Chapter 771: Crystal Vein

Reinforcements on both sides arrived and they exchanged blows at the surface of the ocean. Both sides possessed the same level of strength and the situation was forced to a stalemate again.

However, the students of the Tongyou Institution not only defeated their opponent earlier, they even showed mercy at the very last second.

Even though the expert from the Ji Continent from the once Azure Spiritual World knew of the existence of the underwater island, he didn’t make a move immediately when he saw the 3 ladies of the Tongyou Institution standing over it.

Both sides knew that even though the Tongyou Institution held the advantage, the only ones who could decide the ownership of the underwater island were the Martial Extermination Realm experts from their respective factions.

Regardless, Hai Yuanyuan’s final act of showing mercy gave both sides a lot of room for negotiations. If she really killed a direct disciple of the Triple Frost Palace, there wouldn’t be much left to talk about. In fact, the reinforcements from both sides would probably go all out right away until the other side was completely eliminated.

High in the air, Shang Xia glanced at whatever was happening down below with no intentions of stepping in. The Martial Extermination Realm expert from the Triple Frost Palace understood his intentions and he felt much more relieved.

It was then that Shang Xia glanced in his direction. There was a faint smile on his lips before he finally turned to stare at the cultivators down below.

The elder from the Triple Frost Palace felt a horrifying pressure pressing down on him when Shang Xia glanced at him and breathing became difficult. Luckily, a familiar aura appeared behind him the next moment and released the suppression on him.

A voice rang softly in his ears the next moment. “I know what happened here. Let those down below settle the matter themselves. Whatever it is, the cultivators of the You Continent obtained the advantage and it’s just a single underwater crystal island. There’s no need to make things difficult for everyone because of a mere island. Don’t trouble yourself over it.”

The elder of the Triple Frost Palace nodded slightly and stretched his joints now that he had an opportunity to. The fear he felt when Shang Xia’s aura oppressed him earlier was nowhere to be seen as he descended with an unfettered expression.

The moment he appeared, an aura that possessed similar strength appeared on the side of the You Continent. A plain-looking expert who looked similar to Shang Xia in age flew over at high speeds.

“Elder Min of the Triple Frost Palace!”

“Hmph, you’re Dou Zhong from the Tongyou Institution!”

Both sides yelled out each other’s identities the moment they appeared. Obviously, it wasn’t their first encounter and they were pretty familiar with each other.

Despite how imposing he appeared to be, Elder Min glanced at the air above him with a trace of embarrassment. Only when he recalled that there was also a Martial Dipper Realm expert backing him up did his confidence return.

Dou Zhong cast a suspicious glance at the other party and understood that something probably happened. However, it wasn’t time to get into details and he looked in the direction of the cultivators down below. He chuckled coldly, “Elder Min, you came early. Should I be thanking you for maintaining the agreement between Martial Extermination Realm experts like ourselves even though you arrived earlier?”

When Ji Wenlong, Shang Bo, and Shang Xia integrated the Tongyou Island and the fragments they gathered into the Azure Ascension World, they didn’t think that the Triple Frost Palace would have the same idea and place their island in the same area. Even though the Tongyou Institution lost control of several islands, a majority of them were still located close to the You Continent.

Surprisingly, when the disciples of both sides came into conflict and called for backup, Dou Zhong, who was supposed to be closer to the area, arrived later than Elder Min. Things seemed pretty interesting.

From what Dou Zhong understood about Elder Min’s character, he knew that the other party wasn’t one to follow the rules.

Elder Min’s expression sank and he growled, “Shut up. There’s no need for all this nonsense. Even though the underwater island hasn’t surfaced, our disciples discovered it together. Finders keepers. In order to prevent unnecessary bloodshed, we’ll split the benefits down the middle.”

By the time Elder Min was done speaking, Dou Zhong had already learned of what happened from Hai Yuanyuan. A complicated gaze flashed through his eyes when he looked at the young lady who was barely 16. However, a look of contempt appeared in his eyes when he turned to glance at Elder Min again. “Heh, I didn’t know that you would be that shameless. As an elder in the Triple Frost Palace, you should have many disciples. Aren’t you afraid that they will laugh at you for your shameless behavior in the future?”

Elder Min’s face flushed red and he muttered coldly, “Little brat Dou, you better not go too far!”

“...” Dou Zhong merely stared at him with his brows raised.

...

