Chapter 1813: Star Origin Lord’s Recreated Body

"What exactly are you looking at?" Although Shang Xia’s Origin Star Avatar was dull and sluggish, it did not prevent him from speaking. His voice, however, was devoid of any inflection.

The Star Origin Lord’s clone tossed the robe back to Shang Xia’s Origin Star Avatar and asked with a smile, "Do you know the true purpose of the Heaven Observation Constellation Talisman?”

As he re-donned the robe and returned to normal, Shang Xia’s Origin Star Avatar looked up in surprise. "I wasn’t aware it had any other special functions."

The Star Origin Lord’s clone looked at him with a half-smile. "Do you truly not know?"

Unable to read the true intentions of the man before him or discern his strength, Shang Xia's Origin Star Avatar replied, "If senior has no further guidance to offer, then I will take my leave."

"Why the rush?" The Star Origin Lord’s clone chuckled. "Didn’t you come here precisely to find out what’s going on? Now that it’s right in front of you, wouldn’t it be a shame to leave?"

Shang Xia's Origin Star Avatar instinctively sensed danger. But as he attempted to retreat into the chaotic streams, he suddenly realized that while he had taken a step back, the edge of the chaotic streams had somehow receded by two steps.

Rather than growing closer, the distance between them was increasing.

He paused in surprise, then gave up on further attempts to escape and slowly turned back to look at the smiling Star Origin Lord’s clone.

The Star Origin Lord’s clone maintained his smile and said, "I told you before, you didn’t train properly.”

Knowing he couldn’t leave for the time being, Shang Xia's Origin Star Avatar decided to clear his doubts. "What exactly is the Heaven Observation Constellation Manual, and how is it related to the Origin Star Talisman?”

The Star Origin Lord seemed pleased by the question and explained with a wide grin, "The Heaven Observation Constellation Manual is naturally the rank seven inheritance of the Heaven Observation Sect. As for the Origin Star Talisman, it’s a tool used by cultivators when breaking through to the Martial Emptiness Realm to locate and determine their Fate Star. The power you occasionally draw from it to elevate your cultivation temporarily... Well, that’s simply borrowing the power of your Fate Star. It’s one of the trump cards in the Heaven Observation Sect’s inheritance."

"Locating a Fate Star?!" Shang Xia’s Origin Star Avatar raised an eyebrow but refrained from reiterating that his martial path was unrelated to the Heaven Observation Sect. Instead, he began thoughtfully recalling his own use of the Origin Star Talisman and the Origin Star Robe.

Then he heard the Star Origin Lord chuckle again. "But you’ve been cautious. After reconstructing the Origin Star Talisman, you didn’t wear this Origin Star Robe on your main body. Instead, you had your Origin Star Avatar wear it at all times. This way, while you lose the ability to frequently draw on your Fate Star’s strength during cultivation, you also avoid the negative effects of rapid cultivation. But by letting your clone wander around in the robe... Are you trying to speed up others’ ability to deduce your Fate Star’s position?"

Shang Xia's Origin Star Avatar didn’t respond to what seemed like indirect scolding, and instead returned to the question that had troubled him from the start. "Who are you really? You don’t seem like a clone at all."

The Star Origin Lord’s clone smiled faintly at Shang Xia’s Origin Star Avatar, then turned his gaze toward the Essence Ping World and sighed. "I owe it to you all. Not only did you extract the Essence Ping World’s Will, but you also carved off 5 continents. That finally allowed me to seize the upper hand, take complete control over the world, and fully reconstruct my true body."

Shang Xia's Origin Star Avatar instinctively took a step back, his face full of shock. "You... You... Are you really the true Star Origin Lord?"

At that moment, the Star Origin Lord turned his gaze toward the Spirit Abundance World and murmured, "In the end, I was still too arrogant. I thought I could push the world to a higher level and break through to the Eighth Order by using the Essence Ping World’s Will. I never imagined that even replacing the World’s Will wasn’t enough. A thousand years of planning, wasted at the final step."

"Still, although I’ve lost the chance to ascend further, at least I’ve returned to normal. That’s a small consolation, I suppose." He then looked back with a teasing glint in his eye. "To think that your worlds, which were barely worth mentioning 1,000 years ago, would now benefit so greatly from this upheaval... Heh."

Shang Xia's Origin Star Avatar responded solemnly, "My Essence Luxuriant World’s rise is the result of the unified effort of our experts and our hard work."

The Star Origin Lord gave him a half-smile, glanced away, and sneered, "Is that what you believe? No matter..."

By then, the disturbance coming from the direction of the Spirit Abundance World had grown intense. Even Shang Xia's Origin Star Avatar, despite standing so close to the Star Origin Lord, couldn’t help focusing all his attention there.

But the more noise came from that direction, the deeper his doubt grew. Having experienced the Spirit Luxuriant World’s ascension to the Essence Luxuriant World, he could not bring himself to believe a similar process was happening.

And yet, staring at the Star Origin Lord’s back in front of him, with so many questions in his heart and no explanation coming from the old expert, he had no choice but to silently watch everything unfold.

Perhaps sensing the storm of questions swirling in Shang Xia’s mind, the man, who appeared to be the true Star Origin Lord, suddenly asked, "What do you think the Spirit Abundance World looks like right now?"

Caught off guard, Shang Xia’s Origin Star Avatar wondered out loud, "What?"

"A prison." The Star Origin Lord raised his hand and pointed toward the Spirit Abundance World. "A prison that an idiot voluntarily walked right into."

"A prison?" Shang Xia’s Origin Star Avatar murmured, then raised his head and asked, "Are you referring to Sage Jin?”

The Star Origin Lord smiled and nodded. "I’ve been sitting here quietly for so many years, and no one knew about the Essence Ping World. The Spirit Abundance World was just there, and someone thought they could seal it from right under my nose. Tell me... Don’t you think he’s foolish?”

Understanding the meaning behind his words, Shang Xia’s Origin Star Avatar hesitated for a moment before asking, “If you don’t intervene, can the Spirit Abundance World really imprison Sage Jin?”

The Star Origin Lord laughed. "Nonsense. A Spirit World can never trap a mid-level Sage, much less a mid-level Sage sword cultivator. However, what do you think about an Essence World with a powerful World’s Will? What if you add another Sage into the mix?”

Shang Xia’s Origin Star Avatar’s expression changed instantly. He blurted out without control, "The Essence Ping World’s Will?! Is it still under your control?!”

The Star Origin Lord smiled. "After centuries of our tug-of-war, we reached a mutual compromise, that’s all. Why don’t you guess who the new Sage might be?"

Shang Xia's Origin Star Avatar’s gaze flickered. He finally understood some things. If the Star Origin Lord had schemed for a millennium, how could he truly have failed over a single setback? He had to have countless contingencies and alternate plans.

His apparent failure to ascend through the Essence Ping World had, in fact, birthed another way forward.

“Could it be... Is True Immortal Xiong Xin under your command from the very start?”