Chapter 1517: The Lingering Fear From the Spatial Vortex

During this journey to the Spirit Frost World, while it seemed to achieve the goal of distracting many high-level spiritual beast kings from focusing on the Azure Ruling World, for Shang Xia personally, it felt like he had gained nothing.

As the Star Ship entered the chaotic streams heading back to the Azure Ruling World, Song Zhen and Xin Lu noticed that Shang Xia didn't seem very spirited. He even hid in his cabin for long periods without coming out.

It was only when Xin Lu, having finally discovered something, boldly knocked on Shang Xia's cabin door that they found he had been trying to refine something. When they peeked inside, they noticed that there were brushes, talisman ink, and inkstones sitting within. It looked like he was making talismans.

"What is it?" Shang Xia's aura was still as deep as the ocean, but he looked somewhat tired.

"Through recent observations in the void of the Spirit Frost World, combined with earlier conclusions from the void of the Azure Ruling World, we can almost certainly assert that there exist other worlds in this stretch of space affected by the spatial vortex. However, locating them will likely be difficult, requiring extensive observation," Xin Lu reported recent findings from hovering at the edge of the Spirit Frost World's calm space.

"Oh?" Shang Xia's expression suddenly brightened a little. “Why will it be difficult to locate them?”

Xin Lu explained, "It's due to the influence of the spatial vortex. Many conventional stargazing arts display various degrees of inaccuracies when applied, and the patterns are very difficult to grasp. Of course, there are also reasons why our observational methods are too primitive. If only we had a Star Observatory..."

Finding a Star Observatory where they were was naturally impossible.

Even if Xin Lu wanted to construct one, Shang Xia was unlikely to agree.

After some contemplation, Shang Xia asked in a low voice, "So, what do you think the situation is like for these worlds affected by the spatial vortex?"

Xin Lu responded without hesitation, "The likelihood of these worlds being like the Spirit Frost World is very small. The chance of them being like the Azure Ruling World is not much greater. They might just be Barbaric Worlds or just Earth Stars with some mortal life.”

Shang Xia nodded, "I understand. If those worlds weren't so small, they wouldn't be so greatly affected by the spatial vortex."

After a slight pause, Shang Xia looked at Xin Lu and continued, "Gather your observations and findings and tell them to Yan Ming. We will return before heading back to the Chaotic Sea of Stars. After that, we will head back to the Heaven Observation Field. We stayed in this area for too long...”

After giving his instructions, Shang Xia wanted to refocus on what he was working on, but suddenly realized that Xin Lu was still standing there.

"Is there something else?" Shang Xia asked, somewhat surprised.

Xin Lu smiled, "You seem to be in a bad mood. True Immortal Song and I didn't dare to ask further, but since everyone on board came from our You Continent, they are quite worried about the state you’re in...”

"Oh," Shang Xia looked around him before laughing softly, "It's really nothing. It’s just that advancing to the Seventh Order seems harder than I anticipated. I am currently trying to create some artifacts to store my soul, but so far, I haven't found the right approach."

Hearing that there were no serious problems, Xin Lu quickly took her leave.

Seventh Order... What has that got to do with me? Can I even help to do anything for someone preparing to reach that level?

For a Martial Dipper Realm cultivator who hadn’t refined her third fate dipper, there was no difference between the Martial Void Realm and Martial Emptiness Realm. She couldn’t understand either and they were too far out of her reach at the moment.

As for Shang Xia’s artifacts... From how he was unable to retrieve his Heaven Supporting Jade Pillar from the Azure Ruling World, Xin Lu decided to forget everything.

Within a few days, the ship passed through the chaotic streams and returned to the void around the Azure Ruling World.

After informing the Ying Brothers about his experiences in the Spirit Frost World, Shang Xia proposed to leave.

Naturally, they were immensely grateful and tried to keep him back a few times, but Shang Xia had already made up his mind to leave. Aside from Yan Ming who was still a Stargazer and some experts who wished to train themselves in the Azure Ruling World, the others boarded the Star Ships and Spirit Ark, setting off for the spatial vortex.

