CH 359

Not too long after Shang Xia returned, Shang Ke came back to meet with him. 

“What? Why do you want to join the forces to enter the battlefield between the two worlds? What’s with the sudden decision?” Shang Ke looked at Shang Xia in shock. “It’s extremely risky to enter the battlefield between the two worlds right now. Originally, the instructors and teachers of the institution would lead the way and old fellows like us would head in with them to stabilize the situation. You’re close to breaking through and you should stay here to cultivate peacefully and strengthen your foundations!” 

“I didn’t find a suitable advancement medicine in the institution…” Shang Xia mentioned what happened in the Scripture Depository before telling Shang Ke about Zhang Haogu’s suggestion.

Pausing momentarily, Shang Ke sighed. “So, your plan is to head into the battlefield between the two worlds to look for traces of world origin that have been left behind to restore the recipe for that incomplete advancement medicine you took from the Scripture Depository?” 

“Yeah.” Shang Xia nodded.

“Your idea sounds feasible, but you might not be able to succeed. In fact, it’s nearly impossible for you to succeed! Not everyone is as lucky as Kou Chongxue. Moreover, even if you find traces of world origin in there, it might not be enough.” Shang Ke shook his head and sighed. 

Strangely enough, Shang Ke merely analyzed the situation for Shang Xia. He didn’t forbid Shang Xia from going directly. He merely emphasized the difficulty of Shang Xia’s success and he wanted to give Shang Xia other suggestions. His expression returned to one of calm and he mentioned, “Since you don’t have a suitable advancement medicine, I suggest you calm down and cultivate for the time being. If you strengthen your foundations now, you will be able to go much further in your cultivation in the future. After all, you advanced too quickly in the year and a half that passed. It’s so quick that it terrifies me!” 

Naturally, Shang Xia was planning to stand firm. “I wish to take my chances. World origin doesn’t come by often and it’s extremely difficult to locate any. If I waste this chance to find some, I will regret it for life!” 

“Hehe. Even if I agree, your Grandpa Bo might not allow it.” Shang Ke sighed.

With a huge grin appearing on his face, Shang Xia chuckled. “It’s good enough with your agreement.” 

He was planning to leave after receiving permission from Shang Ke earlier, but he seemed to have thought of something. “Grandpa Ke, there’s something else I should tell you…” 

Shang Ke laughed in response. “Are you planning to tell me what happened with your Ninth Aunt? Don’t worry. Even if you didn’t give that order, I would have. They didn’t consider our familial ties when she decided to stay in the Changfeng City instead of returning to the Shang Clan Manor. There’s no need for us to act too courteously with them either. Those who came with her will drag us down even if we didn’t do anything about them. Kicking them out will save us from a lot of trouble down the road. It’s just a mere Li Family from the Ji Continent. Kicking them out won’t affect us in the slightest!” 

“I’m afraid Ninth Uncle will be unhappy with my decision…” Shang Xia finally admitted. He might have acted all tough when he passed down the order, but he was still a little hesitant about making things awkward between him and Shang Yang.

Shang Ke muttered. ‘If he is unable to understand the reason behind your actions, he’s no longer worthy of being a member of our Shang Clan! Hmph! We’ll see how he deals with this and his attitude towards the clan now!” 

Heaving a sigh of relief, Shang Xia bade Shang Ke farewell. After he left, Shang Jian came over to look for Shang Ke.

“Fifth Uncle, were you talking to Nephew Xia about the matter of breaking into the Martial Extermination Realm?” Shang Jian asked. Even though he looked calm on the surface, waves were battering against his heart. He felt a trace of anticipation while waiting for the answer he wanted.

Seeing through his intentions instantly, Shang Ke chuckled. “He hasn’t found a suitable advancement medicine yet. Unfortunately, he has to delay his breakthrough for some time.” 

Feeling a burning sensation in his chest, Shang Jian’s eyes lit up and asked, “Then… Can I…” 

“You have to wait for a little while more…” Shang Ke replied before hearing the rest of his sentence.

“Oh…” Feeling despondent, A trace of reluctance appeared in Shang Jian’s heart. After all, no one could resist the temptation of being able to break into the Martial Extermination Realm. “Fifth Uncle, is there a reason for this? Shang Xia might have contributed a lot, but we cannot miss the chance to strengthen the clan! Today, the other great clans have produced a second Martial Extermination Realm expert. I have consolidated my foundation for a long time in the large completion stage of the Martial Intent Realm. Even though I haven’t been able to enter the grand completion stage, I should be ready to attempt my breakthrough! My chances of advancing are…” 

Seeing that Shang Jian was turning more agitated the more he spoke, Shang Ke slapped the table before him and got to his feet. “How do you know our Shang Clan will miss the chance to strengthen ourselves?” 

