CH 210

On the 27th of the 8th month of the 843rd year of the Divine Martial Calendar, Shang Xia finally left the battlefield between two worlds after three months of danger-fraught adventures.

The holiday given by the institution had already ended. Out of the disciples of the outer division, a third of them had been eliminated while half of the rest had been retained. The remaining disciples had been promoted to the inner division, becoming proper members of the Tongyou Institution.

Originally, the number of students who should have been promoted to the inner division should number a little more than 110. However, due to various accidents and the war on the Tongyou Peak, more than twenty of them died. 90 students were left.

There were 30 students in the inner division who were made to stay for another year and after everyone gathered, there were exactly 120 of them in the inner division! Twenty disciples would share a room.

Things were different from the past. Previously, 30 to 40 students would share a single room. It seemed as though things had changed in the Tongyou Institution.

“The twenty years of accumulation of our Tongyou Peak finally bore fruits!” Shang Xi sighed softly.

In the past, there were too few unusable talents in the Tongyou Institution. The battlefield between the two worlds had also sucked up a huge part of their strength.

After so many years, the institution finally nurtured enough experts to become instructors in the institution. With the temporary disappearance of the experts from the Azure Spiritual World from the battlefield between the two worlds, the Tongyou Peak could also deploy a batch of experienced seniors back to the institution.

“The more classes there are, the greater the amount of resources required. Since the number of students in each class has decreased, everyone will be able to obtain more resources. Instructors and teachers will also be able to focus more on each student.” Shang Xi analyzed.

Shang Xia’s expression fell slightly. “I missed the first month of class… Won’t I be ineligible to obtain the training resources allocated previously?”

“Don’t pretend like you care about that little bit of resources.” Shang Xi snapped at him in annoyance.

A pitiful look appeared on Shang Xia’s face and he cried, “Of course I care about it! It’s better than receiving nothing!” 

“Hah! You can try applying with the institution and request for them to make it up to you.” Shang Xi sneered in his face.

Chuckling loudly, Shang Xia changed his line of questioning. “I wonder if the outer division will experience any changes this year…” 

“Of course there will be.” Peng Lanqing, an instructor of the outer division appeared out of nowhere and laughed softly, “We were planning to expand the outer division to contain eight divisions in total, but we decided to increase it to ten divisions after what happened. We’ll be able to take in five hundred students in the outer division!”

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“What?! That’s a lot of students!” Shang Xia gasped.

Peng Lanqing’s laughter continued. “Haha. There might be a lot of them, but less than one hundred and fifty will be able to enter the inner division after a year.” 

“Are you guys planning on raising the bar to enter the inner division too?” 

Peng Qinglan smiled in response. “Naturally. We have to increase the quality of our students…” 

Shang Xi added at the side, “Won’t our institution expand our influence and start recruiting from other regions too?” 

“That’s right. We plan to allow the disciples of native families of our Tongyou City, who left for other continents in the past, to enroll in the institution.” Peng Lanqing muttered. 

Exchanging some pleasantries, Peng Lanqing and Kang Ci soon left. The newly ascended patriarch of the Shang Clan, Shang Ke, led the disciples of the Shang Clan back to the city along with the supply convoy returning to the institution. The moment they entered the city and split from those from the institution, they sauntered back to the Shang Clan Manor in a majestic manner. At the same time, they attracted the attention of many people on the streets.

Perhaps it was because he had been away for too long, Shang Xia raced home the moment he returned to the city. He didn’t even bother checking which class he had been allocated to.

In the three short months that he had been away, a lot of changes happened to the Tongyou City. The number of people along the streets had also increased quite significantly.

From the way they dressed, many of them seemed to be wandering cultivators or people of other regions.

Even though the increase in population made the Tongyou City look a lot more prosperous on the surface, the city seemed to have lost some of its original characteristics. In fact, there seemed to be some chaos hidden in the bustle.

Shang Xia saw three destroyed shop fronts on his way back to the Shang Clan Manor, and it was obvious that a huge fight happened. Marks could be seen on the walls and Shang Xia sighed softly, “Looks like the city isn’t as peaceful as before…” 

“Young master!”

Raising an eyebrow slightly, Shang Xia recognized the voice immediately. Turning around, he saw Yan Qi rushing over to this side.

Ever since the war on the Tongyou Peak, Shang Xia hadn’t seen Yan Qi. His uncle had been busy handling matters of the clan.

“Seventh Uncle, is something the matter?” Shang Xia chuckled happily.

A serious look could be seen on Yan Qi’s face when he spoke. “Young master, Fifth Master disappeared…”

As his eyes widened in shock, he turned to stare at the back of the convoy only to discover that Shang Ke was gone.

“Hmm… Martial Extermination Realm cultivators come and go as they please. Could he have already returned to the manor?” Shang Xia laughed nonchalantly.

His response was met with a shake of the head from Yan Qi. “Even if Fifth Master wanted to leave, he wouldn't do it so quietly. He would definitely tell some of us his plans. Now, other than Young Lady Xi, no one managed to discover his disappearance. She looks a little uneasy too.” 

Shang Xia turned to look at his aunt and their gazes met. The two of them could tell that a seed of anxiety was starting to form in each other’s hearts.

However, Shang Xia maintained his nonchalant expression and he chuckled loudly, “Hah! There’s nothing to worry about! Do you really think someone will be bold enough to rob us in broad daylight?”

Shang Xia signaled to one of the members of the Shang Clan manning a carriage at the back of the convoy secretly while he was speaking. Acknowledging Shang Xia’s intention, he took off the black cloth covering a cage and a black shadow shot into the skies.

Soft chirping sounds could be heard as the black shadow disappeared from everyone’s sight.

“How many Martial Intent Realm experts do we have here?” Shang Xia whispered softly.

“Other than one of them who remained in the Tongyou Peak to take over Fifth Master’s place, there’s only Young Lady Xi and me.” Yan Qi responded softly.

A sigh left Shang Xia’s lips. “Too bad that annoying Lightning Bird refuses to leave the battlefield between two worlds. If only it came with us… With its current strength, it can basically be considered a Martial Intent Realm cultivator.” 

As the words left his lips, a loud cry came from the skies above.

Shang Xia’s expression changed immediately and he yelled. “Stop the carriages! Prepare for battle!” 

He urged his horse forward and Yan Qi followed beside him.

A cultivator clad in clothes belonging to native cultivators of the Tongyou City pulled out a short trident and stabbed it towards Shang Xia’s horse as he rode by.

The sneak attack didn’t end there. Rope extended out from the second floor of a nearby shophouse and shot directly towards Shang Xia. A peddler on the opposite side of the road flipped over a giant pot of boiling soup before grabbing the long pole beside him. With the pole in hand, he leaped at Shang Xia.

It went without saying that the Shang Clan’s convoy had walked into an elaborate trap!

The moment his horse was stabbed by the trident, he could only leap off the creature’s back. When that happened, he would be trapped by the rope coming for him and the pole-carrying peddler would take the chance to deal the decisive blow when he was distracted!