Chapter 727: World Ascension: Sealed Space

After receiving Ji Wenlong’s help, Shang Xia needed to create 3 more spatial tunnels before arriving close to the appointed spot. He used a good half of his inner qi reserves before flying like a normal Martial Dipper Realm cultivator.

He even used a rank four Abyssal Void Shattering Talisman to increase his speed.

After punching 3 spatial tunnels through space, Shang Xia refined his control and gained a better grasp over his ability. He also understood where his limits lay.

When Ji Wenlong created a spatial tunnel from the Beyond Heavens Pavilion, he managed to send Shang Xia 5000 miles through space. The first time Shang Xia created the spatial tunnel, he traveled 5500 miles. The second time reached an astounding 7000 miles, and the third allowed him to travel 7500 miles through space.

After punching 3 spatial tunnels, Shang Xia managed to travel more than 20000 miles towards his destination. He decided to fly the rest of the way in order to conserve his energy.

As he flew through space, he held 2 mid-grade essence crystals in his hand to absorb the energy contained within them. Not only could he sustain his flight that way, he also managed to restore a portion of energy in his dantian.

Those mid-grade essence crystals didn’t appear from nowhere. Chu Jia shoved them to him before he left the Tongyou Paradise.

After the ascension of the Tongyou Mysterious World, the Tongyou Paradise could produce far more resources of even better quality. As such, the institution became a lot more generous.

As essence crystals became widely accepted, cultivators slowly discovered what they could be used for.

The world origin it contained could not only be used to cultivate. It could also replace a lot of resources when it came to crafting treasures. As such, the difficulty of producing treasures was lowered.

An example of such would be the rank four talisman ink Shang Xia had been using. The institution ground up some mid-grade essence crystals during its production and they used several uncommon materials along with it to produce a steady supply of rank four talisman ink.

Also, from what Shang Xia learned from Ren Huan, he used some essence crystal powder during the process to turn those rank five Starry Tree Leaves into talisman paper!

…

Even though Shang Xia was traveling as quickly as he could, he took an entire day to cross the rest of the distance.

He might be using essence crystals to replenish his energy, but it wasn’t enough for him to restore half of his inner qi reserves.

Also, before he arrived at his destination, someone seemed to already notice him. The person might have swept a casual glance at him, but Shang Xia felt his hair standing on end as beads of perspiration filled his forehead.

Shang Xia was absolutely sure there was no existence in the Martial Dipper Realm who had the ability to do that to him. Even Kou Chongxue wouldn’t be able to achieve it with a single glance.

That could only mean one thing. The existence who took notice of him was in the Sixth Order of the Primary Realm!

Shang Xia didn’t doubt that if he wasn’t an expert from their side, the existence would have wiped him out with a single flick of his wrist.

That was exactly why Shang Xia obediently retrieved the five colored light around him after arriving. He didn’t try to conceal his aura as he flew towards Shang Bo with the Guidance Talisman he had been given before his grandfather left back then.

He attracted quite a lot of attention along the way but this time, he managed to detect their presence. After all, they were all experts in the Martial Dipper Realm.

It didn’t take long before Shang Xia noticed an interesting sight. Of the Martial Dipper Realm experts he detected, most of them were in the first element of the Martial Dipper Realm. He would only discover a few who had refined their second fate dipper. Moreover, many of them had an unstable aura and it seemed like their fate dippers weren’t exactly balanced.

Shang Xia eventually found his grandfather but he also noticed several Martial Dipper Realm experts around him. All of them maintained a certain distance with each other and they seemed to be standing in specific locations. From the looks of it, they were using a battle formation.

“Interesting. The Tongyou Institution actually sent you 2 over. Kou Chongxue can’t really be that foolish to do something like this. Looks like he really ran into some trouble…” A scholarly looking cultivator who wore azure robes shot a peculiar glance at Shang Xia as he spoke.

“Little Xia, this is Mister Yiguang from the Eternal Palace. Hurry up and greet him.” Shang Bo introduced. After that was done, he chuckled, “Patriarch Kou hasn’t left seclusion and Deputy Patriarch Ji is unable to leave the You Continent. We can’t possibly go against the orders of the 3 Elysiums and we were sent to contribute in whatever way we can.”

Kou Chongxue was the patriarch of the Tongyou Institution and he had a responsibility to protect his juniors. There was no way he would allow Shang Xia to risk himself by taking part in the battle. None of them present believed that Kou Chongxue was such a despicable being who hid behind juniors weaker than him. As such, there was only a single possibility left. Kou Chongxue was unable to do battle!

Despite Shang Bo’s ‘explanation’, none of the experts present were fools.

That was precisely why after Shang Xia appeared, the imaginations of many experts started to run wild. They wondered why Kou Chongxue would be unable to participate in the battle himself!

