Chapter 1539: Essence Xing World and the Spirit Calming Vessel

"How is the situation in Essence Xing World now? Is contact with the Wanyun Association still smooth?" After sitting down, Shang Xia asked his External Avatar.

The External Avatar thought for a moment and said, "The situation with the Wanyun Association seems to have calmed down, and communication with Star Beast Nest No.2 has been re-established, but..."

"Just say it!" Shang Xia could extract memories from his External Avatar’s mind, but he chose to have a mutual exchange instead.

His External Avatar arranged his thoughts again before speaking, "In recent years, it’s not the Wanyun Association but the Chen Dynasty that we've been trading with frequently."

"This is not really a surprise, given the large influence of the Chen Dynasty. Moreover, from the information gathered by our merchant fleets, during the internal strife in Essence Xing World, although the Chen Dynasty’s scheme ultimately did not succeed, their strength wasn’t affected in any way. The other major powers suffered losses during their internal conflict, including the Wanyun Association which could be considered the initiator. Although they preserved their heritage and their foundations, they have been under pressure from the 3 dynasties and are having a tough time."

Shang Xia listened carefully to his External Avatar’s account, nodding occasionally and interjecting with questions, roughly clarifying the recent situation in the Essence Xing World.

Overall, the internal strife in the Essence Xing World, partly due to foreign intervention, led to a decline in its overall strength.

Of course, Shang Xia was a main factor contributing to their decline. His reckless plundering of world origin in Dynasties Corner took so much world origin out of the Essence Xing World it was incredible.

Originally, the Essence Xing World had 3 Sages. After the strongest Sage, Qi Jing, passed on due to old age, his successor, the Qi Dynasty Emperor, tried to ascend. However, due to the Chen Dynasty Emperor’s interference, he suffered serious injuries.

Even their Dao Field was damaged and the energy left behind by Qi Jing’s death had been scattered to the world.

With no other choice, the Qi Dynasty Emperor could only hide in his Qi Dynasty Dao Field like a tortoise and start cultivating diligently. The Qi Dynasty couldn’t even care about the expanding influence of the other factions.

He had been in seclusion for 2 to 3 years now, and there weren’t any signs of an advancement to the Martial Emptiness Realm.

As for the Chen Dynasty Emperor... His hopes of advancement were even more remote unless he was willing to give up his method of ascension which allowed him to break the shackles of the world.

However, judging from the Chen Dynasty’s situation over the past years, the Chen Dynasty Emperor looked like he hadn’t given up.

To summarize the state of the Essence Xing World, they still had 2 Sages at their helm and 3 Dao Fields. The only questionable part is the extent of influence the 3 Dynasties have over the rest of the world.

"So you think that in recent years, the increasingly close interactions with the Chen Dynasty, and less frequent contact with the Wanyun Association and Qingling Palace is because the dynasty has been suppressing them or they might be consolidating their strength to recuperate... Also, the Chen Dynasty Emperor is still trying his advancement method and is gathering all the resources he requires?”

After a moment of serious thought, his External Avatar nodded solemnly. "That’s my assessment."

Shang Xia thought for a moment and asked, "Have you seen True Immortal Gong Zhuo from the Wanyun Association in the past few years?"

The Wanyun Association’s visits had decreased, but they had not stopped entirely.

His External Avatar shook his head in response. "True Immortal Gong Zhuo now heads the Wanyun Association and needs to stay in their base of operations. He might be stretched too thin...”

That was a legitimate reason.

"Since the Wanyun Association previously suffered heavy losses, with almost all of its high-level leaders decimated, since True Immortal Gong didn’t come personally, those who came should be people we’re not familiar with, right?” Shang Xia asked softly.

His External Avatar seemed to catch Shang Xia’s drift and continued, "Not just the Wanyun Association, but the True Immortals from the Qingling Palace who come here are also new faces."

Shang Xia fell silent for some time.

“Do you think they’re plotting something?” Shang Xia’s External Avatar paused for a second and asked again, “Is this related to the Heaven Observation Field?”

In a deep voice, Shang Xia mumbled, “It’s not surprising if they’re scheming against the Heaven Observation Field. After all, the Chen Dynasty has never tried hiding the fact. I’m just afraid they now have a different purpose, like plotting their revenge!”

Shang Xia’s External Avatar was momentarily stunned. "Even if they grasp your identity, how can they be sure you’ll fall for it and track their True Immortals back to their world? If anyone were to steal so much world origin, they wouldn’t think of going back, right?”

Shang Xia thought for a moment and sighed, "They might be trying to set up their entire operation hoping that I’ll fall for it, but with our current circumstances, I really want to make a trip to the Essence Xing World.”

"Is it for the Spirit Calming Vessel?" Shang Xia’s External Avatar asked.

Shang Xia nodded. "Exactly! I have already placed 2 Spirit Calming Vessels, in the World Origin Source of the Azure Ruling World and Essence Du World. I got Song Zhen to bring a rank five Talisman Seal to stay in Star Beast Nest No.1 to see if he can find a chance to place the vessel in the Spirit Faith World. If I can place another in the Essence Xing World, more than half of them would be in place.”

In a low voice, Shang Xia’s External Avatar growled, "You want to risk another trip to the Essence Xing World? Why not calm down and choose Spirit Worlds that are less risky?"

In a helpless voice, Shang Xia grumbled, “But I don’t have more time! In the Heaven Observation Field, the Star Origin Lord is about to completely replace the Essence Ping World’s Will, and Zhuo Gudao should have already become a Sage. I don’t have time to head out of the Star Curtain to place the other Soul Calming Vessels.”

Turning serious, his External Avatar nodded. “Right, so what do you need me to do now?”

...

In the blink of an eye, over a month had passed. Shang Xia personally took charge of the Star Beast Nest and even though he didn’t run into a merchant fleet from the Wanyun Association, he encountered a Star Ship from the Qingling Palace.

Thus, a jade slip personally written by Shang Xia was handed to a True Immortal from the Qingling Palace. He requested the True Immortal to hand it to Gong Zhuo in order to invite him to meet.

The True Immortal from the Qingling Palace readily agreed. After completing the trade, he took his leave.

Shang Xia’s External Avatar looked at the departing Star Ship before turning to the side and speaking to the empty spot beside him, "Will the contents of the jade slip be leaked?"

Shang Xia’s voice came from that empty spot, "Let’s hope not!"

Shang Xia’s External Avatar could tell Shang Xia was fairly certain the contents would be leaked from his tone...