Chapter 2146: Forced to Retreat

Shang Xia felt that the Star Origin Lord should have recognized the true body of the Crimson Soul Tablet. He had brought it out before to deal with opponents he could not otherwise defeat, and the Star Origin Lord should have known of its existence.

Yet... When he saw it once again, the Star Origin Lord showed unprecedented shock and even lost composure enough to cry out the grade of the treasure!

That only deepened Shang Xia’s curiosity as he became hyper vigilant against the Star Origin Lord.

Anyway, since he summoned the Crimson Soul Tablet, Shang Xia would not halt just because of a single remark. Instead, he struck with even greater ferocity, unleashing Shattered Starry Skies.

At the same time, he asked, “Eternal Artifact? Dare I ask... What is an Eternal Artifact?”

The Star Origin Lord seemed extremely wary of his strike, and Shang Xia could not tell whether he feared his technique or the Eternal Artifact alone. Perhaps it was a combination of both.

Facing Shang Xia’s Shatter Starry Skies unleashed with the Crimson Soul Tablet in hand, the Star Origin Lord swept up half the origin qi in the region before retreating rapidly. As he withdrew, his voice rang in Shang Xia’s ears. From how calm he sounded, he had already regained his composure after seeing the treasure. “Heh, since you already entered the Star River, how can you not know what they are? Otherwise... Where the hell did you get yours?”

The first half dripped with mockery, but the latter half carried a faint sourness, as though the Star Origin Lord coveted the treasure in Shang Xia’s hand.

A spark flashed through Shang Xia’s mind, and he yelled, “Oh! So... You also obtained the Star Core in the Star River... So, isn’t it an Eternal Artifact too?”

His question received no reply. Under the barrage of Shattered Starry Skies, the Star Origin Lord seemed to choose temporary retreat. His aura and divine soul tightened around him and concealed his presence to the point that Shang Xia nearly lost track of him.

What puzzled Shang Xia was that, throughout their long exchange across the void, he never sensed that the Star Origin Lord’s power was being relayed or regulated through a node in the void. In other words, it was as if the Star Origin Lord had never once used his Fate Star.

Shang Xia wasn’t the only one who noticed. The Stargazers on the Star Observatory led by Yuan Qiuyuan also sensed it. Having been fooled once by a simulated Fate Star, they had no way, even now, to relocate the Star Origin Lord’s actual Fate Star.

Whatever it was, Shang Xia’s Shattered Starry Skies at least forced the Star Origin Lord to withdraw for the time being, buying Shang Xia a brief respite and a chance to drive out the clone that had forced its way into the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field. In the void where the Dipper Star Formation lay, Shang Xia faced the Star Origin Lord, yet within the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field, the Star Origin Lord had dared to send a clone whose cultivation and strength had reached the grand completion stage of the Martial Emptiness Realm. In merely a few exchanges, it had shaken the Heavenly Field.

Although Shang Xia’s External Avatar and Mei Jingya, who had temporarily boosted her cultivation, joined forces to stop it, they were clearly inferior to the Star Origin Lord’s clone and were soon forced to be on the defensive.

Gazing at the familiar face of the existence who had become the Star Origin Lord’s clone, Shang Xia sighed softly. He drew upon a portion of his inner qi and sent it across the void to his External Avatar.

Emberkindled Legacy!

Shang Xia’s External Avatar could perform all of his techniques, with the exception of his martial intent. After merging with the Talisman Seed, he developed a martial intent of his, allowing him to possess the strength of a Sage at the grand completion stage!

However, the moment he used his martial intent, he would enter a state of weakness due to the lack of energy. As such, his External Avatar’s combat strength was still weaker than that of true peers.

The exception came when Shang Xia executed Emberkindled Legacy and sent his inner qi into his External Avatar. Along with his inner qi, Shang Xia could also send over a portion of his divine soul. With his divine soul, the weakness of his External Avatar would be made up for! It was the lack of his divine soul that stopped his External Avatar from executing his other martial intents!

Against the Star Origin Lord’s clone that he obtained from the Flood Star Region, Shang Xia’s External Avatar began a fierce counterattack! As the Star Origin Lord’s clone pressed closer to the Essence Luxuriant World, a mighty sword condensed from starlight appeared from behind Shang Xia’s External Avatar. Sword qi of the Yin and Yang attributes emerged, cutting straight through the domain of the Star Origin Lord’s clone.

That was his second martial intent, the Seven Laceration Sword!

The sword intent was formidable not only because his sword qi possessed peculiar attributes and could cut through everything, but also because it possessed a rare sealing ability. After the sword qi cut into the opponent’s domain, it rapidly sliced away at his target’s inner qi. Each portion was sealed right after, preventing the domain from becoming whole again.

Even though his second martial intent failed to shatter the Star Origin Lord’s clone’s domain, nor seal it completely, it inflicted enough damage to weaken the Star Origin Lord’s clone enough such that Mei Jingya was able to bind him with her vines.

With the Star Origin Lord’s clone bound, the situation reversed. Sensing his advantage slipping away, the Star Origin Lord’s clone immediately turned to retreat.

Having finally seized the momentum, Shang Xia’s External Avatar refused to let him go. While Mei Jingya continued to bind and slow him further, Shang Xia’s External Avatar once more condensed a spear of starlight.

Drawing on the power of his true body, Shang Xia’s External Avatar threw the spear, unleashing his third martial intent, Divine Killing Spear!

During Shang Xia’s venture into the Flood Star Region, he had discovered that the martial intent had an extraordinary effect against the cultivators of the Nightmare Sea of Stars, who possessed abilities to make living puppets.

Shang Xia had grown increasingly suspicious that the Star Origin Lord had gone down the path of the Nightmare Sea of Stars. Seizing the chance as the clone was about to run away, he struck with his Divine Killing Spear to test his theory.

Regardless of what happened, it would be the last martial intent his External Avatar would be able to unleash. Shang Xia had to turn his attention back to the old fuck. After all... The Star Origin Lord that had been forced back from Shang Xia’s Shattered Starry Skies unleashed with his Crimson Soul Tablet returned after realizing his clone was in danger.

This time, likely because Shang Xia’s Fate Stars had been exposed and realizing he couldn’t do much to them, the Star Origin Lord changed his target and went straight for the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field.

His aim was obvious. He wanted to extract his clone at the grand completion stage!

It was a shame he came a little too late. With a miserable shriek piercing the void, the Star Origin Lord’s clone fell into the void and became motionless.

The next instant, a massive palm conjured from starlight descended to grab his clone. Shang Xia didn’t even have time to react when the palm disappeared along with the unconscious clone.