Chapter 401: Calling for Backup

Shang Xia had a few spirit restriction cases and spirit holding cases. He even had a few spirit sealing talismans he made himself some time ago.

However, those items didn’t seem too appropriate to hold the Spirit of Wind in the Lightning Bird’s claws. It would be for the best if he used a spiritual restraining pouch like Ren Huan said.

Luckily for him, Shang Xia could be considered truly well-prepared this time he entered the battlefield between the two worlds. He brought two spirit restraining pouches and spirit sealing bottles each. Having to choose between them, Shang Xia felt that using the pouch was much more convenient than the bottle.

With Ren Huan’s suggestion, he brought out a spirit restraining pouch from his Embroidered Cloud Case and opened it the best he could.

Releasing a clear cry, the Lightning Bird dove down while shoving the Spirit of Wind directly into the open bag. When he felt the bag getting heavy, Shang started to close it as the Lightning Bird pulled his claws out. The formless Spirit of Wind was firmly captured in the bag.

Before keeping the pouch, Shang Xia stuck a spirit sealing talisman on it in order to play it safe. When he was done, he squeezed the bag lightly in order to look for the Spirit of Wind but all he felt was emptiness. It was as though nothing was contained in the pouch.

When Ren Huan saw Shang Xia’s actions, he couldn’t help but laugh. “That thing is truly formless. It’s really hard to actually touch it.”

Nodding slightly, Shang Xia tossed the pouch into his Embroidered Cloud Case.

After obtaining the Windchime Grass and grabbing a Spirit of Wind on the way, Shang Xia was extremely content with his haul this time. Ren Huan was equally as satisfied to obtain the main ingredient of his advancement medicine and wide smiles could be seen on their faces.

When they passed through the stream of howling wind and returned to the spot where the ancient tree was, Ren Huan didn’t wait for Shang Xia to chase him away. He bade Shang Xia farewell before taking his leave.

With Ren Huan gone, Shang Xia’s attention turned to the hazy space on the other side of the valley. He could tell that world origin existed somewhere in that hazy space but he had no way of approaching it! He couldn’t even fully make his way over to the screen of hazy space even if he wanted to!

Sighing softly, Shang Xia continued his solo journey through the battlefield between the two worlds.

Because the Martial Extermination Realm experts had stopped fighting, Shang Xia’s tense emotions managed to relax to a huge extent. However, he didn’t slow down as he made his way around. He was clear about what their ceasefire entailed. Now that they weren’t fighting anymore, they definitely started searching the other regions of the battlefield between the two worlds for treasures that appeared after the Origin Tide.

The moment a Martial Extermination Realm expert arrived, Shang Xia would be left with the dregs!

As he continued to explore the battlefield between the two worlds, luck wasn’t on his side. He didn’t manage to get anything else. He might have obtained the Lightning Fire Jujube, Wind and Lightning Leaves, and Windchime Grass previously, but that was it. As for world origin that remained after the Origin Tide, he didn’t catch a single glimpse of it.

Rather than finding treasures, Shang Xia seemed to be running into trouble as he trekked on. He discovered the aura of rank four spiritual beasts thrice while making his way around.

It was rather fortunate that his senses were much more acute than cultivators at the same level. Of course, he wasn’t exactly afraid to confront those beasts if they appeared to attack him. After all, he had another rank four Lightning Fire Jujube on him. Naturally, it made sense for him to save the treasure if he could. He managed to take a detour before running into those beasts, allowing him to avoid a scary run-in.

…

When Shang Xia found a small creek and was washing up, he suddenly discovered the heaven and earth qi around him turning denser.

With a frown on his face, Shang Xia followed the creek upstream and arrived before a cave opening.

The Crimson Soul Tablet which had been unusually quiet the whole time finally trembled slightly and seemed to point to the depths of the cave.

Could there be world origin in the cave?!

Shang Xia perked up slightly and started to make his way in. Who would have thought that two flashes of cold light would shoot towards him the moment he raised his leg?

That wasn’t all. Another streak of light came charging at him head-on and in an instant, he was surrounded by three attacks.

It was clearly a trap, but Shang Xia didn’t know if the trap was specially made for him.

Well, with the threat so close at hand, there was no point in thinking about either matter. The only emotion that was left in Shang Xia’s mind was shock as they managed to avoid his detection and he only noticed them after they unleashed their attacks!

With his life under threat, Shang Xia waved his hand and tossed out scarlet-colored jujube from his left hand while a flickering gold talisman shot out from his right sleeve.

He retreated hastily and his Scarlet Star Spear appeared in his hand when he was an appropriate distance between himself and his attackers. Wielding his spear, bolts of lightning surrounded the weapon and they struck accurately at the frosty light that was coming his way.

Shang Xia unleashed his second move, Lightning Stonefire! It was the move that focused on speed and it accurately countered the threats.

Loud blasts echoed through the cave as Shang Xia nullified the sneak attack.

Even though he was the last to act, he managed to react perfectly. The flashes of frosty light were shattered with his lightning and the exchange ended with no one coming out on top.

The short delay bought Shang Xia some time and he quickly retreated in order to leave the radius of the trap laid down around the cave.

The Lightning Fire Jujube and his Golden Spear Talisman weren’t useless either. They detonated when he was making his way backward and stopped two figures who wanted to take the chance to close in even more.

