Splitting the Heave

Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

…

“... Zhang Wei actually thought that the cultivators of the Azure Spiritual World would allow him to leave. The moment he turned his back, Huang Que smashed his skull.” Jiao Haitang recounted the events that happened back then.

After collecting the treasures, Shang Xia decided to gain a clearer picture of what happened after he left the other day.

“How naive could he be to believe that the cultivators of the Azure Spiritual World would let him go?” Shang Xia frowned.

“After we were ambushed, Zhang Wei’s sanity was on the verge of collapse. He told everyone that you abandoned us to make more time for your escape. Also that the institution wouldn’t care about outer disciples like us anyway.” Jiao Haitang continued.

Shang Xia sneered in response. “Humph. It’s one thing to be selfish when we run into danger. However, spreading lies like that to destroy our morale is unforgivable! He’s a burden to our convoy!”

“The cultivators of the Azure Spiritual World saw through his thoughts and lied to him that they would let us live as long as we told him your identity and the way you captured the Mutated Rain Swallow. They even told him that they would release him to inform the instructors of the Tongyou Institution about the negotiation. He told them everything after that.” Jiao Haitang sighed.

Huang Zihua added, “We pleaded with him not to talk, but we received a punch in the face from Huang Que in response. They dragged him away and made him talk.”

Jiao Haitang reminded Shang Xia hastily, “Senior Brother Shang, you have to be careful. Now that they know everything about you, they’ll definitely think of ways to counter your fighting style.”

Shang Xia’s expression turned serious for a second, but it soon returned to normal. “Whatever. We’ll leave it at that.” 

Waving his hand, he handed over some of the silver essence and copper boards along with several other treasures. “You helped in killing them earlier. Split these among yourselves.” 

Huang Zihua and Jiao Haitang tried to refuse his gift as all they did was to shoot a few arrows. Shang Xia saved their lives to begin with, and they didn’t think they were worthy of the reward.

However, Shang Xia didn’t plan to lug so many items with him. He insisted that the other disciples get a share of the spoils.

Seeing as they were unable to refuse the gift, everyone split the treasures up among themselves as joy filled their hearts.

Huang Zihua laughed, “Now that we have some money, we might be able to exchange for some herbs to break through to the Martial Realm when we reach the Tongyou Peak.”

The battlefield between two worlds contained a lot of treasures. As the Tongyou Peak was affiliated to the Tongyou Institution, they would be able to obtain treasures for a little cheaper than the market rate there.

Shang Xia chuckled in response when he heard what they said. “What herbs do you require? You might not have to go all the way to the Tongyou Peak to buy them.”

Huang Zihua and Jiao Haitang looked at Shang Xia in shock. Getting to his feet, he looked at the various disciples around him. “Everyone, we have to leave. But first, how likely do you think it will be for us to arrive at the Tongyou Peak unscathed?” 

The fighting spirit in their eyes died instantly.

They knew the risks, but they had been ignoring it all this while.

Shang Xia continued, “What do you think our chances will be if a few of you broke through to the Martial Realm?” 

“How is that possible?!” Someone asked.

However, someone who was a little brighter felt his eyes lighting up as he looked at Shang Xia in shock.

“Senior Brother Shang, are you suggesting that we use the resources in the carriages?” Someone quickly suggested.

Shang Xia recognized that the disciple who spoke was called Wang Hua, and he nodded. “That’s right.” 

Many people rejoiced silently. However, there were looks of hesitation on their faces.

“Senior Brother Shang, we need to think this through. The resources are used to reinforce the Tongyou Peak. We do not have permission to use them!” Jiao Haitang reminded him.

Huang Zihua was extremely tempted, but his sense of reasoning stopped him from agreeing with Shang Xia completely. He sighed, “We might be able to use the resources for ourselves, but the list of treasures in the convoy has already arrived at the Tongyou Peak. Instructor Yuan Zilu should also possess a complete inventory list of the items. The moment they conduct a proper search, they’ll discover that we had something to do with it! After all, several people entering the Martial Realm at once is suspicious in itself.”

Shang Xia knew that the two of them were reminding him out of goodwill, but he had his reasons for the suggestion. Sighing softly, he explained, “We won’t be able to retrieve the carriages now that the valley is blocked. The moment the cultivators of the Azure Spiritual World return, all the resources will fall into their hands. When that happens, they’ll be the ones who benefit from our resources!”

Shang Xia’s explanation caused all of them to look at each other quietly.

