Chapter 1836: Starsea Market’s Sincerity

In the desolate and uninhabited Original Stars Corner of the Chaotic Sea of Stars, silence reigned.

Years earlier, after the Three Fleet Star Pirate Alliance had jointly besieged the Twin Star Pirates, the already remote region had become a complete wasteland.

When the You Continent Star Ship, carrying Shang Xia and his group, emerged from the void current, they had prepared for the possibility of being discovered and ambushed.

However, upon their arrival, they realized the region had long since fallen into ruin. All around were lingering scars of the great battle that had taken place.

“There’s a concealed mark left by True Immortal Zhu here! It looks like he’s made it out safely!” Soon after, a scout returned to the ship to report the findings.

Shang Xia nodded absentmindedly and said, “Let’s head to the Starsea Market. We need to find out what’s happened in the Chaotic Sea of Stars during our time in the Spirit Ruling World and Spirit Frost World.”

Song Zhen stood and responded respectfully before turning to leave. But he quickly noticed that Zhang Yusheng hadn’t followed him. Even when Song Zhen gestured to him with his eyes, the man remained rooted in place.

Although Shang Xia’s attention had mostly been focused on the changes brought about by his recent breakthrough, he still noticed Zhang Yusheng’s anxious demeanor.

“What’s the matter? Is there something you wish to say?” Shang Xia asked gently, his tone kind toward the newly promoted Stargazer.

Standing at the hatch, Song Zhen paused briefly, then left and closed the door behind him.

Zhang Yusheng glanced nervously at Shang Xia and said, “Sage Shang, while I was helping the Spirit Ruling World and Spirit Frost World reinforce the interlinked formation between their worlds, I secretly embedded some methods only Stargazers would recognize... This will allow me to track the movement of the worlds within the spatial vortex at any time.”

Shang Xia gave him a sidelong glance but made no comment.

Instantly, Zhang Yusheng felt his heart pounding in fear. Though he was a seasoned Martial Extermination Realm cultivator, beads of sweat quickly gathered on his forehead.

“Do you think the two worlds will break away from our control?” Just as Zhang Yusheng was about to blurt out a defensive explanation, Shang Xia asked the question, lifting the pressure off his shoulders.

Zhang Yusheng quickly calmed himself while responding with urgency, “I acted on my own judgment. I just felt that both the cultivators and Beast Kings of those worlds seemed wary of us. I was afraid they would try to shift their positions after we left.”

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

“Besides, with the spatial vortex still active, the worlds could once again drift toward its center. If we can monitor their trajectory, we might be able to intervene in time to save them from destruction.”

Shang Xia paused for a moment, then asked, “You mentioned using methods only Stargazers would recognize. But don’t you know that the Twin Star Pirates also secretly cultivated Stargazers? Wouldn’t you risk exposure, causing your plan to backfire?”

To Shang Xia’s surprise, the question seemed to reassure Zhang Yusheng. With renewed confidence, he replied, “Sage Shang should know that among Stargazers, only those who reach the fourth rank or higher are truly called ‘Stargazers.’ Those below that are merely Astrologers or apprentices. I’ve studied the fragmented inheritance collected by the Twin Star Pirates. It’s incomplete, disorganized, and barely qualifies to train a third rank apprentice. They’ll have no way of deciphering what I left behind.”

Shang Xia smiled faintly. “Let’s hope that’s true. Since you care so much about those worlds, upon our return to the institution, report to the Star Observatory. You’ll be in charge of monitoring their movements from now on.”

Zhang Yusheng was overjoyed. “Rest assured, Sage Shang! I’ll devote myself fully to this!”

As the cabin returned to silence, Shang Xia glanced in the direction Zhang Yusheng had exited and smiled faintly before resuming his cultivation.

After reaching the fourth star, the transformation was far from a mere ignition of the fourth star in his dantian. The comprehensive improvement he made was unprecedented, especially compared to his previous breakthroughs.

It was no wonder that from the fourth star onward, he would be considered a mid-level Sage.

What made it even more remarkable was that Shang Xia had completed this advancement outside the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field. The first thing he noticed right after was that his connection with the Essence Luxuriant World had weakened further.

Soon after, he sensed that the inner qi produced by the Big Dipper Star Origin in his dantian had also subtly evolved in quality. When he once again examined the leftover energy stored in the Crimson Soul Tablet that he extracted from the core of the spatial vortex, he found that it no longer surpassed his current inner qi. In fact, they were roughly equal in quality.

The realization soothed the frustration he had felt earlier over not returning to the vortex for more energy. Clearly, he no longer needed it as urgently as before.

At his current level, Shang Xia was confident that even if he were to face another joint ambush by Yuan Ling, Pei Yuanji, and Yan Yu, he would be able to escape unscathed even without his Origin Star Robe. While he still wouldn’t win, he wouldn’t be forced into the spatial vortex again.

And if he did wear the Origin Star Robe and unleashed his full might, he could probably push his strength to the peak of the fourth star and retreat with ease from even a three-on-one assault.

Of course, Shang Xia had no intention of wearing the robe again unless absolutely necessary.

Although the robe provided a tremendous boost to his combat strength, the runes that made up the robe was created by the Star Origin Lord. Shang Xia remained wary of potential hidden traps embedded within. He preferred to use it only through his Origin Star Avatar.

Speaking of which, Shang Xia had tested his Origin Star Avatar again after reaching the fourth star.

Though his avatar’s combat strength had increased greatly, he only managed to push the cultivation of his avatar to the peak of the second star.

He couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed, though he admitted he was being too greedy.

Still, he recognized that even though he had become a mid-level Sage, he had yet to unleash his full potential. His self-created rank seven art, the Seven Star Mace Technique, only had two complete forms so far.

By his original plan, each form should correspond to a star in the Seven Star Realm. Now that he reached the fourth star, he should have developed four forms.

His Starlight Point and Star Fire might be powerful, but they weren’t forms of his rank seven Seven Star Mace Technique. They could be considered secret arts at best.

As he reviewed and reflected on his cultivation path, trying to formulate the third form of his mace technique, someone knocked on the door to his cabin again.

After receiving an invitation in, Song Zhen entered and reported, “Sage Shang, we’ve arrived at the Starsea Market.”

Shang Xia nodded without speaking, though he noticed that Song Zhen clearly had something more to say.

Sure enough, after a moment’s hesitation, Song Zhen added, “The guardians of the 6th sector in the market requests an audience. They wish to personally apologize for their failure in safeguarding our warehouse during the recent disturbance.”