Chapter 789: Suspicion and Disregard

As they had many considerations and weren’t in the best of situations, their meeting was short.

Huang Yu left the jade book and ran off in a hurry after recounting his experiences and telling Shang Xia about the reason behind his appearance.

After sorting out some of the gains he made, Shang Xia decided to leave the region of concentrated asteroids to meet up with his fellow cultivators.

The location they used as a battlefield back then was completely destroyed due to the detonation of a divine weapon. Fortunately, after some time had passed, the area of fluctuating space shrank to only fill several hundred miles or so.

Close to 1000 miles away, Pang Jingyun, Shen Baisong, Yi Jingzi, and Gong Xinlan had already met up.

“Is Brother Shang not coming?” Shen Baisong, who was the last to arrive, asked while staring at the others.

Pang Jingyun forced a smile and said, “Lady Xinlan was the first to arrive and she called us all here. I was the second to arrive, and I didn’t see Brother Shang...”

Pang Jingyun received Shang Xia’s reminder earlier, but as he was the closest to the divine weapon, he could only care about running away. He was blown close to 2000 miles away from the shockwave even after escaping, and he was still feeling heartache for his Cloud Water Whip. he retrieved it as soon as he could back then, but it was still affected by the detonation of the divine weapon. Even after he repaired it, it might not remain as a pseudo divine weapon.

Gong Xinlan shook her head immediately. “I didn’t see him.”

Shen Baisong saw how Yi Jingzi had closed her eyes to meditate by the side as the aura around her fluctuated unsteadily. It was clear she was injured, and he couldn’t help but ask, “How is she?”

“After the detonation, she tried to chase after the cultivator from the Spirit Abundance World and got into another fight with him.” Gong Xinlan muttered.

Shen Baisong revealed a shocked expression. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

At that moment, all of them gained another insight into Yi Jingzi’s personality. It seemed as though the proud daughter of the Heavenly Star Palace was someone who wouldn’t leave her grudges overnight...

It was then that Ji Jingzi, whose eyes had been closed the whole time, finally responded. With her eyes snapping open, she mumbled, “I dealt heavy injuries to his other Fate Dipper Clone. I was almost able to destroy it...”

Shen Baisong quickly chimed in to comfort her, “It’s alright. He was at the third element of the Martial Dipper Realm and we managed to severely weaken him. He even lost his divine weapon. His losses far exceed ours...”

Pang Jingyun added, “Don’t forget, there’s another expert from the Spirit Abundance World whose Fate Dipper Clone was also destroyed by us. His true body should also have suffered serious injuries. If not for the detonation of the divine weapon, that person would have died in our hands.”

“Huh?” Gong Xinlan turned to stare in a certain direction. “Is that Brother Shang rushing over to meet with us?”

Everyone turned to stare in the same direction and noticed a tiny speck of light speeding towards them.

If Shang Xia didn’t intentionally conceal his tracks, he would be surrounded by an eye-catching glow that shone 5 different colors. It would be extremely easy to spot.

As the speck of light made its way closer, Pang Jingyun gasped softly and forced a smile. “That’s not Brother Shang. It’s another squad that is patrolling the space around our Azure Ascension World. They definitely noticed the giant disturbance caused by the detonation of the divine weapon and came to investigate what happened.”

Clearly, Pang Jingyun had a way to communicate with the other squads.

The various squads were probably separated by tens of thousands of miles, but with the disturbance caused by the explosion spreading more than a thousand miles, it wasn’t difficult for the others to notice what happened.

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

...

Shang Xia received a signal for the others to meet after leaving the region of asteroids.

As he rushed over, he noticed that there were other people other than his original squad.

“Fellow cultivator, why did you arrive so late?” The leader of the other squad questioned the moment Shang Xia arrived. He wore a suspicious gaze and spoke in a calm voice. However, Shang Xia could tell that he was looking for trouble.

The members of the other squad stared at Shang Xia with cold gazes as they awaited his reply.

