Chapter 994: End of the Show

“Where’s Huang Yu? Why are you alone?”

𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

“Patriarch, why are you here?!”

Both of them basically threw out their questions the moment they met.

Shang Xia was the first to respond. “Patriarch Kou, Senior Huang Yu is still in the Azure Oddity World. He’s in a safe place, recovering his inner qi. His identity has not been revealed!”

Kou Chongxue nodded once before he continued to ask, “What’s the matter with you then? Where did you get this Holy Artifact? How did you anger the True Immortal from the Spirit Mammoth World?”

“Patriarch, do you know who it was? The person who was chasing me earlier should be a projection, right?” Shang Xia asked curiously.

With a smile that wasn’t really a smile, Kou Chongxue muttered, “There’s no need to use such a roundabout way to get an answer from me. I’ve been watching as the various worlds try to split the Azure Oddity World up. I learned the identities of the True Immortals of those worlds after watching them for a bit...”

“Patriarch Kou, did you reveal yourself when you scared the True Immortal from the Moyun Sect away earlier?” Shang Xia didn’t stop pushing for an answer.

Finally, Kou Chongxue replied, “That person who was chasing you should be True Immortal Yun Nuo from the Moyun Sect. I didn’t reveal myself earlier, but I’m pretty sure he guessed my identity which was why he turned to leave.”

Even though what Kou Chongxue said sounded a little contradictory, Shang Xia could understand what the patriarch was trying to say. He gasped softly, “Don’t tell me... Don’t tell me you caused big trouble while hiding yourself... Back then, I heard that a True Immortal from the offensive side was slain by True Immortal Zhuang from the Azure Oddity World. Were you the one behind it?”

Halfway through his sentence, Shang Xia’s eyes widened in shock as he thought back to what Huang Yu said when they first entered the world.

... That old man might just be hiding in some stupid corner over here watching the world burn... He’s probably going to pop out at the last moment and give everyone a huge surprise. Don’t you know? The Triple Frost of the You Continent got their name from being assassins. Can you imagine Kou Chongxue as an assassin?

Kou Chongxue side-eyed Shang Xia and mumbled, “What? You actually guessed it right?”

Shang Xia sucked in a cold breath in shock. “Are you serious? Were you really the one behind it?!”

“Heh, I just decided to work together with True Immortal Zhuang who was about to die anyway. He was willing to be bait as he lured Shen Bihuan of the Spirit Abundance World to make the first move. I managed to heavily injure that Pagoda Master when that happened and Shen Bihuan was eventually killed by True Immortal Zhuang. During the process, True Immortal Zhuang was heavily injured. Even though he’s running around now, he wouldn’t be able to hold on for much longer.” Kou Chongxue might have described everything simply, but Shang Xia felt his heart trembling while listening to the entire process.

After being dumbfounded for some time, Shang Xia couldn’t help but ask, “So... What do you plan to do next? Are you going to help True Immortal Zhuang?”

Kou Chongxue’s gaze changed as he looked at Shang Xia as though he was looking at an adorably stupid creature he didn’t really dislike. “Do you think the True Immortals from the various worlds are dumb? True Immortal Zhuang is able to last so long because they’re using him as reverse bait. They’re waiting for me to act again and jump head-first into their trap!”

Pausing a little, he eventually continued, “This is pretty much all this old man can do. I can’t influence the existence of the Azure Oddity World... The only reason I made a move earlier was because of the enmity between our Spirit Luxuriant World and the Spirit Abundance World. Shen Bihuan tried to scheme against this granddaddy back then in the Star Relay and since they’re playing dirty, why shouldn’t I fuck with them?”

Shang Xia wanted to continue asking, but Kou Chongxue was too annoyed to continue the topic. Instead, he asked, “Brat, stop this nonsense. I asked you several questions earlier but you haven’t answered any of them! You’ve been asking non-stop...”

