Chapter 72

Shang Xia felt that the Fourth Heaven martial artist of the Four Spirit Mountain, who was chasing Liu Qinglan outside the great protective formation, was using that peculiar sword whistle to signal the Rose Society to take action.

If the Rose Society needed a suitable opportunity to act, then there was no doubt that now was their best chance.

The main reason Shang Xia rushed to the Mingxiu Peak and the iron chain suspension bridge, rather than to his own residence at the Pinxin Peak, was because his aunt, Shang Xi, was hiding in the shadows, waiting for the right moment.

However, before Shang Xia could reach the iron chain suspension bridge on Mingxiu Peak, a faint scream suddenly came from the distant Mingxiu Peak.

"Huh, what's going on?"

Shang Xia looked at the distant Mingxiu Peak with some suspicion, as if doubting his own senses.

At that moment, sword qi suddenly rose on the distant Mingxiu Peak, separated by a light mist, directly triggering the elemental energy of heaven and earth to form an anomaly. The intense elemental disturbance quickly spread to the surroundings.

Not good, martial will driving the elemental energy of heaven and earth, this is a martial artist of the Martial Realm in combat!

Could it be that the Rose Society has made their move?

Shang Xia's feet involuntarily used the Staggered Steps, doubling his speed as he rushed to the location where Tian Mengzi and Jin Guanchao were guarding.

From a distance, Shang Xia could already see Tian and Jin standing by the iron chain bridge, seemingly about to cross it to Mingxiu Peak to check the situation.

Shang Xia waved his arms at the two, about to shout to signal them to wait for him, when a sudden scene before his eyes made him widen his eyes in shock, leaving him speechless!

On the distant iron chain bridge, Tian and Jin had clearly also noticed the changes on Mingxiu Peak.

Just as Tian Mengzi said something to Jin Guanchao and turned to look at Mingxiu Peak, Jin Guanchao, standing behind him, suddenly pointed at his back!

"Ahh—"

Tian Mengzi, completely unprepared, screamed and fell to the ground.

Watching this scene unfold before his eyes, unable to stop it, Shang Xia was so shocked that he forgot to make a sound.

He had speculated in many ways about how the Rose Society would launch a surprise attack to cut the iron chain suspension bridge.

But he never imagined that the Rose Society member was right beside him!

Even more unimaginable, this person's first target upon revealing his true identity was his closest companion.

Tian Mengzi and Jin Guanchao, the outstanding students of the Tongyou Academy's Upper Dormitory, were known as "Jiao and Meng, inseparable."

Who would have thought that one day Jin Guanchao would betray Tian Mengzi?

Shang Xia clearly remembered that when the Jin Yun convoy was attacked by the Fengyan tribe on the Tongyou Road, Jin Guanchao and Tian Mengzi had rushed forward without hesitation to fight the martial cultivators, buying time for Shang Xia to escape.

Who would have thought that Jin Guanchao, a student cultivated by the Tongyou Academy for many years and a veteran of the Two Worlds War Zone, was actually a hidden agent of the Rose Society?

"Clang—"

The sound of metal clashing woke Shang Xia up, making him realize what Jin Guanchao was doing.

He was chopping the iron chains connecting the suspension bridge to Mingxiu Peak!

"Jin—Guan—Chao—"

Shang Xia almost shouted the name, pronouncing each syllable distinctly.

"Jin Guanchao, what have you done?"

Not only Shang Xia, but at this moment, a nearly hysterical scream also came from somewhere.

"There's someone else, this person is likely the hidden 'sparrow' waiting to hunt the Rose Society's hidden agent, but this 'sparrow' was probably just as shocked by the sudden turn of events as I was!"

Shang Xia almost instantly figured it out and recognized the voice.

Sun Haiwei, the instructor of the outer dormitory's C-wing where Shang Xia stayed!

It turned out to be her!

Thinking about the fact that his aunt, Shang Xi, was guarding the iron chain suspension bridge on Pinxin Peak, could it be that Instructor Sun had also advanced to the Martial Realm?

Shang Xia felt that his guess was very likely, after all, Instructor Sun had entrusted Shang Xia to take the C-wing students who had not yet advanced to the Martial Essence Realm into the Two Worlds War Zone for training due to an urgent matter, leading to a series of subsequent events.

While Shang Xia's thoughts raced, Sun Haiwei's figure had already transformed into a streak of light, rushing towards Jin Guanchao from dozens of feet away.

"Stop it!"

In Sun Haiwei's scream, two tungsten steel spikes flew out, one wrapped in orange flames, and the other covered in a thick layer of emerald green cold light.

Sun Haiwei's cultivation in the Extreme Path of Ice and Fire was evident, and she could wield both elements with great proficiency.

However, during this process, the two tungsten steel spikes did not draw the surrounding elemental energy of heaven and earth, which was usually a significant sign of martial will.

Could it be that Sun Haiwei had not advanced to the Martial Realm?

Meanwhile, as the two tungsten steel spikes flew, they left long trails behind them, resembling two intertwined fire and ice snakes, heading straight for Jin Guanchao's back as he chopped the iron chains.

