Chapter 207: Not Over Yet?

Due to the appearance of the divine weapons, the battle had to end abruptly.

Even so, the Tongyou Institution’s gains were frightening enough. Not only did they obtain a part of Zhu Family’s inheritance, but they also managed to turn the Four Spiritual Peak into a pile of rubble! The Martial Extermination Realm experts of the Four Spiritual Peak and the Rose Party were slain, and even though they lost Liu Jitang in the process, the opponents suffered a lot more! It could be said that they achieved an unprecedented victory!

The twenty year long stalemate in the battlefield between the two worlds had been broken but that wasn’t all. The Rose Party that had been a hidden threat to the institution also received a huge blow to their strength!

Despite achieving an overwhelming victory, the Tongyou Institution wouldn’t be able to rest easy. They would probably be thrown into even more chaos.

From the time Liu Qinglan dispatched the disciples of the Tongyou Peak out to clean up the loose ends on the Four Spiritual Peak, the defenses on the Tongyou Peak were reduced to a state lower than when Liu Jitang deployed a huge group of disciples to the Coral Forest.

Luckily for them, they managed to complete their mission. As long as the beasts in the battlefield between the two worlds didn’t go crazy, the Tongyou Peak would probably be fine for the time being.

Liu Qinglan would have to rush back to take charge of the situation along with Shang Bo and Ji Wenlong. The various disciples of the institution would probably be in for a hard time as they digested the spoils of the Four Spiritual Peak.

As for Shang Lubing and Liu Zhiyuan, they were assisting the formation masters in the Coral Forest to tie up the loose ends there.

From the highest ranking members of the Tongyou Institution to the disciples of the various divisions, everyone was working on overdrive… Well, other than one person. Shang Xia found a rare chance to rest!

No one came over to distribute missions to him, and neither did anyone disturb him. It was as though the entire world forgot about his existence.

Naturally, he couldn’t be happier about the situation.

He was the one who gained the most from the Coral Forest and the Four Spiritual Peak. He needed a period of time to digest everything he obtained. Taking the chance to consolidate his foundations, Shang Xia wanted to turn everything he obtained into actual strength.

Of course, his time of peace wouldn’t last for long.

“Where’s the shard you obtained on the Four Spiritual Peak?” Shang Ke’s arrival quickly brought him back to reality.

Completing his final move of the Dual Interference Sword Manual, Shang Xia kept his sword before reaching over to retrieve the shard of fate dipper. A smile could be seen on his face as he handed it over to Shang Ke. “Grandpa Ke, what’s the rush? I was planning to play with this for a few more days. No matter what, this is a rank five treasure! It’s not every day I get to hold one!”

Weighing the shard in his hand, Shang Ke chortled, “Hah, even I haven’t seen many rank five treasures in my life! I’ve seen three of them in total and one of them is Kou Chongxue’s Hidden Frost Sword!”

“What’s the other?” Shang Xia raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Well, you’ve seen that one too, It’s the Coral Command your Grandpa Bo refined. Actually, it should be called the Mysterious World Command.”

Shang Xia frowned. “Wait a second, didn’t you enter the stone chamber behind those bronze gates in the Zhu Family Manor? The stone coffin there should also be a rank five treasure.”

“Yeah, it used to be. However, Zhu Tong sucked up too much of their essence to form his fate dipper. The coffin might have been a precious treasure in the past, but it’s a rank three treasure at best right now.”

“Rank three?” Shang Xia’s heart trembled slightly but he remained expressionless. “What a pity. But from what you say, a rank three treasure is worthless in your eyes! If it’s so useless, why doesn’t every Martial Intent Realm expert of the institution possess a graded weapon?”

Chuckling softly, Shang Ke replied, “Oh right. A rank three treasure is really precious. My standards just became a lot higher after the stuff we obtained in the Coral Forest and the Four Spiritual Peak.”

Shang Xia could see how excited his fifth grandfather was and a mischievous smile appeared on his face. “Wouldn’t this mean that our clan received a lot of benefits after the expedition this time?”

