Chapter 295: In Too Deep

“Junior Brother Gao, you need to remain in the city and prepare for Ancestor Lu’s arrival. You don’t need to worry about anything else.” Wei Zhongwen muttered. From his expression, it was clear that he didn’t think highly of Yang Hu.

One had to know that he was at the same cultivation level as Yang Hu. Both Wei Zhongwen and Yang Hu were experts at the third layer of the Martial Extermination Realm. Gao Yun was slightly weaker than them at the second layer.

Gao Yun seemed to have fallen deep in thought as he muttered, “No wonder you weren’t concerned about the deaths of those from the Azure Spiritual World…”

“Hah, they’re not members of our world, why should we care about them?” Wei Zhongwen sneered. “The fusion of our worlds might be inevitable, but the day hasn’t come yet. The reason our White Deer Paradise chose to reach an agreement with the Changbai Holy Land was to ensure both sides don’t break out into an all-out war. The fusion of our worlds is a massive opportunity to begin with and how much each faction can obtain will depend on their strength. Since the Tongyou Institution chose to take the lead, They’re going to help us take all the pressure.”

Gao Yun added, “Those from the Tongyou Institution are overestimating themselves. If Kou Chongxue was at his peak, we might reconsider our actions. Hehe, he fell prey to the many holy lands and was attacked while in seclusion. Who would have thought that the Tongyou Institution would still be gutsy enough to bring the Mysterious Coral World back?”

“They’re in too deep now to pull themselves out of their sticky situation!” Wei Zhongwen snorted. “The Tongyou Institution had coveted the Mysterious Coral World for a long time now. However, they’re rushing things and have no clear sense of direction. Moreover, their inner affairs aren’t in order and there might be some higher-ups in the institution working against them!”

A light lit up in Gao Yun’s eyes. “I heard that Kou Chongxue’s support of Shang Bo incurred the wrath and dissatisfaction of the other three great clans. Ji Wenlong’s cultivation was stuck for a long time before he finally reached the large completion stage of the Martial Extermination Realm recently. Moreover, none of them had access to Kou Chongxue’s rank five advancement formula. Looks like the rumor about him not possessing one is pretty much confirmed. Anyway, that was also the main reason leading to the second ambush on Kou Chongxue. Someone in the higher-ups of the Tongyou Institution leaked the news intentionally and the greatest suspect is Ji Wenlong. Senior Brother Wei, you’ve been in the Tongyou City all this time. What do you think?”

“We are unable to verify the rumors and can only choose to believe in them. Ji Wenlong and Shang Bo are outstanding talents of their generation and they definitely know what’s best for them. The rumors are far from enough to cause a rift to come between the two, especially now that they’re pulling the Mysterious Coral World into the You Continent.”

Gao Yun nodded slowly before asking, “Senior Brother Gao, are you going to return to the Tongyou City now?”

“Yeah. the Tongyou City is in complete lockdown now. They’re a bunch of suspicious fools. Even ‘alliance members’ like myself can only support their actions. They refuse to let us into the core of their institution. With my identity as a Martial Extermination Realm expert, I can leave the city to help them deliver news to people not in the city.” Wei Zhongwen sneered.

With his eyes widening slightly, Gao Yun gasped. “They wouldn’t expect that that would give you a chance to communicate with us!”

“Remain in the Changfeng City for now. Yang Hu looks like he doesn’t dare to do anything, but he’s a scheming one. We cannot let anything obstruct Ancestor Lu’s arrival. There are many people who will try to do something in secret. Now that the Liu, Guo, and Zhang families of the Ji Continent have entered the Changfeng City, they’re obviously going to fight with us for a share of the benefits. Be careful of them.” Wei Zhongwen explained.

Nodding in acknowledgment, Gao Yun growled, “They can try!”

“Just take care of yourself and be wary of them. I’ll have to go now.” Wei Zhongwen said as his extermination origins appeared under his feet. He tore through the air and disappeared in a few moments.

Gao Yun looked in the direction where Wei Zhongwen disappeared before returning to the Changfeng City. The valley quickly regained its calm.

No one knew how long had passed when a silvery-gray light shot into the skies. A bird circled the skies above the valley for some time before releasing a clear cry.

Shang Xia’s head popped out from one of the crevices in the valley, and he looked at Yan Ni’er who was flying happily in the air before emerging.

The cute little bird returned to his shoulders once he was out from his hiding spot. Staring at the little creature, a bitter smile appeared on Shang Xia’s face. “Things are getting more and more complicated now. I can’t return to the city anytime soon… What do you think I should do?”

