Chapter 2153: Effortless

The conversations among the True Immortals from the Crowned Star Region, though separated from the floating island by hundreds of miles and layers of distorted void and spatial rifts, still reached Shang Xia’s ears clearly. He caught every single word without missing a beat.

However, just as those True Immortals began to move toward the floating island, Shang Xia’s gaze shifted toward another direction in the void.

Before long, when the five True Immortals had covered about half the distance to the island, several other True Immortals suddenly emerged from the opposite side of the void near the floating island.

"Not good, it’s the people from Simple Sea of Stars!"

True Immortal Fang, who stood at the front, was the first to spot the newcomers. He immediately turned toward True Immortal Huang, who stood beside him at the lead.

Both fifth tier True Immortals clearly shared an unspoken understanding. After exchanging a brief glance, they both accelerated toward the floating island.

True Immortal Huang, who seemed to have close ties with the Third-Rank True Immortal Qiu behind him, shouted loudly, "True Immortal Qiu! We must move first, or the cultivators of the Simple Sea of Stars will seize the spiritual lotuses before us!"

Although True Immortal Qiu was known for his careless and arrogant attitude, he understood the gravity of the situation. He quickly raised his hand and threw out an object. As it opened above their heads, it transformed into a massive parasol with tasseled edges that hung down to cover the five of them.

He yelled, "These treasure lotuses concern my breakthrough to a high-level True Immortal! We must not let the Simple Sea of Stars’ cultivators get there first! Now that we have the patriarch’s Qingluo Parasol for protection, there’s no need to fear the fragile void around us, just charge ahead at full speed! Once this matter is done, I will personally report your aid to the patriarch, and each of your requests will be granted due reward!"

The four surrounding True Immortals seemed to have been waiting for that very promise. Upon hearing his assurance and seeing how the dangling tassels of the parasol smoothed out the surrounding spatial ripples, they finally relaxed and surged forward.

Meanwhile, hearing their exchange, Shang Xia was momentarily stunned. He had originally assumed those spiritual lotuses could only reshape a martial artist’s foundation, aiding cultivators in breaking through to the Martial Extermination Realm. He finally realized that he had made an assumption based on He Qingzhu’s case, believing that the lotus, though precious, was less valuable than the Dipper Crystals on the cliff of the ravine.

But that was only because Ge Qingzhu had been a Martial Intent Realm cultivator who happened to ascend to the Martial Extermination Realm after obtaining one such lotus. It did not mean that those lotuses were only useful for Martial Intent Realm cultivators.

Such spiritual lotuses could be used not only by those in the Martial Intent Realm and Martial Extermination Realm, but, judging from the importance those True Immortals placed on them, they were clearly also effective for those in the Martial Dipper Realm and Martial Void Realm!

Only then did Shang Xia realize he had underestimated the true value of those spiritual lotuses. Anything capable of strengthening the foundations of cultivators from the Martial Intent Realm all the way to the Martial Void Realm was far more valuable than the Dipper Crystals he had found in the ravine.

However, his attention soon shifted to the newly arrived cultivators from the Simple Sea of Stars. Shang Xia quickly confirmed what the True Immortals from the Crowned Star Region had said earlier, they possessed auras that differed only slightly from those of the Chaotic Sea of Stars.

While Shang Xia could still instantly tell they were outsiders, their aura were far closer to those of the Chaotic Sea of Stars than the other Star Fields. Whether from the Illusory Sea of Stars, Taming Sea of Stars, Nightmare Sea of Stars, or Gathered Sea of Stars.

"Is it that their aura naturally resembles that of our Chaotic Sea of Stars? Or have they undergone some special modification?" Shang Xia pondered silently, keeping his presence hidden within the void as he observed both groups competing for the right to land on the floating island.

The reason he leaned toward the latter possibility was that he soon discovered something else, the aura of the cultivators of the Simple Sea of Stars not only resembled that of the Crowned Star Region but was actually more attuned to the environment of the Essence World Ruins!

Shang Xia couldn’t help but think perhaps the cultivators of the Simple Sea of Stars were using the Essence World Ruins as a testing ground to adapt their qi and make it more like that of the Chaotic Sea of Stars.

That might also explain why the Essence World Ruins teemed with Simple Sea of Stars cultivators below the Martial Emptiness Realm, while in other forbidden regions across the Star Regions, only Sages dared to roam freely.

Just as Shang Xia continued observing the True Immortals of the Simple Sea of Stars, True Immortal Qiu and his group, empowered by the Qingluo Parasol, became the first to set foot on the floating island.

Ignoring any chance to intercept the group from afar, they rushed to the lotus pond on one side of the island.

Moments later, a furious roar echoed from that direction.

"Who?! Who did this?! The mature spiritual lotuses in the pond are gone! Who took them first?!"

Before his shout had faded, True Immortal Huang’s alarmed and panicked voice followed quickly. "Wait, no! True Immortal Qiu, don’t! You mustn’t! All resources on this floating island were already agreed upon by our Sages! Each visitor is allowed to take only one lotus. Don’t destroy the rest, don’t drain the pond!"

A series of dull thuds sounded in the distance, followed by True Immortal Huang’s muffled groan. Apparently, even the fifth tier True Immortal had suffered some injuries.

Clearly, True Immortal Qiu had flown into a rage, venting his fury on the remaining lotuses that were still maturing or unbloomed. True Immortal Huang had tried to stop him, but for fear of harming the other lotuses, he could not use his full strength. He could only endure the blows and diffuse the resulting shockwaves, leading to the absurd sight of a fifth tier True Immortal being wounded by a third tier.

At that moment, the other fifth tier True Immortal Fang spoke in a low voice. "Judging by the usual maturity cycle of these lotuses, the pond should yield between five and eight at a time. Since we arrived early, and given that each faction is allowed only one lotus, there’s no reason the pond should be completely harvested unless..."

True Immortal Zhou was shocked. "Impossible! Don’t tell me someone broke the rules set by the Sages? Who would dare?"

True Immortal Fang thought for a moment before he replied, "Or perhaps there’s another possibility... Some other expert or faction, unaware of the rules, accidentally stumbled into the ruins and happened upon the Huashi Floating Island."

"How can that be?" Before Fang even finished, True Immortal Qiu immediately retorted, "The Essence World Ruins may not forbid entry, but ever since that incident with True Immortal Yuan Ling, our Star Region’s Sages have kept constant watch over it. No one can possibly enter unnoticed under their supervision, unless those people came from the Simple Sea of Stars!"