Chapter 556: Effects of a Single Blade

After the disappearance of the pillar of light, there was no point in keeping up the formation. However, all of them seemed to forget that the formation was the one that produced the heaven and earth qi vortex in the first place.

When Hei Lian left his post to surround Shang Xia, the final guardian of the formation was gone!

There was no way the formation could withstand a strike from Shang Xia’s blade with no experts around to control it.

The moment Shang Xia stabbed his sword into the ground below, the heaven and earth qi vortex went completely out of control. The vortex that gathered heaven and earth qi in the thousands of miles surrounding it had already reached a diameter of more than 10 miles. Now that it went out of control, heaven and earth qi came crashing down and those at its core weren’t spared.

With a wall of heaven and earth qi crashing down on them, Cen Yu and the others didn’t even need to think about killing Shang Xia. They had to ensure they could get out of there alive.

“Oh no! Brother Lou Yi, careful…” Huang Yu reacted before anyone else. He knew that Lou Yi had suffered multiple injuries and he wouldn’t be able to resist the terrifying current of heaven and earth qi that was about to arrive. Standing in front of Lou Yi, Huang Yu didn’t care about the consumption of his inner qi as he created a protection barrier with his extermination origins to shield both of them.

At that moment, Lou Yi’s impression of Huang Yu changed. Originally, he only planned to make use of Huang Yu’s strength when they were on the Manyu Continent. He never thought that Huang Yu would go so far as to protect him and he couldn’t help but stutter, “Brother Huang, I…”

“There’s no need to say anything! Circulate your inner qi and brace yourself. The heaven and earth qi current is coming… It’s here!”

Huang Yu focused entirely on the horrifying current that was rushing down from the skies and he failed to hear the rest of Lou Yi’s sentence.

Understanding that he was in no state to resist the incoming torrent of heaven and earth qi, Lou Yi decided to remain obediently behind Huang Yu. With the protection of his new ally, Lou Yi started to circulate his inner qi to stabilize his inner injuries the best he could. He hoped that he would be able to regain some combat capabilities in the event he had to assist Huang Yu.

WHOOSH…

The area in the vortex instantly turned into a sea of concentrated heaven and earth qi.

Everyone in there was swept away by the powerful waves that spread in all directions and the Huang Yu, Lou Yi duo had no idea where the others were. Huang Yu grabbed Lou Yi’s arm tightly to prevent the man from being swept away.

Despite his preparations, Lou Yi was knocked unconscious by the formless shockwave after the heaven and earth qi current bashed into Huang Yu’s protection barrier.

Cen Yu and Hei Lian could definitely protect themselves with their level of strength, but they were still swept away by the horrifying current.

The only person who remained in place throughout the entire ordeal was Shang Xia. He half-kneeled in his position and didn’t seem to be affected by the strong current of heaven and earth qi.

When he destroyed the formation earlier, he already expected that to happen. As such, he shoved his blade deeper into the ground. Desperately holding on to his blade, he wasn’t swept away like the others.

Even though Shang Xia broke the formation, the heaven and earth qi that was starting to disperse passed through it before leaving the area. There seemed to be some sort of strange reason behind the flow of heaven and earth qi, and Shang Xia had to withstand their ferocious battering the whole time. The protection barrier made from his extermination origins trembled endlessly and it was like a tiny flame flickering in a massive storm. Luckily, he managed to hold out till the end.

However, the situation wasn’t exactly bad for Shang Xia. Every time the heaven and earth qi slammed into his protection barrier, it seemed to undergo a round of tempering. The energy contained in his protection barrier became purer and it became a little stronger.

The effects became extremely obvious near the end of the heaven and earth qi baptism. The strength of his barrier was several times stronger than it was initially and withstanding the streams of heaven and earth qi no longer drained as much inner qi.

Eventually, the sea of heaven and earth qi started to drain off and the strong currents ceased to exist. Without the formation to direct the flow of qi, they returned to the region nearby where they had been sucked away from. The huge disturbance caused a massive heavenly phenomenon to appear in the skies.

