Chapter 2135: New Martial Path

Kou Chongxue stiffened at Shang Xia’s words and asked in a deep voice, “What? Your External Avatar managed to stop you from inspecting how strong he has become?”

Only then did Shang Xia realize his previous remark had led to a misunderstanding. He quickly waved his hand with a smile. “Of course not. In most cases, he has his own consciousness and judgment. Out of respect, unless circumstances are truly exceptional, I prefer to listen to his explanations rather than exert direct control with my soul to read his mind.”

Kou Chongxue, however, did not agree with Shang Xia’s method. With a solemn expression, he grunted, “It doesn’t matter if you treat your relationship with your External Avatar as a game. But you need to understand one thing... He has the combat strength of the Martial Emptiness Realm and should be an important helper of yours. Now that he has fused with a Talisman Seed and possesses a martial intent, he will be a lot stronger than before. If you continue to allow him to do as he wishes, the consequences will be unimaginable if he even has a hint of breaking free from your control.”

Shang Xia understood Kou Chongxue’s concern and goodwill. He also knew such a situation could not possibly occur, but he still smiled and said, “Patriarch Kou, there’s no need to worry. I know what I am doing.”

At that moment, Shang Xia’s External Avatar also learned that Kou Chongxue and Shang Xia had returned. He appeared at once in the void outside the Essence Luxuriant World.

Sensing the fluctuations of aura from his External Avatar’s body, Shang Xia frowned and wondered out loud, “Did the Talisman Seed fail to fully mature in your body? Why is your aura fluctuating so violently? Why do you look like you’re in between the mid and late stages of the Seven Star Realm?”

His External Avatar glanced at Kou Chongxue to the side and reported to Shang Xia, “The Talisman Seed has matured, but my body isn’t strong enough to carry its full might. In the end, my body and the Talisman Seed remain in a semi-fused state. My aura can’t stabilize. If I fight, it will be fine if I don’t use the martial intent born from the Talisman Seed. The moment I activate it, I will fall into a long period of weakness before I can recover.”

Shang Xia rubbed his chin. “It seemed I still underestimated the difficulty of raising your body’s toughness. But by now it had become increasingly difficult to gather the spiritual materials and treasures needed to strengthen you...”

The External Avatar could only say helplessly, “We have to leave it to luck.”

Finally, Kou Chongxue burst out laughing. “After all this talk, I am all the more curious about the power of your martial intent!”

Shang Xia chuckled, “You’re not the only one. I am also very curious. It looked like we needed to head outside our Heavenly Field to see what the Talisman Seed can do!”

Both men were decisive. Having just returned to the Essence Luxuriant World, they did not even enter the world before they left for the void outside. Naturally, Shang Xia’s External Avatar followed closely.

Before long, the trio arrived outside the Heavenly Field. At the same time, the Giant Ape Emperor, who received a transmission from Shang Xia, hurried over to join them.

“Do we really have to do it this way?! Finding any random asteroid belt would probably be enough to test the real power of my martial intent!” Shang Xia’s External Avatar looked at Shang Xia across a thousand miles of void and complained helplessly.

Shang Xia said nothing more. He simply gestured from across the void for his External Avatar to make his move.

On the other side, Kou Chongxue and the Giant Ape Emperor observed from afar.

Seeing his reaction, Shang Xia’s External Avatar understood his true body’s insistence and he started to gather the power of the stars.

Illusory phantoms of talismans appeared around him. As seven phantoms merged into one, his External Avatar’s aura started to surge as it quickly went from the sixth star to the seventh...

When his aura had inflated to the very limit his body could bear, his martial intent was finally activated.

In an instant, Shang Xia, a thousand miles away, felt that the space around him, and himself along with it, had been completely severed from the surroundings. His inner qi was bound and suppressed, and his vitality started to dissolve. His soul also started to burn.

The martial intent attacked the enemy on all sides, with nearly no weak points!

As the might of his martial intent descended, Shang Xia did not counterattack immediately. He allowed the power of the martial intent to enter his domain and even spread into his body. He needed to carefully experience every detail of how the martial intent wrought destruction within a person.

Seeing Shang Xia completely engulfed by the martial intent without any reaction, the Giant Ape Emperor, who had been observing in the distant void, could no longer sit still. Fearing that something might happen to Shang Xia, it was about to rush forward to help when Kou Chongxue reached a hand out to stop it.

“Be patient.” Kou Chongxue said calmly, “That’s his External Avatar.”

If anything truly happened to Shang Xia, how could his External Avatar remain indifferent?

The Giant Ape Emperor quickly realized this and quieted down again.

At that moment, the section of void that had been completely severed and sealed reappeared. Accompanied by cracking sounds that could only be “heard” with their divine souls. Spatial fissures spread open until a spatial storm suddenly erupted.

The next second, Shang Xia’s figure reappeared, ignoring the scour of the storm as he stepped out.

Just like that, he nullified the effects of his External Avatar’s martial intent!

With a sweep of his sleeve, Shang Xia gestured at the void behind him and the spatial storm that was on the verge of expanding instantly dissipated.

Soon, Shang Xia’s External Avatar regrouped with Kou Chongxue and the Giant Ape Emperor. He looked extremely listless as the aura leaking from his body felt equivalent to a low-level Sage.

Shang Xia’s gaze swept over the group, and after a brief pause, he said, “It’s a standard martial intent.”

“The advantage is that the martial intent born from the Talisman Seed has almost no weak points. Spatial severance, bodily suppression, combined attacks against the flesh, dantian, and soul. To some extent, it can even destroy some vitality. It will be difficult to defend against every aspec,t and they will definitely suffer. The only question is how much...”

“As for the weakness of the martial intent, it’s obvious! An all-around offensive will diminish the might of the martial intent. Unless your opponent’s cultivation and combat strength have a glaring weakness, the damage inflicted will be limited.”

Hearing this, his External Avatar could not help showing a somewhat disgruntled expression.

But Kou Chongxue laughed in response, “Your assessment is too subjective. It’s based entirely on your abilities! Tell me, across the entire Chaotic Sea of Stars, even counting the Sages from foreign Star Fields... How many can truly match you?”

“From what I can tell, this martial intent is more than enough to deal with a majority of Sages!”

As he spoke, Kou Chongxue glanced instinctively at the Giant Ape Emperor beside him, then continued, “Even I would likely be severely injured even if I faced your martial intent...”

Shang Xia smiled at that. “You’re right!”