A few days had passed since the gathering Shang Xia attended and ever since he returned to the Shang Clan Manor, he had been cultivating quietly to strengthen his inner qi. 

He might have reached the grand completion stage of the Martial Intent Realm and looked like there was nothing left for him to do other than to break through to the Martial Extermination Realm, but that wasn’t true.

There were many things he could do to strengthen his foundations. It was true that other people who had reached the grand completion stage of the Martial Intent Realm had nothing to do other than to wait for a breakthrough, but he advanced too quickly! As he strengthened his foundations, he was also getting into his peak state to craft a rank three talisman.

Even though he had been hiding in the Shang Clan Manor in a state of semi-seclusion, the situation was different from the time he was in the Changfeng City. In the Shang Clan Manor, Yan Qi would return from time to time to report to him things that were happening throughout the city.

Speaking of which, Shang Xia found things to be a little weird. Wu Tingfang and Huo Wuji might have subtly released the news of the Tongyou Institution’s plan to reopen the spatial tunnel, but the undercurrents he expected to rock the city didn’t happen.

After taking some time to think about it, Shang Xia discovered why that was the case.

One was the...