Chapter 1338: Zhang Xuansheng’s gift

Shang Xia was truly shocked by Zhang Xuansheng’s manipulations.

From Kou Chongxue’s tone, it also seemed as though he was sure of something.

It seemed as though Zhang Xuansheng’s plan was to shift Zhang Jianzi’s soul to another Elysium so that he could consolidate the strength of the Elysium for himself to enter the fourth tier!

That begged the question... Where was Zhang Jianzi’s soul going to go?

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Of the original Elysiums of the Spirit Luxuriant World, they had 6 in total and all of them had Elysium True Immortals. Where could Zhang Jianzi go?

Even if Zhang Xuansheng was willing to take out the piece of heavenly screen, how could any other Elysium True Immortal agree to share their Elysium?

The only way was for a new Elysium to be born and a deal to be struck...

Shang Xia couldn’t help but ask, “Is it the Heavenly Star Palace?! Yin Jingxu is actually willing to let Zhang Jianzi take charge of his Elysium?! Is he crazy?!”

“The Heavenly Star Elysium will soon be born and when that happens, you should receive the announcement that I’ll kick Zhang Jianzi out of the Northern Sea Mystic Sect.” Zhang Xuansheng smiled.

Seeing the incredulous look on Shang Xia’s face, Zhang Xuansheng continued laughing, “True Immortal Little Shang, did you forget the difficulty of entering the Martial Void Realm? Oh right, Neither you nor Patriarch Kou, or the experts of your Tongyou Institution experienced any difficulty... Your journey has been smooth sailing the whole time. From what I know, you 4 were the only high-level experts who were nurtured by the institution to enter the Martial Void Realm and that means that your success rate is 100 percent! Hmm... If we expose this face, I’m afraid our Spirit Luxuriant World won’t be the only one who is shocked. Every single expert in our Heaven Observation Field will go crazy!”

“Entering the Martial Void Realm might be difficult, but the Heavenly Star Palace can slowly nurture their disciples. There will definitely be talented ones in the future to take over their Elysium. Zhang Jianzi has only entered the Martial Void Realm for a few years... With his longevity, the experts in the Heavenly Star Palace who are talented enough to break through to the Martial Void Realm will have their martial path severed for the next 200 to 300 years... Even if Yin Jingxu agrees, what will the other members of the Heavenly Star Palace think?” Shang Xia growled in a low voice.

Zhang Xuansheng looked at Shang Xia with a smile that didn’t seem like a smile. “True Immortal Little Shang, why are you so worked up over it? After all... This is something that concerns my Northern Sea Mystic Sect and the Heavenly Star Palace, not you.”

“You...” Shang Xia frowned but he couldn’t think of a reason Yin Jingxu would agree.

One had to know that even if the Heavenly Star Palace was in a rush to establish their Elysium, they had the support of the Spirit Luxuriant World. There was no need for them to agree to Zhang Xuansheng’s request.

Even if the Northern Sea Mystic Sect provided the Heaven Supporting Jade Pillar or the Elysium Boundary Marker, or both of those treasures, it would only hasten the birth of the Heavenly Star Palace by 2 or 3 years. Yin Jingxu didn’t need to leave his Elysium to an outsider and give up the chance of his sect producing an Elysium True Immortal.

As for Zhang Xuansheng saying he would kick Zhang Jianzi out of the Northern Sea Mystic Sect... Even 3 year olds wouldn’t believe him...

Zhang Xuansheng sensed that the look in the eyes of the 2 high-level True Immortals was turning a little hostile and he sighed helplessly, “Fellow True Immortals... In the next tens of years, the situation in the Heaven Observation Field will become extremely violent and danger will be everywhere. True Immortal Yin’s cultivation at the second tier of the Martial Void Realm is extremely precious and if he doesn’t have an Elysium True Immortal, he won’t be able to follow you guys to battle in the sea of stars. After all... I believe you haven’t forgotten about your Elysium being infiltrated by a high-level True Immortal of the Essence Hong World.”

If not for the sincere tone Zhang Xuansheng used when speaking about the infiltration where Shang Xia couldn’t hear a trace of mockery, he might have just smashed his Stone Rod down at the old man.

However... One had to say that Zhang Xuansheng’s approach was truly logical and benefited the general situation in the Spirit Luxuriant World. Kou Chongxue and Shang Xia had no way to retort.

In a cold voice, Kou Chongxue continued, “What else?”

“Since the 6 Elysiums of our Spirit Luxuriant World have been established and the 7th is on its way, we will be able to deploy the Elysium Grand Formation soon. Even though we wouldn’t be able to unleash its full might with 9 Elysiums, we will still be able to protect ourselves against Seventh Order energy... Even though it’s not the real deal, it’s better than nothing!” Zhang Xuansheng continued to describe the rest of his plan, “However, in order to fully utilize the power of the grand formation, we need a True Immortal to take charge of every one of them. It would be for the best if they were Elysium True Immortals. However, when will the Heavenly Star Palace be able to nurture their second True Immortal? 3 years? 5 years? It’s going to be more like 30 or 50 years!”

Realizing he still wasn’t convincing enough, Zhang Xuansheng continued, “There’s also a matter about successfully entering the Martial Void Realm. Let’s talk about my Northern Sea Mystic Sect. Even if I count Lu Wuzi, only 3 of my disciples succeeded in recent years. Our results are second only to your institution. However... Do you know how many disciples I had who tried to enter the Martial Void Realm other than them?”

Before they could respond, Zhang Xuansheng sighed, “There were 11 of them!”