With his hands clasped behind his back, Shang Xia stood in mid air. He looked at the situation playing out with a trace of amusement while enjoying the argument between the Martial Extermination Realm experts from both sides.

It was then that a figure clad in white fur robes appeared. His eyes were long and narrow, and anyone he set his sights on would feel as though a poisonous snake had their eyes on them. He didn’t appear too far away from Shang Xia.

“Are you Shang Xia, the Young Master of the You Continent?” The person was slightly surprised when he looked at the youngster before him.

It was the second time Shang Xia heard that title. However, he knew clearly when he gained a title like that.

In the past, he used to be the Shang Clan’s Young Master or the Young Master of the Tongyou City. he didn’t really care too much about the titles, and he didn’t even know if anyone else had the same title as him in the past.

Turning to glance at the person who appeared, Shang Xia immediately recognized him. After all, the Tongyou Institution had a detailed record of the appearance of the Martial Dipper Realm Ancestors of other factions. He greeted immediately, “Ancestor Yin Dezheng of the Triple Frost Palace... it’s my honor to be meeting you for the first time!”

A frosty intent flashed through Yin Dezheng’s eyes when he heard Shang Xia’s superficial greeting. Sizing Shang Xia up, he eventually muttered softly, “Looks like heroes are born from the younger generation indeed... This old man has to thank you for going easy on Min Zongxin.”

𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Shang Xia shook his head in response. “Since all of us plan to show some restraint during our contest of the islands, my Tongyou Institution wouldn’t go too far and break the rules. Moreover, I’m still too young and I will follow the instructions set by the elders of the institution.”

Yin Dezheng became even more gloomy after hearing what Shang Xia said. He was unable to keep his calm and he snorted, “Alright, if that’s the case, we’ll just let them settle it on their own.”

After he was done, he turned to leave.

Looking at the space that barely rippled when Yin Dezheng left, Shang Xia muttered to himself, “What an impressive method of traveling through space! This... Did he freeze the spatial disturbance with his inner qi when he left earlier? Hmm... That was probably a Fate Dipper Clone. It’s no wonder I didn’t feel the slightest bit of threat from him.

After Yin Dezheng left, the situation beneath changed once again.

Perhaps it was because Dou Zhong and Min Zongxin couldn’t reach an agreement, or it might be because they wasted too much time there, but another Martial Extermination Realm expert from both sides made their way over.

The person who came from the Ji Continent was an expert much younger than Min Zongxin. The expert from the You Continent was someone Shang Xia was pretty familiar with! It was the young patriarch of the Swallow Race, Yan Ming!

Shang Xia was already surprised when Dou Zhong came earlier. He found the situation even more interesting now that Yan Ming had come. He remained in the air to watch the confrontation.

They might have realized that they couldn’t drag matters out any longer now that the second Martial Extermination Realm expert had come. They didn’t wish to attract the experts of the Changbai Holy Land in case they would have to split away another portion of the benefits.

Reaching a verbal agreement, the 4 Martial Extermination Realm experts took their leave. The Martial Intent Realm cultivators in charge of the region were left to settle matters. They needed to create a gathering point in the area and wait for their factions to send disciples over to harvest the benefits.

The Eastern You Island was one of the largest islands in the region and it was dozens of miles wide. It was where the Martial Extermination Realm experts of the institution were stationed.

2 streaks of light returned and landed one after another. Dou Zhong and Yan Ming returned and they looked pretty serious. After glancing at each other, they started to walk towards the core region of the island.

They detected someone when they arrived and they seemed to have already guessed his identity. Even so, they revealed looks of surprise and a trace of discomfort when they saw him.

“Brother Dou, Young Lady Yan, long time no see! I hope you have been well.” Shang Xia didn’t seem to notice the awkward looks on their faces and he greeted them with a wide smile on his face.

Dou Zhong quickly adjusted his thoughts. He chuckled in response, “Brother Shang, were you there at the Ocean of Three Crossroads?”

“Ocean of Three Crossroads?” Shang Xia raised an eyebrow and realized that it was probably what they called the region where Hai Yuanyuan and her squad fought earlier. He laughed, “Yeah, It was really coincidental. I was making my way back from the Tianya Pavilion and I noticed 3 students fighting against a Martial Intent Realm cultivator of the Triple Frost Palace. That was why I stayed to watch.”

Shang Xia’s feats and miracles were no secret in the institution. Even though very few people agreed with his path of cultivation and cultivation philosophy, it definitely led to a lot of research on their own end. Shang Xia didn’t plan to hide anything either when he discovered what they were doing.

