Splitting the Heave

Due to Liu Jitang’s sudden departure and the change in the situation, Ji Wenlong only brought along Yuan Zhen, one of the heads of the Protective Division.

He was also the one analyzing the situation on the Tongyou Peak at the moment.

“As such, I am extremely unsure if we can succeed in protecting the Tongyou Peak!” Yuan Zhen shook his head while forcing a smile. “Of course, this is just my view on the matter. Feel free to bring up your thoughts.” 

“So what do you propose?” Shang Ke asked all of a sudden.

Sucking in a cold breath, Yuan Zhen’s voice sank. “We give up on the Tongyou Peak and return to protect the city. We’ll fight out way back in the future!” 

“Absolutely not!” Yuan Zilu roared while disregarding his injury. “Even though this is a serious matter, it’s not completely hopeless. Deputy Patriarch Liu might come back at any time and our defenses will increase significantly. With the protection formation, we can defend ourselves against the Four Spiritual Peak!” 

Yuan Zhen sighed, “Brother Yuan, you’ve been resting all this while and you have no idea what we’ve been doing. Deputy Patriarch Ji brought us out to fight experts outside the Tongyou Peak the past few days in order to restrain the experts of the Four Spiritual Peak. Our plan was also to raise such a huge commotion to catch Deputy Patriarch Liu’s attention. We sent out multiple squads to look for him, but we received nothing in return.” 

Yuan Zilu sighed softly, “The Tongyou Peak was built using twenty years of hard work! So many fellow disciples have left their lives here…” 

Yuan Zhen shook his head in response, “Of course I know that… But…” 

Everyone looked at Ji Wenlong, waiting for the final decision.

A low voice left Ji Wenlong’s mouth. “We cannot give up on the Tongyou Peak so easily.” 

Shang Ke nodded. “Forsaking the Tongyou Peak would mean that we would give up on the battlefield between two worlds. We would fall into a passive state for the foreseeable future.”

As a member of the Ji Family, Ji Min wouldn’t go against Ji Wenlong. He declared solemnly, “We can only choose to battle to the death!” 

Yun Yishu, a member of the Yun Family, proclaimed, “My Yun Family will follow everyone into battle!” 

Since three of the four great clans had already spoken, there was no longer anything else to say.

Seeing as the outcome had been decided, Yuan Zhen continued, “Since that’s the case, we’ll have to make preparations to fight to the death. Let’s hope Deputy Patriarch Liu will be able to return in time!” 

As soon as the words left his lips, a question that remained on everyone’s mind rang through the air. “Why did Deputy Patriarch Liu leave the Tongyou Peak anyway?” 

Deacon Zhao Yang’s question was like a bucket of cold water that rained over their heads.

A mocking smile appeared on Zhao Yang’s face. “Wait… Am I the only one who doesn’t know?” 

Li Zengyu looked at him and opened his mouth, but he eventually swallowed his words.

Shang Xia wanted to pipe in, but a thought flashed through his head. Could he be looking for traces of the Zhu Family?!

From the looks of their faces, it seemed that many of them knew.

Only experts like Zhao Yang who would mind their own business most of the time would be kept in the dark.

Ji Wenlong was evidently not planning to go deeper into the topic. He looked at the person sitting on his right who hadn’t spoken a word since the start and he spoke respectfully, “I wonder how Brother Shang views the matter?” 

He wasn’t from the Shang Family and he was the head of the Contribution Division. He was called Shang Bing, and he was from the same generation as Ji Wenlong and Shang Ke. Ever since he entered the hall, he hadn’t said a word as though nothing was related to him.

Hearing Ji Wenlong’s question, Shang Bing slowly opened his eyes and a sharp light flashed through them. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while and I thought of a problem.” 

After pausing the second, he pointed at Shang Xia and said, “From what he said, the Rose Party not only revealed the fact that Patriarch Kou was injured. They seem to be trying to form an alliance with the Four Spiritual Peak. If they only plan on revealing the information, they would be able to do it with any single spy. However, they revealed themselves to the Four Spiritual Peak. In order to coordinate their actions, the upper echelons of both sides would have to meet.” 

