Chapter 2079: We’re Fucked

Although they had Chu Jia, a Formation Grandmaster adept at battle formations, taking command of the fleet, and was able to inflict enormous damage on the enemy even when they were greatly outnumbered, the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field’s fleet’s casualties continued to mount.

During the process, the large and super Star Pirate Groups also kept raising the stakes in the huge battle as they opened up a greater number of void tunnels.

If the situation continued, no matter how godly Chu Jia’s command of the fleet became or her use of battle formations, she would be crushed in the face of absolute strength.

However, the true key to surviving lay in the time they were able to keep their enemies at bay.

Because of the tenacity the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field's fleet had shown earlier, and the strength they displayed once Chu Jia took command with her exquisite mastery of battle formations, they won themselves enough time.

On the side of the Invincible Pirates, Shang Xia’s External Avatar didn’t act against the enemies personally, but he shattered all obstacles in the void for them.

In the end, the four Sages who came to intercept the fleet realized that things had gone to shits.

As for the detachments that the Star Pirate Groups sent to stop the Invincible Pirates, the fierce assaults of Gao Qin and the others tore through the pirates’ blockade.

The Invincible Pirates arrived earlier than expected!

The chief of the Invincible Pirates was Sun Haiwei, the fourth tier True Immortal. Her deputy was the fifth tier True Immortal, Gao Qin. This newly risen super Star Pirate Group, seemingly composed almost entirely of women, had gathered nearly all the female elites of the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field and used the super Star Ship, the Invincible, as its flagship. They made a sensational name for themselves during the struggle over the ownership of the 4th Starsea Market.

Compared with that previous battle, although the Invincible Pirates no longer had the covert support of the Ying Brothers of the former Twin Star Pirates, they had drawn in more elite cultivators from the Chaotic Sea of Stars who came to defect, so their overall strength had not been reduced by much.

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

With the super Star Ship in the lead, the Invincible Pirates broke through the void to reach the battlefield, giving the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field’s fleet newfound hope.

At that exact moment, the well-prepared Chu Jia once again demonstrated to everyone her powerful ability to orchestrate the battle formation. The instant the Invincible Pirates arrived, she smoothly took over command of their Star Ships from Sun Haiwei and Gao Qin. She immediately issued orders to the captains stationed on each ship. The degree of tacit coordination between them had not grown rusty despite the passage of time.

With dozens of mighty Star Ships added to their fleet, the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field's fleet’s overall defensive network became tighter and its combat power more formidable. In particular, the addition of the super Star Ship personally piloted by Sun Haiwei and the large Star Ship commanded by Gao Qin, together with the Cai siblings’ Chasing Wind and Welcoming Snow, formed the two most unexpected and lethal combinations on the battlefield.

After more than 10 medium Star Ships were blasted apart in succession, the Star Pirate Groups on all sides, seeing that they still could not achieve decisive progress, finally could no longer bear the continual losses and began to order a retreat.

At that point, with their collective strength greatly increased, the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field’s fleet naturally would not let the enemy withdraw however they liked. Under Chu Jia’s command, a pursuit fleet composed mainly of fresh forces from the Invincible Pirates, including the Invincible, quickly sallied forth to keep expanding their gains.

Only then did the Cai siblings and Sun Haiwei, Gao Qin, and the others in charge of the pursuit discover that several Star Ships of the original four super Star Pirate Groups had, at some point, already slipped away first. All that was left were the commanding ships of the two large Star Pirate Groups.

Plainly put, the four super Star Pirate Groups, guided by the Sages backing them, had quietly withdrawn after receiving a hint, while the two large Star Pirate Groups remained unaware, became sacrificial rear guards. Fortunately, to avoid stirring up further complications, the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field side did not push for total annihilation. After driving all the vessels from the surrounding void, they regrouped again and continued to guard the massive fleet toward the Heaven Observation Star Region.

Even so, the main Star Ships of the two large Star Pirate Groups were nearly wrecked. In the end, each had only a handful of ships fleeing in disgrace.

At this point, the joint operation to hunt down the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field's fleet by several Star Pirate Groups in the Chaotic Sea of Stars ended in complete failure.

Under Chu Jia’s command, the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field's fleet, once joined with the Invincible Pirates, inflicted tremendous damage on the enemy, they also suffered heavy losses.

Aside from losing around 20 small and medium Star Ships, more than 10 other Star Ships used to carry the survivors of the Essence Yue Heavenly Field and various resources were broken apart or seized.

However, compared with the vast number of Star Ships in the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field's fleet and the price the large and super Star Pirate Groups paid in the battle, their losses were not much.

When the various Star Pirate Groups withdrew, they churned up this stretch of void as they went. While it posed no substantive threat to the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field's fleet, it did impede the fleet’s speed, carrying a distinctly spiteful flavor.

However, Yan Ming, who had been operating with the Invincible Pirates in recent years, was also on board the Invincible. With two Grand Stargazers joining forces, they quickly drew in the radiance of the stars, and with Shang Xia’s cooperation, they quickly created a stable tunnel through the turbulent void around them, allowing the fleet to set out smoothly on its return journey.

Sometimes, news in the Chaotic Sea of Stars spread as fast as a plague... For example, the failure of the four super Star Pirate Groups’ joint operation against the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field’s fleet that carried the survivors of the Essence Yue Heavenly Field spread in no time through the major Starsea Markets to all the Star Pirate Groups and the well-informed Heavenly Fields across the Star Regions.

But sometimes, the transmission of news was as slow as a snail, as if someone were deliberately delaying its spread. For instance, when Shang Xia, whose cultivation had long since advanced to the level of a high-level Sage, first appeared in the Floating Star Region, the Sages of the various Heavenly Fields there were not familiar with him.

Perhaps for that very reason, during the subsequent return journey, the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field's fleet no longer encountered attacks from other Star Pirate Groups, though various covert methods of shadowing and spying persisted.

But after those Star Ships used for reconnaissance and spying were, one after another, toyed with by the two Grand Stargazers until they nearly lost themselves in the void, the return journey finally became completely quiet.

At the end of the 29th year of the Essence Luxuriant Calendar, after many twists and turns, the fleet finally returned to the vicinity of the Heaven Observation Star Region. By that time, however, Shang Xia had already slipped away from the Spirit Ark without anyone noticing and appeared in the region of space where the Void Mirage had been sealed.