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Chapter 397: Nesting Grounds

Shang Xia had been worried about the Lightning Bird and the rest of the flock during the War of the Tongyou Mysterious World, but now that he reunited with them, he could see that the birds gained quite a lot of benefits from the Origin Tide that passed.

After getting over his initial shock, Ren Huan couldn’t help but ask, “Wait… I was wearing a mask the other day. How did you recognize me? It can’t be because I’m fat… There are more fatties out there and you can’t possibly recognize me from my body shape!”

Pointing at his clothes that were slightly torn, Shang Xia laughed. “You’re wearing the same thing you did in the gathering back in the city!”

With his eyes widening in shock, Ren Huan couldn’t help but chuckle in embarrassment. “Oh yeah… Looks like I need a change of clothes soon!”

Wait a second… Don’t tell me this fatty hasn’t changed since the day of the gathering?! Eww!

Ren Huan didn’t notice the judgmental look on Shang Xia’s face as his gaze was stuck on the bird on his shoulder. “Is this Mutated Bird your spirit pet?”

He couldn’t conceal the look of admiration and envy on his face.

Shang Xia tilted his head to look at the fat bird that was resting on his shoulder and he chuckled, “This is a Lightning Bird. He’s not my spirit pet though. However, he can be considered… he can be considered my friend! Yeah… The flock of Mutated Rain Swallows are his partners and children.”

Gasping in shock, a trace of greed flashed in his eyes for a moment while he praised in admiration. “Brother Shang, you are really lucky!”

“Because he is unable to leave the battlefield between the two worlds with his entire flock, we lost contact for a period of time. This is the first time we’re reunited. However, I didn’t think that he would be close to breaking through to the fourth rank. Then again, I have to thank Brother Ren. If not for you, I wouldn’t have reunited with them so quickly!” Shang Xia laughed. Pausing for a second, he then continued, “However, from what I saw earlier, you seem to have some misunderstanding with my old friend over here…”

A helpless look appeared on Ren Huan’s face as he tried to explain himself, “I… I found an ancient tree under a cliff and I discovered that there were faint traces of wind lightning energy contained in its leaves. Those leaves were invaluable as they could be used to craft talisman paper and I decided to grab a few of them. I didn’t expect to anger the flock of birds nesting there when I tried to pluck a few leaves! Well… You know what happened next. They chased me all the way over here and I ran into you. If not for Brother Shang, my three hundred pound body would have turned into bird food…”

“A tree that contains the power of wind and lightning?” Shang Xia’s eyes lit up and he turned to look at the Lightning Bird. Unwilling to trust the fatty completely, he wanted the Lightning Bird to confirm the news.

Feeling Shang Xia’s gaze, the lightning bird chirped softly to confirm the news.

Seeing the smile that was appearing on Shang Xia’s face, Ren Huan continued, “Brother… Brother Shang, since this fat… I mean, since the Lightning Bird is your friend, can you get him to allow me to pluck a few leaves from the ancient tree? I know that Brother Shang is an accomplished talisman master. After obtaining the leaves, I’ll refine them into talisman paper and I’ll give half of them to you. How’s that?”

Shang Xia didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he turned to the Lightning Bird and asked, “Is that tree really useful to you?”

Several soft tweets left the Lightning Bird’s beak and Ren Huan had no idea what the bird was saying. However, he saw Shang Xia nodding his head from time to time but he didn’t know if the young cultivator truly knew what the bird was talking about or if he was just messing with him.

Regardless of whether Shang Xia really knew bird language, Ren Huan knew that he couldn’t offend the man. Ren Huan might look like a foolish fatty, but that was merely the outward appearance he portrayed to the world. He wasn’t actually stupid.

Thinking about Shang Xia’s identity, he quickly recalled Shang Xia’s background and the rumors that he heard in the past.

As a trace of hesitation started to appear on Ren Huan’s face, Shang Xia turned around and muttered, “Brother Ren, are you willing to return to the cliff face to take a look with me?”

“Huh?” Ren Huan quickly gathered his thoughts and nodded furiously, “Yes, yes! I’ll go!”

With the Lightning Bird and the flock of Mutated Rain Swallows leading the way, Shang Xia and Ren Huan quickly made their way over to the ancient tree.

Along the way, Shang Xia seemed to have thought of something and he asked, “Brother Ren, I’ve been running away from people who want to kill me all this while. I also went into seclusion for some time and was wondering how long had passed since the Tongyou Institution entered the battlefield between the two worlds. Also, do you know the situation right now? Is the battle still ongoing?”

Ren Huan looked at Shang Xia in confusion and muttered, “It’s difficult to keep track of time in the battlefield between the two worlds, but there’s a special method to do so. From the time the Tongyou Institution entered the battlefield between the two worlds, half a month had passed. The battle between the experts of the Tongyou Institution and the Azure Spiritual World ended eight days ago. The Azure Spiritual World lost two Martial Extermination Realm experts and we lost one. From the looks of it, we won. However, we merely managed to gain a foothold in the battlefield between the two worlds after this battle. Now, they’re probably going to clear out some of the territory of beasts who made their base in the central region. The area controlled by the Tongyou Institution at the moment is merely the size of that controlled by the Azure Spiritual World.”

