Chapter 569: Getting the Upper Hand

“Talisman Artifact?” Liu Qinglan looked at the remains of the flying boat in Shang Xia’s hand and the cloth before nodding her head. “It truly looks like someone tried to make a weapon but there are traces of talisman crafting on it too. How do you think they did it?”

“I can’t tell much from it at the moment. However, it seems a lot more flexible when compared to our graded weapons. It can also be used multiple times, unlike our talismans…” Shang Xia replied.

Nodding slightly, Liu Qinglan asked, “How do you plan to deal with these 2 items?”

Shang Xia held the cloth that might be some sort of secret mark in his hand and circulated his inner qi. It started to emit rays of light as it broke down and eventually, it turned into a pile of smoke.

He might have destroyed the cloth-like Talisman Artifact, but he didn’t plan on doing the same for the broken flying boat. He chuckled and put it away. “I’ll bring this back and examine it properly. I’ll see if I can learn something from it.”

“Do as you wish. Right now, you need to return to your post as soon as possible and I have to get back to mine to prevent any accidents from happening.” Liu Qinglan said.

Seeing as she was about to leave, Shang Xia quickly asked another question. “Instructor Liu, do we not need to report this to the deputy patriarchs and inform the others to take more precautions?”

A smile appeared on Liu Qinglan’s face and she responded casually, “There’s no need to worry about that. I won’t forget to tell them, but there’s not much use even if I did.”

“Why is that?” Shang Xia raised an eyebrow in confusion.

With a helpless look on her face, Liu Qinglan explained, “Do you think we’re the only ones that will be infiltrated? Ever since we discovered the presence of a third party on the Manyu Continent, factions on our Azure Origin World and the Azure Spiritual World knew that things like that would be bound to happen. The Spirit Abundance World has been flaunting their status as a higher world and it’s true that they’re stronger than us. They definitely wouldn’t give up the chance to annex both our worlds.”

Shang Xia understood the problem after her explanation and a deep frown appeared on his face while muttering to himself, “I guess that means that they’re not just targeting our Tongyou Institution. They should be carrying out the same operation on the various islands hoping for one of them to succeed. As long as they make one successful infiltration, the rest wouldn’t matter. After all, our worlds are about to fuse, and locating one is the same as locating the other…”

He turned to look at Liu Qinglan to throw out another bomb. “Does that mean that an invasion from the Spirit Abundance World is inevitable?”

Liu Qinglan could only sigh in response, “Even I have no idea what will happen right now. You should head over to the Beyond Heavens Pavilion after you return and ask Patriarch Kou personally.”

With a mind full of questions, Shang Xia returned to his post. Watching countless meteors approaching the Tongyou Island, he shattered them all with his Chaos Essence Lightning Palm.

From what he learned after hearing Liu Qinglan’s analysis, the moment the experts of the Azure Origin World and Azure Spiritual World were discovered by the experts of the Spirit Abundance World on the Manyu Continent, the two worlds were already exposed to the Spirit Abundance World.

Without mentioning the fact that the factions of both worlds wouldn’t be able to get rid of the experts of the Spirit Abundance World completely, even if they could, the Martial Dipper Realm experts of the Spirit Abundance World and experts who surpassed the Martial Dipper Realm would probably be able to determine the location of the worlds after seeing the trajectory of the islands through the sea of stars. All that was left to do was to search in the general direction and it would be a matter of time before the worlds were located.

The Spirit Abundance World might not give a damn about the Manyu Continent, but the Azure Origin World and Azure Spiritual World were juicy pies in the eyes of the Spirit Abundance World. Perhaps they were aiming for the new world that would be produced after the fusion of the 2 worlds as that might be a rare opportunity for them.

In the following period of time, the Tongyou Island ran into several slightly dangerous encounters. However, none of them occurred around the area Shang Xia was protecting. That allowed him to greatly restore his exhausted inner qi. He also took the chance to refresh his understanding of his current cultivation.

Putting aside his Solar Term Blade Art, Shang Xia had a clearer idea of how to use his Four Seasons Samsara Art. It allowed him to shorten the time to cycle his inner qi by a little.

The battles he had been through gave him enough experience to improve himself even further. What was more, during his last battle against the cultivator from the Spirit Abundance World, he obtained a portion of the flying boat-type Talisman Artifact. He also obtained the ice chain, albeit in 2 parts.

If he was able to find a Master Blacksmith and repair the chain, it would immediately become a peak-grade weapon. For cultivators who utilized frost qi, the worth of the ice chain was no lower than a pseudo divine weapon.

Shang Xia wasn’t exaggerating as that was his true feeling after fighting with the cultivator from the Spirit Abundance World.

…

Currently, the Tongyou Island was floating around space along the destroyed Manyu Continent. There were uncontrolled landmasses, huge meteors, and spatial storms raging all around them but the Martial Dipper Realm Ancestors of the Tongyou Institution showed no signs of doing anything. Kou Chongxue and Ji Wenlong who were in the Beyond Heavens Pavilion made no attempt to control the Tongyou Island.

At the same time, the Tongyou Island didn’t seem like they were trying to communicate with the ancestors either. They casually drifted around the ruins of the Manyu Continent.

If one were to stare at the current state of the Manyu Continent from above while they were sufficiently far away, they would discover that the Tongyou Island might seem like they were drifting about aimlessly, but they were avoiding all the dangers they could. They seemed to be making their way to a certain location.

The Tongyou Island wasn’t the only one. There were at least 20 islands floating in space as they traveled in the same direction.

If Shang Xia wasn’t mistaken, it would be where the final eruption of world origin would occur.

The location wasn’t exactly in the center of the surface of the once massive Manyu Continent. Instead, it was deep down in its core.

The islands that were controlled by the many factions from other worlds maintained most of the Manyu Continent’s essence. If any of the factions wanted to obtain a portion of the World’s Will that used to govern the Manyu Continent, the islands they were controlling were their key.

It also seemed as though the larger and more complete the island was, the more likely they were to obtain the favor of the World’s Will. With that, they would be at an advantage when fighting for the world origin that would be released.

That was one of the reasons why factions of the 2 worlds went to manage a territory of their own after entering the Manyu Continent. They wanted to expand their territory to the greatest extent not only to benefit themselves back in their respective worlds. The fight for the World’s Will was the other reason.

Shang Xia stood guard above the Tongyou Island and he was conveniently placed at the head of whichever direction they were flying in.

A reason why the Tongyou Island didn’t run into much trouble along the way was also because of the twisting path they were following. They spun around from time to time to ensure that Shang Xia remained at the tip of the island.

With the Crimson Soul Tablet, Shang Xia could clearly point out the general direction where they would be heading in. Following Yun Jing’s order, Chu Jia, the Formation Grandmaster in charge of directing the Tongyou Island, basically drove the island in whatever direction Shang Xia was pointing in.

Because of their actions, the grand formation’s consumption of energy couldn’t be ignored. Chu Jia managed to use that as an excuse to obtain the rest of the fate dipper fragment shards Shang Xia got his hands on.

They might not be traveling in a straight line because of Shang Xia’s directions, but the speed at which they were approaching the World’s Will was greatly increased.

The Tongyou Island also managed to escape a lot of initial conflicts as they had chosen a deserted part of the Manyu Continent to establish their stronghold.

With that, they were able to maintain the integrity of their island, unlike many other factions. Their quick separation from the Manyu Continent right before its destruction also helped. They avoided the backlash from the World’s Will after the continent crumbled, which coincidentally happened to be the strongest one of them all. Due to all those factors, the Tongyou Island managed to remain relatively intact. It was a huge advantage they obtained when fighting over the World’s Will in the near future.