A True Immortal who has the support of an Elysium isn’t going to die so easily!”

Raising their heads to look in a certain direction in the void, a formless fluctuation that they barely detected after focusing all their attention on it appeared. Shang Xia’s figure emerged from the void the next second.

“How do you think Yuan Cangming is doing right now?” Kou Chongxue asked Shang Xia after he arrived. Even though he was the person fighting Yuan Cangming earlier, he wouldn’t be clearer about the situation than the person who made the move.

At the same time, Kou Chongxue couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. The youngster before him might have already surpassed him in terms of combat capabilities!

Shang Xia naturally had no idea what Kou Chongxue was thinking. However, that didn’t stop him from answering honestly. “His Void Origin suffered heavy injuries. However, he managed to transfer a portion of his injuries to his Elysium before he was able to run back into it. No matter what, his Elysium would have suffered heavy damages.”

“Serious injuries to his Void Origin and heavy damages to his Elysium... Wouldn’t that mean that he wouldn’t be able to resist any longer?” Lu Wuzi gasped happily. He didn’t think that the expedition would go so smoothly and for them to determine the winner after the first round of battle.

“We cannot be careless!” Kou Chongxue coughed once. He glanced at Shang Xia and continued, “Do not forget the battle back at the Azure Oddity World. Meng Yuanxiu and Yu Ji faced the combined attack of 6 True Immortals but still managed to kill 1 of their them. No matter what, we cannot look down on a True Immortal backed into a corner. Especially so when they made preparations in advance. They would be ready to risk their lives at any moment to fight back...”

Shang Xia and Lu Wuzi nodded in unison.

Shang Xia and Kou Chongxue personally witnessed the battle in the Azure Oddity World, and Lu Wuzi heard Kou Chongxue’s description of it. He knew how Meng Yuanxiu, the rank six Formation Grandmaster, went all out before he was slain.

“However...” Kou Chongxue flicked his sleeves and muttered in a low voice, “Since the heavenly screen has already been broken, and the formations that might have existed down there have already been destroyed by the energy waves Little Shang created, all we have to do is to head directly over to the Elysium at the Eastern Nuanyuan Continent.”

After he spoke, Kou Chongxue passed through the hole in the heavenly screen that was starting to repair itself.

After so many years, he finally stepped into the Azure Flame World again!

Lu Wuzi and Shang Xia exchange a glance before racing after him.