Chapter 264: Kou Chongxue’s Disappearance

Ever since the worlds collided, a spatial barrier formed, separating the battlefield between the two worlds and the You Continent. At the same time, it was slowly eating into the Azure Origin World through the You Continent. That was the meaning behind the fusion between the two worlds.

The Thousand Leaf Mountain Range that existed since a long time ago extended across the borders of the You, Ji, Bing, and the battlefield between the two worlds.

To put it in a clearer perspective, the battlefield between the two worlds extended slowly towards the central region from both the east and the west. The central region was where the You Continent was located, and it formed a weird horseshoe shape.

The Tongyou Institution was located at the very edge of the horseshoe, and it was also where the tunnel to the battlefield between the two worlds was located. They were the first line of defense against the Azure Spiritual World.

However, a strange occurrence could be seen on the northernmost part of the barrier. The originally smooth spatial barrier was completely deformed.

The deformity was completely insignificant when compared to the rest of the spatial barrier, but several Martial Extermination Realm experts from the Tongyou City were gathered there at that moment.

“Is Patriarch Kou really cultivating in seclusion here? Can anyone confirm this?” Han Chongwei stared at the wasteland in front of him and saw how the ground looked like it had been flipped several times over. He couldn’t help but ask.

Those who came quickly threw their glances towards Ji Wenlong, Shang Ke, and Liu Zhiyuan. Those were the three Martial Extermination Realm experts of the institution who came with them.

Shang Ke and Liu Zhiyuan were clearly as confused as the others and they too, turned to look at Ji Wenlong.

Nodding slowly, Ji Wenlong explained, “Yes. He discovered this place and made it his cultivation grounds. Even though I came here in the past, I wasn’t sure of its exact coordinates. Now that I’m here again, I can confirm that it’s the place he chose to enter seclusion.”

Wei Zhongwen couldn’t help but add, “So… Patriarch Kou has been in seclusion here all this time… Who would have thought that he would choose a place past the spatial barrier to cultivate…”

Chang Huaiwu sighed too. “Since Patriarch Kou was able to enter the spatial barrier to create his own cultivation ground, I guess the rumors were true. Martial Dipper Realm experts are able to tear through the spatial barrier at will.”

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

An Baimei raised both his eyebrows in response. “Why would Patriarch Kou choose to enter seclusion here? Could there be some sort of secret behind it?”

Once again, the gazes of everyone present landed on Ji Wenlong.

However, he chose to remain silent this time. Seeing as he wasn’t willing to share any more, the rest chose not to push the matter.

Yu Chengjin started to walk in the direction of the spatial barrier after hearing what they all said. He examined it carefully and he sighed, “Even though the damage looks serious, there are many traces of people trying to cover up the battle. One thing we can be sure of is that the battle involved cultivators of the Azure Spiritual World.”

Yu Chengjin’s evaluation caused the expressions of the others to change.

“Are we sure of this?” Shang Ke asked.

Hesitating for a second, Yu Chengjin continued, “Yes. The inner qi of bloodline cultivators and those of us who cultivate our inner qi in our dantian. The situation here is clear. However, we cannot eliminate the possibility that they did this on purpose to cloud our judgment. After all, every family and clan in our Azure Origin World have been trying to understand the cultivation methods of those from the Azure Spiritual World. There are members of the Azure Spiritual World in every one of your clans here…”

Everyone present was a Martial Extermination Realm expert. All of them were obviously part of the core strength of their faction. Yu Chengjin’s words might be shocking, but it couldn’t surprise any one present.

Wei Zhongwen snorted lightly. “Looks like the Rose Party is in on this shit again. They definitely assisted the cultivators of the Azure Spiritual World in breaking into our world.”

“Are they actually strong enough to open up another path into the battlefield between the two worlds other than those controlled by our institutions to lead the cultivators of the Azure Spiritual World in?” ?Han Chongwei snorted in disbelief.

“Twenty years ago, the five great families managed to draw the entire Azure Spiritual World over and caused the entire calamity. What’s so surprising about the Rose Party bringing a few cultivators over?” Wei Zhongwen sneered.

