Chapter 294: Discovery

At the location where Liang Shuangen was killed by Mister Bu and the other two the day before, Yang Hu examined the traces of battle along with three other Martial Extermination Realm experts.

“It definitely happened here. City Lord Yang, you seem to be really late to the party…” A white-bearded old man who had long and narrow eyes snapped at Yang Hu.

“Ahem…” An older cultivator who looked to be in his fifties coughed once before trying to diffuse the situation. “As the two of you know, the situation in the Changfeng City is extremely important considering the state the Tongyou City is in now. It’s no wonder City Lord Yang was unable to rush out of the city to observe the battle yesterday. After all, none of us can be sure that it’s not a distraction to lure him out of the city. If their plot was to draw him away, we won’t even have to care about the damage they could do to the city. Obstructing the holy lands’ plan would be a great sin in itself! When that happens, all of us would be in trouble.”

The narrow-eyed cultivator turned to look at the elder who spoke before mocking, “Oh? City Lord Yang might be unable to leave, but why the hell is a subordinate like you unable to check it out?”

“This…” The elder paused for a second, unable to think of a reply.

Eventually, Yang Hu stepped in to soothe the situation. “Brother Gao, Mister Si here isn’t my subordinate. He’s an old friend of mine.”

The cultivator who spoke earlier sneered and didn’t seem to want to let up, “Since you’re not City Lord Yang’s subordinate, why don’t you tell us where you were yesterday?”

A frown formed on Mister Si’s face and he growled, “Are you suspecting me?”

The cultivator who Yang Hu called Brother Gao snorted but remained silent. Even so, everyone present could tell that he was implying that Mister Si had something to do with it.

Sneering with rage, Mister Si released a weird laugh.

The situation immediately became tense between the two of them. Eventually, Yang Hu’s figure trembled slightly and he appeared between them to mediate the situation. “There’s no way Mister Si will be behind this. Brother Gao, you can relax.”

An interested expression appeared on Brother Gao’s face and he asked, “Why would you say that?”

Yang Hu started to hesitate for a second, but Mister Si took over with a sigh, “That’s because my family name isn’t ‘Si’. It’s ‘Sima’.”

“You’re from the Rose Party?” The other Martial Extermination Realm expert who hadn’t said anything finally spoke up. “Hmm… Indeed. It’s not possible for you to be behind this. Who would have thought that City Lord Yang would be friends with members of the Rose Party?”

Grunting softly, Yang Hu changed the topic. “Brother Wei, what did you discover?”

Shaking his head, he sighed, “This place might look like a mess, but whoever did it cleaned it up really well. They seem to be experts who have done this before. The only thing we can be sure of now is that there were more than two Martial Extermination Realm experts who took part in the battle. Liang Shuangren’s situation isn’t too optimistic.”

Yang Hu pondered for a second before asking, “The Martial Extermination Realm experts of the Changbai Holy Land have been wiped out twice now. The first time is understandable. After all, it was because…”

He seemed to have thought of something and he quickly switched his words. “Whatever the case, we will need their help in the future. It’s not easy for them to send their high level experts over!”

The cultivator Yang Hu addressed as ‘Brother Wei’ muttered in response, “Of course. With three Martial Extermination Realm experts dying left and right, any faction would feel the pain. Moreover, they died in a foreign land…”

Brother Gao snapped, “Actually, it doesn’t matter if they’re regretting their losses. As long as our plan begins in the Tongyou City, the Changbai Holy Land has to make a move.”

“Brother Wei, who do you think the most likely suspects are?” Yang Hu asked suddenly.

Brother Hu chuckled softly, “Haha. Brother Yang, you don’t care about who the assailants really are. You’re probably concerned about the experts of the Tongyou City. You think that a few of them are hiding around the Changfeng City, right? As long as you ensure the safety of the water-attributed spiritual vein under your city, nothing else matters. They won’t dare to attack you and neither would anyone else.”

“The spiritual vein is ready, but I plan to use that to help my son advance into the Martial Extermination…”

Before Yang Hu could complete his sentence, Brother Wei tossed a jade talisman over.

Yang Hu’s eyes lit up when he saw it. Even with his prestige as a city lord who had controlled the Changfeng City for twenty years, he couldn’t help but tremble with excitement. “This…”

“This is the rank four advancement formula you have been wanting. Do you think it’s worth it to trade it for the extermination origin you’ve been nurturing for twenty years?” Brother Wei muttered.

Sucking in a cold breath, Yang Hu sighed, “This is indeed something I cannot reject.”

A smile appeared on Brother Wei’s face after hearing Yang Hu’s response.

Mister Sima who had been standing at the side chuckled. “Congratulations, Brother Yang! You finally got what you wished for!”

A complete rank four advancement formula! That was the foundation of a powerful clan!

In order to scheme against the Tongyou City, the White Deer Paradise was actually willing to bring out a rank four advancement formula. One could imagine how much they were expecting in return.

Yang Hu wanted to say something, but a frown formed on his face as he turned to look in another direction.

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

“That doesn’t seem like a battle between Martial Extermination Realm experts.” Mister Sima felt the energy fluctuations too, and he muttered.

“I need to head towards the Tongyou City after this. That seems to be on my way.” Brother Wei spoke and his extermination origin appeared under his feet. He sped into the distance.

