Chapter 1359: Innate Holy Artifact?!?!?!

“True Immortal Shang, please.” In the void hundreds of thousands of miles away from Shang Xia, True Immortal Gong Zhuo gestured for him to enter a massive Star Ship he had prepared.

Behind the massive ship were 6 other smaller ones, forming a massive merchant fleet. Also, the Star Ships seemed to be positioned in specific positions, forming a subtle battle formation.

The only thing Shang Xia didn’t know was how strong the power of the battle formation would be, or if it could utilize Seventh Order energy.

From Shang Xia’s short stint in the Essence Xing World, it didn’t seem rare for top powers to wield Seventh Order energy. As one of the 11 great Elysiums, the Wanyun Association would definitely be able to control it.

Moreover, he also noticed that ever since they arrived that the fleet would be venturing into the asteroid belts far from the Essence Xing World and deep into the sea of stars.

Shang Xia might not think that the Wanyun Association would be able to hide their movements from the rest of the world, but they would at least be able to greatly conceal their tracks such that it wouldn’t be easy to track them.

With Gong Zhuo’s invitation, Shang Xia didn’t act too politely and he simply entered the massive Star Ship into a special cabin that had been specially arranged for him.

As he boarded, he noticed a middle-aged man who was always smiling and looked to be waiting for him for some time.

Seeing how friendly he was and his special identity, Shang Xia inspected him with his divine soul. The middle-aged man seemed to be hiding some sort of profound qi in him, and it was something that far surpassed Gong Zhuo.

There was no doubt about it. The middle-aged man was also a fifth tier True Immortal like Shang Xia!

Thinking back to what Shen Chongshan said to him when they spoke about the fleet, Shang Xia recalled that the Wanyun Association had already given Gong Zhuo the authority to command the trading fleet. However, with the appearance of the person before him, things weren’t as simple as Shen Chongshan described.

Standing outside the cabin, Shang Xia didn’t enter immediately. Instead, he looked at Gong Zhuo with a questioning gaze.

Gong Zhuo was about to make the introductions when the middle-aged man roared with laughter and spoke first. “This should be True Immortal Shang of the Essence Ping World, right? I have been hearing about you for such a long time, and we finally met!”

The middle-aged man cupped his hands in greeting before making his introductions, “You can call me Zhang Shun. I am the Director of the Wanyun Association. Something happened within our Essence Xing World, causing us to be a little late. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Director Zhang, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Shang Xia quickly gave his greetings after hearing the newcomer’s introduction before being invited into another cabin by Gong Zhuo.

When everyone got comfortable and found their seats, Zhang Shun was the first to speak. “Martial Nephew Shen made the agreement with you, but because we had to keep things a secret, he didn’t know that I would be in charge of the fleet. That was why he told you Gong Zhuo would be taking charge. I apologize on his behalf.”

“I understand.” Shang Xia waved his hand casually before changing the topic, “I heard that something happened in your world... Can you share anything about it? Of course... If it’s inconvenient, please pretend I didn’t ask.”

Zhang Shun nodded at Gong Zhuo who was beside them.

Gong Zhuo started to explain, “Actually, there’s nothing much to keep secret. After all, among the higher-ups of the Essence Xing World, it’s no longer a secret. An envoy of the Qi Dynasty was assassinated in the Tong Continent, causing a massive chain reaction.”

“Oh? An envoy?” Shang Xia gasped. He looked very interested in the matter and he quickly continued to ask, “Isn’t that a high-level True Immortal?! There has to be a bigger plan involved if someone like that was killed!”

Gong Zhuo glanced at Zhang Shun and saw no reaction as he continued, “No one knew what happened, or the identity of the assassin who killed True Immortal Qi Hua. Everything fell into a state of chaos and everyone was preparing for battle!”

When he saw how Shang Xia was about to ask another question, he quickly added, “From the news we received, True Immortal Qi Hua was actually killed in his manor by the assassin. Moreover, He was said to have died from a single blow!”

“That’s what we don’t understand. Qi Hua’s cultivation chamber was located at the heart of the formation that connects to the World Origin Source. He would be able to wield Seventh Order energy and despite the advantage he had, he was still killed. No one should have been able to do anything to him there, but he died right in his cultivation chamber...”

Shang Xia thought for a second and asked, “Did a Martial Emptiness Realm Sage personally take action? Or could a powerful expert he is familiar with be behind it?”

