Chapter 602: Empty Mountain

After returning to the Tongyou Island, Shang Xia didn’t feel as relieved as he thought he would.

His instincts told him that the danger they would face wasn’t gone. Now, the entire Tongyou Island might be in trouble.

“What are we going to do now?” It was Shang Xia’s first time feeling powerless. He could only look at Yun Jing and Liu Qinglan for an idea of what to do.

Liu Qinglan still seemed angry at Shang Xia’s reckless behavior and she grunted coldly without giving him an answer. She went back to her formation node and prepared to assist Chu Jia in controlling the grand formation.

Chuckling softly, Yun Jing tossed out a question while also returning to her formation node. “Do you remember the Great Observation Island’s Space Connecting Light Cord?”

Shang Xia obviously couldn’t forget what happened back then. The Great Observation Island activated their grand formation and moved the landmass that was more than 1000 miles through space in one mighty movement.

Skills of that scale were the reason why experts like Shang Xia, Li Yuchen, the golden masked cultivator, and the mirror wielding expert who possessed peak tier individual combat skills were unable to do a thing to those islands.

Back when Shang Xia witnessed the Space Connecting Light Cord, he asked Yun Jing and Shang Bo if their Tongyou Island possessed similar methods. Unfortunately, the 2 of them refused to tell him anything but from their reaction, he knew that they had it.

Hearing Yun Jing’s question, Shang Xia replied anxiously, “Are we going to finally use our trump card?”

The smile on Yun Jing’s face didn’t fade. “Since our institution dared to fight for a piece of the pie on the Manyu Continent, we definitely have the confidence to do so. We’re relying on our grand formation to unleash our ultimate move, Empty Mountain!”

“Empty Mountain?” Shang Xia couldn’t understand what their ultimate skill could do from just the name itself.

However, Yun Jing didn’t seem like she was planning to explain what it could do. Instead, she wanted him to see for himself.

Still angry with Shang Xia for risking both himself and the safety of the Tongyou Island, Liu Qinglan interrupted with a cold snort, “Ultimate skills like that require a huge amount of energy that we only managed to painstakingly acquire. We won’t be able to use it more than twice. We were planning to use it to save ourselves in case anything happened during our return to the Azure Origin World. Because of you, we have to use it now! We even drew the ire of the Northern Sea Island… Did you expose what we did to them back then?”

A guilty expression hung on Shang Xia’s face after hearing what she said. It was true that his actions had dragged the Tongyou Island down with him.

He didn’t expect Yun Jing and the others to bring the Tongyou Island all the way over to save him either. He never would have expected them to risk revealing their identities to go against the Northern Sea Island.

Ever since Shang Xia returned to the Tongyou Island, the goal of the Northern Sea Island changed from capturing him to the complete destruction of the Tongyou Island. Only by doing so would they be able to wash away the humiliation they suffered. As the strongest faction in the Azure Spiritual World, they were played by the mysterious cultivator and Chen Yuanzi even had to sacrifice himself to protect the interests of the Northern Sea Mystic Sect.

Earlier, the Northern Sea Island directed at least 70 percent of the suction force from their vortex at Shang Xia in an attempt to capture him. Now, it was all aimed at the Tongyou Institution.

Luckily, the distance between the islands was increasing. The Northern Sea Island might be chasing after the Tongyou Island, but it wasn’t as though the Tongyou Island was remaining stationary either. The grand formation on the Tongyou Island was resisting the other party’s suction force and they wouldn’t be able to catch up in the near future.

Liu Qinglan’s tone shifted all of a sudden as the anger she felt started to dissipate. “Speak, damn brat, what the hell did you actually do? At the very least, you need to give the institution an explanation for this.”

She seemed to be scolding him again, but she really meant well.

Because of his individual actions and decisions, Shang Xia dragged everyone down with him and affected the overall plans of the institution.

If he couldn’t find a proper reason, he wouldn’t be able to justify his actions. If that were to happen, there wouldn’t be a need to mention his grandfather, Shang Bo. Even Yun Jing and the others would probably have to punish him.

Ever since he returned to the Tongyou Island, he had been circulating his Four Seasons Samsara Art to restore his inner qi as quickly as he could.

Fortunately for him, the grand formation managed to store a huge amount of world origin back then and they had a massive reserve. Shang Xia could quickly stabilize his injuries and blood returned to his face before long. He looked to be in a much better state.

After hearing what Liu Qinglan said, Shang Xia quickly brought out the items he stole from Li Yuchen. He was planning to reveal his gains before Liu Qinglan even brought it up but now that she did, he decided to quickly show off what he obtained.

Pointing at a jade case, Shang Xia muttered, “I opened it and peeked inside. There’s a complete Imperial Star Fate Dipper contained within…”

“WHAT?!”

“You actually managed to obtain an Origin Dipper?!”

Liu Qinglan and Yun Jing yelled in unison.

Looking at each other, Yun Jing eventually made her way over to pick the case up. “I’ve been asking you what you saw before the Great Sun was extinguished, but you couldn’t give a proper answer. Alright, you should start talking now. What exactly happened back there? Why would the Eternal Sect, Divine Capital Sect, and Northern Sea Mystic Sect work together and try to capture everyone even if they had to risk offending dozens of factions?”

