Chapter 1204: Clone With Increasing Cultivation Realm

Shang Xia looked at the Star Ships returning and saw that most of them contained Spirit Nurturing Stones.

“What are you looking at?” Someone asked suddenly.

Anyone who could notice Shang Xia’s presence was naturally in the Martial Dipper Realm or higher.

A figure emerged from one of the Star Ships and flew directly to Shang Xia’s side. It was the person who spoke earlier, and it was none other than Chu Jia.

Raising an eyebrow, Shang Xia muttered in a strange voice, “You took part in the battle too? You don’t have to, you know?”

The smile on Chu Jia’s face disappeared suddenly and she pouted while grumbling in a low voice, “What do you mean by that?! Are you looking down on me?”

Shang Xia waved his hand casually and noticed the sudden change in her mood. He decided to probe her intentions. “Were you also there to gain more merits so that you can be rewarded by the institution to obtain fate dipper essences? Hmm... After you complete the rank six grand formation around our institution, there shouldn’t be anyone rivaling your achievements, right?”

Chu Jia was the second expert in the Tongyou Institution who entered the Martial Dipper Realm by refining all her fate dippers simultaneously. As such, Shang Xia was extremely sensitive to the change in her aura. Also, she didn’t bother concealing her cultivation in front of Shang Xia...

After entering the Martial Dipper Realm, Chu Jia also chose to address it the same way as Shang Xia as the Five Element Realm.

Compared to the experts of the institution in the same batch as Shang Xia who broke through to the Martial Dipper Realm or higher, Chu Jia seemed to have broken through a little later.

However, that didn’t mean that she was weaker. Due to her immense knowledge of the Five Element Formations she had strong foundations even before breaking through to the Five Element Realm. Since the time she broke through, her cultivation soared rapidly.

... Chu Jia might be able to hide the extent of her cultivation from others, but there was no chance she was fooling Shang Xia.

He could tell that she had refined a total of 25 fate dipper essences, which made her comparable to a second element Martial Dipper Realm expert who was on her way to the next level.

She was already as strong as Yan Ming, if not stronger.

Of course, pure cultivation wasn’t enough to evaluate Chu Jia’s strength. She was also a rank five Formation Grandmaster and since she could use all 5 elements, she was able to do what ordinary rank five Formation Grandmasters couldn’t.

For example, she was able to pry through the doors of what a rank six Formation Grandmaster could do, which was something she never imagined.

...

Despite being tilted at Shang Xia’s question, she deflated like a balloon.

“You’re more familiar with the Five Element Realm than me... Every time I wish to complete a full cycle, I would need to gather 5 fate dipper essences corresponding to the ones I already refined. It’s fine if I only need to locate one of them, but gathering a complete set is extremely difficult! You also mentioned the Yin Yang alignment of the fate dipper essences I had to refine when I first stepped into the Five Element Realm, making it even more difficult to find! Even if there are several fate dipper essences of the element, I might not be able to use them...”

Chu Jia quickly started grumbling and voicing her grievances.

Shang Xia couldn’t help but chuckle, “What’s the matter? Are you regretting using my method to step into the Five Element Realm?”

Suddenly rolling her eyes at him, Chu Jia pouted, “Of course not... I’m just here to tell you... Hmm... When the Stargazers locate the Star Beast Nest, you have to gather a bunch of suitable fate dipper essences for me!”

“That’s not a problem at all...” Shang Xia raised his eyebrow and mumbled softly. He seemed to have thought of something the next moment and asked, “What’s the matter? Are there a lot of cultivators in the institution who cannot progress in the Martial Dipper Realm due to the lack of resources?”

After thinking a little, Chu Jia replied, “Actually, there are many who have reached the large completion, or even grand completion stage of the Martial Extermination Realm who cannot break through due to the lack of resources...”

Nodding slowly, Shang Xia continued, “Right, I’ll keep that in mind... Anyway, those Spirit Chime Stones that were obtained from the corpses of the Star Beasts... Can they hasten the speed at which our grand formation is completed?”

Shang Xia understood that Chu Jia’s achievements in the dao of formations had already reached an impressive level. All she needed was an opportunity to take the final step to become a rank six Formation Grandmaster. Of course, in order to become a rank six Formation Grandmaster, she would have to complete the Tongyou Institution’s rank six grand formation.

After becoming a rank six Formation Grandmaster, she would be able to retrieve the Five Element Ring from the rank six grand formation without affecting its operations.

Chu Jia simply gestured with open palms and sighed, “It might speed up the process, but a good portion of those Spirit Chime Stones should be used on the Essence Refining Void Returning Formation.”

Shang Xia frowned but no longer said anything related to the formation. Instead, he changed the topic back to the fate dipper essences Chu Jia needed. “Which type of fate dipper essence do you require anyway?”

“I’m only lacking a single fire element fate dipper essence to complete the fifth set. I lack a fire element and wood element fate dipper essence to complete the sixth set of fate dipper elements, and the same for my seventh set. As long as I can find 3 fire element fate dipper essences and 2 wood element fate dipper essences, I am confident I can complete my seventh cycle of refinement!” Chu Jia mumbled casually.

