Chapter 793: Waves are Rising Pt.2

The last sentence Shang Xia mentioned caused their expressions to change drastically.

Even though there were rules in the institution about who had decision-making power, the various deputy patriarchs wouldn’t ignore what Shang Xia said. After all, he broke down the problem really logically. They would naturally take his opinions and judgment seriously.

As one of the Martial Dipper Realm Ancestors of the Tongyou Institution and the person who created the second path of cultivation for the institution, Shang Xia’s qualifications to talk about cultivation matters far surpassed Shang Bo and Ji Wenlong.

“In that case... Do you also think that the patriarch has fallen during his time in seclusion?” Yun Jing felt waves battering against her heart. It was rare for someone to see her in her current state as she was level headed and usually cool when dealing with huge matters related to the institution.

Shaking his head, Shang Xia raised an eyebrow and muttered, “Of course not. If he really died while cultivating, there was no way he would go so quietly.”

That was something Ji Wenlong, Shang Bo, and everyone else thought about. It was also why no one tried barging in to wake him forcefully yet.

What they didn’t know was that Shang Xia was following a completely different road of reasoning. Actually, the idea of Kou Chongxue’s fate dippers crashing and killing him never even crossed Shang Xia’s mind. After all, he was the person who told Kou Chongxue about the philosophy behind the mutual restraint and amplification of the five elements.

Ji Wenlong sighed, “It’s not a problem of whether or not we believe that Patriarch Kou died in seclusion. There are many people in the institution who are starting to waver. In fact, there have been many undercurrents that have started to flow...”

Ji Wenlong’s reminder caused Shang Xia to become serious again. One had to know that the current Tongyou Institution had 3 Martial Dipper Realm experts.

Under such circumstances, the internal state of the institution should be completely unshakable. For undercurrents to be flowing, that didn’t just mean that people were suspecting Kou Chongxue’s death. They were also starting to doubt the 3 Martial Dipper Realm expert’s ability to hold the institution together. There had to be someone stirring shit behind the scenes.

Is there a spy?

Shang Xia thought to himself. He couldn’t help but think of the situation where spies of the Evil Remnants infiltrated the other border institutions and tried to destroy the Tongyou Institution.

The event happened more than 10 years ago, but it felt like yesterday.

In recent years, the Tongyou Institution was growing stronger by the day and their prestige also grew accordingly. The You Continent also increased their influence along with it. Despite that, some of the cultivators nurtured by the institution were unable to receive all the resources they required...

A large number of cultivators who left the You Continent in the past due to the collision of worlds started to make their way back, revitalizing the You Continent even further and allowing them to strengthen their control over their territory. However, it couldn’t be helped that there were people with malicious intent among them.

In a low voice, Shang Xia mumbled, “Looks like it’s time to clean house...”

The deputy patriarchs’ expressions faintly changed at his words.

They weren’t exactly surprised that there would be people trying to cause trouble within the Tongyou Institution. The only problem was that the current situation didn’t allow them to start a cleanse.

Shang Bo was the first to respond to Shang Xia’s words, “The situation is extremely unstable at the moment. If we carry out a purge, it will definitely cause greater unrest within the institution. If someone else makes use of that... The consequences will be unthinkable.”

Ji Wenlong and Yun Jing didn’t say anything else, but they were clearly leaning towards what Shang Bo said. They felt that stability should be key in times like that.

However, a strange look appeared in Shang Xia’s eyes all of a sudden. “Is there any unrest that cannot be settled with 3 Martial Dipper Realm experts? Heh, about Patriarch Kou’s seclusion, all we need is for all our deputy patriarchs to make a statement that he’s perfectly alright. If there’s anyone who tries to doubt that, that person is going to be someone we need to suspect to be part of those who wish harm on our Tongyou Institution.”

Ji Wenlong frowned slightly. “If we try to force it through, wouldn’t it be difficult for them to accept it?”

“It doesn’t matter. As long as we can suppress it for a moment, everything will be fine when Patriarch Kou appears.” Shang Xia replied without thinking too much about it.

“But what if he...” Yun Jing didn’t finish her sentence, but everyone knew what she was referring to.

What if Kou Chongxue never shows up? What were they supposed to do when that happened?

Shang Xia sighed inwardly. It seemed as though even the Deputy Patriarchs were starting to waver!

In a deep voice, Shang Xia suddenly thought of another idea. “Alright, we’ll release another piece of news then. Let’s just admit that Patriarch Kou isn’t in the Tongyou Paradise anymore. Instead, he discovered clues about how to enter the Sixth Order of the Primary Realm after exploring the remains of the Starry Marsh Elysium. In order to resist the future threat of the Spirit Abundance World, he ran off alone into the sea of stars to look for a chance to advance. We’ll say that when he returns, the Azure Ascension World will have its fifth Sixth Order Ancestor!”

Ji Wenlong, Shang Bo, and Yun Jing stared at Shang Xia with their mouths agape. They couldn’t think of what to say to that.

A moment later, Yun Jing surprisingly regained her wits before the old men and she mumbled to herself, “Are we fighting a rumor with another rumor? It’s not exactly a bad idea. This can turn into many versions as it spreads across the land and we can even use it to our advantage to confuse those who are plotting against us.”

Shang Bo seemed to have heard that there was a real possibility behind what Shang Xia said and he asked, “Do you really think that Patriarch Kou ran off into the sea of stars?”

