Chapter 35

To be honest, Shang Xia had only approached the situation with a trial mindset.

He had even prepared himself to waste half of the Thunder Essence and completely break ties with the Thunderbird.

However, it seemed that there was hope. He had underestimated the Thunderbird's intelligence, as well as its desire and determination to advance.

After sensing the disappearance of the strange elemental energy that had prevented it from drawing power, the Thunderbird quickly took flight but did not leave. Instead, it circled above Shang Xia's head.

Realizing that Shang Xia would not easily hand over the remaining half of the Thunder Essence, the Thunderbird let out a few shrill, piercing cries as if to vent its frustration, then shot into the sky as a silver streak.

I hope we can find the others soon!

On the day the convoy was attacked, although Shang Xia followed the orders of Attendant Yuan and left with the mutated rain swallows, he did not know what happened afterward.

However, from the few traces left at the scene, it seemed that the seven-colored cloud-piercing smoke had not brought the rescue from the College Guard. At least, the patrol riders did not arrive in time.

Otherwise, some items that Shang Xia found would not have been left behind, such as the two or three silver coins and a dozen copper coins scattered among the debris.

On that day, the female warrior Yan Ming had tried to exchange a pair of low-grade weapons and fifty silver coins for the mutated rain swallows from Shang Xia.

Although Shang Xia had refused her offer outright, even with an attitude that suggested she was treating him like a beggar, fifty silver coins were actually quite valuable in the Mystic Peak.

Most of the Martial Extreme Realm cultivators on Mystic Peak might not have that much silver on them.

Ordinary Extraordinary Realm cultivators would be lucky to have three to five silver coins, and they usually used copper coins made primarily of wind-polished copper.

Moreover, among the debris were items that the sixteen students from Dormitory C, who had not yet advanced to the Extraordinary Realm, had deliberately buried in the ground.

Shang Xia knew that if his sixteen classmates had not been killed, they might not have traveled far, given their speed as unadvanced cultivators.

With dozens of supply carts attacked, sixteen quasi-internal students missing, and an unknown number of College Guard cultivators dead or injured, Mystic Peak, even if it was slow to react, should be in chaos by now.

If the kidnapped students had been rescued, they would definitely return to retrieve the items buried underground.

The reason was simple: among these items were low-grade extraordinary materials, which the sixteen classmates had accumulated for their advancement to the Martial Essence Realm. They would not abandon them.

I hope nothing major has happened on Mystic Peak!

Shang Xia muttered to himself, but he did not have much confidence.

From the moment the Wind Swallow Tribe managed to penetrate deep into Mystic Peak and dared to attack the supply convoy, Shang Xia had already realized that something was wrong on Mystic Peak.

At this point, even if Shang Xia was anxious, it would be of no use. He could not match the efficiency of the Thunderbird and the entire mutated rain swallow flock, so he decided to stay calm and wait.

The only thing that could completely distract him at this moment was the四方碑 (Square Stele) standing in his soul's mind.

Although Shang Xia knew that he could not see or obtain anything useful from it.

As the biggest secret he brought from his homeland, Shang Xia had tried almost every method he could think of during this period.

However, the only two things that could trigger the Square Stele's function were:

One, when Shang Xia was cultivating martial arts, the Square Stele could deduce the optimal cultivation plan for him.

The other was when Shang Xia advanced to the Martial Extreme Realm, the Square Stele, based on a Martial Extreme Realm advancement formula, deduced the most suitable advancement formula for him, the Clear and Turbid Powder.

Perhaps due to the high cost, a large crack appeared on one side of the Square Stele.

Apart from these two times, the Square Stele had no other reactions.

This made Shang Xia feel frustrated.

Other transmigrators' golden fingers or systems often appeared frequently, even overshadowing the main character, making it seem like the main character's success was due to the system's power.

But in his case, the Square Stele stood there like a stick, and even a few hits wouldn't make it budge.

If there were a competition for the "least noticeable golden finger" or "laziest system," the Square Stele in his soul would definitely be on the list.

Not to mention the crack that ran from the top to the bottom of one side of the stele. Shang Xia knew that if he tried to activate the Square Stele's deduction ability again, the stele would likely crack even more.

Once all four sides of the stele were cracked, it would probably collapse.

What kind of golden finger system is this?

It's more like a "self-destruct system with a countdown"!

