Chapter 2092: Star Origin Guards Again?!

The Essence Zhen World had three world fragments cut away in succession, and the act truly enraged the Star Origin Lord.

“Enough!” The furious shout boomed like muffled thunder, stabbing into the souls of every Sage of the Heaven Observation Star Region present.

Shang Xia snapped his head around, but his gaze did not turn toward the Five Essence Heavenly Field. Instead, it fixed instead on a different stretch of void.

Soon, a figure tore through the void and emerged, identical to the Star Origin Lord’s clone at the grand completion stage Shang Xia and the others had previously shattered.

Shang Xia’s heart sank at the sight.

Did he actually create another clone at the same level in such a short time?!

But he quickly sensed something amiss. Though the figure used secret arts to conceal its cultivation, Shang Xia’s sharp divine soul detected it was only a mid-level Sage.

He quickly recalled the clone he had crushed at the edge of the Chaotic Sea of Stars when he was rearranging the Dipper Star Formation.

It seemed the Star Origin Lord had more than one clone, each with different cultivation levels, yet all capable of fighting with the strength of a Sage.

Shang Xia could not help but sigh to himself. The Star Origin Lord’s hidden cards were endless indeed.

He had thought that the Star Origin Lord had already been pushed to the limit, but as the Essence Zhen World was about to be cut down and stripped of its status as an Essence World, the Star Origin Lord could still summon a clone who was a mid-level Sage.

And how many more such clones were scattered out there?

But that was not the time for such thoughts. The appearance of his clone would clearly shift the balance of the battlefield.

As the clone drew closer to the battle, and nearer to the Five Essence Heavenly Field, the power of the Heavenly Field surged into him, causing his aura to rise steadily.

Among the four Sages near the Essence Zhen World’s heavenly screen, Shi Guan moved immediately to intercept the Star Origin Lord’s clone.

Yet when he clashed with the clone, he soon fell into disadvantage. He could barely hold out, but it was obvious their time was running out.

At the breach in the Essence Zhen World’s heavenly screen, Kou Chongxue had to take over Shi Guan’s role in restraining the native Sage.

Though Kou Chongxue wasn’t much weaker than Shi Guan who was at the fifth star of the Martial Emptiness Realm, once he tangled with the mid-level Sage, Zhuo Gudao and Yu Kun would find it difficult to separate more fragments from the Essence Zhen World.

Moreover, the Essence Zhen World’s cultivators weren’t useless. They still resisted fiercely. They could not threaten Shi Guan or Kou Chongxue, but against Zhuo Gudao and Yu Kun, who weren’t mid-level Sages, a combined strike with everything they had was still dangerous.

Thus the pace of fragmenting the Essence Zhen World slowed again.

After Zhuo Gudao and Yukun barely dragged out a fourth fragment, one smaller than a single continent, another crisis flared.

Sage Jin and Hong Jing, who had been fighting the super Star Ships of the Five Essence Heavenly Field, began to falter.

After Zhuo Gudao and Yu Kun left, the two had already been hard-pressed to continue fighting. They had held on only to buy time for the division of the Essence Zhen World.

But now the Star Origin Lord’s clone had returned, slowing their progress, Sage Jin and Hong Jing could no longer hold on.

The next second, another fleet emerged from the Five Essence Heavenly Field as reinforcements.

But instead of joining the three super Star Ships, they quickly formed a joint battle formation in the void, a formation that most Sages present and even many high-level cultivators recognized instantly.

They were the Star Origin Guards! It was the very same Star Origin Guard Grand Formation that had been used in the past!

The only difference in the Star Origin Guards now was that it was far stronger! In the past, the entry threshold had been cultivators in the Martial Extermination Realm. Now, only Martial Dipper Realm experts filled their ranks. True Immortals led the teams of seven, while high-level True Immortals competed for command the different camps. The Guard Commander was a first star Sage!

The moment the battle formation was complete, a mighty ripple passed through the void. It caused Sage Jin and Hong Jing’s expression to change.

Even Shi Guan and Kou Chongxue, the mid-level Sages maintaining the offensive, were startled by their strength.

Compared to the Star Origin Guards’ Grand Battle Formation that allowed them to wield Seventh Order energy back then... Now, they unleashed the might of a mid-level Sage!

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

And that was not the true danger. What made them falter was the realization. If one of the first star Sages of the Five Essence Heavenly Field could lead the battle formation, what of the other three?

Who said the Star Origin Lord’s subordinates could have only one Star Origin Guard Commander?

As if to confirm their fear, the other two super Star Ships soon met with two more fleets that emerged, forming a second and a third battle formation, each with a first star Sage in command.

