Chapter 1791: Rank Seven Three Lights Water

The Essence Luxuriant World had, in truth, fallen into a difficult predicament once again.

At present, the Essence Luxuriant World was guarded by 2 Sages, and they couldn’t be considered a weak Heavenly Field.

While the number of True Immortals they had still lagged behind other worlds in terms of top-tier combat strength, the growing number of breakthroughs had rapidly narrowed the gap in overall quantity of True Immortals.

However, when it came to cultivators below the Martial Void Realm, the difference in both number and quality was stark. This disparity was most visible in the sheer size of the Essence Luxuriant World's cultivator population, which was several times, sometimes even tens of times smaller than those of typical Essence Worlds.

Moreover, most of the Essence Luxuriant World’s elite cultivators had clearly broken through by leveraging the benefits of world ascension and the formation of the Heavenly Field. Their cultivation levels were mostly clustered at the early stages of their respective realms.

As for the less talented cultivators, the majority remained stuck at the mid stages. Those who had reached the large completion stage were often ones who had no hopes of further advancement, or were nearing the end of their lifespans. In fact, after excluding that group, it became clear that the Essence Luxuriant World had a critical shortage of large completion stage cultivators in every cultivation realm.

The imbalance had actually existed since the Spirit Luxuriant World.

Back then, their rapid expansion had outpaced the speed of growth of each faction such that they could effectively consolidate new territories and put them to effective use.

Following their ascension to the Essence Luxuriant World, the issue had only grown more serious.

That was also why in every campaign against other worlds, they had never taken a bloodthirsty approach. They always sought to minimize collateral damage to the lower-leveled cultivators and mortals. Their goal had always been to integrate them into their world to reinforce the population.

In fact, to further address their population shortfall, the major factions' Star Ships weren’t just exploring Barbaric Worlds, Earth Stars, or floating continents to bolster the Essence Luxuriant World Tianyu’s resources. One of their most critical tasks was to recruit and obtain more people.

Even though it might take 3 to 5 generations for those outsiders to fully assimilate into the Essence Luxuriant World, and longer for foreign cultivator factions to be absorbed, growth typically unfolded over centuries... It might even span for millennia.

Clearly, the Essence Luxuriant World refused to follow such conventional timelines.

While Shang Xia was laying out his plans to Kou Chongxue above the heavenly screen, Yuan Qiuyuan and Yan Ming left the Star Observatory and arrived at the Essence Luxuriant Palace to report to the Sages in person.

"Why did you need to come personally?" Shang Xia asked curiously upon seeing them.

Not long ago, the two had merely used transmission talismans to inform him that various worlds were being pulled away from the Heaven Observation Field by the external forces, apparently to be absorbed and assimilated.

The next second, Yuan Qiuyuan stepped forward and said, "I’ve opened the 11th and 12th pages of the Star Map, and I’ve finally deciphered the coordinates on the previous pages.”

"Oh?" Shang Xia exchanged a glance with Kou Chongxue and both revealed curious looks.

But Yuan Qiuyuan added, "Actually, the coordinates on those pages aren’t especially mysterious. They all point to known locations in the sea of stars."

Yan Ming chimed in, "Ever since the collapse of the Star Curtain, it has become much easier to trace the coordinates in the Star Map. With the help of the Star Observatory, I’ve already located those worlds."

Shang Xia frowned. “Which Heavenly Field do they belong to? Especially the world on the 9th page that seems to overlap with the Essence Ping World...”

Yuan Qiuyuan quickly answered, “It points to the great spatial vortex you visited before. The 10th corresponds to the Essence Yuan Heavenly Field where Yu Kun hailed from. The 11th page describes the Essence Xia Heavenly Field where Sage Hong Jing comes from. As for the 12th... It points to the Essence Ling World.”

"Essence Ling World?" Shang Xia was slightly surprised. "The Essence Ling World didn’t participate in the recent events in our Heaven Observation Field. I haven’t sensed their Sage’s aura either.”

He recalled clashing remotely with the Sage of the Essence Ling Heavenly Field and was familiar with their aura. If they interfered, he would have sensed it easily unless extraordinary measures had been taken to conceal their presence.

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

After each return from his travels through the sea of stars, Shang Xia compiled brief logs of his experiences. They were submitted to the Star Observatory for coordinate mapping, then stored in the institution’s archive for their members to study.

His records had become highly popular within the institution, especially after elite cultivators returned from the sea of stars with tales of gains. Their popularity only increased after the Essence Luxuriant World’s ascension, the collapse of the Star Curtain, and the creation of the Heavenly Field.

Kou Chongxue, however, focused on the coordinates on the ninth page. "You once said that the spatial vortex was formed from the collapse of a world?"

Shang Xia nodded. "That’s a widely accepted theory in the sea of stars. Do you think there's something special about it?"

Kou Chongxue shook his head. "Let’s gather more information first."

Shang Xia nodded. "The fall of an Essence World deserves investigation either way."

It was then that Yuan Qiuyuan spoke again. "There’s another matter about the Spirit Abundance World... Or rather, the space around it.”

Kou Chongxue raised a brow in response. "The space around it? Did something happen with the Essence Ping World, Spirit Abundance World, and Spirit Observation World?”

Yuan Qiuyuan shook his head. "The space around them is expanding, much faster than ours did during our ascension. It’s likely already surpassed our level. Moreover, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for us to spy on them from the Star Observatory."

Shang Xia and Kou Chongxue exchanged a look and said in unison, "Did they establish a Heavenly Field?”

Yuan Qiuyuan nodded. "That’s my suspicion. I came to warn you in case this is part of some deception. I don’t want either of you to walk into a trap."

Kou Chongxue glanced at Shang Xia, who was deep in thought. Eventually, he muttered, "This is important... And it came in a timely manner."

Yuan Qiuyuan nodded and continued, "One more thing. After many attempts, I’ve used the essence of the suns, moons, and stars to produce a batch of rank seven Three Lights Spiritual Liquid.”