Chapter 61

The entire colony of mutated swifts could be controlled by him. The value that Shang Xia demonstrated made Yun Yishu believe that there was no need for him to stay on Tongyou Peak and take risks with everyone else.

However, Shang Xia ultimately refused Yun Yishu's kindness.

Not to mention that walking alone in the Two Realms Battle Zone might not be any safer than staying on Tongyou Peak. Even if he could find the traces of Liu Jitang and others, they might not return in time.

Worse still, finding Liu Jitang might even be more dangerous.

At this point, although the tension on Tongyou Peak had not been openly revealed, even Shang Xia himself could guess that Liu Jitang must have gone to excavate the ruins of the Zhu family.

Yun Yishu had only made a suggestion. Seeing that Shang Xia was unwilling, she smiled and did not insist.

However, Shang Xia thought to himself that finding Liu Jitang's traces did not necessarily require him to go personally.

Previously, with Ji Wenlong's permission, Shang Xia had brought Yan Ni'er directly to Tongyou Peak.

Because of Yan Ni'er's special nature, Ji Wenlong allowed her to enter and exit the protective array of Tongyou Peak freely, but she could not fly in and out on her own; Shang Xia had to personally escort her.

The immediate priority was to use the thunderbird to control the mutated swifts and monitor the movements of the Four Spirits Mountain.

Once the enemy launched a large-scale attack, Tongyou Peak would at least be able to get an early warning of their movements.

Since Shang Ke had to stay to discuss the defense of Tongyou Peak with Ji Wenlong and others, Shang Xia, seeing that there was nothing for him to do, bid farewell and left.

Leaving the patrol hall, Shang Xia prepared to return to the Shang Building to practice.

Although the Four Spirits Mountain might launch a large-scale attack at any time, it was still good to make some last-minute preparations.

However, as he walked on the road of Tongyou Peak, Shang Xia suddenly noticed that the usually quiet streets were much busier today.

It was clear that the tense atmosphere on Tongyou Peak had made many people realize that a major battle was imminent.

Everyone was preparing for it.

"Senior Brother Shang, Senior Brother Shang..."

Hearing someone calling him, Shang Xia turned to look in the direction of the voice and saw Jiao Haitang and Huang Zihua coming together.

Shang Xia stopped to wait for the two to come over, then looked at Jiao Haitang and smiled, "It looks like you've advanced successfully, congratulations!"

Jiao Haitang said, "If it weren't for Senior Brother Shang's help, I wouldn't know when I could gather the extraordinary materials needed for advancement. Although my luck wasn't very good this time, at least I have some self-preservation power before the battle."

Shang Xia nodded and looked at Huang Zihua, "How about the others?"

Huang Zihua said, "Thirteen people, three have not yet gathered the extraordinary materials, and one failed to advance."

Tongyou Peak had special chambers built for martial artists to advance, where they could take the advancement potion.

Unlike in the valley, where to prevent interference, five people had to stay far apart before taking the advancement potion.

Shang Xia was initially stunned, then said, "Failure is not scary; there will be more opportunities to advance in the future. The key is not to lose confidence."

Huang Zihua smiled, "Liang Shuai is a bit depressed, but his mindset is still good. In fact, in our C House, ten people took the advancement potion, and nine advanced. Both the number and the success rate have made the students of other houses envious."

Shang Xia also smiled, "Indeed! With this experience, Liang Shuai will likely advance to the Wu Yuan realm next time without a doubt."

At this moment, Jiao Haitang couldn't help but ask, "Senior Brother Shang, do you know what's really going on? Now, the students of all the houses on Tongyou Peak are like headless flies, trying to gather information, but no one is paying attention to us. It feels like we've been completely abandoned."

Shang Xia was puzzled, "How could that be? The instructors and tutors of the outer dormitories came to the Two Realms Battle Zone, didn't they? Don't they manage things?"

Huang Zihua added, "Senior Brother, you don't know. Our C House arrived the latest. When we reached Tongyou Peak, all the instructors and tutors who came here were called by the outer dormitory tutor Peng Lanqing and haven't returned yet."

Shang Xia immediately realized that Peng Lanqing had probably left with Liu Jitang.

Jiao Haitang continued, "The students of our C House are still okay, at least we have Senior Brother Shang as our mainstay. Most of the classmates who advanced to the Wu Yuan realm are busy practicing to stabilize their cultivation. The others who haven't advanced yet have clear goals. The students of other houses, on the other hand, don't have our luck or the channels that Senior Brother Shang has. Most of them can't even gather the silver coins for a single extraordinary material, like children without a mother."

Shang Xia nodded, but he was powerless to help.

He wanted to help, but the Shang family wasn't a charity, and his personal capabilities were limited.

