Chapter 2175: Changes

“Do you truly think that the eruption was just an accident?” Shang Xia’s gaze toward Sage Star Thief was filled with mockery.

Sage Star Thief felt a chill crawl down his spine under that look. In the next instant, he turned his head toward the nearest star within the Star River.

What met his sight was a blazing arc of light erupting from that distant sun, almost identical to the one they had witnessed before, and along with it, the once-calm river began to surge and churn.

Both of them knew what that meant. It would not be long before another cataclysmic torrent swept through the Star River like a tsunami, spreading to their position.

“You...” Standing at the prow of the Eternal Golden Boat, Sage Star Thief pointed at Shang Xia, his face a mask of shock, unable to form his words properly.

But beneath that fury was unmistakable fear, fear that Shang Xia could form some sort of connection with the stars within the Star River.

How did he do it?

Seeing the amusement and faint triumph in Shang Xia’s eyes, Sage Star Thief knew that his plans had once again failed. To continue the fight was meaningless. Without hesitation, he turned his Eternal Golden Boat around and fled swiftly in the opposite direction of the oncoming waves.

Shang Xia watched the Eternal Golden Boat race away until it vanished from sight. Around him, the waters of the Star River were already sinking and trembling, the prelude to the approaching wave. Knowing it would arrive soon, he once again opened the spatial gate and withdrew from the Star River.

When he returned to the depths of the void beyond, he took only a moment to steady the turbulent inner qi within his body before retrieving the newly refined Star Rinsing Muslin that had been completed.

The fabric appeared as thin as mist, yet was half-real and half-illusory, shimmering faintly with drifting starlight.

The moment Shang Xia brought it out, it unfurled on its own, fluttering gracefully in the void.

He examined it carefully. After confirming that the transformation was complete and flawless, he took a deep breath and gathered a trace of inner qi imbued with his soul at his fingertip. Then he gently touched the ethereal cloth.

In the next moment, the Star Rinsing Muslin vanished from sight. When Shang Xia probed with his divine soul, he saw that the dreamlike silk had appeared within his dantian, draped over his Big Dipper Star Origin and the seven auxiliary stars, like a radiant, multicolored nebula enveloping them.

The Star Rinsing Muslin was complete. All that remained was to slowly infuse it with his own inner qi, refining it until it underwent one final transformation into the Starlight Curtain!

That would, however, be a slow process. Even though the Starlight Curtain’s nature was perfectly attuned to Shang Xia’s inner qi, greatly shortening the refinement time, it would still take a considerable period.

Yet Shang Xia only glanced once at the changes within his dantian before shifting his attention elsewhere, to the transformation occurring within the Crimson Soul Tablet.

It wasn’t the inscriptions on its surface that had changed, but its very structure.

Faint, nearly imperceptible cracks appeared along its surface. Each fissure exuded a powerful suction, drawing in the origin qi from the surrounding void. The absorption was so rapid that light began to flicker within the flowing currents, gathering at the surface of the cracks.

Five or six luminous fissures emerged on the face of the tablet and though each looked minuscule, they devoured both origin qi and world origin stored within the tablet and origin qi from its surroundings like a bottomless abyss.

Shang Xia instantly realized what was happening. Those tiny cracks that finally showed themselves were the final, unrepaired fractures the Crimson Soul Tablet had suffered.

Previously, he had sensed that the tablet was nearly whole, though its remaining flaws had been indistinct. They were barely visible, yet untouchable. All he could do then was continually feed it origin qi in hopes that it would heal on its own.

Now that those cracks had revealed themselves, the tablet’s speed of restoration accelerated greatly, though the consumption of energy increased just as dramatically.

Fortunately, back in the Pagoda Forest, Shang Xia had gathered abundant origin qi, even if it had come from other Star Fields. For the Crimson Soul Tablet, it made no difference, it could use them all.

Of course, those were minor details. What truly mattered to Shang Xia was the cause of the transformation.

The main reason the transformation started was because of the Star River!

No, more precisely, it was the power of space and time within the Star River. To be exact, it was the traces of that power which he had refined into his dantian.

By now, Shang Xia’s energy had recovered somewhat, and he immediately began his return journey toward the Chaotic Sea of Stars.

After a perilous passage, he finally arrived at the edge of it.

It was there that he confirmed, at last, that the Dipper Star Formation had indeed been moved, or destroyed entirely. His inner qi no longer resonated with them.

Revealing a bitter smile, he shook his head. Instead of returning to the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field right away, he found a nearby Earth Star to rest and once again focused his senses on the Crimson Soul Tablet.

Two of the faint cracks had vanished, but three or four still remained, endlessly devouring origin qi around him. In fact, there were traces of it drawing upon a portion of his inner qi.

Thinking about it, he suspected it was because his inner qi had merged with the power of space and time contained in the Star River.

That was also why he found a place to recover after arriving at the edge of the Chaotic Sea of Stars. His inner qi had been dangerously overdrawn.

Yet during the process, he gradually noticed that his control over the Crimson Soul Tablet was strengthening once more. He could faintly sense a resonance, a budding consciousness awakening within the tablet itself.

At the same time, as the tablet repaired itself and Shang Xia’s comprehension of his martial intents advanced, the inscriptions upon its surface began to change again.

Advancement Medicine: Eight Trigrams Immortal Golden Pill

Prerequisite: Grand Completion Stage of the Seven Star Realm

Main Medicine: Eternity Artifact

Secondary Medicine: #$%^&*(

Auxiliary Medium: Starlight Curtain (9.9 x 3.3 feet)

Required Medium: Origin qi from different Star Fields (8/8)

Remarks: Martial Intent suitable for current cultivation realm (6/7), Soul at the grand completion stage.

Compatibility: -

Success Rate: -

Finally, his Five Element Annihilation Yin Yang Ring had advanced to match his current cultivation level.

Among his seven martial divine arts, only his Seven Laceration Sword remained. It was what puzzled him deeply. He had poured immense time and effort into his Seven Laceration Sword back then and understood it intimately. Yet, despite years of refinement, study, and using it in real battle, it had not undergone the breakthrough he expected.

Aside from that, however, his greatest focus was on the changes, or impending changes, where the Secondary Medicine was supposed to be.

Although no name was shown, Shang Xia noticed faint, fragmented patterns appearing and fading repeatedly across that section of the tablet’s surface.

He had seen the phenomenon before, when the Crimson Soul Tablet was close to deriving the actual treasure, but lacked a crucial catalyst to complete it.

Normally, once he found the missing condition, the tablet would immediately respond and reveal the precise name of the required treasure.

But now, as he gazed at the tablet and the few remaining fissures still mending themselves, a new premonition stirred in his heart.

Once those final four cracks vanish and once the Crimson Soul Tablet is completely restored, it may no longer need any external catalyst at all!

It will reveal the Secondary Medicine on its own!