Shang Xia’s eyelids started to twitch and he suddenly no longer felt like talking to her.

Who the hell refines so many sets of fate dipper essences at the same time?! She already gathered so many...

Turning around, he wanted to just leave Chu Jia who was staring at him with a crafty smile.

All of a sudden, a streak of starlight rushed out of the heavenly screen above the You Continent.

“Oh? Looks like they found it?” Shang Xia gasped.

As he was about to leave, he raised his head to look in the south. He seemed to have felt something strange, and he decided to leave behind a clone before he left.

“What’s the matter?” Chu Jia asked. She understood Shang Xia well and knew what his change in expression meant.

Shang Xia shook his head and muttered, “If anyone comes knocking, get my clone to meet them in my stead. You should head back to the grand formation and prepare to control the Five Element Ring before I get back.”

Chu jia knew that something definitely happened and she quickly rushed back to the formation core in the Tongyou Institution.

Shang Xia’s true body also disappeared the next moment as he reappeared in the Star Observatory.

The moment he arrived, he asked, “Did you locate the Star Beast Nest?”

“We did.” Yuan Qiuyuan replied, and there was a look of excitement on his face. However, he seemed to have thought of something and he muttered, “There’s something strange about this though. There seemed to be other Stargazers who noticed our actions.”

Before anyone realized, Yuan Qiuyuan seemed to have already taken charge of the Star Observatory.

“Are they the Heavenly Star Palace?” Shang Xia frowned. Even though that was the question he asked, he seemed to already have an answer in mind.

“No, it’s not them.” Yuan Qiuyuan replied. “Initially, the Heavenly Star Palace tried to look for the Star Beast Nest, but we were a little faster than them. Strangely enough, they were interrupted by some other people and those who stopped them are definitely stronger than the Heavenly Star Palace...”

Shang Xia’s eyelids twitched and he stared at Xin Lu. He continued to ask again, “Did those who stopped the Heavenly Star Palace try to interfere with us?”

Yuan Qiuyuan also mumbled curiously, “That’s where things are getting strange. With their abilities, they definitely noticed us after stopping the Heavenly Star Palace. However, the other side didn’t do anything and acted as though they didn’t see what we were doing.”

Shang Xia chuckled softly and wanted to say more, but Xin Lu interjected, “The other party should be from the Star Origin City. The reason they didn’t stop us was probably because Senior Brother Xiao noticed who we were...”

Xin Lu’s explanation shocked Yuan Qiuyuan, but Shang Xia wasn’t surprised. That was because before he rushed to the Star Observatory in the Tongyou Elysium, he already noticed Xing Xingtian who had arrived on Three Unity Island.

“Alright, we shouldn’t waste any more time. Indicate which way I have to go and we’ll talk after I return.” Shang Xia muttered. He could guess what Xing Xingtian wanted to achieve and even though he didn’t wish to mess with the Star Origin Guards yet, he could still pretend as though he didn’t know what they wanted to say and head out first. After all, Xing Xingtian couldn’t blame him since he didn’t know.

After all... Shang Xia, who had already become a high-level True Immortal, had the qualifications to negotiate with the Star Origin Guards.

...

Following the guidance of starlight Yuan Qiuyuan and Xin Lu created, Shang Xia successfully located the spatial tunnel the Star Beast pack created. With traces left behind, he was able to muck around and still locate where their nest was.

“Protect this stream of light... It will make my return easier.” Shang Xia left behind a single transmission for Xin Lu and the rest before stepping into the spatial tunnel.

At the same time, Xing Xingtian’s arrival alerted the True Immortals of the Spirit Luxuriant World. Many of the higher-ups of the various powers could also guess that Xing Xingtian’s arrival had something to do with the Star Beast invasion.

A transmission to gather the various True Immortals quickly arrived, and it eventually landed in Shang Xia’s clone’s hands.

Looking above the heavenly screen, Shang Xia’s clone chuckled to himself before heading over.

By the time he arrived, almost everyone had arrived. Xing Xingtian looked at Shang Xia’s clone with a strange gaze.

He wasn’t the only one as the others also looked at Shang Xia in a weird way.

“Looks like Camp Commander Xing came... I came a little late... Apologies...” Shang Xia cupped his fists respectfully as soon as he arrived. He also ignored the strange gazes on him.

Xing Xingtian hastily returned the greeting before asking curiously, “I have long since heard of True Immortal Little Shang’s reputation. Now... I am no longer the Seventh Camp Commander. I am not the Second Camp Commander. It’s just that... True Immortal Little Shang, you seem very familiar. Have we met before?”

Shang Xia’s clone chuckled softly in response, “We haven’t met, but I also have a sense of familiarity with you. How can I not have heard of a Camp Commander of the Star Origin Guards?”

Both of them seemed to be old friends from the way they spoke to each other.

As they conversed, Lu Wuzi finally rushed over from the Bing Continent and when he arrived, his reaction was the same as the rest as he looked at Shang Xia. “True Immortal Little Shang, are you really a clone? Why does it seem like your cultivation is at the second tier of the Martial Void Realm? Can the cultivation level of clones also rise along with your own cultivation level?”