Chapter 1860: Mutated World Origin

There was undoubtedly a deeply hidden connection between Sage Jin and Yuan Ping.

Moreover, it appeared that Yuan Ping relied on Sage Jin to a far greater degree, perhaps even to the extent that her dependence was tied to the very foundation of the Essence Hong World itself.

That was probably why she had fallen into a state of utter despair after Sage Jin chose to betray them.

To any other Sage, such behavior was incomprehensible. But no one else knew what had truly transpired between Sage Jin and Yuan Ping.

However, when Yuan Ping truly charged at Qin Ming with the resolve of burning her dantian, the situation shifted once again. This time, it was Sage Jin who attempted to save her.

Sage Jin clearly did not want to see Yuan Ping perish.

However, Qin Ming obviously didn’t care for Sage Jin’s pleas. He even seemed to ignore them on purpose.

In truth, with his overwhelming strength, Qin Ming could have spared Yuan Ping, even as she risked everything. But he deliberately chose not to. Even after Sage Jin's reminder, he responded with a violently explosive strike that shattered Yuan Ping’s desperate, self-consuming attack.

The next moment, Qin Ming stepped forward and extended his hand, aiming to completely crush her body.

Yet in that instant, his aura abruptly faltered, followed by a significant drop in his strength. His palm strike was weakened by nearly 30 percent.

Immediately after, Sage Jin’s sword flashed sideways, severing the space in front of the wounded Yuan Ping and halting Qin Ming’s massive palm beneath the spatial rift.

"Jin Quan, why did you save her?" Qin Ming's voice was cold, his expression dark. The power of the Essence Frontier Heavenly Field that had been bolstering him had clearly diminished, causing a stark weakening.

But Sage Jin was even more furious. He pulled the unconscious and heavily wounded Yuan Ping behind him and growled, "Qin Ming, I already asked you to show mercy, why did you insist on killing her?!"

Qin Ming laughed coldly and retorted, "Jin Quan, what nonsense is this? She tried to kill me by detonating her dantian. Do you expect me to let her go? And you... Just for the sake of a woman who’s already turned against you, you dared to block my connection with the Essence Frontier Heavenly Field, giving the others a chance to escape. What exactly are you trying to do?"

Even as he shouted, Qin Ming’s gaze darted between Sage Jin and the unconscious Yuan Ping, his eyes gleaming faintly with suspicion as if calculating something.

Sage Jin drew a deep breath. He knew very well that their current alliance was born of mutual interests and the promise of greater gain, nothing more.

There was no friendship between them, and in truth, both harbored deep resentment against each other and couldn’t wait to tear each other limb from limb. In situations that didn’t threaten the ultimate goal, it was only natural that each would act according to their own plans.

Sage Jin snorted once. "She still has her uses, so I overreacted. As for the connection to your Heavenly Field... Hasn’t it already returned?"

"Haha! Is that so? Jin Quan, how refined your tastes have become!" Qin Ming chuckled mockingly. "If it's just a misunderstanding, so be it. As for those two who fled, they likely haven’t realized yet that we’re already in the deepest reaches of the Nebula Forbidden Region!"

Sage Jin snorted coldly. "You’re not worried they’ll get away?"

Qin Ming shrugged indifferently. "If they want to escape from the heart of the Nebula Forbidden Region, their safest route would be to retrace the path the Essence Wilderness World was thrown into the forbidden region. As long as we control the ruins of the Essence Wilderness World, they won’t be able to escape.”

Sage Jin’s expression wavered slightly, but he still nodded. Eventually, he asked, "Do you think the two of them might draw out the mutated origin?"

Qin Ming cast him a quick glance, a hint of contempt flashing in his eyes. However, he quickly smiled, "Of course! But the mutated origin is just the beginning. If they truly manage to find a path to another Star Field... Perhaps you and I could instantly become high-level Sages!”

A profound light flashed in Sage Jin’s eyes as he murmured, "Another Star Field... Over a thousand years ago, the old ancestor of the Heart Lamp Sect left the Chaotic Sea of Stars by following a powerhouse from beyond...”

...

When Yuan Ping stopped Qin Ming, Shang Xia had been shocked, but he also knew that such chances were not to be wasted.

Just as he was about to act, he suddenly realized something. He couldn’t return along the original path through the ruins of the Essence Wilderness World.

As long as the World’s Will hadn’t fully dissipated, his presence within the ruins could be detected at any time by Sage Jin.

Since Qin Ming and Sage Jin were working together, they held the undisputed advantage geographically. Shang Xia knew that he wouldn’t be able to escape from both of them alone.

What was more... Both Zhuo Gudao and he had already been forced to the edges of the ruins of the Essence Wilderness World.

It was the region that had been shoved the deepest into the Nebula Forbidden Region when the Essence Wilderness World had been thrown in.

Without being able to retrace his way through the ruins, any path he took would lead him deeper into the Nebula Forbidden Region.

Still, Shang Xia’s top priority was to evade Qin Ming’s pursuit. Until he better understood their true motives, nothing else mattered.

As he fled deeper into the Nebula Forbidden Region, he faintly heard Sage Jin’s furious roar from afar.

Although he couldn’t see Zhuo Gudao anywhere, Shang Xia guessed from the situation that the latter had likely taken advantage of the chaos and slipped away.

Knowing how cunning Zhuo Gudao was, Shang Xia had little doubt he had already evaded the pursuit.

After confirming that he had truly shaken off Qin Ming, Shang Xia sought a relatively stable patch of void to rest and circulate his inner qi. However, he soon noticed that during the refinement process, there was a trace amount of mutated world origin that had merged into the flow of his inner qi.

Alarmed, he immediately summoned a personal Star Ship to dock in the void before inspecting the changes.

Through careful inspection, he quickly discovered the world origin around him contained a trace of mutated energy.

As he circulated his Seven Star Seven World Spiritual Stabilization Art, the mutated energy entered his body. Although they hadn’t been fully refined into his dantian, they showed no signs of being rejected, which greatly unnerved Shang Xia.

Fortunately, Shang Xia had discovered the anomaly in time. If the contaminated energy had been integrated into his Big Dipper Star Origin, the consequences would have been far worse.

After forcibly purging the foreign energy from his system, his supposed recovery session not only failed to replenish his inner qi, but also expanded more of his energy.

Even more troubling was the deepening mystery. What exactly was the source of the mutated energy? Why was it present in the world origin around him, and how had it infiltrated his body so stealthily?