Huang Zihua, however, said with a hint of pride, "Senior Brother, you don't know. Our C House is now envied and hated by all the other outer dormitories. When we walk down the street, we feel especially proud."

Jiao Haitang, disliking his overly proud attitude, pushed him and said to Shang Xia, "Recently, many classmates from other outer dormitories have tried to contact you through us, but we have all refused. We know that the prices of extraordinary materials on Tongyou Peak have risen sharply in recent days, and the Shang family has already helped us gather so many materials. We can't be ungrateful and cause more trouble for Senior Brother."

Shang Xia smiled, "We are all classmates, and helping each other is only right. Besides, this training is entrusted by Tutor Sun, and I consider myself half a tutor."

After that, the three of them laughed.

After a few more words, Jiao Haitang, being observant, noticed that Shang Xia seemed to have something to do and said, "There's one more thing, Senior Brother. The Examination Office and the Security Office didn't ask about the source of our extraordinary materials, but they sent people to specifically warn us not to tell anyone about our capture. Is there something hidden behind this?"

Shang Xia thought for a moment and smiled, "There's no problem, just do as they say."

Jiao Haitang nodded without speaking, but her expression showed that she was deep in thought.

Shang Xia suddenly thought of something and reminded them, "By the way, after you advance to the Wu Yuan realm, you might want to visit the Sutra Cave. Although the inheritance there is not as complete as in the college's Sutra Hall, you have just advanced successfully, and this is the time when your cultivation can improve rapidly. Don't miss this opportunity."

After parting ways with the two, Shang Xia hurried back to the Shang Building.

Huang Zihua saw that Jiao Haitang was still standing there and waved his hand in front of her, "Let's go, what are you thinking about?"

Jiao Haitang pondered, "I'm thinking about the warning from the Security Office and the Examination Office."

Huang Zihua was puzzled, "What's the problem? Didn't Senior Brother Shang say to do as they said?"

Jiao Haitang rolled her eyes, "It's not that there's no problem, but we're not yet qualified to make those problems real issues!"

Huang Zihua laughed, "I don't understand!"

Jiao Haitang was frustrated.

Shang Xia had just returned to the Shang Building when he was taken to the rooftop pavilion by Shang Quan and met a completely unexpected person.

"Aunt, why are you here?"

Shang Xia almost shouted when he saw the person in front of him, but realizing it was inappropriate, he quickly lowered his voice and said, "What are you doing here at this time? Shouldn't you be overseeing the family?"

Although Shang Xia's tone was a bit confrontational, his concern was genuine.

Shang Xi giggled, "You little rascal still has a conscience. Since that's the case, I'll forgive you for speaking to me like this."

Shang Xia scratched the back of his head awkwardly, suddenly realizing that his aunt's visit to Tongyou Peak was probably not simple. Remembering that Shang Quan had brought him here without a word, he asked, "Aunt, did you come secretly? Who else came with you?"

Looking at Shang Quan, Shang Xi smiled and asked, "How did you know there were others?"

Shang Xia said, "If I'm not mistaken, this time, besides the Liu family, the other three families must have sent many experts secretly, probably to deal with the spies of the Rose Society on Tongyou Peak."

Shang Xi smiled, "You know a lot!"

Tongyou College, with its open doors, was the first choice for the Rose Society to send spies.

In comparison, the core martial artists of the four major families of Tongyou City, due to their blood ties and mutual感应, were less likely to be infiltrated by external enemies.

Upon learning that the Rose Society would sabotage the mountain protection array of Tongyou Peak during the attack by the Four Spirits Mountain, Tongyou Peak, unable to identify the spies of the Rose Society, could only ask the college to secretly send core martial artists from the families to assist.

Unfortunately, the current situation of the Liu family was unclear, and most of the high-level fighters had left with Liu Jitang. Therefore, the experts secretly coming to Tongyou Peak now were only from the other three families.

However, Shang Xia thought even more.

Given that the news of Kou Chongxue's severe injury had leaked and Tongyou City had declared a state of emergency, the college still dared to secretly send experts to the Two Realms Battle Zone to reinforce, indicating that the college had already recognized Tongyou Peak's judgment: the Rose Society, having opened another channel to enter the Two Realms Battle Zone, would not abandon this advantage to attack Tongyou City, which had been operated by the Tongyou College and the four major families for twenty years.

Of course, Shang Xia and others had further confirmed from the old lady of the Fengyan tribe that the Rose Society would cooperate with them.

However, the Rose Society was more interested in the ruins of the Zhu family in the Two Realms Battle Zone, not in cooperating with the Four Spirits Mountain to attack and break through Tongyou Peak.

But this news probably hadn't been relayed back to Tongyou College yet.

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