Chapter 1685: Everyone Has Their Backer

Before the world ascension into an Essence World, Shang Xia’s breakthrough had already earned visible benefits for the Tongyou Institution.

The rapid growth of the Starry Tree was a trivial matter, and the 3 Starry Fruits maturing early were just icing on the cake. After Shang Xia broke through, he looked as though he would be able to offer greater convenience to the Stargazers. When he summoned a higher quality of the Power of the Stars, the quality of the Starlight Essence that pooled under the tree continued to improve.

The moment Yuan Qiuyuan entered the Martial Void Realm and the Spirit Luxuriant World completed its transformation, he would be able to make use of the improved Starlight Essence to produce even higher level Three Lights Water.

After leaving the Tongyou Elysium, Shang Xia’s clone didn’t go anywhere else. He quickly went back to meet with his true body outside the heavenly screen.

Regrouping with his clone, Shang Xia turned to look at the Spirit Luxuriant World once again. This time, the world looked like it was a giant placenta that nurtured countless lives.

No longer thinking about what happened in the Spirit Luxuriant World, Shang Xia turned to leave. With a single step, he appeared at the edge of the calm space around the Spirit Luxuriant World. Without hesitation, he walked into the chaotic streams with his hands behind his back.

After advancing to the Seven Star Realm, traversing the chaotic streams felt significantly different from when he was in the Six Direction Realm.

In the past, even though traveling through the chaotic streams while in the Six Direction Realm might be a little energy-consuming, he was still able to run through them. However, his divine soul and his vision would be distorted. If he didn’t carry the Star Compass made by Yuan Qiuyuan, he would be a headless fly running around randomly.

Now... Things were completely different. The moment he stepped into the chaotic streams, the void dozens of feet around him entered a state of calm. It wasn’t because he was deliberately suppressing the space around him. Instead, it was an effect of his Big Dipper Star Origin.

If he chose to actively suppress the chaotic streams, he could easily create a region of calm thousands of miles around him. Moreover, the effect of the chaotic streams on him was extremely weak. It failed to affect his senses in the slightest. Just by looking, he was able to peer deep into the void.

In other words... Shang Xia would be able to fight in the chaotic streams like the other Sages he encountered had done.

Also... The most important change he felt was that the deeper he ventured into the chaotic streams, the weaker his combat strength became. That was because even though the chaotic streams couldn’t affect him much, they could still disrupt the connection between him and his world.

With the increasing distance from his world, Shang Xia was unable to receive the assistance from the World’s Will.

Although Shang Xia had been avoiding ways to deepen his karmic bond with his world, it was clear after he stepped into the chaotic streams that as long as he was near the Spirit Luxuriant World, he would be affected whether he liked it or not.

It was also why after restoring the heavenly screen, Shang Xia chose to distance himself.

In a sense, Shang Xia hadn’t fully transcended the shackles of his world. Because he forced the ascension process, he needed to wait for it to become an Essence World before he could be free. Otherwise... Once the world ascension failed, Shang Xia would be struck down mercilessly and return to the Six Direction Realm.

Shang Xia estimated that his combat strength had dropped by 10 percent as he ran further from the world, and the amount of energy he could wield had dropped by close to 20 percent.

He understood the reason Zhuo Gudao was unwilling to engage him earlier at the edges of the calm space around the Spirit Luxuriant World. It wasn’t just to avoid mutual destruction. It was because Zhuo Gudao was much weaker than he would have been if he were near the Spirit Observation World.

However, unlike Zhuo Gudao and other Sages, Shang Xia still retained another advantage. In his dantian, as a wisp of his soul connected the 4 stars that maintained their connection with the Spirit Calming Vessels, he was able to replenish the energy to his Big Dipper Origin Star. World origin could be drawn from those worlds for him to restore his lost energy.

Of course, he didn’t dare to draw too much world origin when testing out the connection.

With his previous experience of breaking through to the Seven Star Realm, Shang Xia didn’t wish for the remaining 4 Spirit Calming Vessels to be discovered. He would only use them if he had no other choice.

However, through this brief trial, Shang Xia discovered a problem. He might be able to draw world origin from the other worlds, but the efficiency of converting it into Seven Star Qi through his Big Dipper Origin Star was too low. He was basically relying on his Big Dipper Origin Star to naturally convert the world origin into his inner qi.

"Ultimately, I still need to create my rank seven arts...” Shang Xia sighed as he retrieved a Star Chart that Yuan Qiuyuan and Xin Lu provided. After looking around to position himself, he locked on to a certain direction and flew straight to the Spirit Thistle World.

Because of their 3 World Alliance back then, the Spirit Luxuriant World, Spirit Thistle World, and Spirit Tinkle World had been closely connected. Chu Jia’s Five Element Teleportation Formation linked them all up and the positions of their worlds were known to each other.

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

As Shang Xia traveled through the void and approached the Spirit Thistle World, he could sense a faint gaze. Realization hit him instantly and he understood that they were also backed by foreign experts.

Even though there were several years before the Star Curtain would fall, it seemed like there were many Sages from outside lurking around...

Shang Xia wasn’t exactly clueless about the sea of stars outside the Star Curtain. Sages were also extremely rare existences. Ordinarily, there would only be 1 of them in an established Heavenly Field.

Shang Xia did not immediately charge into the chaotic streams territory of the Spirit Thistle World. He remained in place for some time to adjust his condition to its peak state before rushing forward.

It didn’t take too long before the space around him started to compress. The chaotic streams that were easily controlled by him earlier seemed to be manipulated by another force as it tried to force him away.