Chapter 1856: Everyone Has Their Own Schemes And Guesses

What did a fully fragmented world look like?

What was more... That fragmented world was supposed to be a fully developed Essence World!

"Back when the Essence Wilderness World was under my control..." Sage Jin explained as he led the other three Sages through the shattered, drifting fragments, "It grew for over a thousand years under the leadership of four Sages. By the time it was pushed into the Nebula Forbidden Region, it possessed a total of 32 continents! 14 of those were fully developed continents that had reached a state of perfection, spanning 30,000 miles each. My Essence Wilderness Heavenly Field also held five Spirit Worlds, nine Azure Worlds, and countless other Barbaric Worlds and Earth Stars.”

𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

As he described its former glory, his tone carried a faint trace of pride. It was clear Sage Jin remained proud of the Essence Wilderness World’s history.

Yet... All of that splendor had vanished in a single day. Once a famed existence through the Original Star Corner, Sage Jin was now like a dog without a home. His cultivation and combat strength were in constant decline, so much so that he could no longer even maintain his abilities at the mid-level of the Martial Emptiness Realm.

Of course, Shang Xia merely thought it to himself. He wouldn’t let his intrusive thoughts win and speak them out loud, but others didn’t have much concern.

Yuan Ping said coldly, "With the Essence Wilderness World’s land so thoroughly fragmented, is there really any chance the World Origin Source could have survived?"

Sage Jin answered immediately, "It’s possible. Otherwise, how could fragments of my soul still exist?"

After a pause, he added, "At the very least, the World Origin Source where I once anchored my soul still remains."

Shang Xia’s eyes flickered as though he had thought of something important, but someone else spoke first.

Zhuo Gudao asked in a low voice, "Then... Could the World Origin Source containing your soul fragment be a trap?"

Sage Jin's steps faltered.

Shang Xia raised his brows and muttered, "That seems unlikely, doesn’t it? Wasn’t your soul already scattered? I imagine as far as Sage Qin Ming of the Essence Frontier World is concerned, you long since lost connection with your world and became like water without a source, a tree without roots."

"Then why preserve the World Origin Source that once held Sage Jin’s soul?" Zhuo Gudao countered. "That’s the World Origin Source of an Essence World! Back then, Qin Ming should only be a third star Sage, on par with me and Sage Yuan Ping! Tell me... Would any of us have given up on such a high-level World Origin Source?”

He glanced at Sage Jin and continued, "Besides, for you to choose it to anchor your soul, the continent the World Origin Source was connected to should be one of the strongest in the Essence Wilderness World. It would more than likely be one of the 14 continents that had reached a state of perfection.”

Sage Jin thought for a moment and said, "I’ve heard that Qin Ming only plundered parts of the Essence Wilderness World’s treasures. He didn’t cause large-scale destruction. After all, if the continents were too damaged, they wouldn’t have been able to suppress the expansion of the Nebula Forbidden Region, which could’ve endangered the surrounding Heavenly Fields in the Original Star Corner."

However... it seemed like even Sage Jin didn’t believe what he was saying. It was unlikely that Qin Ming would have left the World Origin Source of such a powerful continent alone after shattering Sage Jin’s soul that had been anchored in it.

Surprisingly, Yuan Ping, who had been full of sarcasm earlier, changed her tune suddenly. “Even if you know this is a trap... Wouldn’t you still jump head-first into it?”

Sage Jin froze as a bitter smile appeared on his face.

It was exactly as she had put it. He didn’t have a choice!

If he couldn’t reclaim his scattered soul, his situation would only worsen.

Everyone present could see that Sage Jin was forcefully holding himself together. After hundreds of years of exhausting every method to maintain his cultivation, Sage Jin was at his limit and could collapse at any moment.

Taking a deep breath, he swept his gaze across the three other Sages and said resolutely, "Even if it is a trap, what of it? There are four of us now.”

Then he bowed deeply at all of them. "Please. Assist me!”

Before Shang Xia or Zhuo Gudao could reply, Yuan Ping said casually, "Let’s find the World Origin Source first, then we can discuss anything else.”

Actually, Zhuo Gudao didn’t have much of a choice either.

Zhuo Gudao hoped to gain the Heart Lamp Sect’s inheritance that could reassemble his scattered soul and solve his own issue. He needed to retrieve it to store it in another Dao Field or world.

As for Shang Xia... He needed to pretend to need Sage Jin’s guidance and the help of others to obtain Hollow Heaven Stones despite already getting his hands on a few.

Neither Shang Xia nor Zhuo Gudao were idiots. It was too obvious that Sage Jin and Yuan Ping were pretending to be distant while working in secret.

However, none of them could afford to raise internal strife at this point. Besides, Zhuo Gudao and Shang Xia didn’t trust each other either.

All four Sages continued their journey deeper into the fragmented remains of the Essence Wilderness World. Before long, they began to notice traces that suggested those lands had been recently disturbed.

Zhuo Gudao sighed, "It seems the Essence Frontier World has never stopped exploring the depths of the Nebula Forbidden Region."

Sage Jin replied, "Naturally! The Essence Frontier World holds the only relatively stable entrance to the forbidden region where the Essence Wilderness World was first thrust into it. They’ve been following that path ever since. Reaching this deep after centuries is no surprise."

Shang Xia couldn’t help but frown. "But why? Are they merely collecting Hollow Heaven Stones, or have they found something deeper inside?"

Before Sage Jin could answer, Yuan Ping spoke. "Isn’t a steady supply of Hollow Heaven Stones enough of a reason?"

Indeed. Given the rarity and importance of Hollow Heaven Stones, even a semi-reliable source was enough to justify the Essence Frontier World’s full-scale investment.

But surely... The Essence Frontier World and Sage Qin Ming had greater goals than that.

All of them knew that Sage Jin was still hiding something.

The truth behind the Nebula Forbidden Region’s appearance and Sage Jin’s loss of the Essence Wilderness World was clearly more complicated than it seemed.

Whatever it was, the group pressed on and even greater dangers appeared on the floating land fragments around them.

The next second, Yuan Ping yelled, “There’s something different about the heaven and earth qi in the surroundings!”

Zhuo Gudao quickly added, "It seems something has been mixed in. It’s like an evolution from the original world origin!”

Sage Jin finally broke his silence. "It must be because we’ve reached the depths of the Nebula Forbidden Region."

On the outside, Shang Xia remained calm. However, he had already recognized something familiar in the energy around him.

It was identical to the strange energy he had encountered earlier in the region of chaos. However, what the rest were merely sensing was the diluted world origin that had undergone transformation. What Shang Xia had absorbed that had been filtered through the Crimson Soul Tablet was the true essence.

What they are feeling only confirmed his suspicion.

Could the world origin really be related to a world that surpasses an Essence World?