Staring at him in shock, Han Chongwei chose to remain silent.

An Baimei seemed to have thought of something and he asked, “Brother Ji, I heard that the reason behind the great war on your Tongyou Peak was because members of the Rose Party hid in your ranks to create a chance for the Four Spiritual Peak to launch their attack. Is that true?”

Ji Wenlong nodded after shooting a glance at him.

An Baimei continued, “Since you obtained a decisive victory over the Four Spiritual Peak and thwarted the plans of the Rose Party, are you certain that you wiped out everyone from the Rose Party?”

Ji Wenlong’s expression sank and no one could tell what he was thinking about. However, he eventually spoke up. “Nope. There’s at least one other Martial Extermination Realm expert of the Rose Party who managed to escape into the Azure Spiritual World through the Four Spiritual Peak.”

“Martial Extermination?” A soft gasp left the lips of those present and the story started to make sense.

Chang Huaiwu growled, “The Rose Party is growing stronger and stronger. Today, they managed to collude with the Azure Spiritual World to tear open the spatial barrier to lead cultivators of the Azure Spiritual World over to the Ji Continent. That would also mean that they’re capable of doing the same to the other continents.”

Wei Zhongwen’s gaze landed on where Yu Changjin was looking at earlier and he muttered, “Do you think that it’s possible the members of the Azure Spiritual World only managed to tear open the spatial barrier because Patriarch Kou weakened it when he opened the tunnel in the past?”

Liu Zhuyuan who had remained silent the whole time finally frowned in response. “That’s not possible, right? The gray colored chaotic qi that was created by the spatial barrier seems unaffected. If it was weakened, the gray chaotic qi wouldn’t be there anymore. Elder Yu, can’t you see that?”

Wei Zhongwen chuckled. “If someone created a spatial tunnel, isn’t it possible for them to close it off in the future?”

“This junior doesn't know if I’m hearing it right, but from seniors’ words, you think that Patriarch Kou shouldn’t have created his cultivation grounds here.” Liu Zhiyuan frowned.

“Zhuyuan, don’t be rude! Brother Wei is only bringing up his observation. We can’t possibly know everything that happened here and we need to hear every single possibility.” Ji Wenlong muttered.

Chuckling in response, Wei Zhongwen didn’t seem to mind.

Yu Chengjin threw another question out once again. “Brother Ji, even though this might sound disrespectful, I need to ask you a question. Are you able to tell us what Patriarch Kou’s current state is?”

The faces of everyone changed the moment he asked his question. At the same time, they perked their ears up while waiting for Ji Wenlong’s reply.

Shaking his head, Ji Wenlong sighed. “I might not be willing to believe it either, but from the looks of it, he went missing.”

“Can we determine whether he’s alive?” Yu Chengjin continued.

Hesitating for a second, Ji Wenlong knew that the next words out of his mouth could cause disastrous effects. Shaking his head, he sighed, “The Hidden Frost Sword is currently in the battlefield between the two worlds. Due to the presence of the spatial barrier, we cannot confirm anything right now.”

Strange expressions were quickly thrown about.

The Hidden Frost Sword was Kou Chongxue’s divine weapon. He nurtured it for a long time and the divine weapon developed its own spirituality. Its connection with Kou Chongxue should allow it to discover Kou Chongxue’s current state. However, Yun Jing was suppressing the four great races of the Azure Spiritual World with the sword in the battlefield between the two worlds. Due to the separation through the spatial barrier, it might not be able to detect Kou Chongxue’s current situation.

Shang Ke spoke up all of a sudden. “Only by making sense of what happened here will we be able to locate Patriarch Kou.”

“That’s exactly what we need to do. Regardless, Patriarch Kou is a Martial Dipper Realm expert. Even if he’s injured, they won’t be able to kill him so easily!” Liu Zhiyuan added.

Han Chongwei thought about it for a second and spoke, “Even though it won’t look good for us to interfere in the Tongyou Institution’s business, I heard that there were five talented disciples of the Tongyou Institution invited over by Patriarch Kou. They received the invitation after their impressive performance in their training plaza. The disciples of our institutions were extremely envious of their treatment. I wonder if we can meet with the five geniuses?”