Shang Xia chuckled in amusement before recounting everything that happened after he met Huang Yu in the Star Origin City when he first arrived.

He went into great detail, especially the part regarding the Heavenly Lake Elysium. He also gave Kou Chongxue his conjecture about the Frost Wave before speaking about everything that transpired in the Azure Oddity World.

Of course, he didn’t say anything about using the Crimson Soul Tablet to absorb world origin from the Heavenly Lake Elysium back then. He simply pushed the blame to Lou Yi before explaining how he angered a True Immortal and failed his ascension.

Furthermore, he spoke about how he heard from the experts of the other regions that the 9 great powers of the Spirit Abundance World were plotting against a mysterious world.

The Crimson Soul Tablet was Shang Xia’s greatest secret and he wouldn’t reveal its existence even to those closest to him!

Kou Chongxue stared at Shang Xia with a look of admiration. “Which means... You not only watched how someone failed the ascension to the Martial Void Realm... You even stole a Heaven Supporting Jade Pillar and forced a newly ascended True Immortal to sacrifice herself to fuse with an Elysium to prevent it from destruction, effectively turning her into someone who can never leave the Elysium again... Then, you killed Zhao Wuhen’s projection while discovering the presence of a mysterious world that the 9 great powers of the Spirit Abundance World were plotting against. That’s not all. You even gathered the Four Extremity Spiritualities in the Azure Oddity World?!”

When Shang Xia was recounting his experience, he didn’t think that he did that much. However, after hearing a summary from Kou Chongxue, he realized that actually went through a lot!

Watching how Shang Xia’s jaws were about to drop when he realized what he achieved, Kou Chongxue snorted in disdain, “This old man thought that I did enough by finding an opportunity to cause the death of a True Immortal from the Spirit Abundance World! Who would have thought that your achievements would be much more terrifying than mine?!”

Shang Xia chuckled in response, “I can’t compare myself to you! All I did was make use of favorable conditions... It’s nothing compared to how you caused the death of a True Immortal! After he spoke, he handed the Stone Rod to Kou Chongxue. “Patriarch Kou, take a look at this. This is the Heaven Supporting Jade Pillar I got my hands on!”

Kou Chongxue received the rod casually and glanced at Shang Xia from the corner of his eye. “Enough with your bootlicking. This old man hasn’t gotten muddle-headed to the point where you can smoke me with this nonsense. Anyway... Is this really the Heavenly Lake Elysium’s Heaven Supporting Jade Pillar? Did you really fully refine it?!”

Obviously, he completed the refinement... How else was he supposed to bring it out of the Elysium?

However, there was something else that could actually happen for him to be able to do so. Actually... He would be able to remove the Heaven Supporting Jade Pillar from the Elysium if he received full recognition of the Holy Artifact Spirit from the very beginning. However, Shang Xia wasn’t able to do so and took some time before getting the Holy Artifact Spirit to acknowledge him.

Back when Kou Chongxue located the Stellar Cauldron, he managed to quickly receive the recognition of the Holy Artifact Spirit! From that point alone, one could see how lucky Kou Chongxue was! He was so god damn lucky he should be the protagonist instead.

Kou Chongxue might have refined the Stellar Cauldron that was the Origin Holy Artifact, it was his first time seeing a Heaven Supporting Jade Pillar. As such, he couldn’t help but play with the Stone Rod with no intention of putting it down.

“Patriarch Kou... Disciple left the Five Element Ring for Teacher Chu... I don’t really have a weapon at the moment...” Shang Xia mumbled helplessly when he saw how Kou Chongxue was planning to pocket the item.

Physically looking down at Shang Xia, Kou Chongxue snorted, “Are you afraid this granddaddy here will steal your rod or something?”

Even as he said that, his gaze quickly returned to the treasure. Reluctantly tearing his gaze away, he tossed the Stone Rod back to Shang Xia.

