Chapter 2197: Chaos in the Chaotic Sea of Stars

Under the guidance of the Star Compass, Shang Xia began his journey back toward the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field.

But after following the intended route for a period of time, he gradually slowed down. Extending his divine soul as far as possible into the surrounding void, he carefully examined everything around him, and his expression grew increasingly grave.

He had traveled the route several times before. Though he would not call himself fully familiar with it, he could still recall several major coordinate markers along the way.

Yet now, not a single landmark he remembered appeared where it should have been.

It might be normal if two or three landmarks had shifted, after all, anything could happen in the void. But for all of them to have changed position, or worse, for every one of them to have vanished completely, this could only mean one thing. Something unknown had caused a major transformation through the Chaotic Sea of Stars.

Shang Xia stopped because he wanted to determine what exactly had happened to the Chaotic Sea of Stars.

He could have gone straight back to Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field and asked Kou Chongxue and the others about the changes of the past half-year. Even if the void itself had shifted, and the Star Compass was forged using Essence Luxuriant’s World Origin Source as a coordinate. As long as their world still existed, and still existed within the Chaotic Sea of Stars, he would always be able to find his way back.

But Shang Xia felt no need to wait that long.

In fact, the moment he sensed the changes in the void, he already had a vague suspicion.

When his divine soul spread effortlessly across thousands of miles, his earlier guess was confirmed.

In the next moment, Shang Xia tore open the void and stepped through it.

Tens of thousands of miles away, a fragile spatial gate formed, only for him to immediately leap out of it and retreat far away. Behind him, the portal collapsed. Fragments of shattered space erupted outward, wreaking havoc across the surrounding void.

When he looked back, that broken region of space showed no signs of healing.

If before he had only been fairly certain of his guess, he was now completely convinced, the Chaotic Sea of Stars was expanding, and it was accelerating so rapidly that the void was becoming dangerously fragile.

That should have been expected, since all eight surrounding Star Fields were merging into the Chaotic Sea of Stars. Void expansion was inevitable.

But the speed far exceeded anything normal, to the point that the overstretched void had become unstable and brittle. Even Shang Xia’s simple void-shift had almost gotten him buried alive by collapsing space.

This could only mean that foreign Star Fields were forcibly accelerating the merger, and that within the eight Star Regions, at least one had already been conquered, or at the very least suppressed, by those external powers.

Otherwise, even if they were cooperating, none of those Star Regions would ever allow outside forces to speed up the merger. Doing so would cause the various Heavenly Fields to be isolated and cut off, and the Star Region itself would fragment.

Shang Xia continued following the Star Compass. But after spending more than twice the usual amount of time, he still did not see the Heaven Observation Star Region.

It was the closest to the edge of the Distant Sea of Stars and the largest among them, marked by its massive void vortex. It was normally one of the most easily recognizable star regions. He had to pass by it in order to return.

Shang Xia understood... The Chaotic Sea of Stars' expansion had already distorted the entire region’s layout.

At that point, he stopped relying on any of the usual spatial coordinates and instead followed only the Star Compass.

During this process, he made a surprising discovery,

He encountered no danger at all. There were no human threats. Not even beasts or mutated creatures could be seen in the void in the void.

It was entirely different from his earlier two journeys between the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field and the Star River.

He flew deeper through the void, yet still saw no sign of any Starsea Market. Even the floating continents, lone Spirit Worlds, and scattered asteroids that normally surrounded such markets were nowhere to be found.

In a mere eight months, the Chaotic Sea of Stars had changed so drastically that Shang Xia felt as though eras had passed.

𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

After spending three times the usual travel time, he finally detected the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field’s proximity through the Star Compass.

But what appeared before him was not the Heaven Observation Star Region. Rather, it was a Starsea Market.

It was also the 6th Starsea Market, one Shang Xia knew well.

Around the market floated familiar void continents, floating islands, small independent Azure Worlds and Spirit Worlds. However, all of them had shifted drastically from their previous positions.

Standing outside the Starsea Market, his arrival went unnoticed.

Moments later, a streak of light shot out from within the market, recklessly ignoring all wards and restrictions, barreling straight out into the open void before vanishing entirely from everyone’s senses.

The disturbance inside the market was quickly suppressed by someone, but rumors had already begun spreading.

“Sage Shang, you’ve returned!" Song Zhen appeared before Shang Xia while looking visibly excited.

As the hidden guardian of the 6th Starsea Market, he had worked tirelessly over the years, making the market Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field’s most important outpost within the Chaotic Sea of Stars.

Even though he was barely an expert at the fifth star of the Martial Void Realm, and his cultivation path had nearly reached its end, his personal combat strength was unmatched among the guardians of the Starsea Market.

This was thanks to Essence Luxuriant’s support, his divine weapon and sixth-tier talismans alone allowed him to defeat two or three equals.

Shang Xia nodded lightly and asked, “After returning from the Star River, I found the Chaotic Sea of Stars had drastically changed. Everything familiar has vanished, and I had no choice but to follow the Star Compass to reach this place. Do you know the reason?”

Song Zhen calmed his excitement, organized his thoughts, and said solemnly, “It was because all the foreign Star Fields suddenly accelerated their merger with the Chaotic Sea of Stars.”

That did not surprise Shang Xia. He had already deduced it from the abnormal void expansion.

Song Zhen continued, “All major Heavenly Fields tried to slow the process. Otherwise, the Chaotic Sea of Stars' origin qi would fail to digest the foreign energies pouring in, decreasing the strength of our Heavenly Fields and cultivators alike. But their efforts have largely failed.”

Shang Xia’s expression remained calm. “That’s expected. A single Star Region can still resist an invasion if the void passage remains narrow. But now that the Star River Stowaways traverse the Star River using Eternal Golden Boats as bridges, vast reinforcements can pour in. It is no surprise that the Star Regions cannot hold. What is surprising is how quickly they collapsed.”

Song Zhen nodded. “Exactly! They accelerated the invasion. Each Star River Stowaway is a peak-level Sage, many said they can even rival the Star Origin Lord. Once they act, no one in a Star Region can stop them.”

He glanced at Shang Xia, finding no reaction, and continued, “But that is only one reason. The other is that some Star Regions have sided with foreign Star Fields. For example, in the Flood Star Region, several Heavenly Fields defected, causing their total collapse. The Flood Star Region saw multiple Heavenly Fields replaced from within, coordinating with the Nightmare Sea of Stars to instigate rebellion. In the Crowned Star Region, several Heavenly Fields declared cooperation with the Simple Sea of Stars and even rebuilt an Essence World in the Essence World Ruins. The Floating Star Region also announced cooperation with the Taming Sea of Stars under the terms of ‘non-aggression’. But in truth, these so-called cooperative agreements turned their forbidden regions into buffer zones, handing control of Chaotic Sea of Stars territories to outside powers.”

Shang Xia nodded, then asked, “Then what about our Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field? And the various Starsea Markets? And the chaotic factions of the Chaotic Sea of Stars, why have all of you gathered here?”

Song Zhen replied. “You may need to ask Patriarch Kou personally. But he once said that as the foreign Star Fields merge with the Chaotic Sea of Stars and force the void to expand, they are indirectly herding the eight Star Regions toward a single convergence point.”

He paused, then added, “From the information I’ve gathered, the void coordinates of all Star Regions are constantly shifting with the Chaotic Sea of Stars' expansion. Many large Heavenly Fields have even begun voluntarily adjusting their positions to adapt to the changes.”