Chapter 973: Five Element Origin, Refining the Pillar!

When Shang Xia located the Heaven Supporting Jade Pillar, Huang Yu and Lou Yi also located the Origin Holy Artifact.

However, the core of the Heavenly Lake Elysium seemed to have already experienced some changes. From the looks of it, some people arrived before them and obtained the treasure that resembled a Stone Mortar.

“Sixth Brother, Senior Brother Shan, what’s the meaning of this?” Lou Yi stared at the both of them calmly, but Huang Yu, who was beside him, could already feel the killing intent rising rolling off him.

“Third Brother, don’t misunderstand, there’s no hidden meaning behind this. I was just afraid that something might go wrong halfway and I ran here to get my hands on the Origin Holy Artifact before anything else. There are other experts in the Heavenly Lake Elysium planning to steal the treasures and I had no choice but to start refining it before you could come.” Lou Zhe chuckled.

Lou Yi still sounded calm, but his voice grew colder with each passing word. “I believe you should know the Ancestor’s intentions and what I need to do next.”

The grin on Lou Zhe’s face remained and he laughed out loud, “Third Brother, rest assured, I know what to do! All of us are brothers and the thing our Lou Family needs is another Martial Void Realm True Immortal! Can’t you see that I’m trying my best for the sake of the family? If you need the Origin Holy Artifact to craft your advancement medicine, just say the word and I’ll fully cooperate with you!”

Unable to control his killing intent any further, It came bursting out in an endless tide. Lou Yi growled, “Sixth Brother, are you really not willing to hand the Origin Holy Artifact over? What if I swear an oath to give you the Origin Holy Artifact after I use it to refine my advancement medicine and successfully enter the Martial Void Realm?”

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Lou Yi held the Stone Mortar that reached up to his waist and took 2 steps back. However, his tone remained firm as he continued, “Third Brother, do you really not trust me? The experts of the Solitary Peak Heavenly Lake are going to arrive soon. Even though they’re just a bunch of useless fools, even if I hand the treasure to you now and you use it to complete your advancement medicine, all of us will still be surrounded when you try to advance. When we’re surrounded, we won’t be able to use the power of the Elysium or world origin if you refined the Origin Holy Artifact. What if they manage to interrupt and cause you to fail your ascension? If I control the treasure, I will still be able to make use of the power of the Elysium and draw world origin to protect all of us even when you’re breaking through. It will greatly increase our chances of success.”

“Sixth Brother, are you threatening me right now?” Lou Yi’s expression sank and he said in a low voice.

Taking a deep breath, Lou Zhe started to circulate his inner qi and raised the Stone Mortar above his head while muttering, “Of course not, I wouldn’t dare! I’m just doing what’s best for all of us!”

Lou Yi’s countenance was as ugly as could be and he turned to Shan Yunchao and muttered, “Senior Brother Shan, what’s your stance on this?”

Shan Yunchao didn’t look at any one of them and he muttered indifferently, “This is a matter between you brothers. You should settle this among yourselves. However... To be truly objective, if Young Master Lou Zhe controls the Origin Holy Artifact, he will definitely be able to help all of us when you’re in the process of breaking through.”

Shang Yunchao sounded pretty objective and he seemed to be speaking on behalf of the big picture, but how could Lou Yi not understand that they were standing on the same side at the moment?

The only thing he didn’t know was the reason they had chosen to work together. After all, even if Lou Zhe controlled the Origin Holy Artifact, there was no way they could steal the chance of breaking through to the Martial Void Realm.

Once Lou Yi enters the Martial Void Realm, he would definitely get back at them.

Even if his ascension fails, the 2 of them didn’t have to oppose him in such a direct manner...

There were only a few possibilities. If they knew that his ascension would most likely fail and they weren’t afraid of offending him any longer, or if they were planning to interrupt his ascension and cause him to fail anyway!

If he thought about it, that didn’t make any sense either. After all, both of them understood what it meant for him to break through to the Martial Void Realm. Unless they were willing to risk everything and offend True Immortal Chong Shan...

Lou Yi couldn’t understand what they were up to and his thoughts fell into disarray for a moment. His expression was extremely gloomy as he glared at them both.

The next second, Lou Zhe put on a sincere expression and muttered, “Third Brother, don’t you think we understand what your breakthrough will mean for our Lou Family and the Emptiness Drifting Mountain?! The only reason I’m planning to hold on to the Origin Holy Artifact is to give us a little more protection when you’re breaking through!”

“You should know that the moment you break through, the family will cast me aside instantly! After all, our future would be secured with your ascension. If I wish to try breaking through to the Martial Void Realm in the future, I can only rely on my hard work and the opportunities I run into. With the Origin Holy Artifact in hand, it will be much easier for me to fight for the chance to take another step on the path of cultivation!” Lou Zhe muttered.

The next second, spatial fluctuations appeared in the distance as the entrance to the Heavenly Lake Elysium opened up again. A bunch of experts poured through the entrance.

“Young Master Lou Yi, if you don’t enter the space in the Origin Holy Artifact, I’m afraid it will be too late...” Shan Yunchao mumbled.

