Chapter 598: Fucking Cheater

As an expert who arrived before many others, Shang Xia had seen that only slightly more than a dozen illusory rays of light emerged after the collapse of the Great Sun. There wouldn’t be more than 20 of them, and from the looks of it, most of them were fate dipper essences.

With 2 of them in his possession, Shang Xia felt that even if someone managed to obtain an Origin Dipper, they wouldn’t be much luckier than him.

Moreover, it wasn’t as though obtaining an Origin Dipper would be so easy. Those that emerged from the Great Sun might not even be found!

Because of the many run-ins Shang Xia had with fate dippers and the help he received from Kou Chongxue, he was no stranger to it. Not to mention the fact that he tested his strength against Kou Chongxue’s fate dipper clone back in the Changfeng City when he was in the Martial Intent Realm, he knew a lot about it. He knew that fate dippers had their own spirituality and finding one would be difficult. There was also the matter of getting their hands on it after locating one, and that wasn’t going to be a walk in the park either.

Now that Shang Xia’s possession of a fate dipper essence had been leaked by the golden masked cultivator, many experts quickly set their sights on him.

Luckily for him, he heavily injured the golden masked cultivator before scaring off the mirror wielding expert. Next, he used a single strike to destroy the obstruction made by 2 experts at the large completion stage of the Martial Extermination Realm. His combat strength frightened many experts who were planning to make their move.

Of course, Shang Xia didn’t plan on leaving even though he blew away the obstruction. After traveling some distance out, he draped his Auspicious Cloud Cape behind his back and his figure started to fade away.

.

The jade ornament he obtained from the golden masked cultivator was an item that could only store fate dipper essence temporarily and there was a massive crack spanning half the item. He knew that it wouldn’t be long before the strand of fate dipper essence would escape.

Since he left the battle, he had some time to gather his thoughts and he made sense of how the battle started.

Fate dipper essence was difficult to come by, and those who obtained it couldn’t hide it in their spatial artifacts. Those who didn’t get any didn’t want to leave empty handed. Not knowing who managed to get their hands on fate dipper essence, they could only attack indiscriminately.

Like what happened with the golden masked cultivator, he managed to obtain a strand of fate dipper essence through sheer luck. He was able to seal it for the time being with the jade ornament he obtained, but once it shattered, the fate dipper essence would be revealed to the world. Other experts would discover it then and fight him for it.

After realizing what was probably happening, Shang Xia also figured out something else. Those people who were planning to trap him there might not just be aiming for the fate dipper essence he obtained. They probably also wanted to obtain the jade ornament that could store fate dipper essence!

By the time he arranged his thoughts, the ornament in his hand reached its limit. A soft crack could be heard as it shattered. A dark gold smoke gathered together and became an illusory ray of light that tried to fly away from Shang Xia’s grasp.

Too bad for the fate dipper essence, Shang Xia was well prepared. Before it emerged from the jade ornament, Shang Xia already released his extermination origins in his palm. The endless cycle of the four seasons became a cage that trapped the fate dipper essence.

No matter how it smashed about, the illusory ray of light was unable to leave his palm.

A soft smile appeared on Shang Xia’s face as the giant fragment of jade he obtained earlier appeared in his other hand.

Slowly bringing it closer to his other palm, the fate dipper essence seemed to have found its calling. It drilled into the jade fragment and started to calm down.

Back when the first strand of fate dipper essence entered the fate dipper fragment, it caused the fragment to shrink significantly. However, he experienced something different now. Shang Xia could feel the piece of jade in his hand dimming at a rapid pace.

It seemed as though the jade fragment that he obtained back then worked differently from a fate dipper fragment, but it could be used all the same.

From what happened to the jade ornament, Shang Xia could tell that the fate dipper essence wouldn’t be trapped for long in the jade fragment he used. Staring at the darkening jade fragment, he couldn’t help but balk in his heart. Even if it was really possible for the item in his hand to become a fate dipper, who would dare to use it?

Examining it again, Shang Xia felt that the piece of jade fragment had turned too damn dark. He even wondered if the fate dipper essence had self-destructed inside.

Carefully looking at it, he discovered that there were some points of similarity between the jade fragment and his fate dipper fragment. His conclusion was that the quality of the jade fragment was just… Was just too damn shit compared to the fate dipper fragment.

After storing both strands of fate dipper essence, Shang Xia didn’t worry about them any longer. He started to pour his divine perception into his Crimson Soul Tablet. He wanted to see if he could feel the presence of an Origin Dipper or other strands of fate dipper essences.

Pinching his glabella with his forefinger and thumb, he stared at the region of space where the chaotic battle royale was taking place before muttering to himself,

I refuse to believe that all the treasures are concentrated in that spot. There has to be some that managed to escape!

The thumping of the Crimson Soul Tablet gave Shang Xia an obvious answer. The region where the battle was taking place contained the greatest number of treasures. However, since he just escaped, Shang Xia didn’t plan on rushing back into the chaos.

