Chapter 1448: The Real Behemoths

“I hope Brother Shang can help me to prevent the Chen Dynasty Emperor’s ascension! At the same time, you can protect the safety of your Spirit Luxuriant World!” Gong Zhuo didn’t bother to hide what he knew about Shang Xia. At the same time, he took a deep bow.

“There’s no need for that.” Shang Xia quickly tilted his body to the side to avoid the bow before helping Gong Zhuo up. He laughed, “Brother Gong, why are you learning from others and scaring yourself? How will this matter concern the safety of my world?”

Gong Zhuo looked at the smile on Shang Xia’s face that wasn’t really a smile and explained, “Brother Shang, why ask when you already know the answer? The Chen Dynasty Emperor is trying to reduce the karmic ties between him and the world in order to ascend, and the moment he succeeds, he will definitely set his sights on your Spirit Luxuriant World and the Heaven Observation Field.”

Shang Xia replied, “Wouldn’t the ascension of the Chen Dynasty Emperor assist your Essence Xing World in overcoming the strange Heavenly Field state you’re in? Why would you try to stop it? Wouldn’t that mean that you’re going against your world?”

To that, Gong Zhuo growled in a low voice, “The Chen Dynasty Emperor’s success might be a benefit to the Essence Xing World, but not to my Wanyun Association! Furthermore, the moment he ascends and helps the growth of our world, how much benefit would we be able to gain? The biggest fist calls the shots and if he really succeeds, we might not even be able to protect ourselves.”

“The Chen Dynasty already has a Sage. They have tons of experts, and the Chen Dynasty Emperor is at the grand completion stage of the Martial Void Realm. If not to reduce the karmic ties he has with your world, he might have already tried to ascend. Even though your cultivation isn’t bad, even with the support of the Wanyun Association and my help, wouldn’t we be powerless before the mighty dynasty?” Shang Xia frowned.

In a serious tone, Gong Zhuo continued, “How can my Wanyun Association be the only one thinking about this? Actually, the moment the Chen Dynasty Emperor ascends, there will be people much more nervous than us!”

“Are you talking about the Qi Dynasty?” Shang Xia asked after a short moment of silence.

Even though he sounded like he was asking a question, he seemed pretty certain.

Gong Zhuo nodded with a smile on his face. “Indeed... I can’t hide anything from you, Brother Shang. Sage Qi Jing’s lifespan is about to end and the Qi Dynasty Emperor revealed his cultivation to be at the grand completion stage of the Martial Void Realm, he is unable to take the final step. The Qi Dynasty’s Dao Field will definitely be a target for the Chen Dynasty Emperor. Once he offers an entire Dao Field to the world as a sacrifice, he would be able to reduce the risk of failure of his ascension to the very least. It’s much more effective than offering Elysiums, Holy Lands, or Mysterious Worlds.”

Shang Xia nodded while deep in thought. After some time, he muttered, “In that case, the Qi Dynasty Dao Field would be the Chen Dynasty Emperor’s target in order to weaken his binding to the world... If the Qi Dynasty Emperor is unable to protect the Dao Field, he will also lose the strongest support he has to break through to the Martial Emptiness Realm. Also, with the loss of their Dao Field, the Qi Dynasty will also cease to exist...”

“That is exactly why the 2 dynasties would be going head to head. All we need to do is to help to restrain a portion of the Chen Dynasty’s strength.” Gong Zhuo concluded.

However, Shang Xia asked another question. “What would happen if the Sage of the Chen Dynasty interfered?”

Gong Zhuo seemed to have expected the question and he replied extremely confidently, “It’s a battle among True Immortals and their Sage wouldn’t interfere easily. Also, there is another Sage in our world even if Sage Qi Jing passes. He won’t be willing to watch a second Sage born in the Chen Dynasty.”

Unlike Gong Zhuo, Shang Xia wasn’t so optimistic. They hadn’t reached the level of those beings and none of them knew how experts at that level thought. How could they predict what those experts would do?

Shang Xia also had a strong premonition that if they carried out their plan, they would suffer huge setbacks.

Of course, Shang Xia wouldn’t reject Gong Zhuo’s request right away. From a certain perspective, stopping the Chen Dynasty Emperor’s ascension would also benefit his world and the Heaven Observation Field.