Yan Ni’er flapped her wings around, causing Shang Xia’s scattered hair to become even messier. She released several short cries in succession.

A strange look returned to Shang Xia’s face as he stared at her in disbelief. “What did you find out this time?”

Yan Ni’er flapped her wings while holding on to his collar.

“You wish to bring me there?” Shang Xia asked.

A crisp chirp confirmed his words as she released his collar and soared into the skies. She flew in the southeastern direction and Shang Xia raced after her with his Irregular Steps.

With so many encounters in the past few days, he became extremely familiar with the use of his Irregular Steps. With its short-distance maneuverability, it focused on allowing a cultivator to make tiny adjustments while compromising on their speed.

Since the Thousand Leaf Mountain Range was filled with dense greenery, it allowed Shang Xia to display the full extent of the technique’s power.

While running after Yan Ni’er, Shang Xia didn’t expect that their journey would last for more than two hours.

Even with his increase in cultivation, circulating his inner qi to sustain his use of the Irregular Steps basically drained him of all his energy. That was also under the premise that Yan Ni’er slowed down specifically for him to catch up. She had been chirping angrily in the air while indicating for Shang Xia to keep up.

All of a sudden, Yan Ni’er turned into a streak of silvery gray light that disappeared into the forest. Seeing her actions, Shang Xia could guess that they were close to their destination. He hid his aura before walking in the direction Yan Ni’er flew off to.

Climbing over a hill, Shang Xia seemed to hear the sound of rushing water. Surprise filled his mind as it was deep in the winter. How could there still be flowing water with the current weather? The lakes were supposed to be frozen but from the sound of it, he was close to a gushing river!

Could there be something strange with the water in the mountain range?

Just as he was about to approach the river, he saw a figure running deeper into the woods.

Hiding his presence, he followed the figure stealthily.

When he finally arrived at the bottom of the hill, he discovered that there was a huge lake surrounded by ice. However, the surprising thing was that thick mist seemed to emerge from the surface of the lake, signifying that the temperature of the water wasn’t as low as he had thought.

Traveling along the river, Shang Xia eventually heard some people conversing with each other. He quickly ducked behind a large tree nearby.

He discovered that there were only a few feet separating him from the people who were talking.

Due to the mist in the air and the rumbling of water, Shang Xia nearly ran into the people he was tracking! It didn’t take long for him to realize that something was off. Even though his physical senses were obstructed by the mist and noise, his divine sense should have discovered their presence!

Shang Xia focused more on his divine sense and discovered that it was being weakened as it extended away from his body. Originally, he could feel everything in a thirty feet radius clearly. Now, the distance has become less than half. He was barely able to feel two people who were talking slightly more than ten feet away!

“There’s something strange with this mist!” Shang Xia quickly discovered the problem.

“What’s going on? Why are you in such a rush to meet me in this place?” Shang Xia found the voice slightly familiar.

“Hmph! I’m trying to save you! Were you followed by anyone when you came over?” The second person who was talking also sounded familiar to Shang Xia. Could they be people he knew?

Shang Xia was curious, and he peeked his head out from behind his tree. Even though the mist was slightly clouding their appearance, Shang Xia recognized them right away.

The person he was following was Chen Sanyang, and the other person was Senior Brother Lin who escaped from Shang Xia the other day! He managed to evade capture from Mister Bu and the others and he seemed to have found a place to hide.

Chen Sanyang looked almost the same as before, but Senior Brother Lin looked extremely haggard.

Chen Sanyang also seemed to have understood the severity of the situation when he saw the other party’s disheveled appearance.

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

“Lin Yi, did something happen in our hideout? Why do you look like that?”

“How do you know something bad happened in our hideout?” Lin Yi gasped.

Too lazy to explain himself to his fellow comrade, Chen Sanyang growled, “Just tell me what happened!”

Lin Yi stared at him with a gaze full of suspicion and he raised his caution level for his fellow cultivator who came from the Azure Spiritual World. “Answer my question first! Were you followed?!”

Turning impatient, Chen Sanyang snapped, “No, no one followed me! Yang Hu left the city in the morning and he hadn’t returned when I left. I heard that he went into the depths of the Thousand Leaf Mountain Range due to some battle between Martial Extermination Realm experts…”

Pausing suddenly, Chen Sanyang stared at Lin Yi. “Was it Martial Uncle Liang? What happened to him?”

Lin Yi covered his face and started to choke on his sobs. “Martial Uncle Liang… He… He… I’m afraid he’s already…”

“Martial Uncle Liang might already be dead.” Lin Yi said after finally controlling his emotions. When he calmed down slightly, he told Chen Sanyang about what happened the other day and some guesses he had.