Chapter 544: A Mess

The reason Cen Yu and the others went knocking on Yan Su’er’s doorsteps had long since been discovered by Shang Xia. He also had his guesses when he saved her earlier.

Su Jinyuan was indeed killed by Shang Xia and Youshang. Yan Su’er was merely dragged into the mess they made, but Shang Xia couldn’t admit it so easily.

It wasn’t that he didn’t dare to own up to what he did. However, there were massive considerations he had to make after killing Su Jinyuan. There were too many factors at hand and Shang Xia couldn’t admit his actions easily.

That might be the case, but Shang Xia didn’t deny it completely. Instead, he chuckled in response, “Senior, are you really suspecting that I killed that guy?”

Yan Su’er’s gaze remained on Shang Xia for a little longer but she shook her head eventually. “You can’t kill him alone.”

Anyone who chose to enter seclusion in the Snowy Peaks Mountain Range could obviously detect the strange behavior of the world origin in the area. Those that had the qualifications to lust for the world origin there had to be in the large completion stage of the Martial Extermination Realm or above.

The strength Shang Xia displayed earlier was shocking. He wasn’t just comparable to an expert at the fourth layer of the Martial Extermination Realm. Even if he ran into an expert at the large completion stage, he would be able to protect himself. However, that wasn’t enough.

If that was the extent of his skills, Yan Su’er knew that it was impossible for Shang Xia to kill an expert in the large completion stage of the Martial Extermination Realm.

Shang Xia could guess the meaning behind Yan Su’er words and knew that he was still a part of her suspect list. At the same time, he could also tell that she wasn’t planning to treat him as an enemy. He chuckled in response, “Senior Yan, I’m afraid you greatly damaged your foundations when you used your final move earlier. You need to rest and I won’t stay around to interfere with your recovery. The cloud we are on might not be large, but it has an effect of concealment. I believe there wouldn’t be any fools who would try to mess with us.”

Seeing as Shang Xia was about to head back to wherever he came from, Yan Su’er spoke up again. “Young Master Shang, you said that you were sent here on orders. Is your grandfather cultivating within the Snowy Peaks Mountain Range too?”

Shang Xia chuckled, “I won’t hide anything from Senior Yan. To be honest, I had my suspicions that my grandfather was somewhere here too. However, the institution refused to give a confirmation and I have no idea where he is.”

A strange light flashed through Yan Su’er’s eyes and she seemed to have thought of something. Falling silent for a moment, she eventually continued, “I’m afraid you will discover the truth soon…”

“Yeah… I guess we’ll know soon.” Shang Xia felt a throb coming from his glabella and a smile appeared on his face.

Both of them turned to stare in a certain direction in the void and Shang Xia reached out to grab a transmission talisman.

It was a reply to what he sent out earlier when he experienced the earthquake.

In front of Yan Su’er and Yan Ming, Shang Xia shattered the restriction on the talisman and he quickly read through the contents. “Assist Yan Su’er to break out from her predicament with all your might. Protect Yan Su’er and her granddaughter and return to the stronghold. Experts on our side will meet you along the way!”

A sneer left Yan Su’er’s lips when she read its contents, “Indeed…”

Yan Ming was slightly confused, but her grandmother was not.

Of course, Shang Xia also managed to guess what was going on after receiving the reply. One had to know that he had been ordered to protect the region around the Snowy Peaks Mountain Range. Because Yun Jing didn’t mention the person who was cultivating under the snow, Youshang and Shang Xia thought that they were acting as guards for Shang Bo.

Now that the latest transmission talisman had arrived, Shang Xia knew that he was mistaken.

If Shang Bo was truly cultivating in seclusion in the Snowy Peaks Mountain Range, the Tongyou Stronghold wouldn’t request for him to assist Yan Su’er out of nowhere. They wouldn’t tell him to bring her back to the stronghold either.