In fact, Shang Xia never planned to retrieve the six carriages! They were pulled by the Scarlet Wind Horses, but they were basically asking to be targeted if they did that! 

The moment they were attacked by anyone, Shang Xia wouldn’t be able to protect any of them! He couldn’t even ensure the safety of the outer disciples as it was. How was he supposed to protect six more carriages?!

“When the institution carries out their investigation…” Wang Hua might be moved, but they were all too afraid of the repercussions. In fact, Wang Hua had his eyes on the resources a long time ago! 

“I’ll take responsibility.” Shang Xia hit the final nail in the coffin. 

“No, no, no… We’ll take the responsibility together!” Wang Hua added.

“Yes! We’ll all be responsible for this!” Huang Zihua and Jiao Haitang commented from the side. Seeing as a few of their fellow disciples had already agreed, the others quickly agreed.

Looks of anticipation could be seen on their faces. Shang Xia smiled and said, “Alright, we’re doing this in order to survive. Look for the resources suitable for yourselves. As for the others…” 

The footsteps of those who were already racing back into the valley paused.

Even though there was no one to stop them from taking as much as they could, Shang Xia’s words seemed to remind them of something. The greed in their hearts quickly disappeared. 

Chuckling in amusement, Shang Xia continued, “If you’re not afraid that bringing more treasures will affect your journey towards the Tongyou Peak, feel free to take as many as you want. The enemy will probably grab whatever we leave here and it’s better for the treasures to remain with us. However, let me remind you once again. If you affect our journey to the Tongyou Peak because of your greed now, no one will save you when danger comes.” 

Shang Xia swept his gaze across those present and gave a proper warning. “No matter how precious those treasures are, you need to be alive to use them.”

Since he gave them the reminder, he didn’t mind giving another piece of advice. “As long as you refine the herbs, the institution won’t be able to take it back. After all, we had to use them to ensure our survival. As for the other treasures that you might find… you might not be lucky enough to keep it.”

His words caused them to become a lot more obedient when looking through the carriage.

A mischievous glint flashed in Shang Xia’s eyes all of a sudden. “Of course, the more you take, the better it will be for us. It’s better for us to get the good stuff. We shouldn’t leave it for the members of the Azure Spiritual World. Take as much as you can and live!” 

His continued ‘reminders’ caused waves to batter against their hearts. Wang Hua raised his head that was covered in sweat and sighed, “Senior Brother Shang, you made your point clear… Can you stop scaring the rest of us?” 

Laughing in response, Shang Xia no longer spoke. He followed behind them to look for useful treasures.

Soon, a new problem arrived.

“What?! Only eight of you have a way to break through?” Shang Xia snapped.

A bitter smile appeared on Jiao Haitang’s face. “The others barely reached the requirement. The institution was unable to provide a suitable method in time…” 

Actually, the number of disciples who could break through immediately was already a respectable amount.

There were fifty disciples in their third outer division, and other than the anomaly that was Shang Xia, four other cultivators had already broken through to the Martial Realm. Two of them were retainees, and the other two were like Shang Xia. They entered the Martial Realm in their first year.

However, all of them entered the battlefield before the convoy and took their own paths to the Tongyou Peak.

With the sixteen outer disciples who followed the convoy, there were twenty one students in the third outer division who would be promoted to an inner disciple this time. It had long since broken through the institution’s initial estimate. 

“You should have a rough sense of how to break through, right? Try to follow in the footsteps of someone before you. Alright whatever, grab all the resources that aids in a breakthrough. Even if something happens, we’ll be able to switch out the herbs. The institution won’t be stingy enough to scold us for it since we did it to survive…” Shang Xia sighed.

He only realized how delusional he was after he spoke. There might have been a lot of resources on the carriages, but the amount that could aid in a breakthrough was few and far between.

After all, the Tongyou Peak was filled with cultivators. They wouldn’t need to break through to the Martial Realm as the lowest requirement to be there was to be a cultivator at the Martial Realm. The carriages were filled mostly with weapons, food, and herbs for recovery.

The convoy going back to the Tongyou Institution would probably be the one that contained herbs used for breaking through…

Indeed, the disciples only managed to obtain several herbs from the carriages. There were only enough resources for five disciples to break through!

The other three that were on the verge of breaking through lacked several extremely important herbs, and there was no way to substitute them.

As for those who weren’t close to breaking through, they could only blame their luck.

Of course, they were able to obtain several precious herbs from the carriages. If they managed to keep their treasures after arriving at the Tongyou Peak, they would definitely be able to exchange them for treasures they needed.