“Of course! We received a ton! Well... Most of the benefits went to the institution.” Shang Ke roared with laughter.

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Nodding slightly, Shang Xia chose to remain silent. However, he quickly heard a sigh escaping Shang Ke’s lips. “Brat, you managed to gain a lot of credit this time! The institution will definitely reward you heavily! You better not let them off easily. When the time comes, raise your requests boldly! The more you ask for the better!”

“Request? What am I supposed to ask for? Am I supposed to get the advancement formula for the Multi Illusion Wine?” Shang Xia sniggered playfully in response.

The smile on Shang Ke’s face dulled slightly and he muttered, “Do you know what condition your Grandpa Bo raised when he stepped down as the patriarch of the clan to focus on his role as the deputy patriarch?”

Shang Xia’s expression sank immediately. “Did he ask for the formula for the Multi Illusion Wine?”

“Yes.”

“But we already obtained a rank four advancement formula! Don’t we have the Hundred Days Longevity Intoxication?” Shang Xia asked.

Shaking his head slowly, Shang Ke explained, “That’s a promise your Grandpa Bo made to Kou Chongxue in the past. Moreover, one rank four advancement formula isn’t enough for a clan to truly grow strong.”

“Why is Patriarch Kou so adamant about keeping Grandpa Bo as a deputy patriarch of the institution?!” Shang Xia frowned slightly. He didn’t understand what was going on.

“I don’t know what your Grandpa Bo discussed with Kou Chongxue that year, but because of their negotiations, Kou Chongxue supported our clan greatly, pushing us up to rank alongside the three other great clans.”

Shang Xia sighed softly in response, “Even if Grandpa Bo isn’t the patriarch of our Shang Clan anymore, he will always be my grandpa!” He paused for a moment before changing the topic. “Grandpa Ke, the institution will definitely reward me when the time comes. Is our clan not planning to do so?”

“Damn brat! I knew you were up to no good!” Shang Ke chuckled before tossing out two jade bottles. “The red one contains Tempering Meridian Powder. You have to go get enough herbs for your own advancement medicine. As for the yellow bottle, it contains a portion of Expanding Meridian Powder. Take them as your reward from the clan!”

Pouting slightly, Shang Xia complained, “Is that it?”

“Heh. Have you decided if you want to inherit our Shang Clan’s spear art?” Shang Ke sneered softly.

A grin appeared on Shang Xia’s face as he made his reply. “Of course. Our Shang Clan Spear Art is extremely famous. Why would I not obtain the inheritance when it’s dangled right in front of my face?”

“Crazy brat! You learned so many different types of sword art and I thought you were planning to train in sword techniques your whole life.” Shang Ke roared with laughter.

Shang Xia shook his head slowly in response. “Of course not.”

Eventually, Shang Ke nodded his head and spoke solemnly, “In that case, I’ll gather some resources we received and craft a low-grade spear for you!”

“Many thanks, Grandpa Ke… No. Many thanks, Patriarch Shang!”

However, a sigh eventually left Shang Ke’s lips. “Don’t get too excited yet. I plan to have Duan Hong give it a shot. He might not be a blacksmith capable of crafting graded weapons in the past, but he’s our greatest hope.”

“It’s time for our Shang Clan to nurture a rank three blacksmith. He will have to try to craft one sooner or later.” Shang Xia raised an eyebrow slowly.

Even though rank three treasures could be made into low-grade weapons, every single weapon had different requirements. They would need a lot of rank two ingredients too, and the chances of crafting a low-grade weapon were kind of slim.

The Shang Clan might have twenty years of accumulation, but it wouldn’t be enough if the blacksmith wasted several batches of ingredients used to create graded weapons.

Suddenly thinking of something, Shang Xia retrieved an item from his spatial artifact.

Staring at the black lump in Shang Xia’s hand, Shang Ke gasped in shock, “How do you have so many treasures on you?!”