“There’s the problem. Where and when will they meet?” Shang Bing’s words cleared their minds instantly. Yun Yishu slapped his thighs and yelled, “That’s right! If the two of them want to meet, the Rose Party will have to enter the battlefield between two worlds! Otherwise, the experts of the Azure Spiritual World would have to enter our Azure Origin World!” 

“Those who can participate in the meeting have to be in the Fourth Order of the Primary Realm. It’s not possible for experts like that to avoid detection when entering or leaving the battlefield between two worlds…” Yun Yishu’s voice became smaller and smaller as he spoke. Eventually, he didn’t dare to continue.

From what he was implying, the Tongyou Institution definitely had a traitor in their midst! He could even be implying that Liu Jitang, who had left the Tongyou Peak, was part of the Evil Remnants! 

Ji Wenlong broke the silence eventually. His voice was steady and the words that came out of his mouth next were unquestionable. “Liu Jitang is no traitor.” 

Even though his words disproved everything that they were talking about earlier, everyone heaved a sigh of relief.

Shang Bing had long since expected Ji Wenlong to say that and he nodded slowly. “Alright, it doesn’t matter whose side we’re talking about. No Martial Extermination Realm expert would be able to meet under our noses. That rules out the Tongyou Institution and the area we control. There’s only a single possibility left.” 

Shang Bing looked at the important figures of the Tongyou Institution and spat, “Another passage between our Azure Origin World and the battlefield opened up and we have no idea where it is.” 

“That’s impossible!” Li Zengyu was the first to oppose him. “If a second connection appeared, there would definitely be a sign in the You Continent! Our Outreach Division would have caught wind of it!” 

Shang Bing looked at Li Zengyu and muttered, “What if it’s just a passage that allows one to enter but not leave?” 

Before Li Zengyu could respond, Shang Bing explained, “If that were to happen, the sign would only appear in the battlefield between two worlds! It might even bring about a small-scale Origin Tide!” 

Shang Xia’s face changed and he stared at Shang Bing.

“No one would be able to discover any abnormality unless they are close to it. Since Liu Jitang’s departure, our strength has greatly reduced. Our control over our territory weakened and we might have missed it.” 

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Tang Yuan, who hadn’t said a word since the appearance of the higher ups, couldn’t help but speak. “Even though this is extremely reasonable, the existence of a passage is questionable. The Rose Party doesn’t have the ability to create a passage of their own. Otherwise, why wouldn’t they try in the past twenty years?”  

Shang Bing looked at Ji Wenlong and fell silent.

Ji Wenlong seemed to be thinking carefully about his next words. However, a saw a tiny arm shooting into the skies all of a sudden. 

Ji Wenlong wasn’t the only one who was surprised. Everyone in the hall turned to look at him.

Shang Xia lowered his hand and sighed, “It really is possible for such a passage to appear.” 

Silence descended on the lands.

“Ridiculous!” Shang Ke slapped the table by his side and yelled in apparent anger, “Brat, why did you keep something so serious from us?! Spit it all out!” 

Shang Xia wanted to cry out in indignation. How was he to know that the Origin Tide was a serious event?!

He didn’t hesitate as he told them about the Origin Tide he experienced.

Of course, he casually left out the part where he broke through.

He didn't think that someone would actually make a conjecture based on his story. Shang Bing sighed, “Looks like my guesses were true…” 

Yuan Zilu added, “From the looks of it, the appearance of the Wind Swallow Race had something to do with the Rose Party!” 

Tang Yuan didn’t expect the proof to come so quickly.

When he thought about how many times he was questioned and accused by the Contribution Division because of the raid, Tang Yuan’s impression on Shang Bing fell again.

However, he had to say something now that they proved him wrong. “If that’s the case, the actions of those from the Wind Swallow Race make sense. They didn’t leave even after robbing us. Could they be there to welcome the members of the Rose Party?” 

Shang Xia coughed lightly, “The reason they chose to stay was to attract your attention. Also, they were waiting for someone with a pure bloodline to return to their side…”