Chapter 814: Breaking Through

Shang Xia paused somewhere along their way while leading everyone towards the Jiao Continent.

According to the distance difference between space and the ground below, they barely traveled several tens of thousands miles south.

When everyone had no idea what was going on, Shang Xia said, “There’s a rare opportunity for all of us to witness something interesting. I hope we can delay our journey by a few hours...”

Before they could react, Shang Xia made a seal with his hand and a ring of five colored light expanded beneath his feet. It slowly transformed into a spatial gate leading into the Azure Ascension World.

Because he needed to maintain the stability of the spatial gate, he couldn’t enter first. He turned to those behind him and chuckled, “Who’s going first?”

“You’re just pretending to be mysterious here...” Chu Jia giggled softly and snorted softly before leaping into the spatial gate.

Liu Qinglan stood by the gate after Chu Jia entered and muttered, “this won’t take up too much time, right? What if they manage to force their way into the Celestial Remains?”

“Relax. It won’t delay us by much.” Shang Xia laughed.

Grunting softly, Liu Qinglan entered the spatial gate after Chu Jia.

The others quickly followed and the experts of the institution disappeared into it. When Shang Xia stepped through it, the spatial gate closed.

When they emerged, they arrived at a region filled with powerful winds and torrential rain. Dark clouds could be seen everywhere, and along with flashes of lightning, the region looked like it was experiencing a massive storm.

“Huh? This place is...” Tian Mengzi was the first to speak as it hadn’t been long since he left the place they just appeared in.

Turning to look at Shang Xia in shock, Tian Mengzi mumbled, “Hall Master Shang...”

Shang Xia interrupted him immediately. “Brother Tian, it’s too formal for you to address me as such...”

Tian Mengzi wasn’t someone who was too hard on the rules and he quickly changed his way of speaking. “Junior Brother Shang, isn’t this where you killed Feng Yezi? Why did you bring us here?”

Everyone also realized where they were and they quickly became curious.

Among those present, only Liu Qinglan and Tian Mengzi had been in the region. Liu Qinglan brought several other experts of the institution over, but they weren’t part of the group.

Dou Zhong and Yan Ming had always been stationed in the eastern region and the islands east of the You Continent. Sun Haiwei’s cultivation was second only to Liu Qinglan in the group and her foundations were solid. There wasn’t much use for her to enter the chaotic region to try to find insights.

As for Chu Jia... There was no need for her to go all the way over to experience the remnant dipper qi Shang Xia used. She could just look for him if she wanted to get a taste of it.

“Please, follow me. There’s no need to rush.” Shang Xia chuckled.

After he spoke, a five colored light emerged from his body and shrouded everyone. It formed a screen around them and covered their tracks completely.

Compared to the heavenly phenomenon where rain, wind, and lightning filled the area, they seemed more interested in the five colored screen around them.

“Is this Five Element Dipper Qi?” Sun Haiwei was the first to ask. She reached out and touched it slightly, but she discovered that the strange screen of light miraculously swirled around her fingers.

It was basically monkey see monkey do in the barrier. Everyone reached out to touch it for a chance to come into contact with Shang Xia’s dipper qi. For many of them, it would be the only time they could touch it.

Shang Xia ignored their questions and he brought them all to the center of the region.

All 7 of them quickly entered the depths of the clouds. Deep rumbling could be heard around them and a huge bolt of lightning snaked around the barrier. It successfully shifted their attention from the five colored barrier.

At that moment, the lightning that was flashing outside the barrier could injure the Martial Extermination Realm experts present.

If not for Shang Xia bringing them into the region, it would be extremely difficult for them to venture so far with their strength alone. Even if they joined hands, it was going to be an arduous task.

“The exchange between Martial Dipper Realm experts is truly terrifying! Moreover, it happened 2 years ago but the region is still filled with the horrifying aftermath of their remnant dipper qi...” Tian Mengzi couldn’t help but sigh.

Shang Xia, who was leading the way, chuckled. “Actually, the battle between myself and Feng Yezi isn’t the root cause of this. After Feng Yezi died, Jiu Qi of the Divine Capital Sect and Yuwen Changqing of the Yanmen Institution barged into this region at the same time in an attempt to catch me off guard. Because of the energies they released, it caused the world origin here to transform...”

“Transformation of world origin?” Sun Haiwei caught onto the words Shang Xia had used.

