Chapter 20: Unintentional Leak

“You actually managed to capture a live one?!”

“How did you do it?!” Tuan Mengzi and Yuan Zilu asked in succession, shocking Shang Xia.

Mutated Rain Swallows were extremely fast! Even cultivators like Tian Mengzi and Yuan Zilu would find it difficult to capture one!

Wait… this is just a Mutated Rain Swallow… Isn’t this a little too much?!

They seemed to notice Shang Xia’s doubts, and Tian Mengzi explained, “These creatures are extremely fast and aggressive! Not even Brother Jin and I can capture one…” he turned to look at the bird in Shang Xia’s hand and pouted, “However, it won’t be too difficult if Instructor Yuan wishes to get his hands on one.”

Yuan Zilu shook his head, but his haughty tone betrayed his feelings. “I might be able to capture one or two, but the moment the Mutated Rain Swallows discover that they have no chance of escaping, they will kill themselves!”

Shang Xia looked at the creature in his hand, but he noticed that it hadn’t killed itself. “Is it unable to kill itself because of the nature of my lightning attacks?”

Shang Xia tossed the bird into a specially crafted cage by his side before hanging it up on the side of the carriage.

The mutated creatures that appeared in the battlefield between the two worlds were extremely precious!

Any creature that was captured alive was worth a terrifying amount of money!

“No, no, no…” Tian Mengzi shook his head. “You’re thinking about it too simply! You can believe me when I say that cultivators of the Tongyou Peak tried ways and means to capture a Mutated Rain Swallow alive. No matter how hard they tried, they were unable to capture a live one!”

Yuan Zilu turned to look at the bird fluttering about in the cage.

The swallow looked extremely weak, but it seem as though it wasn’t planning to kill itself anytime soon.

A weird gaze flashed in Yuan Zilu’s eyes and he spoke to Shang Xia, “Looks like your control over your strength improved. However, now that you managed to capture it alive, you have to make sure it lives! If you’re unable to stop it from self-destructing, you have to kill it immediately to preserve a complete corpse.”

Shang Xia asked “Is there something special about the mutated creatures? Why are they so interested in getting their hands on a live one?”

“You don’t know?” Tian Mengzi and Yuan Zilu were the ones stunned by his question. “Why the hell did you capture one then?! Don’t you know that killing one is much easier than capturing one alive?”

Shang Xia chuckled in response, “I caught it for fun. I wanted to see how well my control over my strength is!”

Staring at each other in confusion, Tian Mengzi and Yuan Zilu exclaimed, “Is that it?!”

“What other intentions can I have?” An innocent smile formed on Shang Xia’s face, but in the eyes of Yuan Zilu and Tian Mengzi, it was the most annoying expression they had ever seen.

Not wanting to indulge him any further, Tian Mengzi said, “You’ll see. You’ll know everything when we arrive at the Tongyou Peak.”

Shang Xia tried everything he could to loosen their lips, but there was nothing he could do to gain any more information.

After moving for quite some time, Shang Xia saw another amazing scene.

With too many interesting views, Shang Xia had long since grown numb to it. He calmed himself and he told himself to stay on guard.

Since Tian Mengzi was planning to take Sun Haiwei’s place as their teacher, he wouldn’t let the chance go.

“Senior Brother Tian, will the mutated swallows only appear when there is rain? Did their mutation occur because of the battlefield?”

Tian Mengzi explained patiently, “That’s right. They will only appear when there is rain, and due to the weird weather conditions here, no one knows when they will actually show themselves.”

“As for the mutation, there are different views on the matter. Some say that it has something to do with the heaven and earth qi here. Others say that the swallows are slowly starting to evolve.”

Shang Xia felt like Tian Mengzi was still hiding something, but seeing as the other party wasn’t planning on explaining further, he didn’t push the matter.

Another question soon popped up in his mind. ”Senior Brother Tian, from what I know, there were many cultivators in the region when the worlds collided. A lot of them escaped, but they didn’t become…”

Twenty years had passed since the worlds collided, and the cultivators who were alive then were still kicking now. They were the pioneers who set up the Tongyou Institution, and some of them were terrifying individuals.

