Chapter 1992: Observe, Analyze, Stop The Battle

...

As Kou Chongxue’s cultivation continued to improve, his exchanges with Shang Xia deepened his understanding of the mutual, almost symbiotic relationship between Sages and their Heavenly Fields.

Indeed, a Sage could, to some extent, control an Essence World, or even a portion of world origin from the entire Heavenly Field. It could grant the wielder an immense boost in cultivation and combat strength.

This was precisely why, when backed by their Heavenly Field, Sages could often fight multiple opponents of the same rank, or even challenge opponents who were stronger. However, during the entire process, the more often and the longer a Sage controlled their Essence World and its World’s Will, the more they would be assimilated by the world’s origin,

It was an assimilation that would only deepen over time.

Kou Chongxue once said, “I can feel it clearly, controlling the will of the Essence World and Heavenly Field must be used sparingly. Unless it’s a matter of life and death, we can’t do it. Even at our cultivation level, we might be completely assimilated into our Essence World, becoming part of it forever!”

“Even if we can benefit from it, and our cultivation would soar when we control their will, I suspect most Sages would be unwilling to see that happen continually. Perhaps I now understand why some Sages, after centuries of cultivation, are still only at the third star or barely reaching the mid-level. It’s likely not due to obstacles in their cultivation or a loss of talent. After all, any martial artist who reaches the Martial Emptiness Realm is extraordinary and blessed with great fortune, but because they fear assimilation by their Heavenly Field, they would rather slow their cultivation, or even abandon it altogether.”

When Kou Chongxue explained it to Shang Xia, he had a strange look.

“From this perspective, the lengths you went to in order to reclaim your soul from our World Origin Source and sever all ties with our Heavenly Field was truly the wisest choice!”

Shang Xia had never forgotten the look on Kou Chongxue’s face when he had said those words. “Patriarch Kou, I didn’t understand the matter that deeply back then. My reclaiming of my soul and severing ties with our Heavenly Field was not for that reason...”

Before Shang Xia could finish, Kou Chongxue cut him off. “You don’t need to explain. I naturally believe you. And even if we had both understood the stakes from the start, I wouldn’t have chosen another path. Besides, I know very well that severing ties with our world and reclaiming our soul is not something just anyone can do, it’s a cultivation method unique to you alone!”

Shang Xia exhaled softly. “Patriarch Kou, do you plan on slowing down your cultivation for now?”

“No!” The complicated expression on Kou Chongxue’s face vanished completely, replaced by a firm, resolute look. “On the contrary, I will push forward as aggressively as I can.”

Shang Xia couldn’t help but ask, “Because of the coming invasion from other Star Fields?”

Kou Chongxue replied calmly, “Also for the sake of our Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field, and for the Tongyou Institution.”

This was the first time Shang Xia had spoken in depth with Kou Chongxue about the ties between themselves and their world.

...

It was also because of the discussion that Shang Xia came to understand the pressure Kou Chongxue was under. Even with only the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field’s Will attempting to devour him, Kou Chongxue showed some weariness toward the future. But the Star Origin Lord before them was channeling the will of four separate Essence Worlds into himself at once. No matter how strong his cultivation and foundation, could he truly not fear he would be devoured by them?

“He’s mad, he’s crazy!” Gu Yi shouted while furiously beating his twin wings at the cost of rapidly depleting his inner qi. Waves of spatial ripples surged forward, stacking upon each other until they became a tidal wave sweeping toward the Star Origin Lord.

At the same time, his figure shifted quickly through the void, converging toward Yuan Ling and Shang Xia’s position. Gu Yi wasn’t the only one who made a move. Yuan Ling and Shang Xia also adopted the same approach, attacking the Star Origin Lord to slow or even disrupt his fusion of world origin and to disrupt his plans.

In such a situation, if they continued fighting separately, the Star Origin Lord would simply defeat them one by one.