“That, or what it means by the phenomenon transformation doesn’t just refer to the outward appearance of what happened. An exchange between Martial Dipper Realm Ancestors will severely impact the world origin in the area. You can even say that it affects the world origin in the Azure Ascension World.” Shang Xia explained. They fell into deep thought after hearing what he said.

It was then that Liu Qinglan laughed and asked a question. “In the past, it was obvious that this was caused by the interaction between your remnant dipper qis. However, in the past year, there haven't been signs of things returning to normal. There has to be another reason behind the change!”

Shang Xia paused intentionally after hearing her question

Chu Jia, who was right beside him at the moment, smacked him on the shoulder and snapped, “Stop with the suspense! Hurry up and tell us!”

The dark clouds in front of the group disappeared as soon as she spoke. They were immediately greeted with powerful flashes of lightning and they were caught by surprise. They instinctively closed their eyes out of fear.

When the intense light died, everyone noticed that there was an independent space outside the barrier around them.

They could see a lightning cocoon that was the size of a man surrounded by lightning bolts that were as thick as a grown man’s arm. They flashed occasionally and would fly into the surrounding clouds.

“Is there something different about the clouds here and out there? The lightning in this region also seems to be different...” Sun Haiwei didn’t know how she should describe what she was looking at, or the feeling she got from it.

Meng Tianzi, who was beside her, laughed, “Junior Sister Sun, you’re still as discerning as before. I thought that everyone would place their attention on the cocoon over there.”

Their conversation quickly reminded everyone that the surroundings were also a source of concern.

When they finally shifted their attention from the cocoon, they could tell that the lightning around it was something special. From the looks of it, they seemed indestructible as they continued to expand.

Chu Jia gasped in fright, “If this place is really different from outside, how are these thick lightning chains different from what was produced from your Five Element Dipper Qi?”

After hearing Sun Haiwei’s question earlier, Shang Xia couldn’t help but praise her insight. At the same time, he saw Dou Zhong falling into contemplation as he nodded slightly. It was clear he had also thought of it. He didn’t respond immediately.

Seeing as he was keeping silent, Chu Jia felt a trace of annoyance filling her heart as she felt that she was avoiding the question on purpose. She wanted to reach out to smack him again, but he quickly started speaking. “It’s coming out. Just watch carefully.”

“Who?!” Chu Jia asked, but before she could say anything else, she was interrupted by a loud cry.

When everyone in the barrier turned to stare at the source of the voice, they saw 5 massive chains of lightning wrapping themselves around the cocoon. Dense lightning filled the area and started to spread all around. It swallowed the sealed space and created a sea of lightning.

“This...”

Their eyes widened as they watched what was happening. Facing the fierce wave of lightning pouncing at them, everyone other than Shang Xia instinctively took a step back in an attempt to avoid it even though they were protected by the five colored barrier.

They quickly realized that the power of the lightning was far from able to breach the barrier. They didn’t feel the slightest impact as they were swallowed into the sea of lightning.

When they finally turned to look at the source of it, they discovered a pair of wings condensed from lightning emerging. Soon after, the head, body, and limbs...

When the giant bird finally formed, it released a loud cry and the sea of lightning started to churn. Countless bolts fell on it and turned into a massive lightning web.

“This... This is a rank five spiritual beast! No! It’s a spiritual bird that just completed its advancement!” Liu Qinglan muttered to herself after watching everything unfold before her eyes.

Staring at Shang Xia who was watching everything without the slightest moment, Sun Haiwei asked softly, “Did you just discover the spiritual bird’s advancement? Or did you arrange this...”

Sun Haiwei’s senses were still as sharp.

It was then that Chu Jia also understood what was happening. She yelled, “I know! This is your Lightning Bird! Right?”

Shang Xia broke out into laughter and he sounded really carefree at the moment.

Even without him saying anything, those present knew that the newly advanced rank five spiritual bird would listen to him.

With Chu Jia’s reminder, everyone thought back to the Mutated Rain Swallow flock the Tongyou Institution controlled. They recalled that Shang Xia was the one who tamed them to begin with, and the leader of the flock was a Lightning Bird.

However... Did the Lightning Bird already advance to the fifth rank?

When everyone was feeling waves battering against their hearts, the sea of lightning disappeared. A pair of wings opened up fully and a giant bird that was 3 feet tall appeared in their sights for real.

With a flap of its wings, the bird disappeared from their sight. When it reappeared, they discovered that it had already shrunk back to its original size of slightly less than 1 feet and it was standing obediently on Shang Xia’s shoulders.