While he was recovering, Shang Xia explained what had happened and he also told them about the fate dipper essence he obtained.

When they heard that there were more than 10 strands of lights that emerged after the Great Sun was extinguished, Yun Jing and Liu Qinglan felt their eyes turning red with envy.

Shang Xia also had a feeling that they would bring the Tongyou Island over much earlier than they did if they knew what had happened.

“There’s actually so many of them!”

“It’s no wonder the 3 super islands would dare to do something like that…”

Yun Jing and Liu Qinglan finally understood why the 3 super islands would go to such lengths. They might be gratified that Shang Xia managed to obtain an Origin Dipper, but they still felt slightly regretful.

Shang Xia quickly added, “Anyway, from my estimations, there shouldn’t be more than 5 or 6 complete Origin Dippers. As for fate dipper essence, there should be ten or so strands. It’s not possible for there to be many more than that.”

Liu Qinglan twisted her wrists slightly and sighed, “It’s a pity our Tongyou Institution isn’t strong enough yet. We can only allow those 3 factions to do as they wish…”

“What we achieved is good enough. At the very least, the kid brought back a complete Origin Dipper. You can just keep the strands of fate dipper essence for yourself. However, you need to contribute this Origin Dipper to the institution to explain your actions to everybody… Whatever the case, we won’t take it for free either.” Yun Jing waved her hands casually and spoke.

Since the matter was concluded, Shang Xia quickly brought up another point. “Oh right, it’s not like those 3 super islands managed to capture everyone who obtained something. There might be a few who left after getting their hands on the treasures. There might also be some who managed to get away back then…”

Yun Jing nodded in response. “Hehe, if that is the case, what you obtained would be even more valuable.”

Liu Qinglan wanted to say something, but she started to hesitate before deciding to remain quiet.

Seeing the strange look on Liu Qinglan’s face, Yun Jing wanted to ask her about it when Chu Jia’s voice rang in all their minds. “The Northern Sea Island is about to catch up! Everyone, prepare to unleash Empty Mountain!”

Liu Qinglan and Yun Jing no longer conversed. Instead, they turned their full attention over to the grand formation as they made their adjustments to prepare to assist Chu Jia.

Other than circulating his Four Seasons Samsara Art to hasten his recovery, there was nothing much Shang Xia could do. He could only expand his divine perception to try to observe what was happening, but that was about it. After all, he was of no help in his current state.

…

The expression of every single expert on the Northern Sea Island was solemn as they stared at the island that was growing closer and closer.

In order to capture a sneaky asshole from the Azure Origin World, they paid a huge price. In fact, it could be said that the price they had to pay was far too large!

Even though the culprit had been saved by the power backing him, the Northern Sea Mystic Sect managed to take the chance to see who they were.

The Tongyou Institution of the Azure Origin World!

The faction wasn’t considered a holy land, but they were still pretty well known even in the Northern Sea Mystic Sect.

Well, that was in the past. Whatever reputation they had no longer mattered. In the eyes of the experts on the Northern Sea Island, the mid-sized island would have to be destroyed for them to seek justice for Chen Yuanzi who sacrificed himself.

When the distance between the islands was a mere 1000 miles or so, the protection formation on the Northern Sea Island started to activate. They were more than capable of launching an attack on the Tongyou Island from that distance.

Just as they charged up everything and were about to end their pursuit by destroying them completely, they discovered that the Tongyou Island was starting to fade into the darkness.

“This isn’t good, they’re trying to run away. Quick, do it!” An explosive roar came from the depths of the Northern Sea Island. The vortex above the island started to spin in reverse as a ray of frosty green light shot out from the middle. It went straight for the Tongyou Island that was starting to turn blurry. Everywhere the green light passed through, space froze completely.

By the time the streak of green light arrived at the Tongyou Island, whatever image of it was left shattered completely.

𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

The ray of green light continued through the void for some time before finally, the Formation Grandmaster on the Northern Sea Island stopped supplying it with energy. The ray eventually dissipated in mid air.

“What’s going on?! Why did they disappear?!”

“Did they enter the void with the protection of their grand formation? From the looks of it, their grand formation is pretty special…”

“We can’t let them escape just like that! We have to find them!”

“Problem is, we don’t know what they used to escape! We have no idea if they shifted through the void or are merely hiding in a pocket of space nearby. The whole island might just be an illusion that is used to confuse us while the real island makes its escape.”

The experts on the Northern Sea Island started to discuss among themselves. Even though the consensus was that they couldn’t allow the Tongyou Island to escape, they had no idea how to actually locate them in the near future.

…

On the Tongyou Island…

The moment Chu Jia and the others executed Empty Mountain, Shang Xia could clearly tell that there seemed to be a strange film that covered the island.

As it formed around the island, all traces of the Tongyou Island started to disappear from their original position.

Even though the Tongyou Institution seemed to have disappeared from where they once were, Shang Xia could still clearly see the Northern Sea Island that was hot on their heels.

The pillar of green light appeared and pierced through the region where the Tongyou Island once was, and it definitely looked as though it punctured a hole through the island. He didn’t expect that the island would remain completely unscathed as though it was nothing more than an illusion.