“Hmph... I refuse to believe you guys have the guts to play any tricks either...” Lou Yi snorted before preparing to enter the Origin Holy Artifact.

“Young Master...” Huang Yu quickly stepped up and tried to warn Lou Yi.

Pausing for a second, Lou Yi mumbled without even turning back, “Brother Huang, take my place and provide some cover. Relax. Once I step into the Origin Holy Artifact, no one will be able to steal my advancement medicine!”

He spoke out loud and even though it seemed as though his words were directed at Huang Yu, it was actually warning Lou Zhe and Shan Yunchao not to try anything funny.

Lou Zhe proclaimed in a loud voice, “Third Brother, you can rest assured that with Brother Huang’s help and our protection, those clowns from the Solitary Peak Heavenly Lake won’t be able to distract you!”

Lou Yi didn’t seem too interested in entertaining Lou Zhe any longer and he leaped into the Origin Holy Artifact and entered the space it contained.

He had long since prepared all the ingredients he needed for his advancement medicine and all he needed to do was to combine them all in the Origin Holy Artifact before swallowing it.

Just from the preparation Lou Yi made, there was no way Lou Zhe would be able to steal his spot at ascension... Even if he had an elementary refinement of the Origin Holy Artifact, there was no chance at all!

Moreover, the most important thing was that Lou Zhe’s cultivation realm was far from enough!

As for why Lou Yi was planning to break through using the Origin Holy Artifact of the Solitary Peak Heavenly Lake and not the treasure of the Emptiness Drifting Mountain... No matter if he succeeded, he would use up an astronomical amount of world origin. Moreover, from the rank six inheritance the Emptiness Drifting Mountain, an attempt at a breakthrough would cause huge damage to the Origin Holy Artifact.

True Immortal Chong Shan obviously knew about the price they would have to pay for ascension and that was why he had been plotting against the Solitary Peak Heavenly Lake.

...

Not too far away from the island in the Heavenly Lake Elysium, the experts of the Solitary Peak Heavenly Lake also discovered the traitor who killed Lu Qinhuan and was attempting to refine the Elysium Boundary Marker.

After paying the price with the lives of many of their experts, the cultivators of the Solitary Peak Heavenly Lake started to push closer towards the island that Dai Yikong had taken control of. He was able to draw on the power of the Elysium, but the experts of the Solitary Peak Heavenly Lake maintained their battle formation as they forced their way over.

At the same time, they formed 2 other squads that went to where the Heaven Supporting Jade Pillar and Origin Holy Artifact were.

By the time they started to make their way over, Shang Xia had already completed the preliminary round of refinement of the Heaven Supporting Jade Pillar and could control it to a certain extent. At the same time, he could feel the wondrous sensation of drawing power from the Elysium. Moreover, as he drew on the power of the Elysium, he discovered that he was able to refine the Heaven Supporting Jade Pillar even further.

Shang Xia knew that even though Kou Chongxue reached the large completion stage of the Martial Dipper Realm back then, he used several years in order to fully refine the Stellar Cauldron.

As such, he wasn’t too surprised when he realized that he was able to further refine the treasure. What he didn’t know was how difficult it was for ordinary Martial Dipper Realm experts to control a Holy Artifact!

While he continued to refine the Heaven Supporting Jade Pillar, he felt several experts of the Solitary Peak Heavenly Lake observing him secretly. However, his show of dominance seemed to have done its job when he killed the 2 third element Martial Dipper Realm experts earlier. Even though they observed him secretly, they didn’t dare to interrupt him when he was refining the treasure. They chose to distance themselves from him in case he went on a rampage and targeted them randomly.

Of course, he understood that they wouldn’t avoid him forever. The moment their reinforcements arrived, they would choose to attack. Even if their backup consisted mostly of Martial Extermination Realm cultivators, everyone knew that there was courage in numbers. They might choose to attack anyway.

However... With a single thought, several powerful vortexes of Five Element Dipper Qi appeared in the space tens of miles around him. A massive amount of world origin was swallowed by those vortexes before being transported to where he was. In an instant, the region around him was covered in a dense cloud of world origin.

That was one of the perks of being able to control the power of an Elysium after refining one of its Holy Artifacts!

With Shang Xia’s current process and extent of control over the Heaven Supporting Jade Pillar, he would be able to draw on the power of the Elysium 20 miles around himself. He was the ruler of that region of space!

As he continued to refine the Heaven Supporting Jade Pillar, he discovered something surprising. As his Five Element Origin continued to pour into the Heaven Supporting Jade Pillar, its appearance experienced some form of transformation.

Shang Xia wasn’t quite bothered by the change. After all, as a Holy Artifact, it ranked higher than a Divine Artifact. A slight change in appearance wasn’t anything to be alarmed about.

However, the treasure that resembled a coral or false mountain started to shrink to the point where it became a long stone rod... Shang Xia didn’t know how to feel about the matter.

If not for the fact that Shang Xia could feel that the long rod was made of a material similar to that of Nayuan Spirit Nourishing Stones, he might have suspected that the Heaven Supporting Jade Pillar in his hand was a fake!

Actually... If the rod could shrink even more and grow a little shorter... Wouldn’t he be able to swing the Heaven Supporting Jade Pillar around as a weapon?!