At the same time, many people whose schemes ran deep recalled the strangeness of Kou Chongxue’s sword qi. They couldn’t help but get upset at Yun Lu and the others. If they were a little more ballsy and continued their assault, they would have exposed the Tongyou Institution’s weakness!

It was a shame, none of them dared to make a move on the You Continent now that the dust had settled.

Shang Xia ignored the tone they were speaking in and he greeted them respectfully as a junior.

It might be because of the great battle that was about to take place, or some other strange reason, but Mister Yiguang merely shot Shang Xia a deep gaze before giving an order. “We’re at the rear of the battle formation against the Spirit Abundance World. Find somewhere to slot yourself in. Hmm… Members of the Tongyou Institution, you’re on your own!”

Shang Xia cupped his fists towards Mister Yiguang before shooting a glance at Shang Bo. He went to find his position and Shang Bo’s voice transmission entered his ears to remind him to be careful.

As he left, he swept his gaze over the other Martial Dipper Realm experts in his surroundings. Other than Shang Bo and Mister Yiguang, he discovered another familiar face.

Yin Wanxiang of the Five Mountains Alliance in the Taihang Mountains! Who would have thought that he would have also entered the Martial Dipper Realm?!

Shang Xia thought to himself while looking at the other 2.

The first carried a long sword on his back and he exuded a faint sword qi. Unfortunately, the sword qi was nowhere near what Kou Chongxue used.

The other looked to be in his fifties. He had an imposing appearance and he looked really extraordinary. When Shang Xia’s gaze landed on him, he discovered that the other party was also smiling at him. There was a trace of goodwill in his eyes.

After learning about the situation in the area, he knew that the experts in the Sixth Order of the Primary Realm from the 3 Elysiums had already sealed off the region they were in.

If the Spirit Abundance World wanted to invade their world, they would need to break through the seal created by the 3 experts in the Sixth Order of the Primary Realm! After breaking through the seal, they would have to face a battle formation made up of Martial Dipper Realm experts!

They were arranged according to their cultivation levels. The stronger one was, the closer to the front of the formation they would be. They would come into contact with the experts of the Spirit Abundance World first.

Cultivators like Shang Bo who was in the first element of the Martial Dipper Realm, or Shang Xia, who had just entered the Martial Dipper Realm, were arranged at the back.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

That was probably why Mister Yiguang showed such hostility and started to grumble as soon as Shang Xia arrived.

Even though none of them really thought it was the case, there was still a slight possibility that Kou Chongxue was hiding his strength and conserving the You Continent’s power by not showing up. After all, he was one of the strongest Martial Dipper Realm experts among those from the once Azure Origin World and Azure Spiritual World.

As Shang Xia flew around slowly, he noticed that many people had already formed a team of 5. None of them would accept a newbie like him.

Back when the experts in the Sixth Order of the Primary Realm ordered them to hurry over and gave them 5 days to do so, they factored in enough time for the experts to familiarize themselves with the simple battle formation. Shang Xia clearly missed the best time to learn how to work with the rest.

As he continued to fly around, he eventually arrived at the edge of the sealed space.

“Heh, looks like you have no other choice but to come here.” A female voice caught Shang Xia’s attention.

Turning to look at her, he discovered that there were 4 Martial Dipper Realm experts gathered together. They were missing the last member to form the battle formation.

“Hey, why the hell are you dawdling around?! Are you willing to join us or not?! We’re still trying to fill up our numbers so we can start practicing the battle formation.” The lady who spoke didn't seem older than 30. She sported tight-fitting clothes and she exuded a rather heroic air.

Shang Xia chuckled before flying over. “Looks like I don’t have much of a choice anyway. I’m Shang Xia from the You Continent. Greetings to fellow cultivators!”

“Oh? Brother Shang Xia, it’s actually you. Great to meet you.” One of the refined looking young men among them returned the greeting.

Slightly taken aback, Shang Xia stared at him and asked, “Do we know each other?”

The refined looking young man clad in white robes smiled at him, “I am Shen Changsong of the Changbai… No… You can call me Shen Baisong instead.”

Shang Xia immediately realized who he was. “So you’re the newly promoted Martial Dipper Realm expert from the Changbai Holy Land!”

Shen Baisong smiled, “I would need to thank Deputy Patriarch Shang for the assistance. Otherwise, my promotion wouldn’t have gone so smoothly.”

The young lady with the heroic air around her snorted slightly, “Looks like you already know each other…”

Shen Baisong and Shang Xia glanced at each other before sniggering under their breath. Shen Baisong eventually made the introductions. “Brother Shang, this is Young Lady Gong Xinlan from the Jiao Continent. Young Lady Gong, this is Brother Shang Xia from the You Continent.”

Shang Xia nodded slightly in Gong Xinlan’s direction. He found the way she was speaking really familiar, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. The only thing he was sure of was that they were meeting for the first time.