Chapter 1682: Everyone Is Injured

After Shang Xia understood the nature of the Origin Star within his dantian and the direction of his future cultivation, he had expelled most of the remnant energy left by the Sages in the heavenly screen. The heavenly screen started to close slowly.

During the process, Shang Xia also attempted to further interact with the World’s Will. He quickly discovered it wasn’t too difficult to control or make use of its strength. Of course, it was only a portion of the World’s Will.

Initially, Shang Xia thought it was because Spirit Luxuriant World had yet to complete its ascension to an Essence World. In essence, he was controlling the World’s Will of a Spirit World and it was unexpectedly easy.

However, once Shang Xia released his control over the World’s Will, he discovered that the karmic bonds between himself and the world increased once again, causing his to quickly raise his guard.

The goal when he broke through to the Seven Star Realm was to reduce the karmic bonds between himself and the world. He would truly transcend the control of any celestial body and roam free in the sea of stars. There was no way he would increase the karmic bonds between himself and the world.

However, he also discovered that if he didn’t control the World’s Will... His abilities in the Seven Star Realm wouldn’t be as profound as he had thought. Even the strength he could unleash would be affected.

Being able to control the World’s Will and borrow the power of the world could greatly enhance the strength of a Sage and could even significantly extend their lifespan, but even with those benefits, Shang Xia was unwilling to give up his chance for transcendence.

Fortunately, Shang Xia had only briefly tasted the control, and the slight increase in karmic bonds and responsibilities to the world was pretty much negligible.

The only thing he was afraid of would be if he immersed himself in the increased strength and surge of power. If he truly sank into a state of trance, it would be impossible for himself to rid himself of his ties to the world.

“No, even if my martial will is firm, spending too long in the world will inevitably deepen my connection. Looks like I will need to spend more time away... Or I should quickly establish a Dao Field in order to shield myself from this connection?” Shang Xia muttered to himself. After thinking for some time and finding no better solution, he decided to help guide Kou Chongxue and the rest back before thinking about anything else.

After his ascension to the Seven Star Realm, another significant advantage was that the chaotic streams could no longer completely block his divine soul and senses. He could even cross the chaotic streams without being affected in the slightest.

With the help of Yuan Qiuyuan, Yan Ming, and Xin Lu, 3 Grand Stargazers, Shang Xia located them without any problems. With his Big Dipper Star Origin, he immediately formed a spatial tunnel entirely of starlight that extended into the void.

Moments later, as the starlight channel retracted, everyone from the Spirit Luxuriant World returned.

Following the retraction of the starlight channel, 2 large-scale Star Ships also returned.

By the time they returned, more than a dozen True Immortals of the Spirit Luxuriant World could be seen. All of them had disheveled looks, and they were either completely exhausted or looked like they had suffered great injuries. Even Kou Chongxue, a sixth tier True Immortal, looked more miserable than the others.

Apart from Lu Bailu, everyone else had taken part in the battles that happened in the chaotic streams.

Both Kou Chongxue and Gao Qin had taken part in the battle despite their injuries, and the latter had been forced to join the Spirit Luxuriant World’s side under countless threats.

Looking at Kou Chongxue, Shang Xia could see that his aura was chaotic and he was barely able to maintain his cultivation at the level of Extreme Harmonization. If anyone had any malicious intent, any ordinary True Immortal would be able to reduce his cultivation to the fifth tier.

If Kou Chongxue's condition was serious but still managed to preserve his cultivation, Gao Qin was in an even more pitiable state. Her original cultivation which was at the fifth tier had already plummeted to the fourth tier. She looked terrible and with all the injuries she suffered already, her appearance was nowhere near the stature of a high-level True Immortal.

As for their final high-level True Immortal who originally took part in the battle, Shang Xia’s External Avatar sacrificed himself to crush the enemy’s offensive. All the high-level spiritual treasures that Shang Xia used to craft his External Avatar was completely destroyed.

As for the final battle stats...

Second tier True Immortals Yin Jinxu from the Heavenly Star Palace and Jiu Jing from the Divine Capital Sect had been slain during the battle.

Feng Ziyuan, who Feng Ziying had somehow lured from the Star Origin Dao Field, had also fallen.

Apart from them, Feng Ziying and Sun Haiwei were severely injured. Huang Jinghan, Fei Xuzi, and Yi Fan suffered serious injuries. Only minor characters like Dou Zhong, Lu Xueji, and Zhu Nang who were basically there to make up the numbers didn’t suffer too heavy injuries.

As for Song Zhen... Because he led their reinforcements to join the battle, he arrived later. He was virtually unscathed.

Looking at the group of True Immortals who were in a sorry state, Shang Xia sighed to himself. He understood that he wouldn’t be able to count on them to fight in the near future, especially during their assault on the Essence Ping World, which would soon happen. During that time, he would probably have to act alone.

As the starlight channel dissipated, the True Immortals of Lingfeng Realm naturally understood what had transpired. Apart from a few True Immortals from the Tongyou Institution, the rest bowed in unison. “We greet Sage Shang and congratulate you on advancing further on your path of cultivation!”

Among them, Song Zhen and Zhu Nang were particularly excited. When they had first chosen to serve Shang Xia, they never expected him to actually become a Sage!

Remembering their initial reluctance and even fantasies of escaping from Shang Xia's control, they now wished they could throw those thoughts out the window. Even if Shang Xia set them free, they would cry and plead to stay.

What a joke! To serve under a Sage was a tremendous honor!

Shang Xia did not pay attention to the overly excited Song Zhen and Zhu Nang, nor was he interested in probing their thoughts. He simply returned their bows before he spoke amicably, "Fellow cultivators, I owe my achievements today to your valiant efforts in the chaotic streams against the invaders from the other Spirit Worlds. It is I who should be thanking you!"

The True Immortals present didn’t dare to accept his thanks at all.

Shang Xia then added, "Although I have fortunately advanced, the crisis we are facing is not over yet. Fortunately, with your return, we will be a lot stronger than before. In the future, I can focus properly on what I need to do.”

Understanding that everyone who had come back was exhausted, Shang Xia kept the pleasantries to a minimum. After a few short sentences, he dismissed everyone.

When he was finally done addressing those from the Spirit Luxuriant World, his gaze fell onto the Star Ships in the distance.

There, the Ying Brothers of the Spirit Ruling World and the 3 high-level True Immortals of the Spirit Tip World, Cai Qiao, Yu Tieshan, and Wu Zhang, stood. Their gazes were filled with complex emotions when looking at Shang Xia. Meeting his gaze, they bowed in unison.