Anyone could guess Shang Xia’s strength with the disturbance he caused on the mountain peak he was on.

However, they could only guess how far Shang Xia’s cultivation had gone. They didn’t know how strong he actually was if he were to go all out in a fight. 

After all the experts from the Tongyou Institution made their evaluations, all of them came to the same conclusion. They would sigh softly while staring at the mountain, “He’s definitely stronger than me!” 

…

Shang Xia stared at Chu Jia with a strange look in his eyes. Hearing that there was a problem, he quickly restrained his lazy attitude. “Is Deputy Patriarch Yun’s injuries really serious?” 

Thinking about it for a second, Chu Jia responded, “It’s serious, but her foundations aren’t damaged. The only problem is that she has to oversee everything here and prevent any disturbance from the other powers and she can’t take a break to recover properly.” 

“Is my grandfather in the core region you were defending against that expert from the Manyu Continent back then?” Shang Xia asked another question.

Shaking her head, Chu Jia muttered, “I don’t know. Only Deputy Patriarch Yun knows where he is. However, she hasn’t said anything about him recently. No news is good news and he should be doing alright.” 

Shang Xia nodded slightly and felt a weight lifted off his heart. He might be a little more reassured hearing that his grandfather was safe, but he had a sneaking suspicion that his grandfather wasn’t cultivating in seclusion in the range of the protection formation.

Yun Jing should be clear on the matter, but so should Kou Chongxue and Ji Wenlong.

Shang Xia asked another question. “How are the others right now? What about the statistics of the war that happened? Did anyone on our side die? From your description, things don’t seem to be going well…”

Chu Jia’s expression sank immediately. “If we count you, there are 14 Martial Extermination Realm experts on our side in total…” 

“Wait, wait, wait! Slow down. Are you sure we have 14 Martial Extermination Realm experts on our side? When did our Tongyou Institution produce so many Martial Extermination Realm experts?” Shang Xia gasped.

Even though he knew that the institution deployed a huge number of Martial Extermination Realm experts to the Manyu Continent, the number he was hearing now had far exceeded his expectations.

He suspected that the institution had hidden the breakthrough of several experts among them, but he never thought that Kou Chongxue would send so many of them to the Manyu Continent at the same time.

Facing Shang Xia’s question, Chu Jia understood his confusion. “I was also surprised when I heard about them. Even Senior Shang Ke was shocked at the revelation. From what he heard, Mister Lu Siyuan was said to have resigned from his post after the Tongyou Institution was established and after a few years of teaching. Stories have it that he went to wander the world after he left. Mister Fang Kewei is another expert who was said to have fallen in the outside world. Who knew that he had been brought to the Beyond Heavens Pavilion by Patriarch Kou a long time ago? He had been in hiding all this time and there are 2 other second layer Martial Extermination Realm experts and 1 who just entered the Martial Extermination Realm who joined us.” 

“What about the other 3?” Shang Xia continued.

“There’s Ji Wenbin, a member of Deputy Patriarch Ji’s clan. According to the records, he died in the battlefield between the two worlds a long time ago. Liu Jikun is also present. He’s a part of the Liu Clan and it’s said that he’s a cousin or brother of the late Deputy Patriarch Liu Jitang. Back when Deputy Patriarch Liu Jitang lost his life in the Coral Forest, Liu Jikun didn’t appear to take his place. There’s another senior called Yun Shu. Even though she’s said to be a member of the Yun Clan, she was Deputy Patriarch Yun’s personal maidservant in the past.” 

The 3 of them were obviously members of the great clans and they were possibly the hidden experts who would only take action in times of need.

Shang Xia rubbed his temples slowly and groaned, “5 Martial Extermination Realm experts… That’s basically the power of a great clan in our You Continent! For Patriarch Kou and the Deputy Patriarchs to keep them hidden… Hehe, all of them are really sinister old bastards… I mean… They have great foresight and planned well for the future…” 

Shang Xia added another question even though he knew that the possibility of it happening wasn’t high. “Since the other great clans of the Tongyou City have hidden experts, does my Shang Clan possess any hidden Martial Extermination Realm expert?” 

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes at the member of the Shang Clan who was asking her about matters regarding his own family, Chu Jia forced herself to reply to him in the calmest tone possible. “Nope!” 

