Chapter 996: The End?

The battle among True Immortals on the sword curtain gave Shang Xia a massive visual impact, and even his divine will was somewhat affected.

Kou Chongxue muttered at the side, “This is an extremely rare chance for you to watch a battle between True Immortals and understand the way they fight!”

Shang Xia might have observed the battle above the Star Relay and lasted till the end, but the various sides were holding back during the battle there for fear of offending Zhuge Xiang. There were only 2 true exchanges there. They couldn’t go all out and kill their target like what they were doing now!

Also, Shang Xia might have observed the battle that happened at the Star Relay, but the shockwaves of the battle were controlled. If he stood beside the battlefield where True Immortal Zhuang and the others were fighting at the moment without restraint, he would probably be wiped out by the shockwaves of the battle!

The place he and Kou Chongxue were observing the battle through the sword curtain was probably tens of thousands of miles away from the true battlefield, and Kou Chongxue even used the sword curtain to weaken any effect the battle would have on Shang Xia’s divine will. As such, he would be able to watch the battle in detail!

That was a valuable experience Shang Xia would be able to gain while preparing to enter the next level.

“Of the 4 True Immortals who have surrounded True Immortal Zhuang, you should have seen True Immortal Xiao Yugang before. The others are True Immortal Fei Zhang from the Spirit Mammoth World, True Immortal Mi Wu from the Spirit Abundance World, and True Immortal Liu Xiangchuan of the Azure Wind World.”

Kou Chongxue introduced those True Immortals and gave Shang Xia a simple rundown of their strength and abilities. He also informed Shang Xia about their subtle relationship.

“What we can be sure of right now is that True Immortal Xiao Yugang and True Immortal Mi Wu have been working together quite frequently. Their relationship seems pretty good and the Azure Qing World seems to be trying to get on the Spirit Abundance World’s good side. As for True Immortal Liu Xiangchuan of the Azure Wind World, he seems to be backing True Immortal Fei Zhang up wherever they go. From the looks of it, they seem to be colluding with each other...”

“Getting closer to the Spirit Abundance World? Collusion with each other?!” Shang Xia gasped. “Aren’t those Azure Worlds afraid of inviting the wolf into their homes? The Spirit Mammoth World and the Spirit Abundance World are standing at the peak of Spirit Worlds. They might just lack the world origin of a single Azure World to ascend...”

Kou Chongxue shook his head while sighing, “Who knows... Perhaps, both Azure Worlds have methods of self-preservation and maybe those Spirit Worlds won’t be able to ascend to an Essence World by devouring an Azure World. Maybe we're just wrong?”

Shang Xia also shook his head slowly before turning his attention back to the sword curtain.

True Immortal Zhuang had been in dire straits even before the battle broke out, but those surrounding him seemed a little hesitant to deal the killing blow. All of them were afraid True Immortal Zhuang would ignore everyone else and sacrifice himself to drag them down with him when they moved in for the kill.

“Are they planning to exhaust True Immortal Zhuang?” Shang Xia asked.

A sneer left Kou Chongxue’s lips in response, “Those clowns are hiding their true intentions.”

“Patriarch Kou, in a battle between True Immortals, does everything just boil down to their Void Origin?” Shang Xia asked suddenly.

After thinking for some time, Kou Chongxue replied, “Void Origin is the source of our strength, but we naturally rely on our skills and martial arts when fighting. It’s just that after entering the Martial Void Realm, our Void Origin is able to create a version of the world, and other than using it to create projections, we are able to produce a domain that contains our will. In our domains, our strength will be greatly enhanced and that is why any battle between experts in the third tier Martial Void Realm and below would usually involve suppressing the other party’s domain before the real battle begins.”

Shang Xia noticed how Kou Chongxue mentioned the part about battles between experts ‘in the third tier Martial Void Realm and below’ and he quickly followed up with a question. “What are the cultivation levels of those in the Martial Void Realm then? Would that mean that they are split into first, second, and third tier Martial Void Realm experts and those of the fourth tier and above?”

