Chapter 575: 90 Percent

The Northern Sea Island sent a transmission hoping that Zhui Fengzi and Chen Yuanzi could return to take care of the bigger picture at hand.

Even though Chen Yuanzi wasn’t willing, he understood that the Northern Sea Island was the key to the battle for the World’s Will. They were helpless as they made their way back.

When they finally left, the space finally regained its calm. Countless fragments drifted around as they collided against each other, causing debris to be scattered about.

After some time, a light emerged from the void and Chen Yuanzi who had left earlier returned. He swept a cold gaze in his surroundings before snorting coldly. A formless soundwave started to spread out with him in the center but he failed to detect traces of anything.

After staying silent for some time, he could only leave helplessly.

Even more time passed and the destruction continued. However, no one else showed up.

Only after an hour did a change occur. When several pieces of broken earth were drifting through the area, a thick mist emerged from a crack on their surface. The mist slowly gathered into a huge cloud before separating slowly to reveal Shang Xia’s figure.

The aura he emitted seemed different from before. It was difficult to tell the difference, but there was one thing everyone could be sure of. He recovered a huge amount of his Four Constellation Qi and was in a much better state than before.

Shang Xia remained expressionless as he stared in the direction where Zhui Fengzi and Chen Yuanzi left. After shooting a deep gaze in that direction, he turned to leave.

Thousands of miles away from where they attacked the Northern Sea Island was the meeting spot Liu Qinglan, Ren Bainian, and Shang Xia decided on. Liu Qinglan and Ren Bainian had been waiting for close to 4 hours only to not see Shang Xia.

Ren Bainian started to panic and he muttered uneasily, “Why isn’t Young Master Shang here yet? Did something happen?”

He wasn’t really acting when he showed his concern for Shang Xia.

Liu Qinglan might also be anxious, but she glanced at him from the corner of her eye and forced herself to remain calm. “There’s no need to panic. If we compare combat abilities, neither of us is his match. We’ll wait a little more…”

“Even so, youngsters are prone to act recklessly. He might have chosen to do something dangerous!” Ren Bainian added.

Shooting him a glare, Liu Qinglan didn’t rebuke him. Obviously, she was thinking the same thing.

Waiting a little more, Ren Bainian was finally unable to sit still any longer and he suggested, “Should we head back to the vicinity of the Northern Sea Island to take a look?”

Liu Qinglan’s expression changed slightly, but she shook her head and sighed, “Absolutely not. What if he returns and misses us? It would cause another round of misunderstandings and things will get troublesome.”

“We need to believe in him.” Liu Qinglan muttered. She seemed to be trying to persuade Ren Bainian, but it also felt as though she was trying to reaffirm her thoughts. “Yes! We should trust him!”

Just like that, they remained there for another hour or so.

Naturally, they didn’t remain there by sitting on their asses. One of them would patrol 500 miles around the region in case Shang Xia flew by and missed them.

Swapping their roles, each of them patrolled the area once but failed to find any traces of Shang Xia. When they finally regrouped, Liu Qinglan became a little unsure of what to do. She didn’t know if they should return to the Tongyou Island or if they should try to learn something by approaching the Northern Sea Island. There was also another course of action and that was to remain in their spot to wait for Shang Xia.

When they were stuck in a dilemma, a thin mist started to spread in their direction. Shang Xia’s voice rang in their minds. “Seniors, I apologize for the long wait!”

Liu Qinglan and Ren Bainian raised their heads violently. When the mist finally disappeared, Shang Xia appeared tens of miles away from them. Looks of joy appeared on both their faces.

“What did you do?! Why did you take so long to return?” Liu Qinglan chided.

With a crafty smile appearing on his face, he described what happened.

Even though he gave a general description of what he did, Liu Qinglan and Ren Bainian were seasoned experts in the Martial Extermination Realm. They clearly understood the risks he took.

The more Shang Xia seemed to downplay some of the details, the more Liu Qinglan and Ren Bainian understood how dangerous it was. They could imagine the extent Shang Xia went to and he was basically toeing the line between life and death to carry out the operation. The look of fright in their eyes deepened as they stared at Shang Xia and they were too shocked to speak.

