Chapter 1641: Reckless Ascension

On the Star Observatory in the Tongyou Elysium...

A transmission broke through the void and Ge Qingzhu reached out to grab it.

After reading the content of the transmission, his expression changed. Without waiting for Shang Xia or Dou Zhong to ask, he handed the talisman to Shang Xia while speaking in a low voice, “We received news from the Spirit Abundance World. Patriarch Kou is injured!”

"What?!" Dou Zhong couldn't help but exclaim, only to be silenced by a stern look from Shang Xia. He quickly lowered his voice and asked, "What happened? How did Patriarch Kou suffer the injury? How is he now? Where is he?”

"Stay calm!" Shang Xia's face remained composed, but his expression was notably grim as he passed the talisman to Dou Zhong. "This isn’t a transmission from Senior Sister Sun. That means that Patriarch Kou isn’t with our fleet...”

"So this transmission..." By then, Dou Zhong had regained his composure and had also read the content of the talisman. It didn’t mention Patriarch Kou’s whereabouts after he was injured. He frowned and guessed, “This came from the Spirit Observation World... Did it come from the Star Origin Dao Field?”

Neither Ge Qingzhu nor Shang Xia responded to his question. However, that basically confirmed his guess.

Ge Qingzhu eventually explained, "According to the content, Patriarch Kou managed to escape after he was attacked. However, the reason for his injury, his whereabouts, and his current condition were not mentioned. It seems like even the sender of the transmission isn’t clear.”

After thinking for a moment, Shang Xia said, “The person who sent the transmission might not be present that day. Or maybe, they weren’t in the immediate vicinity and failed to see what happened clearly.”

Ge Qingzhu added, "The transmission wasn't sent by someone from the 3 World Alliance, and we haven't received any news from the fleet where Sun Haiwei is. That can only mean that after Patriarch Kou’s escape, he neither joined up with our fleet or sought help from the other True Immortals of the alliance. Neither did he try to contact the sender of the transmission. There are only 2 possibilities. Either he has already found a place to recover, or he might have secretly returned to our Spirit Luxuriant World.”

Shang Xia immediately shook his head, his expression grave, "No, it can't be the latter."

Before Ge Qingzhu and Dou Zhong could ask why, Shang Xia said, "Don't you find it strange? If the sender is with the other True Immortals of the 3 World Alliance in the void around the Spirit Abundance World, why didn’t the 3 World Alliance mention Patriarch Kou’s injuries?”

Dou Zhong finally interjected, "Does Patriarch Kou not trust them? Hmmm... Could his injuries have something to do with them?”

Following his line of thought, Shang Xia quickly added, "If the other members of the 3 World Alliance truly cannot be trusted anymore, why would Patriarch Kou plan to return? His move would most definitely be anticipated by those with ulterior motives.”

Dou Zhong asked hastily, "Should we head out to support Patriarch Kou?!”

Ge Qingzhu dismissed his idea with a shake of his head. "That would likely be within their expectations as well. They might be lying in wait for us.”

Realizing his concerns were causing chaos, Dou Zhong tried to calm himself before asking again, "Then what should we do?"

Shang Xia thought for a moment and turned to Ge Qingzhu. "Patriarch Kou’s injuries are impossible to hide. News will get out sooner or later. What do you think the members of the 3 World Alliance will do?”

Ge Qingzhu thought for a moment and replied, "Since we can't hide it, we shouldn't try. Moreover, they'll invite you to rush to the Spirit Abundance World as soon as possible. It wouldn’t be just to find Patriarch Kou, but also to fill in their missing position. Without Patriarch Kou, their battle formation will be missing a crucial piece.”

Dou Zhong finally caught up with the conversation. He added, "After they deal with Patriarch Kou, they should plan to deal with you! Yeah... As long as either you or Patriarch Kou is around, our world won’t collapse. Only if both of you run into an accident will we no longer be considered a threat.”

Ge Qingzhu and Shang Xia both nodded, agreeing with Dou Zhong's assessment.

However, Dou Zhong soon thought of something and asked, “But... Are the Spirit Tinkle World and the Spirit Thistle World really behind this?”

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Ge Qingzhu didn’t even bother to think before sighing, “Patriarch Kou is no fool. How can someone with his wits be overwhelmed by the 2 worlds? There has to be other forces behind them... Those powers from outside the Heaven Observation Field might also be a part of it...”

Eventually, Shang Xia concluded, “Don’t you think this is too coincidental? In the Spirit Luxuriant Hall, all of you were confronted by the various factions of our world. Patriarch Kou also suffered some strange injury and disappeared around the Spirit Abundance World. If not for my return, how would all of you have dealt with the situation in the Spirit Luxuriant Hall that day?”

After thinking back to what happened that day, Ge Qingzhu and Dou Zhong revealed troubled expressions.

Feeling more and more agitated, Dou Zhong yelled, “There have to be some bastards working with outside forces! Zhang Xuansheng, Yang Taihe, Li Jidao... And perhaps even Liu Jingsheng has already colluded with those people! They might be trying to end Patriarch Kou once and for all!”

Shang Xia scoffed, "This scenario isn't unfamiliar. Remember when Patriarch Kou was nearly killed back then in our Azure Origin World? He lost control of his Fate Dippers and was nearly crippled...”

Ge Qingzhu sighed, "How could I forget? To this day, I shudder to think of it. Back then, our institution was on the brink of destruction. If we failed to handle it as carefully and perfectly as we did, none of us will exist today.”

"This is merely a repetition of that incident. Those 3 might have felt secure in the past, but as Patriarch Kou and I got stronger, they decided to strike first!” Shang Xia concluded.

In a helpless voice, Ge Qingzhu could only mumble, “All 3 of them possess their Elysiums. Now that something happened to Patriarch Kou, they would definitely be more cautious. After all... If we try to deal with them, the price we will have to pay will be too great! We might not even be able to afford dealing with them...”

Silence fell among them.

After a moment, Dou Zhong suddenly had an idea. "What about our fleet around the Spirit Abundance World? Could they be in danger? Should we recall them?”

"No!" Ge Qingzhu and Shang Xia said almost simultaneously.

After exchanging a glance, Ge Qingzhu explained, “Before dealing with Patriarch Kou and Shang Xia, our fleet won’t be in danger. In contrast... If we try to recall them now, they might run into danger immediately.”

Dou Zhong felt completely helpless. He might have reached the Martial Void Realm and become a True Immortal, but he felt that he wasn’t able to do anything! Getting increasingly reckless, he couldn’t help but yell, “What are we going to do next then?!”

Ge Qingzhu shot Shang Xia a helpless look.

Surprisingly, he was met with a strangely calm gaze. With both of them looking at him, Shang Xia mumbled, “Since things have already reached this state, I plan to initiate our world ascension immediately and start my breakthrough to the Seven Star Realm!”

Seeing their jaws slowly dropping as they wanted to say something, Shang Xia reached out his hand to stop them. “This is the simplest way to shatter the deadlock!”