Chapter 1984: Nine Stars

When Shang Xia had encountered the Star Origin Lord’s Starlight Clone near the Essence Chong Heavenly Field, the Star Origin Lord had already come very close to pinpointing the region where his ‘Fate Stars’ resided. The crafty old monster had even deduced that he might possess more than one ‘Fate Star’.

Although the so-called Fate Star classified by the Star Origin Lord could not truly determine Shang Xia’s life or death, nor did it have much impact on his cultivation and strength, it remained true that if all of them were destroyed, it would serve as a great inconvenience even if he could find more of them.

Rebuilding the formation would be a time-consuming and energy-draining endeavor. Therefore, if the existing stars could be preserved, Shang Xia would naturally strive to protect them.

That was precisely why, after eliminating the Star Origin Lord’s avatar, he took advantage of the concealment provided by the Essence Chong World to adjust the positions and orientations of the original stars.

However, that adjustment had been done hastily, immediately after defeating the Star Origin Lord’s Starlight Clone. At that time, both the Star Origin Lord and the Stargazers of the Four Essence Heavenly Field were very likely keeping a close watch on his movements.

As a result, even with the cover of the fragmented Essence Chong World, Shang Xia had been unable to fully and properly realign their positions.

Fortunately, even under such circumstances, his personal combat strength had not been significantly affected. At the very least, he had stood toe-to-toe with Yuan Ling, who had broken through to the sixth star earlier. He could even fight the Star Origin Lord to a certain extent, with the ability to withdraw as he wished.

After Kou Chongxue left seclusion to personally oversee the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field, Shang Xia quietly departed from the Heaven Observation Star Region once more, heading straight toward the ruins where the Essence Chong Heavenly Field had been, traveling with ease and familiarity.

About half a month after Shang Xia’s departure, under Kou Chongxue’s instructions, the Stargazing Hall of the institution gathered four Stargazers on the Star Observatory of the Tongyou Dao Field. Led by Yuan Qiuyuan, they assembled several dozen Astrologers and disciples before slowly surveying the region around Shang Xia’s seven suns. A group also challenged the Stargazers of the Four Essence Heavenly Field.

That was a type of contest that only Stargazers could truly comprehend.

Up to that point, Stargazers were not considered rare across the Chaotic Sea of Stars. However, only two factions had the strength to extend their power across the Star Field. Both were based in the Heaven Observation Star Region, one being the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field’s Stargazing Hall, and the other the orthodox lineage of Stargazers from the Heaven Observation Sect in the Four Essence Heavenly Field.

In fact, since Yuan Qiuyuan had successfully advanced to become a rank six Grand Stargazer, open and covert contests between the two sides had taken place countless times.

However, contests between Stargazers tended to be subtle and nonviolent. They rarely caused large-scale destruction, and people outside the community often remained unaware that a clash was even taking place. As a result, such events usually did not attract much attention.

But this time, the Stargazing Hall of Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field had gone all out to provoke a direct contest with the Four Essence Heavenly Field’s Star Observatory. Their clash was so intense that even high-level cultivators unfamiliar with the art of stargazing could sense the disturbances in starlight throughout the void. The most direct consequence was the occurrence of navigation failures and route confusion in many returning Star Ships that didn’t bring any Stargazers with them.

This phenomenon was no longer limited to the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field and Four Essence Heavenly Field, the chaos had begun to spread across the entire Heaven Observation Star Region, and judging by the intensity of their clash, it would not be long before other Star Regions were affected as well.

Although the Stargazing Hall of the Tongyou Institution in Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field had prepared in advance and held the initial advantage, the Four Essence Heavenly Field’s lineage of Stargazers had a much deeper foundation. After initially being caught off guard, they quickly gathered themselves under the leadership of Xing Xingtian, their chief Grand Stargazer. They began to rally their Stargazers, pooling their strengths and gradually shifting the advantage.

Kou Chongxue had originally ordered the Stargazing Hall to initiate the challenge as a decoy operation, to divert attention and secretly give Shang Xia the time and cover to adjust the stars in his Big Dipper Formation.

But unexpectedly, as the contest between the Grand Stargazers and Stargazers escalated to a fever pitch, both sides began to pour in all their efforts. The resulting impacts even surpassed the borders of the Heaven Observation Star Region, spreading across other regions in the Chaotic Sea of Stars.

As the battle grew more intense, the original objective had long been forgotten by many of the seniors in the Stargazing Hall.

Especially as time went on and the Stargazing Hall began to show signs of decline in the ongoing contest, even Kou Chongxue’s commands were no longer enough to prevent them from doing anything stupid.

Fortunately, at that moment, several Stargazers from the Heavenly Star Palace of the Essence Luxuriant World entered the fray at Kou Chongxue’s invitation.

The Heavenly Star Palace also had a Stargazing lineage. While their lineage was not as refined as that of the Tongyou Institution and their training efforts could not match those of the Stargazing Hall, as one of the 12 Elysium-level powers of the Essence Luxuriant World and possessing their own Star Observatory, their foundation was not to be underestimated.

At the very least, once a Grand Stargazer and two Stargazers of the Heavenly Star Palace joined the effort with the aid of their Star Observatory, the Stargazing Hall immediately stopped showing signs of clear disadvantage and even began to challenge the Four Essence Heavenly Field.

Seeing that the situation was gradually coming under control, Kou Chongxue heaved a sigh of relief, especially since the contest had already far exceeded the originally planned duration needed for Shang Xia to complete his adjustments to the Big Dipper Formation.

However, just as he was about to relax, multiple transmission talismans from the Stargazing Hall arrived, once again giving him a headache.

“The scale of the Stargazing Hall’s current Star Observatory is too small! Even the Heavenly Star Palace’s observatory is superior. This is severely limiting our ability to perform!”

“The Star Observatory is located within the Dao Field. It was originally built to protect the platform and our Stargazers, but now the spatial barrier is interfering with our techniques. When our lineage was still shallow, it didn’t matter, but now this flaw is affecting our ability to contend with the Four Essence Heavenly Field.”

“We no longer need to prioritize safety and secrecy. We must construct a sufficiently large Star Observatory in the You Continent, the Jiao Continent, or other suitable continents so that we have enough room to grow and perform!”

“...”

Clearly, the small Star Observatory within the Tongyou Dao Field could no longer meet the needs of the Stargazing Hall. It had become imperative for them to establish a much larger Star Observatory!

While Kou Chongxue was still racking his brain over where to build this new observatory and how to gather the massive resources required, Shang Xia’s adjustments to the Big Dipper Formation in the depths of the void were finally nearing completion.

This time, compared to the previous configuration of the seven bright stars in the shape of the Big Dipper, he had also arranged two additional dim and inconspicuous dark stars to assist them.