“Retreat!” Shang Xia and Gu Yi transmitted almost in unison.

They hardly needed to say it. The moment the second and third battle formations appeared, the others had already begun withdrawing.

Sage Jin and Hong Jing moved first, fleeing in chaos, battered by a strike from a battle formation.

By contrast, Yu Kun and Zhuo Gudao withdrew more steadily. With Kou Chongxue restraining the mid-level Sage of the Essence Zhen World, they regrouped after leaving, even meeting Sage Jin and Hong Jing to gather the four drifting fragments and push them deeper into the void.

Meanwhile, Shang Xia, Gu Yi, Kou Chongxue, and Shi Guan stayed behind, unleashing their full strength regardless of the consumption of their inner qi, buying time for the others.

The Five Essence Heavenly Field tried to intercept them, but the battle formations were slow to form and clumsy to move compared to individual Sages.

Though it was dangerous, Shang Xia’s group retreated while fighting. They avoided being surrounded and as the battlefield moved further from the Five Essence Heavenly Field, the Star Origin Lord’s clone and the mid-level Sage of the Essence Zhen World lost the assistance of their world and Heavenly Field.

With this weakening, the pressure Shang Xia and the others faced lessened. They began to turn the tide, while the Five Essence Heavenly Field’s forces grew hesitant to chase further.

The three battle formations, though fierce, were left behind. Even if they tried long-range strikes, they dared not risk hitting their own allies locked in combat.

Naturally, it wasn’t as if they didn’t try. They launched several targeted strikes at those taking the world fragments, but Hong JIng and Sage Jin managed to stop a wave of attack each when the battle formation just formed. Now that the power contained in each strike had greatly diminished as it traveled through the void, it posed no threat.

As one side withdrew and the other side remained hesitant, Shang Xia’s group retreated three million miles and the world fragments were driven nearly 10 million miles away. It was clear there was no need to continue their battle.

At the Star Origin Lord’s order, the three battle formations dissolved and the fleets withdrew.

Soon, the Star Origin Lord’s forces pulled back entirely, taking his clone and the mid-level Sage with them.

Shang Xia, Gu Yi, and the rest let them go.

Though the battle between the Sages had left the Heavenly Fields untouched, the toll on the combatants was immense. Shang Xia himself felt he had not endured such an intense and prolonged battle since stepping into the Seven Star Realm.

“No matter what, we held the advantage. We won!” Gu Yi declared on the way back, driving the fragments deeper into the void.

“Did we really win? I doubt it.” Shi Guan replied unexpectedly.

“Oh? How so?” Gu Yi asked, curious despite his annoyance.

Before Shiguan could answer, Kou Chongxue sighed, “At the very least, the Five Essence Heavenly Field and the Star Origin Lord did not lose out much. It may even be that our carving up of the Essence Zhen World was exactly what the Star Origin Lord wished to see.”

Gu Yi’s eyes narrowed. “The Star Origin Lord intends to weaken the Essence Zhen World?”

Zhuo Gudao sighed, “Of the Five Essence Heavenly Field’s worlds, four were integrated early, soon after they ascended from Spirit Worlds. Only the Essence Zhen World had grown independently, encompassing no fewer than 30 continents.”

“32 continents.” Kou Chongxue corrected, having studied the Essence Zhen World’s land structure most closely.

Yu Kun sighed in envy. “32 continents... No wonder he managed to reach the fifth star. However, a single Essence Zhen World alone couldn’t have supported the cultivation of the native Sage. They definitely had an established Heavenly Field.”

Hong Jing refuted, “The Essence Zhen World came from the Flood Star Region. We know little of it.”

Sage Jin added, “It was indeed a Heavenly Field with 1,000 years of heritage. I traveled there long ago and heard of it. They had three auxiliary Spirit Worlds, plus several other minor worlds. They weren’t the strongest, but solidly above average.”

He paused. “Of course, that was long ago. After so much time had passed, the Essence Zhen World may have grown far stronger. I cannot say for sure.”

Gu Yi mused, “32 continents, a fifth star Sage. The Essence Zhen World could have supported five Spirit Worlds at its peak!”

Shi Guan grunted, “Such a strong Heavenly Field, yet destroyed by the void currents... If the Star Origin Lord orchestrated it, will the same fate befall ours?”

The Sages fell silent, until Gu Yi finally said, “Perhaps our Heavenly Fields must strengthen our ties further. What say you, Sage Shang?”

“Mm.” Shang Xia grunted with a nod. “I agree with you. But first, I think we should divide these four fragments.”