Chapter 2201: Oh No!

Shang Xia’s arrival had clearly thrown the Sages of Illusory Sea of Stars, who were lurking within that patch of void, into total panic. When Shang Xia finally stopped flying, not a single Sage of the Illusory Sea of Stars dared to step forward and greet him alone.

Shang Xia looked at the fragile void before him, which seemed as if even a light touch would trigger a large-scale collapse as a faint smirk appeared on his face. He swept his sleeve forward, and in an instant, starlight scattered across the sky. The fragile void before him was wiped away like mist on a mirror, revealing the true scene behind it.

That supposedly chaotic, fragile void was nowhere to be seen!

Everything had already returned to its original state long ago. In fact, it even looked strengthened, and around it a rather complete defensive system had been constructed. Its purpose was naturally to protect the void passage that had been reopened.

Within the partially completed defensive base, the Illusory Sea of Stars’ cultivators who had infiltrated the Heaven Observation Star Region through the void passage had already formed considerable numbers. They had even begun using the Illusory Sea of Stars’ origin qi flowing from the passage to modify the surrounding environment.

But the instant Shang Xia erased their camouflage, it was as though he had kicked open a hornet’s nest. The defensive system immediately launched its counterattack. One after another, strangely beautiful space bubbles shot out from the grand formation and rushed at him.

Shang Xia found them intriguing but also understood how dangerous they had to be. He extended a finger and tapped the air. One bubble shattered instantly, but its destruction caused the surrounding void to contract inward and collapse. A small-scale spatial vortex formed, swallowing everything in its path.

Seeing that, Shang Xia’s expression grew slightly more solemn. He reached out and drew a long mace formed of condensed starlight. Pointing it at the densest cluster of bubbles, he drew a soft arc. As the void collapsed, a starlight vortex took shape.

That was the fifth form of his Seven Star Mace Technique, Dipper Vortex!

Bubble after bubble slid toward the vortex’s center and burst one after another. However, the resulting disturbance stirred only faint ripples inside the starlight vortex before being completely devoured.

The moment Shang Xia neutralized their offensive, he counterattacked. The mighty starlight vortex suddenly crumbled inwards and the void went dark in an instant. It seemed to fall completely silent.

With perfect smoothness, Shang Xia transitioned from the fifth form of his Seven Star Mace Technique to the sixth, Dipper Annihilation!

The collapsing starlight triggered the destruction of their defensive formation. When the dim starlight of the deep void began glowing again, Shang Xia had already broken into the defensive grand formation of Illusory Sea of Stars. More than half of the formation’s attacks vanished instantly, and the rest he forcibly dispersed.

At least three Sages of the Illusory Sea of Stars immediately focused their attacks on him. At least one of them was a high-level Sage, but that was far from enough.

After Shang Xia’s third return from the Star River, he had prepared for his advancement to the Eight Trigram Realm. His combat strength had ascended again, beyond anything they could comprehend. It surpassed the grand completion stage of the Seven Star Realm, and Shang Xia believed that even if he had to face the Star Origin Lord, he might not lose.

The techniques of Illusory Sea of Stars’ Sages were unpredictable and elusive, but before Shang Xia’s vision and godly perception, none of them could hide. Each of their attacks was seen through and countered precisely.

After forcefully holding off the three Sages, Shang Xia burned his inner qi to seize the initiative. He quickly unleashed Shattered Starry Skies, forcibly breaking apart the encirclement formed by their combined strength.

Next, he executed Shifting Dipper, redirecting the offensive of the high-level Sage toward the other two mid-level Sages.

The powers of the three Illusory Sea of Stars’ experts collided and canceled one another, giving Shang Xia an excellent chance. From somewhere deep in the void, starlight seeped forth and gathered. Shang Xia hurled his starlight mace toward the strongest of the three.

That was the second form of his Seven Star Mace Technique, Falling Dipper!

That high-level Sage had expected Shang Xia’s strike. The moment the mace was thrown, he retreated at full speed, unleashing distractions, and defenses as he tried to evade the strike that Shang Xia had unleashed while expending a huge amount of inner qi.

But locked under Shang Xia’s overwhelming divine soul, he could not escape or hide. No matter how he fled, the starlight mace remained fixed upon him.

With no other choice, he steeled himself to take the blow.

In the end, he was blasted hundreds of miles away as he coughed up great mouthfuls of blood. He couldn’t even straighten his body.

Only then did the other two mid-level Sages’ attacks finally reach Shang Xia. Too bad for them, their blows were redirected with another casual Shifting Dipper.

This time, however, Shang Xia no longer needed to burn more inner qi. The two mid-level Sages saw the futility of their attack and immediately turned to flee. Shang Xia didn’t even have time to pursue them.

From the moment Shang Xia broke the formation’s counterattack, to crashing through the formation, to defeating the three Sages... The entire process seemed complicated, but in truth it happened extremely quickly. It was so fast that two other Sages in the region couldn’t even arrive to assist them before they saw their strongest comrade defeated.

Those two did not even enter the battlefield. They simply turned to run back to the void passage that had been opened.

Not just them. The mid-level Sages who had fled earlier also made a brief feint before charging back to the passage.

Raising his eyebrow slightly, Shang Xia instantly realized something was wrong.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

This grand formation, which appeared so fortified and carefully built by the Illusory Sea of Stars, held no one other than the five Sages...

Although having five of them stationed there was already enough to dominate any expert in the Heaven Observation Star Region except the Star Origin Lord and Shang Xia himself...

But if the region was meant to be a forward base for them to enter the Chaotic Sea of Stars, how could they only station five experts there?!

Unless... this seemingly fortified base is nothing more than a decoy!

Shang Xia looked at the void passage where the four fleeing experts had disappeared. From within the passage, he faintly sensed the aura of a Star River Stowaway and an Eternal Golden Boat.

His expression shifted. He didn’t even spare time to finish off the severely wounded high-level Sage. His body turned into a streak of shooting starlight as he rushed at the passage.