“Probably? Isn’t that why we’ve been unable to get a response from him even after so many tries?” Shang Xia muttered.

“But... But...” Ji Wenlong wanted to say something, but he failed to get it out.

“Patriarch Kou said that he wanted to enter seclusion, and he placed a bunch of powerful restrictions around his cultivation grounds... Did anyone actually see him enter his place of cultivation?” Shang Xia asked.

Shang Bo, Ji Wenlong, and Yun Jing stared at each other quietly. As they had their tasks to carry out, none of them were actually present when Kou Chongxue ‘entered’ seclusion.

Yun Jing thought about it for a moment and asked, “Would Chu Jia know? If Patriarch Kou wanted to place restrictions, he would definitely need her assistance. She created all the formations in the Tongyou Paradise and she will definitely be the first to know about everything that happens in the Tongyou Paradise.”

“Even if someone actually sees him enter, that doesn’t actually mean anything. Who knows if what they saw was a Fate Dipper Clone entering the land of cultivation? Even if Patriarch Kou’s true body went in, who would know if he left secretly and ran away from the Tongyou Paradise? If he doesn’t want anyone to know, no one will be able to keep an eye on him!” Shang Xia laughed.

Yun Jing quickly regained her original wits and she said, “You seem to be really inclined to think that Patriarch Kou went into the vast sea of stars. Didn’t you head to the remains of the Starry Marsh Elysium with the patriarch back then? He stayed there for some time while you returned... Did he find something in there?”

All 3 of them followed him into the celestial remains back then. Shang Xia knew that, and he asked, “Do you know about the ruined observatory?”

Ji Wenlong shook his head in confusion, but Shang Bo nodded. Yun Jing whispered, “He brought it up before...”

Shang Xia took out the damaged Stargazer inheritance he copied from Huang Yu and explained, “I suspect that the observatory is related to the Stargazer profession. Patriarch Kou stayed in the remains of the Starry Marsh Elysium for so long and he might have learned something from it.”

“Why did he keep it a secret and not inform any of us?” Yun Jing couldn’t help but ask.

Helpless, Shang Xia waved his hand and sighed, “About that... I don’t know either. However, why don’t we make a guess and think about who he’s trying to guard against?”

The deputy patriarchs fell into deep thought.

For someone who reached the peak of the Martial Dipper Realm and was considered an invincible existence under the Sixth Order... Who else would he be wary of?

The titles of the 4 Sixth Order Ancestors from the Elysiums flashed across their minds.

“Why...” Yun Jing revealed a complicated expression. “Our Azure Ascension World is threatened with the invasion of the Spirit Abundance World... Wouldn’t another expert in the Sixth Order increase our odds of winning?”

“That might be the case, but what if the new Sixth Order expert possesses potential far surpassing the others and he already has a grudge against them?” Shang Xia sighed.

...

After meeting Shang Xia, the deputy patriarchs of the Tongyou Institution burst into a flurry of activity.

First, Ji Wenlong returned to the southwest border of the You Continent and continued to watch over things there. The Tongyou Institution’s relationship with the Bing Continent maintained its stability on the surface, but the spiritual beasts in the Thousand Leaf Mountain Range were starting to make some moves.

After the alliance with the Changbai Holy Land, the northern region of the You Continent seemed a lot more stable. Yan Su’er was trusted by the institution and she had combat strength at the grand completion stage of the Martial Extermination Realm. The institution was more than assured to leave her there.

In the Eastern Region of the You Continent, Shang Bo took Yun Jing’s place. Now, they weren’t going to face the Martial Extermination Realm Yun Jing anymore. With the Martial Dipper Realm Shang Bo personally taking command, the Tongyou Institution continued to expand their influence outwards.

Yun Jing returned to the institution and took on her role as the head of the Outreach Division again and started to clean out the Tongyou Institution.

Of course, right before leaving for their posts, the deputy patriarchs gathered the higher-ups of the institution and informed them again about Patriarch Kou being in seclusion and wouldn’t be paying attention to things in the institution for the time being.

Yun Jing spoke about the difficulties of how the Tongyou Institution progressed step by step to their current state as the Tongyou Paradise and mentioned everything Kou Chongxue has done for the past 30 or so years. As a Martial Dipper Realm expert, he never once cultivated for more than a year and it has greatly impacted his progress. Now that they possessed the Tongyou Paradise and everything was progressing smoothly, along with 3 other Martial Dipper Realm experts to hold the fort, Kou Chongxue decided to put everything down and focus on his cultivation for a period of time.

She also spoke about the threat of the Spirit Abundance World and as the strongest existence under the Sixth Order Ancestors, Kou Chongxue’s seclusion could directly impact the result of future battles against the Spirit Abundance World.

In the end, she said that the Tongyou Institution had to band together as one, and if anyone else tried spreading rumors about the patriarch, she would immediately suspect them of having ulterior intentions and deal with it accordingly.

With both soft and hard approaches, Yun Jing managed to align the thoughts of those in the institution. She took note of several suspicious characters, but she didn’t deal with them immediately. After all, they could have been led astray by others and didn’t truly mean to harm the institution, or they might just be puppets for the culprits hiding in the dark. Either way, it wasn’t time to deal with them yet.

At the same time, Shang Xia, who returned from his patrol in the sea of stars, entered seclusion and quickly faded out of everyone’s sight.

The stability of the You Continent didn’t just require unity from within. They would also have to settle several external influences. To that, Shang Xia had already made a plan and chosen his target.