Shang Xia originally thought that the other party was using some sort of concealment art to hide themselves. However, he realized that he was wrong after sundering the void before him with his Abyssal Blade. He discovered that the newcomer was physically hiding in the void!

Without any external assistance, being able to travel through the void with their bodies alone was something only Martial Dipper Realm experts were supposed to be able to do.

However, due to the destruction of the Manyu Continent, there couldn’t be any Martial Dipper Realm experts present. 

There had to be one other possibility and that was that the person before Shang Xia had utilized a treasure like the Abyssal Void Shattering Talisman beforehand or something like that to be able to enter the void for a short period of time.

Whatever the case, their ability to enter and stay in the void already spoke volumes about their cultivation and strength. What was more important was the fact that the newcomer definitely wasn’t an aboriginal cultivator from the Manyu Continent. No aboriginal cultivator would possess precious treasures like that.

Moreover, there was no reason for the experts of the holy lands or other factions of the Azure Origin World and Azure Spiritual World to take the risk of doing a solo infiltration into the Tongyou Island. 

Unless the person who arrived was a death warrior who was planning to sacrifice themselves to damage the Tongyou Island, there was no point for any of them to send an expert over. They could easily wait for the fusion of the worlds before sending another spy over to the Tongyou Institution, ensuring the largest possibility of success.

Since there were so many reasons to say that the person who arrived wasn’t from the Manyu Continent, Azure Origin World, or Azure Spiritual World, there could only be one other explanation. The person who came was most likely from the Spirit Abundance World!

As the Spirit Abundance World ranked above Azure Worlds in the hierarchy, they were the ones with enough reason to send someone to enter the various islands controlled by the many factions of the Azure Origin World and Azure Spiritual World. It was also very possible they would have means to avoid detection by the Martial Dipper Realm Ancestors on the way back.

Everything flashed through his mind instantly and after understanding the situation, Shang Xia felt lucky that he detected it in time. Also, it was pretty coincidental that the person who chose to hide in the Tongyou Island chose the region he was protecting.

If that wasn’t the case…

Shang Xia felt a chill running through his heart before staring at the sorry figure who had been forced out of the void by his Abyssal Blade. Killing intent filled his mind as he thought of the many repercussions that might happen if the spy was allowed to enter the Azure Origin World through their Tongyou Island. 

“Are you from the Spirit Abundance World?” Shang Xia growled. Even though he already deduced the other party’s identity, he wanted to see if he could get any more information from the other party.

However, the person who came was clearly a shrewd cultivator who experienced a lot of things and he sneered coldly in response to Shang Xia’s question. He might be frightened by Shang Xia’s strength, but he remained silent.

Understanding that he wouldn’t be able to get any information out of the intruder, Shang Xia didn’t dare to be careless. He raised his Abyssal Blade and unleashed his exquisite blade art against his enemy.

Because it was a new blade art he had been developing, he didn’t seem to have full control over his strength. The moment he used it, extermination qi started to leak everywhere, causing the power contained in the attack to drop sharply.

“Hehe!” A soft laughter left the intruder’s lips and a ray of light emerged from his sleeves. Shang Xia could see that the person before him had already fused his extermination origins and reached the large completion stage of the Martial Extermination Realm. 

The Spirit Abundance World sure has a lot of experts who reached the large completion stage of the Martial Extermination Realm…

The thought appeared in Shang Xia’s mind uncontrollably. The next moment, a loud clang rang through the air.

Sparks flew as his Abyssal Blade was nearly flung out from his hands by the impact.

The expression of the expert from the Spirit Abundance World changed drastically. His plan was to infiltrate and hide in the depths of the Tongyou Island. He didn’t think he would be stopped right at the border. Moreover… 

A terrifying thought appeared in his mind when he clashed with Shang Xia’s blade strike earlier. His blade strike already possesses such power even though it’s incomplete… 

Examining Shang Xia again, a light flashed in his eyes and he realized the problem. “That’s a divine weapon! So that’s why…” 

He felt that Shang Xia was merely relying on the power of a divine weapon to stop him. 

Even though he was stopped earlier by Shang Xia’s strike, his battle intent started to rise after noticing the weapon. A trace of greed appeared in his gaze.

“A mere lowly cultivator from a lower world dares to hold on to a divine weapon?!” The cultivator sneered and the ray of light that clashed with Shang Xia’s Abyssal Blade turned into a chain of ice. With a flick of his wrist, the cultivator entered the void again, leaving behind some crashing sounds.

Shang Xia’s expression twisted as he slashed the void open again. Unfortunately, he still didn’t seem in control of his blade art as 30 percent of its power leaked away.

The void exploded suddenly as the ice chain smashed ruthlessly into the Abyssal Blade.