Kou Chongxue seemed a little helpless as he tried to explain what he knew so far. “Zhang Xuansheng, Li Jidao, and Yang Taihe have already stepped into the second tier of the Martial Void Realm, but all 3 of them seem to describe the classification of experts in the Martial Void Realm differently. Perhaps, all of them aren’t clear about what it is either. Of course, they might just be unwilling to share what they know. Whatever it is, the higher one’s cultivation gets in the Martial Void Realm, the stronger their Void Origin would become and the power of their domains!”

He couldn’t help but turn to stare at Shang Xia from the corner of his eye after speaking up to that point. “Right. Speaking of domains, I thought about that strange separate space you can create with your inner qi. You seem to have already come into contact with the power of domains... Your Five Element Space can be considered an elementary domain...”

A look of shock slowly appeared on Shang Xia’s face. “Really?”

Shaking his head slowly, Kou Chongxue sighed, “I have no idea how you did it, but I’ve seen your Five Element Space for myself. It definitely possesses the ability of a domain...”

“... Heh, when this old man was still in the Martial Dipper Realm, I gained some inspiration from your Five Element Dipper Qi and tried to do something similar. However, I was unable to create the Five Element Space like you’re able to! Did you hide something when teaching me how to utilize the five elements back then?!” Kou Chongxue snorted suddenly.

Naturally, Shang Xia knew that Kou Chongxue wasn’t actually blaming him. He burst out laughing in amusement the next second. “I didn’t hide anything regarding the principles of the five elements! However, I didn’t refine 5 fate dippers in the Five Element Realm. Instead, I refined 10 of them. That might be why I’m able to do things you can’t... You know this!”

Kou Chongxue grunted once before he continued, “Maybe it has something to do with my way of cultivation. I was able to use the properties of the five elements to maintain the balance between my fate dippers back then but was unable to accomplish what you mentioned about their mutual restraint and propagation. As for your method of refining fate dippers of the five dippers of both the yin and yang alignment... I’m afraid you’re the only person who can do something like that. That might be the real foundation of comprehending a domain...”

He couldn’t help but feel a little depressed all of a sudden. “From the looks of it, this is something deeply rooted into one’s cultivation philosophy. It’s something that you have already assimilated to your very bones and soul... It’s going to be extremely difficult to get anyone to follow the same path as you. I’m afraid it’s going to be impossible in the Tongyou Institution at the very least. Unless you start everything from scratch and create...”

Shang Xia felt his heart lurching and a trace of anxiety and interrupted Kou Chongxue before he could finish. “Wait, wait, wait! Patriarch Kou, stop right there! I’m not going to set up another institution!”

“Well, whatever. As long as you leave behind your inheritance, it should be good enough. As for stuff like comprehending how to create a domain, it’s not something many people can come into contact with anyway. It’s just something I said on a passing whim and it might be too demanding for now.”

Shang Xia heaved a sigh of relief. However, he couldn’t help but add with a soft uneasy chuckle, “Patriarch Kou, you can rest assured that I won’t forget my duties as a teacher of the institution. I won’t hide anything intentionally either. Let’s just not talk about creating my own school of thought or breaking off to form another institution in the future...”

“Heh, slippery kid...” Kou Chongxue snorted once while glancing at him from the corner of his eye. Seeing as the topic was closed, he turned back to the sword curtain. A soft sigh left his lips, “True Immortal Zhuang won’t be able to last for too much longer. He has no choice but to choose one of them to attack. I just don’t know which unfortunate fellow will be his target...”

As soon as the words left his lips, the 4 of them made their move.

Shang Xia could clearly ‘see’ the domain around True Immortal Zhuang expanding rapidly as it shook off the suppression.

“Who is he going to choose?” Shang Xia couldn’t help but ask.

The scene in the sword curtain changed again and Shang Xia could see a blood-red mist surrounding True Immortal Zhuang as his Void Origin started to collapse. The next image that was shown in the sword curtain was a ball of purple light.

