Chapter 2007: Big Dipper Star Shift Steps

During this period, Kou Chongxue regularly came to Shang Xia’s residence for meetings, and their exchanges in various aspects of the dao had already become routine.

As time passed, Shang Xia could clearly sense the continuous strengthening of Kou Chongxue’s inner qi. His cultivation was evidently in a phase of rapid advancement.

Of course, the so-called rapid advancement was only relative to a mid-level Sage.

In fact, even if he could maintain the same rate of progress over a long period, reaching the edge of the fifth star would still require several years of accumulation.

If Shang Xia’s guess was correct, Kou Chongxue’s fierce and rapidly improving cultivation state could be sustained until he reached the fifth star.

The reason was simple. Both the Essence Luxuriant World and the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field were still in a phase of rapid growth.

For the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field, the integration of several continents that came from other Essence Worlds, along with fragments of Spirit Worlds, could not be accomplished in one stroke. It would take a long period to integrate them all.

The process often took years, or even decades.

As a Sage who was an important part of the Heavenly Field, Kou Chongxue could control the World’s Will, along with the will of the Heavenly Field. He would naturally benefit from the overall improvement of the environment.

Of course, it was also greatly because of the contributions Kou Chongxue had made during the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field’s overall growth process.

However, the higher-leveled cultivators of the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field knew that the person who had contributed the most was not actually Kou Chongxue, but Shang Xia, who had long severed his karmic bond to the Heavenly Field in his martial path.

There were many who felt regret for Shang Xia because of this, and Kou Chongxue was the one who felt it the most.

In truth, Kou Chongxue’s regular visits to discuss matters with Shang Xia, apart from needing the mutual enlightenment and debate with a peer for his improvement, was because he felt a need to compensate Shang Xia in some way or another.

Although Kou Chongxue lagged behind Shang Xia in terms of cultivation, when it came to insights about the formation of worlds and the core of Heavenly Fields, Shang Xia needed him guidance from Kou Chongxue.

In the past, Shang Xia would only get the opportunities to discover them for himself during the destruction of the various Heavenly Fields or Essence Worlds. With Kou Chongxue’s explanation and insights, he gained a lot.

After sending Kou Chongxue off, Shang Xia casually held the jade slip containing the inheritance of the Golden Sun Talisman in his hand. He started to think about the crafting process and unknowingly fell into a trance.

Since he was in the Heavenly Field, Shang Xia was not worried about any dangers. Completely at ease, he was able to fall back into a wondrous state. He was no stranger to the feeling. In the past, such bursts of inspiration and harmony usually appeared only when he was fully immersed in the process of talisman crafting.

However... Because he was immersed in the comprehension of the Golden Sun Talisman and hadn’t entered seclusion, he entered a strange state where he would ‘sleepwalk’ around the region.

As a high-level Sage who was about to reach the seventh star, even when acting subconsciously, the Big Dipper Star Origin within him would circulate on its own, and every casual movement of his hands or feet would be accompanied by great power.

As Shang Xia wandered far away from his residence, he eventually left the floating island altogether. Every step he took seemed random, but he crossed a vast distance each time his feet landed. As he contemplated the crafting process of the rank seven Golden Sun Talisman, he discovered its connection to the stars. The insights were considered great inspiration for him at his current level.

To verify some of the ideas, the Big Dipper Star Origin in his dantian started to resonate with the stars in the distance. As beams of starlight fell from the stars in the Big Dipper Formation deep in the void, they pulsed rhythmically. His inner qi started to experience some strange transformation and his body aligned with each pulse.

Every step he took left a massive footprint condensed from his inner qi produced from his Big Dipper Star Origin.

As Shang Xia moved about in the void, the footprints seemed to form a vast and increasingly complete path.

1 step, 2 steps... 9 steps... Pause!

20... 30... 36 steps... They formed a node!

40... 45... 49... A complete cycle.

50, 60, 70, 80... 81 steps... They formed a complete system!

After his inner qi completed a complete circulation, Shang Xia’s comprehension of the rank seven Golden Sun Talisman suddenly became crystal clear.

Snapping back to reality, Shang Xia discovered that the feeling of inspiration had faded and he halted his steps instantly.

"So that’s how it is!" Shang Xia let out a long breath. The fact that he had completely comprehended the extremely profound rank seven talisman left him feeling clear-headed and invigorated. He was filled with satisfaction.

Turning back and looking at the distant residence, which was barely visible in his eyes, he realized he had unknowingly walked such a great distance.

Chuckling softly to himself, he glanced toward a certain point in the void before flickering out of sight.

After he left, from the direction he had just glanced toward, a small Star Ship approached.

When it came near, it immediately began to slow down. An elite Martial Dipper Realm cultivator on the deck cried out loudly as if he had just seen something unbelievable. "Look quickly, what’s that?"

Another companion, also at the Martial Dipper Realm, came out onto the deck and frowned. "What’s going on? Why are you shouting like you’ve never seen any... HUH?”

"Those are void imprints in the void that aren't fading... Did a True Immortal just pass by?”

The Martial Dipper Realm cultivator who first noticed the phenomenon exclaimed, "Although a True Immortal’s control over space far surpasses ours, to leave such void imprints that last so long that doesn’t affect the surrounding space is something ordinary True Immortals might not be able to accomplish!"

Another Martial Dipper Realm cultivator, whose cultivation and insight were perhaps higher, shook his head at his companion’s guess but did not dare make a more precise judgment.

"Look at those imprints, don’t they look like they were made from starlight?" The first cultivator’s eyes widened in shock.

However, the stronger cultivator frowned. "Are you sure? While your understanding of the arts of stargazing is above mine, as a veteran rank two apprentice, there’s not much difference between us since you just became a rank three Astrologer. Your cultivation is still far below mine. Otherwise, the two of us wouldn’t be stuck running errands for those Stargazers."

Before he could finish, his excited companion cut him off. "There’s no mistake! It’s definitely void imprints condensed from starlight! Don’t forget, the newly built Star Observatory here is about to be completed, and several high-level Stargazers from the Stargazing Hall and the Heavenly Star Palace have been frequenting this area lately. This has to be left by them while performing profound stargazing techniques!"

Compared to his companion, who was eager at the thought of a possible stroke of fortune, the other, a rank two apprentice who had already grown disheartened with studying stargazing, frowned as he too observed the 81 void imprints. "No way... Why do I feel like these void imprints look more like footprints left by someone who is walking around the void?"