That was the only reasonable explanation Shang Xia could come up with. If he was mistaken, there was only one other possibility. It didn’t matter if it was Youshang or Shang Xia, both of whom might not be stationed there to protect anyone. Instead, they might have been sent there to deal with Yan Su'er…

Youshang seemed to have uncovered the truth sometime during his mission, and he decided to join hands with Shang Xia to kill Su Jinyuan. Because of their successful mission, they managed to kill 3 birds with 1 stone.

After confirming that Su Jinyuan was a member of the third mysterious faction on the Manyu Continent, Youshang immediately found a partner to end his life. With that, they managed to shave away at the mysterious power’s strength in the Manyu Continent.

Because of their exchange with Su Jinyuan, Youshang also managed to gain a better understanding of the aura those from his faction emitted and their fighting style. It allowed him to make better preparations to blend in with them.

Finally, and most importantly, he managed to plot against Yan Su’er who was cultivating nearby.

…

With Su Jinyuan’s death, the experts of the third faction quickly went to find trouble for Yan Su’er. From how quickly they arrived and how decisive they were in their actions when flipping her secret cultivation location upside down, there was no question about it. Someone went to feed them the news.

At the end of the day, the Tongyou Stronghold wanted to make something clear. They didn’t play a crucial part in the ambush on Yan Su’er. They were mere side characters who merely took advantage of the situation. They weren’t the ones who leaked the news nor gathered the experts to attack her. Those who schemed against Yan Su’er were someone else.

Moreover, those people’s intentions were even more devious than anyone could imagine. They wanted Yan Su’er and Yan Ming to perish in the attack and they even went so far as to pull the experts of the Manyu Continent into the picture.

Unfortunately, Cen Yu and the others who came to attack Yan Su’er weren’t aboriginal experts of the Manyu Continent. No one would know if those behind the attack knew if Cen Yu and the others were from a mysterious third power and were colluding with them, or if they really thought Cen Yu and the others were actually just stronger local experts.

Whatever the case, the Tongyou Stronghold’s plan merely sped up their plans. Because of Shang Xia’s presence, they managed to save Yan Su’er, getting her to owe them a huge favor. A life-saving grace was a life-saving grace at the end of the day. They had to repay the favor.

Connecting the dots, Shang Xia realized why Youshang and himself were the ones who were sent to ‘guard’ the region.

Yun Jing and the others couldn’t be more clear that the moment Yan Su’er ran into danger, she would have to resist the attacks of extremely high-leveled experts. In the Manyu Continent, Youshang and Shang Xia were the only ones who had the ability to interfere in a fight of that level.

Finally, that brought everyone to the main question of the day. Why would the Tongyou Institution go through so much trouble just to get Yan Su’er and Yan Ming to owe them a huge favor?

Do they want Senior Yan and Yan Ming to change their alliance?

The thought flashed through Shang Xia’s mind. However, he quickly denied it. After all, the 2 of them were merely high-leveled experts of their race. The decision of the race still mattered.

Oh!

Shang Xia recalled something that he hadn’t thought of for a long time. The Tongyou Institution couldn’t possibly instigate the rebellion of an entire race against their world, but what would happen after the Azure Origin World and Azure Spiritual World merged?

An unstoppable wave of thoughts appeared in Shang Xia’s mind.

The moment the spatial barriers around the worlds disappeared, both worlds would complete their final stage of fusion… Countless possibilities ran through his head.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, Shang Xia’s train of thought was interrupted by a disturbance with the appearance of 2 people in the range of his divine perception.

Waving his hand to get rid of the concealment effect, their figures appeared on the fluffy cloud that his Auspicious Cloud Cape had transformed into.

The 2 auras he discovered earlier seemed to notice them and started making their way over in the next moment.

It didn’t take long before Bu Jingshuang and another second layer Martial Extermination Realm expert arrived.

The other expert glanced at Shang Xia once and nodded his head in greetings before turning to stare at Yan Su’er and Yan Ming. “Yan Su’er, it really is you!”

The old expert seemed to have come to ascertain Yan Su’er’s identity, and his tone quickly returned to one of calm.

Yan Su’er looked at the newcomers and muttered, “You guys look familiar, but I don’t remember you.”

