Chapter 1657: The Late Intervention and Exposed Identity

When a True Immortal attempts a breakthrough to the next level… How large was the resulting heavenly phenomenon? How strong would the impact be?

What about the ascension of a Spirit World?

Since Shang Xia forcefully initiated the ascension process, over 2 months had passed. Almost every one of importance in the Heaven Observation Field was aware of what was happening.

However, that was also what was strange. During the process, aside from Sage Gu Yi of the Essence Mine World who tried to intervene and take over Shang Xia’s body, no other high-level power within or outside the Heaven Observation Field attempted to interfere. At the very least, no one appeared around the Spirit Luxuriant World.

As for Gu Yi’s schemes, they not only failed miserably at Shang Xia’s hands but also inadvertently accelerated Shang Xia’s progression to the Seven Star Realm. It was a clear case of losing the Stars realm, a clear case of going out for wool and coming home shorn.

Were the Star Origin Dao Field, Spirit Mammoth World, Spirit Abundance World, Essence Ping World, and even the other Spirit Worlds really willing to watch as Shang Xia completed the breakthrough process, forming another powerful adversary?

Could they possibly be so magnanimous?

Naturally, it was impossible!

In fact, right when Shang Xia started the ascension process, the other Spirit Worlds immediately felt the change.

Such phenomena naturally led the high-level True Immortals within their respective worlds to start looking for clues. The news quickly reached those who had the qualifications to know what had happened.

However, almost all the parties who received the news reacted in unison. All of them thought that the youngster in the Spirit Luxuriant World was simply courting death.

And not just his own death; he seemed intent on dragging the entire world down with him.

Is he planning to drag the world down with him rather than suffering with them?

If any fully developed Spirit World had the ability to ascend, wouldn’t the Spirit Mammoth World and Spirit Abundance World have already tried? It had been hundreds of years. They had long since produced many talented individuals.

Yet, for 1,000 years, only the largely unknown Essence Ping World stood at the level of an Essence World in the Heaven Observation Field.

That was also why the high-level powers decided to sit and wait. They were expecting to watch as the young True Immortal of the Spirit Luxuriant World failed.

Another reason for their wait-and-see attitude was the intensification of conflicts for the Essence Ping World by the various worlds and their backers from outside the Heaven Observation Field. The conflict had already reached a critical point.

Compared to focusing on a world destined to fail in its ascent and a reckless young man doomed to achieve nothing, the benefits of an already-existing Essence World seemed far more enticing.

However, the subsequent changes in the Spirit Luxuriant World once again confounded the high-level cultivators of the various factions.

First, over a month after the world began its ascension process, another distinctly personal celestial phenomenon burst forth from within.

It was then that the high-level powers finally realized that the young True Immortal of the Spirit Luxuriant World didn’t synchronize his breakthrough process with the world ascension.

That was somewhat baffling, especially to experts like Zhuo Gudao, Xiong Xin, Cang Xuangao, Yuan Chan, and Zou Shanhai. None of them were ignorant of what it took to breakthrough to the Martial Emptiness Realm. Shang Xia's actions seemed utterly illogical.

Yet, the fact that he was still persisting without showing signs of failure was nothing short of miraculous.

Eventually, the high-level cultivators of the major forces realized that the young True Immortal from the Spirit Luxuriant World might not be acting recklessly after all. He might actually know what he was doing!

However, despite this, they didn’t believe that Shang Xia had any chance of succeeding.

After all, in their view, the Spirit Luxuriant World had only been a Spirit World for a short time. Their foundations were far too lacking. Even if the young True Immortal was as talented as the Star Origin Lord, he wouldn’t be able to fill the gap in the amount of world origin his world lacked.

Also… They discovered that Sage Gu Yi of the Essence Ming World had made his move!

It seemed the young man was doomed.

Those powers deeply linked with foreign forces had already learned from their backers that Gu Yi of the Essence Ming World was not to be trifled with. He was a figure formidable even among the upper echelons of martial experts.

Naturally, his personal strength wasn’t the only thing they feared. His cunning and deep strategic capabilities were also a part of his strength.

With such a figure intervening, how could the young True Immortal from the Spirit Luxuriant World possibly survive?

Yet, reality once again confounded everyone.

The celestial phenomena caused by the young man’s breakthrough to the Seventh Order continued. It even became more obvious.

The Spirit Luxuriant World’s ascension also did not halt but instead accelerated slightly.

News from foreign powers indicated that Gu Yi seemed to have temporarily ceased his probing of the Heaven Observation Field, presumably due to some losses incurred during his previous intrusions!

The intelligence caused an uproar among the high-level cultivators of the various worlds within the Heaven Observation Field, with many unable to believe that it was possible for the situation to take such a huge turn.

However, when strategies against the Essence Ping World temporarily stalled, and high-level experts from the various factions started to take Shang Xia’s breakthrough and the Spirit Luxuriant World seriously, they faced a dilemma when organizing their forces to interfere. They wondered how strong they had to be in order to surpass what Sage Gu Yi of the Essence Ming World did.

In the earlier part of the 37th year of the Spirit Luxuriant Calendar, the Spirit Observation World was the first to interfere with the ascension process. Their forces were led by fifth tier True Immortal Yuan Yan, and 6 other True Immortals in a joint battle formation.

Although Yuan Yan was the only high-level True Immortal among the 7, the combined might of the battle formation was formidable. They even reached an agreement to join forces with the experts that the Spirit Mammoth World and Spirit Abundance World sent.

However, shortly after this group, led by Yuan Ya,n left for the Spirit Luxuriant World, they were caught off guard by Kou Chongxue, who appeared out of nowhere. The sixth tier True Immortal assassin made his move, heavily injuring Yuan Yan with his first strike. The injured Yuan Yan abandoned his comrades and turned to flee, and the remaining True Immortals suffered heavy losses. Of the 6, 2 of them were killed and 2 others were heavily injured.

According to Yuan Yan, who managed to escape back to the Spirit Observation World, there were actually 2 spies of the Spirit Luxuriant World among the group of 7 they sent!

Because of Feng Ziying and Feng Ziyuan’s last second betrayal, along with Kou Chongxue’s sudden appearance, Yuan Yan was heavily injured after the first exchange.

The remaining 4 tried to flee after realizing the situation had gone south, but the 2 only managed to escape because Kou Chongxue’s injuries weren’t fully healed, and Feng Ziyuan didn’t really do much after injuring Yuan Yan.