“He actually chose Xiao Yugang of the Azure Qing World!” Kou Chongxue recognized the target immediately. However, he sounded a little shocked at the discovery.

Shang Xia didn’t understand what was going on and he asked, “It seems expected of him to attack Xiao Yugang. After all, from their conversation earlier, True Immortal Zhuang and True Immortal Xiao didn’t seem to be on bad terms. For True Immortal Xiao to take part in this final battle... Wouldn’t it be seen as a betrayal to True Immortal Zhuang?”

Kou Chongxue didn’t follow up with anything. Instead, he continued to stare into the sword curtain.

The distance between True Immortal Zhuang and True Immortal Xiao rapidly shortened and even Shang Xia felt a strange sensation when seeing them moving so quickly.

The next second... Kou Chongxue’s eyes widened and he gasped softly, “That really happened...”

Shang Xia felt a sharp pain in his eyes as he quickly circulated his Five Element Dipper Qi to protect them. Forcing them open, he tried to see what happened through the sword curtain.

The dark purple light that surrounded True Immortal Xiao Yugang was nowhere to be seen all of a sudden. Instead, Shang Xia found himself staring at the ball of light that shone like white jade where True Immortal Mi Wu was.

True Immortal Mi Wu probably came to help when True Immortal Zhuang rushed at True Immortal Xiao Yugang.

At the very last second, True Immortal Zhuang seemed to change his target as he released everything he had at True Immortal Mi Wu.

“I knew it!” True Immortal Mi Wu didn’t panic in the slightest.

A golden talisman turned to dust in True Immortal Mi Wu’s hand and their shattered domain started to recover. It attempted to suppress True Immortal Zhuang’s Void Origin.

Shang Xia’s gaze was immediately drawn to the talisman that was used and his heart pounded in his chest.

That’s a rank six talisman! It’s definitely a rank six talisman!

At the same time, True Immortal Mi Wu yelled, “Hurry up and help!”

It was clear True Immortal Mi Wu was yelling at True Immortal Xiao Yugang.

Actually, when True Immortal Zhuang changed his target to True Immortal Mi Wu, True Immortal Xiao Yugang was already rushing over to support. However, he was unable to cross the space where their domains were crumbling.

The yell from True Immortal Mi Wu came too suddenly, and after hearing how he was being ordered around, True Immortal Xiao Yugang felt a trace of anger surging through his heart.

Before he could say anything, another voice arrived. “Right! We’re coming!” A figure rushed over from the side and perfectly blocked True Immortal Xiao Yugang’s way.

The figure who blocked him turned and chuckled softly, “True Immortal Xiao, you won’t be able to make it in time by flying so slow. Watch how this old man helps True Immortal Mi Wu!”

𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

The domain around the newcomer expanded in a grand fashion the next second. It didn’t attempt to fuse with True Immortal Mi Wu’s domain to resist True Immortal Zhuang’s attack. Instead, it appeared behind True Immortal Zhuang to trap him completely.

“True Immortal Mi, I’m here to help!”

However... Did they really need to pincer True Immortal Zhuang who was already on his last legs?

True Immortal Xiao Yugang revealed a panicked look, but due to True Immortal Fei Zhang’s interruption earlier, he wasn’t able to rush over as quickly as he hoped. His domain was also unable to pass through the region controlled by True Immortal Fei Zhang to help True Immortal Mi Wu!

When True Immortal Fei Zhang interfered in his attempt to help True Immortal Mi Wu, True Immortal Xiao Yugang made a large detour in order to continue helping. With their speed, all it took was a blink of an eye for him to arrive.

Unfortunately, in an exchange between experts of their level, a lot of things could happen in the blink of an eye. The slight delay was enough to force True Immortal Mi Wu to take on True Immortal Zhuang’s final strike.

Everything Shang Xia and Kou Chongxue were seeing through the sword curtain was swallowed by chaotic light. They were unable to see what happened through the sword curtain, but their gazes seemed to pass through the screen completely as they stared in a certain direction in the void.