“It’s been more than 10 years since we last met. Back then, I was merely a shadow of my patriarch. It’s normal for you not to recognize me.” The old expert spoke. After pausing slightly, he muttered, “You can call me Liu Jikun. Liu Jitang was my brother.”

Yan Su’er finally recalled where she saw him.

Unlike Liu Jikun whose attention was placed on Yan Su’er and Yan Ming the moment he arrived, Bu Jingshuang seemed a lot more casual. He arrived on the patch of cloud they were standing on and looked around before addressing Shang Xia, “Hey brat, where the hell did you find this? It’s pretty good stuff!”

A massive grin appeared on Shang Xia’s face and he snorted, “This is the Auspicious Cloud Cape and I obtained it back in the Abyssal Secret Region.”

“Damn, that’s pretty good!” Bu Jingshuang raised his thumb in praise before changing the topic. “Oh yeah, you moved pretty quickly to save the two of them!”

Bu Jingshuang didn’t bother hiding his words from Yan Su’er. Now that things had progressed up to that point, he felt that there was no need to act all shady and prevent others from listening to their conversation any longer.

Shang Xia laughed in response. “Senior Yan reacted quickly and caused a huge burst of world origin. She also managed to force the Martial Extermination Realm grand completion stage expert back herself. That was how I found an opportunity to save her.”

𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

He didn’t forget to gesture at the pillar of light in the distance. Only then did he realize how far they had drifted through the air. They were almost unable to notice the shrunken pillar of light from where they were.

Liu Jikun and Bu Jingshuang heard about the appearance of the pillar of light from Shang Xia’s report earlier. However, they were still shocked after hearing that Yan Su’er was the one who caused it to happen. They silently admired how decisive and bold she was.

As they slowly digested what Shang Xia said, Liu Jikun was sharp enough to catch what Shang Xia said earlier and he asked, “Wait. Did you just say that Lady Yan managed to repel an expert at the grand completion stage of the Martial Extermination Realm?”

Bu Jingshuang stared at Shang Xia quietly as though trying to verify the piece of news.

Shang Xia nodded in response. “If I wasn’t mistaken, Senior Yan seemed to have stepped through the final gateway herself. The moment she recovers, she will enter the grand completion stage of the Martial Extermination Realm!”

Complicated emotions filled the hearts of Liu Jikun and Bu Jingshuang. There was even a trace of discomfort when they glanced at Yan Su’er.

Yan Su’er, who had closed her eyes earlier when the experts of the Tongyou Institution started to converse, finally spoke up, “Hey kid, stop exaggerating and making me look stronger than I actually am!”

Her gaze landed on Liu Jikun and Bu Jingshuang and she continued, “The reason I could force him back was mainly due to Young Master Shang’s help. I might have reached a state of enlightenment at the last moment, but I damaged my dantian’s foundations during the battle. I only have a slight hope of recovery in the future. Even if I manage to enter the grand completion stage, it should be impossible for me to break through to the Martial Dipper Realm.”

Liu Jikun and Bu Jingshuang’s gaze flickered with uncertainty but eventually, Shang Xia sighed softly before nodding slightly.

Only then did the 2 of them relax.

Bu Jingshuang chuckled, “Lady Yan, you can rest assured that once we return to the stronghold, we will treat your injuries to the best of our abilities. We won’t give up as long as there is hope for you to recover.”

Yan Su’er’s lips twitched slightly and she revealed a strange smile before she replied. “I guess my old bones will have to thank you then?”

Bu Jingshuang roared with laughter and tried to hide the awkwardness that was quickly forming. “There’s no need, there’s no need! We’re just doing our part!”

“Seniors, please bring Senior Yan and Yan Ming back to the stronghold. I have something I need to do and I’ll return in a bit.” Shang Xia interrupted all of a sudden.

Obviously, his strange reaction attracted the attention of everyone around him.

“Where are you going?” Bu Jingshuang asked.

“Aren’t you going to follow us back to the Tongyou Stronghold?” Yan Ming asked instinctively…

“Are you planning to head back to where we left where that pillar of light…” Yan Su’er guessed Shang Xia’s intentions immediately.