Chapter 2154: Who Is It?

Shang Xia had overlooked one important detail, while the spiritual lotus in the pond could indeed aid Martial Intent Realm cultivators in advancing to the Martial Extermination Realm, that did not mean they were useless to those of higher cultivation.

On the contrary, such heavenly treasures capable of strengthening one’s foundation and enhancing cultivation were of great benefit even to True Immortals striving to reach higher levels. It was precisely for that reason that several True Immortals from the Crowned Star Region had come in person.

However, the floating island known as the Huashi Floating Island was no secret to either the Crowned Star Region or the Simple Sea of Stars.

By the time the True Immortals of the Crowned Star Region set foot upon the island, those from the Simple Sea of Stars were also about to arrive.

Although the plucked spiritual lotus from the pond nearly drove True Immortal Qiu, who had pinned all his hopes of breaking through to a high-level True Immortal, into despair and madness, the others traveling with him managed to stay calm. After True Immortal Huang restrained him, True Immortal Fang quickly deduced that the lotuses had probably been retrieved by someone else.

Meanwhile, True Immortal Zhou, who also remained level-headed, reminded them, “Even if our reasoning is sound, the cultivators of the Crowned Star Region will never believe us. Everyone, they’ve already arrived, there’s no avoiding a battle now!”

But True Immortal Qiu, who had been restrained by the others, quickly lost his fighting spirit. In a defeated tone, he sighed, “Is there even a point in fighting? We will only suffer more meaningless injuries. We might as well run now...”

Even True Immortal Huang, who stopped him from going crazy earlier, grew furious at those words. Gritting his teeth, he scolded, “What nonsense are you spouting?! Do you think you can just leave whenever you want? Besides, if we don’t fight now, they’ll think we’re easy to bully! The next time we cross paths, they’ll only look down on us even more!”

His harsh rebuke only provoked True Immortal Qiu’s rebellious temper. As the direct descendant of a Sage, he had never been reprimanded by anyone except his ancestor.

Amid the stunned gazes of everyone around him, True Immortal Qiu retorted coldly, “Who says I can’t leave if I want to?” With that, the jade ring hanging at his waist shattered. A spatial portal opened behind him.

He stepped back with a sneer, and in the next instant, both he and the portal vanished without a trace, leaving True Immortal Huang trembling with rage while the other three True Immortals stared at one another in disbelief.

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

It was clear that he had used an emergency escape method left to him by his ancestor. The four who remained, True Immortals Fang, Huang, Zhou, and Luo, were left to face the approaching Simple Sea of Stars cultivators on their own.

Following the long-standing unspoken rules of the Essence World Ruins, they did not fight on the Huashi Floating Island. Instead, once they realized that battle was inevitable, they withdrew from the island and intercepted the Simple Sea of Stars experts in the distant void, where a fierce clash erupted at once.

As for Shang Xia, he naturally had no interest in meddling in their conflict. He did not even spare them a glance. His attention had already returned to the small but exceptionally pure World Origin Source on the floating island, the one that astonishingly still contained traces of the World’s Will.

When the Simple Sea of Stars’ cultivators had first appeared, Shang Xia had already noticed how the aura around those True Immortals seemed strangely compatible with the environment of the Essence World Ruins. Recalling what the True Immortals of the Crowned Star Region had discussed earlier, he turned his gaze back to that peculiar World Origin Source.

“This isn’t naturally formed, it’s artificial. Or at least, heavily tampered with.” After examining the area carefully several times, Shang Xia reached a conclusion. Someone was reconstructing the remnant World’s Will!

They were reconstructing it, not merely reawakening or nurturing another.

However, it was already the ruins of an Essence World. After it collapsed... Could the World’s Will truly still exist?

Or did someone deliberately preserve one or more fragments of it in secret?

With that thought, Shang Xia quietly stepped into the World Origin Source, keeping his presence concealed.

The second it happened, the Crimson Soul Tablet in his Sea of Consciousness resonated. Threads of world origin began peeling away from the World Origin Source, absorbed directly into the tablet.

“This is...”

He sensed the energy being drawn in, surprised to find that it felt slightly different from the World’s Will he had been sensing earlier.

Peering inward, he saw the inscriptions on the Crimson Soul Tablet flicker faintly, though no new characters appeared.

From the reaction of the tablet, the world origin he just absorbed was clearly origin qi from the other Star Field! Unfortunately, since there were no changes on the tablet, the amount wasn’t enough to trigger any actual change.

Even so, Shang Xia was certain. The energy he had drawn from the World Origin Source was fundamentally different from what once existed.

He soon realized that the World Origin Source itself must not have been naturally formed, it had likely been infused with origin qi from the Simple Sea of Stars, in an attempt to merge both kinds of origin qi and create an entirely new hybrid World Origin Source.

When Shang Xia arrived, part of that fusion process had already succeeded, while another part remained incomplete. That was why he hadn’t sensed the discrepancy earlier, until the Crimson Soul Tablet began absorbing the unmerged Simple Sea of Stars’ origin qi, which finally revealed the difference to him.

Shang Xia was finally certain. Someone was artificially altering the environment of the Essence World Ruins, reshaping it to better suit the cultivators of Simple Sea of Stars. The goal, without question, was to make it easier for them to enter the ruins, and to use the ruins as a springboard to invade the Crowned Star Region and ultimately the Chaotic Sea of Stars.

Moreover, unlike the invasion methods of other Star Fields Shang Xia had encountered, which sent Sages first, the Simple Sea of Stars’ approach was far more insidious. They aimed to lower the threshold of entry from the very start, allowing even Martial Dipper Realm and Martial Void Realm cultivators to infiltrate the Chaotic Sea of Stars.

But could such a grand alteration really be orchestrated by the Simple Sea of Stars alone?

Recalling the earlier discussions among the True Immortals, Shang Xia had reason to suspect that someone within the Crowned Star Region knew about, and perhaps even participated in, the environmental transformation.

“Could it be Sage Yuan Ling?”

The thought flickered in his mind, but it was mere suspicion.

Soon, the Simple Sea of Stars’ origin qi within the World Origin Source had been completely absorbed by the Crimson Soul Tablet. After all, the World Origin Source itself was quite small.

As for the wisp of World’s Will that remained within, Shang Xia decided not to destroy it.

He was uncertain what might happen to the floating island if that remnant were erased. After all, both the lotus pond and the ravine that produced Dipper Crystals appeared extremely fragile. Any careless disruption could easily ruin the places that nurtured those rare heavenly treasures.