Splitting the Heavens

Chapter 74: Broken Formation

Shang Xia smacked the axe and it clattered into the ground.

As Jin Guanchao roared in a frenzy while fighting Sun Haiwei, he tried to retrieve his axe by sending out another stream of energy.

It was too bad Shang Xia stepped on it heavily, preventing Jin Guanchao from recovering his weapon.

Even so, Jin Guanchao had no signs of losing.

“Shang Xia, how dare you!”

His yell was met with a snort from Shang Xia and he stepped even harder, burying the axe several inches deep in the ground below.

Now that it was stuck, Jin Guanchao wouldn’t be able to retrieve it with his martial intent no matter how hard he tried.

Seeing as Sun Haiwei was about to fall to a disadvantage, Shang Xia entered the battle. The Delicate Jade River Sword danced in his hand as his footsteps became irregular.

“I damaged his martial intent and he’s on the verge of death! His fate is sealed the moment the others arrive!” Sun Haiwei gasped between breaths. It was clear that her injuries were not light.

Shang Xia gasped in shock when he heard what she said. She actually managed to injure his martial intent! It was no wonder he managed to block the axe earlier. He wasn’t facing Jin Guanchao’s full strength.

That begged the question. How strong was Jin Guanchao’s martial intent after it was weakened? Also, for Sun Haiwei to injure his martial intent would mean that there was something special about her own! Shang Xia thought back to the orange flames pulsating in the ball of ice.

.

Was there something really special about it?

Shang Xia became extremely interested in the matter.

Perhaps it was because of Shang Xia’s interference in the battle, or it might be because of what Sun Haiwei said… Jin Guanchao felt the pressure and he wanted to look for a chance to escape.

His actions were quickly noticed by the two and Shang Xia snorted as he unleashed the nine moves of his Vigorous Sword Art. With his mid-grade weapon, he took over Sun Haiwei’s position as the main attacker.

Sun Haiwei retracted the balls of flame in her hand and focused on slowing down Jin Guanchao’s movements with her ice attributed qi when she saw Shang Xia’s actions.

As Shang Xia’s sword stabbed deep into Jin Guanchao’s left arm, he ignored the pain and reached towards Sun Haiwei.

In a state of panic, Sun Haiwei took a step back and summoned her flame to stop him.

“Not good! He’s trying to escape!” Sun Haiwei yelled.

Her reminder came too late as Jin Guanchao’s palm turned blurry as he fled in the opposite direction.

The flame that came from her palm slightly surprised him when it torched the blurry palm. Even though it didn't harm him physically, it injured his martial intent!

Luckily for him, it didn’t affect his escape.

Shang Xia’s sword sliced open yet another wound on his chest, but that was merely a flesh wound. He couldn’t stop Jin Guanchao from leaving the encirclement.

No longer hesitating, Jin Guanchao leaped through the air as he reached down to grab his fallen axe.

If a cultivator at the peak of the Martial Extremity Realm was hell-bent on escaping, it would be extremely difficult for Shang Xia and Sun Haiwei to stop him. Especially so when one of those chasing him had barely broken through to the Martial Extremity Realm.

The two of them could only watch as he grabbed his weapon from the ground.

The change that happened next appeared too suddenly.

Tian Mengzi who had suffered a sneak attack previously leaped up from the ground and sent a heavy punch through Jin Guanchao’s back when the latter was picking up his axe.

“Puff!” Tian Mengzi, who had forced himself up, crumpled to the ground once again after spotting a mouthful of blood.

“AH!” Jin Guanchao released a miserable cry as he was sent flying from the punch. Not only did he miss the chance to retrieve his weapon, he also suffered serious injuries.

After enduring so much damage from Sun Haiwei and Shang Xia, the punch from Tian Mengzi pushed him to his limit. He vomited mouthfuls of blood and he saw the grin on Tian Mengzi’s face as he fell to the ground.

“Brother Jin, I guess we’re even now!” Tian Mengzi’s expression was twisted beyond belief, and Shang Xia couldn’t believe that the gentle and elegant Tian Mengzi he knew could reveal such a scary smile.

Well, that didn’t stop him or Sun Haiwei from attacking Jin Guanchao. The two of them pincered him once again.

They made the decision to send Jin Guanchao to the gates of hell themselves! There was no way he could escape this time!

It was too bad the heavens decided to play a massive joke on that at that instant.

A terrifying surge of energy came from outside the barrier, and Shang Xia who had experienced it several times previously knew that another expert at the Martial Extermination Realm had revealed himself.

A loud screeching sound came from the Tongyou Peak and it seemed as though the protection formation was about to be broken!

How is that possible?!

A trace of shock flashed in Shang Xia’s eyes.

Tian Mengzi fell to the ground helplessly, and he seemed to have breathed his last.

Sun Haiwei couldn’t be bothered with Jin Guanchao any longer as she rushed over to his side.

Her cry snapped Shang Xia out of his trance and he saw a wary expression flashing across Jin Guanchao’s face. Standing between the man and his weapon, Shang Xia prepared himself for a ferocious brawl. It was too bad Jin Guanchao turned to run after seeing the figure behind Shang Xia.

When Shang Xia was still questioning Jin Guanchao’s decision, a ray of light shot past Shang Xia and pierced straight through Jin Guanchao’s shoulders. His hand was cut right off!

Even so, Jin Guanchao didn’t dare to stop.

Turning around slowly, Shang Xia noticed Shang Xi rushing over with a sunken expression on her face.

“Go hunt him down! I’ll go over to the Mingxiu Peak to take a look.” Shang Xi ordered Shang Xia before rushing across the bridge.

Sword qi filled the Mingxiu Peak, but there were no signs of anyone attacking the bridge. It was clear that something had already happened there.

Even though a single chain was broken, that would only weaken the formation slightly. It wouldn’t push the protection formation to the point of destruction.

As Shang Xi’s voice rang in Shang Xia’s mind to take care, her figure disappeared across the bridge.

Shang Xia caught sight of Sun Haiwei who was utterly distraught as she held Tian Mengzi in her hand. “Teacher Sun, use this!”

Shang Xia tossed a talisman over before running after Jin Guanchao and by the time she reacted, he was already gone.

When she recognized the talisman he tossed at her, her eyes lit up.

…

From the bloodstains on the ground, Shang Xia quickly located Jin Guanchao.

Worry clouded Shang Xia’s heart at the moment. Even though the formation wasn’t broken, the destruction Jin Guanchao caused was enough to reveal some weaknesses in it.

Shang Xia circulated his inner qi as he approached the bridge connecting the main peak to the Luohui Peak.

He heard a maniacal cry coming from the front.

“Hahaha! Today, the Tongyou Peak shall bow beneath me!” A formless ripple emerged and a huge spear stabbed straight into the protective barrier.

Runes fill the skies as they resonated with the spear to stab deep into the protection formation.

Giant tears formed in the protection formation as the extermination qi emitted by the cultivator prevented the gaps from repairing itself.

Everyone looked up to see a white robed man holding the spear in his hand. “Hahaha! Again!”

As his spear fell, a sharp blast rang in the ears of those present as a tear hundreds of feet long appeared in the barrier.

The dome that protected the Tongyou Peak was sliced right open as a huge gap between the peaks appeared. “What are you waiting for? Follow me in and kill the members of the Azure Origin World!”