Shang Ke exchanged a glance with Liu Zhiyuan and they remained silent. Instead, Ji Wenlong was the one who replied. “Only four of them returned. Shang Xia was the last to meet with Patriarch Kou, and he hasn’t been back to the institution since.”

One had to say that Shang Xia’s performance was too dazzling. Everyone present had a deep impression of the kid.

Han Chongwei continued, “So… In addition to Patriarch Kou, the genius of the Shang Clan is also missing.”

Shang Ke’s expression sank instantly.

Everyone present could tell that the enemy’s main goal was Kou Chongxue. If they sent a squad capable of fighting a Martial Dipper Realm expert, Shang Xia’s fate was looking really bleak. Naturally, they didn’t know that the other side also formed a special squad to hunt Shang Xia down.

Even if Kou Chongxue was injured, no one would dare to underestimate the strength of a Martial Dipper Realm expert. Under such circumstances, they had to send several powerful experts. Without enough assurance to protect himself, where would he find the opportunity to look after a mere Martial Intent Realm disciple?

“Chief Shang Lubing was also present.” Ji Wenlong mentioned all of a sudden.

Staring at him in shock, even Liu Zhiyuan and Shang Ke didn’t expect Shang Lubing to be there.

A trace of hope appeared in Shang Ke’s heart. Shang Xia might be useless in the face of an assault on a Martial Dipper Realm expert, but Shang Lubing was a whole other story.

With Shang Lubing’s assistance, Shang Xia’s fate didn’t look as bleak as it once was!

The Martial Extermination Realm experts present were also starting to reevaluate the situation once they heard that Shang Lubing was there.

Liu Zhiyuan couldn’t help but ask, “When did Mister Shang return from the battlefield between the two worlds?”

Before Ji Wenlong could say anything, Shang Ke stole the chance to reply. “You’ve been in seclusion to consolidate your foundations the whole time. It’s not unusual for you not to know.”

Naturally, that wasn’t the true goal of Liu Zhiyuan’s question. He was more concerned about what Shang Lubing’s true goal of returning to the institution was. He could tell that Shang Ke was equally confused about Shang Lubing’s return, but it didn’t seem smart to reveal everything in front of the others.

Realizing Shang Ke’s subtle reminder, he quickly released a gasp before nodding in ‘understanding’ “Yeah! Haha, I didn’t take note of the situation because of my cultivation. I guess it’s nothing special.”

There were only two possible reasons for Shang Lubing to return. One was that the situation in the Coral Forest was about to be wrapped up and there was no need for him to be present any longer. The second was to guard against the Martial Extermination Realm experts of the other continents. No matter how friendly they seemed, they might be plotting against the institution. On the surface, only Ji Wenlong and Kang Ci were present to look over the institution. Shang Ke and Liu Zhiyuan had been cultivating in seclusion in their manors, and Shang Bo was hiding somewhere out of sight from those of the other institutions.

As such, Shang Lubing’s silent return was most likely linked to the second reason.

Both sides knew each other’s intentions and neither brought it up explicitly.

Ji Wenlong, Yu Chengjin, and Wei Zhongwen frowned and turned to stare in a certain direction all of a sudden. It didn’t take long for the others to also react accordingly.

A black shadow flew towards the group at a high speed.

When they noticed the figure, Ji Wenlong’s expression sank and he snapped, “Why aren’t you standing guard in the institution? Why the hell did you come here?”

Kang Ci couldn’t be bothered with Ji Wenlong’s scolding for now and he yelled, “I discovered the traces of a huge battle! It’s probably related to Shang Xia and from the looks of it, he was fighting Martial Intent Realm experts from the Azure Spiritual World!”

The faces of everyone present changed yet again.

“Let’s go!” Four rays of extermination origins wrapped around Ji Wenlong in an instant as he instructed Kang Ci to bring them over.

Behind him, Shang Ke and the rest got ready to follow and in the blink of an eye, all of them disappeared.