He knew he had to be extremely careful now that he was dealing with an Essence World. He had to retreat at the perfect time and even if there were great benefits sitting in front of him, he couldn’t get greedy. He understood that he had to be careful above all else. No matter which factions were fighting, he was still an outsider!

“Since that’s the case, we can start planning.” Gong Zhuo revealed a look of joy after hearing how Shang Xia didn’t outright reject his plan. “With Brother Shang’s involvement, we will definitely be able to achieve great results!”

As a fifth tier True Immortal and the person in charge of the Wanyun Association, he was more than qualified to take part in such a massive undertaking.

Due to the damage they suffered when establishing the Wanyun Continent, the Wanyun Association was only left with an Elysium True Immortal and 2 first tier True Immortals. Even though Gong Zhuo was a fifth tier True Immortal, if he took part in the operations alone, he might not be able to gain great benefits. However, if he obtained Shang Xia’s help who took part in their name, the outcome might be totally different.

Even in the Essence Xing World, there would only be 3 to 4 factions that would be able to send out 2 high-level True Immortals at once. Not to mention if their high-level True Immortals consisted of a fifth tier True Immortal and a suspected sixth tier expert. No one in the Essence Xing World would dare to look down on them.

As for Shang Xia being suppressed by the World’s Will because of his identity... The large banner surrounding him after he entered the Wanyun Continent was enough to counter the suppression to a great extent.

He would even be able to transform his aura to pretend to be an aboriginal expert of the Essence Xing World. As long as he didn’t go all out in a battle, his disguise wouldn’t be destroyed.

Also, there was something else...

Shang Xia played with the Magnificent Talisman Records in his hand and asked casually, “Did Director Zhang really tell you to hand this to me without any other conditions?”

“Brother Shang, I believe that Director Zhang has already given you the inheritance of the Myriad Tinted Cloud Talisman and the way to craft the talisman paper we use, right? Other than not passing the slip to anyone else and imparting the knowledge within, you can do as you please.” Gong Zhuo forced a chuckle.

“Oh? I see. Director Zhang is really generous!” Shang Xia played with the jade slip in his hand and felt Zhang Shun’s sincerity through it.

After talking for such a long time, all Gong Zhuo wanted was to pull Shang Xia over to his side and make use of his strength.

Shang Xia wasn’t unwilling to let others make use of his strength. As Gong Zhuo analyzed, stopping the Chen Dynasty Emperor’s ascension would greatly reduce the threat to the Heaven Observation Field. However, he wasn’t stupid enough to be made use of for free.

The Magnificent Talisman Records was something Zhang Shun used to compensate Shang Xia, and it had nothing to do with Gong Zhuo’s invitation to challenge the Chen Dynasty.

Obtaining benefits was what mattered at the end of the day. What was more, Shang Xia would have to take a huge risk when taking part in the operation.

Gong Zhuo knew that it would be impossible to get Shang Xia to help him for free, but he didn’t know how to entice Shang Xia. Eventually, he could only grit his teeth and mumble, “Brother Shang, what will it take for you to help us?”

Shang Xia laughed in response, “Brother Gong, does your Wanyun Association possess rank seven inheritances? I mean those that include the advancement formula...”

Gong Zhuo shook his head without hesitation. “Brother Shang, please don’t joke around. Even without mentioning whether we have rank seven inheritances, even if we do, we can’t use it to make a deal like this.”

It was a casual question, and seeing how adamant Gong Zhuo was, he decided to no longer speak of it. Instead, he continued, “Brother Shang, what about the secret art that allows your city to float in the air?”

“This...” Gong Zhuo revealed a conflicted expression.

Shang Xia broke out into laughter again. “There’s no need to worry about it. Brother Gong doesn't have to take me so seriously.”

However, Gong Zhuo knew that he had already rejected Shang Xia’s request once. If he did it again, the relationship between them would most likely sour, and he also guessed that Shang Xia had been after the secret art to establish a floating city the entire time.

The Spirit Luxuriant World and our Essence Xing World aren’t even in the same Heavenly Field... So what if I reveal this secret?

Gong Zhuo thought for some time and he reached his hand out to stop Shang Xia from speaking further. “Wait. Brother Shang, I can provide the secret art to craft a floating city. However, you need to swear an oath that the secret art will only stay in your faction, never to be revealed to others.”

Shang Xia burst out laughing instantly. “Of course. How can I spread such a secret art so openly? The fewer people know about it, the better it will be for me!”