Properly keeping the rod, Shang Xia burst into a smile. “Right, Patriarch Kou, of the Elysium Boundary Marker, Origin Holy Artifact, and the Heaven Supporting Jade Pillar, we managed to obtain 2 of the 3! According to your plans, when should our Tongyou Paradise ascend into the Tongyou Elysium?”

A strange light flashed in Kou Chongxue’s eyes and he yelled suddenly, “Right! Your experience in the Heavenly Lake Elysium reminded me of something. Actually... When you enter the Martial Void Realm in the future, you have the ability to push the Tongyou Paradise into the Tongyou Elysium!”

Slightly taken aback, Shang Xia chuckled dryly, “Patriarch Kou... Don’t scare me. This isn’t funny at all!”

Was there a situation where a Holy Land could ascend into an Elysium while missing one of the 3 Holy Artifacts? Of course! It was close enough to the situation in the Heavenly Lake Elysium. The experience with True Immortal Tang Yu showed Shang Xia that as long as he fused with the Elysium, he would definitely be able to take the place of the Elysium Boundary Marker.

A cold snort left Kou Chongxue’s lips the next moment. “Since you don’t want to be turned into a part of the Elysium, get your ass back to the Spirit Luxuriant World and obediently prepare to ascend. Do you know how much trouble you caused this time? You basically poked a hole in the heavens here! God knows how many True Immortals have their eyes on your right now! You’re not allowed to take even half a step out of our Spirit Luxuriant World before you break through. Otherwise... I won’t be able to ensure your safety any longer!”

Shang Xia thought for a second and understood what Kou Chongxue said was true. Back in the Heavenly Lake Elysium, he had already entered True Immortal Chong Shan and True Immortal Su Kun’s blacklist. His impression in True Immortal Tang Yu’s eyes was way worse and she would stop at nothing to eat him alive. As for Zhao Wuhen whose projection had been shattered by Shang Xia, the grudge had formed a long time ago back during the invasion of the Spirit Luxuriant World. In the Azure Oddity World, he killed True Immortal Yi’s direct disciple before stealing treasures from the Moyun Clan and embarrassing True Immortal Yun Nuo...

Even if they didn’t count those who wanted Shang Xia dead for other reasons, he already thoroughly offended 6 True Immortals! More importantly, every single one of them came from a different faction! Was there a faction in powerful worlds like theirs that didn’t have more than 1 True Immortal? With the exception of True Immortal Tang Yu, most of them probably had other experts at that level!

Not many Martial Dipper Realm experts could piss so many True Immortals off at once and still roam about freely. Actually... There was probably only a single person who could do something like that...

Perspiration soaked Shang Xia’s clothes after thinking about all the grudges he made along the way.

“Patriarch Kou, you’re absolutely right! I can’t wait to head back to enter secluded cultivation. So... Shall we go back now?” Huang Yu was the last thing Shang Xia was thinking about at that moment. That slippery asshole was a veteran spy anyway. As long as he wasn’t killed by a single slap, he could probably find a way to survive. Moreover... it shouldn’t take long for him to live a pretty comfortable life!

“Nah. There’s no need to rush. This granddaddy here is going to bring you to watch the curtains close on this amazing show!” Kou Chongxue muttered calmly all of a sudden.

“The show is ending?!” Shang Xia muttered to himself. After making some connections, he mumbled, “Is it related to True Immortal Zhen? Patriarch Kou, wouldn’t this be a little too dangerous? If those people discover us...”

Kou Chongxue waved his hands casually in response. “Relax. I discussed this with True Immortal Zhuan beforehand. No one will notice us.”

After he spoke, Shang Xia felt the void around him acting a little strangely. He suddenly felt himself separated from the space around him.

Turning to look at Kou Chongxue, Shang Xia saw the patriarch taking a single step before everything around him started to spin. By the time his surroundings returned to normal, he discovered that they were far from where they were. Instead, they seemed to have entered some sort of foreign region in space...