With a placid gaze, he stared at the people who appeared before glancing at Pang Jingyun who wasn’t far away.

Pang Jingyun revealed an awkward expression but eventually forced a laugh. “I forgot to introduce Brother Shang. This is Master Qing Pingzi from the Northern Sea Mystic Sect. That’s Jin Delin from the Triple Frost Palace, Shen Qiuming from the Desert Gate, Xiong Yuanfeng from the Hengling Sect, and Master Tian Jun from the Dongjun Palace.”

After he was done, he turned to the rest and introduced, “Everyone, this is Shang Xia from the Tongyou Sect in the You Continent.”

Even though the Tongyou Institution also ascended to the ranks of Holy Lands in the Azure Ascension World, the other factions still had the habit of calling them the ‘Tongyou Sect’. They were a little reluctant to accept the way the members of the Tongyou Institution called themselves.

Shang Xia nodded slightly at the others as a show of greeting. Not a trace of fluctuation could be seen on his face as he turned to his squadmates and explained, “I discovered one of their tracks after the explosion and hunted him down. I managed to slay the foreign expert and came back slightly later than all of you. I apologize for the inconvenience.”

A series of commotion broke out among those present and the look of suspicion some people were looking at him with immediately weakened.

Shen Baisong laughed, “Oh? Looks like we gained a lot more than we thought from this battle. I wonder which foreign expert Brother Shang killed?”

Tossing out the gray robes that Lu Yuanming left behind, Shang Xia muttered, “It’s the person who detonated his divine weapon. He suffered serious injuries and he suffered a massive backlash after causing his divine weapon to explode. He was no longer able to resist when I chased him down. However, he chose not to leave his body behind after his death and it turned to cosmic dust. I’m not used to keeping the bodies of my enemies and I simply grabbed whatever drifted in space before returning.”

Gong Xinlan chimed in the next moment. “The person you killed was probably the one Sister Jingzi severely injured earlier before the blast! Who would have thought that you would run into him?”

Shang Xia revealed an expression of shock, but he turned to look at Yi Jingzi who was looking at him with a steady expression before laughing out loud. “It’s no wonder! Looks like I lucked out by running into him! Heh... The foreign expert is really unlucky...”

Gong Xinlan and the others chuckled softly, and even Pang Jingyun chimed in.

Soon after, Yi Jingzi turned her body towards Shang Xia and whispered softly, “Many thanks, Brother Shang!”

Shang Xia was slightly taken aback by her show of gratitude. “Lady Yi, there’s no need for such formalities between us. We formed a squad to patrol the region and if you didn’t deal serious injuries to him, I wouldn’t have been able to kill him. Right, Lady Yi, were you able to retrieve a portion of your fate dipper when your clone was destroyed earlier?”

She nodded slightly and continued in her soft voice, “I managed to retrieve about 60 percent of it. The power from the blast was extraordinary indeed...”

Those from Shang Xia’s squad agreed unanimously and the gray gloves truly left a deep impression on them.

Finally, an unwelcome voice interrupted their conversation. “If I’m not mistaken, the experts of the Spirit Abundance World probably escaped once they detonated the divine weapon. They should have arranged for a place to meet. If Brother Shang could be patient and regroup before reporting the situation to everyone else, all of us might have been able to sweep both of them up when that happened.”

Shang Xia turned to stare at Qing Pingzi who had spoken and a sneer formed on his face. He didn’t hide the mockery in his voice as he spoke. “Oh... You’re Qing Pingzi, right? If I may know, how long have you been a member of the Northern Sea Mystic Sect? You’re a Martial Dipper Realm expert, right? Why do you reek of immaturity and naivety?”

Qing Pingzi was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on and he nearly exploded with rage. Flames of anger burned in his eyes as he glared at Shang Xia.

Shang Xia couldn’t help but shake his head in disappointment when he looked at Qing Pingzi who was getting all worked up. He turned back to Shen Baisong and the others and continued to joke around with them. He didn’t forget to show off the loot he received.

Qing Pingzi’s squad was totally ignored...