When that happened, shockwaves appeared from multiple regions and it was extremely possible that Cen Yu and the others started fighting with other experts after being swept away. Shang Xia wondered if Huang Yu would be able to successfully protect Lou Yi.

Squatting where he was, Shang Xia didn’t start moving immediately. From afar, he looked like a statue locked in place.

It wasn’t as though Shang Xia wasn’t to remain in that spot. After he stabbed his blade into the ground, the Crimson Soul Tablet in his sea of consciousness sucked up all the world origin around him endlessly. It was like a massive black hole that ate everything up.

Throughout the process, Shang Xia could also feel that the degree of refinement he had of his Four Seasons Extermination Origins increased significantly.

Originally, he refined close to 60 percent of his extermination origins. After stabbing the Abyssal Blade into the ground and destroying the formation, world origin poured into him in an endless tide. Adding the remnant effects of the formation that attracted the heaven and earth qi for one last time, Shang Xia, who entered the Martial Extermination Realm by refining four extermination origins at once, received a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

As world origin streamed into the Crimson Soul Tablet, Shang Xia was able to absorb a small portion of it to cultivate. The sheer amount of world origin coupled with its purity greatly accelerated the refinement of his extermination origins. At the same time, the pure heaven and earth qi that was battering against him endlessly was directly absorbed into his dantian. He no longer needed to slowly collect, refine, and convert the heaven and earth qi into his Four Constellation Qi.

When everything was happening, Shang Xia continued to circulate his inner qi. He improved his Four Seasons Samsara Art once again, shortening the time required to complete one cycle.

The heavenly opportunity that befell Shang Xia would last only as long as the sea of heaven and earth qi remained. It might take 2 hours to dissipate, or it might remain for several more hours. No one knew how long it would take for the entire sea of heaven and earth qi to drain.

The skies that had been blocked off by the super dense heaven and earth qi started to clear up and it eventually started to turn bright again. It was a sign that the sea of heaven and earth qi was about to disappear and Shang Xia’s opportunity was about to come to an end.

As that was happening, Shang Xia examined the Crimson Soul Tablet in his sea of consciousness and discovered that the core had recovered to a certain extent. His cultivation also rose sharply as his degree of extermination origins refinement passed the 70 percent mark.

With the tempering of the heaven and earth qi, the defensive strength of his extermination origins protection barrier increased significantly. The time taken for him to circulate his inner qi according to the Four Seasons Samsara Art decreased and he could complete a full cycle within 3 hours.

Clang!

Finally pulling his blade out of the ground, Shang Xia felt the earth beneath his feet giving out as the entire region collapsed.

Floating in the air with his extermination origins, Shang Xia finally noticed that he was situated in a deep rift in the ground. It was as though he had entered the core of the Manyu Continent.

The location he was squatting on earlier was the center region of a huge basin that was created and the rift extended so far he couldn’t see its end.

Rising tens of thousands of feet into the air, above the huge crack in the earth, Shang Xia surveyed his surroundings yet again. He finally saw the ends of the basin. The majestic Snowy Peaks Mountain Range that spanned thousands of miles was nowhere to be seen and its very existence seemed to be erased.

A low rumbling came from the ground below when Shang Xia was still comprehending the damage that was done. It was as though the continent itself was crying.

Hovering in the air, Shang Xia saw the earth shaking violently. The massive rifts in the ground extended in all directions and the Manyu Continent which was close to the end of its lifespan finally started to break down. The actions of those from the Spirit Abundance World tipped it past its breaking point.

Shang Xia was helpless to do anything about it and he quickly locked on to a certain direction before turning into a streak of light that sped into the distance.

After flying for the time it took a stick of incense to burn, Shang Xia left the huge basin and noticed 2 rays of light approaching him from his left and right. They rushed at him menacingly and they didn’t seem too friendly.