However, facing the ice and fire snakes just inches away, Jin Guanchao seemed to ignore them, giving up the last chance to avoid them, and instead, he struck the iron chains again.

"Snap—, Rattle—"

One of the iron chains was finally severed, and a section of the broken chain fell down the cliff, but it was caught by the other two chains, swinging and occasionally hitting the cliff face of Tongyou Peak.

"Quick, get out of the way, you—"

Seeing that Jin Guanchao had no way to avoid the attack, Sun Haiwei, who had been shocked and angry, instinctively shouted a warning, and her expression turned panicked.

Just as Sun Haiwei finished speaking, Jin Guanchao suddenly turned around, both fists striking the ice and fire snakes.

Instantly, Jin Guanchao's figure seemed to grow exceptionally tall, and the elemental energy of heaven and earth gathered around him.

The ice and fire snakes exploded instantly, the opposing elemental energies intensifying the explosion's power, and a massive burst of elemental light bloomed beside the iron chain bridge.

Even with the array formations and restrictions on the main peak of Tongyou Peak, they were all destroyed, large chunks of rock peeled off the main peak, and the surrounding buildings were flattened.

As the dust settled, Jin Guanchao had been thrown over ten feet by the explosion, but although he looked disheveled, his injuries were not severe.

At this moment, Sun Haiwei had taken the opportunity to block the iron chain suspension bridge, trying to maintain her composure as she stared at her former classmate from the Upper Dormitory, but her voice still trembled: "I never thought you had already condensed martial will and deceived us all. Old Jin, who are you? Why are you betraying the academy?"

Sun Haiwei was unarmed, and the tungsten steel spikes she had used earlier seemed to have been destroyed in the explosion due to their low quality.

Jin Guanchao did not meet Sun Haiwei's eyes, glancing at Tian Mengzi, who was lying on the ground, his expression momentarily darkening before returning to its cold state. Facing Sun Haiwei's questioning, he said indifferently: "Everyone has their own past! Little Wei, although you have cultivated a divine ability, you are still no match for me. Move aside, don't struggle in vain. Leave the Two Worlds War Zone, and Tongyou Peak will surely fall today!"

"Old Jin, we entered the Tongyou Academy together, starting from the outer dormitory as the closest classmates, then moving to the inner dormitory, and finally to the Upper Dormitory. Over the years, we have traveled, adventured, and fought together, supporting and saving each other's lives. Could all of this be fake?"

Faced with Sun Haiwei's questioning, Jin Guanchao seemed unmoved, maintaining his cold demeanor.

Sun Haiwei could no longer maintain her composure and said with some agitation: "Want to cut the iron chain suspension bridge and break the protective formation of Tongyou Peak? Fine, kill me! Kill me, and no one will stop you!"

"Sun Haiwei, your life is your own, don't force me!"

Jin Guanchao seemed to be restraining something, his heavy tone more like a final ultimatum, or a final farewell to his past.

Sun Haiwei suddenly smiled, her smile filled with sorrow but also disdain: "Old Jin, this is the last time I call you that. No matter who you are, your plot will not succeed!"

With that, Sun Haiwei raised her hands slightly, elemental energy gathering to the extreme in her left palm, and a flickering orange flame appeared.

Her right palm also gathered elemental energy, which suddenly solidified into a cluster of ice crystals at its peak.

Jin Guanchao knew that a fight was inevitable, but his expression turned even more grim.

At that moment, Jin Guanchao suddenly moved.

His body seemed to split, and seven or eight figures rushed out from his original position, heading towards the iron chain suspension bridge behind Sun Haiwei in different directions.

Sun Haiwei let out a light cry, pushing her right palm outward, and a wave of cold energy spread from her palm, instantly covering the ground with frost.

The seven or eight figures running in different directions left no footprints, but their forms dissipated under the cold energy.

Only a set of footprints rushed towards Sun Haiwei, but there was no one in front of her.

"False is false, and true cannot escape!"

Sun Haiwei shouted, the flickering orange flame in her left hand turning into a wave of heat, covering a range of over ten feet in front of her.

But there was nothing! Still nothing!

Sun Haiwei's brow twitched, a sense of impending danger sweeping over her.

"From above!"

A voice of warning suddenly came.

As the words were spoken, martial will descended, and the scene before Sun Haiwei's eyes changed dramatically. Countless illusions appeared in her vision, including her family, friends, and teachers, all with unmasked malicious intent, rushing towards her to engulf her.

But Sun Haiwei, having been warned, ignored everything before her.

She brought her left palm with the orange flame and her right palm with the ice crystals together, then opened her palms and held them together, raising them above her head.

In her palms, a cluster of ice crystals formed, with the orange flame flickering within.

At this moment, ice and fire seemed to have merged, yet they remained independent and complete.

Each flicker of the flame caused a cluster of flame-shaped ice crystals to form.

The flame then expanded, continuing to flicker within the ice crystals, as if gathering strength.

With each flicker, the ice crystals formed again...

Repeating this process, the ice crystals and the flame continued to expand.

In a short moment, the strange ice and fire power sealed the space above Sun Haiwei's head, and within the seal was a human-shaped outline, precisely Jin Guanchao, who had advanced to the Martial Realm through the Extreme Path of Reality and Illusion.

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