The resulting soundwave slammed into their divine perception and Shang Xia held the trembling Abyssal Blade in his hand. He forcefully managed to stop the other party’s offensive.

With the battle dragging on, the cultivator from the Spirit Abundance World felt his expression sinking by the second. He needed to get rid of the person stopping him as soon as he could and obtain the damaged divine weapon. Otherwise, the disturbance they were causing would definitely draw over reinforcements. 

He might be a cultivator from a higher ranked world and had an advantage in terms of techniques and cultivation against ordinary cultivators from lower worlds, but he knew that he could defeat someone like Shang Xia quickly.

Whipping his ice chain around, he drew a wonderful arc in the skies as the chain went straight for Shang Xia’s wrists.

Obviously, Shang Xia wouldn’t let the man do as he wished. Cutting down, it slammed into the chain. However, this time, it was even weaker than before. It might be due to his repeated use of the same technique, or the lack of inner qi, but the dissipation of energy got worse. 

“What a pity the person using the blade isn’t suited for it!” The cultivator from the Spirit Abundance World grumbled in his heart and pointed into another spot in the void as his extermination origin emerged. It transformed into 4 silvery strands before turning into ice awls that shot at Shang Xia.

In a panic, Shang Xia’s blade art became extremely messy. The ice awls tore through space and arrived before him. Pulling out the Hundred Gold Sword with his left hand, he accurately struck 3 of them before allowing the final one to strike the protection barrier his extermination origins formed around him. It was eventually stopped, but his actions seemed to have been anticipated by his enemy. Another 4 ice awls shot at Shang Xia with a single gesture but this time, his fingers danced about in mid air as they controlled his weapons. Those ice awls fused to form a single beam of light that shot at Shang Xia.

The next moment, the cultivator from the Spirit Abundance World felt his divine perception trembling slightly and the frosty light in his hand shifted as he pressed his palm into the void on his left.

A pale Shang Xia was forced to reveal himself and it was struck directly by the frosty light. Turning into a frozen statue, it didn’t take long before the statue split apart to reveal remnants of a paper talisman.

In the short time it appeared, the pale ‘Shang Xia’ that appeared managed to toss out the jade battleaxe in his hand at his opponent.

“Paper Figure Talisman?!” The cultivator of the Spirit Abundance World screamed as he stared at the battleaxe that was cleaving down mercilessly at him. “Ningzhi Battleaxe! You… You killed Su Jinyuan!” 

Forming a seal with his left hand, he easily sent the battleaxe flying. However, a sense of unease quickly filled his heart.

“If he managed to kill Su Jinyuan…” 

When he came to his conclusion, Shang Xia’s Abyssal Blade seemed to miss its target as the ice chain wrapped itself around his wrist.

Not thinking too much about it, the cultivator from the Spirit Abundance World tugged at his ice chain seeing that it had connected.

He felt that even if he couldn’t force the weapon out of Shang Xia’s hand, he would be able to partially cripple his opponent.

However, his worst fears were realized when he raised his head only to be greeted by a mocking smile on Shang Xia’s face.

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“Oh no!” 

The cultivator from the Spirit Abundance World might not know the reason, but he felt his heart sinking the moment he saw Shang Xia’s expression. Moreover, he discovered that Shang Xia wasn’t moving when he pulled on his ice chain earlier.

Shang Xia released his grip on the Abyssal Blade, but the ice chain failed to take it away. That was because Shang Xia had twisted his wrist to grasp the chain firmly in his hands.

Without Shang Xia holding onto the Abyssal Blade, it started to rise slowly into the air before pointing at the cultivator of the Spirit Abundance World. Shang Xia was using his newly acquired Object Controlling Art on the blade. 

With the blade hovering in mid air, Shang Xia didn’t control it to strike at his enemy immediately. Instead, he glanced at his palm that had been cut open by the sharp ice shards on the chain. His blood flowed down the chain but was quickly frozen solid by the icy qi coming from it.

The cultivator from the Spirit Abundance World finally discovered what was wrong. His Quadruple Frost Extermination Origins was not only unable to freeze his opponent, his extermination qi that entered his opponent’s body from the wounds were wiped out completely!

The cultivator roused his extermination origins again as he wanted to pull his chain away from Shang Xia’s grasp, but he was interrupted by a deep growl from Shang Xia. “Explode!” 

Countless fluctuations appeared in the space around him and they started to sprout like germinating seeds. However, they grew rapidly and turned into rays of blade light that formed a web. Closing in rapidly, it was clear the blade light would cut him up into countless pieces if they landed.

That was Shang Xia’s next move in the series of his Twenty Four Solar Terms, Harvesting Light.