Brother Gao yelled, “Senior Brother, wait for me!”

Watching the two of them disappear into the distance, Mister Sima chortled, “Heh, the two of them probably have something to discuss with each other. They don’t wish for us to listen in on their conversation…”

“Mister Sima, aren’t you curious about how the two Martial Extermination Realm experts from the Azure Spiritual World were killed the first time around?” Yang Hu muttered after watching the two of them disappear into the horizon.

The smile on Mister Sima’s face didn’t fade. “City Lord Yang will tell me if you’re willing to. There’s no need for me to pry.”

“Heh. The cooperation between your Rose Party and the Azure Spiritual World probably started before you thought of working with the White Deer Paradise.” Yang Hu gave him a deep stare before speaking.

“That’s not something I can say.”

“Will your Rose Party really not get involved with the matter in the Tongyou City this time?” Yang Hu continued.

“Do you think that’s possible?” The smile on Mister Sima’s face was enough to tell Yang Hu the answer he needed to know.

Yang Hu nodded slowly as if he already expected it. He continued, “In fact, my son ran into an ambush yesterday. There might be one, or even two Martial Extermination Realm experts who carried out an ambush on him.”

“Is that true? Is he alright?” Mister Sima’s expression turned serious.

Yang Hu sighed softly, “Yeah. He’s smart enough to not rush into the Thousand Leaf Mountain Range on his own. Otherwise, Liang Shuangren and the cultivators of the Azure Spiritual World might not be the only ones who died yesterday.

Mister Sima added, “Do you suspect that the Martial Extermination Experts your son ran into were the ones who killed Liang Shuangren? Why didn’t you tell the two of them earlier?”

Yang Hu glanced at his old friend from the corner of his eye. “Do you think the two of them are really here to look for the culprit?”

A bitter smile slowly formed on Mister Sima’s face. “I was planning to persuade you to be a little more careful when dealing with them. After all, they might not truly trust you. My words might sound like I’m trying to sow discord between you guys, but I’m not. Furthermore…”

“Furthermore, you think that the advancement formula might be fake. Don’t worry, it’s not that easy to make a fake rank four advancement formula.” Yang Hu muttered after finishing Mister Sima’s sentence. “This is something I was unable to get my hands on even after working with the Rose Party for so many years…”

A forced smile appeared on Mister Sima’s face and he heard Yang Hu sighing. “The storm is coming… Let’s go. We’re returning to the city.”

“Aren’t we waiting for Gao Yun of the White Deer Paradise to come back?” Mister Sima asked.

“He knows where the Changfeng City is.”

…

“No matter what, the cultivator from the Azure Spiritual World who borrowed my spear returned the favor. Five spear arts is indeed a generous gesture.” Shang Xia muttered to himself. However, he recalled how they slayed a third layer Martial Extermination Realm expert from the Changbai Holy Land and didn’t feel that guilty for getting so many benefits in return. After all, they would have gained a lot more from killing the expert.

“Also, he probably doesn’t know that I received my inheritance. Imparting the spear arts to me might not be an attempt to harm me. Luckily, I managed to resist the temptation earlier. Haha, I even managed to develop my sixth move!”

Shang Xia was extremely satisfied with the power contained in his sixth move.

After comprehending his sixth move, Shang Xia could feel that the remaining Yin Yang Essence Qi in his dantian was slowly being refined into Origin true Qi. Only a small portion was left.

Feeling the Origin Core in his body becoming more solid and full of Origin True Qi, Shang Xia was somewhat sure that his divine sense was ready to transform a third time. Once that happened, he wouldn’t be far away from reaching the large completion stage of the Martial Intent Realm.

When he was still evaluating his current self, several warning cries came from Yan Ni’er.

“Oh no, someone is coming.” Shang Xia yelped before leaving the valley. He suppressed his aura and fused his divine sense into the world around him. When he was done, he seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth.

A moment later, two streaks of light appeared above the valley. The two Martial Extermination Realm experts of the White Deer Paradise who were talking to Yang Hu a moment ago had arrived.

They scanned the remains of the hill Shang Xia shattered as their divine sense surrounded the region. However, they failed to discover anything.

“Looks like a cultivator at the grand completion stage of the Martial Intent Realm was here testing out the strength of his martial intent…” Gao Yun licked his lips as a trace of envy flashed across his eyes.

Even though he came from the White Deer Paradise, he didn’t comprehend his martial intent before breaking through to the Martial Extermination Realm.

According to the rules of the White Deer Paradise, he lost all qualifications to fight for an origin dipper in the future.

As such, his cultivation was capped at the large completion stage of the Martial Extermination Realm. Reaching that level was something else altogether.

“He’s extremely alert. The person had already left.” Brother Wei muttered.

Shang Xia quickly recognized ‘Brother Wei’ when he saw the man hovering in the air. From his hiding spot, he could see the two of them clearly! Moreover, the cultivator they called ‘Brother Wei’, was Wei Zhongwen who was stationed in the Tongyou City!

Gao Yun muttered, “Senior Brother Wei, I’m afraid that Yang Hu will discover something strange with my actions. After all, I’m carrying out the plan alone…”

Turning to stare at him, Wei Zhongwen’s face was expressionless when he spoke. “Oh? So what if he does? The moment Ancestor Lu arrives, he can’t do anything about it even if he wants to.”