Chapter 1973: Essence Luxuriant World’s Star Pirate Group

The Wanyun Association was indeed one of the long-established Elysiums of the Essence Xing World. Its accumulated foundation ranked among the best even when compared with many Elysiums in the Essence Luxuriant World. After suffering a catastrophe decades ago, its overall strength had also begun to recover. Moreover, not only did the Association hold tight control over its territory, but the Wanyun Continent itself was a vast region spanning nearly 20,000 miles.

All of these factors could be considered reasons for Essence Luxuriant World to absorb the Wanyun Association. Yet even when taken together, they still didn’t seem to be as valuable as the upper echelons of the Essence Luxuriant World had originally expected.

This was not to say that the current high-level cultivators of Essence Luxuriant World looked down on the Wanyun Association’s heritage, rather, it was that as Essence Luxuriant World grew and the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field continued to develop and mature, the horizons and standards of their cultivators had risen accordingly.

Essence Luxuriant World had only the ability to house 12 Elysiums in total, and with the continuous expansion of their local forces, the world wasn’t big enough. Now, one of them was to be given away, and more incredibly, it was one that had originally belonged to the Tongyou Institution.

Shang Xia’s decision left many high-level cultivators of the Essence Luxuriant World puzzled.

But most of these questions remained unanswered, as it was no easy feat to meet either Sage of the Essence Luxuriant World.

With Kou Chongxue in seclusion within the Tongyou Dao Field, even fewer cultivators had a chance to meet with Shang Xia.

And even if they did, few would dare raise the question directly.

As for the high-level cultivators of the Tongyou Institution, they might dare, but most of them harbored an unshakable trust in Shang Xia and Kou Chongxue. They firmly believed that Shang Xia had deeper reasoning for his decision, and even if they did not understand it at that moment, they were confident they eventually would.

Fortunately, there was still someone like Huang Jinghan in the Essence Luxuriant World, a forthright outlier. As the third fifth tier True Immortal of the Essence Luxuriant World, following Shang Xia and Kou Chongxue, he was qualified to meet Shang Xia when necessary.

Faced with Huang Jinghan’s inquiry, Shang Xia simply smiled.

It was not the kind of smile that was used to brush someone off. He simply asked, "True Immortal Huang, do you remember what the Wanyun Association relied on in the first place? What gave them a foothold in the Essence Xing World?"

Huang Jinghan thought for a moment, "The Wanyun Chamber of Commerce?”

Shang Xia nodded with a smile and said, "Before they built the Wanyun Continent and had their own territory, they started out as merchants. In the beginning, they weren’t even a sect, just a loosely structured trade organization."

"Originally, that kind of structure was enough for life within the Essence Xing World. But as that realm needed to expand, especially after the surrounding void regions were blocked off by neighboring Heavenly Fields, there arose a strong need for a massive chamber of commerce."

"It was precisely this need that led to the gradual transformation of that loosely knit association into a sect with a special background, eventually gaining their own Elysium. Due to their unique nature, though, their Elysium ended up being built above a sea of drifting clouds."

At this point, Huang Jinghan seemed to grasp Shang Xia’s true aim. "Sage Shang, you want the trade routes that the Wanyun Association once established across the Chaotic Sea of Stars, and their network of contacts?"

"And their intelligence channels!" Shang Xia added. "We need to take over all of this as quickly as possible and integrate them into our world. If we rely solely on ourselves to build such a massive network within the Chaotic Sea of Stars, it’ll take too long. And right now, time is exactly what we lack most!"

Huang Jinghan nodded thoughtfully, though his face still showed hesitation as he said, "But years ago, the Wanyun Association was jointly suppressed by the three dynasties and was forced to relocate. Sage Shang, you even helped to establish the Wanyun Continent. More recently, the Essence Xing World has been attacked by the alliance of the three Heavenly Fields. I wonder how much of their old network in the Chaotic Sea of Stars even remains?"

Shang Xia shot him a meaningful smile. "You’ve already seen how much remains, haven’t you? The news that the Essence Du Heavenly Field is about to split from the alliance and join the Four Essence Heavenly Field was something even our intelligence channels couldn’t uncover. The fact that someone was able to slip out of the Essence Xing World under Yuan Ling’s personal blockade to meet me here... Doesn’t that say it all?”

Huang Jinghan frowned slightly. "Wasn’t that intel passed along by the Chen Dynasty Emperor? And didn’t Gong Zhuo manage to travel in and out of Essence Xing World because of the other Sages residing there?"

Shang Xia chuckled, "Of the Sages there, other than the Chen Dynasty Emperor who just ascended to the Martial Emptiness Realm, the other two are little more than walking corpses. The only reason they’re still hanging on is because Yuan Ling fears they’ll lash out in desperation and spoil his harvest in the Essence Xing World."

Huang Jinghan nodded. "In recent years, we’ve managed to organize a few merchant fleets, but the results have been quite limited. Whether in terms of trade volume or the grade of goods we can exchange with major factions, we’ve hit real ceilings. Our returns haven’t been as great as hoped."

Sun Haiwei, who had remained silent for a while, suddenly chimed in, "Exactly. Our attempts to expand into various Starsea Markets have faced heavy resistance. To this day, the only place we’ve truly secured a foothold is the 6th Starsea Market, and that is thanks to Song Zhen’s presence."

Huang Jinghan continued, "Looking at it now, if the Wanyun Association and the continent are integrated into our world, they could indeed fill this gap of ours in the short term. The only question is, how many Starsea Markets could they help us expand into?"

Surprisingly, Shang Xia shook his head. "Their true strength isn’t in the Starsea Markets. It’s in the various Star Pirate Groups scattered throughout the Chaotic Sea of Stars."

"Star Pirates?" Huang Jinghan was momentarily surprised, but quickly caught on. "Are you suggesting we form our own Star Pirate force? Hmm... Song Zhen, and even the Ying Brothers from the Spirit Ruling World, were both veteran star pirates. If we have them rebuild a pirate group..."

Before he could finish, Shang Xia waved his hand and smiled, "Forget the Ying Brothers. They’ve worked hard to shake off the label, and now that they’ve found a place in the Spirit Ruling World, they won’t go back to that life."

Huang Jinghan grunted and nodded. "Fair enough. Then, with Song Zhen’s cultivation, he’d certainly be qualified to lead a formidable Star Pirate Group. And with our backing, forming at least a large Star Pirate Group would be no problem."

Shang Xia laughed and said, "Oh, Song Zhen will definitely be involved. But this time, I plan to have Gao Qin take the lead in forming this Star Pirate Group. Once we absorb the Wanyun Association, we’ll immediately requisition their super Star Ship as the flagship.”

Huang Jinghan grunted once. "Super Star Ships are a standard feature for major Star Pirate Groups in the Chaotic Sea of Stars. Gao Qin has already reached the fifth tier. She is more than sufficient to lead the group. With Song Zhen’s assistance, and if we recruit a few True Immortals from our world and the Spirit Worlds to join under new identities..."

At that moment, Sun Haiwei suddenly interrupted, "I plan to join."

"What?!" Both Huang Jinghan and even Shang Xia yelled in unison. They felt that they had misheard.

"I’m going to become a Star Pirate!" Sun Haiwei repeated, her tone firm and unwavering.[1]

1. IM GONNA BE PIRATE KING ☜