“Do you know that your Third Sister has already entered the Martial Extermination Realm? Our Shang Clan already has a suitable inheritor from your generation! You haven’t heard, but do you know where her advancement medicine and extermination origin came from? The little kid gave it to her without asking for anything in return!”

“You think that you have consolidated your foundations at the large completion stage of the Martial Intent Realm and should be given the extermination origin we have for you to try to break through. Do you know that Shang Xia has already entered the grand completion stage? His qualifications of entering the Martial Extermination Realm are much higher than yours. Our clan would only give you the extermination origin if he doesn’t need it! Either you stop acting like you deserve the extermination origin, or you can head out there and find another strand for your breakthrough! If you manage to find one, I’ll immediately arrange for the clan to prepare the Exquisite Muddled Liquid for your advancement…” 

Smacking his forehead, Shang Ke added, “Oh yeah. I forgot to tell you about this. The Exquisite Muddled Liquid is the most suitable advancement formula you can find in our clan! Do you know where we got this new advancement formula? The kid brought it back himself after killing someone from the White Deer Paradise!”

Shang Jian was stunned into silence and he could only leave in embarrassment. He didn’t know that Shang Xia’s contributions to the clan were far greater than they could ever imagine. 

Shang Ke sighed softly when he saw Shang Jian’s leaving figure. Actually, he was planning to give the strand of extermination origin the institution rewarded the Shang Clan with to Shang Jian. The extermination origin was called the Lingkong Formless Extermination Origin and even though it might not be extremely compatible with Shang Jian, one couldn't be picky when breaking through anyway.

Shang Ke felt that Shang Xia was advancing too quickly and it would be good to slow down and temper himself a little before breaking through. That would allow him to progress further on the path of cultivation in the future. However, as the patriarch of the Shang Clan, Shang Ke had to be impartial. Shang Xia did indeed make great contributions to the clan and he deserved the extermination origin! 

Even if he wanted to give it to Shang Jian, he would need a proper reason to do so! It was true that he could use it to push Shang Jian into the Martial Extermination Realm, but he couldn’t allow Shang Jian to feel entitled to the strand of extermination origin. To put it simply, Shang Jian’s attitude towards the entire situation was wrong! 

…

In the southern courtyard of the Shang Clan Manor.

Li Tianxiu ran into the courtyard in a state of panic and she cried the moment she saw Shang Yang. “Ninth Brother, why are they chasing them away? Is your status in the Shang Clan really so low that even your nephew can humiliate you however he wishes? Hmph, if I had known that you were such a wastrel, I wouldn’t have married you in the past! I even traveled such a long way from the Ji Clan only to…”

“Enough!” Shang Yang snapped. He appeared in front of her in an instant and he shook her arm violently to wake her up to reality. “You caused this! This isn’t my fault! You don’t even know what you’ve done. What’s the matter with Li Tianshou? Why was he with you in the Changfeng City?!” 

Li Tianxiu realized that Shang Yang was serious when she saw the ferocious glare in his eyes and her imposing aura quickly crumbled. She muttered, “What’s wrong with my cousin Tianshou? He said he wished to travel the world to look for suitable opportunities to break through. When he heard that I was heading to the You Continent, he became interested and decided to follow us.” 

“He decided to follow you because he was interested?! Preposterous!” Shang Yang was so angered that he broke out laughing. “Did he say something about his prominent status and he didn’t wish to be noticed by everyone else? Did he ask to follow you so that he can hide his identity?!” 

Seeing the look of confusion on Li Tianxiu’s face, Shang Yang facepalmed himself before muttering, “Your family started it and you can’t blame us for how we reacted. Since our families formed a grudge against each other, those you brought with you cannot stay. My nephew, Shang Xia, chose to kick them out of the city and left it at that. He has already shown me enough respect. Otherwise, hehe…” 

Li Tianxiu’s face was filled with terror after hearing his explanation.

Shang Yang sighed and looked at Li Tianxiu and sighed. “From today, you need to keep your head down in the clan. For our kids, you should know what you have to do!” 

When he was done, Shang Yang turned to walk away.