Shang Xia wanted to find a way to repair it, but he had no idea how.

Actually, during the eruption of the Origin Tide, Shang Xia had noticed that the Square Stele seemed a bit unusual.

At that time, Shang Xia resolutely turned and walked towards the depths of the Origin Tide.

Apart from the need to advance to the Martial Extreme Realm and the obstruction by Yan Ming, another reason was the anomaly of the Square Stele, which made Shang Xia think he might find a way to repair the crack.

But it turned out he was overthinking.

Under the surge of the Origin Tide, the Square Stele remained unmoved in his soul's mind.

There was no doubt that the Square Stele still held deeper secrets.

However, to truly uncover them, Shang Xia would need to achieve higher accomplishments in the Extraordinary Martial Arts.

"I hope the Square Stele doesn't collapse before then!"

A clear cry woke Shang Xia from his thoughts, and he noticed that the surroundings had changed.

The originally clear sky was now covered with thick clouds, but the air was filled with a hot, dry wind.

Shang Xia looked up and saw the Thunderbird and Yan Ni'er circling and chasing each other in the sky above his head.

Only then did Shang Xia notice that Yan Ni'er's speed had improved significantly.

Although it was still slightly inferior to the Thunderbird, if Yan Ni'er had this speed when the mutated rain swallows attacked the convoy, Shang Xia might not have been able to capture her.

It seemed that after several days of continuous "thunder baths," Yan Ni'er was undergoing some changes.

Could he actually cultivate a Thunderbird?

Shang Xia instinctively tried to calculate the possibility, but he quickly realized that the Thunderbird must have found the other students.

This bird, it was so engrossed in playing with its mate that it almost forgot the main task!

Shang Xia whistled loudly, attracting the attention of the two birds in the sky, and then waved his arm.

Yan Ni'er immediately left her mate and dove towards Shang Xia's shoulder, leaving the Thunderbird behind, which let out an unwilling cry.

There was no way around it; because he had only recently tamed Yan Ni'er, Shang Xia could only communicate with her in simple ways, mostly relying on her own intelligence.

Sure enough, as Yan Ni'er landed on his shoulder and called out to the Thunderbird, the Thunderbird turned and flew in a certain direction.

Shang Xia was still unsure, but at this point, he had no choice but to follow.

However, he soon discovered that every five to seven miles, a mutated rain swallow would be perched on a large tree or rock by the roadside, and after seeing Shang Xia catch up, it would fly away.

Clearly, these mutated rain swallows were left by the Thunderbird to guide the way.

This gave Shang Xia more hope of finding the other kidnapped students.

After about thirty to forty mutated rain swallows had relayed the way, nearly an hour had passed, and Shang Xia had traveled about 250 miles.

At this point, Shang Xia finally saw the Thunderbird circling in the sky not far away, and below it was a low hill.

Shang Xia did not rush into the hill to investigate but rested a bit outside to recover his elemental energy. He then circled the hill to check for any hidden sentries.

During this check, Shang Xia indeed found something.

Although he did not find any hidden sentries, he discovered a chaotic set of hoof prints and signs of a large-scale battle at the entrance of a not-so-obvious valley.

However, Shang Xia then found that the battle did not extend into the valley but went in another direction.

Shang Xia could roughly reconstruct what had happened: the College Guard patrol riders had discovered the traces of the Blue Spirit cultivators who attacked the convoy, and a battle ensued outside the hidden valley.

The Blue Spirit cultivators then retreated and broke through in another direction, with the patrol riders in pursuit.

Shang Xia stared at the entrance of the hidden valley, deep in thought.

Since the College Guard patrol riders had found this place, it made no sense for them not to check inside the valley, especially since rescuing the sixteen kidnapped students was more important than eliminating the Blue Spirit cultivators who had invaded the rear of Mystic Peak.

So, the hidden valley should not have anyone in it.

But the Thunderbird was indeed circling above the valley, indicating that the people he was looking for were inside.

Logically, Shang Xia should doubt the intelligence of a bird, but he had a gut feeling that the Thunderbird would not be wrong.

Unless...

Shang Xia did not enter the valley from the entrance but climbed up from the other side of the hill and slowly approached the top of the valley, using the rocks for cover.

When Shang Xia looked down from the ridge, he saw a group of teenagers, their hands bound, sitting in a circle with their backs to each other in the center of the valley.

——

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