Chapter 1313: Holes and Weaknesses

Anyone familiar with Ge Qingzhu would know that his rise to prominence started when he found a pond of spirit lotus in the Battlefield Between the Two Worlds.

He had been nurturing it since then and turned it into a blessed land of the institution. From a certain standpoint, the Spirit Lotus Pond was even more important than the Starry Tree in the Star Observatory.

Before obtaining the Starry Tree, Shang Xia had to admit that he was slightly envious of Ge Qingzhu’s opportunities.

The Spirit Lotus Pond was massive and anyone between the Martial Intent Realm and Martial Dipper Realm would be able to make use of it. For any faction, cultivators at that level made up the bulk of their strength and could be considered the key to a faction’s rise or decline.

The Starry Tree might be extremely useful, but the effects only came into play during an attempt to enter the Martial Void Realm. Moreover, the tree was extremely difficult to grow and the time taken for a Starry Fruit to mature was long. Also... There were only 3 fruits that could be harvested each time and they might lose them if they weren’t careful.

The Starry Tree seemed really impressive until they understood how much it could actually benefit everyone.

Of course, Shang Xia only thought that way because the Tongyou Institution didn’t need to worry about a lack of True Immortals.

After calming himself, Shang Xia asked with slight guilt, “Did I push him too far? After all... He had only been in the Martial Extermination Realm for several years...”

He clearly didn’t consider his cultivation when he spoke like that. After all, he only remained in the Four Constellation Realm for several years before progressing to the Five Element Realm.

The Tongyou Institution might not be as hard up as the other factions about seniority and status, but they would usually rank each other based on the time they enrolled in the institution. Yuan Qiuyuan was a junior in Shang Xia’s eyes because of the time he joined, and Shang Xia could easily make the decision on behalf of the institution to nurture someone like him. After all, as long as his talent wasn’t too bad, the current Tongyou Institution was more than capable of quickly pushing their cultivation to the next level.

Not to mention the fact that Yuan Qiuyuan was the only direct member of the Tongyou Institution who was a Stargazer! All the more Shang Xia would focus on nurturing him!

In comparison, Xin Lu was brought over from the Star Origin Dao Field and Yan Ming only received a small portion of the Stargazer inheritance and she would probably not be able to go further down the path.

...

After some time, a pale Yuan Qiuyuan emerged from a secret chamber in the Star Observatory. Even though he looked extremely tired, his aura seemed stable and his cultivation showed no signs of regressing.

“Brat, what are you playing at? Is there something really so scary in the sea of stars that will cause a Martial Dipper Realm expert like yourself to faint?!” Seeing that Yuan Qiuyuan was alright, Shang Xia immediately started to nag.

Seeing how his actions actually alerted the strongest expert of the Tongyou Institution to personally appear to check on him, Yuan Qiuyuan revealed a look of shame and muttered, “It’s not too scary but... But... Nevermind. Please come with me to take a look!”

Shang Xia was curious as to what Yuan Qiuyuan saw right after becoming a Grand Stargazer, but at the same time, he wanted to know how Yuan Qiuyuan was going to let him, a non-Stargazer, see what he saw.

Behind him, Ge Qingzhu, Xin Lu, and Yan Ming wanted to follow, but Shang Xia turned around to stop them.

“The situation is unclear right now and you guys don’t have to follow...” Shang Xia was afraid that the scene might affect the others and he quickly stopped them.

Of the 3, even though Ge Qingzhu had become a True Immortal, his foundations were still shallow. Xin Lu’s cultivation was also lacking as she was only in the Martial Extermination Realm. Yan Ming might be in the Martial Dipper Realm, but Yuan Qiuyuan who was also one fainted earlier. As such, he felt that they should remain where they were.

Arriving at the center of the Star Observatory, Shang Xia could see that the Starry Tree had grown quite a bit. Starlight fell on the leaves and covered them in a divine glow.

Even though Shang Xia was no Stargazer, he could tell that the concentration of starlight on the Starry Tree had increased several times.

However, he didn’t pay too much attention to it. Instead, his gaze lingered on the Star Origin Lord Robe that was hanging from one of the branches.

As if feeling his gaze, the robe seemed to react slightly.

Is this spiritual resonance? Is the Star Origin Lord Robe also considered a divine artifact? Or could it be of even higher rank?

Shang Xia thought to himself. However, he quickly suppressed the slightly preposterous thoughts that came into his mind before looking at Yuan Qiuyuan who was activating some sort of strange formation on the platform.

Yuan Qiuyuan, who was usually slow and somewhat not very good at reading the room, seemed to transform after becoming a Grand Stargazer. There was a certain aura around him.