Shang Xia nodded his head as though he was confirming the information he had learned while giving off an ‘I knew it’ look. “Yeah… That makes sense. My Shang Clan rose to prominence after the Ji, Yun, and Liu Clans. Our foundations are a lot weaker than them and we obviously can’t be compared to any of them…” 

Finally unable to control herself, Chu Jia chuckled sinisterly. “There’s Deputy Patriarch Shang Bo, Senior Shang Ke, and it’s said that your Shang Clan has an expert roaming the world who has already entered the Martial Extermination Realm. You, the great Young Master Shang of the Shang Clan, have also entered the Martial Extermination Realm. Oh right, there’s also Shang Jian who can break through at any time… Heh, your Shang Clan truly has ‘shallow’ foundations…” 

“What the fuck? How are you so familiar with my Shang Clan?!” Shang Xia revealed an incredulous look before shaking his butt slightly. “Why are you spying on us? Are you plotting something?! What are your intentions?!” 

Chu Jia didn’t know how far she could roll her eyes back and she snapped at him instantly, “Stop with your nonsense. Do you think I have the time to be messing around with you here?” 

Shang Xia sighed helplessly in response, “Alright, alright, enough. Tell me about the number of dead or injured. I don’t think you came all the way here to chat with me, right?” 

Staring at Shang Xia with a fiery gaze that made it seem like she wanted to punch his teeth out, Chu Jia thought to herself: What the hell?! You’re the one who was messing about! How is this my fault?!

As the most talented Formation Grandmaster of the Tongyou Institution, Chu Jia was extremely celebrated and she was the center of attention everywhere she went. Those around her would treat her with respect all the time and she never had to endure such treatment from anyone.

Finally thinking about how she was still Shang Xia’s senior at the end of the day, she decided not to lower herself to his level and she managed to suppress the anger burning in her heart. Adjusting her tone slightly, she explained, “During the war, we killed many Martial Extermination Realm experts from the Manyu Continent…” 

She paused for a moment before glancing at Shang Xia. After all, the annoying little bugger standing in front of her was the key they used to win the war. With the terrifying number of rank four talismans he brought over…

Thinking back to the amount of talismans he used in the war, even Chu Jia felt her heart ache slightly. However, it quickly disappeared after she thought about how many lives he saved because of his wanton use of talismans. If he didn’t do what he did, there might be even more casualties from the institution!

There was also a need to mention the fact that the other powers of the Azure Origin World and Azure Spiritual World had their eyes on the Manyu Continent at the moment. The Tongyou Institution seemed to be going against both sides from what they were doing and they were staking it all on their actions!

Other than the 2 Martial Dipper Realm ancestors who were waiting to pull them out in case things went south, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the core of the Tongyou Institution had gathered in the Manyu Continent!

“... However, of the 14 Martial Extermination Realm experts we sent, 4 are dead and 4 are injured.” 

Even with Chu Jia’s aloof personality, her expression darkened when she mentioned the institution’s loss.

Widening his eyes in shock, Shang Xia yelled, “What?! 4 of us died?!” 

Chu Jia nodded solemnly and explained, “That’s right. Of the 4, one of them was Instructor Gu Shou of the Inner Division. Lu Siyuan, Yun Shu, and Ji Wenbin were the others killed. Of them, only Mister Lu Siyuan was a second layer Martial Extermination Realm expert, the others are all in the first layer.” 

Shang Xia only knew Gu Shou of those who died, but it was enough for him to feel an ache in his heart.

Chu Jia continued, “Other than the 4 of them, there are 4 others who received heavy injuries. They’re Liu Zhidao of the Liu Clan, Chief Shang Lubing of the Contribution Division, Fang Kewei of the Beyond Heavens Pavilion, and your Grandpa Ke.”

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“How are my Grandpa Ke’s injuries?” Shang Xia asked immediately.

“His injuries aren’t the problem. However, he exhausted too much of his inner qi during the battle and his foundations were injured. I’m afraid he won’t be able to grow stronger in the future.” 

Grunting softly, a look of regret appeared on Shang Xia’s face. He regretted separating from Shang Ke back then. If the two of them remained together, Shang Ke definitely wouldn’t have suffered such serious injuries.