Gong Zhuo understood what he meant and shook his head. “It’s impossible for a Martial Emptiness Realm Sage to personally make a move. From the looks of it, it’s most likely someone close to him who made a move. The person who is the most suspicious is actually his trusted subordinate called ‘Mister Lu’, and he had been missing ever since Qi Hua’s death was announced. If he was dead, no one has seen his body. The only thing is that the person’s cultivation was only in the Martial Dipper Realm. He might have been hiding his cultivation, but it’s not likely he was a high-level True Immortal. We can only know what he used to kill a high-level True Immortal unless we get our hands on him.”

Shang Xia nodded slowly and pointed out, “From the looks of it, Mister Lu isn’t a simple character. To be able to hide under the nose of a high-level True Immortal, he has to be backed by a powerful faction!”

As soon as he spoke, Zhang Shun who had been chuckling bitterly at the side glanced at him.

Gong Zhuo gasped softly, “True Immortal Shang, you are sharp indeed. That is where things get interesting. After Qi Hua was killed, the Qi Dynasty’s reaction was strong, but it caught everyone off guard. Actually, it’s just the Qi Dynasty Emperor. He personally led 2 other fourth tier True Immortals of the dynasty and 2 other Envoys, along with many ordinary True Immortals to exterminate a hidden sect in the Tao Continent.”

“During the process, everyone discovered that the Qi Dynasty Emperor had reached the grand completion stage of the Martial Void Realm. He’s merely a step away from entering the Martial Emptiness Realm, shocking our world! What the various factions find strange is that the hidden sect that was eliminated revealed an unusually strong foundation, not losing out to the 11 Elysiums. It was said at least 2 high-level True Immortals joined their side and many True Immortals took part in the battle. The sect leader actually reached the fifth tier and eventually fled after being heavily injured by the Qi Dynasty Emperor.

Shang Xia frowned. “Hidden sect? How can such a powerful faction not be discovered?”

“Exactly.” Gong Zhuo sighed, “How can a faction so strong remain hidden without protection from other powerhouses?”

Shang Xia thought for a second before he mumbled, “Do you mean that it’s strange because the Qi Dynasty had actually been the ones protecting them in the past only to turn on them now?”

“Hehe...” Gong Zhuo chuckled softly. “It was said that after the sect master escaped, a good half of the various powers went to kill him. Among them, the members of the Phoenix Cry Sect were the most enthusiastic about it.”

“Why is that?” Shang Xia knew that Gong Zhuo wouldn’t bring up the Phoenix Cry Sect for fun and he quickly followed up with his question.

Gong Zhuo laughed as he continued, “That’s because the Tao Continent is right beside the Fengxiang Continent. Also, the Fengxiang Continent borders the Tong Continent and is located to their southeast.”

Hesitating slightly, Shang Xia wondered out loud, “True Immortal Gong, Do you mean to say that the Qi Dynasty is after the Phoenix Cry Sect the entire time? Are they so involved in killing the sect master because they knew that the dynasty was getting suspicious of them? Hmm... Maybe they wish to silence the sect master in order not to leak any information to the dynasty...”

Zhang Shun, who had been silent the entire time, finally spoke, “Actually, there’s another reason. Other than the matter with the Qi Dynasty and the Phoenix Cry Sect, there’s another reason that caused us to be late for the appointment with you.”

Shang Xia raised an eyebrow, as he knew that they were truly about to get into the secrets of the Essence Xing World. He patiently waited for Zhang Shun to continue.

Gong Zhuo widened his eyes in shock as he looked at Zhang Shun, not thinking that the director would actually reveal the matter.

“True Immortal Shang is no outsider...” Zhang Shun seemed to be explaining it to Gong Zhuo as he continued, “The real reason such a huge fuss was kicked up was that a third of the World Origin Source connected to the Tong Continent had disappeared!”

“True Immortal Shang, you also come from an Essence World and understand that the world origin of our world is far more powerful compared to lower worlds. It’s not easy to steal so much of it in such a short amount of time! The only thing that can do something like that is an Innate Holy Artifact!”

Shang Xia didn’t know shit about an Innate Holy Artifact, but he had to play along. He remained silent as he allowed Gong Zhuo to continue.

“It’s unbelievable for something like that to happen, but the Tong Continent is weakened. The biggest suspect we have of stealing the world origin is actually Mister Lu who disappeared, and the escaping sect master. If we find them, we might be able to obtain an Innate Holy Artifact!”

“An Innate Holy Artifact is the key to establishing a Dao Field, and in our Essence Xing World, we only have 3 great Dao Fields. All of them contain the foundation of the dynasties and the strength of our Essence Xing World!”