Finally snapping back to reality, Li Tianxiu ran after him and yelled, “No! Ninth Brother, you can’t do that! My cousin is a direct disciple of the White Deer Paradise and our Li Family is a prominent figure in the Ji Continent! Members of my Li Family can be sent into the White Deer Sect every few years…” 

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“Li Tianshou is dead!” Shang Yang turned around and snapped at the delusional Li Tianxiu. Unable to control his anger about her delusional behavior, he roared. “Heh, the White Deer Sect you’re so proud of don’t even dare to let out a fart after Kou Chongxue blew a hole in their territory. Stop thinking that their reputation alone will be enough to scare anyone in the Tongyou City!” 

Feeling her legs go weak, she fell to the ground powerlessly…

…

Shang Xia returned to his courtyard in the Shang Clan Manor and he summoned Duan Hong after returning.

Duan Hong could be considered the best blacksmith in the Shang Clan at the moment. He played with the Scarlet Star Spear Shang Xia handed over to him and examined the damage it sustained.

Even though Duan Hong was far from being able to upgrade the Scarlet Star Spear into a high-grade weapon, Shang Xia felt that it shouldn’t be a problem for him to fix those small damages.

“Sixth Young Master, there might be a difference in how the institution upgraded your spear, but I can’t wrap my head around it. Why does your spear seem more damaged internally?” 

Shang Xia chuckled in response. “The institution has nothing to do with this. I’m the problem. Do you think it’s possible to fix it?” 

After thinking for a second, Duan Hong muttered. “It’s possible, but the spear is no ordinary weapon. The resources required to fix it are pretty rare…” 

During his stint in the Changfeng City, Shang Xia killed many important people and obtained a ton of treasures. When he took on the role of the temporary city lord, he swept the treasury clean. There was probably no one with the same cultivation level as him who could even come close to the amount of treasures he had!

Waving his sleeves, six cases appeared on the table before him and all of them contained a piece of precious material that was of the third rank.

“Master Duan Hong, if you can use any of these to repair the spear, feel free to use them!” 

Duan Hong gasped in fright when he saw the material on the table. His eyes lit up and he yelled, “Yeah! It’s enough! These will definitely be enough to repair your spear!” 

A smile formed on Shang Xia’s face as he pushed all six cases towards Duan Hong. “Since it’s possible, I will have to trouble you to fix it as soon as possible.”

Sending off Duan Hong whose grin was threatening to split his face in half, Shang Xia noticed Yan Qi entering his courtyard.

“Young Master, we kicked those from the Ji Continent out. Ninth Master has already placed his wife under house arrest for the time being…” Yan Qi reported.

Shang Xia nodded at his report. After passing down his order when he returned, he didn’t really keep track of their progress. Now that everyone who came from the Ji Continent was kicked out with the exception of Shang Yang’s wife and children, Shang Xia heaved a sigh of relief.

“Young Master, Custodians Sun Haiwei and Tian Mengzi from the institution have come to visit you. I have already arranged for someone to bring them to the Eastern Hall and for tea to be served!” Yan Qi made another report.

“Oh? That’s rare?” Shang Xia might be a little confused about their sudden arrival, but he started to make his way over.

Before Shang Xia’s figure entered the hall, his voice had already arrived. “It’s this student’s honor to host Teacher Sun and Teacher Tian today! I wonder what brought you guys over?” 

Sun Haiwei and Tian Mengzi stood up respectfully the moment they heard his voice. 

“We’re pretty similar in age to begin with! There’s no need to call us teachers… Shouldn’t we address each other casually as senior and junior brothers?” Tian Mengzi coughed awkwardly and quickly closed the distance between themselves. After he spoke, the relationship between the three became much closer than before.

By the time Shang Xia entered the hall, the three of them casually exchanged pleasantries before getting on to the main topic.

Tian Mengzi wasn’t one to beat about the bush anyway and he was a talkative one. He quickly got to the point. “Today, we came to visit Junior Brother Shang because we wish to invite you to join a gathering of Martial Intent Realm cultivators.” 

“Gathering?” Shang Xia looked at the two of them in confusion.

Sun Haiwei quickly explained with a smile on her face, “Actually, it’s a private gathering organized by Martial Intent Realm cultivators. All of us will share some of our experiences in cultivation and it can be considered a way for us to improve!” 

Shang Xia quickly gained interest after hearing her introduction. “Is there really such a thing? Why haven’t I heard of it?” 

A bitter smile appeared on Tian Mengzis face as he responded. “Brother Shang, you’re a disciple of a great clan! Usually, there would be no need for you to take part in this gathering as you can gain a lot from your seniors… Also, you probably haven’t heard of it because your cultivation increased a little too quickly… No one managed to get a hold of you ever since you entered the Martial Intent Realm…”