Chapter 1577: Lock On Success!

Shang Xia had 2 goals for entering the Essence Ping World. The first was to steal world origin, and the second was to place his Spirit Calming Vessel to serve as a pivot for his future ascension to the Seven Star Realm.

As for investigating the internal situation of the Essence Ping World and testing the current state of the Star Origin Lord, these were merely secondary for Shang Xia.

Thus, the moment Shang Xia arrived in the Essence Ping World, his first task was to search for traces of the World Origin Source in order to establish a connection with it. Obviously, that required time.

However, the sudden appearance of the Star Origin Lord's clone still surprised him even though he was already expecting it.

His arrival was very likely to attract the attention of the Star Origin Lord, either due to his cultivation at the grand completion stage of the Six Direction Realm, his possession of the Star Origin Lord Robe, or both. As such, he was not surprised by the Star Origin Lord's response.

What he did not anticipate was how timely the Star Origin Lord's reaction was. At the same instance he composed himself after his infiltration, the clone arrived. Even though the clone lacked the aura of a Martial Emptiness Realm sage, he clearly possessed a spiritual and intellectual ability not seen in the clones fighting above the heavenly screen.

While conversing with the clone before him, Shang Xia felt as if he was truly facing the Star Origin Lord himself, and one can only imagine the pressure he felt.

Moreover, the appearance of this Star Origin Lord's clone also somewhat undermined Shang Xia's previous speculation that the Star Origin Lord was too preoccupied with competing with the World’s Will to pay attention to anything else.

However, as Shang Xia probed and communicated, he suddenly realized that the Star Origin Lord's clone maintained the aura of a grand completion stage True Immortal like himself and seemed to be secretly working on something.

If the clone of the Star Origin Lord had absolute control over the situation, why would it engage in seemingly attention-grabbing dialogue while secretly making preparations?

Shang Xia realized that both of them were fucking with each other. Both sides were dragging time out. He was searching for the World Origin Source while the clone was also doing something.

Regardless of what preparations were being made, the ultimate goal of the Star Origin Lord's clone would only be to deal with him.

Ah shit! He’s not sure he can take me on and he’s probably calling for help!

Shang Xia thought of a possibility. However, he didn’t understand how the clone’s actions could be so easily detected if he had the home field advantage?

Doubts arose again in Shang Xia's mind but were quickly dispelled.

That was because he detected the World Origin Source with the help of his Crimson Soul Tablet at that exact moment. It was partly thanks to the Star Origin Lord’s clone. The actions of the clone managed to reveal the flow of world origin which assisted Shang Xia’s efforts.

He quickly realized his mistake. Since he was speaking to the clone, his appearance should have already shown a connection to the World Origin Source.

The World Origin Source he was seeking was directly beneath him!

Since he located it, there was no need to buy time. After all... Was he really stupid enough to allow the other party to complete his preparations? That wasn’t how smart people fought...

Shang Xia made a decisive move, swinging the Spirit Abundance Banner in his left hand, which instantly weakened the repulsive and suppressive forces of the Essence Ping World’s Will against him. Simultaneously, he clenched his right fist and struck, sending the phantom of a fist punching through the void directly at the Star Origin Lord's clone.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

With his fist, he unleashed the third move of his Six Harmony Rod Technique, Void Emptiness!

The void around the clone started to twist, but before he could make his move, Shang Xia’s Void Emptiness countered it.

The Star Origin Lord's clone didn’t expect Shang Xia to attack so suddenly when they were still probing each other.

Though Shang Xia's sudden strike was unexpected, the clone did not take it seriously.

As the space around it was twisted, the clone felt that Shang Xia’s strike wouldn’t be able to touch him.

However, he was unaware that Shang Xia had anticipated possible outcomes when striking. He didn’t use Void Emptiness for him... It was specially aimed at dealing with the clone’s countermeasures.

The heavy layers of spatial folds before the Star Origin Lord's clone were pierced layer by layer. Shang Xia’s punch remained unaffected as it traveled at full speed towards the clone.

Only when it was about to arrive did the Star Origin Lord's clone realize he might have underestimated the young man before him. His skills seemed no worse than the other grand completion stage True Immortals he had seen before.

However... The clone felt that it was wishful thinking if Shang Xia could break his defenses and gain an advantage with a single punch.

The Star Origin Lord's clone reached forward and twisted the void before him. At the same time, he yelled, “Scatter!”

It was as though his words were a divine mandate as Shang Xia felt the space around him responding to the clone’s cries. The spatial folds around the clone started to break apart and turned the region into chaotic space that dissipated the energy contained in the punch.

The Star Origin Lord's clone's techniques were not limited to countering Shang Xia's attack.

The chaotic space transformed once again into spatial torrents that rushed at Shang Xia as though trying to swallow him whole.

Shang Xia's response was equally swift. The Star Origin Lord Robes fluttered on his back again and the energy of starlight gathered. His aura that was already at the peak of the Six Direction Realm increased once again. Letting go of the Spirit Abundance Banner, he placed both hands in front of him. A rod made from Six Direction Qi appeared in his hands. Without hesitation, he swung it downwards and caused a massive explosion. The earth beneath him shattered as everything around him started to shake. As debris was thrown into the air, they froze the next second. Be it the debris or the spatial torrent that was rushing at him, everything stopped.

He unleashed the fourth move of his Six Harmony Rod Technique, Void Seal!

The move was especially effective against spatial fluctuations. The spatial torrent that was created by the clone disappeared instantly. The twisted space also recovered.

Shang Xia’s Void Seal might be able to stop the clone’s attack, but it couldn’t stall the clone for a second.

A surge of world origin welled up from beneath the clone and the Star Origin Lord’s clone, who was just at the peak of the Martial Void Realm earlier, released the aura of a Martial Emptiness Realm Sage. the effects of Shang Xia’s Void Seal were broken instantly.

Facing the clone that had raised his cultivation to the Martial Emptiness Realm, Shang Xia wasn’t worried in the slightest. Instead, he showed an eager expression. That was because with how much world origin the clone was drawing from the world, he could easily determine the best place to start his thieving operation.