Chapter 1815: Star Origin Lord’s Schemes

"Why are you telling me all this?"

Shang Xia's Origin Star Avatar, unable to discern the Star Origin Lord’s true intentions, chose to ask the question again.

The Star Origin Lord replied bluntly, "To get a glimpse of the path of the Eighth Order."

Shang Xia's Origin Star Avatar had considered many possible answers, but he had not expected the Star Origin Lord to state his goal so openly.

"The Eighth Order?!" Shang Xia’s Origin Star Avatar pondered for a moment. Indeed... The answer made sense.

So he followed up with another question. "How?"

"I need the assistance of multiple Essence Worlds." The Star Origin Lord

Something stirred within Shang Xia's Origin Star Avatar. "Is this your contingency plan after failing to replace the perfected World’s Will of the Essence Ping World?"

The Star Origin Lord cast him a half-smiling glance. "Fully controlling an Essence World that has already reached its peak isn’t enough to break through the bottleneck to the Eighth Order. I realized that long ago after I took over the Essence Ping World. It’s not that I couldn’t erase its World’s Will, it’s just that erasing it would be useless. It would be better to make use of it."

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Shang Xia's Origin Star Avatar frowned and said in a low voice, "So you want our world to submit to you as well, submit under the Essence Ping World and become your stepping stone to challenge the Eighth Order again?"

The Star Origin Lord laughed. "I will be the forerunner. If you serve as the stepping stones, you too will have access to the path to ascension. What’s so bad about that?"

Shang Xia's Origin Star Avatar shook his head. "The establishment of a Heavenly Field does not hinder our cultivation progress."

"That’s just a path for the Martial Emptiness Realm!" The Star Origin Lord cut him off. "There are many Heavenly Fields across the sea of stars, yet how many of their Sages ever make it to the mid-level? And how many of them reach the high-level? You really think establishing a single Heavenly Field can help you grasp the path to the Eighth Order? What a joke."

At that point, Shang Xia's Origin Star Avatar couldn’t help asking a question he had long had in mind. "Must a cultivator really rely on the power of worlds to blaze a new path?"

A look of surprise appeared on the Star Origin Lord’s face. "Of course! Cultivators are born in the various worlds, and their souls are anchored in the World Origin Source. Without a world to sustain them, they are like water without a spring, or trees without roots. How can they last?"

He then added, "Isn’t Sage Jin the perfect cautionary tale?"

At that moment, Shang Xia's Origin Star Avatar suddenly said, "You may have rebuilt your true body, but your current cultivation hasn’t returned to its peak, has it?"

The Star Origin Lord turned to stare at Shang Xia abruptly, but Shang Xia’s Origin Star Avatar had already stepped back, disappearing into the chaotic streams.

Stars flared in the Star Origin Lord’s eyes like a constellation, a star map reflecting in his pupils. He growled, “So... Your true body has already arrived to help...”

The Origin Star Robe fluttered despite the still air. The 7 mutated runes upon it pulsed in sync with certain distant stars as faint starlight appeared on it. It resisted the Star Origin Lord’s penetrating gaze and distorted the star map reflected in his eyes.

At the same time, Shang Xia’s Origin Star Avatar retreated further into the chaotic streams.

The Star Origin Lord reached out toward the fleeing avatar and the Origin Star Robe showed signs of flying to him.

But this time, the robe did not detach. The surging starlight falling from deep in the void stabilized the robe once more.

Even so, the Star Origin Lord continued reaching forward.

A chuckle escaped Shang Xia’s Origin Star Avatar’s lips. "So your cultivation truly hasn’t returned to its peak. Sage Jin didn’t escape because he was useless, but because you lacked the power to stop him, didn’t you?"

As he spoke, a powerful soul strand descended. In an instant, Shang Xia’s Origin Star Avatar’s aura surged past the third star and became fully aligned with his true cultivation level.

At the same time, he flicked his wrist, and a stone rod shot out from his sleeve. Holding it mid air, he thrust it forward to meet the Star Origin Lord’s descending palm.

The chaotic edge of the void suddenly bent backward in a massive arc, tens of thousands of miles long, as if the entire turbulent void had recoiled. At the same time, the void expanded outward by the same distance.

The next second, the Star Origin Lord’s expression turned grim. His retracted hand trembled slightly and he became slightly unsteady. From his palm, a blood-colored liquid oozed.

Yet in the vast chaotic stream ahead, Shang Xia’s Origin Star Avatar had already vanished, leaving only a faint lingering trail of starlight, untouched by the swirling chaos.

"One star... two... three... Faint and scattered. It’s difficult to track his Fate Star. These younger generations are truly remarkable, able to hide their Fate Stars so well. If the Heaven Observation Sect’s Star Origin Lords had such means back then, how could they have been outsmarted and destroyed so thoroughly? Could he really have forged a unique martial path?"

The Star Origin Lord muttered to himself. But then he immediately denied it. "Impossible! He just referenced the relationship between worlds and cultivators. Doesn’t he realize that the Heaven Observation Sect’s inheritance was the least dependent on worlds? Even so... I can’t deduce the location of his Fate Star, not even from the Heaven Observation Constellation Talisman he made! No... He stitched the restored runes into the robe and gave it to his avatar... All of that was to confuse me!”

"It seems this boy is extremely confident in how well he's hidden his Fate Star!"

The Star Origin Lord turned his attention back to the world transformation nearing its end. The aura of the newly ascended Sage was stabilizing, this new Essence World had taken shape.

And in that moment, as if responding to the acknowledgment of the new Essence World, the Star Origin Lord’s aura exploded, leaping across a threshold into a new realm.

"Fifth star of the Martial Emptiness Realm... Finally, I returned to the Dark Star Realm. What a pity.”

With those words, the Star Origin Lord took a step forward. Space around him twisted, the chaotic streams retreating behind him. When the surrounding space stabilized again, he appeared deep in the chaotic streams.

"Still a step too late." The Star Origin Lord looked around him and mumbled. Faint traces of familiar starlight still lingered, but neither Shang Xia's Origin Star Avatar nor Shang Xia’s true body, who had come to assist, were anywhere to be found.

At the same time, Shang Xia, having reclaimed his Origin Star Avatar, was on his way back to the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field.

Yet at one point during the journey, he suddenly turned his head toward where the Spirit Abundance World had been, as if sensing a pair of eyes peering through the void, watching him.