Seeing their expressions, Shang Xia muttered helplessly, “Why are you guys looking at me like that?”

Swallowing aggressively, Ren Bainian’s Adam apple bobbed as he confirmed what he just heard again. “You… You tripped the 3000 mile wide Northern Sea Island and nearly caused it to overturn?”

“I didn’t trip it. I merely threw a cluster of land fragments in its way. The Formation Grandmasters on the Northern Sea Island reacted too quickly to minimize the damage. There has to be more than a Formation Grandmaster or two on the island. They also had a lot of experts to assist them and they managed to stop the island from flipping over.” Shang Xia sighed helplessly.

Watching Ren Bainian’s gaze dull slightly because the Northern Sea Island didn’t flip over, Shang Xia added, “Well, I believe the backlash those Formation Grandmasters suffered wasn’t small. They might have stabilized the island, but they received heavy injuries in the process. They should also be the reason I managed to avoid getting hunted down by the 2 grand completion stage Martial Extermination Realm experts. They probably failed to control the island and had to summon the superior experts of the Northern Sea Mystic Sect back to help them.”

Liu Qinglan sighed softly, “You’ve done more than enough. To be honest, we only planned to delay them slightly so that we can obtain a greater portion of the World’s Will. I never thought that you would be able to do something like this! You didn’t just delay the Northern Sea Island. Their plans to bring the island back to the Azure Spiritual World might run into huge problems!”

Shang Xia chuckled in response, “The Northern Sea Mystic Sect is the strongest superpower in the Azure Spiritual World. They have a lot of Martial Extermination Realm experts on their side. Their involvement in the final battle will definitely make things extremely chaotic. Also, they’re the closest island to us. They will directly affect the benefits we can obtain and it would be for the best if they’re eliminated from the competition before it begins. Forcing them to show up later is also good enough.”

Liu Qinglan and Ren Bainian finally relaxed after seeing that Shang Xia had returned. After their conversation, they turned into streaks of light that returned to the Tongyou Island.

Along the way, Ren Bainian, whose senses were sharper than Liu Qinglan due to his superior cultivation level, noticed something off. “This isn’t right. Young Master Shang, you barely left for a little bit… Did you run into some sort of opportunity to grow stronger again? You seem… You seem different. Your aura transformed a little and it seemed to have turned even stronger!”

Shang Xia didn’t deny it. Instead, he laughed casually, “It was mere luck. When I get back, I need to enter seclusion for some time.”

“How long would you need?” Liu Qinglan asked in concern.

Currently, Shang Xia was the strongest fighter on the Tongyou Island who wasn’t in seclusion. If he missed the final battle because he had to enter seclusion, the Tongyou Institution would lose a great deal of combat strength.

“It won’t take long. I managed to increase my refinement on my extermination origins after exhausting my inner qi earlier. I would also be able to strengthen my source energy slightly. As long as I absorb enough energy and recover, my strength will rise proportionally.” Shang Xia explained.

Liu Qinglan and Ren Bainian were struck speechless by what he said.

How could he increase his cultivation just by recovering his energy?!

Suddenly, Liu Qinglan lost all interest in talking to Shang Xia. Her expression sank and she sulked silently while Ren Bainian released a bitter chuckle while shaking his head.

The 3 of them made huge detours around the various fragments for over an hour before finally returning to the path the Tongyou Island had cleared. After flying for the time it took to burn a stick of incense, they finally returned.

It had only been several hours since Shang Xia and the others left but Yun Jing and the others were already starting to grow anxious from waiting. They were afraid the 3 of them would run into some accident and they were so close to sending out a search party.

When they arrived, they couldn’t be bothered to talk to the others and quickly looked for Yun Jing to report everything that happened.

Even though Shang Xia and the others greatly stalled the Northern Sea Mystic Sect’s plan and caused great destruction to their island, they were still the strongest superpower from the Azure Spiritual World. Their close proximity to the Tongyou Island brought them great pressure. Yun Jing and the others had to make preparations for the worst case scenario.

After Shang Xia recounted his experience, he left everyone who was staring at him with their jaws agape before leaving for his small mountain.

This time, he was sure he would be able to cross the 90 percent mark in his refinement of his extermination origins.