This time, Kou Chongxue and Shang Xia were finally moved. They were shocked at the fact that it was actually so difficult to enter the Martial Void Realm, and that the Northern Sea Mystic Sect actually had that many experts who had the qualifications to attempt the breakthrough in the first place!

One had to know that any expert who could even try to enter the Martial Void Realm had to reach the large completion stage of the Martial Dipper Realm at the very least.

Only after integrating the Spirit Dusk World Fragment did experts of the Tongyou Institution other than Sun Haiwei, Ge Qingzhu, and Shang Bo start to become high-level Martial Dipper Realm experts.

Zhang Xuansheng wasn’t done. “Out of the 11 who tried, only 3 succeeded. Lu Wuzi even took advantage of the expedition to the Azure Flame World with you guys. Otherwise, he wouldn’t...”

A look of disdain flashed in his eyes as he growled, “Whatever. Don’t think that it’s impossible for the success rate to be so low. In fact, we’re already envied by the others... Of course, your Tongyou Institution doesn’t count.”

“From what I know, in order to quickly produce a True Immortal, the Eternal Palace allowed 6 of their experts to attempt their breakthrough. I don’t know if any of them lived, but even if 1 or 2 survived, they should thank the gods. The Divine Capital Palace is much worse. Their elites that had the qualifications to attempt the breakthrough were basically wiped out. Otherwise, how could Jiu Jing, that old fellow whose lifespan is about to be exhausted be allowed to try? Hah... Who would have thought that life would be so unpredictable... That old fellow who was about to die managed to extend his lifespan after he entered the Martial Void Realm!”

“Do you think that’s it? No... The Yuanchen Sect, Heavenly Star Palace, and other factions with Holy Lands had been risking it all to produce a True Immortal. None of them succeeded! It isn’t that Yin Jingxu is not willing to wait to nurture his disciples... He can’t afford to!” Zhang Xuansheng stared at the 2 of them with a gaze sharper than what they were shooting him and growled, “Do you think it’s unimaginable? Hehe... In our Spirit Luxuriant World, failing to ascend is nothing strange. You True Immortals of the Tongyou Institution are the strange ones in our eyes!”

His tone suddenly changed to one of calm again and he sighed, “Fellow True Immortals... What do you think about this now?”

...

On the way back from the Northern Sea Mystic Sect, Shang Xia and Kou Chongxue were completely silent.

Only after they arrived at the heavenly screen above the You Continent was Shang Xia no longer able to hold it in and he asked, “Patriarch Kou, The Northern Sea Mystic Sect, Ice Essence Sect, Heavenly Star Palace, and the Eternal Palace and Divine Capital Sect that had always been colluding with each other, already knew about this... The Yuanchen Sect might not be completely clueless either... Without us knowing, Zhang Xuansheng managed to play such a huge game of chess while keeping us in the dark...”

Kou Chongxue’s expression was solemn and he mumbled, “The pressure we gave them because of our institution’s abrupt rise was too large. Zhang Xuansheng probably used us to bring everyone together. Even the Ice Essence Sect is trying to ease their relationship with the others and they managed to all band together...”

“Heh... They’re just thinking we’ll do to them what they’ll do to others if they get strong enough...” Shang Xia snorted softly.

Expressionless, Kou Chongxue shot him a glance and muttered, “Zhang Xuansheng was only showing us a possibility of what could happen. That doesn’t mean that the Ice Essence Sect and Heavenly Star Palace is on their side. Otherwise... If their true intention was to deal with us, Zhang Xuansheng wouldn’t have said all that.”

“Hehe...” Chuckling sinisterly, Shang Xia muttered, “It’s not like I don’t have the experience of killing an Elysium True Immortal in their territory. It’s just a bunch of first and second tier True Immortals... If they really enrage me, it’s not like I can’t kill Zhang Xuansheng or Yang Taihe either. At worst, I’ll just destroy a few Elysiums and rebuild them in the future!”

“I always thought you were getting cocky after becoming a fifth tier True Immortal... I just didn’t want to say it.” Kou Chongxue muttered.

Shang Xia coughed, “This... Your words are a little...”

Before he could finish, Kou Chongxue interrupted him. “How many people do you think will keep you in check if you grow arrogant? In a few years, when you grow even stronger, even if I’m still your patriarch, I’ll still have to address you courteously and formally.”

Hesitating for a long while, Shang Xia eventually nodded slowly, “Patriarch Kou, I will take your advice to heart!”

Finally looking at Shang Xia properly, a profound light flashed in Kou Chongxue’s eyes and he nodded when he saw the look of understanding in Shang Xia’s eyes. “Anyway, Zhang Xuansheng can be considered pretty sincere. He basically told us everything about his Northern Sea Mystic Sect. He revealed his origins and extent of foundations to us. It’s to dispel any suspicions we might have of him, and to tell us that protecting the Spirit Luxuriant World is also his intention. Before we left... He even gave you the piece of heavenly screen from the Spirit Abundance World!”

Shang Xia took out a gray banner Zhang Xuansheng handed to him earlier and sighed, “I didn’t think that the banner would be created with the piece of heavenly screen from the Spirit Abundance World. I didn’t think that he would give me such a precious treasure either.”

“You need to make full use of it. If you are able to maximize its use when you head to the Spirit Abundance World, you might even be able to avoid being suppressed by the World’s Will when you fight with them. However... If you fail to keep it a secret and news of it gets out, the True Immortals of the Spirit Abundance World will most likely put aside all their differences and attack you without holding anything back to retrieve their heavenly screen.” Kou Chongxue explained.