After hearing the explanation, Shang Xia could pretty much calculate how long he had been asleep.

It seemed as though his guess was correct regardless. The outcome of the battle between the Martial Extermination Realm experts on both sides decided the duration of the war.

Regardless if they were the Tongyou Institution, Changbai Holy Land, or the four great races of the Liao Continent, the death of a Martial Extermination Realm expert wasn’t something they could withstand easily.

Moreover, the deaths of the two Martial Extermination Realm experts on the side of the Azure Spiritual World had something to do with Shang Xia.

The thought barely flashed across his mind when he seemed to have recalled something. “Which expert of the Tongyou Institution fell?”

“Senior Kang Ci fell. It was said that he managed to refine a poison-type extermination origin in the past and the threat he posed to lower-leveled cultivators was astounding. He was focused fired the moment he entered the battlefield between the two worlds.” Ren Huan sighed.

Shang Xia could only shake his head with a bitter smile on his face. Kang Ci was indeed a troublesome fellow to deal with. When the Four Spiritual Peak tried to sneak attack the Tongyou Peak when their experts were stuck in the Coral Forest, Kang Ci managed to hold them off with his abilities. In the end, She Zhihong had to order a retreat before being killed by the rank five undead corpse back at the Four Spiritual Peak.

It seemed as though Kang Ci was truly plotted against this time he entered the battlefield between the two worlds.

As they conversed, they quickly traveled across the land and two hours flew by like it was nothing. With the Lightning Bird and the Mutated Rain Swallows leading the way, the two of them eventually caught sight of the cliff.

The ancient tree was actually located along a wind gap in a valley that extended out at the bottom of the cliff and the two of them quickly made their way over to the narrow walls.

“Brother Shang, you have to be careful. The wind that is ripping through the wind gap is really terrifying and powerful!” Ren Huan gave Shang Xia a kind warning before taking a step deeper into the valley.

Shang Xia smiled casually before following the fatty.

As the two of them ventured deeper into the narrow valley, Shang Xia could feel that the wind blowing against him was growing stronger and stronger as it bellowed in his ears.

The deeper they got, the stronger the winds became. The howling of wind quickly overpowered their voices and the two of them could only choose to transmit their voices to each other with the use of their inner qi.

Even so, their voice transmissions would sometimes get lost in the wind as though it was ripped apart by a violent force.

Thinking of something, Shang Xia brought out his Spirit Extermination Gourd and used his inner qi to surround himself as he opened the cork. The moment he did, the strand of sword qi emerged and spun around the gourd once before shooting into the depths of the valley.

Ren Huan’s voice rang in Shang Xia’s ears as the sword qi sped away. “Brother Shang, you should have discovered that the wind contains extermination qi…”

Raising his head to look at Ren Huan, Shang Xia saw that the fatty had barely moved his gaze away from his Spirit Extermination Gourd.

Ren Huan didn’t stop there. “Unfortunately, the extermination qi in the air is so thin that you will need to gather them for a long time before being able to create a strand of extermination origin.”

Ren Huan’s knowledge showed Shang Xia that he wasn’t an ordinary cultivator. He might also have some special treasure on him that allowed him to retrieve extermination origins.

With his heart trembling slightly, Shang Xia asked, “Brother Ren, what do you mean?”

Shaking his head, Ren Huan’s fat belly shivered slightly and a trace of fear appeared in his heart. “Me? I don’t mean anything! After all, Brother Shang’s friend seems to have its eyes set on this place…”

Nodding slowly, Shang Xia understood that the Lightning Bird had its reason for nesting in that spot.

There had to be a reason for the Lightning Bird to hunt down the fatty. Stealing some leaves didn’t seem to be enough of a reason to do so, but protecting the source of extermination origin seemed to be reason enough.

All of a sudden, a bolt of lightning tore through the skies in the distance and it tore through the land. It eventually dissipated into nothingness.

Ren Huan’s figure paused for a second and he growled, “There seems to be some sort of void lightning here… It’s no wonder the power of wind and lightning can be contained in the tree… That’s also the reason behind the ripping winds and bolts of lightning filling the area…”

All of a sudden, Shang Xia discovered that the sword qi had returned to the gourd before he knew it. It flickered unsteadily while trembling and it eventually pointed in the direction of the end of the valley.

As someone who was extremely close to breaking through to the Martial Extermination Realm, Shang Xia could feel that there was something else that appeared in the wind that was battering against them.

At the same time, the Lightning Bird who had been keeping pace with the two of them sped up and tried to fly deeper into the valley.

Shang Xia could see the trace of faint gray lightning bolts that surrounded the bird as it forced itself forward.

In that instant, Shang Xia recognized the new feeling that appeared in the wind. It was a type of lightning extermination fused well with the wind around it!

The reason behind the Lightning Bird’s choice to nest there wasn’t because of the wind-attributed extermination origin that Ren Huan had identified! Instead, it was because of the presence of a lightning-attributed extermination origin!