Chapter 1997: The Growth Of The Auxiliary Spirit Worlds

Shang Xia’s rate of cultivation left Kou Chongxue astonished.

But he also knew that it was an opportunity unique to Shang Xia, something others could envy but never replicate.

Otherwise, at the moment of a world’s final destruction, Shang Xia would not have been the only one interested. Others have watched, yet they could not gain insight from it, let alone use it to directly advance their cultivation.

“How far along is the integration of the continents of the Essence Du World’s fragments?” Shang Xia asked.

Kou Chongxue shook his head with a wry smile. “Not very well. Although the Essence Du Heavenly Field was quickly taken down by our combined forces, minimizing the drain on the World Origin Source, the assault was too forceful. In the process, the World’s Will suffered heavy damage, causing severe loss of world origin. As a result, the World Origin Source is far weaker than we had hoped.”

Shang Xia nodded helplessly. “That can’t be helped.”

Kou Chongxue continued, “Of the four continents, two span 12,000 miles, while the other two barely pass the 10,000 miles threshold. The integration of all four into our world is not yet complete, but at the current pace, they can only be merged in pairs and form two new continents, each about 12,000 to 13,000 miles in size.”

Shang Xia smiled. “That’s not too bad. Not as good as the Essence Xing World, but better than the Essence Chong World by far. Now, with these two about-to-be-established continents, we will possess 34 continents. With our Dao Field and the 12 Elysiums, we would have surpassed the Essence Xing World!”

Kou Chongxue waved his hand and chuckled. “We’re still behind. Their 33 continents had strong foundations back then, far better than ours. Of our 34 continents, at least half are under 12,000 miles.”

Shang Xia nodded slowly, “We’ll catch up. 100 years ago, who could have imagined that our Azure World would grow to such a level?”

Kou Chongxue laughed, “Well said!”

As they spoke, they traveled through the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field, roughly surveying their Spirit Worlds.

“The Spirit Qing World, Spirit Ruling World, and the Spirit Cheng World have all grown, but this time, the Spirit Cheng World has benefited the most.”

Shang Xia only needed a glance from outside their heavenly screens to gauge each Spirit World’s progress.

Kou Chongxue agreed. “The Spirit Light World and the Spirit Cheng World share the same origin after all. After we split the Spirit Light World, the continents were mostly integrated into the Spirit Cheng World. Even their cultivators could retain part of their cultivation as they were accepted by the World’s Will.”

Shang Xia mused, “Oh? So the Spirit Light World’s native forces have been largely preserved?”

Kou Chongxue nodded. “An Elysium was kept intact. Their cultivators tried to regroup around it, but they were quickly scattered.”

Shang Xia frowned. “The Spirit Cheng World still has no high-level True Immortal in charge?”

To that, Kou Chongxue sighed helplessly, “Exactly. Their growth wasn’t slow, and they had several True Immortals. However, none of them reached the fourth tier of the Martial Void Realm.”

Shang Xia shook his head. “Then let it be. Constant interference from us isn’t the answer.”

Moments later, they passed through the chaotic streams outside the Spirit Qing World.

“Looks like their development is steady.” Shang Xia remarked with a smile.

Kou Chongxue nodded. “Xiao Yugang is steady and fair, with an excellent reputation there. Their growth may seem unremarkable, but every step has been solid. Their overall strength has never stopped increasing.”

Shang Xia nodded, then his gaze sharpened for a moment before he smiled. “It looks like Xiao Yugang will advance to the level of Returning to the Origin soon.”

“Two other fourth tier True Immortals will also be coming out of seclusion soon.”

Compared to the Spirit Cheng World and Spirit Qing World, the Spirit Ruling World has also grown in recent years. However, the Ying Brothers clearly lacked skill in planning and managing the development of a world. The different factions of human cultivators, spiritual beasts, and plant kings grew wildly and independently.

Because of their mutual hostility, they often clashed internally, slowing the world’s growth.

However, they had their own quirks. All three factions within it, though frequently in conflict, maintained fairly good relations with other worlds in the Heavenly Field. The plant king faction was led by a Giant Plant King who occupied an Elysium. They regularly produced rare, high-grade spirit plants in bulk, which were highly sought after by mid and high level cultivators in the Essence Luxuriant World and other Spirit Worlds.

Even the spiritual beast faction offered hides, fur, horns, shells, and scales from mid to high-level beasts.

As for the human faction led by the Ying Brothers...

Shang Xia glanced at Kou Chongxue in surprise. “They’re not there?!”

Not only were the Ying Brothers absent, but several True Immortals were also missing. The number of high-level elites seemed lower than expected.

Kou Chongxue shot him a bitter smile. “They’ve gone back to their old trade...”

Shang Xia blinked before raising an eyebrow in surprise. “They’ve become Star Pirates again?”

Kou Chongxue chuckled. “They once swore never to return to doing that. When your Senior Sister Sun and Gao Qin formed the Invincible Pirates, they refused to join. But during the Campaign of the Essence Du Heavenly Field, the Invincible Pirates’ debut didn’t go smoothly, and the Ying Brothers mocked them endlessly. In response, your Senior Sister Sun goaded them, and, itching for action, they took command from her and led the Star Pirates into the Essence Du World, becoming the vanguard that opened our second territory there.”

Shang Xia thought for a moment before wondering out loud, “If I recall, Senior Sister Sun and Gao Qin’s Invincible Pirates is an all-female group?”

Kou Chongxue laughed, “The brothers only brought some of their old subordinates along for fun. After all, the two of them know jack shit about Star Pirate groups when developing the Invincible Pirates. Who better to teach them than real Star Pirates?”

After leaving the Spirit Ruling World’s chaotic streams, they approached the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field’s most developed, most powerful, and most unusual auxiliary Spirit World, the Spirit Frost World.

The instant they crossed the chaotic streams, their presence was noticed.

As they halted in the void, the massive form of the Giant Ape King tore through the void to appear before them before giving a deep bow.

Shang Xia, suspecting the reason for his appearance, smiled. “Why such a grand salute, Ape King?”

The Giant Ape King raised his head, his deep voice rumbling. “Sages... How can I advance further?”