"We made a useless trip, but Zhu Nang gained quite a lot this time in the Azure Ruling World!"

During the return trip to the Chaotic Star Sea, Song Zhen briefed Shang Xia about the achievements from their recent journey to the Azure Ruling World.

Zhu Nang also chimed in, "The Azure Ruling World is essentially an undeveloped world. The real powers there are the native spiritual creatures and they make very little use of their resources. They mostly grow stronger with time. The Twin Star Pirates are short-handed at the moment and they are in urgent need of resources to recover and strengthen themselves. They are unable to fully use the world's resources. It is the best time for us to enter...”

"Also, we managed to get some rare materials from the Azure Ruling World and we will definitely be able to make a killing. If we return and purchase a lot of resources the Twin Star Pirates need before sending it back to them, we should be able to get another batch of rare resources. This cycle is not an opportunity that comes often. Once the Twin Star Pirates get through this difficult period, it should be impossible to harvest rare resources from the Azure Ruling World ever again."

Shang Xia quietly listened, and after the two had finished reporting, he looked at Song Zhen. "After we return to the Ruined Market of the Sea of Stars, Zhu Nang will deal with the merchant group. You will come back to the Heaven Observation Field with me.”

Song Zhen nodded calmly. "Yes!"

Zhu Nang was somewhat startled, feeling a mix of secret delight and a touch of guilt, "How... how could I possibly take on such a responsibility?!"

Shang Xia paid no mind to Zhu Nang's complex emotions. "I may need to reassign some of the personnel here. You can take the remaining members and focus on trading with the Azure Ruling World for the foreseeable future.”

Zhu Nang finally realized that Shang Xia had important matters to attend to and he brought Song Zhen away because of his cultivation. As a first tier True Immortal, he was only capable of maintaining the operations of the merchant group.

Xin Lu entered to make another report. "The fleet has already passed through the chaotic streams and we are now above the spatial vortex."

Shang Xia raised his eyebrow before revealing a look of interest. "Let's go, let's take a look together!"

Song Zhen and Zhu Nang, having already witnessed the grandeur of the spatial vortex, naturally agreed to accompany him.

Although he heard the description of the spatial vortex and how massive it was, mentally preparing himself the best he could, he was still shocked by its majesty.

He wasn’t the only one. Song Zhen and Zhu Nang might have seen it before, but they couldn’t help but get absorbed in the stunning scene before them.

After a long while, Shang Xia turned to Xin Lu behind him and asked, "How long will it take for us to cross over the spatial vortex from above?"

Xin Lu thought for a moment and replied, "Based on the time it took for True Immortal Song and True Immortal Zhu to escort the fleet over, 3 to 5 days at most.”

Shang Xia nodded in response. "When will we be closest to the center of the spatial vortex?"

"In two days." Xin Lu replied.

"Good!" Shang Xia continued, "Remember to notify me in advance when we are approaching."

In his cabin, Shang Xia refocused his attention on the Crimson Soul Tablet.

After such a long time, only the first face of the tablet was filled with words. Every other face was blank.

It wasn’t because the content of the rank seven advancement formula was difficult to deduce. After all, the main medicine was already known and everything else would only be easier to comprehend.

That would mean there was only 1 other reason the Crimson Soul Tablet wasn’t deducing the rest. The Crimson Soul Tablet was out of world origin!

He didn’t know if the restoration of the Crimson Soul Tablet had already reached a certain state and needed higher-level world origin, but when Shang Xia infiltrated the Spirit Frost World earlier, he tried to absorb world origin, but the Crimson Soul Tablet didn’t seem interested at all.

The Spirit Frost World was about to reach the limit of a Spirit World and even in the Heaven Observation Field, it would be comparable to the Spirit Abundance World or Spirit Mammoth World.

Reality proved to be a cruel bitch. If Shang Xia wanted to complete his rank seven advancement formula, he could only absorb world origin from Essence Worlds!