Only by coming together and supporting each other could they hope to protect themselves against the Star Origin Lord. But just as they regrouped, the spatial wave created by Gu Yi’s twin wings weakened when it was still 1,000 miles from the Star Origin Lord. By the time it reached 500 miles from the Star Origin Lord, it had degraded to ordinary void ripples. When it was only 100 miles away, those ripples smoothed out, leaving only a faint breeze brushing the Star Origin Lord’s body, barely enough to stir his robes.

Fortunately, Gu Yi was not the only one attacking. Yuan Ling’s attacks were equally sharp.

Compared to Gu Yi’s technique of stirring the void, Yuan Ling’s method seemed even more dangerous. He appeared to have engaged the Star Origin Lord in an invisible clash of martial will.

A muffled grunt rang through the void. Clearly, Yuan Ling had not staked everything on this exchange and he only sought to disrupt the Star Origin Lord.

Also, he seemed to succeed. Leveraging Gu Yi’s void tide in the Star Origin Lord’s domain, his martial will was carried by his divine soul before colliding with the Star Origin Lord. For a brief moment, the Star Origin Lord, who was bearing the pressure from the wills of the Essence Worlds, showed a slight fluctuation in his aura.

At that moment, Shang Xia’s Dipper Vortex rapidly closed in, directly seizing and drawing away the world origin coming along with the Worlds’ Will.

Even though they had all appeared to be fighting defensively, all three Sages suddenly drew on their wealth of battle experience to launch a perfectly coordinated strike.

Though their joint attack failed to break the Worlds’ Will descent on the Star Origin Lord, it did weaken it somewhat and, more importantly, slowed its process.

It not only allowed the three to regroup successfully, but also gave them ample time to observe the Star Origin Lord’s process of channeling the wills of four different worlds.

Indeed, at that moment, more than the outcome of the fight itself, the three high-level Sages were interested in the very nature of the Worlds’ Will descent.

That was because it might well conceal the Star Origin Lord’s approach to breaking through to the Martial Eternity Realm, even if it carried enormous risks.

Soon enough, as they observed, they began to notice tangible details.

“Each World’s Will isn’t actually that strong, certainly far weaker than the blessing a Sage gets from their Heavenly Field. Of course, the combined force of four worlds definitely surpasses that of one Heavenly Field.”

“The key is how he handles carrying Worlds’ Will and world origins at once, how to prevent them from clashing with each other.”

“All four worlds reside in the same Heavenly Field. He’s trying to use the Heavenly Field to command their power, but clearly the Four Essence Heavenly Field can contain four worlds without being able to truly master their combined might. He’s still mostly relying on brute-force suppression from his cultivation.”

“He obviously hasn’t found a way to truly unify the power of all four worlds, certainly not to perfect mastery. For now, he can suppress the clash of wills with his cultivation, but since he clearly wants more than four worlds in his Heavenly Field, the conflicts will only grow worse. The difficulty of unifying and controlling them will multiply with each added world. What will he do then?”

“A rank eight Star Core...”

Though their divine soul exchange was swift, and they hoped to glean more about the Star Origin Lord’s path to the Martial Eternity Realm, the Star Origin Lord had already finished gathering the wills of all four worlds. He immediately launched a counterattack, cutting off their discussion.

“Enough! This fight no longer has any purpose! Since he has shown his true ability, we need not fight to the death over a mere Heavenly Field.” Gu Yi, who had been the last to arrive but the first to start the battle, was also the first to propose that they retreat.

Yuan Ling and Shang Xia exchanged a look, both understanding that with Gu Yi’s withdrawal, the three could no longer fight as one.

“We can still do a little more.”

All three knew it well. Though they would stop fighting, they had to remain together. They couldn’t separate and allow the Star Origin Lord to pick them off individually.

“Let’s take the next strike together first!” Shang Xia growled, and the three retreated in unison, each unleashing their own techniques to clash head-on with the approaching river of starlight.