Even though Shang Xia didn’t know if the Spirit Mammoth World and Spirit Abundance World had Grand Stargazers, he was sure the Spirit Tinkle World and Spirit Thistle World didn’t have any. As for the Star Origin Dao Field... They only had Xing Xingtian and Xiao Shengyi as Grand Stargazers.

One could say that Yuan Qiuyuan was already standing at the peak of the various worlds connected to the Star Origin Dao Field. In fact... His achievements in the stargazing arts should be at the peak of what was called the Heaven Observation Field!

As layers upon layers of formations were activated by Yuan Qiuyuan, the shock on those outside became evident.

Ge Qingzhu, who was standing beside them, couldn’t help but ask, “What’s the matter?”

Xin Lu didn’t hide her surprise and said, “We thought that we were able to fully control the formations, but now... It doesn’t seem to be the case!”

Yan Ming forced a chuckle, “I didn’t think that there would be so many formations that we were unable to tap into... We didn’t even discover their presence and from the looks of it, only a Grand Stargazer would be able to fully utilize a Star Observatory. I’m afraid Yuan Qiuyuan only managed to observe what he saw because of them...”

Ge Qingzhu muttered softly to himself and a frown slowly formed on his face. “Wait, something is wrong. When the Heavenly Star Palace reconstructed the Star Observatory, many people from the great powers took part. If there were any hidden formations, everyone should have discovered them. If you guys are right, that only proves one thing... The Star Observatory of the Heavenly Star Palace cannot be compared to ours!”

Xin Lu and Yan Ming thought seriously for a moment and nodded in unison.

The next moment, Ge Qingzhu felt something strange coming from the center of the platform and he couldn’t help but ask, “What’s happening over there?”

Xin Lu glanced at the platform and replied, “Little Yuan is showing True Immortal Shang his true abilities. Since he activated the hidden formations, the 2 of them should be the only ones who can see what is happening.”

Ge Qingzhu grunted softly before shaking his head. He no longer spoke as he awaited their return.

They could see Yuan Qiuyuan speaking to Shang Xia with some agitation as he made many intense gestures, but no sound was transmitted out to them.

Compared to the agitated Yuan Qiuyuan, Shang Xia looked a lot more calm. After Yuan Qiuyuan stopped, a smile appeared on his face and he said something. Yuan Qiuyuan was taken aback by what he heard, but he seemed to have reached some sort of realization after that. He exhaled a long breath and looked slightly disappointed.

Not too long after, Shang Xia turned around and waved his sleeves, deactivating the formations on the platform. His voice also entered the ears of those present. “Come over and take a look.”

“Us? Are you talking to all of us?” Xin Lu gasped softly.

Seeing her hesitant yet expectant expression, Shang Xia couldn’t help but chuckle, “It’s definitely something that will cause a great disturbance, but after today, it wouldn’t matter. Little Yuan discovered the Star Curtain that separates this region of space from the sea of stars, but it’s something Patriarch Kou and I will be telling the higher-ups of the institution soon. I believe all of you will soon get to know about it.”

Ge Qingzhu laughed at the side, “I’m getting even more curious now. What did he actually see? What is the Star Curtain?”

As he spoke, he walked to the center of the platform. With Yuan Qiuyuan’s assistance, the void was revealed to him.

“This...” Ge Qingzhu saw the void that was vaguely covered in some sort of almost-formless barrier and couldn’t help but turn to Shang Xia to ask, “Is this the Star Curtain you mentioned?”

Shang Xia nodded. “This region of space... Or rather, the space that contains the Star Origin Dao Field and our worlds connected to it, including the Essence Ping World, is a massive star field. It has been covered by some sort of barrier, but this barrier served as protection for us. Everything protected by the barrier is referred to by a name that is known by almost every single powerhouse that exists in the sea of stars... It’s the Heaven Observation Field and it’s where we’re located in the sea of stars...”

“But... But...” As a Stargazer, Xin Lu’s achievement in the stargazing arts surpassed Yan Ming. However, the blood was draining from her face as she stared at the strange region of space as she croaked, “... Why does it feel like the formless barrier is full of holes and weaknesses?”

“You’re right.” Yuan Qiuyuan’s hoarse voice came from the side. “Not only is the barrier full of weaknesses... It’s about to crumble altogether.”

Ge Qingzhu’s eyebrows shot up and he asked, “What use is this barrier anyway?”

“Its existence is to prevent our Heaven Observation Field from being located by the great powers in the vast sea of stars.” Shang Xia replied calmly.

Nodding subconsciously, Ge Qingzhu continued, “I seem to understand why the Spirit Mammoth World, Spirit Abundance World, and Star Origin Dao Field are going to such lengths to attack the Essence Ping World now...”