Also... Shang Xia tried to place the copper paperweight he refined with his inner qi into the World Origin Source of the Spirit Frost World. He split off a portion of his soul into it while sending it deep into the world, but it ended in failure.

The Spirit Frost World was still too close to the Azure Ruling World, and the requirement was for the worlds to be from different Heavenly Fields. As such... Shang Xia guessed that they might truly be from the same region.

It was why Shang Xia asked Xin Lu to notify him two days later when they were approaching the center of the spatial vortex.

He wanted to observe up close the spatial vortex that supposedly formed from the destruction of an Essence World, and whether the worlds that were being drawn to it came from the same Heavenly Field.

As for the other reason... After entering the edge of the spatial vortex, Shang Xia faintly sensed through the Crimson Soul Tablet traces of world origin from different worlds converging.

Through them, Shang Xia could tell that there were many worlds of different levels. He could also tell apart the strands of world origin.

2 days passed in a flash. When Shang Xia received Xin Lu's notification and returned to the deck of the ship to look down at the center of the vortex, the Crimson Soul Tablet suddenly sensed a faint but brand new presence of world origin.

Shang Xia and the Crimson Soul Tablet almost instinctively began to absorb the world origin, which most certainly came from an Essence World.

He didn't even have time to ponder why there would be world origin near the center of the vortex, but a profound terror soon swept through his body. It felt as though calamity was about to descend.

With his mind jolting to attention, Shang Xia stopped the Crimson Soul Tablet from absorbing any world origin and he looked into the depths of it. It was as though he saw a slumbering beast hidden deep within.

"Let's go!" Shang Xia urged in a low voice, "Let's leave here quickly!"

With that, Shang Xia immediately turned and went back into the cabin, leaving Song Zhen and Xin Lu, who hadn't yet reacted from his sudden change.

Inside the cabin, Shang Xia only managed to calm himself after some time.

He was not an inexperienced fool. He had even seen Sages more than once, and he even fought them in some way. However... Even among the Sages, none had frightened Shang Xia so much.

One had to note that when Shang Xia faced those Sages, he hadn’t reached the grand completion stage of the Six Direction Realm. They were terrifying existences to him, but they paled in comparison to what he felt.

Even when he accidentally entered the Essence Ping World and faced the manifestation of the Star Origin Lord’s soul that was trying to take over the World’s Will, he never felt anything like it!

Of course, what he encountered back then was merely a part of the Star Origin Lord’s consciousness that had awakened. It possessed the strength of a high-level True Immortal at best.

However, from his current understanding, even if the Star Origin Lord replaces the World’s Will and enters the Eighth Order of the Primary Realm, the strength he would possess might not even match up to the existence Shang Xia felt in the center of the Spatial Vortex earlier.

Could there be another reason for the formation of the spatial vortex other than the collapse of an Essence World?

Could the unknown existence be residing in the depths of the spatial vortex?!

Shang Xia wondered to himself. It also seemed to explain why the vortex existed for such a long time and was trying to drag different worlds into it.

Fortunately, when Shang Xia absorbed the world origin he discovered, he quickly felt the existence of the threat and stopped immediately. Otherwise... Everyone might have been swallowed the next instant, never to be seen again.

Xin Lu and Song Zhen didn't know what Shang Xia had just experienced, but after witnessing his reaction, they were terrified and hastily increased the fleet's speed to the limit without a care for the consumption costs.

Just 2 days after Shang Xia and the Star Ships left the spatial vortex, its rotation paused slightly. However, it quickly recovered and everything went back to normal.

Shang Xia’s eyes snapped open the second the spatial vortex stopped spinning and he turned to stare at it. He seemed to be able to peer into its depths and the very second his gaze landed on the center, he heard a soft sigh. It was as though a monstrous beast who was slumbering sniffled a little.

He wasn’t the only person who reacted. Every single expert in the Chaotic Sea of Stars that had reached the Martial Emptiness Realm turned to stare in the direction of the spatial vortex.