After using those treasures, the number of rank three Lightning Fire Jujubes Shang Xia had decreased to a measly 1 and the only rank three talisman he had was the Spiritual Yin Knife.

Drawing a horizontal line in front of him, a wave of Origin True Qi emerged and forced everything that was advancing towards him back. Any follow-up attacks were stopped immediately.

When everything was done, Shang Xia’s attackers were revealed. Shang Xia’s heart might be pounding in his chest, but the three of them weren’t exactly relaxed either. Their expressions were extremely ugly.

The three of them used talismans to hide their aura in order to lay down a trap. They thought that they would be able to kill the person approaching the cave in one smooth motion, but they seemed to have miscalculated.

It didn’t matter if their rare concealment talismans were used up if they killed their target. However, looking at the demon-like presence who managed to hold them off alone without suffering in the slightest, their eyelids started to jump violently.

How the fuck did we run into a freak like that in such a deserted place?!

That was the only thought that ran through their minds when they looked at Shang Xia. However, they weren’t the only ones who were examining Shang Xia. Shang Xia was observing them and he quickly noticed the abnormality in the locations they were standing on. His pupils constructed slightly and he muttered, “Sword Formation?”

His words quickly caught the attention of the three of them. The leader among them eventually took a step forward and muttered in a low voice, “I didn’t think that we would run into you here…”

“Oh?” The corners of Shang Xia’s lips curled upwards and he chuckled. “Do you know me?”

The three of them didn’t reply, but their bodies became a lot more tense. They tightened their grip on their swords at the same time.

Shang Xia didn’t think too much of their actions. Instead, he continued to question. “What’s in the cave?”

The expressions of the three turned ever more grave but they didn’t give him an answer. Instead, they took several steps back and formed a stronger defense around the entrance.

The smile on Shang Xia’s face grew wider after seeing their actions. The more they wanted to protect the cave, the more precious the item within. “Hehe. Since the three of you aren’t willing to tell me, I’ll take a look for myself.”

The moment the words left his lips, the three of them acted as though they were about to face a calamity and they gathered even closer to each other. Despite their actions, they didn’t take a single step away from the entrance.

Naturally, Shang Xia wouldn’t go easy on them. The Scarlet Star Spear trembled in his hands as he released his seventh move, Celestial Disruption.

From the way they were dressed, Shang Xia could tell that they were from the Changbai Holy Land. He could also tell that all three of them had completed their third divine sense transformation and even though they might not be a direct disciple of the Changbai Holy Land, they weren’t much weaker than one when they worked together.

Even if they ran into a weaker Martial Extermination Realm expert from the Azure Origin World, they were confident of holding them off. Unfortunately, the person standing in front of them was Shang Xia. They learned that he was the monster who was responsible for the deaths of both Martial Extermination Realm experts who fell on their side and more than one direct disciple of the Changbai Holy Land had already died in his hands!

They definitely feared the monster before them, but they didn’t allow their fears to affect their fighting abilities.

Working flawlessly together, sword lights filled the skies. The three of them seemed to create a sword screen that defended the entrance of the cave. Sword light fell from the skies incessantly.

Of course, Shang Xia wasn’t overconfident to the point where he thought that a single spear strike would be enough to take care of the three of them. His spear danced in the air as it struck the sword lights raining down on him before abruptly pointing to one of them.

Even though the spear seemed to contain no energy and looked more like a feint than anything else, it was anything else but.

The person Shang Xia pointed at felt his heart pounding in fear as his instincts told him that a calamity was about to befall him. However, he couldn’t put his finger on where it was coming from!

Fortunately for the three of them, the sword formation they were using allowed them to discover the threat against any one of them. The other two quickly noticed something wrong and tried to help him. Because they had worked together for a long time, they could somewhat tell what each other was feeling.

When the feeling of danger finally arrived, the leader of the three felt his pupils shrinking as he slashed violently at the void beside him. He yelled loudly, “Be careful!”

Before the two could react, the power contained in the sword formation gathered around the leader’s sword and it blasted violently against the space beside him. A strand of spear qi was revealed as it smashed ruthlessly against the leader’s sword.

Shang Xia wasn’t too surprised that his Void Evasion Spear was blocked. After all, the three of them weren’t weaklings. With his figure flickering slightly, he swung his spear effortlessly. After mastering all nine spear strikes, he was able to unleash them however he wished! The more he fought, the deeper his understanding of his Nine Providence Spear.

As the three disciples of the Changbai Holy Land resisted desperately, they were stuck in a deadlock with Shang Xia at the entrance of the cave.

Shang Xia finally realized what they were doing and he growled, “Heh, you’re actually playing for time…”

“Hehe, did you finally notice? It’s too late now. We sent out a secret transmission to our elder a long time ago. He should already be on his way!” The leader among them chuckled happily.

Waving his sleeves, Shang Xia tossed out his final Spiritual Yin Knife Talisman and the rank three Lightning Fire Jujube. Retrieving his rank four Lightning Fire Jujube, he tossed it out with a look of anger on his face.

Feeling the terrifying aura around the rank four Lightning Fire Jujube, the three of them felt the blood draining from their faces.

“Retreat!” Their leader yelled and the three of them retreated in unison. Due to their movements, an opening was revealed.

“He won’t be able to bring the thing inside away anyway! Now that our elder is on the way, he can’t escape if he enters!”