Chapter 1844: Outside the Forbidden Region Pt.2

At the moment he saw Zhuo Gudao, Shang Xia was already pondering how Sage Jin came to invite Zhuo Gudao while even placing his trust in him.

However, with all of them present, Shang Xia found it inconvenient to ask.

Fortunately, Sage Jin’s earlier words seemed to have hinted at something.

Noticing Shang Xia’s gaze, Zhuo Gudao seemed to already understand what this old acquaintance was thinking. With a smile on his face, he looked at Shang Xia and asked, “Sage Shang, you should be curious why I am here, right?”

Shang Xia smiled and nodded, not concealing his curiosity and suspicion.

Zhuo Gudao spoke lightly, “There’s really nothing much to it. This is just a basic transaction for all of us. The world that I painstakingly established had to be handed over because of the Star Origin Lord’s schemes. In exchange, he allowed me to leave. However, my soul, once anchored in the Star Origin Dao Field, was expelled. Now, if I wish to reestablish my foundations, I must find a new way.”

Shang Xia instantly understood what had happened. His situation was the same as Sage Jin, who lost his world.

In fact, Zhuo Gudao’s situation was even worse. His soul had once been anchored in a Dao Field, which meant far greater restrictions than if it had been in the World Origin Source like other Sages.

Initially, Shang Xia even suspected Zhuo Gudao of lying, because based on what he knew, someone in Zhuo Gudao’s state where he lost control of his Dao Field where his soul was anchored, should have experienced a collapse in cultivation and become far weaker.

Instead of anything like that, Zhuo Gudao stood before him, displaying a genuine cultivation level of the third star of the Martial Emptiness Realm.

Once again, Zhuo Gudao seemed to see through Shang Xia’s thoughts. “The reason I can temporarily maintain my cultivation and combat strength is also due to the Star Origin Lord. This was part of the conditions I agreed upon when yielding the Star Origin Dao Field and the my world. But even with his help, after he extracted my soul from the Dao Field, I only have 10 years to find a new place to place it.”

“This is also why I had no choice but to participate in Sage Jin’s plan. I hope that this journey into the Nebula Forbidden Region might help me secure a place to survive. At the very least, I need to find several Hollow Heaven Stones to reconstruct a Dao Field.”

Shang Xia couldn’t help but ask, “Do you know what the Star Origin Lord truly intends to do after reviving?”

Zhuo Gudao shook his head and replied, “At first, we believed that after severing at least five continents from the Essence Ping World, it will no longer be whole and his plan to ascend to the Eighth Order would fail. However... After his revival, I noticed that he didn’t seemed too concerned with his advancement. Or rather... He might have a backup plan.”

“In any case, the Star Origin Lord’s goal of breaking through the Martial Emptiness Realm will not change.”

“What remains unclear is how exactly he intends to attempt it next.”

Sensing the rare opportunity, Shang Xia wanted to learn more about the Star Origin Lord from Zhuo Gudao’s perspective and continued asking, “I’ve heard that the Star Origin Lord’s cultivation is only at the fifth star right now... At the level of Dark Star, he’s not even a high-level Sage. How can he even think of breaking through? Don’t you think he’s being overly ambitious?”

Before Zhuo Gudao could answer, the quiet Yuan Ping finally spoke. “The Star Origin Lord has only recovered up to the fifth star of the Martial Emptiness Realm for now... However, he will continue to recover. His future cultivation is very likely tied to whether the Spirit Abundance World and Spirit Observation World can complete their ascension to become Essence Worlds...”

Shang Xia turned in surprise toward the usually quiet female Sage.

Yuan Ping looked at Shang Xia expressionlessly and said, “Sage Shang, your Essence Luxuriant World also ascended from a Spirit World in the Heaven Observation Field. It’s the same as the Spirit Abundance World and Spirit Observation World... If I’m not mistaken, you should be the Star Origin Lord’s next target. Once another Essence World enters the Three Essence Heavenly Field, not only will they become the Four Essence Heavenly Field, but the Star Origin Lord would likely become a high-level Sage again.”

Shang Xia had been listening intently all along as Yuan Ping spoke.

After she finished, he responded seriously, “Sage Yuan, you make a valid point, but I believe what you should really watch is the Spirit Mammoth World. Perhaps what the Star Origin Lord is truly waiting for is the moment they become an Essence World.”

Unexpectedly, Yuan Ping smiled in response. “You may be right, Sage Shang. But as long as I ensure that the Spirit Mammoth World never takes that final step toward ascension, what can the Star Origin Lord do to me?”

Shang Xia pondered her confidence, unsure where it came from. However, he no longer wished to dwell on the topic replied casually, “You’re right.”

Soon after, all four Sages on board fell into silence as they entered meditation.

No one knew how much time passed before Sage Jin’s voice suddenly rang in their minds, bringing them out of their state of meditation.“Everyone, we’re almost at the Nebula Forbidden Region!”

After waking, all of them turned to look in the direction Sage Jin had indicated. In the far reaches of the void, a vast and dreamlike nebula could be seen. It was the Nebula Forbidden Region he spoke of.

As the golden ship approached the enormous nebula, the Nebula Forbidden Region appeared ever larger in their eyes. By the time they were just several hundred thousand miles away, what they saw already surpassed the size of an Essence World.

“The Essence Frontier Heavenly Field lies in that direction.” Sage Jin said while pointing in the other direction.

Following Sage Jin’s gesture, Shang Xia and the others looked into the distance and faintly sensed the existence of a vast, complete Heavenly Field several million miles away in the void.

According to Sage Jin, Qin Ming of the Essence Frontier World had cultivation equivalent to his and Shang Xia, both at the fourth star of the Martial Emptiness Realm. The Essence Frontier World was located in the center of the Heavenly Field, and there were four Spirit Worlds, six Azure Worlds, and a bunch of Barbaric Worlds with floating continents and habitable Earth Stars within.

“Are we going to approach the Nebula Forbidden Region directly?” Zhuo Gudao raised the question.

Without turning his head, Sage Jin pointed in a direction and said, “The Essence Frontier World keeps close watch over the Forbidden Zone. There are usually patrols in the area. We’ll need to loop around to the upper region and look for an opening to rush in!”

Shang Xia couldn’t help but frown. “So, Sage Jin means that if we charge into the forbidden region, we’re certain to alert the patrol fleets of Essence Frontier World?”

Yuan Ping also frowned. “Can’t we infiltrate quietly?”

Sage Jin shook his head with some regret. “The Nebula Forbidden Region is filled with fragmented and severed space. Messing anything up will cause a chain reaction. As long as we tug a single thread, everything will shift. If we wish to go deep, we will definitely cause a huge reaction. It’s impossible to avoid drawing attention.”

Zhuo Gudao eventually sighed, “So no matter whether we gain anything... We’ll have to fight them.”