As someone from the Shang Clan and the grandson of the deputy patriarch of the Tongyou Institution, Shang Xia knew a lot more than the rest.

Of course, it wasn’t polite for him to ask why the cultivators who escaped didn’t turn into walking corpses. After all, the early cultivators of the Shang Clan were also experts who escaped from the collision between the two worlds.

Tian Mengzi thought for a second and continued, “Even though I wasn’t there when it happened, I heard rumors from many teachers from the institution. When the two worlds collided, the energy fluctuations weren’t considered a disaster to mankind. Those who managed to survive received a huge opportunity.”

Tian Mengzi continued, “Cultivators who didn’t die then experienced a huge increase in strength. Their cultivation speed became terrifying… That was also how we managed to regroup our troops within a short period of time. The collision of our worlds might have caused a lot of damage, but with their newfound strength, our forefathers managed to secure the Tongyou Peak in the battlefield between two worlds. They reached an agreement with the cultivators of the Azure Spiritual World to cease fighting for 20 years. They also established the Tongyou Institution right outside the entrance to the battlefield, sending in disciples to temper themselves occasionally.”

Shang Xia knew some of the things Tian Mengzi revealed, but a part of the information contained stuff he was hearing for the first time.

As for the rest of the disciples, they were hearing it for the first time and looks of amazement could be seen on their faces.

Tian Mengzi chuckled, “A lot of the things I said aren’t really secrets. When you enter the inner division in two months, these will be taught in your lessons.”

A voice rang from the side after Tian Mengzi spoke. “Brother Tian, are we able to identify the undead corpses based on their clothes or appearances? Do their movements follow some sort of pattern?”

Shang Xia looked at the person who spoke and a weird light flashed in his eyes. The disciple who asked the questions was called Meng Liangchen. He was a cultivator who was about to enter the Martial Realm. He wasn’t exactly friendly to anyone in the outer division, and Shang Xia never really interacted with him.

Tian Mengzi raised an eyebrow in shock. His expression turned solemn when he looked at the disciple who spoke. “What is your question exactly?”

Meng Liangchen didn’t seem to notice the change in Tian Mengzi’s tone and he continued, “If we are able to identify the corpses, I wish to look for the traces of my Meng Family in the battlefield!”

“Are you a descendant of the Meng Clan? This… I’m afraid this will be extremely difficult.” Tian Mengzi sighed. “Due to the collision between our worlds, a greater half of our continent was swallowed. The Azure Spiritual World probably had some of its land mass eaten up as well. Due to the impact, the geography here is extremely complex. It’s completely unrecognizable, and it won’t be easy to look for a specific location in this place.”

Thinking of something all of a sudden, Tian Mengzi shook his head again. “You’re not the first one who thought of that. There were many people who wanted to try looking for their territory after the fluctuations died down. In the end, they paid the price of blood to obtain paltry benefits…”

Meng Liangchen’s expression sank.

“Wait. It’s not exactly impossible…” Another voice rang through the air.

A strange look filled Shang Xia’s eyes. Once again, he forgot the existence of Jin Guanchao.

“Brother Jin, this…” Tian Mengzi revealed a conflicted expression. He didn’t think that Jin Guanchao would actually take the initiative to speak.

“Buried corpses like the one you saw before formed due to the special energy fluctuations caused by the collision.” Jin Guanchao muttered.

Looks of confusion were thrown around instantly. No one knew what he was talking about.

The only person who understood him was Tian Mengzi, who quickly explained, “Due to the sudden change, many clans chose to hide underground. They were unable to avoid death, but their bodies were completely preserved due to the restrictions they laid down before.”

As time passed, their restrictions lost effect and their bodies appeared in the outside world. That is why their clothes and appearances look recognizable. Since most of them were humans before they died, their clothes will contain the insignia of the faction they belonged to.”

A trace of hope appeared in Meng Liangchen’s eyes. “Was there ever any news about my Meng Clan?”

Tian Mengzi chuckled lightly. “Isn’t no news the best news you can get?”

Even though Meng Liangchen was disappointed, he understood what Tian Mengzi meant. However, Jin Guanchao’s words shattered his dreams completely. “In the past, our disciples found a corpse that was wearing the clothes of your Meng Clan…”