Chapter 1547: The Tong Continent and The Secret Talisman Gate

After so many years, Shang Xia once again entered the Tong Continent of the Essence Xing World.

When Shang Xia first infiltrated the Essence Xing World, he made a significant impact in the Tong Continent, even forcing the Qi Dynasty Emperor to reveal his cultivation at the grand completion stage of the Martial Void Realm, indirectly altering the subsequent political landscape of the Qi Dynasty.

This time, upon his return to the Tong Continent, Shang Xia immediately noticed the changes that had occurred.

Originally, the Tong Continent was on the edge of the Qi Dynasty when they were at their peak strength. Now, with the passing of Sage Qi Jing and the Qi Dynasty Emperor failing to advance to the Martial Emptiness Realm in time, leaving him no choice but to enter seclusion without a care for the world, the Qi Dynasty's influence had significantly dwindled. Their territories were reduced to 4 continents centered around their Dao Field, with the Tong Continent no longer under their control.

Guanxing City, originally the capital of the Tong Continent, had changed rulers. However, instead of declining, they became even more prosperous!

Upon Shang Xia's return to Guanxing City, he quickly sensed the peculiar situation of the city, which masked a covert struggle for power among various factions.

After the Qi Dynasty's withdrawal from the Tong Continent, the power vacuum was rapidly filled by major sects from neighboring regions.

Simply wandering through Guanxing City allowed Shang Xia to gauge the current dynamics.

In essence, the Tong Continent, a highly desirable territory, had been swiftly claimed by the Phoenix Cry Sect whose power in both the Tong Continent and Guanxing City was undoubtedly the most formidable.

Besides the Fengming Sect, the Ancient Gorge Sect from the neighboring Huang Continent had also extended its reach into the Tong Continent, firmly occupying nearly a quarter of the region and maintaining a significant presence in Guanxing City.

Apart from these two major sects, a significant force in the Tong Continent was also familiar to Shang Xia, the Secret Talisman Gate.

Once a hidden sect, it was dragged into the limelight following Shang Xia's assassination attempt on the Qi Dynasty Envoy in the Tong Continent, leading to a joint siege by various powers that left the sect devastated, with several True Immortals perishing and the high-level True Immortal sect leader barely escaping.

Now, amidst the dramatic shifts in continents of the Essence Xing World, the once-hidden sect had finally stepped into the public eye.

However, unlike the Phoenix Cry Sect and Ancient Gorge Sect, which merely sought to expand their influence, the Secret Talisman Gate had established its foundation in the Tong Continent.

Despite the sect leader's strong presence, the loss of mid to high-level experts left the Secret Talisman Gate in a state of power consolidation. Over the years since the Secret Talisman Gate became prominent, the sect leader had primarily focused on training the next generation of disciples.

Besides the 3 main powers, numerous smaller factions also occupied the Tong Continent, leading to a region rich with minor conflicts. Of course, there was no major upheavals.

Regardless of the changes in the Tong Continent's situation, Guanxing City remained a neutral hub recognized by all factions. It was currently the most diverse place in the Tong Continent.

After entering the Tong Continent, Shang Xia noticed that despite the significant depletion of world origin caused by his previous absorption of a third of the Tong Continent's World Origin Source, the density of heaven and earth qi had substantially recovered.

However, that was what appeared on the surface. It was only a portion of the story. To truly understand the Tong Continent's recovery, one had to observe the World Origin Source.

As an outsider, Shang Xia's contact with the World Origin Source of the Tong Continent would inevitably alert the True Immortals in the continent.

He had no choice but to visit Guanxing City.

𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

As the administrative center of the Tong Continent, Guanxing City was the closest to the World Origin Source. During the Qi Dynasty's control, the envoy was able to use their seal to harness the power of the World Origin Source to greatly enhance their combat capabilities.

Right... It was the seal in Shang Xia’s hands.

Shang Xia was aware that since the Qi Dynasty lost control over the Tong Continent, the various powers that filled the power vacuum likely tampered with and altered some of the mechanisms set by the Qi Dynasty. That might mean that the seal wouldn’t be able to function as perfectly as before.

Fortunately for Shang Xia, he didn’t need to stir up the World Origin Source again. All he had to do was to place his Spirit Calming Vessel deep in their world.

When he finally arrived outside the Envoy's Manor again, Shang Xia realized that things might be more complicated than anticipated.

The old Envoy Manor had been transformed into the current Lord's Manor of Guanxing City. The massive structure not only had a completely new set of defensive formations and restrictions but also housed a True Immortal. It was impossible for Shang Xia to infiltrate it any longer.

"How strong is the True Immortal residing in the Lord's Manor?" Shang Xia wondered as he lingered outside. After a moment of contemplation, he decided to force his way in.

The reason was simple: since his use of the External Avatar as a diversion had been discovered, it wouldn't take long for the Chen Dynasty Emperor and others to realize the Star Observatory in the Cheng Continent had been destroyed.

In such circumstances, even if Shang Xia did nothing, it would only be a matter of time before the Chen Dynasty Emperor and the Chen Dynasty, with their power and resources, would locate him.

Rather than waiting to be hunted down, he decided to take his chances.

After reaching his decision, Shang Xia flipped his wrist, revealing a newly made rank six talisman in his left hand and a jade seal in his right.

"Good thing I kept this seal instead of breaking it down for research," Shang Xia thought to himself.

He weighed the jade seal in his right hand before flinging the talisman into the Lord's Manor.

This talisman was one of two Secret Void Brilliance Talismans Shang Xia had crafted.

Its design was derived from the remains of the Yuhai Sect, and it came from the Spirit Dawn World of the Essence Ling Heavenly Field.

The talisman was particularly effective in breaking through defensive formations, making it one of the most valuable and complex rank six talismans Shang Xia had mastered, second only to the Variant Talisman and the Myriad Tinted Cloud Talisman.

As the talisman struck the Lord's Manor, a dome-shaped defensive barrier appeared in the skies above. From this barrier, a phoenix made entirely of heaven and earth qi materialized, seemingly ready to shatter the Secret Void Brilliance Talisman which had already become a ray of brilliant light.

Shang Xia's gaze sharpened as he observed the defenses. While the powers occupying the Lord’s Manor couldn't harness the World Origin Source to the extent of the Qi Dynasty's envoy, they clearly also wielded a portion of its might.

However, before the phoenix could take flight, the brilliant light already slammed into it.

Wherever the light passed, the phoenix was erased from existence. Its head, half of its neck, and part of its left wing disappeared.

As the light poured onto the creature, it cut through the defensive barrier around the manor.

Although the light continued to shrink and progressed slower through the barrier, the protective screen visibly weakened.

Not far away, Shang Xia stared at the other parts of the manor in shock.

As more and more energy concentrated to block the Secret Void Brilliance Talisman, the protective screen around the other parts of the manor became as thin as paper.

"Hmm, so this is what they meant by being adept at breaking defensive formations..." Shang Xia muttered to himself.

He stepped forward and reached the front of the Lord's Manor, then simply pushed open the gate. It was only covered by a thin layer of barrier and it couldn’t stop the mighty True Immortal. Taking a single step, he walked straight in the front door.