Moreover, he already revealed his strength earlier. The golden masked cultivator also ratted him out and everyone learned that he had fate dipper essence on him. If he returned, many people would band together to fight him.

Shang Xia might have absolute confidence in himself, but he wasn’t crazy enough that he felt that he would be able to ignore an alliance of multiple strong experts.

After thumping several times without Shang Xia’s reaction, the Crimson Soul Tablet seemed to have realized something. It pointed in another direction and started to thump, but the feeling was much weaker than before.

This time, Shang Xia reacted. His expression changed slightly as he wrapped the Auspicious Cloud Cape tightly around himself before flying in that direction.

Shang Xia seemed to have grasped the reaction of the tablet well. Even though it was thumping, it didn’t truly wish to leap out from his sea of consciousness. Instead, it was merely conveying its thoughts to Shang Xia.

He didn’t have to fly for long before he noticed a change in his surroundings. The void before him extended greatly and he seemed to be peering into a formless abyss. The opening of the abyss seemed like a giant mouth that was ready to swallow him up at any time.

With his sharp divine perception, Shang Xia naturally discovered the anomaly before him. He stopped dead in his tracks while examining the region of space around him with his divine perception.

“Huh?” A surprised cry came from an indistinct direction and the abyss in front of Shang Xia seemed to come alive. It resembled the mouth of a celestial beast as it tried to swallow Shang Xia.

At the same time, the space around Shang Xia turned incomparably solid. Even his divine perception had been slightly affected.

With a cold snort, Shang Xia didn’t seem to care that the space around him was locked. He stretched his left hand out casually and the entire area started to tremble. Closing his fist, the sealed space around him shattered completely.

A ray of light flashed in the distance for a split second before it concealed itself.

Chuckling coldly, Shang Xia swung his blade in front of him. The giant abyss ripped apart easily, revealing the dark space behind and a figure who had a look of shock on his face.

“It’s you!” Shang Xia’s pupils constricted slightly after noticing who it was, but he immediately raised his guard.

“Since you know who I am, it looks like I wasn’t mistaken about you. You’re that person who gathered the cluster of land fragments to obstruct my Northern Sea Island. Hmph, you’re good alright!” Chen Yuanzi took a single step towards Shang Xia and passed through the space Shang Xia’s blade light was traveling through. Even though Shang Xia ripped the strange abyss apart, he couldn’t harm Chen Yuanzi in the slightest.

Without any warning, Shang Xia retreated. He pulled apart the distance between them before grunting, “As an expert at the grand completion stage of the Martial Extermination Realm from the Northern Sea Mystic Sect, are you really surprised I know who you are?”

Back when Shang Xia risked it all to nearly tip the Northern Sea Island, he was able to escape before they saw his face. He felt that there was no way they could recognize his appearance.

When he entered the chaotic battle earlier to fight for fate dipper essence, he also concealed his appearance. Everything he did concerned a chance to enter the Martial Dipper Realm. He wouldn’t reveal his identity easily.

By the time Shang Xia retreated, the abyss that was ripped apart by him earlier started to move. They transformed into 2 belts of fractured space that converged at his original position.

Chen Yuanzi ignored the spatial fractures as he made his way closer to Shang Xia. A cold sneer left his lips. “Sneaky asshole, do you think you will be able to hide forever just by concealing your appearance? Don’t you know that I have already locked onto your aura? I will recognize you no matter how you try to change your identity!”

Through his words, Shang Xia could basically confirm that Chen Yuanzi knew that he was the culprit back then. However, that was all he knew. He didn’t know Shang Xia’s identity or background!

Realizing that point, Shang Xia no longer retreated.

The twisted space started to press against him, but pressing his hand before him, he immediately quelled the chaos.

Shang Xia also approached Chen Yuanzi while speaking calmly, “Actually, I am really curious. Since you’re able to locate me, you should have noticed the battle earlier. You should know that I’m similarly at the grand completion stage of the Martial Extermination Realm. Even though I haven’t entered my current realm for long and my techniques aren’t super refined, I will still be able to come and go as I wish. What’s the point of trying to stop me here?”

As soon as the words left his lips, Shang Xia pounced with explosive speed. His Abyssal Blade came slashing down at Chen Yuanzi’s head.

It was his first time utilizing Autumn Blade, and he unleashed Autumn Origin. It was the beginning of all his moves that were in the Autumn Blade series, but it also contained the essence of the other strikes.

Autumn Origin didn’t care about one’s prestige, cultivation realm, or technique. It only focused on the outcome of the strike.

Right before the blade light was completely formed, Shang Xia felt an intense palpitation in his glabella.

Chen Yuanzi, who was standing opposite him, seemed to completely ignore Shang Xia’s blade strike. A strange smile appeared on his face and he sneered, “Did I say I was the only one here?”

The void behind Chen Yuanzi started to turn a lot denser as the silhouette grew clearer and clearer. Eventually, a colossal existence made its appearance.

… Northern Sea Island!

Shang Xia was stunned speechless. Stopping his strike halfway, he ignored the backlash as he turned to run.