Of course, deep down, Shang Xia knew that Shang Ke had used up most of his potential when entering the Martial Extermination Realm. There wasn’t much hope of him progressing in the Martial Extermination Realm anyway, but hearing his state from Chu Jia caused him to be slightly depressed. After all, having little hope of progressing was completely different from having his foundations damaged. 

“Is there nothing we can do about it?” Shang Xia asked with reluctance.

To that, Chu Jia didn’t reply. She only shook her head silently.

If it was anyone else who suffered the same injuries, there might be a little hope for them. However, Shang Ke’s foundations weren’t strong in the first place! He was only able to enter the Martial Extermination Realm back then because of his luck. Now that he suffered greatly in the war, he could only hope to recover to whatever state he was in before.

Shang Xia fell silent for some time before finally speaking again. “Do we know who leaked out information to the members of the Manyu Continent?” 

“We are only sure that there are greater powers behind their actions and have been instigating them to target us.” Chu Jia replied.

She might as well have not said anything as anyone with half a brain would know that was the case.

“Have we passed the news of this back to the Beyond Heavens Pavilion? What did Patriarch Kou say?” Shang Xia wondered out loud.

“He said that our actions might have been revealed because of the events back in the Cloud Water Gorge. He said that you should know what happened.” Chu Jia told him what Kou Chongxue said while staring at him intently in order to gauge his reaction.

After some time, Shang Xia sighed softly, “Yeah… It’s because of the Abyssal Firmament Fate Dipper…” 

Chu Jia was no fool. She was a genius in her own right and that was how she managed to progress so far in the way of formations in the first place. She quickly connected the dots. “So… You obtained the Abyssal Firmament Fate Dipper and many people learned of it. Deputy Patriarch Shang also entered seclusion not too long after coming into the Manyu Continent and didn’t show his face often. Is that why they managed to guess that Deputy Patriarch Kou is planning to use the Abyssal Firmament Fate Dipper to enter the Martial Dipper Realm?”

Shang Xia nodded in response. “That is most likely the reason, but that’s not the whole explanation.” 

Shang Xia recalled the conversation he had with Kou Chongxue about the fusion of the worlds back in the Beyond Heavens Pavilion.

Shang Xia didn’t wait for Chu Jia to continue asking and he added, “In order to prevent my grandfather from entering the Martial Dipper Realm, those people behind the scenes came up with a plan to wear the experts from the Manyu Continent and our Tongyou Institution out by instigating a war. They wish to reduce our strength and prevent us from obtaining any benefits from the Manyu Continent. They also wish to use the chance to warn Patriarch Kou not to mess with them. Hmph, their intentions should probably be to kill multiple birds with one stone!” 

When he was done, Shang Xia fell back on his butt and remained lying on the fluffy cloud formed by his Auspicious Cloud Cape. His gaze turned a little hazy but countless thoughts flashed in his mind.

He might be thinking hard, but his image was completely different in Chu Jia's eyes. With an indifferent expression, she lashed out at him, “Are you really going to continue sleeping here?!” 

With a listless look in his eyes, Shang Xia responded immediately, “What’s our current situation right now?” 

“The territory we’ve controlled for the past 2 years has been lost to the various powers that attacked us. If we don’t do anything, all we have left will be this tiny region of land!” Chu Jia explained.

Shang Xia didn’t move in the slightest and he muttered, “There’s no point in telling me this. You should report this to Deputy Patriarch Yun.” 

“But… But Deputy Patriarch Yun said that there’s no rush to counterattack! She said that we should only talk about taking back our territory after our experts recover.” Chu Jia lamented.

“She’s right.” Shang Xia sighed. 

“But… But after they recover, there won’t be much left in the Manyu Continent for us!” Chu Jia complained.

“So what?” The light returned to Shang Xia’s eyes and he growled, “Losing some land is better than us losing our Martial Extermination Realm experts! Moreover, who knows if those powers who came to occupy our land are prepared for us to launch an attack on them. We might fall into their trap if that happens.” 

Chu Jia frowned. “What if they’re not satisfied with what they have and come knocking on our doorsteps?” 

“Huh?” Shang Xia finally turned to stare at Chu Jia while waiting for her to continue.