As such, cultivators from the same generation as Shang Xia such as Dou Zhong and even Yan Ming, were really familiar with him and his style of cultivation.

The 3 extremities displayed by Hai Yuanyuan were more than enough for everyone to identify her as someone who possessed Shang Xia’s inheritance. Experts like Dou Zhong and Yan Ming barely needed to identify what she was using to be sure of it.

Yan Ming had also adjusted her mentality as she spoke to Shang Xia, “It’s no wonder the experts of the Triple Frost Palace are keeping themselves in check earlier. Looks like Min Zongxin suffered slightly at your hands. Their Martial Dipper Realm Ancestor definitely showed up earlier too, right?”

Shang Xia chuckled while nodding. “Yeah. Yin Dezheng sent a Fate Dipper Clone over. He left after we spoke briefly to each other.”

Dou Zhong nodded once and continued, “We heard about Martial Dipper Realm Ancestor Yin Dezheng. It’s said that he’s extremely narrow minded and he would protect those on his side no matter what happens. He’s extremely revered in the Triple Frost Palace. However... He didn’t do anything today and it’s surprising considering his attitude. Looks like this Fate Dipper Clone isn’t a match for you.”

“Brother Dou, you seem to have a great understanding of the Triple Frost Palace. You even know so much about their Martial Dipper Realm Ancestor.” Shang Xia muttered after glancing at Dou Zhong.

He chuckled in response. “I had to learn about our enemies so that we can be prepared for any scenario. Moreover, I only managed to learn all these due to Young Lady Yan’s assistance.”

Shang Xia continued to ask. “What is the situation like with the underwater island? Have you made further investigations?”

Dou Zhong brought out 2 pieces of crystals that were roughly the size of his fists. “We can basically confirm that the underwater island used to be one of the fragments of the Manyu Continent. However, it’s not too big and it wasn’t revealed even after sinking into the ocean. During the fusion of our worlds, it experienced some transformation due to the nourishment of 3 different world origins. These crystals seemed to have formed in it and our students found these 2 crystals before clashing with the cultivator from the Triple Frost Palace. The crystals were also the reason behind their conflict.”

Shang Xia examined the crystal in his hand while listening to the explanation. He discovered that the crystal contained abundant Metal Element essence qi and he mumbled, “Are there many crystals like this? I mean... How many crystals like these do the underwater island hold?”

No matter how calm he tried to make himself, Dou Zhong and Yan Ming could hear how seriously he treated the matter.

Glancing at each other, Dou Zhong eventually responded, “It’s hard to say how much there is, but from what we can gather, A good portion of the island might have already crystallized and I believe there should be a sizable portion.”

Nodding slightly, Shang Xia seemed to mutter softly to himself.

Yan Ming couldn’t help but ask, “Brother Shang, are the crystals really important?”

“Very!” Shang Xia responded before turning to look at them again. A smile appeared on his lips. “These are essence crystals! How can they not be important?”

Dou Zhong arranged his thoughts before replying, “These crystals can be considered essence crystals, but the spiritual qi they contain is extremely skewed to a single element. Not many cultivators will be able to make use of it and they might suffer cultivation deviation if they absorbed the energy contained within recklessly. Even if that doesn’t happen, stray spiritual qi might be mixed into their dantian. As such, many cultivators don’t really want to make use of them. After all, the essence crystals produced in our Tongyou Paradise can easily be used by all of them...”

Dou Zhong heard that Shang Xia had been to the Tianya Pavilion previously and might have learned something new. However, Shang Xia also noticed what Dou Zhong was implying earlier. “Brother Dou, from what you have said, have there been a lot of crystals with strange spiritual qi in them?”

Grunting once, Dou Zhong continued, “We located a good portion of them, but it can’t be considered a lot. Those we discovered from the underwater island are the first of their kind.”

Yan Ming seemed to have thought of something and she asked, “Do you have some way to get rid of the elemental spiritual qi within these crystals so that people can absorb them?”

Dou Zhong was greatly taken aback and he gasped, “If that is true, the value of the underwater island mine will multiply several times! The Triple Frost Palace would have lost out big time!”

Shang Xia was tongue-tied by their sudden ‘epiphanies’. Obviously, he was also shocked by what they thought about.

Whatever it was, that was a natural metal essence crystal vein...